Richard Willis

Richard Child Willis (4 March 1799 – 27 January 1877) was an English clergyman and first-class cricketer. Early life and education Richard Child Willis was born at Petworth in Sussex, third and only surviving child of Admiral Richard Willis and his wife Ann, daughter of Captain William Child, of the King's Light Dragoons. He was a student at University College, Oxford (BA 1822, MA 1824). Clerical career On 31 March 1822 he was ordained Deacon at St. George's, Hanover Square by the Bishop of Ely, and the next day (1 April 1822) he was appointed curate at Albourne and at Twineham, both in Sussex. He was ordained priest in the Chapel of St Marylebone by the Bishop of Lincoln on 9 March 1823, and then appointed perpetual curate of North Stoke, Sussex on 26 March 1823. In 1840, Willis became a grand compounder (DD) of the University of Oxford. In 1842, Willis wrote to the Bishop of Lincoln for permission to act as a curate for his cousin, Rev. John Willis, in Buckinghamshire. However, a week later, the Bishop received an anonymous letter advising him to "suspend granting" Willis the curacy until having "communicated with the Bishop of Exeter, the Rector of Falmouth, and the Vicar of Toller in Dorsetshire, the two last Incumbents, with whom he officiated as curate". The Rector of Falmouth reported that Willis "served my curacy for several months on trial and that trial was not satisfactory and we parted." Willis was however licensed, despite misgivings, and was successful in his work. It was reported that he "behaved himself in a very becoming and promise worthy manner", was "much beloved by the Parishioners", and was "thought a fine preacher". In October 1845, Willis was licensed to the Rectory of Warden, on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent. Two years later he was also licensed to the perpetual curacy of the nearby parish of Minster in Sheppey, and he would hold both livings until his death. Holding two livings required a dispensation from the Archbishop of Canterbury, but as the population of Warden was a mere 27 Willis was probably coping. Willis's finances were in poor condition; because his living was poor, he was entitled to money from Queen Anne's Bounty, and got into the habit of promising it to people. Unfortunately, he promised it to more than one person at a time, so that although the first person to turn up at the Queens Anne's bounty office with Willis's receipt might get paid, the subsequent ones didn't.