UK – The Willis Tree

ILL-TREATING A WIFE – Ingram Willis charged with ill-treating his wife, 1868

Ingram Willis was born in the village of Barham, Kent in 1837, the son of Ingram Willis* and Thomasin Finnis. By the time of the 1861 Census he was a…

Susannah & Rosie Willis – Charged with Alleged Starvation of a Child – 1885

On 30 Oct 1885 the Kent & Sussex Courier reported that 'Rose Jane Willis and Susannah Willis were acquitted of manslaughter at Dover'. This one simple sentence is the final…

‘For the wind is in the palm-trees and it’s there that I would be’ – Fred Gurnsey’s post-war adventures.

[The following account is taken directly from the memoirs of my Great Uncle, Fred Gurnsey, and is used with his permission.] England In January 1945, after seven years in the…

Whitfield within living memory (part 2) by Daphne Argent

The following article was written by Daphne Argent, and was published in the February 1999 issue of the magazine 'Bygone Kent'. It follows on from 'Whitfield within living memory (Part…

Able Seaman Edward Willis …at the Battle of Trafalgar?

Edward WILLIS (abt 1778 - 1854) - Possibly the same Edward Willis listed as being present at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805, fighting under the command of…