Studied at King's College Hospital, and afterwards held posts as House Surgeon at Poplar Hospital, Assistant Physician at the Hampshire County Hospital, and Surgeon to the Winchester Rifle Volunteers. He practised at Heathfield, Bromley, Kent, and was the medical attendant of Charles Darwin at Downe, who for forty years suffered from an obscure gastric disorder accompanied by pain and sickness; but Willey is not mentioned in the *Life and Letters* - only Bence Jones and Sir Andrew Clark. Willey was Medical Superintendent of Bromley Cottage Hospital, and after a long and successful career in practice retired to Somersfield, Reigate, where he died on May 16th, 1923. He was survived by his widow, three daughters, and a son.