{74} Edward III Descents for Lt. Philemon Tilghman (1760-1797)

Tilghman Coat of Arms
[Per fesse sable, and argent, a lion rampant-
reguardant double-queued, counterchanged,
crowned or]

Through her father Admiral Mark Milbanke, Harriet Tilghman has many lines of descent from Edward III, and a probable illegitimate one from Edward IV, not surprising at all for a lady of the late 18th-century British gentry. What is much more remarkable is that her American-born husband Lt. Philemon Tilghman, through his father James Tilghman of Philadelphia, has his own two lines of descent from Edward III. Maryland-based historian Jennifer A. Bryan gives an excellent summary of the background of the Tilghmans, one of the most prominent families on the state's Eastern Shore:

"The Tilghmans were descended from a minor gentry family who had lived in Kent in the southeast of England for more than 500 years. Their coat of arms dated to at least 1468, perhaps earlier. James's grandparents Richard and Mary Foxley Tilghman arrived in Maryland in 1662 with their two children and sixteen indentured servants during the boom period in the tobacco trade. Lord Baltimore had granted Richard a patent to a thousand-acre tract, Canterbury Manor, near present-day Easton, but he settled at 'Tilghman's Hermitage' on the Chester River. Governor Charles Calvert appointed him sheriff of Talbot County in 1669. By his death in 1676, Richard had accumulated 3,350 acres and an estate worth more than £800 sterling, placing him in the top rank of Chesapeake society. His son and namesake Richard married Anna Maria Lloyd in 1700, thus allying the Tilghmans to one of Maryland's wealthiest families. Richard held numerous offices, among them justice of the peace for Talbot and Queen Anne's counties, vestryman of St. Paul's parish, sheriff of Queen Anne's County, member of the Lower House of Assembly for Talbot County, member of the Upper House, Councillor, justice of the Provincial Court, and Chancellor of Maryland. He 'dyed in what we call in this Country good circumstances.' James Tilghman, born on December 6, 1716, was the eighth of Richard and Anna Maria's nine children. Twenty-two at the time of his father's death in 1739, he inherited about 2,500 acres. He studied law with Tench Francis and married Francis's daughter Anne on September 30, 1743. The couple resided at 'Fausley,' Francis's former plantation in Talbot County...He moved his family to Philadelphia in late 1762 or early 1763 because of Anne's poor health. By 1766, Thomas and Richard Penn, proprietors of Pennsylvania, had appointed him to the post of secretary of the land office" ["'The Horrors of Civil War': The Tilghman Family in the American Revolution," Maryland Historical Magazine, Volume, pp. 35-36].

The Hermitage, on the Chester River, Queen Anne's County, Maryland

The Tilghmans were indeed minor gentry, not once holding a county office, such as sheriff or justice of the peace, during the 16th century. When William Tilghman of Holloway Court, in the parish of Snodland, Kent, died in 1541 he was the foremost man of that parish, with a prominent brass memorial to him and his two wives in the parish church. He was succeeded at Holloway Court by his 23-year-old grandson William Tilghman the younger, who had married two years previous to Mary Bere, from a prosperous armigerous family in Rochester. In late 1572, William Tilghman buried his third wife, and within two years married a fourth one, Susan Whetenhall. It wasn't succession that drove William into a fourth marriage at the age of 57, for his son Edward Tilghman (1542-1611, from his first marriage to Mary Bere), was in his early 30s in 1574, standing firmly in line to inherit Holloway Court, and married for the past seven years, since 1567, to Margaret Brewer (d. 1613). Susan (née Whetenhall) Tilghman, the new lady of Holloway Court, was almost two generations younger than her husband William, since as the second daughter of parents married in 1547, she could not have been born much earlier than 1550. Edward Tilghman didn't look with fondness upon a stepmother who was ten years his junior, nor on the growing second family she was providing his father (six children were born in the first 12 years of the marriage, four of whom survived infancy), as provision for them would necessarily lessen his own inheritance. Indeed after William Tilghman's death in 1593, lawsuits between his widow Susan and his heir Edward dragged on for years.

All Saints Church, Snodland, Kent

The Whetenhalls, seated at Hextall Court, in the parish of East Peckham, Kent, just ten miles north of Holloway Court, were a more prominent family than the Tilghmans. Susan's father Thomas Whetenhall was a radical Puritan who, along with his father George Whetenhall, had fled to the continent during the reign of Queen Mary. Thomas kept his own tombstone in Hextall Court, and wished to be buried in it, as he believed church burials lauded men, not God. In 1606, the year before his death, his A Discourse of the Abuses Now in Question in the Churches of Christ, was published. Susan Tilghman shared the Puritan zeal of her father, as evidenced by her giving two of her sons the first name of 'Lambert', after Protestant martyr John Lambert (d. 1538). William Tilghman must have been an active Puritan himself, as his fourth marriage to his neighbour's much younger daughter makes no sense otherwise. The Whetenhalls could use some further research, so hopefully more detail on them will emerge in future posts. It is through the Whetenhalls that the Maryland Tilghmans derive their two lines of descent from Edward III, though its clear that it wasn't until the end of the 19th century when they first become aware that they had this royal descent.

James Tilghman (1716-1793)

The senior branch of the Tilghman family, descended from Edward Tilghman (1542-1611), sold Holloway Court in about 1615 (the manor house was pulled down in 1884 to make way for Holdborough Court). The male line of these senior Tilghmans is thought to have gone extinct by the mid-17th century. Of the three surviving sons of William Tilghman and his fourth wife Susan Whetenhall, their youngest son Charles Tilghman (1582-1608) died unmarried, and the male line of their eldest son Whetenhall Tilghman (1576-aft.1652) went extinct in 1779. Their second son Oswald Tilghman (1581-1629), a London grocer, left a sole surviving son, the colonial immigrant Dr Richard Tilghman (1627-1675), so the Maryland Tilghmans are the only male line of the family which survives today.

JAMES TILGHMAN, attorney, of Philadelphia, and of Chestertown, Kent County, Maryland, b. 6 Dec. 1716 The Hermitage, Queen Anne's County, Maryland; d. 24 Aug. 1793, bur. St Paul's Parish, Kent Episcopal Churchyard, Chestertown, 4th son of Col. Richard Tilghman of The Hermitage (1672-1738, descended from Edward III - see Generation A11 below) and Anna Maria Lloyd (1676-1748, descended from Edward I); m. 30 Sept. 1743 Christ Church, Philadelphia, ANNE FRANCIS, b. 1 Oct. 1727 Fausley (plantation), Talbot County, Maryland; d. 18 Dec. 1771 Philadelphia, dau. of Tench Francis of Philadelphia (1701-1758) and Elizabeth Turbott (1708-1800), and had issue, six sons and four daughters.

Issue of James and Anne (Francis) Tilghman:

Col. Tench Tilghman
(1744-1786)

1) Col. TENCH TILGHMAN of Baltimore, merchant, aide-de-camp to Gen. George Washington 1776-1783, b. 25 Dec. 1744 Fausley, Talbot County; d. 18 Apr. 1786 Baltimore, bur. Old St Paul's Cemetery, Baltimore; m. 9 June 1783, his first cousin, ANNA MARIA TILGHMAN, b. 17 July 1755 Rich Neck Manor (plantation), Queen Anne's County; d. 13 Jan. 1843, bur. Oxford Cemetery, Talbot County, dau. of Matthew Tilghman of Rich Neck Manor (1718-1790, descended from Edward III) and Anna Lloyd (1724-1794, descended from Edward I), and had issue, two daughters.

2) RICHARD TILGHMAN, of the Honourable East India Company, b. 17 Dec. 1746 Fausley, Talbot County; d. unm. 21 Jan. 1786 at sea, and had issue, one illegitimate daughter.

3) JAMES TILGHMAN, Jr. of Easton, Talbot County, attorney, b. 2 Jan. 1748 Fausley, Talbot County; d. 24 Nov. 1796 Easton; m. by 1783, ELIZABETH BUELY, b. 1767; d. 9 Jan. 1846, bur. Spring Hill Cemetery, Easton, and had issue, one son and four daughters.

4) ANNA MARIA TILGHMAN, b. 19 Feb. 1750; d.s.p. 5 Jan. 1817 Philadelphia, bur. Clover Fields Farm Cemetery, Queen Anne's County; m. 26 Dec. 1797 Kent County, as his 3rd wife, her first cousin, WILLIAM HEMSLEY of Clover Fields Farm, Maryland State Senator 1779-81, 1786-89,  b. 23 Jan. 1737 Clover Fields Farm; d. there 5 June 1812, bur. Clover Fields Farm Cemetery, only son of William Hemsley of Clover Fields Farm (1703-1736) and Anna Maria Tilghman (1709-1763, descended from Edward III).

5) ELIZABETH TILGHMAN, b. 12 Dec. 1754; d. 29 Sept. 1799; m. 1780, Gen. JAMES LLOYD of Fairlee, Kent County, U.S. Senator from Maryland 1797-1800, b. 1745 Chestertown; d. 1820 Ratcliff Manor, Easton, Talbot County, bur. Clover Fields Farm Cemetery, son of Col. Richard Lloyd of Kent County (1717-1786, descended from Edward I) and first wife Anne Crouch, and had issue, one son and three daughters.

William Tilghman
(1756-1827)

6) WILLIAM TILGHMAN of Philadelphia, Chief Justice Supreme Court of Pennsylvania 1806-1827, b. 12 Aug. 1756 Fausley, Talbot County; d. 29 Apr. 1827 Philadelphia; m. 1 July 1794 Christ Church, Philadelphia, MARGARET ELIZABETH ALLEN, b. 21 Apr. 1772 Philadelphia; d. 9 Sept. 1798 Trout Hall, Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, dau. of James Allen of Trout Hall (1742-1778) and Elizabeth Lawrence (1751-1800), and had issue, one daughter.

7) MARY 'Molly' TILGHMAN, b. 24 Aug. 1758; d. unm. Nov. 1789 Chestertown.

8) Lt. PHILEMON TILGHMAN of Golden Square (plantation), Queen Anne's County, Royal Navy 1777-1785, b. 29 Nov. 1760 Philadelphia; d. 11 Jan. 1797 Golden Square; m. (eloped) 1785, HARRIET MILBANKE, b. Chester Deanery, Chester-le-Street, co. Durham, bap. 30 Sept. 1765 St Mary & St Cuthbert Church, Chester-le-Street; d. 4 Apr. 1835 Portman Square, London, bur. 11 Apr. 1835 St Etheldreda Church, Bishops Hatfield, Hertfordshire, er dau. of Adm. Mark Milbanke of Portman Square (1724-1805, descended from Edward IV) and Mary Webber (c.1742-1812), and had issue, one son and four daughters.

9) HENRIETTA MARIA TILGHMAN, b. 26 Feb. 1763; d. 2 Mar. 1796; m. 22 Jan. 1785, her first cousin, LLOYD TILGHMAN of Sherwood Manor (plantation), b. 27 July 1749; d. 1 Oct. 1811, yst son of Matthew Tilghman of Rich Neck Manor (1718-1790, descended from Edward III) and Anna Lloyd (1724-1794, descended from Edward I), and had issue, three sons and four daughters.

10) THOMAS RINGGOLD TILGHMAN of Philadelphia, merchant, b. 11 Aug. 1765 Philadelphia; d. unm. 29 Dec. 1789.

The two lines of descent from Edward III for James Tilghman and his son Lt. Philemon Tilghman are below. The first ten generations of Line A appear on p. 206 of Royal Descents of 600 Immigrants (2004). Given that there aren't many 17th-century immigrants to the American colonies who descend from Edward III, it's strange that Dr. Richard Tilghman doesn't appear at all in any of the editions of Plantagenet Ancestry, especially as he has many descendants living today.

Edward III had two sons A1 & B1 (see below)
A1) John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster (1340-1399) m. 3) Katherine Roet (c.1350-1403), and had

3rd Lord Abergavenny -
see Generation A3

A2) Lady Joan Beaufort (c.1377-1440) m. 2) Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland (1364-1425), and had
A3) Edward Neville, 3rd Lord Abergavenny (c.1417-1476) m. 1) Lady Elizabeth Beauchamp (see B4 below), and had
A4) George Neville, 4th Lord Abergavenny (1440-1492) m. 1) Margaret Fenne (c.1444-1485), and had
A5) Elizabeth Neville (b. c.1471) m. Thomas Berkeley, Heir of Beverstone Castle (c.1470-1500), and had
A6) Alice Berkeley (b. c.1497) m. George Whetenhall of Hextall Court (d. 1573), and had
A7) THOMAS WHETENHALL of Hextall Court, East Peckham, Kent, b. c.1525; bur. 2 Apr. 1607 St Michael Church, East Peckham; m. 1st (lic. 27 Apr.) 1547, DOROTHY FANE, dau. of John Fane of Hadlow (d. 1542) and Isabel Haute, and had
A8) SUSAN WHETENHALL, b. c.1550; bur. 1617 St Michael Church, East Peckham; m. 1574, as his 4th wife, WILLIAM TILGHMAN of Holloway Court, Snodland, Kent, b. c.1518; bur. 24 Feb. 1593 All Saints Church, Snodland, son of Richard Tilghman, Heir of Holloway Court (d. 1518) and Juliana Pordage, and had

Whetenhall Coat of Arms

A9) OSWALD TILGHMAN of London, grocer, b. 4 Oct. 1581 Holloway Court, bap. 11 Oct. 1581 All Saints Church, Snodland; d. London, bur. 19 Jan. 1629 St Mary Abchurch, London; m. 2nd (lic. 15 Nov.) 1626, ELIZABETH PACKNAM, d. 1634 London, and had
A10) Dr. RICHARD TILGHMAN of The Hermitage, Queen Anne's County, Maryland, physician and planter, immigrated 1662, b. 3 Sept. 1627 London, bap. 3 Sept. 1627 St Mary Abchurch; d. 7 Jan. 1675 The Hermitage; m. 1649, MARY FOXLEY, d. c.1700, and had
A11) Col. RICHARD TILGHMAN of The Hermitage, b. 23 Feb. 1672 The Hermitage; d. there 23 Jan. 1738; m. 7 Jan. 1700 The Hermitage, ANNA MARIA LLOYD, b. 1676; d. 15 Dec. 1748, bur. The Hermitage, dau. of Philemon Lloyd of Wye House, Talbot County (1646-1685) and Henrietta Maria Neale (1647-1697, descended from Edward I), and had
A12) James Tilghman of Philadelphia and Chestertown (1716-1793 - see details above) m. Anne Francis, and had
A13) Lt. Philemon Tilghman of Golden Square (1760-1797 - see details above), husband of Harriet Milbanke

Isabel (née Despenser),
Countess of Warwick -
see Generation B3

B1) Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York (1341-1403) m. 1) Isabel of Castile (1355-1392), and had
B2) Lady Constance Plantagenet of York (c.1375-1416) m. Thomas Despenser, 1st Earl of Gloucester (1373-1400, descended from Edward I), and had
B3) Lady Isabel Despenser (1400-1439) m. 1) Richard Beauchamp, 1st Earl of Worcester (1397-1422, descended from Edward I), and had
B4) Lady Elizabeth Beauchamp (1415-1448) m. Edward Neville, 3rd Lord Abergavenny (see A3 above)

The next blogpost will profile Henry Thomas Weld (1816-1893) of Mount Savage, Maryland, husband of Harriet Emily Hoffman, granddaughter of Philemon and Harriet (Milbanke) Tilghman. Weld would make a great addition to RD600.

Cheers,                                           ------Brad