Person    | Male  Born 1/6/1828  Died 6/7/1901

William James Stillman

William James Stillman was born on 1 June 1828 in Schenectady, Schenectady County, New York, USA, the youngest of the eleven children of William Stillman III (1779-1861) and Elizabeth Ward Stillman née Maxson (1783-1869). His siblings were: William J. Stillman (1800-1806); Thomas Bliss Stillman (1806-1866); Mary Ann Stillman (1808-1826); Alfred Stillman (1809-1850); Paul Stillman (1811-1856); Charles Henry Stillman (1817-1881); Jacob Davis Babcock Stillman (1819-1888); Elizabeth H. Stillman (1821-1854); Elisha H. Stillman (1821-1853) and William Bliss Stillman (1825-1827).

On 19 November 1860 he married Laura Mack (1839-1869) in Worthington, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, USA. They had three children: John Ruskin Stillman (1862-1875) who was born in Belmont, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA; Eliza Romana Stillman (1865-1946) who was born in Rome, Italy and Bella Helena Stillman (1868-1948) who was born in Chania, Crete, Greece.

His wife committed suicide on 11 April 1869 in Athens, Greece and on 10 April 1871 he married Marie Spartali (1844-1927) in the Chelsea registration district, London. They were to have three children: Euphrosyne Stillman (1872-1911) who was born in Notting Hill, London; Michael Spartali Stillman (1878-1967) who was born in Florence, Tuscany, Italy and James Spillman (1881-1882) who was born and died in Florence, Tuscany, Italy.

He does not appear on either the 1881 or 1891 census returns because the Stillmans moved to Florence, Italy, in 1878. For health reasons his wife returned to England in 1883, staying in the Isle of Wight and London, but his appointment in 1886 as the Italian and Greek correspondent for 'The Times' newspaper drew her back to Italy, where they lived in Rome until 1898.

In the 1901 census he is shown as a retired journalist, living at 'Deepdene', Frimley Green, Surrey, with his wife, his daughter Bella Helena Middleton née Stillman, his grand-daughter Mary Margaret Middleton (1894-1984), together with a nurse, a cook and a housemaid. His wife was described as a painter (artist).

He died, aged 73 years, on 6 July 1901, his death being registered in the 3rd quarter of 1901 in the Farnham registration district, Surrey and he was buried in Brookwood Cemetery, Glades House, Cemetery Pales, Brookwood, Woking, GU24 0BL.

Our Picture Source and his Wikipedia page give much information about this man. He is shown as W. J. Stillman on the Rossetti fountain memorial in Chelsea Embankment, London, SW3. 

Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials created by the subject on this page:
William James Stillman

Creations i

Rossetti fountain

Unveiled by William Holman Hunt. There must have been a committee to erect th...

Read More

Other Subjects

Lady Diana Beauclerk

Lady Diana Beauclerk

Lady Diana Spencer was born in 1735, the eldest child of the third Duke of Marlborough. She was expected to follow a traditional path through life: educated in the fashion considered suitable for a...

Person, Art, Other

2 memorials
Abram Games

Abram Games

Designer. Born Abraham Gamse in Whitechapel. In WW2 he was approached by the War Office to produce a recruitment poster, and became an official war artist, designing many more posters. After the wa...

Person, Art

1 memorial
Philip Wilson Steer

Philip Wilson Steer

Artist. Born in Birkenhead, Cheshire. Entered the civil service, but found the examinations too demanding. Became an artist in 1878. Rejected by the Royal Academy of Art, he studied in Paris. He wa...

Person, Art

1 memorial
John Tallis

John Tallis

Cartographic publisher. He set up as a publisher with Frederick Tallis in Cripplegate in 1842, moving to Smithfield in 1846. The company published views of London and world atlases. He started 'The...

Person, Art

1 memorial
Harry Dixon

Harry Dixon

Sculptor, painter, illustrator. Born Watford, son of the photographer, Henry Dixon, who specialised in animal photographs taken at London Zoo, near where they lived. So it's interesting that Harry ...

Person, Art, Sculpture

1 memorial