William Hillis
Documents & Life
Accepted into Gonville & Caius College, which is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Originally founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the thirty-one colleges at the University of Cambridge and one of the wealthiest.
William appears to have spent much of his life in Jersey, but also spent time in London (possibly Kensington). A record of him residing in St. Helier, Jersey was found in the 1901 Census and the name of one of the other residents in the same house is an Ernestine Hillis. The full address recorded in the 1901 Census is Norfolk Terrace, 4, Rouge Bonillion, St Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands. On Susannah’s death records, her name is recorded as Susannah E Hillis. Sue’s dates of death, as provided by Belfast City Cemetery, match perfectly with Ernestine Hillis’s age in the 1901 Census. It is not clear whether William met Sue in England or in Jersey, but by 1901, they appaear to have been married. William is also recorded as a Stockbroker, which ties up with various family accounts that a Hillis in this generation became a succcessful London Stockbroker.
William appears to have made two recorded trips back to London from Jersey in 1917 and 1919. It is not clear if both records refer to our William Hillis, as the address is different in both. The occupation also changes from Proprietor/Stockbroker in 1917 to Gentleman in 1919. It would seem likely that William retired early (between 1917-1919) due to his success in trading stocks. This record at the very least confirms William and Sue’s address in 32 Addison Gardens, Kensington, London W14. If the 1919 record is the same William, then it confirms his new address was in "Sandringham", Weymouth, Dorset. The assumption is that Sandringham was the house name, as it replaces the street address.
Death
Died 30th October 1937, aged 68, which is recorded on Richard John’s grave surround in Belfast City Cemetery.
"William beloved husband of Sue Hillis, Died 30th October 1937"
In records received from Belfast City Cemetery, there are two graves in the one plot. Grave number F608 belongs to Richard John Hillis (William’s father), which contains the remains of Richard John, his wife Maggie, Brian Gough Hillis and Sadie Hillis.
The other more relevant one is grave number F609, which contains the remains William Hillis (burial order 76806), who was buried on 3rd November 1937 (aged 68) and Susannah Hillis (burial order 82662), who was buried on 16th December 1949 (aged 73). The death record for Susannah Hillis was found in the England & Wales BMD index, in the section: "Deaths registered in October, November & December 1949".
In the 1939 Cenusus, it appears that Susannah Hillis was incapacitated and registered as a patient in 28 Saint Mary Abbots Hospital, Marloes Road, Kensington. She is recorded as a widow, which matches, since William died two years previous to the 1939 census. This would mean that Susannah was a patient there for a further ten years until her death in 1949.
The final piece of evidence found that guarantees that this is the same Susannah, is a probate record for Susannah, which confirms her date of death, location and uncommon second name - Ernestine.
Death records are still to be located, but the index of the probate record for William has been found and it mentions William’s younger brother John George as the main beneficiary.
