He suggested moving clocks backwards by 20 minutes every Sunday in September. Despite having the support of author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as well as Winston Churchill, his idea was rejected by the government of the time.
It was the Germans and Austrians who finally introduced daylight saving in 1916, but it wasn't to stop people wasting daylight or to increase bug collections then.
It was introduced by the two nationalities to save candles and coal power, extending the working day as part of their war effort. They had the idea from Willett's much publicised campaigning in England and made it a reality.
Soon after, Britain, America and other countries involved in World War I followed suit, and in the USA, daylight saving was originally known as "war-time" as a result.
Daylight saving was finally introduced in New Zealand in 1927, 32 years after Hudson first suggested it.
This weekend, adjust your clocks and enjoy the extra hour of sleep it gives you - unless of course, you have young children who might just ignore the change in time and still be up as early as possible to see what the Easter bunny has left for them!