He erected the church as a memorial to his grandfather Dr. Thomas Willis, a famous physician, who lived in St. Martin's Lane in the parish of St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London, and who died on St. Martin's day, 11 November 1675.
He regarded English anatomist Thomas Willis (1621–1675) as a major influence towards his career.
He studied medical textbooks by Thomas Willis, Thomas Sydenham and Nicholas Culpeper, as well as learning the Dutch language with the implication that he probably intended going to Leiden University for a medical degree.
Thomas Jefferson | Thomas Edison | Thomas | Thomas Hardy | Thomas Mann | Bruce Willis | Thomas Aquinas | Clarence Thomas | Thomas Gainsborough | Dylan Thomas | Thomas Pynchon | St. Thomas | Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands | Thomas Carlyle | Thomas the Tank Engine | Thomas Moore | Thomas Cromwell | Thomas Becket | Thomas the Apostle | Thomas Merton | Thomas Tallis | Thomas Paine | Roy Thomas | Thomas Telford | Thomas More | Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford | Ryan Thomas | C. Thomas Howell | Thomas Kean | Thomas Gage |
Willis was born at Blandford St Mary, Dorset, the eldest Son of Thomas Willis of Bletchley, Buckinghamshire and his wife Alice Browne, daughter of Robert Browne of Frampton, Dorset.