sively in his own researches, but which did not meet with general acceptance. In 1843 he published his ‘Architectural Nomenclature of the Middle Ages’ (Trans. Cambr. Ant. Soc. vol. i.), a work of vast research and great ingenuity, useful alike to a lexicographer and an archæologist.
The foundation of the Archæological Institute in 1844 opened a new field for Willis. He was one of the first members, as he was also one of the most energetic, and a lecture from him was the chief attraction at the annual meeting. His method, as he states in his ‘Architectural History of Winchester Cathedral’ (1846), was ‘to bring together all the recorded evidence that belongs to the building; to examine the building itself for the purpose of investigating the mode of its construction, and the successive changes and additions that have been made to it; and, lastly, to compare the recorded evidence with the structural evidence as much as possible.’ By this comprehensive scheme he laid bare the entire history of the structure; the history was elucidated by the building, and the changes in the building were made manifest by the history; while his own thorough knowledge of the different styles of architecture enabled him to see through alterations, transformations, and insertions which had puzzled all previous investigators. In this way he elucidated the cathedrals of Canterbury (1844), Winchester (1845), York (1846), Chichester (1853), Worcester (1862), Sherborne and Glastonbury (1865). These have been published; but he also read papers and delivered lectures on the following without, however, finding leisure to publish what he had said: Norwich (1847), Salisbury (1849), Oxford (1850), Wells (1851), Gloucester (1860), Peterborough (1861), Rochester (1863), Lichfield (1864).
As a lecturer Willis had extraordinary gifts. He used neither manuscript nor notes; but, whether he was describing a machine or a building, an uninterrupted stream of lucid exposition flowed from his lips, carrying his hearers without weariness through the most intricate details, and making them grasp the most complex history or construction. In addition to his annual lectures at Cambridge, in London, or to the Archæological Institute, Willis lectured at the Royal Institution on sound in 1831, and on architecture in 1846 and 1847. He also gave special courses of lectures to working men in London between 1854 and 1867.
Willis also published a ‘Description of the Sextry Barn at Ely’ (Trans. Cambr. Ant. Soc. 1843, vol. i.); ‘History of the Great Seals of England’ (Arch. Journ. 1846, vol. ii.); ‘Architectural History of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem’ (London, 1849, 8vo), a remarkable achievement, as he had not visited it; ‘Description of the Ancient Plan of the Monastery of St. Gall’ (Arch. Journ. 1848); ‘A Westminster Fabric Roll of 1253’ (Gent. Mag. 1860); ‘On Foundations discovered in Lichfield Cathedral’ (Arch. Journ. 1860); ‘On the Crypt and Chapter House of Worcester Cathedral’ (Trans. Inst. Brit. Arch. 1863).
In the course of these studies he edited, or more correctly rewrote, a considerable portion of Parker's ‘Glossary of Architecture’ (5th ed. 1850); and published a ‘Facsimile of the Sketch-book of Wilars de Honecort’ (London, 1859, 4to), with a text partly from the French of M. Lassus, partly by himself. But perhaps his most remarkable archæological work is his last, ‘The Architectural History of the Conventual Buildings of the Monastery of Christchurch, Canterbury’ (London, 1869, 8vo). He had promised to do this in 1844, when he lectured on the cathedral, but other engagements had stood in the way of publication. It is a minute and perfectly accurate exposition of the plan of a Benedictine monastery, considered in relation to the monastic life.
His health did not allow him to complete his comprehensive work on the ‘Architectural History of the University and Colleges of Cambridge,’ which originated in a lecture delivered before the Archæological Institute at its meeting at Cambridge in 1854. This was completed after his death by the present writer, and published by the University Press in 1886 (4 vols. imp. 8vo).
Willis died at Cambridge on 28 Feb. 1875 of bronchitis; his health had been seriously impaired for some years previously. He married, on 26 July 1832, Mary Anne, daughter of Charles Humfrey of Cambridge.
[Venn's Biogr. Hist. of Gonville and Caius College, 1898, ii. 182; Arch. Journ. passim; private knowledge.]
WILLIS, ROBERT (1799–1878), medical writer, was born in Scotland in 1799, and in 1819 graduated M.D. in the university of Edinburgh. He became a member of the College of Surgeons of England in 1823, then began practice as a surgeon in London, and was in 1837 admitted a licentiate of the College of Physicians. In 1827, on the suggestion of John Abernethy (1764–1831) [q. v.], he was appointed librarian of the newly formed library of the College of Surgeons, and held office till June 1845, after which he went to live at Barnes in Surrey, and there practised
