Willis Charles 1811

Willis, Charles 1811 – 1867				Father:	Willis,	William		1774-1839
				Mother:	Bartholomew,	Mary		1773-??

Birth date	Birth place	Registered	County	District	Sub-district	GRO ref.	Christening	Place	Borough
11 Jan 1811	Piccadilly		Middlesex	St James Piccadilly.			10 Feb 1811	St James	Piccadilly
Death date	Death place	Registered	County	District	Sub-district	GRO ref.	Cause
6 Dec 1867	Pimlico	Dec 1867	Middlesex	St George Hanover Sq		Vol 1a, p 219

Goodwin, Juliana Datchett 1813-1887	Marriage
	Date	12 Sep 1837
	Place	St James parish church
	District	St James Westminster
	County	Middlesex
	GRO ref.	Vol 1, p 129

Children		Birth date	Birth place	Death date	Death place	Marriage date	Marriage place	Spouse
Juliana Willis		18 Feb 1839	St James’ Street	Jan-Mar 1902	Yorkshire	unmarried
Edith Willis		30 May 1841	St James’ Street	23 Feb 1923	Sheffield	14 Aug 1862	Westminster	Edwin John Makin
Charles William		8 Jan 1843	6 Shaftsbury Cres	29 Jun 1893	Walworth	25 Feb 1867	Newington	Caroline Graham
Walter Willis		Jul 19 1844	St James’ Street	16 Feb 1907	Tunbridge Wells	29 Aug 1871	Upton, Bucks	Clara Goodwin
Julian Willis		25 Jun 1846	St James’ Street	20 Apr 1904	Bexhill	Jul-Sep 1872	Sheffield	Fannie White
Arthur Willis		28 Jul 1847	85 St James’ Street	19 Jan 1913	Sheffield	unmarried
Percy Willis		22 Apr 1849	St James’ Street	Aug 1852	Pimlico	n/a
Sydney Willis		8 Mar 1852	St James’ Street	6 Mar 1916	Suffolk	4 Sep 1879	Hampstead	Anna Maria Smith

Records
Date	Source		Residence		Occupation
19 Sep 1837	Marriage certificate		St James’ Street		Gentleman
1837	City of London electoral register		80 St James’ Street (1^st address of Thatched House Tavern)		Vintner
1839	St James 1839 electoral register		Thatched House Court
6 Jun 1841	1841 census return		St James’ Street		Wine merchant
15 Feb 1843	Birth certificate, Charles William		6 Shaftesbury Cres, Belgrave		Wine merchant
1844	St James 1844 electoral register		Shaftesbury Cres, Vauxhall Rd		Joint proprietor of 26 King Street (Willis’ Rooms, previously called Almack's Assembly Rooms)
1847	St George 1847 electoral register		20 Shaftesbury Cres					The author and poet Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) reputedly dined and danced at Willis’ Rooms. He made reference to this in one of his poems, “Reminiscences of a Dancing Man,” which commences: Who now remembers Almack’s balls – Willis’s sometime named –
1847	St James 1847 electoral register		Shaftesbury Cres, Vauxhall Rd		Joint proprietor of 85 St James St (Thatched House Tavern)
1850	St George 1850 electoral register		23 Shaftesbury Cres
1850	St James 1850 electoral register		Shaftesbury Cres, Vauxhall Rd		Joint proprietor of 85 St James St (Thatched House Tavern)
30 Mar 1851	1851 census return		Shaftesbury Cres, Westminster		Wine merchant
1851	St George 1851 electoral register		23 Shaftesbury Cres
1851	St James 1851 electoral register		Shaftesbury Cres, Vauxhall Rd		Joint proprietor of 85 St James St (Thatched House Tavern)			On one occasion, the Duke of Wellington was about to ascend the staircase of Almack’s ball-room, dressed in black trousers, when the vigilant Mr. Willis, the guardian of the establishment, stepped forward and said, “Your Grace cannot be admitted in trousers;” whereupon the Duke, who had a great respect for orders and regulations, quietly walked away. http://www.janeausten.co.uk
17 Jul 1852	Sydney’s baptism		85 St James’s Street		Wine Merchant
1855	City of London electoral register		23 Shaftesbury Cres, Pimlico		Vintner
1864, 1865	St James 1864 electoral register		129 St George’s Road (now St George’s Drive) Pimlico		Joint proprietor of 26 King Street (Willis’ Rooms, previously called Almack's Assembly Rooms)
8 Jun 1867	Signing of Will		129 St George’s Road, Pimlico		Free Vintner
28 Dec 1867	Probate record		129 St George’s Road, Pimlico		Free Vintner Deceased

Additional Information
The Willis family owned and ran the businesses at Willis’ Rooms (originally Almack’s Assembly Rooms) in King Street and Thatched House Tavern in St James Street for a total of more than 100 years. James Willis (1744-1794) leased the Thatched House Tavern in 1770. In 1792 he also took over from William Almack as proprietor of Almack’s Assembly Rooms, and continued to run both establishments until his death in 1794. Two of his sons, James and William, continued to run the establishments, initially with their mother, Elizabeth, until William’s death in 1839 and James’ death in 1847. William was succeeded by his son, Charles, and James by his son, Frederick. Thatched House Tavern closed in 1861, and thereafter the building was demolished and a new building erected, occupied by the Conservative Club. Charles died in 1867, and Frederick continued to manage Willis’ Rooms until his own death in 1880. According to the 1891 and 1901 census returns Juliana and Arthur moved to Sheffield to live with their sister Edith Makin and her family. Arthur was still living with Edith and her family at the 1911 census; in this census return he was stated as being blind since the age of 50. Walter became a Civil Engineer. Julian became a Physician and Surgeon.								Ballroom Willis’s Rooms

								Willis’s Rooms