Browne Willis
Encyclopedia
Early life
Willis was born at Blandford St MaryBlandford St Mary
Blandford St Mary is a village and civil parish in the North Dorset district of Dorset, England. The village is on the south bank of the River Stour, immediately opposite the larger town of Blandford Forum. The village grew up around the Badger Brewery, owned by Hall and Woodhouse, which is based...
, Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
, the eldest Son of Thomas Willis of Bletchley, Buckinghamshire and his wife Alice Browne, daughter of Robert Browne of Frampton, Dorset. He was grandson of Dr Thomas Willis
Thomas Willis
Thomas Willis was an English doctor who played an important part in the history of anatomy, neurology and psychiatry. He was a founding member of the Royal Society.-Life:...
, the physician. He was educated at Bechampton School in the care of Abraham Freestone and at Westminster School
Westminster School
The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...
. He attended Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church or house of Christ, and thus sometimes known as The House), is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...
and entered the Inner Temple in 1700.
He joined the recently reformed Society of Antiquaries
Society of Antiquaries of London
The Society of Antiquaries of London is a learned society "charged by its Royal Charter of 1751 with 'the encouragement, advancement and furtherance of the study and knowledge of the antiquities and history of this and other countries'." It is based at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London , and is...
in 1717-18.
Political career
In 1705, Willis was elected Member of ParliamentMember of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Buckingham
Buckingham (UK Parliament constituency)
Buckingham is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...
. He held the seat until 1708.
Published works
- Notitia Parliamentaria, vol. 1 (1715)
- Survey of St. David’s Cathedral (1716)
- Notitia Parliamentaria, vol. 2 (1716)
- The Whole Duty of ManThe Whole Duty of ManThe Whole Duty of Man is an English Protestant devotional work, first published anonymously, with an introduction by Henry Hammond, in 1658. It was both popular and influential for two centuries, in the Anglican tradition it helped to define...
, Abridged for the Benefit of the Poorer Sort (1717) - Mitred Abbies, vol. 1 (1718)
- Survey of Llandaff (1719)
- Mitred Abbies, vol. 2 (1719)
- Survey of St. Asalph (1720)
- Reflecting sermons consider'd; occasion'd by several discourses deliver'd by E. Wells (1720)
- Survey of Bangor Cathedral (1721)
- Survey of York, Durham, Carlisle, Chester, Man, Lichfield, Hereford, Worcester, Gloucester, and Bristol (1727)
- Survey of Lincoln, Ely, Oxford, and Peterborough (1730)
- A table of the gold coins of the kings of England (1733)
- Parochiale Anglicanum (1733)
- Notitia Parliamentaria, vol. 3 (1750)
- To the Patrons of Ecclesiastical Livings (1752)
- History of the Town, Hundred, and Deanery of Buckingham (1755)
St Martin's Church and the Fenny Poppers
Between 1724 and 1730, Browne Willis built St. Martin's ChurchSt. Martin's Church
St. Martin's Church or St. Martin of Tours Church may refer to any one of a number of churches.These would mostly be dedicated to Martin of Tours...
on the site of the old Chantry Chapel of St. Margaret and St. Catherine at Fenny Stratford
Fenny Stratford
Fenny Stratford is a constituent town of Milton Keynes, ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire, England and in the Civil Parish of Bletchley and Fenny Stratford. Originally an independent town, it was included in the Milton Keynes "designated area" area in 1967...
. He erected the church as a memorial to his grandfather Dr. Thomas Willis, a famous physician, who lived in St. Martin's Lane in the parish of St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London, who died on St. Martin's day, 11 November 1675.
In order to perpetuate his own memory, Browne Willis arranged for a sermon to be preached at St. Martin's Church on each St. Martin's Day, for which a fee was payable. During his lifetime, he also celebrated the occasion with a dinner attended by local clergy and gentry.
The firing of the 'Fenny poppers', six small cannon, dates from this time, but there is no record of their first use.
In 1740, Browne Willis bought a house in Aylesbury Street, Fenny Stratford and the rent from this was used to pay for the sermon and gunpowder. Following his death in 1760, the traditions were carried on and later documented.
All six poppers were re-cast by the Eagle Foundry, Northampton in 1859, after one of them burst. It is these that are still in use today and they were recently examined and x-rayed to ensure there are no cracks.
During their long history, many sites have been used for this battery. These include; the Canal Wharf, land behind the Church, St, Martin's Hall, the Churchyard and now the Leon Recreation Ground that was once part of the lands belonging to the Chantry.
The poppers each weigh about 19 pounds (8.5 kg). The bore, 6 " by 1.75" (150 by 44 mm) will take up to 1oz. (28g) of gunpowder, which is plugged with well-rammed newspaper. They are fired three times on St. Martin's Day; noon, 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. precisely. There is of course no connection with Remembrance Day.
In 1901 they were fired to mourn the death of Queen Victoria, the 81 salutes were heard as far as Olney.
On the 1 January 2000 at 11.00 a.m. the poppers were fired to mark the beginning of the Second Millennium.
At 2.00 p.m. on the 4 August 2000, a salute of Six poppers was fired to celebrate the 100th Birthday of the Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.
External links
- Browne Willis's Library
- Survey of Bangor Cathedral 1721 (Bangor Civic Sociey)
- http://books.google.com/books?id=5V09AAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=%22Browne+WIllis%22&source=bl&ots=NlR41OuY-U&sig=AT7HWWTQD6p6HrRqsi9PViuppVI&hl=en&ei=HZ1xTOXDFsq6jAea_rz6CA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CCYQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q&f=falseBrowne Willis Notitia parliamentaria, or, An history of the counties, cities, and boroughs in England and Wales: ... The whole extracted from mss. and printed evidences ... R. Gosling, 1750]