{{Short description|British sportsman (1843–1892)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}} '''Robert Watson Willis'''<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Football_Association_(Sporting_Life)_1867-02-13.png |title=Football Association |journal=The Sporting Life |location=London |date=3 February 1867 |page=1}}</ref> (26 July 1843 – 16 January 1892) was a British sportsman. He served as the second secretary of the Football Association from 1866 to 1867, succeeding Ebenezer Morley.<ref name="green">{{cite book |title=History of the Football Association |publisher=Naldrett Press |year=1953 |location=London |author=n.a. [Geoffrey Green] |pages=82–84}}</ref> He also served on the FA's committee from 1867 to 1872.<ref name="green"/>
Like Morley, Willis was a member of Barnes Football Club, and took part in the historic London v. Sheffield match of 1866.<ref>{{cite journal |title=London v Sheffield |journal=Bell's Life in London |date=24 March 1886 |page=7}}</ref> He served as secretary to the Barnes Club from 1864 to 1867, and as captain of the club from 1867 to 1870.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Bell's Life in London |title=Barnes Football Club Athletic Sports |date=1 April 1865 |page=10}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |journal=Bell's Life in London |title=Barnes Football Club |date=24 April 1866 |page=8}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |journal=Sporting Life |title=Barnes Football Club |date=9 March 1867 |page=3}}</ref> Morley described him as "a warm admirer of the game and an excellent footballer".<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Football_Association_(Bell%27s_Life_in_London)_1866-02-24.png |title=The Football Association |journal=Bell's Life in London |issue=2288 |page=7 |date=24 February 1866}}</ref>
Willis was also a keen oarsman, competing in a pair with fellow footballer (and brother-in-law) Robert Graham, who succeeded him as FA secretary in 1867.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Morning Advertiser |date=22 July 1867 |page=3 |title=Champion Pairs}}</ref>
==Career== Willis worked in the wine import industry, with a special interest in Spain. He became a partner of '''Peter Domecq and Co.''', a sherry importer, in 1872.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Money Market Review |title=Changes in Mercantile Firms for the New Year |page=8 |date=6 January 1872 |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uiug.30112061589682?urlappend=%3Bseq=18 |volume=xxiv |issue=625 |location=London|hdl=2027/uiug.30112061589682?urlappend=%3Bseq=18 }}</ref> He later became a founding director of the ''Union Bank of Spain and England''.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=The Bankers' Magazine |page=616 |title=Union Bank of Spain and England |volume=liii |year=1892|location=London |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OKs0AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA616}}</ref> Willis retired from the business in 1890.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=London Gazette |date=14 April 1891 |title=[no title] |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/26152/page/2081/data.pdf |page=2081}}</ref>
==Family== thumb|Hinxton House Willis was the son of eminent Scottish physician Robert Willis. He married Helen Graham, elder sister of his colleague and teammate Robert Graham (also a stockbroker and volunteer fire brigade captain at Hampton upon Thames, where he lived, and father of the writer Winifred Graham) on 28 August 1867.<ref>{{cite journal |date=3 September 1867 |title=Cambridge: Married |page=6 |journal=Bury and Norwich Post}}</ref> The family later lived in Hinxton House, East Sheen, whose name reflected the village of Hinxton, Cambridgeshire, where Helen spent her childhood. The house was built for the family shortly before 1877.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=The Architect |volume=xviii |location=London |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015007001657?urlappend=%3Bseq=80 |page=46 |date=28 July 1877 |title=Hinxton House, East Sheen, Surrey|hdl=2027/mdp.39015007001657?urlappend=%3Bseq=80 }}: see also illustration of the house on p. 48.</ref>
Willis died on 16 January 1892, at the age of 48.<ref>{{cite archive |item = Probate record |year=1892 |page=191 |institution=Probate Registry| collection = Wills and Administrations, 1892 | item-url=https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/Calendar?surname=Willis&yearOfDeath=1892&page=3#calendar}}</ref> He was survived by his wife Helen and five children.
==Notes== {{Reflist}}
{{The Football Association}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willis, Robert}} Category:1843 births Category:1892 deaths Category:Football people in England Category:Barnes Football Club players Category:Men's association football players not categorized by position Category:English men's footballers Category:Place of birth missing