Willis Clarence John Harris 1843

Willis, Clarence John Harris 1843 – 18??				Father:	Willis,	John		1805-1861
				Mother:	Harris,	Matilda		1816-1862

Birth date	Birth place	Registered	County	District	Sub-district	GRO ref.	Christening	Place	Borough
10 Mar 1843	Deal	Mar 1843	Kent	Eastry	Deal	Vol 5, p 139	28 Mar 1850	South Hayling
Death date	Death place	Registered	County	District	Sub-district	GRO ref.	Cause
unknown	unknown

Lover, Louisa Ann Havant 1844-1919	Marriage
	Date	7 Jul 1864
	Place	All Saints
	District	Kingston
	County	Surrey
	GRO ref.	Vol 2a, p 343

Children		Birth date	Birth place	Death date	Death place	Marriage date	Marriage place	Spouse
Matilda Louisa Willis		6 May 1865	Portsea	Jul-Sep 1950	Portsmouth	Jul-Sep 1882 15 Jun 1895	Portsea Portsea	George Hawkins Frederick Beale
Clarence John Willis		9 Oct 1866	Sheerness, Sheppey	Jan-Mar 1938	Portsmouth	24 Dec 1892	Portsea	Annie Reid
Fanny		24 Jan 1868	Havant	Jul-Sep 1945	Portsmouth	17 Dec 1892	Milton Portsea	Frederick Farr
Florence Agnes Willis		14 Oct 1870	West Molesey	Jul-Sep 1931	Portsmouth	19 Oct 1889	Portsea	George Jordan
Harriet Sarah Willis		10 Dec 1872	Landport, Portsea	7 Oct 1876	Landport, Portsea	n/a
Edith Bell Willis (father’s name John Willis)		10 Dec 1881	Kingston, Portsea	Dec 1978	Lewes, E. Sussex	22 Apr 1905	Portsea	Bernard Coombs
Reginald Willis (father’s name John Willis)		10 Nov 1883	Kingston, Portsea	Dec 1976	S. E. Hampshire	11 Feb 1905 16 Aug 1932	Plymouth Portsmouth	Rebecca Bone Hilda Lowlett

Records
Date	Source		Residence		Occupation
30 Mar 1851	1851 England census		South Hayling		scholar
7 April 1861	1861 England census		West End House, West Street, Havant
24 January 1868	Fanny’s birth certificate		Havant		gentleman
18 Nov 1870	Florence’s birth certificate		West Molesey, Esher, Surrey		miller
2 Apr 1871	1871 England census		Spreyton Rd, West Molesey, Esher		engineer		Name: Charles
14 Jan 1873	Harriet’s birth certificate		15 Holloway Street, Landport		miller
3 Aug 1876	Florence’s baptism		Holloway Street, Landport		gentleman
9 Oct 1876	Harriet’s death certificate		15 Holloway Street, Landport		commercial traveller
21 Sep 1879	Clarence’s and Fanny’s baptism		5 Holloway Street, Portsea, Hants		gentleman
29 April 1880	Matilda’s baptism		5 Holloway Street, Portsea, Hants		gentleman
3 Apr 1881	1881 England census		5 Holloway Street, Portsea, Hants		Louisa’s marriage status was ‘W’
11 Jan 1882	Edith Bell’s birth registration		35 Hercules Street, Portsea, Hants		miller		Name: John
24 Feb 1882	Edith Bell’s baptism		Portsea		miller		Name: John
19 Nov 1883	Reginald’s birth certificate		71 Oxford Street, Landport		miller		Name: John
5 Apr 1891	1891 England Census		36 All Saints Road		Louisa’s marriage status was ‘Widow’
24 Dec 1892	Clarence’s wedding		Portsea		Physician
19 Oct 1899	Florence’s wedding		Portsea		Doctor of Medicine
22 Apr 1905	Edith Bell’s wedding		Portsea		grocer		Name: John
12 Mar 1919	Louisa Ann’s death		America		Physician

Additional Information
In the 1871 England Census Clarence’s name was recorded as Charles, but still with birthplace Deal in Kent. All other documents up to 1880 consistently recorded his name as Clarence. In the 1881 England census Louisa was recorded as head of the household, and a ‘W,’ presumably for ‘Widow,’ was entered as her marital status. Louisa bore no children between Dec 1872 and 1881, but then gave birth to Edith Bell in Dec 1981 and Reginald in Nov 1883, with the father recorded as John Willis. This is confusing, but a possible explanation is that her husband Clarence was away from home for about nine years between 1872 and 1881, perhaps without Louisa knowing his whereabouts. On his return, perhaps in April 1881, he may have chosen to use his second name, John, rather than Clarence. An alternative (but rather unlikely) explanation is that as a widow Louisa bore these two children illegitimately by a man named John who coincidently had the same surname and occupation (Miller) as Clarence. There is no escaping the fact that Louisa bore her last two children after she had declared herself to be a widow in 1881, and that their birth and baptism records bear the name John rather than Clarence. However, on the certificate for Reginald’s first marriage his father’s name is stated to be Clarence John Willis, and that for his second marriage states his father’s name to be Clarence John Harris Willis. The 1891 England census return seems to make it more clear that by then Clarence John Harris was considered to be deceased, since Louisa was explicitly described as a widow. Also Reginald’s baptism record, recorded on 25 Mar 1896, shows his father, John Willis, as being deceased. On the 1892 marriage certificate of Clarence John Junior his father Clarence (presumably by then deceased) was described as a Physician. Similarly on the 1889 marriage certificate of Florence Agnes her father was described as being a Doctor of Medicine. However there is no such entry in the UK General Medical Register. These declared occupations sit strangely with the predominant usage of ‘miller’ or ‘gentleman’ in earlier documents, and indeed ‘grocer’ on Edith Bell’s marriage certificate in 1905. However, Louisa Ann’s death certificate in 1919 very clearly states that she was the widow of Clarence John Harris Willis, a physician in America. The possibility has to be considered that Clarence John Harris Willis left his wife and family sometime between 1871 and 1881 to pursue a medical career in America.. There are records of a Charles J Harris Willis who moved from England to work as a physician and surgeon in Barbour, West Virginia, USA. He married Catharine E Cox on 16 May 1876 and raised a family. He later married Mary C Aurille, who bore him additional children. There is not sufficient evidence to be certain that Charles J Harris Willis and Clarence John Harris Willis are the same individual. There are some anomalies: for example their different first name, and the fact that Charles claimed to be born in London (note however that there is evidence that Clarence switched to using the first name Charles, in the 1871 England census return). If they are the same individual then this implies Charles’ US marriages were bigamous.