National Savings and Investments. In 1864, when Sir Rowland Hill vacated the position of Secretary of the Post Office, Tilley was appointed to succeed him. However, this appears to be contradicted by the existence of a letter dated 8 August 1860 which suggests that Tilley had been appointed Secretary earlier. Throughout Tilley's time at the Post Office, his close friendship with his brother-in-law, Anthony Trollope, continued. In 1888, Trollope described Tilley as one of his "oldest and dearest friends". On 16 April 1880, at the age of 67, Tilley retired from the Post Office. He was described by a colleague, Edmund Yates, in his Recollections and Experiences as a "shrewd, caustic and clever man, bred in the Post Office service and knowing it thoroughly; by no means a crocheteer, but with his public office experience, tempered by plenty of worldly knowledge, and as unimpressionable as an oyster" Further description of his "remarkable" personality is given by one of Tilley's oldest official friends, but unidentified by name, who described him as "a hard man in official relations, yet genial. He was truthful, courageous and unaffected, generally a sound judge of character, and always ready to admit and correct a mistake. He was clear sighted, just and absolutely fearless, with a strong sense of duty; always wanting to do right." Charitable and public work Having retired from the Post Office, Tilley did not retire from public life. For fifteen years he was a member of the Board of Guardians of St George's, Hanover Square, of which he became vice-chairman and later chairman. He also chaired the Relief Committee, engaged in the distribution of outdoor relief to the deserving poor, and the Fulham Road Workhouse Committee, responsible for the care and conduct of one of the largest workhouses in the country. He was a Manager and member of the finance committee of the Metropolitan Asylums Board, a Manager of the West London Schools, and in 1891 Chairman of the Eastern Hospital, during an Inquiry into maladministration at the hospital. He was also Treasurer of the Metropolitan Convalescent Institution, in which he took a special interest, and was also a Justice of the Peace for London and Middlesex. In January 1889, Tilley was nominated to the first London County Council. For many years, he was one of the churchwardens of St Saviour, Pimlico, in St George's Square, while the Rev. Henry Washington was vicar.