Recently, I had the pleasure of making a connection with someone who had done a search for a name in my family tree. This ancestor is not in my direct line; however, it is someone that I had put on the back burner to research later due to his involvement in WWI and WWII. My great-grandfather, Thomas Albert Briggs, and three of his brothers were in WWI. There were several cousins that were also in WWI and I will be researching those in the future.
Right now, we’ll take a quick peek at Dr. Tillman Alfred Briggs. He is my 1st cousin, 3x removed. In other words, His father, Alfred Penner Briggs (2nd great granduncle), is my 2x great-grandfather’s (Thomas Lasher Briggs) brother.
Tillman was born June 12, 1886, in Victoria, BC, to Alfred Penner (“Pen”) Briggs and Hazel Evelyn Veronica (“Minna”) Tillman. He was the oldest of five children (two brothers and two sisters). The birth date is noted in the birth registration and death registration, and the year is noted on his headstone. The thing I found amusing is that 1887 is the noted year of birth in his military records specifically the attestation papers – maybe he was nervous?
The 1911 Canada Census lists Tillman as a student at McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, where I’m going to assume he became a doctor as the 1921 Canada Census lists his occupation as doctor.
So, what happened between 1911 and 1921 – World War I. Tillman enlisted November 23, 1915, in Victoria. His Attestation notes his occupation as a physician. At the time of enlisting, he was already a part of the military force with the No. 5 Field Ambulance (based out of Quebec) for approximately three years, and a physician/surgeon at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Victoria.
Now back to the connection I mentioned above. Capt Tillman Alfred Briggs was part of 116th Battalion CEF (Cdn Expeditionary Force). Mark Carmichael has a Facebook page called “116th Battalion CEF – The Great War”. He reached out to me through Ancestry asking for information, pictures, stories, etc. on Tillman. Mark had found a diary of Tillman’s starting October 18, 1915, and ending June 21, 1919. I did eventually find it (as he had pointed me in the right direction) on Vancouver Island University’s website under Canadian Letters and Images Project:
https://www.canadianletters.ca/collections/war/468/collection/67603
Mark is posting Tillman’s diary entries along with some wonderful context and pictures that truly make you feel like you are there. It takes a lot of research and time, and trust me, I know all about that! I urge you to look up his page – the first entry is titled “Finding Gold” on November 22, 2024:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1379071039110354
Upon Tillman’s return, he lived at the family home located in Victoria (which to this day is still standing – 154 South Turner Street).
I have not done extensive research on Tillman, however, I have collected a lot of data which I need to sift through and ensure it’s validity.
It appears that Tillman was also involved in WWII (which is probably where the above picture is from as it is noted from around 1940), just haven’t verified the information yet.
Tillman passed April 20, 1958, at the age of 71 of a heart attack in Nanaimo. He was physician/surgeon up to his untimely passing.
There is a lot more to Tillman’s story which will take time to dissect. Having been given the gift of the knowledge of his diary from Mark, and his wonderful stories, I feel I have been challenged to put together Dr. Tillman Briggs’ story before and after his diary entries.
One more tidbit of information to note – Tillman was awarded the Military Medal from King George V in 1919.
I look forward to challenging myself to learn more about Tillman. As well, I look forward to more stories from Mark and his context from the diary entries.
Thank you to Mark Carmichael for bringing Tillman back into the forefront of my research – I look forward to more diary entries and stories!
UPDATE: Mark has created a Substack page to make sharing of Tillman’s diary entries much easier for everyone to access:
Captain Briggs Great War Diary | Heroes of the Great War | Substack
Enjoy!
We Are Family Briggs 