Louisa Willis and George Allen Proctor

Louisa Willis (1795 - 1866), the daughter of Rev. Thomas Willis and Mary Anne Newcombe of Portarlington, married George Allen Proctor (1778 -1848) gentleman/printer, on 26th May 1825, in St.Peter’s, Dublin, two months after the death of her father, the Portarlington schoolmaster Thomas Willis.   We descend directly from Louisa's sister, Eliza Willis, who married the English preacher, Rev. David Hill Creighton.

http://alison-stewart.blogspot.ie/2011/09/revdavid-hill-creighton-1737-1855.html

http://alison-stewart.blogspot.ie/2012/01/children-of-thomas-willis-schoolmaster.html

George Allen Proctor, a member of the Amicable Society of Printers, had earlier married Mary Weldon of St. Peter’s Dublin in 1795.   'Saunders Newlsetter' of 27th October 1795 noted the groom as being of Chancery Lane, while the bride was of Peter Street.  A son, Edmund, was born in about 1803.
It seems that Louisa Willis was his second, or even third, wife  - Saunders Newsletter of 19th February 1824 noted the death on the 15th February 1824 at Marlborough Street, of Julia, the 53-year-old wife of George Allen Proctor.  Julia Proctor had been born in 1771 and would have been contemporary with George who had been born in 1778.

The printer George Allen Proctor, and his son Edmond Proctor, were parties to a deed of  1st June 1816 - deed 489466 - whereby a large number of people signed up to a Farmers' Tontine of Land.  George Allen Proctor was noted as a printer of 75 Marlborough Street;  Edmond was noted at the same address.  George Allen Proctor paid £100 to enter the Tontine, the proceeds of which were to go to his son, Edmund, whose mother was now dead.
Edmund Proctor had been educated in Trinity, Dublin, as noted by 'Alumni Dublinenses'  - he entered the college aged 20 on 20th October 1823, the son of George, a printer of Dublin.
The 'Dublin Morning Register' of 26th May 1827 noted the death of Edmund Proctor (1803 - 1827) of Marlborough Street in Rathmines, the year after he had entered Trinity College.

It seems, also, that this George Allen Proctor was the son of an earlier Dublin printer, Ephraim Proctor, who began his apprenticeship in 1743, and who married the widowed Alice Harrison (1738 - 1823) in Dublin on 21st April 1764.
He was present working in Dublin from 1743 till 1764, and in Athlone from 1772 till 1788.   Alice Proctor, widow of the late Athlone printer, Ephraim Proctor, died in Marlborough Street, Dublin, aged 85 in 1823. ('Dublin Correspondent', 16th August 1823.)
Ephraim Proctor had died at an advanced age in Kevin Street in February 1803. ('Saunders Newsletter', 2nd February 1803.)

(Another Dublin printer was Abel Proctor who was noted in Deed 158404 in 1765 - this man might be another member of the same Dublin family.)

Saunders Newsletter of 5th June 1822 noted that G.A. Proctor donated £2 to the relief of distress in Ireland.

Saunders Newletter of 9th June 1830 reported that G.A.Proctor signed the petition directed to Charles Whitton and Robert Ruskell, the churchwardens of St. Thomas's Church, appealing to them to convene a meeting to discuss the deleterious effects on Irish trade by newly-proposed changes to the taxation system.
In February 1835, a sermon was to be preached on behalf of the schools connected with The Scots Church in Mary's Abbey, (entrance on 132 Capel Street);  donations would be received by G.A. Proctor of 75 Marlborough Street and by James Ferrier of William Street.  The Scots Church was associated with Rev. David Hill Creighton, George's brother-in-law, who also ran a number of education establishments in the city along with his daughters.  David Hill Creighton would also give the names of Mrs Ferrier of Willow Park, and of Mrs. Roe of Sans Souci, as referees when he was setting up a new ladies' school in Kingstown in 1835.  Both the Roe and the Ferrier families were closely associated with the City of Dublin Steam Company whose bookkeeper from about 1845 was Richard Williams, the husband of David Hill Creighton's daughter, Geraldine O'Moore Creighton.

"The Stateman and Dublin Christian Record" of 11th July 1843 noted that donations were needed by the Free Church of Scotland to set up meetingplaces.  Subscriptions had already been received by James Ferrier and G.A. Proctor.

The 1832 Brittan's List of Voters noted Geo. Allen Proctor at 75 Marlborough Street, Dublin.

The 'Waterford Chronicle' of 31st August 1833, reporting on the recent devastating fire at the Custom House, noted that witness, George Allen Proctor, had long been a printer to the Custom House.

Deed 1834-17-35, dated 12th August 1834, noted George Allen Proctor at Marlborough Street, Dublin - he was selling back property to Jane Swift, late of Brighton, but now in 1834 of Paris, which had been left to her by her grandfather, Godwin Swift, a kinsman of Jonathan Swift. The land concerned was in Kilcoole, Carlow, and in Ardenew, Meath.  Godwin Swift was noted as late of Inchimore, Meath, and of Balally, Tawney (ie, Taney), Rathdown, Co. Dublin - he also left property to his nephew, also Godwin Swift.

Saunders Newsletter of 3rd September 1835 carried an article on the robbery of promissory notes from G.A.Proctor of 75 Marlborough Street.  Included in the promissory notes was the promissory note of T.G.Willis to G.A.Proctor for 1841, and also Redmond Carroll's promissory note to D.H.Creighton.     Thomas Gilbert Willis was George Allen Proctor's brother-in-law, as was the Rev. David Hill Creighton who married Eliza Willis, the sister of Louisa Willis.

Another deed - 1837-11-61 - noted George Allen Proctor at Bedford Lodge, Dollymount, Dublin, in 1837 but mentioned that he also had a house in Portarlington.  This deed concerned the sale of a Portarlington house by Rev. David Hill Creighton and by his wife, Eliza/Elizabeth Creighton, née Willis, to the saddler John Graye.  Eliza Creighton was the half-sister of George Allen Proctor's wife, Louisa Willis, and the house involved here had formerly been the 'Preaching Home'.

Yet another deed (1840-20-102) of August 1840 was between George Allen Proctor of Bedford Lodge, Dublin, and three Dublin printers,  Michael Goodwin, Thomas Goodwin and Richard Nethercott, all  of Denmark Street, and whose business was known as 'Goodwin Son & Nethercott'.    In this transaction, George Allen Proctor sold them property at 75 Marlborough Street.  Perhaps he moved at this stage to Harcourt Terrace.  Thereafter, the Goodwin/Nethercott business address was here at Marlborough Street.
As can be seen from this memorial, George Allen Proctor was associated with both Bedford Lodge and Marlborough Street and with the printing trade.   Later on 19th November 1832, G.A.Proctor donated £3 to the "Letterpress Printers' Asylum" at Wellington View in Crumlin, as did Michael Goodwin and Richard Nethercott, the printers implicated in the preceding deed.

George Allen Proctor, who was the husband of Louisa Willis of Portarlington, died on 10th August 1848 in Delgany, Co. Wicklow, aged 70.  His death was announced in the Freeman's Journal of Saturday, August 19th 1848.  The 'Dublin Evening Mail' of 18th August noted his age as 79.
The street directories had earlier noted him as resident in 5 Harcourt Terrace, Dublin, from 1845 till 1848.

George Allen Proctor's wife, Louisa Proctor, née Willis, died on 14th December 1866, aged 71, at Harcourt Terrace, Dublin, and her death was widely recorded in the Irish papers.  'The Cork Examiner' of 22nd December 1866, however, reported that Louisa, relict of the late George Allen Proctor of Dublin, and youngest daughter of the late Thomas Willis of Portarlington, had died aged 70 at 1, Eaton Terrace, St. John's Wood, London, which was the home of a Norfolk-born 'city missionary', William Clarke, a possible relative of Louisa's daughter-in-law, Eliza Vincent Clarke.

(A second George Allen Proctor was born in Dublin to Thomas and Anne Proctor in 1816 - he would have been 9 years old when Louisa Willis married the older George Allen Proctor  and was, perhaps, the nephew of the older man although I'm merely jumping to enormous conclusions here.  He was educated in Trinity, Dublin, entering aged 18 on 17th October 1834, his father being the nobleman Thomas Proctor of Dublin.
This younger George Allen Proctor entered the church and spent 39 years as rector of Tullamelan, Clonmel, Tipperary;  he married Charlotte Newman in Kilkenny, youngest daughter of the late Thomas Newman of Cork on 5th July 1842. His obituary was published in the Irish Times of Friday, January 14th 1910.
     "Canon G.A. Proctor.  We regret to announce the death which occurred at Tullamelan Rectory on Sunday of the Rev. George Allen Proctor M.A., Canon of Kilrossanty.  Canon Proctor, who was in his 95th year was ordained in the year 1840.  He was admitted to the United Diocese in 1871 and was instituted Rector of Tullamelan. For the long period of 39 years he discharged the duties of Rector of the parish where he was esteemed by the people of all classes and creeds.  In 1883 he was appointed Prebendary of Kilrossanty and he was also a Rural Dean.")

George Allen Proctor, son of Ephraim Proctor, and Louisa Willis had two children - George Allen Proctor Junior, born in Dublin in about 1832, and Louisa Proctor, born in Dublin in about 1830.   George Allen Proctor Junior entered the church.
In 1861, George Allen Proctor Junior was the curate of Northam and Southton in St. Marys, Southampton, and was living there with his sister, Louisa, and his widowed mother, Louisa Proctor, née Willis.    He was 29; his sister was 31, and both had been born in Dublin.

George married Eliza Vincent Clarke on November 7th 1867 in Micheldever, Southampton. Born in Hampshire in about 1845, Eliza was the daughter of another Irish vicar, Thomas Clarke.  The wedding was witnessed by Louisa Proctor, Agnes M.E. Clinton and Henry P. Clarke.   George's father was noted as George Allen Proctor, gentleman.

Eliza Vincent Clarke's father, Thomas Clarke, had been born in Cork in about 1789 to the woollen merchant, William Clarke and to his wife Sarah Farren.   William Clarke and Sarah Farren also had a son, William Clarke of Farren, Co. Cork., whose daughter, Maria Frances Clarke, married William Lumley Perrier of Ballinure House, son of William Lumley Perrier Senior,  on 14th April 1868 in Aglish - this ceremony was carried out by the bride's cousin, Rev. Thomas Grey Clarke, son of Rev. Thomas Clarke of Micheldever.
In January 1860 in Aglish Church, Co. Cork, Helena Eveleen Clarke, the eldest daughter of William Clarke of Farran Lodge, married William Thomas Schreiber of Cork, the son of the late Lt-Col. James A. Schreiber of Suffolk.
On 21st February 1865 in St. James's, Dublin, Thomas Clarke J.P. of Farran, married Lizzie, the only daughter of William Riddell of James Street.

(NB: There was also a prominent Clarke family in Portarlington, with close ties to the Willis and Proctor families, and I wonder if they were somehow related to the Cork-born family of Rev. Thomas Clarke?)

In 1851, Rev. Thomas Clarke was the Vicar of Micheldever, the parish where his daughter, Eliza Vincent Clarke, later married George Allen Proctor Junior.
The first wife of Rev. Thomas Clarke of Micheldever was Anna Maria Grey, daughter of John Grey. Anna Maria Grey's biography would later be penned by her son, Rev. Thomas Grey Clarke.
Rev. Thomas Clarke's second wife, Ann Agnes Husband, had been born in Lambeth, Surrey in about 1808 to Rev.Thomas Husband.  Ann Agnes Husband married Rev. Thomas Clarke in Hartley Wintney, Hants., on 28th October 1830, the ceremony being performed by the bride's father. ('Southern Reporter', 25th November 1830.)

The children of Thomas Clarke were, according to the 1841 and 1851 Micheldever census (although Rev. Thomas Grey Clarke wasn't noted):

• Rev. Thomas Grey Clarke, baptised 8th December 1817 at Micheldever; he later married Matilda Barbara Coventry in Swanage on 8th November 1843, whose brother was St.John Coventry of Henbury House, Coventry. Rev. Thomas Grey Clarke was the Vicar of Oldham, and married, secondly, Georgiana, the youngest daughter of the late Fulwar William Craven of the 7th Dragoon Guards, on 29th July 1863.
• Susan Clarke, born 1821.
• Rev.William Clarke, born 1826.
• George Henry/Harry Clarke, born 1832, who married Selina Mary, the yougest daughter of the late John Benson Gale of Weyhill, Hants, on 28th September 1853...their fourth daughter, Florence Selina Clarke, married, in Cambridge, New Zealand, on 4th July 1882, John Ramsay Stewart Richardson, son of the late Sir John Stewart Richardson, baronet of Pitfour Castle, Perth, Scotland. The bride's brother-in-law carried out the ceremony - this was Rev. William Newcombe de Laval Willis who had married another of George Harry Clarke's daughters, Mary Agnes Clarke.   The Rev. William Newcombe de Laval Willis, Archdeacon of Waitako, New Zealand, descended from Thomas Willis of Portarlington, as did Louisa Willis, the subject of this post.
• Charles Clarke, born 1833.
• Agnes Sarah Clarke, born 1835, who married the Dubliner, Rev. William Arthur Whitestone, in St. Mary's, London, on 8th July 1867.  Rev. William Arthur Whitestone succeeded his wife's father as Vicar of Micheldever and was serving there in 1881. He proved the will of his unmarried sister, Rebecca Whitestone, when she died in Bray, Co. Wicklow, in 1884. 
• Arthur Francis Clarke, born 1836 - a ship-broker, he married Georgiana Mary Walker in Enfield on 6th May 1858.  Her brother assisted at the wedding - he was Rev.H.A. Walker of Oriel College, Oxford. Arthur Francis Clarke and Georgiana Mary Walker settled in Hamsptead, Middlesex. In 1871 they were visited by an Isabella M. Clarke, who had been born in Cork in 1847, and was most likely a cousin.  The Middlesex-born children of Arthur Francis Clarke and Georgiana Mary Walker were Arthur T. Clarke born 1860, Adelina M. Clarke born 1862, Beatrice G. Clarke born 1863, Alfred O. Clarke born 1865, Gertrude F. Clarke born 1867,  Henry A. Clarke born 1869, Francis G. Clarke born 1870, Mabella E. Clarke born 1872 and Charles L. Clarke born 1874.  By 1881, Arthur Francis Clarke, shipbroker, had died.
• Alfred Claudius Clarke, who was baptised in Micheldever by Thomas and Ann Agnes Clarke on 26th February 1838.
• Henry Clarke, born 1840 - this must be the Henry P. Clarke who witnessed Eliza's wedding to George Allen Proctor.
• Eliza Vincent Clarke, born 1845, who married George Allen Proctor.
• Frances Matilda or Matilda Frances, Clarke, born 1847 - she married Rev. Percy Andrews, the curate of Lilleshall, Salop, on 26th May 1864 in Micheldever.
• Mary S. Clarke, born 1848.

Rev. Thomas Clarke died in Micheldever on 9th January 1870, and his will was proved by two of his sons, Rev. Thomas Grey Clarke of Oldham, and Arthur Francis Clarke of 94 Adelaide Road, St. John's Wood.

Rev. George Allen Proctor, who married Eliza Vincent Clarke,  was the Vicar of Hatherden, Andover, Hampshire in the 1870's - the UK census  the took a snapshotof the family  in 1871 when George Allen Procter was the Vicar of St. James in Southampton.    His unmarried sister, Louisa Procter, was living with the young family at the time of the census.

By 1881, the family were still in Hatherden in 1881.  Their children were:

• George Herbert Proctor, baptised 7th March 1869.
• Annabel Louisa Proctor, christened 14th August 1870 in Hampshire.
• Edmund Willis Procter, born 1872 in Hampshire.
• Ellen E., 1874 in Hampshire.
• Henrietta D., born 1876 in Hampshire.
• Henry V.T., born 1879 in Sussex.
• Ruth, born 1881 in Hampshire.

From 'Crockford's Clerical Directory' of 1882 :  'Proctor, George Allen,  Hatherden Vic., Andover - T.C.D.;  BA 1852, Div. Test (2) 1856,  MA 1858, p 1857 by Bp. of Lich.    V. of Hatherden 1875,  S. Dis. Win. 1875.   Formerly V. of St. James, Southampton 1863 - 71;  Smannell near Andover 1871 - 75.'

George Allen Proctor Junior died on 10th July 1885 at 31 St. Johns Road, Bristol;  his unmarried sister, Louisa Proctor, was present at his death.  Louisa Proctor lived with her brother's family - she died in Scwifat in Syria on 2nd March 1902, and her will was proved in Dublin by her relative, Henry de Laval Willis, who was the son of William Newcombe Willis, who was the son of Thomas Gilbert Willis, who was himself the son of Thomas Willis of Portarlington.   Louisa Procter  was the daughter of Henrietta Louisa Willis who was the daughter of Thomas Willis of Portarlington.

In 1891, the widowed Eliza Vincent Procter was living in Clifton, Bristol at 31 St. John's Road, along with her children, George Herbert Procter, a medical student, Annabel Louisa,  Henrietta Dorothea/Dora, Henry Vincent T., and Ruth.

George Herbert Proctor, MD of Salisbury and son of George Allen Proctor and Eliza Vincent Clarke, attended the inquest of his 23-year-old sister, Dora Proctor, who had taken an accidental overdose of laudanum in the form of sleeping tablets which she had been taking as a cure for extreme insomnia.  Her address at the time of her death in April 1899 was 7 Miles Road, Bristol.  ('Western Daily Press', 24th April 1899.)

George Herbert Procter and Grace Mabel Staples:
The oldest son of George Allen Procter and Eliza Vincent Clarke, the doctor George Herbert Procter, married Grace Mabel Staples, the daughter of a London doctor, Joseph Henry Prosser Staples, in St. John's, Paddington, on 10th September 1895.  The witnesses were George Herbert's aunt, Louisa Proctor, and his father-in-law Joseph H.P. Staples.  (Joseph Henry Prosser Staples, 1832 - 1895, was himself the son of a London doctor, Joseph Staples.)

A son of George Herbert Proctor and Grace Mabel Staples was George Henry Vincent Procter, who was killed in action during the Great War on 6th September 1917 in either France or Flanders.  His home address at the time of his death was the family home at Kingston Villa, London Road, Southborough, Kent, where his father, George Herbert Proctor, had himself died young on 13th August 1907.   George Henry Vincent Procter had been born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, on 7th September 1896;   a sister, Mary Frances Adelaide Procter, was born there on 26th November 1898.   Grace Mabel Procter, née Staples, died in Kent in 1910.  Her daughter, Mary Procter, died in Warminster, Wiltshire, in 1939.  

Other children of George Herbert Procter and Grace Mabel Staples were Thomas Herbert W. Procter, born 1901, Grace Eleanor May Procter 1905 - 1972, and Frederick John P. Procter who was born in 1908 and who died in infancy.   In 1911, the orphaned Grace E. M. Proctor, aged 5, was living with her widowed aunt, Edith Frances Winckworth, at 25 Gordon Place, Kensington.  Edith was the sister of Grace Mabel Staples - she had been born in Paddington in about 1865 to Joseph Henry Prosser Staples, and had married the solicitor, Douglas Powell Winckworth, in St. John's, Paddington, on 31st July 1901.  He died, however, on 14th September 1904.
Edith F. Winckworth proved the 1917 will of her nephew, George Henry Vincent Proctor.    In her turn, the unmarried Grace Eleanor May Procter proved the will of her aunt when Edith Frances Winckworth died at the same Kensington address on 21st January 1954.

Edmund Willis Proctor, who had been born to George Allen Proctor and Eliza Vincent Clarke in 1872, served in the Boer War having joined the Natal Mounted Rifles.    A passenger list of 1911 records an Edmiund Willis Proctor, an assayer, travelling to Mozambique.