The second son of a lawyer of Fen Ditton in Cambridgeshire, Richard Willys was admitted to Gray's Inn in 1631 but preferred to follow a military career. He enlisted in the Dutch service and took part in the siege of Breda (1637) before returning to serve King Charles I against the Scots in the Bishops' Wars (1639-40). During the turbulent period leading to the outbreak of civil war, Willys served under Sir Thomas Lunsford in the King's Guard at Whitehall.
Willys was knighted for his gallant conduct during a cavalry skirmish near Shrewsbury in October 1642. He was commissioned colonel of a cavalry regiment under Lord Grandison and was taken prisoner with him when Sir William Waller captured Winchester in December 1642. Both Grandison and Willys broke their parole to return to the King's service. In 1643, Willys was commissioned major-general to Lord Capel in Cheshire and Shropshire but was again taken prisoner during a Parliamentarian raid at Ellesmere in January 1644. After languishing for nine months in the Tower of London, Willys was exchanged and joined Prince Rupert in the west.
In May 1645, Willys was appointed governor of the vital stronghold of Newark in Nottinghamshire. Within weeks of his appointment, the Royalists suffered a major defeat at the battle of Naseby, which was followed by Prince Rupert's dismissal from the King's service for his surrender of Bristol. King Charles arrived at Newark in October 1645. Two weeks later, Rupert approached, determined to confront the King over his dismissal. In defiance of the King's wishes, Willys rode out with Lord Gerard and other officers to welcome the Prince. In the stormy scenes that followed, Willys was replaced as governor of Newark by Lord Belasyse, whom he at once challenged to a duel. The King intervened to keep them apart and Willys eventually withdrew with Rupert and the rest of his supporters. Like Rupert, Willys was eventually reconciled to the King. He was formally pardoned in April 1646 and created baronet in June. Willys went abroad after the final defeat of the Royalist cause. He did not return to England until 1652.
Around November 1653, Willys became involved with the Sealed Knot, a secret group of Royalist conspirators commissioned by the exiled Charles Stuart to prepare a Royalist uprising against the government of England. Willys's adversary Lord Belasyse was another member of the Sealed Knot, and once again they quarrelled bitterly. The group proved largely ineffective and urged the postponement of the insurrection that culminated in Penruddock's Uprising of March 1655, which earned the contempt of Lord Mordaunt and other more daring Royalists. Willys was imprisoned during 1654 and '55 for plotting against the Protectorate.
During the summer of 1656, Willys entered into a secret pact with John Thurloe to betray details of further plots against the government. As he was notoriously short of money, Willys's motives for his treachery were probably financial. He believed that the King's cause was hopeless and that his actions would prevent useless bloodshed. He also stipulated that no Royalist's life should be endangered as a result of the information he provided. Early in 1658, he informed Thurloe of the Marquis of Ormond's secret visit to London to co-ordinate the activities of Royalist conspirators. However, Willys refused to say where Ormond was lodging and also warned the Marquis that Thurloe's agents were searching for him, which gave him time to escape. Willys continued as Thurloe's agent for three years, apparently arousing no suspicion among his friends and associates. He was finally betrayed to Sir Edward Hyde by Samuel Morland, one of Thurloe's assistants, in July 1659.
Willys was denounced as a traitor and condemned to death in May 1660. He was subsequently pardoned on condition that he should never come into the King's presence or attend Court. He lived quietly at Fen Ditton until his death in 1690.
References:
Godfrey Davies, The Restoration of Charles II, 1658-60, 1955
C.H. Firth, The Last Years of the Protectorate 1656-58 vol. i, 1909
Richard Ollard, Sir Richard Willys, first baronet, Oxford DNB, 2004