c.1865 Born in Portsmouth
Apprentice (6 years) in the electrical department of Portsmouth Dockyard
1 year in the drawing office of Willans and Robison
Joined the electrical staff of Clarke, Chapman, Parsons and Co
1889 James Bonelle Willis of Portsmouth patented an electrical ship's telegraph[1]
1889 Head of design of dynamos, alternators, turbo-generators, etc for C. A. Parsons and Co
1891 Willis' patent electrical telegraph for ships was used in the Royal Navy[2]
1894 Patent with Charles Algernon Parsons and George Gerald Stoney on "Improvements in Glass Reflector Mirrors."
1898 of Heaton Works, Newcastle upon Tyne, became an Associate of the IEE
1904 Patent on "Improvements in or relating to the Construction of Rotary Magnets and other Bodies carrying Detachable Weights or Loads."
1911 James Bonelle Willis 46, mechanical engineer, lived in Hartlepool with Emily Owen Willis 45, Daniel C P Willis 19, Emily H Willis 17, Kenneth D N Willis 15, Donald G J Willis 13, Norman H B Willis 10, Gwendoline R Willis 8[3]
1913 Died in Hartlepool[4]