406 LIFE OF J. R. WILLIS—PIERS. 
if 
JOHN ROBERT WILLIS. 
By Harry PIERS. 
JOHN ROBERT WILLIS was born in the city of Philadelphia, 
U.S. A., on 14th February, 1825. His parents were John and 
Dorothy Willis. The former came from Cavan, Ireland, and the 
latter was a native of Durham, England. From Philadelphia his 
father proceeded to Kingston, Canada, where he settled his 
family for a short time, and then finally removed to Halifax, 
N.S. Here, in the old National School, young Willis* received 
his earliest education under the instruction of Abel S. Gore and 
his successor, James Maxwell. As a scholar he was diligent and 
ever ready for instruction. In 1846 a teacher was required to 
succeed Maxwell, and Willis was chosen to fill the position. He 
was thus transformed directly from a scholar into the principal 
of this important school-+— no mean honour for one of his age. 
About 1850 he turned his attention to the special study of our 
mollusea, and at the N.S. Industrial Exhibition, held four years 
later at Halifax, we find him gaining a prize for the best collec- 
tion of native shells. He also obtained another for the finest 
case of insects. From this time he seems to have been deeply 
engaged in collecting. In 1855 he desired to exchange his speci- 
mens for others, and thereupon opened a correspondence with 
Professor S. F. Baird, of the Smithsonian Institution—a corres- 
pondence which was kept up for very many years and established 
a great friendship between these two naturalists. It was at 
Baird’s request that Willis compiled one of his earliest publica- 
*John had a younger brother named Edward, who was afterwards a member of the New 
Brunswick Government, and also well known as a journalist. 
+The National School was then managed according to the principles of the Madras system 
of education, now fallen into disuse. 
