WWI – We Are Family Briggs

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 1^st cousin, 3x removed. In other words, His father, Alfred Penner Briggs (2^nd great granduncle), is my 2x great-grandfather’s (Thomas Lasher Briggs) brother.

_{Photo Credit – The Canadian Letters & Images Project}

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 116^th Battalion CEF (Cdn Expeditionary Force). Mark Carmichael has a Facebook page called “116^th 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!

October is upon us, Fall is in the air and Summer is behind us, although the weather does not indicate it as it is still unseasonably warm. Well, we’ll just have to make do – who could say no to a little bit more sun in our lives, of course!

In the meantime, let’s begin by congratulating those family members with birthdays this month. We’ll start with my mother, Jeannette and my son, Jeremy. Also celebrating are Amanda, Lauren, Shia, Elodie and Moiya. Special birthday wishes to my dearly departed cousin, Donna.

Let’s see who shares your birthday! Last October, we featured my great grandfather, Thomas Albert Briggs. There is so much more to his story than what we have seen so far and I’m still working on it. In the meantime, let’s highlight another family member – Stanley Kingston Briggs.

Stanley Kingston Briggs, born October 25, 1888, in New Westminster, BC, to Thomas Lasher Briggs & Mary Irving. Stanley is a younger brother of my great grandfather, Thomas Albert Briggs, which makes him my great granduncle.

Stanley is listed in the 1891, 1901 and 1911 Canada Census as a son in the home of Thomas Lasher Briggs located at 302 Royal Avenue, New Westminster. In the 1911 Canada Census specifically, his occupation is listed as “salesman” at a “grocer” earning $900 per year (at the age of 23.

In a newspaper article (Oregon Daily Journal) dated June 11, 1908, it indicates Stanley Kingston Briggs graduated from Hill Military Academy (Newspapers.com). This was not a surprise to me as several of the children of Capt William and Elizabeth Irving (parents of Mary Irving, Stanley’s mother) did go to Washington, Oregon and California schools for their education. It seems the Briggs family carried on that tradition.

Stanley enlisted in WWI – another interesting item as noted in his Attestation papers, is that he had been in the military for the prior three years in the 6^th D. C.O.R. I have yet to figure out what it means – another mystery to delve into! He enlisted November 13, 1914, and discharged January 23, 1919. I do have copies of his military records which I’m still transcribing – another story for another time.

This following picture is of Stanley Kingston Briggs (lower left), along with his brothers, Errol, Thomas (standing), and John. Not sure when the picture was taken but can be assumed it was late 1918 or early 1919 as that is when they had all returned from overseas and it was in a newspaper article in The Province, April 30, 1919 (Newspapers.com):

Upon returning to Canada, it is unsure as to where he lived. I’m sure he stayed with his parents for a period of time.

On June 1, 1920, Stanley married Laura Victoria Towns in Vernon, British Columbia. There is a lot of information in the Marriage Certificate the most interesting that the marriage took place in Vernon, and his occupation is listed as “Engineer”:

Laura was from Edmonton, Alberta and it seems they may have returned there as their first son, Stanley Kingston Jr. was born May 1921 in Edmonton. They had a daughter, Mary Louise, born in 1924 in New Westminster, BC – It seems they had returned to his Stanley’s hometown. Their next and last child, Thomas Irving was born in 1926 in Woodfibre, BC (located northwest of Squamish).

Noting the birth places of Stanley and Laura’s three children, it seems they did move around to different areas between Alberta and BC – could be because of work – not sure. I have been unable to locate any of Stanley, Laura or Stanley Jr in the 1921 Canada Census so not sure if they were still in Alberta or not. I would assume that they were as the Census was taken as of June 1, 1921, which would have been shortly after Stanley Jr. was born.

The is another document I have found dated 1949 which shows Stanley’s occupation as “Storekeeper” and still living in Woodfibre (#49 & 50). It also shows a Thomas (#72) living and working in Woodfibre (millhand), which could be his son but unable to verify:

Another document I found shows Stanley and Laura living in North Vancouver. The document is rather large so I will not show it here. It is from the 1954 BC City Directories for Vancouver, BC.

Sadly, just a little over a year after retiring as a grocery store manager, Stanley passed away November 10, 1954:

I’m not sure who the brother, Earl (Portland) is but I’m going to hazard a guess that it may be “Beryl”, who is a sister of Stanley’s, living in Portland, Oregon at that time with her husband, Walter Edmonds. It is common to see these kinds of errors in newspaper reporting so we can’t always assume that the information is correct. The information is the same in the funeral home record. I have been told by other genealogists that some of the information in the funeral home record is taken from the newspaper obituary.

Another interesting item to note, my grandfather, S.L. Briggs (Stanley Leonard) is shown as one of the pallbearers. S. Briggs could be Stanley Kingston Jr.

This is just a little peak into Stanley Kingston Briggs’ life as there is a lot of information still to be found, including what is contained in the military records. In the meantime, it seems he was quite the photogenic young man as evidenced in these pictures – enjoy!

(All pictures are between 1891 & 1894 – the young girl is his sister, Manuella)