Rev Dr Richard Child Willis at Haddenham
In 1842, Richard Child Willis wrote to John Kaye, the Bishop of Lincoln, asking to be appointed as a curate to his cousin John at Haddenham, Bucks:
My Lord,
Being a resident in the Parish of Haddenham, and desirous of assisting my relation (The Revd John Willis, the Vicar) in the parochial duties of Haddenham and Cuddington may I request your Lordship to give me a license for that purpose. My neighbour The Revd Mr Harrison of Dinton, our Rural Dean, desires me to mention to your Lordship that he has inspected my Letters of Orders. I have the honour to be My Lord
Your Lordship's
Most obedient and faithful servant,
Richard Child Willis
The Cottage
Haddenham
near Thame
Oxon
2nd June 1842.
I should add that I am a D.D. of University Coll. Oxford.
Licolnshire Archives Office, Cor B 5/3/14/1/15Shortly thereafter the Bishop received an anonymous letter, written in a very shaky hand:
8th June 1842
My Lord
In addressing your Lordship upon the present occasion anonymously, I am not actuated by any malignant motive towards the Party who is the subject of this letter; but by a sense of duty I owe to your Lordship, to society, and to my God!
It having been communicated to me, that a Revd. D.D. of the name of Richard Child Willis, who either has, or is about to apply to you for a Licence to serve a Cure, – I admonish you to suspend granting it, till you have 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 – and I have reason to believe that he has never been licensed; – ? for his general character, I beg leave to refer your Lordship to Mr Lambert Solicitor of John Street Bedford Row – this letter is addressed to your Lordship in perfect confidence, by
My Lord
Your Lordship's
Dutiful and faithful servant
Stet in membra
To The Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of Lincoln
Lincolnshire Archives Office, Cor B 5/3/14/1/19This evidently prompted the Bishop to ask his Archdeacon to make enquiries. Mr Coope, the Rector of Falmouth, replied thus:
Summerlands
June 23d 1842
Dear Mr Archdeacon
In reply to the enquiry concerning a Dr Willis now desiring admission into the Dioceses of Lincoln, I beg to say that the Revd Richard Willis, about two years since, served my curacy for several months on trial and that trial was not satisfactory and we parted.
I have since heard that Mister Willis has taken a degree at Oxford, but while with me as he was then only A M. I am not aware that he has proceeded to that of Doctor.
I remain
dear Mister Archdeacon, Yours truly
Wm. Jno. Coope
To The
Archdeacon Sheepshanks, Elmwick
Licolnshire Archives Office, Cor B 5/3/14/1/21Despite misgivings ("I fear that the person your Lordship spoke to me about will not turn out to be very reputable"), he was licensed anyway and proved a success:
London 24th May 1843
My Lord
It might not have escaped your Lordship's recollection that about ten months ago that the author of the present letter having been at that time been impelled by a sense of duty to your Lordship as well as to his own conscience to address you under the signature of 'Stet in Membra' respecting the character of a certain Gentleman whose name therein appears with reference to others to substantiate the unfavourable account of his previous life and conduct a sense of justice I owe now to that Gentleman as well as duty to your Lordship demands that as Holy Writ informs me that as God has more respect for one Sinner that repenteth than for ninety-nine just persons that need no Repentance it is with great satisfaction I have now the pleasure to inform your Lordship that the reverend gentleman named in my former letter has as I am told by several very respectable people in his Parish behaved himself in a very becoming and promise worthy manner and is much beloved by the Parishioners and that the dissenters now often go to Church as he is thought a fine preacher in short they say that he is become a new creature I hope therefore that your Lordship will overlook his past misconduct as his present is so irreproachable whereby your Lordship will greatly oblige his Parishioners and
Your Lordship's admiring and obliged servant
[Over the Greek signature KARITAS]
Licolnshire Archives Office, Cor B 5/3/14/1/24The annual feast of the members of the Benefit Society, held at the White Hart Inn, took place on Thursday, the 30th ult. After lunch the members proceeded to church, headed by the celebrated brass band belonging to the village, when an appropriate sermon was preached by the Rev. R. C. Willis, and they returned in the same procession to partake of an excellent dinner served by the kind host and hostess in their usual and superior style. The Rev. R. C. Willis presided at the feast, and after the cloth was cleared he proposed the usual royal toasts, and Mr. William Mead, of Towersey, an honorary member, delivered a suitable address to the members of the Society. In the afternoon the brass band paraded the streets and enlivened the village by playing some of the first rate pieces in the most masterly style. Bucks Herald, Saturday 08 June 1844