William Willis (29 April 1835 – 22 August 1911) was an English barrister, judge, and Liberal Party politician. He sat in the House of Commons from 1880 to 1885.[1]

Life

Born 29 April 1835 in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, he was the son of William Willis, a straw hat manufacturer of Luton and Esther Kentish Masters of London. He was educated at Huddersfield College and at the University of London. He was called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1861 and went on the south-eastern circuit. In 1877 he became a QC.[2] Willis visited Japan in late 19th century.[3]

He married firstly Annie Outhwaite, daughter of John Outhwaite and Elizabeth Collins, by whom he had six daughters and four sons. Following Annie's death around 1894, he married Marie Elizabeth Moody on 2 September 1897, with whom he had one son, Arthur Thomas Willis.

At the 1880 general election Willis was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Colchester. He held the seat until 1885.[4]

Willis died on 22 August 1911 at the age of 76.

References

  1. ↑ Lee, Sidney, ed. (1912). "Willis, William" . Dictionary of National Biography (2nd supplement). Vol. 3. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  2. ↑ Debretts House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1881
  3. ↑ Oka, Yoshitake (1963), OKA, Yoshitake (岡義武), "Article — William Willis in the Early Years of Meiji (論説§明治初年の日本とW・ウィリス)", The journal of the Association of Political and Social Sciences 76(9/10) (国家学会雑誌, Kokkagakkai zasshi) (in Japanese), Graduate School of Law, University of Tokyo; Japanese (published 20 March 1963), vol. 76, no. 9/10, pp. 419–449, doi:10.11501/10219680
  4. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 5)


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