[1][2] The son of Henry Tilson, he was born in England at Midgley, in Yorkshire.
[3] He spent periods as rector of Stanmer, Sussex, and vicar of Rochdale in Lancashire.
[2] Tilson went to Ireland as chaplain to Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, the Lord Deputy, and received preferment.
[4] He was Dean of Christ Church, Dublin from 1634 to 1639;[5] Archdeacon of Connor from 1635 until 1639;[6] and Bishop of Elphin from his consecration on 23 September 1639 for the rest of his life.
[citation needed] In 1645 Tilson left Ireland, to avoid the insurgency that followed the 1641 Irish Rebellion.