Mary Alice Sandys (nee Till) was born on 2nd July 1846, Gnosall Staffordshire to John and Elizabeth Till (nee Copestake).
Rev. John Till (1810-1901)
Her Father, John Till (1810-1901) was a Vicar at Gnosall Staffordshire. He was admitted to Queen's College, Cambridge, on 2nd June 1835 and ordained a Deacon in 1840, he gained his BA in 1841. He was ordained a priest in 1843 for Lichfield. He was curate of Adbaston, Staffordshire in 1840 to 1842, and gained his MA in 1845. He took over as Perpetual Curate of Gnosall in 1845, and spent 46 years in service at the church in Gnosall.
The Vicarage, Gnosall (photo permission of Gnosall parish council)
He was responsible for the building of the parsonage house in an Elizabethan style (now called Parkside) in 1850 at the cost of £1100 for which he contributed £400 and the rest was subscription.
In 1890 he was presented with a silver inkstand to mark his 50th year of ordination. He became one of the oldest clergymen in England, and on his 90th Birthday the parishioners gave him an easy chair and a lamp, as well as a purse of money. After John Till's death in 1901 the parishioners resolved to restore the ancient chapel in the north transept of Gnosall church in memory of John Till's 60 years of ministry.
In 1861 Mary Alice is living with her Cousin, Sarah Taylor at 3 Edith Cottages, Fulham, Middlesex, she is attending school. In 1871 she is living with her Grandmother, Mary Copestake in Duffield Road, Babington, Derby. Mary married Henry Stair Sandys on 29th April 1880 Gnosall, Staffordshire, they had 1 child called James Del Sandys born in 1885. Henry was a Royal Navy Captain, and in 1868 was part of the Niger Expedition. Henry already had 5 children from his previous marriage to Frances Beatrice Sandys, but she had died on 1st April 1879. In 1881 Mary and Henry and their children lived in 35 Hartington Street, Babington, Derby. By 1891 the family have moved to Moor Street, Spondon, Derbyshire. Then in 1901 they moved to 116 Osmaston Road, Babington, Derbyshire, Henry now had a job as an Inspector of Weights and Measures. Henry and the family moved to Winterbourne Winchester Road, Worthing in 1909.
Henry died 12th May 1912 Worthing. He left £1490 1s (£43295 in 2020), with probate to Edmund Rushworth Abbott, Solicitor and Katherine Annie Sandys (Daughter). Mary Alice died on 29th October 1919 in Worthing, still living in Winchester Road, Worthing. She left £240 15s 1d (£6975 in 2020), with probate to Edmund Rushworth Abbott, Solicitor.