Willis (surname)
Willis is a surname of English, Norman French, and Scottish origin. The oldest extant family of the name, the Willes family of Warwickshire, formerly of Newbold Comyn and Fenny Compton, has used the spellings 'Willis,' 'Willys,' and 'Wyllys' and appear in records from 1330. In this case, the name derives from the name "de Welles" (under which name the family were Lincolnshire noblemen) which comes from the Norman name "de Vallibus" (meaning 'of the valley'), which in turn was derived from the "Vaux" family tree. The Vaux family, established in England by Harold de Vaux, a close relative  of William the Conqueror, appears in French records from 794. They had held power in their own right and through royal intermarriages. There are other derivations of the name, including, particularly in Scotland, 'son of William/ Will' (whereby the name has developed from 'Wills', and is similar to 'Wilson' and other related names); because of the popularity of the name 'William' since the Norman conquest, it is clear that by no means are all people with this surname- even very distantly- related. Sources of the name notwithstanding, specific notable Willis families (aside from those in Warwickshire, aforementioned) were of: Halsnead , Lancashire (now in Whiston, Merseyside); Atherfield, on the Isle of Wight (and subsequently of an estate named after it at Woldingham, Surrey); and Monk's Barn, Petersfield, Hampshire. The Willis (later Willis Bund) family were of Wick, Worcestershire, a cadet branch of the Cambridgeshire family from which also came brothers Thomas and Richard Willis (also Willys), each created a baronet, both titles being extinct at the failure of their descendants by 1732. Humphrey Willis, Sheriff of County Donegal and County Fermanagh, was the ancestor of the Willis family of Florencecourt, County Fermanagh, later also of Monmouthshire, of which came the  physician and foreign advisor to Japan, William Willis, and the writer Anthony Armstrong (born George Anthony Armstrong Willis); George Willis, who farmed at Florencecourt, discovered the Florencecourt Yew in 1767. Another Humphrey Willis, often conflated with the above Humphrey, was an English soldier and prominent English Civil War clubman, was of a yeomanry/ minor gentry family of Woolavington, Somerset, related on his mother's side to the Pophams of Huntworth. Notable persons with this surname include: