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.
