John Tylden, II

Burke, one of the foremost of English authorities on genealogy, states that the ( Tilden, ' Tylden' ) family separated into three distinct branches, the eldest of which became possessed of Milsted, County Kent; while the second branch is said to have settled in Sussex and to have given rise to the American family of Tilden. The youngest branch was early seated at Ifield, in Kent. Family historians have, however, found that the New England family of the name is descended from John Tilden or Tylden, who was born at Benenden, County Kent, England, about late 1300 and became a clothier at that place. In this district is also found the record of Simon Tilden, of Benenden, who died about 1463 and may have been a brother of the last-mentioned John. Although the direct ancestry of all of the early emigrants of the name to America has not been traced, it is probable that all of the Tildens are descended from one or another of the before mentioned lines.

Tilden Documentation

This page updated 2/18/98

Tilden (Eng): One who came from Tillingdown (Tilmunds Hill), in Surrey; or from Tilden (Tilas Valley), in Kent. (New Dictionary of American Family Names, by Elsdon C. Smith, published by Harper & Row, 1973)

Nathaniel Tilden was baptized in Tenterden, County Kent, 28 July 1583, the son of Thomas and Alice (Biggs) Tilden. Background on his family is given in NEHGR 65:322, 75:226, and 114:153. Tilden came to New England in the Hercules 1634-35 accompanied by his wife Lydia (Huckstep), seven children, and seven servants. He settled in Scituate and he probably died there between may and July 1641. All the children of Nathaniel and Lydia Tilden were born in England, five dying there prior to the familys departure. The children were Thomas, who died young; Mary, who married Thomas Lapham; Joseph, who died young; Sarah who married George Sutton; Joseph, who married Alice or Elizabeth Twisden; Stephen, who died young; Thomas, who married Elizabeth (Bourne) Waterman; Judith, who married Abraham Preble; Winifred, who died young; Lydia, who died young; Lydia who married Richard Garrett; and Stephen, who married Hannah Little. Mary and Sarah were married on the same day, 13 March 1636-37 (NEHGR 9:286), and their husbands were Tildens servants. After his death, his widow Lydia married Timothy Hatherly. Elizabeth French shows in NEHGR 70:256 that Lydia (Huckstep) (Tilden) Hatherly was a cousin of Thomas Hatch, q.v., who also came to New England in the Hercules and settled at Scituate. Tilden was of the gentry and addressed as Mr., and he was one of the wealthier Scituate residents. He dated his will 25 May 1641, inventory 31 July 1641, and he names his wife Lydia and his children Stephen; Lydia; Joseph; Thomas; Judith; Mary, the wife of Thomas Lapham; and Sarah, the wife of George Sutton; and he also mentioned two indentured servants, Edward Jenkins and Edward Tarte. (MD 3:220) (Plymouth Colony Biographical Sketches)

THOMAS COUCHMAN of Rolvenden, husbandman, the testator of 1585/6, who was born about 1538 and was buried at Rolvenden 14 Feb. 1585/6. He married there, 18 July,1568, ELINOR HUBBARD, whose ancestry has not been found. She married secondly, 17 Oct. 1587, Emanuell Evernden of Rolvenden, the testator of 1589, who was buried at Rolvenden 3 Dec. 1589; and thirdly, 13 Nov.1593, as his second wife, THOMAS TILDEN of Tenterden, yeoman (Plymouth First Church Records, in The Mayflower Descendant, vol 13 pp157-158) the licence being dated 6 Nov. 1593. By his first wife THOMAS TILDEN was the father of NATHANIEL TILDEN of Tenterden and of Scituate, Mass. If THOMAS TILDEN's son FREEGIFT was his son by his third wife, Alice........, then his second wife must have died before 1604, but the record of her burial has not been found, nor is any will or administration on her estate known to exist. Thomas Couchman deposed in 1578 that he had lived at Rolvenden for twelve years and before that at Hawkhur