[1][3] Arthur Haygarth wrote in Scores & Biographies that Willes was "...the originator, or rather the reviver, of round-armed bowling," and is said (though his daughter has never heard of the fact) to have caught the idea from seeing his sister so deliver the ball to him in practice when he was unwell.
The Cricket Field, however, speaking through William Beldham, states: Willes was not the inventor of that kind of round bowling—he only revived what was forgotten or new to the young folk.
Whether he bowled round in the present match, cannot now be said, as this kind of delivery was not tolerated till about 1827, when it was permanently established by William Lillywhite, Jem Broadbridge and George T Knight.
This place, shortly before his death, he was obliged to leave, and he removed to Staunton, near Gloucester, where he died, in fearfully reduced circumstances on 5 August 1852, aged 74.
[4] In fact, as Beldham confirmed, roundarm bowling was first devised back in Hambledon days by bowlers such as Tom Walker, although he was barred from using it in matches by the club.