David,
You stated, "I haven’t used their database, nor do I plan to, as it doesn’t even address the dates we are concerned about. I am still in the process of trying to get more info on Ancestry’s database, but for comparison’s sake, they have over 100,000,000 records in their searchable passenger database lists."
If I am wrong in my assumption please let me know, but are you confusing 1.5 million PAGES with containing far LESS information than 100 million RECORDS? How many referenced parties are there per record vs. how many vs. page?
The implication from the article and website is that every outgoing record from the UK has been scanned and that comprises 1.5 million pages.
Now this could be incorrect and I certainly don't know, but they do seem fairly sure that they have scanned every passenger manifest for ships leaving the UK between 1890 & 1900.
The minimum that I have shown is that there are definitely records and lists that are no longer to be found. Could a warehouse have burnt down and these be lost? Could bombs have fallen from the sky say between 1939 & 1945 and some were destroyed?
Destroyed records can never be scanned into any database.
I have made two points consistently. First, that the Hugh Wilson in the 1912 manifest has not been proven to be the Wilson of Merion; you finally admitted that you could not prove it factually.
Secondly, you have floated the idea that maybe Wilson only travelled to the UK in 1912 despite the 1911 date given by both his brother and Merion. This because you can find no mention of a Hugh Wilson sailing from the UK to America by ship manifest in the years of 1910-11.
That the scanned records may be incomplete doesn't enter into your calculations yet I believe I have shown a very good example with the Tillinghast's how the available records are not complete. Therefor an assumption that Wilson did not travel to the UK in 1911 is at least a BIT premature.
You further kindly offered me help. Thank you, it's appreciated. PLease understand though that we have plenty of proof to be able to factually state when Tilly went to the UK and when he didn't.
You further wrote, "Phillip, I had done a bit of checking on Tilly's travels a while back, but didn’t really ever get it all sorted out. I may have been looking into earlier trips, as my trips don't match yours..."
The first thing that tells me is that you never read or possibly even purchased that wonderful Tillinghast biography that came out last year titled "Tillinghast: Creator of Golf Courses."
If you HAD you would have found that Tilly made only three trips to the UK in his entire life. The years were 1895 & 1898 when both his wife and his parents accompanied him. His third and last trip was in 1901. We know that his wife went with him and there is some evidence that his parents did as well, but it is inconclusive.
You went on to say, "Unfortunately, I am afraid my ancestry research days are about over. But perhaps you can give me a bit of info, and I see if I can be of some help...
"What was A.W. Tillinghast’s wife’s middle initial? H.?
Lillian was born Lillian Quigley without a middle name. Her death certificate shows none as well. Her parents were Thomas Fletcher Quigley and Susan Paradise Boyer and she was born November 26, 1877
"And her place of birth?" It is listed on her death certificate as simply "Pennsylvania," although the newspaper account of her death lists it as the Philadelphia suburb of Frankford. This is the same place where Tilly grew up.
"Did his father have any business interests in Cuba?" No.
"What year did BC. pass away?" Benjamin Collins Tillinghast died in May of 1918, just a short time after Tilly was given the Baltusrol commission.
“Was there another Lillian in the family?” None that are known, though with a Tillinghast family Association membership that numbers more than 6,000 today, that there might be another Lillian Tillinghast somewhere back then wouldn’t be too much of a stretch.
“What was B.C.’s wife’s name.” She was born Lavinia Worrall Davis.