Arthur Willis (athlete)

Arthur Gilbert de Laval Willis (25 August 1893 – 5 April 1979) was an Anglican clergyman and British athlete. He competed in the men's high jump at the 1924 Summer Olympics.[1]

Arthur Willis
Personal information
NationalityBritish
Born(1893-08-25)25 August 1893
Died5 April 1979(1979-04-05) (aged 85)
Sport
SportAthletics
Event(s)High jump

Early life and education

The son of Rev. William Newcombe Willis, founder of Ascham St Vincent's School, Eastbourne, East Sussex, he was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge (BA 1926, MA 1929).[2]

Career

During the First World War he reached the rank of lieutenant in the Royal Navy,[3][4] He later served with the Tank Corps, holding the rank of lieutenant at the time of his participation in the 1924 Olympics[5] and that of major at the time of his ordination.[6][7]

When his father retired in 1927, Willis took over Ascham St Vincent's School, running it until 1938, when he closed and sold the school and resumed his military career in light of the situation in Europe that led to the Second World War.[8][9][10]

Willis later studied at Ripon Hall in Oxford until 1956, in which year he was ordained a deacon, subsequently ordained a priest in 1957. He died in 1979. He had married in 1917, Ruth R. Davis; they had two sons and a daughter.[11]

References
  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Arthur Willis Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  2. Crockford's Clerical Directory, vol. 87, 1977, p. 1106
  3. The Navy List for October, 1915, H.M. Stationery Office, p. 517
  4. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D7279739
  5. Games and Sports in the Army, Army Sports Control Board, 1937, p. 171
  6. The Tank, collected issues 450-461, 1956, p. 249
  7. The War List of the University of Cambridge 1914-1918, ed. G. V. Carey, Cambridge University Press, 1921, p. 115
  8. The Journal of Education, Oxford University Press, 1935, p. 626
  9. The Schools of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, vol. 25, E. J. Burrow, 1936, p. 167
  10. The Public and Preparatory Schools Year Book, vol. 62, ed. J. F. Burnet, A. & C. Black, 1951, p. 157
  11. Crockford's Clerical Directory, vol. 87, 1977, p. 1106
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