Charles Willis
Personal information
Full name
Charles Francis Willis
Born(1827-04-15)15 April 1827
Hawkhurst, Kent
Died19 November 1895(1895-11-19) (aged 68)
Bassingham, Lincolnshire
RoleBowler
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1847–1849Oxford University
1849–1850Gentlemen of Kent
1850Kent
FC debut27 May 1847 Oxford Univ. v MCC
Last FC15 August 1850 Gentlemen of Kent v Gentlemen of England
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 10
Runs scored 83
Batting average 4.88
100s/50s 0/0
Top score 16*
Balls bowled 675
Wickets 53
Bowling average –[lower-alpha 1]
5 wickets in innings 3
10 wickets in match 2
Best bowling 8/?[lower-alpha 1]
Catches/stumpings 4/–
Source: CricketArchive, 23 October 2023

Reverend Charles Francis Willis (15 April 1827 – 19 November 1895) was an English clergyman and amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket between 1847 and 1850.

Early life

Willis was born at Hawkhurst in Kent in 1827, the younger son of Charles Willis and his wife Mary. He was educated at Tonbridge School before going up to Brasenose College, Oxford in 1844 at the age of 17.[1][2][3] He moved to Corpus Christi College where he was resident between 1845 and 1853, graduating in 1849 and gaining his MA in 1851. He was a Fellow of the college between 1853 and 1857.[3]

Cricket

Willis played cricket at university, making his first-class debut for Oxford University in 1847. He appeared in three University Matches, the 1847, 1848 and 1849 fixtures, and was considered a "useful bowler".[4][5] He played in three first-class matches for the Gentlemen of Kent, one in 1847 and two in 1850, and made a single appearance for Kent County Cricket Club in the later season, a fixture against an All England side played at School Field, Cranbrook.[4] In his ten first-class matches Willis took 53 wickets, including taking eight wickets in an innings for Oxford against MCC at Lord's in 1848 and seven in an innings in the same season's University Match.[1][6]

Professional career

Willis was ordained in the Church of England in 1853, taking up the position of curate at Aldbourne in Wiltshire.[1][2] He served as rector of Letcombe Bassett in Berkshire between 1857 and 1876 before moving to occupy the same position at Church Brampton in Northamptonshire until 1879. Willis' final ecclesiasticial position was as rector of Bassingham in Lincolnshire where he served from 1879 until his death in 1895 at the age of 68.[1][3][6]

In 1847 Willis married Rose Cleather at Hungerford in Berkshire. The couple had six children, four daughters and two sons.[1] His elder brother, William Macbean Willis, also matriculated at Brasenose and was ordained in 1851. He served as curate at Hythe and Horsmonden in Kent before being killed in a railway accident in 1854.[lower-alpha 2][2]

Notes

  1. 1 2 During the period in which Willis played, bowling statistics were not reliably recorded. As a result it is impossible to know his bowling average or the number of runs conceded in each innings.
  2. ↑ CricketArchive notes Henry Willis, who was born in 1844 at Sydenham in Kent, as his brother.[4] This appears to not be the case and is an error.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Carlaw D (2020) Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part One: 1806–1914 (revised edition), pp. 581–582. (Available online at the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 2020-12-21.)
  2. 1 2 3 Steed HE (1911) The Register of Tonbridge School, p. 44. London: Rivington's. (Available online at The Internet Archive. Retrieved 2023-10-21.)
  3. 1 2 3 Foster J (1888) Alumni Oxonienses, Later Series, S–Z, p. 1576. Oxford: Parker and Co. (Available online at The Internet Archive. Retrieved 2023-10-21.)
  4. 1 2 3 Charles Willis, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2023-10-21. (subscription required)
  5. ↑ Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians, quoted in Carlaw, op. cit., p. 581.
  6. 1 2 Charles Willis, CricInfo. Retrieved 2023-10-21.
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