Henry WILLIS

- 1820

• Name	Henry WILLIS
  Gender	Male
  Notes for biography	* At present little is known about Henry, other than he lived in Rollesby, Norfolk, and married Elizabeth Letting on 18 December 1770. * Henry and Elizabeth had five children, although only two survived childhood. The eldest child was Henry born in December 1773. Mary followed in 1776, but died in the August of that year and was buried in Norwich on 7 August. Another Mary was born in April 1781, who also died when only about four months old. Eliza was born in June 1777, but she too died when only about five months old. Edward, born in September 1778 was the only other child to survive. * Elizabeth died in May 1781, shortly after the birth of her last child, Mary a month earlier. It is quite probable that she died as a result of complications at Mary?s birth. * Henry survived until 1820 and was buried at Rollesby on 23 February. * Sons Henry and Edward both moved to Chatham in Kent, the circumstances are not known, however the link between the Norfolk and Kent branches of the family is strongly suggested by the following: 1. Henry WILLIS married Elizabeth ROBINSON in Rochester 15 July 1806, a witness was Edward WILLIS. 2. John WILLIS was born September 1806 the son of Henry WILLIS & Elizabeth and was later employed as a shipwright (1841 Census). 3. No christening record has been found for either Henry or Edward in any of the Medway towns. 4. An Edward WILLIS was employed at Chatham Dockyard as a Boat Builder, records show that his date of birth was 1779. 5. The 1841 Census has an Edward WILLIS, Shipwright, living in Richard Street, Chatham with an inferred DoB of 1779. Record shows him "Born out of County" 6. The 1851 Census has him at the same address. He is shown as a Greenwich Pensioner born in Norfolk - no town/village is shown. 7. It seems reasonable to assume that Edward was Henry's brother & that, therefore, Henry was also from Norfolk. Furthermore there is a boatbuilding connection between Edward & his nephew, John. 8. The IGI has a member submitted entry for an Edward WILLIS baptised on 25 September 1778 in Rollesby, Norfolk, the son of Henry WILLIS & Eliza. There is also a Henry WILLIS baptised 4 January 1775 North Walsham, Norfolk, the son of Henry WILLIS & Jane. 9. For Chatham, the IGI has two possible entries for Edward, the first is for his marriage & shows him as born in Chatham in 1778, but it also shows him as "of" Chatham. The second is for a christening in Chatham in 1783 this has not been found in the PR's. 10. A search of the PR's for Rollesby shows both an Edward (1778) & Henry (1773) born to Henry & Elizabeth WILLIS. Henry would have been about 33 years old when he married Elizabeth & the birth of John. No record of the birth of an Edward has been found for North Walsham. The marriage of Henry & Elizabeth shows both as single, therefore the possibility that Henry was first married & lived in North Walsham, prior to being widowed & remarrying in Rollesby can be discounted.   [1]
  Residence	Henry and Elizabeth lived in Rollesby.
  Died	1820
  Buried	23 Feb 1820	Rollesby, Norfolk, UK
  Person ID	I77	Samuel WAY
  Last Modified	7 Sep 2016

  
  

  Family	Elizabeth LETTING,   b. 1742,   d. 9 May 1781, Rollesby, Kent, Uk  (Age 39 years)
  Married	18 Dec 1770	Rollesby, Norfolk, UK
  	Or married in 1773 rather than 1770.
  Children of the marriage	Of their five children, three (all girls, Mary1, Eliza & Mary2) died at just a few months and only two (boys Henry & Edward) survived to adulthood.
  Children	+ 1. Henry WILLIS,   b. Dec 1773   2. Mary WILLIS,   b. 1776,   d. Aug 1776  (Age 0 years)   3. Eliza WILLIS,   b. Jun 1777,   d. Nov 1777  (Age ~ 0 years) + 4. Edward WILLIS,   b. Sept 1778,   d. Mar 1854, Medway Registration District, Kent, UK  (Age ~ 75 years)   5. Mary WILLIS,   b. Apr 1781,   d. Aug 1781  (Age ~ 0 years)
  Last Modified	7 Sep 2016
  Family ID	F24	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Sources

  [S7] Clive Challis - UK - ID 351 on this website - more details are on his website on ancestry.com.