James Gilliland is, so far, a bit of a mystery.  The only definite information I have for him is his name and occupation , stone mason (from the marriage certificate of his son, John) and I know he died before 1851 as that is the first record I have for his wife and family and the census of 1851 stated that she was a widow.

His wife's death certificate confirmed those details as it stated that she was the widow of James Gilliland, Master Mason.

As his wife and children were all born in Ireland, I think it is fairly safe to assume that James was from Ireland too, but I have no way of knowing if the rest of the family came to England before or after he died.