William Wills (1804 - 1889)

Born 24 Mar 1804 in Compton Castle, Devon, England, United Kingdom

Husband of Sarah Mary Elizabeth (Calley) Wills — married 1830 in Totnes, Devon, England, United Kingdom

Descendants

Biography

William Wills was born on 24 March 1804 and baptised in the Marldon Church of England on 8 April 1804. His parents were John and Sarah Wills.^[1]

William Wills married Sarah M E Calley at Totnes on 22 September 1830.^[2] He was a doctor (M.R.C.S.E.). They had seven children.

William was the father of Australian explorer William John Wills of Burke and Wills fame. William John Wills and his brother Thomas emigrated to Victoria (Australia) in 1852. They arrived in January 1853 on the Janet Mitchell. Their father followed, and arrived in August 1853 on the Asia. They all eventually settled in Ballarat. Following the death of his son William John Wills during his return from being in the first party to travel south-north across Australia, Dr Wills returned to England in 1862 to publish a book based on his son's diaries. Wills later acted as surgeon on a migrant ship to New Zealand in 1864-1865, then visited Victoria on his return to Devon. Thomas became station master at the Ballarat West railway station.^[3]

In the 1841 census, William lived with his wife Sarah, three children and two boarders in Totnes, Devon.^[4] At the 1851 census his occupation was noted as "M R C S Lond L S A Lond In General Practice" and he and Sarah still lived in Totnes, with three children and Sarah's sister.^[5] He was not in the country at the 1861 census, but appears in the 1871 census in Newton Abbot, Devon with his wife and daughter.^[6]

William Wills was the editor of the book published from his son's diaries, A successful exploration through the interior of Australia : from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria / from the journals and letters of William John Wills / edited by William Wills ^[7]

He passed away on 28 September 1889.^[8]

^[9]

This profile is a collaborative work-in-progress. Can you contribute information or sources?

Sources

1. ↑ Birth, Marriage & Death (Parish Registers) archived by South West Heritage Trust, Archive reference 3239A/PR/1/2 accessed via Find My Past
2. ↑ Birth, Marriage & Death (Parish Registers) archived by South West Heritage Trust, accessed via Find My Past
3. ↑ 1889 'BALLARAT CHRONICLES AND PICTURES', The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 - 1924), 25 February, p. 4. , viewed 31 Mar 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article204040212
4. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1841," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MQY9-WD2 : 13 December 2017), William Wills, Totnes, Devon, England; from "1841 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.
5. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1851," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SGJ9-LJD : 9 November 2017), William Wills, Totnes, Devon, England; citing Totnes, Devon, England, p. 5, from "1851 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.
6. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1871", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V5T5-GSJ : 11 December 2017), William Wills, 1871.
7. ↑ Wills, William John & Wills, William & Wills, William John, 1834-1861 1863, A successful exploration through the interior of Australia, from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria : from the journals and letters of William John Wills, Richard Bentley, London, available through Project Gutenberg at http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5816
8. ↑
9. ↑ First-hand information as remembered by Terry Wright, Sunday, April 6, 2014. Replace this citation if there is another source.