William John Wills
| William John Wills | |
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Photograph of William John Wills
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| Born |
5 January 1834 Totnes, Devon, England, UK |
| Died | 28 June 1861 (aged 27) Cooper Creek |
| Nationality | British |
| Other names | in his teenage years known as Jack |
| Occupation | Surveyor, explorer |
| Known for | Second-in-command of the Burke and Wills expedition |
William John Wills (5 January 1834 – c.June/July 1861) was a British surveyor who also trained as a surgeon. He achieved fame as the second-in-command of the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition, which was the first expedition to cross Australia from south to north, finding a route across the continent from the settled areas of Victoria to the Gulf of Carpentaria.
Wills was born in Totnes in Devon, the second child to Dr William Wills (1800 – 28 September 1889) and Sarah Mary Elizabeth Wills (née Calley, 23 December 1800 – 19 February 1880). He was one of seven children;
He lived at the family home at Ipplepen and as a young child he contracted a fever which left him with "slow and hesitating speech". He was home-tutored by his father until the age of 11 and then from 1845 to 1850 he attended St Andrew's Grammar School, Ashburton. He was then articled to Wills' surgical practice. In 1852 he studied practical chemistry under John Stenhouse at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London.
Dr Wills bought a share in the Melbourne Gold Mining Company in 1852 and planned to migrate to Australia with William and Thomas. However Sarah Wills objected to him leaving so Dr Wills delayed his departure and the two boys went alone. Eighteen-year-old William and fifteen-year-old Thomas left Dartmouth on 1 October 1852 aboard the Janet Mitchell. They arrived in Melbourne on 3 January 1853 with 197 fellow unassisted passengers. William and Thomas found accommodation at the Immigrants Home in South Melbourne.
In February 1853 the Wills brothers found work as shepherds at a property owned by the Royal Bank Company on the Edward River near Deniliquin. They were paid £30 p.a. plus rations and were in charge of a flock of 1300 rams at the Ram Station. Dr Wills followed his sons out to Australia, arriving in August 1853, and the three returned to Melbourne before moving to Ballarat where William took up work as a digger on the goldfields. In 1854 he worked as assistant surgeon in his father's practice and later he opened his own gold office.
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