Looking for any information on Tilsons in Cavan around or before 1820s. My great great grandmother was Eliza Tilson, born about 1840 who married John Coyle in Dublin 1860 and then (as a widow) John Smith in 1873 in Waterford. Eliza's father was William, a publican who, I believe lived in Corratubber and married a Sarah and a Margaret (Peggy).
Marriage cert for John and Eliza 1860
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Marriage of John Smith and Eliza 1873
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Marriage of a William Tilson, son of a William Tilson (publican) in 1866, he may be a brother of Eliza.
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Marriage of a William Tilson who appears to be the son of William Tilson , as above 1888
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Thank you, Eileen. Yes, these are all relevant to my research. I am trying to trace the father - William, publican. Are we related or are you a researcher?
I am just trying to help you with your research but I am having trouble finding a death cert for William (Publican), there appears to be a large family of Tilson's and they give the same names to their children in each marriage so I am being careful to check which brother is the father in each case but definitely William is common in every branch of the family. I will check again later and post if I get lucky.
1821 Census Curratuber, Kilmore, Co Cavan. The houses are listed 4/5/6/7/8 but all are Tilson households. House 4, William Tilson, wife Margaret and daughters Ann and Mary. William is 23 yrs, date of birth 1798.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-894X-TNT?view=index&pe…
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Birth of Margaret Smith, 1876, daughter of John Smith and Eliza Smith Tilson in Waterford
Birth of Charlotte 1874
Eileen,
This is SO helpful. Thank you very much. I had thought William b 1798 was the son of the William I am trying to find, but I'm now beginning to wonder if he is, indeed Eliza's father. I believe Eliza was born about 1841 so that would make sense. He is shown as a farmer on the 1820 census but a publican on Eliza's marriage cert but that was 40 years later!
I need to take another look at everything I now have but I think you might have found him, thank you. All I need to do now his find his baptism (1798) and his marriage to Margaret...
Hello Trevor,
I’m not related, but to find out more information about Eliza Tilson, her parents, and perhaps even her grandparents, you would need to see if there is a church baptism record for Eliza, a church marriage record for her parents, baptism records for her parents, and also church records for her grandparents.
The marriage record that Eileen kindly provided in a previous reply shows that Eliza Tilson and John Coyle were married in St. Paul’s Church of Ireland, Dublin, on 21 May 1860.
Your information shows that Eliza’s father William lived in Corratubber, County Cavan. Eliza may have been born in Corratubber, and her parents may have married when they lived there, or perhaps in a surrounding town.
Corratubber was in the Civil Parish of Kilmore as well as in the Church of Ireland Parish of Kilmore.
The subscription website RootsIreland has transcriptions of the Kilmore Church of Ireland baptisms, marriages, and burials for the years 1702 to 1920.
You are fortunate that these records exist as over half the Church of Ireland parish registers were destroyed in the Four Courts fire in Dublin, where they were housed during the Irish Civil War in 1922.
To access transcriptions of the Kilmore Church of Ireland registers you will have to obtain one of RootsIreland’s subscription packages.
Subscriptions can be had for 1 day, 1 month, 6 months, and 1 year.
If you have free time during a 24 hour period, you can do a lot of research in these parish record transcriptions of the Kilmore Church of Ireland baptisms, marriages, and burials. You can also renew your subscription if you need more time
For more information about RootsIreland and the costs for subscription packages, go to the RootsIreland website at: https://www.rootsireland.ie/
THE 1821 CENSUS OF IRELAND
Most of the census returns for 19th century Ireland no longer exist. Census fragments for the 1821 census do exist, particularly for County Cavan.
In her reply Eileen located the 1821 census for the family of William and Margaret Tilson, living in Curatuber. If you obtain a subscription to RootsIreland, you can look for the Kilmore Church of Ireland marriage for William Tilson and Margaret, which would record Margaret’s maiden name. You can also look for the baptisms of their children up to, and after the year 1821. It may be that Eliza, born circa 1840, was their daughter, and one of their youngest children.
THE TITHE APPLOTMENT BOOKS
Another early 19th century Irish record you can search for free online are the Tithe Applotment Books, which recorded farmers who owned or leased farmland in the 32 counties of Ireland.
The Tithe Applotment Books span the years 1823 to 1837, and can be searched for free at the National Archives of Ireland website, and also at the Family Search website.
But, both the National Archives and FamilySearch made errors when they indexed the Tithe Applotment Book entry for “Wm Tilson.” For example, the index from the National Archives places him in Kilnaglory, County Cork. The index from FamilySearch has Wm in Coratubber, Kilmore Parish, County Mayo, not County Cavan.
Counties Cork and Mayo do not border County Cavan, and are not even in the same Province as County Cavan.
Copies of the original Tithe Applotment Book entries for Wm Tilson however, show him living in Coratubber, “Parsh of Kilmore, Diocese of Kilmore, County of Cavan.”
The Tithe Applotments for Coratubber took place in the year 1834.
A copy of the actual Tithe Applotment Book page for William and five other Tilsons in Coratubber, is attached to this reply.
The blue arrow on the page shows the entry for Wm Tilson. You can enlarge the page for better viewing.
Also recorded in Coratubber are what look like landholders: A. Tilson, Thos (Thomas) Tilson; Jno (John) Tilson; M. Tilson; and Humphrey Tilson. These Tilsons may have all been brothers, or perhaps father and sons.
The last entry in Coratubber is for Lord Farnham. He may have actually been the owner of the properties that the Tilsons farmed. He may have owned the whole townland of Coratubber at that time. Though he may have owned Coratubber, he may not have lived there, but may have been an absentee landlord.
Aside from the Tilsons and Lord Franham, the only other person recorded in Coratubber, in the Tithe Applotment Books, is Thos Willis. It’s possible Thomas Willis may have been a relative of the six Tilsons in Coratubber.
There would have been more people living in Coratubber at this time in 1834, but only those who owned the land, or leased the land were recorded. Family members were not recorded. Earlier, in the 1821 census provided by Eileen, you saw that many Tilsons had resided in Coratubber.
Attched to this reply is an Ordnance Survey Map from the 1829 to 1841 time period, showing Corratober. This would have been during the time period that the Tilsons were recorded in the Tithe Applotment Books.
The Ordnance Survey Map is from the Tailte Éireann website
After seeing Lord Farnham recorded in the Tithe Applotment Books in Coratubber, I looked for him in the 1821 census for County Cavan, but didn’t find him. As mentioned earlier I suspect he was an absentee landlord.
For a comprehensive explanation about the Tithe Applotment Books, go to the National Archives of Ireland website link at:
https://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp
GRIFFITHS VALUATION
I next looked for William Tilson in an Irish property tax record called Griffiths Valuation at the Ask about Ireland website at https://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/. I wanted to see if he, or any other Tilsons had been recorded in Corratober, Civil Parish of Kilmore, County Tipperary.
Griffiths Valuation does not show a William Tilson leasing a house, land, or outbuildings in Corratober. But there are Tilson recorded in Coratober. They are Henry, Thomas, Humphrey, and Matthew Tilson. They leased their property from Lord Franham.
Griffiths Valuation for Corratober is attached to this reply.
William may have been deceased at the time of Griffiths Valuation. The valuation for County Cavan was printed in 1857, 23 years after the Tithe Applotment Books recorded the Tilsons.
There is also the possibility that William had leased a house and land in another town. One other possibility is that William was living in Corratober, but did not lease property. He may have lived in the home of the leaseholder. Those who owned or paid to lease property were recorded in Griffiths Valuation, unlike a census, where family members were recorded in relation to the head of the household.
CONCLUSION
Trevor, if your Tilson ancestors were baptized, married, or buried from the Kilmore Parish Church of Ireland, there may be several church records available for you to search at RootsIreland, as the Kilmore Church of Ireland parish registers go back to 1702, and are available to the year 1920.
Before closing I’d like to compliment Eileen for all the records she generously provided.
Kind Regards,
Dave Boylan
SOURCES
Eileen's Reply to Trevor, Saturday 17th Aug 2024
RootsIreland
National Archives of Ireland: 1821 Cavan Census
National Archives of Ireland: Tithe Applotment Books
FamilySearch: Tithe Applotment Books
Tailte Éireann: Ordnance Survey Map of Corratober, County Cavan
Ask About Ireland: Griffiths Valuation
Thank you very much Dave,
I really do appreciate the time taken by complete strangers in helping explore my Irish roots. I probably will take a one day subscription to Rootsireland to confirm all the information I now have on William Tilson and see if I can find his baptism c 1798.
As previously mentioned he was shown as a Publican on his daughter, Eliza's, marriage cert and I have found a reference to a William Tilson being granted a publican's certificate at Cavan Petty Sessions on 13 Oct 1860. I have also found a newspaper article from January 1874 where William Tilson was summoned for selling drink within prohibited hours. Does anyone know where, if anywhere, I can find details of alcohol licences issued in Cavan 1864-1874?
Thank you
Trevor
Hello Trevor,
Many thanks for your reply. I think the 1 day subscription to Roots Ireland is the way to go for now, as you never know if you'll find baptism, marriage, or burial records for your Tilson ancestors in the Kilmore Church of Ireland registers. If you do find Tilsons in the church registers you can always tie into a month subscription for additional research.
Concerning alcoholic licenses issued in County Cavan, contact the Cavan County Library's, County Archives Department, by email. They may know if alcoholic licenses exist for the 1864 to 1874 time period. The contact email address is: archives@cavancoco.ie
The Cavan County Library home page can be accessed at: https://www.cavanlibrary.ie/
Best of luck with your research Trevor. Please let me know the results of your search in the Kilmore Church of Ireland registers from Roots Ireland.
Dave