Being both students and choristers and, in the latter capacity, obliged to sing at one choir practice and two services daily (except Wednesdays), the school curriculum had to be adjusted accordingly for the choirboys, hence non-essentials, Latin for instance, had to be omitted. Even so, most evenings we had to study for at least two hours. Nevertheless, we had time for cricket, football etc., and for long walks through the lovely countryside and over the Downs, always accompanied, of course, by an under-master.
My Father, Edward Tilbury, originally an accountant, was an executive of the London & South Western Railway Co. In 1960 he was due to retire as he would then be 60 years of age - the Railway Co's age limit. However, because of the tremendous expense of bringing up 17 children (there were still seven younger than me around) he asked the Company to permit him to carry on for another 5 years, and, because of an excellent reputation, and over forty years service, also the unusual-circumstances, they willingly agreed. He and Mother both lived to be 75 years of age and died within months of each other during the First War.
ATLANTIC OCEAN I have crossed this particular ocean 23 times. Eight times` on business, Fifteen times on purely pleasure trips (visiting relatives etc) With the same object, my wife has crossed 33 times.
PHOTOGRAPHS etc. We have several albums full of photographs and picture postcards, taken or bought in most of those parts of the world visited, and also numerous family photographs.
ENTERTAINMENTS, POETRY etc. During my lifetime I have written lots of verses many of which have been used at Concerts, Entertainments etc. A book of humourous verses applicable to the Executives Association of Philadelphia, were written by me when I was their Vice President. They decided to print it and to send copies to other Executive Associations in various parts of the U.S.A.
GILBERT & SULLIVAN OPERAS I have participated in the following performances of Gilbert & Sullivan operas, as an amateur, of course.
AGE
DATE
OPERA
ROLE
PLACE
18
1899
The Gondoliers
Antonio
Southampton, England
20
1901
The Mikado
Pish-Tush
Southampton, England
28
1909
Yeomen of the Guard
Sergeant Meryll
Shanghai, China
55
1936
Pirates of Penzance
Sergeant of Police
Bala, Cynwyd, Pa. USA
56
1937
The Gondoliers
Duke of Plaza Toro
Bala, Cynwyd, Pa. USA
75
1956
Trial by Jury
Juryman
Bournemouth, England
"
"
Pirates of Penzance
Policeman
Bournemouth, England
THE SCATTERED TILBURYS. It might be of interest to mention that around the years 1913-1914 the surviving members of our family, viz.,(in age order) Fred, Sophie, Maud, Florry, myself, Ted, Ella, Charles, Gus, Ernest and Dorothy, were living in the following Countries and places:-
COUNTRY
NAME
1913 - 1914 WHERE-ABOUTS
CITY (IF KNOWN)
S. AFRICA
FRED
Member of Durban Town Counci
DURBAN, NATAL.
ENGLAND.
SOPHIE
Living at home with Father & Mother
SOUTHAMPTON.
S. AFRICA
MAUD
Married and living with family
JOHANNESBURG.
PHILIPPINES
FLORRY
Married and living with family
MANILA.
UNITED STATES
TED
P.T.M.Royal Mail Steam Packet Co.
NEW YORK CITY
FRANCE
ELLA
Travelling on the Riviera
N. BRAZIL
CHARLES
St.John Del Ray Gold Mines.
CANADA
GUS
White Star Line office
WINNIPEG
PORTUGAL
ERNEST
Royal Mail Steam Packet Co
LISBON
CHINA.
DOROTHY
Married and living with family
HANKOW
CANADA.
JAMES (myself)
Married and living with family
VANCOUVER
SUBSEQUENT MOVEMENTS OF THE ABOVE.
S.AFRICA.
FRED
No change
SOPHIE
Joined Maud and family
JOHANNESBURG
MAUD
No change
FRANCE.
TED
P.T.M.Royal Mail S.P.Co Paris (Later transferred as Mgr of R.M.S.P.Co office) Prague, Czechoslovakia.
CANADA.
ELLA
"Earlscourt" Guest House. (Later moved to Pasadena, California,U.S.A.)
VANCOUVER
UNITED STATES.
CHARLES
New York City-Boston-Philadelphia-ENGLAND-LONDON
CANADA.
GUS
Immediately on outbreak of War he volunteered his services (Aug:1914)and left Winnipeg for London. Was later killed.
UNITED STATES.
ERNEST
Philadelphia-France-Denver (own travel business) finally settled in Pasadena, California.
ENGLAND.
DOROTHY
Returned to England account Jap-China war,later went back to Hankow. Left again (another war)ret'd to England second time.Now living with family at Bransgore,near Christchurch,Hants.
CANADA.
SELF(JT)
From Vancouver Dec.1913 to New York. Subsequently as indicated in the auto-biography.
I might add that I have already lived in the reigns of 6 British Sovereigns.
They are:- Queen Victoria who died in 1901, King Edward VII died 1910, King George V died 1936, King Edward VIII Abdicated 1936. King George VI died 1952, Queen Elizabeth - the present Queen.
COUNTRIES VISITED & PLACES SEEN BY J.TILBURY BETWEEN 1890 and 1964.
ENGLAND,SCOTLAND & WALES. Towns and Villages too numerous to mention.
BETWEEN 1906 & 1909. CHINA. Shanghai (2 1/2 years). Tientsin (6 months). Pekin (Peiping). Hongkong. Hankow. Chinkiang. Wuhu. Nanking. Kiukiang. Shanhaikwan. Mukden. Harbin.
JAPAN. Kobe. Nagasaki. Osaka. Myajima. Inland Sea.
RUSSIA. via TransSibarian Railroad September 1909. Irkutsk. Lake Baikal. Ural Mountains. MOSCOW.
POLAND. Warsaw. GERMANY. Berlin. HOLLAND. Hook of Holland en route to England.
CANADA. Between 1910 and 1915.
Vancouvor.B.O. (2 1/2 years). Victoria. New Westminster. Nanaimo. Sicamous. Vernon. Lake Louise. Banff. Toronto. Thousand Islands. MONTREAL. QUEBEC. Murray Bay. Tadousac. St.Lawrence and Saguenay rivers.
NOVA SCOTIA. Halifax.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 1913 to 1964.
NEW YORK STATE. New York City (1 year). Lake Champlain. Lake George. Buffalo. Saratoga Springs. Auzable Chacm. Niagara Falls etc.
PENNSYLVAN IA. PHILADELPHIA (49 years). Cities eta too numerous to mention. MASSACHUSETTS. BOSTON (1 year). Salem. Cape Cod
MAINE. Bar Harbor. Bath. Portland.
VERMONT. Burlington. Stowe. Manchester.
OHIO. Findlay.
NEW HAMPSHIRE. Franconia. Hanover.
NEW JERSEY. Atlantic City.Asbury Park.Cape May.Beach Haven,Ocean City etc.
CONNECTICUT. Bridgeport.
FLORIDA. St Petersburg.(2 winters).Palm Beach(1 month).Miami.St.Augustine.
Daytona. Tampa. Silver Springs. Jacksonville etc.
LOUISIANA. New Orleans,, TEXAS. San Antonio. Tyler. GEORGIA. Savannah. Smoky Mts.
ILLINOIS. CHICAGO. MARYLAND . Baltimore, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. WASHINGTON.
MINNESOTA. St. Paul. Minneapolis. NEW MEXICO. Albuquerque. MISSOURI. St.Louis.
WASHINGTON. Seattle. MEXICO. Tia Juana.
ARIZONA. GRAND CANYON. Apache Trail. Phoenix. Globe (Cliff dwellings) CALIFORNIA. San Francisco. Del Monte. Santa Cruz (Big Trees). Santa Barbara.
Los Angeles. Pasadena. San Diego. Altadena. Riverside. Monterey
Santa Monica. Hollywood. Beverly Hills.Glendale.
PANAMA. Cristobal.Colon. Old Panama by train one ways retg through Canal by steamer.
BERMUDA. Several visits.
WEST INDIES. Haiti. Martinique. St.Lucia. Antigua. JAMAICA. VirginIslands. St.Thomas. St.Croix. Grenada. Trinidad. St.Kitta. Barbados (2 months).
SOUTH AMERICA. Cartagena. Barranquilla. Puerto Colombia.
MADEIRA. Funchal.
SPAIN. Cadiz. Algeciras. Grenada (Alhambra). Seville (Alcazar)
GIBRALTAR. For one day. on 1926 visit. ALGERIA. ALGIERS and Blidah in. 1924. TUNISIA. TUNIS and CARTHAGE (ruins) in 1924.
MALTA. Visited in 1906.
SICILY. Palermo. Catacombs etc. 1925.
ITALY. Naples. Ruins of Pompeii. Sorrento. Capri. ROME. Florence. Venice. Milan.
Lake Como.
GREECE. Phaleron Bay. Mara Hill. The Acropolis. ATHENS.. Stadium etc. Visited 1924.
TURKEY. Dardanelles. Constantinople (Istanbul).Black Sea. 1924-5-6-
EGYPT Alexandria. CAIRO (Sphinx,Pyrarmida etc) LUXOR (King Tutankahmenis tomb) .1924
Thebes. Karnak. Edfu. Eanah. Komombo. Asauan (Dam & Philae). Port Said. Red Sea.
PALESTINE. Jerusalem. Bethlehem. Mt of Olives. Garden of Gethsamene. Jericho. Dead Sea. Jordan river. Bethel. Nazareth. Capornaum. Tiberias. Lake Galilee. Mt.Carmel. Haifa.Acre(Syria)
STRAIT SETTLEMENTS. Penang. & Singapore (Visited in 1906)
SWITZERLAND. Geneva. Lucerne. Interlaken. Lausanne. Montrmux.
CHANNEL ISLANDS. Guernaey visited in 1899.
FRANCE. PARIS, Versailles, Lyons, Vichy, Marseilles, Nice, Monaco, Monte Carlo, Avignon, Tours(Chateaux) Dinard, St.Lunaire, Deauville, Cherbourg, LeHavre, Honfleur, St.Malo.
CATHEDRALS & CHURCHES IN WHICH JAMES TILBURY SERVED AS CHOIRBOY, BASS AND / OR CHOIRMASTER
1889-90
St. Mary's P.E. Church. Southampton, Hampshire. UK.
Soprano
1890-97
Winchester Cathedral, Winchester, Hants. England.
"
Chichester Cathedral. (Loaned by Winchester for Festival Services)
"
1898
St. Mary's P.E. Church, Southampton, Hants. UK.
Bass
1899-1903
St Paul's P.E. Church, Southampton, Hants. UK
Bass
1904-6
St. John's P.E. Church, London. S.W. England
Bass
1906-9
The Cathedral. Shanghai, China.
Bass soloist
1910
St. John's Church, Wilton Rd, London. S.W. England
Thank you so much for posting this autobiography of my great grandfather, James Tilbury (1881-1972)! My dad told me many of these amazing stories about his grandfather over the years. It was such a blessing to find them here, print them out & share them with my dad who is now 76. I have one picture of myself as an infant with my great grandfather. My dad (James Tilbury Nutter of Connecticut/Texas)has even more info on the family, but alas, he is not a big fan of modern technology.
Note: For privacy reasons your email address is not published. If you wish to publish it, add it to the text of your comment and it will be given spam-protection masking.
Autobiography of James Tilbury (1881-1972)
Additional Information
Being both students and choristers and, in the latter capacity, obliged to sing at one choir practice and two services daily (except Wednesdays), the school curriculum had to be adjusted accordingly for the choirboys, hence non-essentials, Latin for instance, had to be omitted. Even so, most evenings we had to study for at least two hours. Nevertheless, we had time for cricket, football etc., and for long walks through the lovely countryside and over the Downs, always accompanied, of course, by an under-master.
My Father, Edward Tilbury, originally an accountant, was an executive of the London & South Western Railway Co. In 1960 he was due to retire as he would then be 60 years of age - the Railway Co's age limit. However, because of the tremendous expense of bringing up 17 children (there were still seven younger than me around) he asked the Company to permit him to carry on for another 5 years, and, because of an excellent reputation, and over forty years service, also the unusual-circumstances, they willingly agreed. He and Mother both lived to be 75 years of age and died within months of each other during the First War.
ATLANTIC OCEAN I have crossed this particular ocean 23 times. Eight times` on business, Fifteen times on purely pleasure trips (visiting relatives etc) With the same object, my wife has crossed 33 times.
PHOTOGRAPHS etc. We have several albums full of photographs and picture postcards, taken or bought in most of those parts of the world visited, and also numerous family photographs.
ENTERTAINMENTS, POETRY etc. During my lifetime I have written lots of verses many of which have been used at Concerts, Entertainments etc. A book of humourous verses applicable to the Executives Association of Philadelphia, were written by me when I was their Vice President. They decided to print it and to send copies to other Executive Associations in various parts of the U.S.A.
GILBERT & SULLIVAN OPERAS I have participated in the following performances of Gilbert & Sullivan operas, as an amateur, of course.
THE SCATTERED TILBURYS. It might be of interest to mention that around the years 1913-1914 the surviving members of our family, viz.,(in age order) Fred, Sophie, Maud, Florry, myself, Ted, Ella, Charles, Gus, Ernest and Dorothy, were living in the following Countries and places:-
I might add that I have already lived in the reigns of 6 British Sovereigns.
They are:- Queen Victoria who died in 1901, King Edward VII died 1910, King George V died 1936, King Edward VIII Abdicated 1936. King George VI died 1952, Queen Elizabeth - the present Queen.
COUNTRIES VISITED & PLACES SEEN BY J.TILBURY BETWEEN 1890 and 1964.
ENGLAND,SCOTLAND & WALES. Towns and Villages too numerous to mention.
BETWEEN 1906 & 1909. CHINA. Shanghai (2 1/2 years). Tientsin (6 months). Pekin (Peiping). Hongkong. Hankow. Chinkiang. Wuhu. Nanking. Kiukiang. Shanhaikwan. Mukden. Harbin.
JAPAN. Kobe. Nagasaki. Osaka. Myajima. Inland Sea.
RUSSIA. via TransSibarian Railroad September 1909. Irkutsk. Lake Baikal. Ural Mountains. MOSCOW.
POLAND. Warsaw. GERMANY. Berlin. HOLLAND. Hook of Holland en route to England.
CANADA. Between 1910 and 1915.
Vancouvor.B.O. (2 1/2 years). Victoria. New Westminster. Nanaimo. Sicamous. Vernon. Lake Louise. Banff. Toronto. Thousand Islands. MONTREAL. QUEBEC. Murray Bay. Tadousac. St.Lawrence and Saguenay rivers.
NOVA SCOTIA. Halifax.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 1913 to 1964.
NEW YORK STATE. New York City (1 year). Lake Champlain. Lake George. Buffalo. Saratoga Springs. Auzable Chacm. Niagara Falls etc.
PENNSYLVAN IA. PHILADELPHIA (49 years). Cities eta too numerous to mention. MASSACHUSETTS. BOSTON (1 year). Salem. Cape Cod
MAINE. Bar Harbor. Bath. Portland.
VERMONT. Burlington. Stowe. Manchester.
OHIO. Findlay.
NEW HAMPSHIRE. Franconia. Hanover.
NEW JERSEY. Atlantic City.Asbury Park.Cape May.Beach Haven,Ocean City etc.
CONNECTICUT. Bridgeport.
FLORIDA. St Petersburg.(2 winters).Palm Beach(1 month).Miami.St.Augustine.
Daytona. Tampa. Silver Springs. Jacksonville etc.
LOUISIANA. New Orleans,, TEXAS. San Antonio. Tyler. GEORGIA. Savannah. Smoky Mts.
ILLINOIS. CHICAGO. MARYLAND . Baltimore, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. WASHINGTON.
MINNESOTA. St. Paul. Minneapolis. NEW MEXICO. Albuquerque. MISSOURI. St.Louis.
WASHINGTON. Seattle. MEXICO. Tia Juana.
ARIZONA. GRAND CANYON. Apache Trail. Phoenix. Globe (Cliff dwellings) CALIFORNIA. San Francisco. Del Monte. Santa Cruz (Big Trees). Santa Barbara.
Los Angeles. Pasadena. San Diego. Altadena. Riverside. Monterey
Santa Monica. Hollywood. Beverly Hills.Glendale.
PANAMA. Cristobal.Colon. Old Panama by train one ways retg through Canal by steamer.
BERMUDA. Several visits.
WEST INDIES. Haiti. Martinique. St.Lucia. Antigua. JAMAICA. VirginIslands. St.Thomas. St.Croix. Grenada. Trinidad. St.Kitta. Barbados (2 months).
SOUTH AMERICA. Cartagena. Barranquilla. Puerto Colombia.
MADEIRA. Funchal.
SPAIN. Cadiz. Algeciras. Grenada (Alhambra). Seville (Alcazar)
GIBRALTAR. For one day. on 1926 visit. ALGERIA. ALGIERS and Blidah in. 1924. TUNISIA. TUNIS and CARTHAGE (ruins) in 1924.
MALTA. Visited in 1906.
SICILY. Palermo. Catacombs etc. 1925.
ITALY. Naples. Ruins of Pompeii. Sorrento. Capri. ROME. Florence. Venice. Milan.
Lake Como.
GREECE. Phaleron Bay. Mara Hill. The Acropolis. ATHENS.. Stadium etc. Visited 1924.
TURKEY. Dardanelles. Constantinople (Istanbul).Black Sea. 1924-5-6-
EGYPT Alexandria. CAIRO (Sphinx,Pyrarmida etc) LUXOR (King Tutankahmenis tomb) .1924
Thebes. Karnak. Edfu. Eanah. Komombo. Asauan (Dam & Philae). Port Said. Red Sea.
PALESTINE. Jerusalem. Bethlehem. Mt of Olives. Garden of Gethsamene. Jericho. Dead Sea. Jordan river. Bethel. Nazareth. Capornaum. Tiberias. Lake Galilee. Mt.Carmel. Haifa.Acre(Syria)
STRAIT SETTLEMENTS. Penang. & Singapore (Visited in 1906)
SWITZERLAND. Geneva. Lucerne. Interlaken. Lausanne. Montrmux.
CHANNEL ISLANDS. Guernaey visited in 1899.
FRANCE. PARIS, Versailles, Lyons, Vichy, Marseilles, Nice, Monaco, Monte Carlo, Avignon, Tours(Chateaux) Dinard, St.Lunaire, Deauville, Cherbourg, LeHavre, Honfleur, St.Malo.
CATHEDRALS & CHURCHES IN WHICH JAMES TILBURY SERVED AS CHOIRBOY, BASS AND / OR CHOIRMASTER
December 30th 19631
[1] Source David Tilbury, Oregon
Comments
April Boothe 2 years ago
Thank you so much for posting this autobiography of my great grandfather, James Tilbury (1881-1972)! My dad told me many of these amazing stories about his grandfather over the years. It was such a blessing to find them here, print them out & share them with my dad who is now 76. I have one picture of myself as an infant with my great grandfather. My dad (James Tilbury Nutter of Connecticut/Texas)has even more info on the family, but alas, he is not a big fan of modern technology.
Reply
linden 2 years ago
My pleasure April, glad it's been useful. Perhaps you could digitise all your father's gems of information? Cheers, Linden
Reply
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