Snodland manuscript, 1539 - 1853

The "Snodland Manuscript" was described by William McMurtrie Tilghman in his 1851 copy as thus:

The following 204 pages contain a literal copy of an old M.S. volume, originally the property of William Tilghman, Esq. of Holoway Court in the parish of Snodland, Kent, which his grandson Richard Tilghman, brought with him from England, on emigrating to this country in 1661. From that time to the present, it has remained in the possession of his descendants, successive owners of his Estate called "The Hermitage" on Chester River, Queen Anne's County, Maryland.

It is a small book, about six inches long, by four and a quarter wide, containing 204 pages, enclosed in a parchment cover, itself part of an old rubricated manuscript. The paper is thick, in places stained by exposure to damp, and much worn at the edges, but still in good preservation. Five leaves (those preceeding pages 1-7-43-61-and that following 204) have been torn out, but in other respects the book seems perfect. Thirteen leaves, (pages 59 to 84), are of red colored paper, and a little smaller than the rest; and six others (pages 117 to 128), are of vellum.

The volume is made up of six small books, some of which, it is evident, were used separately, prior to 1545, when they were all stitched together and enclosed in their present cover. This appears from the fact that in some of the entries dated in 1544 (in the 6th book), the writing is behind the threads which fasten the cover, where it could not have been placed after the cover was put on, thus showing that the books were separate in 1544. While the entry of the birth of Dorothea Tilghman in 1545, made on the first page of the fourth book (consisting of vellum leaves), immediately following that of the birth of her brother Henry in 1543, which is on the last page of the third book, shows, that at that time, the several books had been joined together as we now see them.

All the entries of a date prior to 1584 are in the hand of William Tilghman Jr., except those on pages 1-2 and partly of 3; 5-6, 47-48, 57, 152 and 153. These latter are presumed to be in the handwriting of William Tilghman Sr. (grandfather of William Tilghman Jr.), who died August 27, 1541. They are certainly in the same hand as that of the list entitled "Stuffe geven & delywed by me William Tilgham the elder" (page 47), which it is fair to presume was written by him.

After the death of its first owner, the book probably owed its preservation to the circumstances of it containing original entries of the births of his children. It then appears to have passed into the possession of his son Whitenhall Tilghman, who also entered in it the births of his children; and the practice, thus begun, has been continued by its successive owners of the Tilghman family for more than three centuries, thus converting the volume from its original character of a mere memorandum or account book into that of a family register, and of course making it an object of increasing interest to each succeeding generation. Some of the entries of births occur at irregular intervals, having been inserted without regard to order, wherever there happened to be a vacant space, the handwriting and dates forming the only clue to the connection of the series.

The following is believed to be an accurate list of the various members of the Tilghman family by whom entries in the original manuscript have been made:

1. William Tilghman Senior--A.D. 1539

2. William Tilghman Junior--1539 to 1584

3. Whitenhall Tilghman--1607 to 1633

4. Nathaniel Tilghman--1642 to 1644

5. Samuel Tilghman--1645

6. Richard Tilghman--1652 to 1675

7. Richard Tilghman--1700 to 1738

8. Richard Tilghman--1739 to 1768

9. Richard Tilghman--1768 to 1810

10. Richard Cooke Tilghman--1810-1851

The Snodland manuscript is stored alongside a small box that originlly held the manuscript. This metal box is decorated with the Tilghman family coat of arms, and the spine reads "Family Records" and "Tilghman 1539."

In his 1851 copy of the original manuscript, William M. Tilghman also provides a table of contents listing all of the entries in the volume, their page numbers, and the dates the entries cover. The earliest entries do not contain family records; instead, they are more concerned with deeds and accounts relevant to the Tilghman family in Kent. These include "Debts due to William Tilghman" (1540-1547); "Bond to Sir Thomas Cromwell" (1539); "List of lands of William Tilghman..." (1540), etc. Later entries primarily pertain to family records.

William M. Tilghman also included some additional information to his copy of the manuscript after transcribing the original 204 pages from the old manuscript. These include rubbings taken from the grave of William Tilghman Senior by Richard A. Tilghman in 1855; photographs of Snodland parish taken in July 1858; photographs of Tilghman family members; maps glued to the pages; and various notes about the Tilghman family up through 1893. There are also various newspaper articles pasted into the later pages of the volume, the latest dated 1900. Tilghman includes a full list of additional materials added in the table of contents.

In addition to the original manuscript and the copy, the collection contains a folder of loose papers found stored with the original manuscript. These include a 15-page inventory of Richard Tilghman's estate in Queen Anne's County, Maryland, dated 1766; notes and poems, and two undated newspaper clippings.