The Hoppers and Aussie Rules Football, 1931
Julie Hopper sent me a photo of the Navarre Australian Rules Football Team, dated 1931 – a picture which includes her father, Cecil, and his two brothers Harry and Tom, and their brother-in-law ‘Pat’ Beattie.
She told me:
Hi Paul, Am forwarding this for your interest – this lady was asking about the history of the Navarre football team (Navarre is a smallcountry town in Western Victoria where my father and his family lived before he and my mother were married.) I sent her a copy of this photo with the info and it occurred to me that you may find it interesting too because of the Hopper links. Not all the names will mean anything to you, of course, but as you will see, my dad and his brothers as well as his brother in law were well into Australian Rules football!Cecil Hopper was my father and his two brothers on the team were Tom Hopper and Harry Hopper.‘Pat’ Beattie was their brother in law as he married their sister, my aunt Maud. In this photo Dad would have been16 or 17, Tom 19 and Harry 20 or 21. Not sure if Pat and Maud were already married – she would have been about 23 andPat maybe a year or so older.
From a Benefield descendant…
I received a message via Genes Reunited today from Ruth, who said:
I am trying to find some more information on John Benefield (my great grandfather) b1885 d1963 and Matilda Feekins b1879 d1962 whom he married in 1908. Can you help me?
I’ve been able to provide Rachel with a link to John Benefield’s details on The Willis Tree, and add some more individuals from Rachel’s tree to mine. It turns out that Rachel and I are 5th cousins, once removed. 
The Willis Tree – featured in the Dover Express newspaper!
Terry Sutton – veteran journalist on the Dover Express – has written a great little article about The Willis Tree in the latest edition of the town’s premier newspaper.
By clicking on the image above you can see the full-size image and read the article, or you can also read it online at http://www.thisiskent.co.uk/family-tree-hung-drama-tragedy-scandal/story-12787454-detail/story.html
There’s also a link to the article on the front page of the site, under ‘Featured On…’.
Enjoy!
A new Gurnsey contact
Received a message on Genes Reunited from Frances who is researching the Gurnsey family, and has a number of photos of Edward Gurnsey, his wife Edna (nee Collins) and their family.
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In this web site I am constantly striving to ensure the accuracy of my research and I am committed to sharing my sources with other researchers. As much as possible information provided is from primary sources, i.e., government records, vital records, cemetery records, etc. Other information provided has been obtained from a variety of secondary sources, i.e., personal web sites and oral family history, and has not necessarily been verified through official documentation. Please use this information with discretion in your own research.
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Early Willis ancestors in Dover…
Following my discovery of two strands of the Willis family in Dover in the 17th century I did a search for Willis’ in Dover on the IGI from 1538 onwards. Here is what I found (all baptised in St Mary the Virgin Parish Church, Dover):
ENGILL WILLIS – baptised 8 Feb 1561
THOMAS WILLYS – baptised 24 Jun 1564
JOB WILLYS – baptised 2 May 1568
JOHN WILLIS – baptised 18 Dec 1572
PAUL WILLIS (!) – baptised 18 Dec 1572
JOHN WILLYS – baptised 13 Oct 1577
ELIZABETH WYLLYS – baptised Jul 1585 (father: WYLLYAM WYLLYS)
Marriages:
WYLLYAM WYLLYS married Jone Edwards on 11 Jun 1570 at St Mary the Virgin, Dover.
Sadly its very doubtful if I will every find out for definite if they are related to my own Willis lineage…
A Stray Strand of Dover Willis’
Whilst looking for something else on the International Genealogical Index (IGI) this afternoon I came across 2 whole other strands of Willis’ in Dover.
One goes back to a John and Judith Willis, whose son Charles (bap 1663) married a Joane Redward in 1680. From them I’ve traced a further two generations…
The second begins with Andrew Willis and his wife Sarah, who had at least six children, all baptised in the parish church of St James the Apostle in Dover between 1652 and 1670.
As yet no connection found to my own Willis line!
*KNOWN ISSUES*
There are a couple of known issues with The Willis Tree which I need to make visitors aware of, and which will affect your experience of the site depending on which web browser you’re using.
In Internet Explorer…
… the main menu [Home, About Me, Family Tree etc] is shown as a vertically-stacked list of links. When shown correctly it should be a horizontal strip across the screen.
In Chrome…
…Pedigree Charts in the Family Tree section get stuck on the ‘Loading…’ screen and just show empty boxes where the ancestor details should be.
In Opera…
…Pedigree Charts in the Family Tree section get stuck on the ‘Loading…’ screen and just show empty boxes where the ancestor details should be.
New contact – from the Willis of Deal
Had an email from Laurie, she says:
‘Hello Paul, I believe I am related to some of these Willis’, but am still trying to make a definite connection. My 2nd grt grandfather, John Henry Bushell (Born in Walmer), married a Hannah Willis in 1868. At least I’m 99% sure her last name was Willis with my research, but I have sent for the marriage certificate to be 100% sure. Hannah was born abt 1848 in Deal, Kent. After researching the census’ I believe her father and mother to be James & Judith Willis. James Willis was born in Deal abt. 1810. On most of the census’ they lived in Ripple. Judith (nee unknown) was born in Mongeham abt 1810. That is as far as I have gotten so far. I do not know James Willis’ fathers or mothers name. I could see your tree had alot of Willis’ in Deal and feel that they must be related somehow.’
I’ve done a little bit more research online and been able to trace the James Willis (b1810) as this one… I’ve contacted Laurie to let her know!
Roll of Honour – new additions
With data from FadedGenes and the Dover Virtual War Memorial sites, I’ve been able to add three more names to the Roll of Honour. These are: Walter John Hopper (1894-1940), Charles Gammon (1896-1917) and Thomas Sifleet (1889-1917).
The information from FadedGenes means I’ve been able to add the ancestral lines of some of these as well, and thereby add more individuals to the family tree.
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Stats as at 1st February 2012
Total Individuals: 10,502
Total Males: 5,290
Total Females: 5,212
Total Families: 2,852
Total Surnames: 1,582
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