ALBERT EVITT LILLEY was my maternal grandfather. His mother was SARAH ELLEN EATON (10/1859 - 8/5/1929)
The Eaton Connection:
WILLIAM EATON (1820 -1893) married MARY ANN ? (1825 - 1897) in England.
They both died in Port Alfred, Eastern Cape and were buried in the West Bank Cemetery in that town. They had a daughter, SARAH ELLEN EATON, born October 1859 in the Romford District, Barking, Essex, England. She was baptized on 20/06/1860 in the Church of England Parish Church, Barking - probably St Margaret´s. Barking is in the East end of London.
We do not know when the family moved to South Africa, but we do know that Sarah Eaton left Port Alfred Sunday School in May 1874, when she was presented with a Bible which is in my possession. I have a photo of her, aged 17, taken in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape.
Their arrival in the country must have been between 1860 and 1873.
SARAH ELLEN EATON (1859 - 1929) married ALFRED LILLEY (1846 - 1925) at Port Alfred, presumably about 1876. She would have been about seventeen years old.
They had twelve children, of whom four survived to adulthood. Sarah recorded the births of seven of her children in the Bible we have.
1) Her first child, Herbert William Alfred Lilley was born in Panmure, Eastern Cape on 14/3/1877. He was christened in the Wesleyan Chapel, Panmure 20/5/1877 by Rev. Rayner. Herbert died in Kei Road, E. Cape on 01/08/1878 and was buried on 02/08/1878.
2) Alfred Eaton Lilley was born in Port Alfred, E. Cape on 16/02/1880 and died 06/03/1880.
3) Reginald Eaton Lilley was born in Somerset East, E. Cape on 11/02/1882, died 02/04/1882
4) George Clifford Lilley was born in Port Alfred on 22/02/1883 and died on 06/04/1883.
5) Florence Mary Lilley, born in Bedford, E. Cape on 30/10/1884; christened 16/12/1884.
6) Ada Ellen Lilley born in Seymour, E. Cape on 29/1/1886; christened 10/02/1886
7) ALBERT EVITT LILLEY (Father of Daphne Florence Lilley and my Grandfather) was born on 10/02/1887, presumably in Seymour, E. Cape where he was christened on 10/5/1887 by the Methodist minister, Rev. Thomas Spargo. His birth is not recorded in the Bible but we have his baptismal certificate.
8) Laurence Edmund Lilley was born in Port Alfred on 12/01/1890.
The following four children were not recorded in the Bible but appeared in official records.
9) Frederick Harold Lilley was born in the Cape Colony in March 1892. He died in the Provincial Hospital. Port Elizabeth on 17/02/1893, having been admitted on 13/02/1893. The family were staying at 84 Rudolph Street, Port Elizabeth. Walter Harris was the Surgeon Superintendent at the hospital.
10) Myra Constance Lilley born 02/09/1896 in Beaufort West, Cape Colony and christened on 01/11/1896 at Beaufort West Wesleyan Methodist Church by Rev. I. H. Gathercole. She died on 08/11/1896, aged two months. Cause of death - Marasmus. Dr Robinson filled in the death certificate. The family lived in Garcia Street, Beaufort West. She was buried in the Wesleyan Cemetery.
11) Doris Louise Lilley born 30/07/1899 in Beaufort West was baptized 23/09/1899 by Rev. D. Moore of the Wesleyan Methodist Church, Beaufort West. The baptism took place in the lounge of the parents¨. This infant presumably died as we have no other information.
12) Edward Redvers Lilley, born 10/02/1902, was baptized on 13/4/1902 by Rev. D. Moore in the Wesleyan Church, Beaufort West. He died of dysenteric diarrhea on 08/07/1902, having been ill for eight days. The family lived in New Street, Beaufort West. (Garcia and New Streets intersected. Did they live on the corner and was this the same residence as given for Myra?) The father´s occupation is given as ¨shopkeeper¨. This was after the end of the Boer War. He was said to have fought in the Boer War which ended in May 1902.
Further information on the four children who survived:
1) Florence Mary Lilley married Major Charles John Stait of the War Office, London, and they lived in England. (He was born on 01/08/1880 in Horfield, Gloucestershire. Died 20/06/1963 in Lewisham, London.) They had two sons: i) Harold Stait, born 1911. ii) Arthur Stait, born 1914. One of the sons came to Cape Town during World War II and met the family here. According to the 1911 census, they were living in Heavitree, Devonshire. They also lived in Glenlyon Road, Eltham Park, London at some time. Florence was a witness at the wedding of her brother, Laurence Edward Lilley to Grace Lydia Francis in London in 1918. Florence apparently committed suicide by jumping in front of a train, I was told. But we have no official confirmation of this. She died in Woolwich Town, London on 16/07/1946.
2) Ada Ellen Lilley was born with a cleft palate and had a speech impediment as a result. She worked as a nurse caring for the lepers on Robben Island (now famous because of Nelson Mandela´s incarceration there at a later stage) until the leprosarium moved to Pretoria in the Transvaal. She continued nursing there. She inherited her mother´s estate which amounted to two pounds, eleven shillings and eleven pence plus clothing and personal effects worth eight pounds. She married Philip Schmidt, a widower on 29/1/1936.
They were both fifty-eight years old. The marriage was apparently not a success, as she reverted to her maiden name, I understand. Later she moved down to Cape Town and shared Grandma´s bedroom in Gibson Road, Wynberg until she moved to the nearby Country Club in Wetton Road. She had an outside room there and fed the local cats. I remember Aunty Ellen as being rather tall, She died in Groote Schuur Hospital on 25/08/1955. (The Cemetery Register gives 25th as her date of death, however, The Probate Register gives the 26th as the date. The funeral service was taken by Rev A J T Cook of Wynberg Methodist Church, and she was buried at Plumstead Cemetery.
Aunty Ellen loved cats and when she died, my mother inherited. There was not much but there was a mattress with images of cats’ heads and a teapot in the shape of a cat and an unusual little cup and saucer, as well as her old hats. Later, my sisters, Joan, Pat and Margaret humiliated me - teenager that I was - by arriving late at Sunday School (Lansdowne Methodist), marching to the front for all to see, each one wearing one of Great Aunt Ellen´s old hats! Whatever made my mother keep those less than fashionable hats?
3) ALBERT EVITT LILLEY (my grandfather) - his history will be given later.
4) Laurence Edmund Lilley (1890 - 1949) married Grace Lydia Francis (1895 - 1951) at the Marylebone Register´s office, ¨by certificate¨, in London in 1918. He was a Signalman, R.N., overseas with the South African contingent R.N.V.R., during The Great War (World War I). His residence at the time was ¨R.N. Barracks, Devonport¨. The witnesses to the marriage were from both families - Florence Mary Stait (Uncle Laurie´s sister) and Henry Thomas Waller (from Aunty Grace´s family, her mother´s maiden name having been Waller).
More about the Francis family: According to the census of 1901, the Francis family was living in Wood Ditton, Cambridgeshire, and Grace was six years old (born 16/10/1895 in Cambridgeshire, U. K.). Her father, William James Francis, was born in Wiltshire, in 1862 (estimated) and was the Postmaster in Wood Ditton. (He was a drummer in the 4th Suffolk at the time of Grace´s birth. They lived in Staff Quarters in Ely.) She was the second eldest of six children in 1901 - five girls and a boy. The eldest was born in Essex, the others in Cambridgeshire. Her mother, Emily Eliza Francis nee Waller, born in Ipswich, Suffolk, was 29 in 1901.
In the census of 1911, there were now seven children and one child, Emily, had died.
Eventually there were nine children. Grace´s father died in March 1929 in Ely.
Family rumour has it that Grace´s family did not approve of the marriage.
Laurence and Grace Lilley had four children:
i) Gwyneth Francis Lilley (1919 - 1992)
She married Charles George Rodwell Ogden at the Metropolitan Methodist Church in Cape Town in 1940. He was Australian born and a staff sergeant in the Cape Town Highlanders Regiment. His father was not on the wedding photo, so may have been deceased. His mother, Dora was present at the wedding. Charles Ogden was an electrical engineer. He died of heart failure in 1941 while on active service (World War II) in Egypt.
Gwyneth remarried - Vic Alcock. They had four children:
Maeve Alcock; Derek Alcock, born 1945; Royce Alcock, born 1956 and Lorraine Dockerill née Alcock, born 1957.
ii) John Herbert Francis Lilley (1921 - 1976, buried at sea) married Audrey Cowan (1924 - still alive in 2020) Uncle John was Town Clerk of Simonstown and enjoyed yachting. His naval career will be considered later. They had two sons:
A) Leonard Lilley, born 1947, married Alison Marais. They had two sons:
- Craig Allen Lilley, born 1973, married Lesley Vine. They had a son: Tristan, born 1999.
Craig remarried Cyndy Hyde. They had two children:
Jemma Audrey Lilley, born 2004; Alex Lilley, born 2008.
- Gregory Lilley, born 1976, married Tania Stone. They had two daughters:
Paige Lilley, born 2004; Phoebe Lilley, born 2007.
B) Clifford Lilley born 1951, lives in Switzerland.
iii) Lydia Francis Lilley (1925 - 1995) married Terence Ellis Fitzgerald and had four children.
A) Maureen Davidow née Fitzgerald.
B) Bridget Rainbow née Fitzgerald.
C) Moya Joubert née Fitzgerald.
D) Brendan Fitzgerald.
iv) Howard James Francis Lilley. known as Jimmy (1935 - 2002) married Rolanda Leonie Mangiagalli (1943 - 2000). They had four children:
A) David Colin Lilley, born 1960, married Glenda Lyde. They had one son: Brandon Peter Lilley, born 1988.
B) Laurie Gwen Lilley (known as Gwen), born 1963, married Alan de Lucchi. Gwen is a Deaf Person. They live in Italy. They had four children:
a) Laurie de Lucchi, born 1987, married Fred Mazziota. They live in France.
b) Robyn de Lucchi, born 1989, and Klodjan Mulaj live in Italy. Two sons:
Gabriel de Lucchi, born 2014; Daniel de Lucchi, born 2017.
c) Adrienne de Lucchi, born 1993, lives in Italy.
d) Alan James de Lucchi, born 1999, lives in Italy.
C) Lawrence James Lilley, born 1964 & Kayce Dabson live in Cape Town. Two sons:
a) Dyllan James Lilley, born 1993.
b) Reece Lilley, born 1999.
D) Peter John Lilley, born 1966, lives in Perth, Australia with his partner, Robert Douglas Richardson.
Great Aunt Grace Lilley developed Rheumatoid Arthritis around the age of forty. Eventually, she was confined to a wheelchair. She became a chronic patient at Conradie Home, Pinelands. She later developed complications associated with her condition which had cost her fifteen years of suffering. These complications led to her death in 1951, aged fifty-five. There is no record of her grave, Great Uncle Laurie died, before her, in the Provincial Hospital, Port Elizabeth in 1949. He had a coronary thrombosis plus a gastric ulcer leading to hematemesis. He was ill for seven months. According to his death certificate, he was ¨a travelling salesman¨. There is no record of his grave although he was supposed to be buried at North End Cemetery, Port Elizabeth.
Stories about SARAH LILLEY nee Eaton, from her daughter-in-law, my grandmother (family gossip). She spoiled her son, Albert Evitt Lilley. (But remember he was the first living son, after losing four). She visited her son Albert Evitt when her grandchildren were small and brought fruit for her son - not for the children. She liked to sit with a Bible open on her lap. She seems not to have been close to her grandchildren or her daughter-in-law, Florence nee Bolton. I gather my mother did not like her grandfather.
Other facts about SARAH and ALFRED LILLEY - they lived mainly in the Eastern Cape, moving around quite a bit, in the earlier years of their marriage. From 1896 and during the Boer War they were stationed in Beaufort West, living in New and Garcia Streets (or on the corner of New and Garcia Streets - my speculation!) He was a shopkeeper there in 1902, after the end of the Boer War. They moved to Cape Town (sometime between 1903 and 1908), and from possibly about 1910 until sometime after 1925, lived at 5 Collingwood Rd., Observatory. They also, at an earlier time unknown, lived at 3, Ida Villas, Main Road, Sea Point. They belonged to the Wesleyan Methodist Church. They attended Observatory Methodist Church, as did the Boltons. (See Later history)
SARAH ELLEN LILLEY died in the home of the Methodist minister, Rev. A J Cook, father of Rev Jack A J T Cook, in Heathfield, Cape Town, on 8th May, 1929. She was buried at No 2 gate, Woltemade Cemetery, Maitland. I never met her, but I have compassion for a woman who bore twelve children and lost eight of them as babies or toddlers.
Just a note on ALFRED LILLEY, although his naval and military careers are mentioned later. He died on 2nd October 1925 in Cape Town, probably in Observatory. He was also buried at No 2 gate, Woltemade cemetery, Maitland. On Sarah´s death certificate his occupation was given as ¨Bookkeeper¨.