William John Wills

William John Wills (5 January 1834 – June 1861) was an English surveyor who also trained for a while 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.

Early years

Wills was born in Totnes in Devon, the second child to William Wills (1800–1889) and Sarah Mary Elizabeth Wills (née Calley, 1800–1880). He was one of seven children, his older sister was Elizabeth Rose (1831–1852) and his younger siblings were Thomas (1835–1836), Thomas James (1837–1909), Charles Henry (1839–1864, Elizabeth Margaret (1843–), and Hannah (1845–). William John was educated at St Andrews Grammar School, Ashburton. As a youth, he contracted a fever which left him with 'slow and hesitating speech'.cite web |url=http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A060444b.htm |title=Wills, William John (1834 - 1861) |accessdate=2007-09-08 |author=Ian F. McLaren |work=Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 6 |publisher=MUP |year=1976 |pages=pp 410-411] He migrated to Australia in 1852 with his younger brother Thomas. They found work in Deniliquin as shepherds. Wills father, Dr William Wills Snr., followed the boys out to Australia, arriving in October 1853 and the three moved to Ballarat. William John Wills worked as a digger and a buyer for a bank. In 1855 he began to study surveying and moved to Melbourne to work under Georg Balthasar von Neumayer at the Flagstaff Observatory. Wills lived in Dorcas Street, South Melbourne until 1859 when he moved into the Observatory.

Burke and Wills Expedition

Robert O'Hara Burke was appointed leader of the Victorian Exploring Expedition with George James Landells as second-in-command. Wills was appointed third-in-command and surveyor and astronomical in July 1860 on a salary of £300 a year.

The expedition left Melbourne on 20 August 1860 with a total of 19 men, 27 camels and 23 horses. They reached Menindee on 16 October 1860 where Landells resigned following an argument with Burke. Wills was promoted to second-in-command.

Burke split the expedition at Menindee and the lead party reached Coopers Creek on 11 November 1860 where they formed a depot. The remaining men were expected to follow up from Menindee and so after a break, Burke decided to make a dash to the Gulf of Carpentaria. Burke split the party again and left on 16 December 1860, placing William Brahe in charge of the depot on Coopers Creek. Burke, Wills, John King and Charley Gray reached the mangroves on the estuary of the Flinders River, near where the town of Normanton now stands, on 9 February 1861. Flooding rains and swamps meant they never saw open ocean.

Already weakened by starvation and exposure, progress on the return journey was slow and hampered by the tropical monsoon downpours of the wet season. Gray died four days before they reached the depot at Cooper Creek and the other three took a day to bury him. They eventually reached the depot on 21 April 1861 to find the men had not arrived from Menindee and Brahe and the Depot Party had given up waiting and left just 9 hours earlier. Brahe had buried a note and some food underneath a tree which is now known as the "Dig Tree".

Burke, Wills and King attempted to reach Mount Hopeless, the furthest extent of settlement in South Australia, which was closer than Menindie (the route preferred by Wills)cite web |url=http://gutenberg.net.au/dictbiog/0-dict-biogWe-Wy.html#wills1 |title=Wills, William John |accessdate=2007-09-08 |author=Percival Serle |work=Dictionary of Australian Biography |publisher=Angus & Robertson |year=1949] , but failed and returned to Cooper Creek. While waiting for rescue Wills became exhausted and was unable to continue. He urged Burke and King to continue on, leaving him alone with food, water and shelter. Wills died alone at a place called Breerily Waterhole on Coopers Creek in South Australia. Burke died soon after. The exact date of their deaths is unknown, but has generally been accepted to be 28 June 1861.

King survived with the help of Aborigines until he was rescued in September by Alfred William Howitt. Howitt buried Burke and Wills before returning to Melbourne. In 1862 Howitt returned to Coopers Creek and disinterred Burke and Wills' bodies, taking them first to Adelaide and then by steamer to Melbourne where they were laid in state for two weeks. On 23 January 1863 Burke and Wills received a State Funeral and were buried in Melbourne General Cemetery.

A monument to Wills is located in Totnes.

References

*"The Argus (Melbourne)", 1861. "The Burke and Wills exploring expedition: An account of the crossing the continent of Australia from Cooper Creek to Carpentaria, with biographical sketches of Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills". Melbourne: Wilson and Mackinnon.
*Bonyhady, Tim, 1991. "Burke and Wills: From Melbourne to myth". Balmain: David Ell Press. ISBN 0-908197-91-8.
*Burke and Wills Outback Conference 2003, 2005. "The Inaugural Burke & Wills Outback Conference : Cloncurry 2003 : a collation of presentations". Dave Phoenix, Cairns Qld. ISBN 0-646-44702-5
*Clune, Frank, 1937. "Dig: A drama of central Australia". Sydney: Angus and Robertson.
*Corke, David G, 1996. "The Burke and Wills Expedition: A study in evidence". Melbourne: Educational Media International. ISBN 0-909178-16-X
*Murgatroyd, Sarah, 2002. "The Dig Tree". Melbourne: Text Publishing. ISBN 1-877008-08-7
*Victoria: Parliament, 1862. "Burke and Wills Commission. Report of the Commissioners appointed to enquire into and report upon the circumstances connected with the sufferings and death of Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills, the Victorian Explorers". Melbourne: John Ferres Government Printer.
*Wills, William John, & Wills, Dr William, 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". London: Richard Bentley.

See also

* Burke and Wills expedition
* Robert O'Hara Burke
* John King (explorer)

External links

*
* [http://gutenberg.net.au/dictbiog/0-dict-biogWe-Wy.html#wills1 Australian Dictionary of Biography]
* [http://www.burkeandwills.net.au/ Burke & Wills Web] A comprehensive website containing many of the historical documents relating to the Burke & Wills Expedition.
* [http://www.burkeandwills.org/ The Burke & Wills Historical Society] The Burke & Wills Historical Society.
* [http://www.nla.gov.au/epubs/wills/ The Diary of William John Wills] The diary written by Wills while at the Cooper from 23 April to 28 June 1861.
* [http://nla.gov.au/nla.ms-ms30-7 William John Wills' journal] Images from the National Library of Australia's digital manuscript collection.