He was big in Exeter 1910–1921 after he succeeded his father as 2nd baronet and moved to Harcombe House on the Haldon hills outside the city.
He is buried in the grounds and his wife Isabella lived on there until her death in 1957, when she was 95!
I said he was a surgeon, but it is probably truer that he dabbled in surgical interests as neither of his Cambridge degrees (BA and MA) was a medical one.
His family came from Barton Regis in Bristol and made immense wealth in the tobacco trade (ironically, as I think his scientific research was into the effects of smoking).
He was clearly the kind of man to be a soulmate of Charles James, and contributed heavily to the upkeep of the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital and the Exeter Volunteer forces during the First World War.
He always used his second name but you see it spelled as 'Channing' and 'Chaning'.
The name seems to come from his mother Mary Pearce, from a big medical family in Bristol with doctors in all the generations.
Her father, Joseph Chaning Pearce, also a surgeon, was one of the most famous fossil collectors at the time.
He died at 36, of lung disease, which may explain Edward's interests.
grave of Edward Chaning Wills
Sir Edward Chaning Wills, (2nd) Baronet of Hazelwood, JP 1861-1921
Sir Edward Chaning Wills, 2nd Baronet of Hazelwood, JP.
"Channing" was born on 25 April 1861, the son of Sir Edward Payson Wills and Mary Ann Pearce, at Clifton, Bristol, Gloucestershire. He graduated from Emmanuel College, Cambridge University in 1896 with B.A. and M.A. degrees. He was a Justice of The Peace for the County of Somerset. He was a director of the Imperial Tobacco Company. Sir Edward succeeded to his title in 1910, upon the death of his father. He married Isabella Sommerville Evans.
Isabella Sommerville Evans 1862-1957
Isabella was born about 1862, the daughter of Peter Fabyan Sparke Evans and Jane Ferguson Sommerville, at St. Augustine, Bristol.
There were no children.
Birth of Parents
Edward Chaning Wills b: 25 Apr 1861 Clifton, Bristol, Gloucestershire 1861 2Q Clifton 6a 80
son of Sir Edward Payson Wills and Mary Ann Pearce
Isabella Sommerville Evans b: abt 1862 St. Augustine, Bristol 1862 4Q Bristol 6a 57
daughter of Peter Fabyan Sparke Evans and Jane Ferguson Sommerville
Marriage7 Apr 1891
Edward Chaning Wills
Isabella Sommerville Evans Bristol, Gloucestershire 1891 2Q Bristol 6a 113
1901 Census RG13-2147 1 April 1901 East Down, Devon
East Down House
Edward C. Wills
Isabella S. (Wife)
Plus 3 Servants Age 39
Age 38 Tobacco Manufacturer Bristol
Bristol Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire 25 Apr 1861
abt 1862
1911 Census RG11-(117) 3 April 1911 East Dawlish, Devon
Rockstone, Exeter Road (14 Rooms)
Edward Chaning Wills
Isabella Sommerville (Wife)
Plus 3 Servants Age 49
Age 48 Baronet Clifton
Clifton Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire 25 Apr 1861
abt 1862
Death
Edward Chaning Wills Died 14 Oct 1921, Age 60, 1921 4Q Newton Abbot 5b 128
The Times, Monday, Oct 17, 1921 OBITUARY
Sir E. C. Wills
Sir Edward Chaning Wills. Bt., died at his residence, Harcombe, Chudleigh, Devon, on Friday, after an operation. He was a director of the Emperial Tobacco Company, Limited, in which the Bristol firm of Wills was absorbed.
The eldest son of Edward Payson Wills, K.C.B., the first baronet, who was also a director of the Imperial Tobacco Company, he was born in 1861, and went to Emmanuel College, Cambridge (B.A. 1892, M.A. 1896). Sir Edward, who succeeded his father in the title in 1910, was a
generous supporter of the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, the Royal Albert Memorial, Exeter University College, and other public institutions. He was the first president of the Devonshire Regiment Volunteer Training Corps in 1915, the year in which he was High Sheriff of the county. He married, in 1891, Isabella Sommerville, daughter of Peter Fabyan Sparke Evans, J.P., of Clifton. There are no children of the marriage, and the heir to the title is his brother, Mr. Ernest Salter Wills, who was born in 1869, and married in 1894 Caroline Fanny Maud, daughter of W. A. de Winton, of Westbury Lodge, Bristol, and has two sons and three daughters.
The Times, Wednesday, Oct 19, 1921 Deaths
FUNERAL
Sir E. C. Wills The funeral of Sir Edward Chaning Wills, Bt., took place quietly at Harcombe yesterday. Following a service at the house, the coffin was borne to the grave in a farm cart drawn by a single horse. The mourners were Lady Wills (the widow), Mr. Ernest Salter Wills, who succeeds to the title, and Captain Arnold Wills (brothers), Mr. and Mrs. William L. Evans, Mr. and Mrs. Flew Spark Evans, and Mr. and Mrs. Henley S. Evans (brothers-in-law, and sisters-in-law), Mr. and Mrs. Robert Hall Warren (brother-in-law and sister), and Mr. Vernon Wills, Mr. Charles Wills, Dr. Kenneth Wills, Mr. Sommerville Gunn, and Mr. Guy S. Milner (cousins).
The Rev. E. D. Evans (a cousin of Lady Wills's) officiated, and all the funeral arrangements were carried out by estate employees.
EXETER 20 Feb 1922 Probate
WILLS, Sir Edward Chaning, of Harcombe, Chudleigh, Devonshire, baronet, died 14 October 1921, Probate, Exeter, 20 February to dame Isabella Wills, widow.
Effects £947,753 11s. 5d.
| Death Isabella Sommerville (Evans) Wills Died 20 Jul 1957, Age 94, 1957 3Q Newton Abbot 7a 470 The Times, Wednesday, July 24, 1957 OBITUARY Isabella Lady Wills died at her home, at Chudleigh, Devon, on Saturday, at the age of 94. She was Isabella Sommerville, eldest daughter of the late Peter Fabyan Sparke Evans, of Clifton Down, Bristol, and in 1891 she married Sir E. Chaning Wills, second baronet. He died in 1921. LONDON 13 Jan 1958 Probate WILLS, dame Isabella Sommerville, of Harcombe House, Chudleigh, Devon, widow, died 20 July 1957, Probate, London, 13 January, to National Provincial Bank Limited. Effects £300,221 4s. 9d. |
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