Henry Wills, Loughborough’s Most Renowned Publisher

I have known Kathy for quite a while, probably since I was invited by the Loughborough Library Local Studies Volunteers Group to become an Honorary Member, in 2016, since which time we have worked together in the library, and at local history events, and attended many of the same meetings. So, I was very pleased she agreed to write this fantastic guest blog post for me. Kathy Phillips takes us on a journey from the local building we heard about in the last guest post, to books, telling the story of the man behind a local publishing phenomenon! For the full story, read on!   

Perhaps Loughborough’s Most Renowned Publisher. 

But Who Was Henry Wills?

by Kathy Phillips

I can readily predict that there will be very few residents of Loughborough over a certain age, who will not be aware of the town’s connection to Ladybird Books. Over many years a significant number of Loughborough locals, including family members and acquaintances, have been linked to Ladybird Books in some way or another. The famous Ladybird brand name has its roots in a publishing partnership between Henry Wills and William Simpson Hepworth. Henry’s successful 19th-century bookselling, stationery and publishing business was built up over 30 years. The publisher name of “Wills & Hepworth” then continued for literally decades after Henry Wills retired in 1905, selling his interest in the company to William Hepworth and the two becoming partners by 1906. It was not until 1971 that “Wills & Hepworth Ltd.” officially changed its name to “Ladybird Books Ltd.”

An almanac for the year 1901

Henry’s Forefathers

So, what was Henry Wills’ family background? Henry’s Grandfather, Daniel Wills, was a Leicestershire man born in Hinckley in 1783. He was a “setter-up of frames”. In the hosiery industry, after the blacksmith had made the ironwork of a framework knitting machine, Daniel would have been tasked with adjusting the various parts in preparation for use by the machine operator. In 1851 Daniel Wills died in Hinckley, aged about 68. He appeared to have lived in the place of his birth all his life – not so his son George Wills (Henry’s father), nor Henry himself.

The baptism entry for George Wills, from the Independent Chapel, Chapel Street, Hinckley

George Wills was born in 1808 in Hinckley, to Daniel Wills and his first wife Susannah Johnson who was born c1785. Sadly Susannah died when George was a youngster and George was brought up by Daniel and his second wife Mary Wills (née Atkins) with his six step-brothers and sisters. By 1835, 27-year-old George Wills was established in his career as a schoolmaster. That year he married Henry’s mother Elizabeth Winifred Hill who was age 20. They were married in Southwell, a picturesque town in Nottinghamshire where Elizabeth was born in about 1815. She was a farmer’s daughter. Six years later by 1841, having chosen to live in Leicestershire, George (33), was running a school in Auburn Place in Narborough, accompanied by his wife Elizabeth (26) and their three children. George and Elizabeth continued to run their school, Auburn House, for almost three decades until, certainly by 1871, George had retired.

Auburn House School, Narborough

According to a Narborough 1849 Post Office Directory, Auburn House was described as a “boarding academy”. The school had a capacity of around 40 pupils at any one time, educating boys between the ages of 10 and 16. Over the years George was supported by up to three resident tutors while four live-in servants assisted Elizabeth on the domestic scene with their rapidly expanding family. The Wills moved out, leaving the school as a going concern – by 1873, the Principal of the Auburn House School was a Mr. Howard with a resident French Master Monsieur Lionnais. The school fees for that year were 30 guineas a term.

Henry’s Brothers and Sisters

Henry was one of 11 children, eight surviving, born to George and Elizabeth Wills, all raised in Auburn House School in Narborough. In 1841 George and Elizabeth’s three children were Edward Cooper Wills (born 1836), James Wills (born 1839) and Charlotte Wills (born 1841). Their son George Wills, born in 1838 between Edward and James, had died at the age of 21 months. More tragedy followed when in December 1842, James Wills died at just 3 years 8 months old. By 1851 the Wills family had expanded. Edward and Charlotte were joined by Elizabeth Wills (born 1843), Charles Wills (born 1844), Winifred Wills (1846), Alban William Wills (1848) and one year old Henry Wills (born early in 1850). Between 1853 and 1855, George and Elizabeth had another son Matthew Alfred Wills but sadly, Matthew died in 1856 and is buried in the churchyard of the Parish Church of All Saints, Narborough. In 1855 prior to Matthew’s death, George and Elizabeth had another daughter, Edith Mary Wills, whose birth completed their family. 

Following George’s retirement, by 1871 only their youngest daughter Edith Mary Wills (15) was still living at home. The family had moved to The Grange in Narborough and still enjoyed domestic help from a live-in servant. By 1876 George (68) and Elizabeth (61) were living in Croft House in Narborough. It was in 1879 that Henry’s father George Wills, a “Gentleman”, died at the age of 71 in Narborough. His Executors were John Spencer, a bookseller at 20 Market Place, Leicester, William Peck, a Nottinghamshire Grazier from Bothamsall, and William Poultney, a Leicester Sergeant of Police, living at 24 Walnut Street. George Wills left effects to the value of “under £9,000”. In the year following his father’s death, Henry’s mother Elizabeth Winifred Wills died at the age of 65 in Narborough. Both Henry’s parents are buried in the churchyard of the Parish Church of All Saints in Narborough.

Probate record for George Wills, 1879

Henry Wills’ Printer Predecessor

John Henry Gray (1833–1873) was the son of Benjamin Gray, a well-to-do clockmaker with premises in the Market Place in Loughborough. As a young man, due to ill health, John Henry abandoned a career as a draper in London and returned home to Loughborough. He found work with a printer and bookseller in Swan Street and, following the proprietor’s retirement, Gray acquired the business. By 1857, Gray (24) had installed his printing machinery at the far end of Angel Yard off the Market Place in Loughborough and was working there as a general commercial letterpress printer. In that same year, he initiated the publication of the Loughborough Monitor, a weekly newspaper containing London and national news, parliamentary, police and market reports, and a limited amount of local news such as was available. In 1862, under the continuous strain of publishing a weekly newspaper, Gray continued to suffer with ill health and sold the Loughborough Monitor to his assistant William Rollings Lee for the sum of £45.

Henry Wills’ Career: The 1870s

In 1871 news of Henry Wills’ activities at the age of 21, reveals that he was a clerk lodging in Parkside, Knightsbridge, Westminster in London. It was two years later in 1873 that Henry Wills, acquired The Angel Press, Angel Yard, a bookselling and stationery business, following the death of its proprietor, John Henry Gray. In July 1875 Henry Wills (26), by then well-established as a stationer and bookseller in Loughborough, married Katherine Ellen Jones (born c1852, Bath), in the church of St. Andrew, Walcot, Bath. They lived at 5 Market Place, Loughborough where, in 1877 their daughter Winifred Frances Wills was born, closely followed in 1878 by the birth of their son Edward Wills. In Harry Wills’s Loughborough Almanac, Diary and Street Directory for 1878, Henry describes himself as proprietor of “The Library”. He is a printer, bookseller and fancy stationer. His address is listed as 5 Market Place. No other address in Loughborough for an “H. Wills” is to be found in the street directory – the family were living “above the shop”.

The 1880s and into the 1890s

Late in 1880 Henry and Katherine’s daughter Dorothy Wills was born. By 1881 Henry (31) employed seven men, 12 boys and two girls in his bookselling and printing business. The family were by now living at numbers 4 and 5 Market Place. Henry’s wife Katherine was 29 and, assisted by two live-in domestic servants, had her hands full with daughter Winifred age 4, son Edward age 3 and baby Dorothy at just four months old. By 1882 the family had moved to 6 Park Street, Loughborough. The deeds to the property indicate that Henry Wills never owned the house so they must have rented. That same year a Mrs. Gray lived at 1 Park Street. This was the address of John Henry Gray’s residence at the time of his death age 40 in 1873 and Sarah Gray was his widow. Both the Wills’ family and Sarah Gray continued to reside in Park Street, as listed in H. Wills’s Loughborough Almanac, Diary, Trade and Street Directory for 1883, printed and published by H. Wills of “The Library”. 

No.6 Park Street in 2023

An advert for goods sold by Henry Wills, 1883

By 1886 Henry and Katherine were still living at 6 Park Street when, in about 1888, their son Alban Noel Wills was born, completing their family. By 1890 the family was living in the area of Forest Road, designated as Nanpantan. In Wills’s Loughborough Almanac, Diary, Trade and Street Directory for 1890 Henry’s business is listed at 4 Market Place – he is a bookseller and fancy stationer and proprietor of “The Library”. The entry for Angel Yard is listed as lying between numbers 3 and 4 Market Place where Henry has a second listing as a gas power printer, lithographer, bookbinding, relief stamping, machine ruling and machine folding works. The 1891 Census reveals that Henry continued to employ two live-in domestic servants at their Forest Road home. The Enumerator describes this Census as covering “that part of the Parish not included in the Municipal Borough commencing at the Borough Boundary on Forest Road including Burleigh Hall, Mr. Wills’ House, The Firs, The Woodlands, The Widenings and the cottages on Forest Road”.

The 1900s

By 1901 Henry Wills (51), printer, bookseller and stationer and his wife Katherine (49), were still living in their house in Forest Road. Their children Winifred Frances (24), Dorothy (20) and Alban Noel (13) all lived at home but their son, Edward (23) had flown the nest. The 1901 Census also lists a visitor, Alfred Noel Hazlehurst age 26, an electrical engineer, born in Cheshire. Alfred was to become their son-in-law following his marriage to Dorothy Wills in 1906.

It was in the same year as the 1901 Census that their daughter Winifred Frances married Albert William Hanford, a hosiery manufacturer born in 1875 in Loughborough. As the decade progressed Winifred and Albert had three children: John William Andrew Hanford born in 1903, Katherine Winifred Elizabeth Hanford born in 1905 and Freda Mary Hanford born in 1906 – three grandchildren for Henry and Katherine Wills. Both John William Andrew and Freda Mary grew up to become school teachers – walking in the footsteps of their great-grandfather George Wills. In April 1907 Dorothy and Alfred Hazlehurst’s daughter Dorothy Beatrice Hazlehurst was born in Wimbledon Park, Surrey, providing Henry and Katherine with a fourth grandchild. Dorothy Beatrice grew up to become a nurse. Meanwhile, according to Kelly’s Directory for 1908, Henry Wills continued to be listed as resident in Forest Road, Nanpantan.

The 1910s

By 1911, six years after his retirement, Henry Wills (61) and his wife Katherine (59) were living with their son-in-law Alfred Noel Hazlehurst, manager of an electrical company manufacturing accumulators, their daughter, Mrs. Dorothy Hazlehurst and three-year-old granddaughter Dorothy Beatrice Hazlehurst. The household had three servants: a cook, a domestic servant and a nurse housemaid. They lived in Park View Terrace, Wimbledon Park Road in Wimbledon.

On 3rd June 1915 Henry and Katherine’s son Alban Noel Wills (27) of the 5th Battalion, The King’s Own (Yorkshire Light Infantry) was promoted to Second Lieutenant. Three years later, on 7th March 1918 Alban Noel Wills, by then Captain of the 1st/5th Battalion, The King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, died of his wounds at Ypres at the age of about 30. Alban is buried in the Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Grave/Memorial Reference: XXVII. E. 21, Poperinge, West Vlaanderen, Belgium. At the time of this tragedy, Henry and Katherine although residing in Bath, were described as being “of Colwyn Bay”.

In 1919 Henry Wills died at the age of about 69 years while living in Colwyn Bay, Denbighshire. Henry left his effects to his widow Katherine Ellen Wills and to his son-in-law Albert William Hanford, the hosiery manufacturer [1]. On 21st December 1929 Katherine Ellen Wills, Henry’s widow, died at the age of about 77 years, while living in Colwyn Bay. Katherine left her effects to her nephew, Charles Richard Wills (47), a medical practitioner (son of Henry’s brother Charles) and to her son-in-law Albert William Hanford.

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NOTES 

[1] Reporting on the property market on page 5 of its issue of 12th September 1919, the Loughborough Echo states that Messrs. Garton and Son had in the previous two weeks sold a number of what they describe as ‘business blocks’. One of these was done under the instruction of the executors of the estate of the late Mr Henry Wills, late of Loughborough. This particular ‘business block’ included No.4 Market Place and printing works in Angel Yard, which at the time were occupied by Messrs. Wills and Hepworth. Also included was Angel Yard itself, where Messrs. Lowater, Baines, and Lockwood had their business. Further, in the ‘business block’ there were also five cottages, Nos.50-54 on what was then known as Mill Street, but which is today called Market Street. Mr W.S. Hepworth was the purchaser of the whole ‘business block’.

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Lynne writes:

I haven't really written much about Ladybird Books as there are plenty of people out there who know far more than me. There are, however, little bits of info on the following blogposts, and the Ladybird plaque appears in one of the virtual walks I've written:

The plaque walk

Loughborough firms

The Loogabarooga Festival

Ladybird Book illustrators

William Morris and Ladybird House  

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About Kathy

Kathy Phillips is currently Chair of the Loughborough Library Local Studies Volunteers Group (LLLSVG), who are based in the library on Granby Street, Loughborough.

Following a BSc (Hons) in Physics, experience of working in industry, and a postgraduate Diploma in Library & Information Studies, Kathy qualified as an Associate of the Library Association [now the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals] and gained experience in academic librarianship working at Loughborough University Pilkington Library. Kathy was the Information Scientist at the HUSAT (Human Sciences and Advanced Technology) Research Institute at Loughborough University for 19 years until 2002, and for two years at HUSAT’s successor, the Ergonomics and Safety Research Institute.

From 2004, Kathy worked part-time in the specialist library at WEDC (the Water and Engineering Research Centre), Loughborough University, and continued to volunteer at WEDC as an “Academic Visitor” until March 2018. Meanwhile, in 2010 Kathy began volunteering in Loughborough Library’s Local Studies section, becoming founder Chair of LLLSVG in January 2014. Since 2012 she has organised, or worked as a team member, on a significant number of displays at Loughborough Library. Kathy has considerable experience as a proof-reader, has edited a number of LLLSVG publications and has extensively researched the history of Ladybird Books Ltd., including the family histories of founders Henry Wills and William Hepworth, and Ladybird artist P.B. Hickling (Series 497 Animal Tales). With fellow enthusiast Ian Porter, Kathy is the LLLSVG co-expert on Ladybird Books.

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Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

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