The Reverend E F Willis
Rev Edward Francis Willis, born at Rayne 24 November 1844, son of the Rev Thomas Willis. At Uppingham School October 1857 - October 1862 (Captain of the School in 1862), and then went up to Oxford; matriculated 20 October 1862; B.A. 1866 (Exeter); M.A. 1869 (Balliol).
Entered Cuddesdon Theological College in 1867. Ordained Deacon 8 March 1868 and Priest 19 September 1869, both by the Bishop of St David's. Curate of St Michael, Tenby, 1868-70; Vice-principal of Cuddesdon College 1870-80.
Cuddesdon Theological College was on the Catholic Side of the Church of England, and Willis seems to have embraced this by joining the Society of the Holy Cross. This was at the centre of religious controversy in the 1870s, and Willis did not escape; he suffered the indignity of seeing a congregation walk out:
THE SOCIETY OF THE HOLY CROSS. – As we mentioned a short time back, a difficulty had arisen in the parish of Cuddesdon, Oxon, in consequence of the vicar, the Rev. Canon Furse, principal of Cuddesdon Theological College, allowing a member of the Society of the Holy Cross, the Rev. E. F. Willis, vice-principal of the college, to occupy the pulpit in the parish church. The churchwardens and principal ratepayers objected to this, and presented an address to the vicar requesting him not to allow the gentleman in question to officiate in the church on the ground that he was a member of the society mentioned. The vicar declined to accede to this request, and consequently the next time Mr. Willis entered the pulpit a large part of the congregation quitted the church. The Bishop of the diocese has now interposed, and, acted upon his advice, Mr. Willis has withdrawn from the Society of the Holy Cross, and the chief ground of objection on the part of the congregation has thus been removed. Morning Post, 22 September 1877, p5
Even though he left the Society of the Holy Cross, the controversy rumbled on. Eventually, Willis left the country, becoming the first Oxford University Missionary at Calcutta in 1880-83.
University Missions to Delhi.— For some years the University of Cambridge has had a mission at Delhi. The Bishop of Calcutta has now appealed to the University of Oxford to send out missionaries to work especially among the educated natives in that city, many of whom are now familiar with the English language and English literature. A committee has been formed, of which the Bishop of Oxford is chairman, and the Regius Professor of Pastoral Theology is vice chairman (the members including the Dean of St. Paul's, the Archdeacon of Oxford, Professors Ince, Rawlinson, Monier Williams, Bright, and Liddon) ; and three clergymen — the Rev. E. F. Willis, M.A. Balliol, vice principal of Cuddesdon ; the Rev. M. F. Argles, M. A., Fellow of St. John's, and the Rev. E. F. Brown, B.A., late scholar of Trinity— have agreed to go out this year (1880). Huddersfield Chronicle, 03 January 1880
...the Rev. E. F. Willis, before Vice-Principal of Cuddesdon, first Head of the Mission, who returned to England with his health for the time at least shattered by the unceasing toil to which he had submitted himself. "Letter lately received by the Vice-Chairman, from the Bishop of Calcutta", Oxford, 1886
Following his return from India he does not seem to have worked any more ("invalided home with illness from which [he] did not recover"). He was living at Brighton with his Aunt Catherine Lowe in 1891, and died at 16 Medina Villas, Hove, 12 May 1898. Buried at Cuckfield.
The death of the Rev Edmund Francis Willis, late of the Oxford Mission to Calcutta, took place on Thursday week 16 Medina Villas, Hove. The deceased clergyman was educated at Balliol College, Oxford, and being ordained to the Curacy of St. Mary’s, Tenby, subsequently acted as Vice-Principal of Cuddesdon Theological College, near Oxford, for a decade. He was the author of works on the Holy Eucharist, Papal Infallibility, &c. On Wednesday his remains were conveyed by road to Cuckfield for interment with others of his kith and kin in the churchyard there. The members of the family already buried here are the Rev. Thomas Willis (died in 1857), his wife (died 1888), and their daughter (died in 1876). The service, which was fully choral, was conducted entirely by the Rev. Canon Cooper, Vicar of Cuckfield, who officiated also at the interment of deceased’s father and mother. The mourners comprised the immediate relatives of the late Mr. Willis, a few friends (among them being the Rev. Canon Lowe, Provost of Lancing College), and a small sprinkling of residents of Cuckfield. In observance of an old custom the coffin, as containing the body of a priest, was taken into the chancel for the first part of the service, during which the Choir sang the 39th Psalm and the hymn "Let Saints on Earth in concert sing," whilst at the grave they rendered "On the Resurrection Morning." The coffin was of polished oak, with full length Latin cross, the inscription being:— The Reverend Edmund Francis Willis, Born 24th November, 1844, Died 12th May, 1898. Wreaths and crosses were sent by " Philip and Sisters," Arthur and Mary," Mrs. E. Willis, Emily, Matilda and Ada Milner, Aunt Catherine, the Misses Penny, Mrs. Clifford Borrer, Mrs. F. W. Otter, the Principal, the Vice-Principal and the Chaplain of Cuddesdon College, and the Servants at Hove. Mid Sussex Times, Tuesday 24 May 1898
Author of several theological tracts, including The Sacrificial Aspect of the Holy Eucharist (1878), Plea for a missionary brotherhood in India: A letter addressed to the Regius Professor of pastoral theology in Oxford (1879), The Worship of the Old Covenant Considered More Especialy in Relation to that of the New (1880) and Difficulties of Indian conversion and the Oxford Mission to Calcutta: A paper read before the Society of Junior Clergy in London, on July 13, 1880.