The aim of the site, online since 2008, is to gather together research and remembrances relating to the history of my family. Much of that history is rooted in the English county of Kent (particularly around the coastal town of Dover), with a couple of strands coming from the West Country county of Devon.
From these villages and towns the family has spread across the globe so that today there are descendants living in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA.
Most of my Dad’s family have their roots in the county of Kent. The Willis can be traced back to Dover in the 1660s, the Benefield line is from Barham near Canterbury; the Kingsnorth and Alefounder surnames came from Faversham in north Kent, and from the east coast came the seafaring Greenland family from Folkestone and the Suters from Dover. Then there’s the strand from Devon – the Nicholls and Pyne families from rural hamlets near Torquay and the Mayne family of stonemasons from North Devon.
[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto 00px;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/3″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_custom_headline level=”h3″ looks_like=”h3″ accent=”false” style=”margin: 0 0 0.15em;”]Mum’s Family[/x_custom_headline][cs_text title=”Copy of undefined”]My Mum’s family are firmly rooted in Kent. The prolific Hopper clan can be traced back to the 15th Century in Ickham near Canterbury. The Collards are from the Dover area, whilst the Huggins and Calloway families originate in the Chatham area in the north of the county. Then there’s the non-Conformist Gurnseys from Rochester and the Harvey and Hare lines from Canterbury. Finally, the Robinson family from Loughrea in County Galway, Ireland![/cs_text][x_gap size=”20px” class=”cs-hide-xl cs-hide-lg cs-hide-md”][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”2/3″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_image type=”rounded” src=”https://thewillistree.info/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/FamilyAlbum-140-1.jpg” alt=”Placeholder” link=”false” href=”#” title=”” target=”” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=”” class=”man”][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section bg_color=”#fafafa” parallax=”false” class=”cs-ta-center” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 45px 0px;border-style: dotted;border-width: 1px;border-color: hsla(0, 0%, 0%, 0.98);”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto 45px;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_custom_headline level=”h2″ looks_like=”h2″ accent=”false” class=”man”]Meet my Grandparents![/x_custom_headline][x_line style=”border-top-width: 1px;”][cs_text]To read more details about my Grandparents and their lives, click on an image…[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto 45px;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/4″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_image type=”thumbnail” src=”https://thewillistree.info/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/G_Willis.jpg” alt=”Placeholder” link=”true” href=”https://thewillistree.info/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I475&tree=wtree1″ title=”” target=”blank” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=”” class=”man”][x_gap size=”15px” class=”cs-hide-xl cs-hide-lg cs-hide-md”][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/4″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_image type=”thumbnail” src=”https://thewillistree.info/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/D_Nicholls.jpg” alt=”Placeholder” link=”true” href=”https://thewillistree.info/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I66&tree=wtree1″ title=”” target=”blank” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=”” class=”man”][x_gap size=”15px” class=”cs-hide-xl cs-hide-lg cs-hide-md”][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/4″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_image type=”thumbnail” src=”https://thewillistree.info/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/A_Hopper.jpg” alt=”Placeholder” link=”true” href=”https://thewillistree.info/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I584&tree=wtree1″ title=”” target=”blank” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=”” class=”man”][x_gap size=”15px” class=”cs-hide-xl cs-hide-lg cs-hide-md”][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/4″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_image type=”thumbnail” src=”https://thewillistree.info/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/N_Gurnsey.jpg” alt=”Placeholder” link=”true” href=”https://thewillistree.info/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I518&tree=wtree1″ title=”” target=”blank” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=”” class=”man”][x_gap size=”15px” class=”cs-hide-xl cs-hide-lg cs-hide-md”][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section parallax=”false” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 10% 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_custom_headline level=”h1″ looks_like=”h1″ accent=”false” class=”cs-ta-left” style=”margin: 0 0 30px;border-bottom: 3px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1);padding: 0 0 20px;”]What you can find here[/x_custom_headline][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/3″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_custom_headline level=”h2″ looks_like=”h4″ accent=”false” style=”margin: 0 0 30px;line-height: 1.3;text-transform: uppercase;font-size: 1.15em;letter-spacing: 0.15em;”]Genealogy Database[/x_custom_headline][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”2/3″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_block_grid type=”two-up” class=”mbn”][cs_block_grid_item title=”01″]
01 – INformation
Here you can browse or search a wealth of data about the 11,000+ individuals in The Willis Tree. Each person has their own page, and various charts are also viewable.[/cs_block_grid_item][cs_block_grid_item title=”02″]
02 – media
Numerous collections of documents, letters, newspaper articles, census returns; ‘life event’ records including birth, marriage and death certificates; photographs from 1870 to the present.
[/cs_block_grid_item][cs_block_grid_item title=”03″]03 – headstones and cemeteries
Images of headstones are displayed on individual cemetery pages. The site also contains newspaper obituaries.[/cs_block_grid_item][cs_block_grid_item title=”04″]
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Powered by Darrin Lythgoe’s The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding© (“TNG”) software, the database is the core of The Willis Tree.
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[/cs_block_grid_item][/cs_block_grid][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 85px auto 0px;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/3″ style=”padding: 0px;”][x_custom_headline level=”h1″ looks_like=”h4″ accent=”false” style=”margin: 0 0 30px;line-height: 1.3;text-transform: uppercase;font-size: 1.15em;letter-spacing: 0.15em;”]The Roll of Honour[/x_custom_headline][/cs_column][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”2/3″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_block_grid type=”two-up” class=”mbn”][cs_block_grid_item title=”01″]01 [x_icon type=”dashboard” style=”opacity: 0.35;”]
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