The following is a summary of some of the more notable members of the Willingale family:
Thomas Willingale is perhaps the only really famous Willingale, being the standard bearer for the saving of Epping Forest. His son Samuel and nephews Alfred and William are mentioned in the resulting lopping saga and indeed were imprisoned for their efforts. Thomas's other sons Thomas Jnr and William would later claim to be involved in the saving of the forest, although there seems to be no hard evidence for this.
Thomas's sister Barbara married John White, one of the founders of Adelaide, Australia and she is commemorated by the naming of Willingale Avenue in the Lockleys area of the city. There is also an area of South Australia called Willingale Station, which we assume is named after her.
Barbara's son Samuel White was a noted ornithologist.
William Willingale served on HMS Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar.
Betty Willingale is a noted script editor who worked on key BBC drama series and serials in the 1960s and 1970s, including North and South and I, Claudius. She went on to form a strong working partnership with producer Jonathan Powell, script editing many of Powell's most successful drama serials including the hit adaptations of A Christmas Carol, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, The Barchester Chronicles and The Old Men at the Zoo. Willingale produced the BBC adaptation of Mansfield Park in 1983, later going on to produce the critically acclaimed adaptations Testament of Youth, Tender Is the Night as well as Bleak House and Fortunes of War, both of which earned her BAFTA nominations. Subsequently she worked on Fry & Laurie's version of Jeeves and Wooster. But perhaps she is best known for working on Midsomer Murders as a script editor, producer & consultant.
Bernie Willingale was a leader of Australian Federated Union of Locomotive Enginemen and received considerable press coverage in his native Australia during the 1970s & 1980s.
Mark Willingale is an architect and has received considerable press for promoting plans for a Lower Thames Crossing and Thames Estuary Airport.
Richard Willingale is a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Leicester.
Carter Brown (Alan Geoffrey Yates), the son of Henry Yates & Linda Ann Willingale, was a prolific Australian author of crime fiction. He was born in London in 1923 but moved to Australia in 1948.
A number of Willingale's have received honours, details of which can be found in this report.
Currently 36 people in the family tree have given their life whilst serving their country, this includes 11 with the surname Willingale.
See also our interesting media page for details some of the interesting photos, documents and video we have on the website
