Author's Family

What is known about Anthony Stilwell of Hambledon, and his son John, is that they were Agricultural Labourers (family researchers will be familiar with the term "Ag.Lab.")

John's son, William, fathered eleven children in nearby Witley (most survived, indicating that poor they may have been, poverty stricken they were not). Again he is recorded as an Ag.Lab. The author's family continues with William's youngest son, Richard. A little more is known about this Richard and he also fathered eleven children (all of whom survived). Despite this large family, both Richard and his wife Ann are recorded as dying in Witley Poor House - not one child could, or would, look after the aged parents. It seems there was no spare money in this extended family and Richard must have lived in tied property that he had to vacate when he was too old to work. So far then we have very ordinary families of agricultural labourers but with a remarkable survival rate for the babies.

Following the author's family line, we next get Thomas, the 10th of the 11 children of Richard and Ann above. He is also an Ag.Lab in Witley. He and his wife Ann could not quite keep up the record of 11 children, but they did manage 7 all of whom survived into adulthood - a good record none the less. Thomas moved from Witley to nearby Godalming and became a blacksmith and labourer. Witley at the time would have been a relatively small and sleepy hamlet but Godalming was a bustling town on the main London to Portsmouth road. Opportunities to earn money and better yourself would be more likely in Godalming. Of the seven children, just two were sons. The author's family follows the line of the eldest son, Henry James Stilwell. He became a tanner in Goldalming - leather tanning was a major industry in the town at that time. He ran his own small tannery in Ockford Road at the southern end of the town (the buildings were pulled down only recently). Henry James and his wife Sarah had 9 children. Again, all survived, thus keeping up the standards of the ancestors! Note that, so far, this Stilwell family have taken all of 250 years to move just 8 miles form the ancestral home in Hambledon.

Back to Henry James, tanner of Godalming. Tanning was a dirty and unhealthy job and, not surprisingly, the sons were in no hurry to follow their father's trade. Only the 4th of the 5 sons is recorded as becoming a tanner. Most of the children went into local labouring or domestic service jobs. The eldest son, Harry, was a bit different. This is the author's great grandfather. Harry had appenticed as a miller in the flour mill opposite their home in Godalming, and by the 1880s was working in a flour mill near Vauxhall, London (almost certainly Randall's Mill at Nine Elms) when an opportunity came up to take over the running of a mill in Pulborough, Sussex through connections on his wife Jane's family side. He took this opportunity and they made a success of the business. Wife Jane was a strong character and no doubt was a major influence in this success. One could even say that she wore the trousers in that family.

During Harry's life at Pulborough he purchased a mill, a bakery and other land in Pulborough. He became the main miller, baker and corn chandler of Pulborough - a prosperous and pretty Sussex town. He was able to afford to educate and apprentice his children (9 this time. Well done Henry and Jane for keeping up the standards). The author's grandfather, Sidney, apprecticed as a mechanic and worked on automobiles and machinery until WW1. We are not sure where Sidney worked at this time, but it is believed he was working as a private mechanic to a member of the gentry. He is known to have been a mechanic and driver at Brooklands racetrack - probably driving the "gov'nor's" car at the end of a day's recing by the owners. Sidney's mechanical experience was seen as valuable to the armed services at the outbreak of WW1 and he entered the Royal Naval Air Service on 30th August - when the war was just 26 days old. No one knows why a man from Sussex, and with no connections with the sea, should volunteer for a new and relatively obscure branch of the Navy. We suspect he was working as a mechanic/driver for a senior naval officer at the time and probably got told "the RNAS needs men with your mechanical skills Stilwell, so off you go and enlist", or words to that effect. He joined as an Air Mechanic Grade 1 and his service number was 000210 - only the 210th "other rank" to join the RNAS. He served in No. 3 Naval Squadron in Mons in 1914, at Gallipoli in 1915 for 18 months, and at RNAS Redcar as a Leading Mechanic from 1916 (where he was promoted to Petty Officer). He transferred to the RAF when the RNAS and RFC merged in 1918 and became a Sergeant. He was the Chief Mechanic at RNAS Redcar and later at RAF Portholm Meadows (both large airfields). He, along with many others, was rushed to the Western Front with the Naval Brigade (land-based Navy gunners) as part of the desperate measures to halt the German advance in the summer of 1918. We know that at some periods in the war he flew as an observer/air gunner in two-seat aircarft (definitely in Bristol Fighters in 1918). He was awarded a Mention In Despatches (MiD) in 1918. We have no written proof as to what this was for but it is believed to have been for rescuing the two-man crew of a crashed aircraft that was on fire. As the MiD is a bravery award in the presence of the enemy it is believed that this award was for action at Gallipoli in 1916 and the crashed aircraft would have been under fire.  It is not unusual for awards to take 18 months to come through the system. He was demobilised in 1919 as a Flight Sergeant. As with the majority of ex-servicemen of that time he passed down very few stories or anecdotes to his children and grandchildren - he simply got on with his life.

Newly married, Sidney returned to the civilian automobile business, moved to Hounslow, west of London (we don't know why), then to Camberwell in south London, and finally back to Hounslow (a glutton for punishment). He worked for Mercedes Benz from the nineteen-thirties and became works manager at the Mercedes distribution HQ in Brentford until the late 1950's. His eldest daughter became UK Sales Manager of Mercedes Benz until her early death from cancer in the 1970's. During WWII, when the M-Benz business could not operate in the UK (it is a German company, for those who know nothing about cars), Sidney used his Admiralty contacts and ran the M-Benz garage as a Naval sub-contractor, manufacturing parts for ship's radar equipment. He took on the responsibility for paying the highly skilled ex M-Benz mechanics and coachbuilders who were too old to join up. He also made sure the garage chauffeurs were gainfully employed. A nice story of British workers, trained to exacting German standards, helping win the war for Britain. His strength of character is even more impressive when you realise that he did all that despite having a large birthmark on one side of his face - something that would have caused many adverse and hurtful comments in those very non-politically-correct days.

So there we have a typical Stilwell family. The sepia photo above from the early 1930's shows most of the family at Pulborough. Some of the men in the photo are very tall.

Things to note are about this Stilwell family:

• Large families - and most children survived
• Known to be tall (see photo)
• Long-lived (even in the 1700's some lived into their 80's)
• Honest (no records anywhere of brushes with the law)
• Hard-working
• Quiet and unassuming (you could say almost boring!)

Does that sound like your family?