John Tilley

Sir John Anthony Cecil Tilley (January 1869 – 5 April 1952) was a British diplomat. He was British Ambassador to Brazil from 1921 to 1925, and Ambassador to Japan from 1926 to 1931.

Early life Born on 21 or 31 January 1869, Tilley was the ninth child and fourth son of Sir John Tilley, Secretary to the General Post Office, by his marriage to Susanna Fraser Anderson and great niece of Hugh Montgomerie, 12th Earl of Eglinton. and godson of Anthony Trollope. Between 1887 and 1889 he was editor of the Cambridge Review, an undergraduate magazine.

Career In 1893, Tilley took the Foreign Office examination and was appointed to the only available vacancy, where he was assigned as a junior to the Eastern Department "…dealing with the affairs of the Near and Middle East, including Russia, the Turkish Empire and Egypt." In 1906, having obtained an exchange with a member of the Diplomatic Service Tilley was assigned as the First Secretary at the British Embassy in Constantinople, where he remained until 1908. Here he served under Nicholas Roderick O'Conor for whom Tilley felt great affection and admiration. Sir John attended Buckingham Palace on 21 December 1920, where he was sworn of his Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council of the United Kingdom. Between 1921 and 1925 he was a head of mission as British ambassador to Brazil.

After a long leave, his final posting, from 1926 to 1931, was as Ambassador to Japan. Appointed Special Ambassador at the funeral of the Emperor of Japan (Emperor Taisho) when he received the Grand Cordon of the Rising Sun and later, at the enthronement of the new Emperor Hirohito, he was appointed Special Ambassador and the Paulownia Leaves were added to the Grand Cordon of the Rising Sun.

Tilley's final ceremonial duty before leaving Japan was to lay the foundation stone of Christ Church, Yokohama, built to replace the original church destroyed in an earthquake.