Willis William 1774

Willis, William 1774 – 1839				Father:	Willis,	James		1744-1794
				Mother:	Tebb,	Elizabeth		1748-1798

Birth date	Birth place	Registered	County	District	Sub-district	GRO ref.	Christening	Place	Borough
1774	Piccadilly		Middlesex	St James Piccadilly.
Death date	Death place	Registered	County	District	Sub-district	GRO ref.	Cause
24 Apr 1839	Pimlico	Buried 30 Apr 1839	Middlesex	St James Westminster

Bartholomew, Mary Egham Surrey 1773-??	Marriage
	Date	5 Aug 1797
	Place	Egham
	District
	County	Surrey
	GRO ref.

Children		Birth date	Birth place	Death date	Death place	Marriage date	Marriage place	Spouse
William Willis		16 Aug 1798	St James	Nov 1800	Westminster	n/a
James Willis		12 Mar 1800	St James	14 May 1878	Lambeth	5 Aug 1824	Camberwell	Ann Fisher
William Willis		12 Dec 1801	St James	23 Feb 1862	Lambeth	5 Oct 1830	Lambeth	Sarah Sanders
George Willis		12 Oct 1803	St James	9 Sep 1877	Balham, Surrey	16 Oct 1828	Datchet	Sophia Goodwin
Duke Willis		23 Jun 1805	St James	before Apr 1839	possibly USA
Mary Ann Willis		20 Feb 1807	St James	7 Mar 1875	Lee, London	12 Aug 1826	Hammersmith	William Goodwin
Henry Michael Willis		30 Mar 1809	St James	after Apr 1839	possibly USA
Charles		11 Jan 1811	St James	6 Dec 1867	Pimlico	12 Sep 1837	Westminster	Juliana Goodwin
Elizabeth Willis		Apr 1814	St James	10 May 1891	Westminster	2 Nov 1834 6 Oct 1842	Bloomsbury Hannover Sq.	James Gould Octavus Fisher

Records
Date	Source		Residence		Occupation
3 Sep 1788	Indenture certificate		St James Street, Westminster		Apprentice Vintner
5 Aug 1797	Marriage to Mary Bartholomew		St James, Westminster
1802	Holden London Directory		King Street, St James		Tavern keeper
1811	London Dir of Professions & Trades		Thatched House Tavern, St James St
28 Apr 1814	Baptism record, Elizabeth		Thatched House Court		Tavern keeper
1820	London Trade Directory		80 St James Street		Thatched House Tavern
1830	Robson Commercial Directory		80 St James’s Street		Thatched House Tavern
1834	City of London electoral register		Thatched House Court, St James		Vintner
1835	City of London electoral register		Thatched House Court, St James		Vintner
1837	City of London electoral register		Thatched House Court, St James		Vintner
1839	St James 1839 electoral register		Thatched House Court
20 Apr 1839	Last Will and Testament		3 Thatched House Court		Tavern keeper

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. Articles of Clerkship for Duke Willis were filed on 9 Mar 1821. William Willis’ Will implies Duke was already deceased when it was written on 20 Apr 1839. Son James Willis was admitted to the Freedom of the City of London as Vintner on 6 Nov 1822. Son Henry Michael Willis was a beneficiary of his father’s Will, but the terms of the bequest seem to imply that William did not consider Henry responsible enough to manage the bequest himself. Sons Duke Willis and Henry Michael Willis seemingly emigrated to the USA on board the passenger ship Ontario, arriving in New York on 9 Apr 1832.