Henry Willis 4 (1927 - 2018)

Henry 4 was an ebullient character, the youngest of Henry III’s four children and his only son. He was educated at Giggleswick School, which he left in 1945 to join the Army. After service abroad, he returned to England and started his apprenticeship in 1948. On completion, he was sent to manage the Liverpool branch and to supervise the restoration of the organ in the St George’s Hall after war damage. He remained in Liverpool until his father’s death following which he re-organized the firm by selling the London premises and building a new factory at Petersfield in Hampshire.

Like his father, he had an interest in the wellbeing of the organ building trade and in due course occupied most of the offices to which his father had been elected

Henry 4 retired in 1997 and moved to India where he and his wife, Barbara, remained until his death on the 23rd June 2018, aged 91.