DFA Most Wanted is a weekly spotlight on one specific Dillman family group with no representation yet in the Dillman DNA Project — who they were, what’s still unknown, and what a single Y-DNA test could resolve. Know this family, or think you might be connected? Read on.

Family Group 25: Wilhelm Dillmann of Australia, England, and Schellenberg, Nassau, Germany

August Dillmann appears in the 1871 England census as a 22-year-old musician, the descendant of Wilhelm Dillmann of Schellenberg, Nassau, Germany. He married Frances Elizabeth Butland in 1872 and served as a musician aboard a Royal Navy ship — but later fell into poverty and was admitted to the Hackney Union Workhouse in London. What became of him after that is unknown; even his date of death was never recorded. His wife Frances and son Frederick left England for Brisbane, Australia in September 1900, apparently without him.

What’s Unresolved

August’s fate after entering the workhouse is a genuine mystery in this family’s record — no death record has been located. The family’s precise origin in Nassau is documented only as “Schellenberg,” and no DNA testing has ever been done from any branch, whether the English line or the Australian one Frances and Frederick founded.

What a Test Could Answer

A Y-DNA test from a descendant of Frederick Dillmann’s Australian line — or from any other male-line descendant of Wilhelm Dillmann of Schellenberg — could connect this family to other tested Nassau-area lines already in the DFA’s records, and add an Australian branch to the DNA project for the first time.

Are You Connected?

If you’re a male-line descendant of August or Frederick Dillmann, whether in Australia, England, or elsewhere, the DFA would like to hear from you. Contact the DNA project administrator at dnaprojectadmin@dillmanfamilyassociation.org to get connected and learn about testing.

This spotlight is drawn from the Dillman Family Association’s Family Group Sheet Database and written with the assistance of Claude, an AI assistant developed by Anthropic.