An Enquiry Into The
History and Connections
Of the Family Of
PILLOW

The descendants of John Pilon of Canterbury (1714-1783)

by

E. Ronald Pillow



It has been possible to identify all the Pillows in Great Britain with whom I have made contact as descendants of John Pillow of Canterbury, with the exception of one family whom it has not been possible to fit into the main Tree (follow this link to view this tree). The list of births and deaths mentioned above, however, indicates that there have been and are other Pillows in England not apparently connected with us. A note about these will be found below.

There are also Pillows in Ireland who appear to have a different, though also Huguenot, origin, and there are Pillows in America who cannot be linked on to the present Tree; a note about these is also given below. Besides these, there are certainly other members of our family in this country of whom I have no knowledge; a few to whom I wrote made no response to my enquiries and may be omitted for this reason. Some branches of the family have gone abroad, to Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the United States, Malta and elsewhere, and I have made no contact with these, except those in Malta (follow this link to view the Malta Pillow family tree).

The Pillows with whom we are concerned appear to have been a consistently "middle-class" family and few seem to have attained any great distinction. Some have served in the armed forces, some in various professions, others in commerce or the civil service.

Two Christian names, John and Edward, recur frequently in the earlier generations, and some branches of the family have continued this tradition to the present day.

There is a distinctive and interesting facial appearance which occurs in a good many members of the family. It includes a rather large and slightly aquiline nose and I have been fascinated to find this characteristic face recurring in a number of Pillows whom I have met, including some most remotely related to one another, and to hear of others who have it.

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