Curate and rector Tillotson was the son of a Puritan clothier at Haughend, Sowerby, Yorkshire. Little is known of his early youth; he studied at Colne Grammar School, before entering as a pensioner of Clare Hall, Cambridge, in 1647. His tutor was David Clarkson and he graduated in 1650, being made a fellow of his college in 1651.
Curate and rector Tillotson was the son of a Puritan clothier at Haughend, Sowerby, Yorkshire. Little is known of his early youth; he studied at Colne Grammar School, before entering as a pensioner of Clare Hall, Cambridge, in 1647. ,His tutor was David Clarkson and he graduated in 1650 being made a fellow of his college in 1651.