Willis (surname)

Willis is a surname of English, Norman French, and Scottish origin. The oldest extant family of the name, the Willes family of Warwickshire, formerly of Newbold Comyn and Fenny Compton, has used the spellings 'Willis,' 'Willys,' and 'Wyllys' and appear in records from 1330.[1] In this case, the name derives from the name de Welles (under which name the family were Lincolnshire noblemen) which comes from the Norman name de Vallibus (meaning 'of the valley'), which in turn was derived from the Vaux family tree. The Vaux family, established in England by Harold de Vaux, a close relative of William the Conqueror, appears in French records from 794. They had held power in their own right and through royal intermarriages.[2]

There are other derivations of the name, including, particularly in Scotland, 'son of William/ Will' (whereby the name has developed from 'Wills', and is similar to 'Wilson' and other related names);[3] because of the popularity of the name 'William' since the Norman conquest, it is clear that by no means are all people with this surname- even very distantly- related.[4]

Sources of the name notwithstanding, specific notable Willis families (aside from those in Warwickshire, aforementioned) were of: Halsnead, Lancashire (now in Whiston, Merseyside); Atherfield, on the Isle of Wight (and subsequently of an estate named after it at Woldingham, Surrey); and Monk's Barn, Petersfield, Hampshire. The Willis (later Willis Bund) family were of Wick, Worcestershire, a cadet branch of the Cambridgeshire family from which also came brothers Thomas and Richard Willis (also Willys), each created a baronet, both titles being extinct at the failure of their descendants by 1732.[5] Humphrey Willis, Sheriff of County Donegal and County Fermanagh, was the ancestor of the Willis family of Florencecourt, County Fermanagh, later also of Monmouthshire, of which came the physician and foreign advisor to Japan, William Willis, and the writer Anthony Armstrong (born George Anthony Armstrong Willis);[6][7] George Willis, who farmed at Florencecourt, discovered the Florencecourt Yew in 1767.[8][9] Another Humphrey Willis, often conflated with the above Humphrey, was an English soldier and prominent English Civil War clubman, was of a yeomanry/ minor gentry family[10] of Woolavington, Somerset, related on his mother's side to the Pophams of Huntworth.[11][12]


Notable persons with this surname include:

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  • Vic Willis (1875–1947), American Major League baseball player
  • Victor Willis (born 1951), American singer/songwriter

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References
  1. Burke's Landed Gentry, 1969, 'Willes formerly of Newbold Comyn'
  2. History of the Welles family of England and Normandy, Albert Welles, 1876, pp 6–8
  3. The Scottish Surnames of Colonial America, David Dobson, 2003, pg 148
  4. American Surnames, Elsdon Coles Smith, 1986, pg 49
  5. Burke's Family Index, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1976, pp. 166–167
  6. The County Families of the United Kingdom, Edward Walford, Chatto & Windus, 1886, p. 1114
  7. The Royal Navy as I Saw It, G. H. A. Willis, John Murray, 1924, pp. 1-3
  8. "The original Irish Yew Tree at Florence Court".
  9. 'The Nomenclature and History in Cultivation of the Irish Yew, Taxus Baccata "Fastigiata"', E. Charles Nelson, Contributions from the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, 1–5, National Botanic Gardens (Ireland), Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, 1976, p. 33
  10. Somerset in the Civil War and Interregnum, David Underdown, David & Charles, 1973, p. 107
  11. "Catalogue description Will of Humfrey Willis, Gentleman of Woolavington, Somerset".
  12. "The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/67269.
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