Willis James 1744

Willis, James 1744 – 1794				Father:	Willis,	Marmaduke		1716-1766
				Mother:	Sadler,	Anne		1717-1760

Birth date	Birth place	Registered	County	District	Sub-district	GRO ref.	Christening	Place	Borough
bef Oct 1744	Kirby-Wiske, York		Yorkshire				8 Oct 1744
Death date	Death place	Registered	County	District	Sub-district	GRO ref.	Cause
bef Feb 1794	Piccadilly	Buried 3 Feb 1794	Middlesex	St James Westminster

Tebb, Elizabeth Sandhutton Yorkshire 1748-1798	Marriage
	Date	18 Aug 1768
	Place	St James, Piccadilly
	District	Westminster
	County	Middlesex
	GRO ref.

Children		Birth date	Birth place	Death date	Death Place	Marriage date	Marriage place	Spouse
James Willis		21 Sep 1771	St James	Jan 1847	13 Somers Place	10 Jul 1794	Staines	Harriet White
Charles Willis		7 Feb 1773	St James	May 1807	New Bond Street	2 Dec 1794	Islington	Elizabeth Sutton
William Willis		1774	St James	24 Apr 1839	St James Street	5 Aug 1797	Egham	Mary Bartholomew
Marmaduke Zachary Willis		28 May 1776	St James	Dec 1825	Gt Ryder Street	not known
Euphemia (Euphebe) Willis		9 May 1779	St James	Mar 1844	Newington
John Willis		19 Apr 1781	St James	Jun 1845	Chester Place	5 May 1803	Egham	Elizabeth Edmead
Michael Thomas Willis		5 Jul 1785	St James	not known
Elizabeth Willis		8 Jul 1786	St James	Jul-Sep 1852	Croydon	7 May 1811 †	Richmond	George Topham

Records
Date	Source		Residence		Occupation
8 Oct 1744	Baptism record		Newby, Kirby Wiske, Yorkshire
18 Aug 1768	Marriage record		Wingleham, Surrey
2 Feb 1785	Indenture, James (1771)		Thatched House Tavern, St James’ Street
3 Sep 1788	Indenture, William		St James Street, Westminster		Vintner
11 Jan 1791	Articles of clerkship, Marmaduke		St James Street, Westminster		Vintner
17 Oct 1793	Last Will & Testament		Thatched House Tavern, St James Street		Tavern Keeper and Vintner
20 Jan 1794	Codicil to Will

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. James’ brothers Marmaduke and Michael, and his wife Elizabeth, were executors for his will. James’ brother William was also a Vintner, apprenticed to Benjamin Frere, London, on 7 Dec 1768. Benjamin Frere was the proprietor of the Thatched House Tavern from 1765 to 1770 when James Willis took it over. † There is some uncertainty about the marriage between Elizabeth Willis and George Topham. The evidence for this being correct is that Euphemia Willis and John Willis were witnesses. The contrary evidence is that in the 1851 England census Elizabeth Topham’s birthplace was stated to be Richmond. If this marriage is incorrect then Elizabeth’s death as stated above is also incorrect.