Edward Willis (British Army officer)

Willis was the second son of Henry Scott Willis, a wool merchant of Northfield, Trowbridge, Wiltshire.[1] His elder brother took over the family wool business, having served as a supernumerary captain (honorary major) with The Duke of Edinburgh's Regiment, and his younger brother was a provincial commissioner in Northern Rhodesia.[2]

Willis was commissioned into the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) as a second-lieutenant on 14 February 1890,[3] promoted to lieutenant on 14 February 1893, and to captain on 19 January 1900.[4] He was attached to the 60th battery RFA which was stationed in British India until November 1902, when he was in command as they returned home.[5] They were subsequently stationed at Ballinrobe, County Mayo.[6]

After serving in World War I, he was appointed major general, Royal Artillery in 1921 and Director of the Royal Artillery in 1927.[7] He became Lieutenant Governor of Jersey in 1929[8][9] and retired in 1934.[8]

Having been appointed CB, CMG and received the Order of St Stanislaus, 2nd Class (with swords)[10] in the course of his career, Willis died at his house, Westlands, at Saint Brélade, Jersey on 26 June 1961. In 1904 he married Sarah Augusta Barlow, daughter of Micah Barlow.[11] Their son, Major John Henry Willis, M.C., of the 12th Lancers, was the second husband of the actress Hermione Baddeley, from 1940 until their 1946 divorce.[12][13] In 1925, he married Ellis Mary, daughter of Alexander William Duke.[14]