Person    | Male  Born 27/4/1821  Died 11/2/1901

'Father' Henry Willis

Organ builder. Born north-west London. His first London workshop was in Foundling Terrace, Gray's Inn Road. Then when he got the commission to build the large organ for the Great Exhibition he moved to larger premises in Argyle Square/Street at King's Cross. In 1859 he moved his works to 119 Albany Street and in 1863 to The Rotunda in Rochester Place. Built organs for many cathedrals and, in London, for Alexandra Palace, Royal Albert Hall and St Paul's Cathedral. Died at home, Argyle Villa, 2 Bartholomew Road. The title 'father' was given partly to differentiate him from his nephews and sons who also worked in the business but also as a mark of respect.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
'Father' Henry Willis

Commemorated ati

Henry Willis

Greater London Council 'Father' Henry Willis, 1821 - 1901, organ builder, liv...

Read More

Other Subjects

Brabant weavers

Brabant weavers

The Brabant describes a part of the low countries to the east of Flanders.  Weavers had come to England from the Brabant and Flanders during the 12th century.

Group, Commerce, Craft / Design, Belgium, Netherlands

1 memorial
Duncan Grant

Duncan Grant

Painter and designer. Born Scotland but brought up in India, Burma and Rugby School. Cousin and for a time lover of Lyton Strachey, through whom he met and joined the Bloomsbury Group. He also had ...

Person, Art, Craft / Design, Scotland

1 memorial
Henry Burdett
1 memorial
Sculpture Castings Ltd

Sculpture Castings Ltd

From their website: "Sculpture Castings is a leading fine art foundry based in Basingstoke, Hampshire. Offering the complete foundry service and using a range of traditional skills..." Oddly the Ar...

Group, Craft / Design, Sculpture

1 memorial
Dan Parkes

Dan Parkes

Clock-maker. We had 1989 as his date of death but in July 2024 we received this contact from Chris: "Dan’s distant nephew (grandson of his sister Elizabeth) here. Just to correct that 1989 is when...

Person, Craft / Design

1 memorial

Previously viewed

Donald W. Insall Associates

Donald W. Insall Associates

A firm of chartered architects, historic building and planning consultants. Donald Insall was knighted in 2010.

Group, Architecture

5 memorials
Spedan Tower(s)

Spedan Tower(s)

The house was bought by John Lewis in the late 1880s. Apparently, whilst looking for a new home for his young family, he hired a hansom cab and drove out in a different direction each day with his ...

Building, Property

1 memorial
John Lewis

John Lewis

Retailer. Born at Town Street, Shepton Mallet, Somerset. He worked in several drapery firms before opening his own business at number 132 (later 286) Oxford Street in 1864. In 1906 he walked from h...

Person, Commerce

1 memorial
Maurice Wilkins

Maurice Wilkins

Molecular biologist. Born New Zealand. Worked on DNA X-ray diffraction studies 1953 at King's College London with Franklin, Gosling, Stokes and Wilson.  1962 awarded a Nobel Prize with Crick and Wa...

Person, Science, New Zealand

2 memorials
Normandy Landings / D-Day

Normandy Landings / D-Day

The landings, also known as Operation Neptune, were the landing operations in Operation Overlord during WW2. The 'D' in D-Day doesn't stand for anything as it was used as a substitute for the actua...

Event, Armed Forces, France, USA

23 memorials