Edward Willis (British Army officer)

Willis was the second son of Henry Scott Willis, a wool merchant of Northfield, Trowbridge, Wiltshire.[1] His elder brother took over the family wool business, having served as a supernumerary captain (honorary major) with The Duke of Edinburgh's Regiment, and his younger brother was a provincial commissioner in Northern Rhodesia.[2]

Willis was commissioned into the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) as a second-lieutenant on 14 February 1890,[3] promoted to lieutenant on 14 February 1893, and to captain on 19 January 1900.[4] He was attached to the 60th battery RFA which was stationed in British India until November 1902, when he was in command as they returned home.[5] They were subsequently stationed at Ballinrobe, County Mayo.[6]

After serving in World War I, he was appointed major general, Royal Artillery in 1921 and Director of the Royal Artillery in 1927.[7] He became Lieutenant Governor of Jersey in 1929[8][9] and retired in 1934.[8]

Having been appointed CB, CMG and received the Order of St Stanislaus, 2nd Class (with swords)[10] in the course of his career, Willis died at his house, Westlands, at Saint Brélade, Jersey on 26 June 1961. In 1925, he had married Ellis Mary, daughter of Alexander William Duke;[11] their son, Major John Henry Willis, M.C., of the 12th Lancers, was the second husband of the actress Hermione Baddeley, from 1940 until their 1946 divorce.[12][13]