Horatio Spencer Howe WILLS (1811

Horatio Spencer Howe WILLS (1811 - 1861)

Children	Self + Spouses	Parents	Grandparents	Greatgrandparents
Thomas Wentworth WILLS (1836 - 1880) Emily Spencer WILLS (1842 - 1925) Cedric Spencer WILLS (1844 - 1914) Horace Spencer WILLS (1847 - 1928) Egbert Spencer WILLS (1849 - 1931) Elizabeth Spencer WILLS (1852 - 1930) Eugenie (Duckey) Spencer WILLS (1854 - 1937) Minna Spencer WILLS (1856 - 1943) Hortense Sarah Spencer WILLS (1861 - 1907)	Horatio Spencer Howe WILLS (1811 - 1861) + Elizabeth (MCGUIRE) WYRE (1817 - 1907)	Edward Spencer WILLS (1778 - 1811)	Edward WILLS ( - 1814)

			Elizabeth (WILLS) (1738 - 1822)

		Sarah HARDING (1776 - 1823)	Thomas HARDING

			Sarah (HARDING)

Pic P1. copied from Michael and Terry's Tree 2009 - ancestry

Pic S1. from 'A Currency Lad'

Pic 1. copied from Michael and Terry's Tree 2009 - ancestry

Pic 2. copied from Michael and Terry's Tree 2009 - ancestry
This tablet
is erected by his children
in affectionate memory of
their beloved father
Horatio Spencer Wills
Whose life was sustained by --
and adorned by charity
and
who with eighteen others was killed
by the blacks 17th October 1861
at Cullin-la-ringo, Queensland
Aged 49 years

Pic 5. from 'A Currency Lad'

Pic 7. Cullin-la-ringo run, selection 65, 1877. Sixteen years after the death of Horatio Spencer Wills the trustees of the family estate applied for control of the station. This transfer required that the trustees had the run mapped accurately which was completed on 23 June 1877. The map shows the ‘open downs’ which were the primary landscape features of this part of the run. On the eastern boundary on Stony Creek there are drafting yards, stables, the head station, woolshed and shearers hut. The road from Rockhampton to Clermont can be seen running through the station. This map was among four portions of Cullin-la-ringo which were surveyed in 1877, the final year that the leases for Cullin-la-ringo remained with the sons of Wills. In the accompanying map of selection 68 the location of the ‘Murder of Wills and party’ is marked. Collection of the Queensland State Archives

b. 05 Oct 1811 at Sydney, NSW, Australia

m. 02 Dec 1833 Elizabeth (MCGUIRE) WYRE (1817 - 1907) at Parramatta, Sydney, NSW, Australia

d. 17 Oct 1861 at 'Cullin-la-ringo', Springsure, Queensland, Australia aged 50

Near Relatives of Horatio Spencer Howe WILLS (1811 - 1861)
Relationship	Person	Born	Birth Place	Died	Death Place	Age
Grandfather	Edward WILLS			09 Jan 1814	London, Middlesex, England
Grandmother	Elizabeth (WILLS)	abt 1738		1822		84
Grandfather	Thomas HARDING
Grandmother	Sarah (HARDING)

Father in Law	Michael (WYER) MCGUIRE	abt 1781	Meath, Ireland	17 Mar 1823	Sydney, NSW, Australia	42
Mother in Law	Jane WALLACE	abt 1780	Ireland

Father	Edward Spencer WILLS	13 Aug 1778	London, Middlesex, England	14 May 1811	Sydney, NSW, Australia	32
Step Father	George HOWE	abt 1769	St Kitts, West Indies	11 May 1821	NSW, Australia	52
Mother	Sarah HARDING	Aug 1776	London, Middlesex, England	08 Jul 1823	Sydney, NSW, Australia	46

Self	Horatio Spencer Howe WILLS	05 Oct 1811	Sydney, NSW, Australia	17 Oct 1861	'Cullin-la-ringo', Springsure, Queensland, Australia	50

Wife	Elizabeth (MCGUIRE) WYRE	1817	Sydney, NSW, Australia	28 Dec 1907	Geelong, Victoria, Australia	90

Son	Thomas Wentworth WILLS	1836	Molongolo Plains, NSW, Australia	02 May 1880	Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia	44
Daughter	Emily Spencer WILLS	25 Dec 1842	'Lexington', Ararat, Victoria, Australia	06 Dec 1925	"Molongolo", Kew, Victoria, Australia	82
Son	Cedric Spencer WILLS	01 Dec 1844	'Lexington', Ararat, Victoria, Australia	23 Jan 1914	Springsure, Queensland, Australia	69
Son	Horace Spencer WILLS	16 Jun 1847	Lexington, Victoria, Australia	08 Oct 1928	Kew, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia	81
Son	Egbert Spencer WILLS	11 Nov 1849	Lexington, Victoria, Australia	11 Sep 1931	Kew, Victoria, Australia	81
Daughter	Elizabeth Spencer WILLS	07 Jan 1852	'Lexington', Ararat, Victoria, Australia	21 Nov 1930	Prahran, Victoria, Australia	78
Daughter	Eugenie (Duckey) Spencer WILLS	28 Jan 1854	Lexington, Victoria, Australia	08 Jul 1937	Kew, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia	83
Daughter	Minna Spencer WILLS	01 Mar 1856	"Bellevue", Geelong, Victoria, Australia	14 Feb 1943	Toorak, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia	86
Daughter	Hortense Sarah Spencer WILLS	16 Aug 1861	Geelong, Victoria, Australia	02 Jul 1907	Maidenhead, Berkshire, England	45

Step Brother	Robert HOWE	30 Jun 1795	London, Middlesex, England	29 Jan 1829	Sydney, NSW, Australia	33
Sister	Sarah WILLS	23 Apr 1796	England	Dec 1876	St Giles, London, England	80
Brother	Thomas WILLS	05 Aug 1800	Sydney, NSW, Australia	29 Jul 1872	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia	71
Sister	Eliza WILLS	10 Sep 1802	Sydney, NSW, Australia	30 Sep 1858	St Leonards, North Sydney, NSW, Australia	56
Step Brother	Thomas Terry HOWE	02 Apr 1803	Sydney, NSW, Australia
Brother	Edward Spencer WILLS	16 Feb 1805	Sydney, NSW, Australia	1830	London, Middlesex, England	25
Step Sister	Mary Ann Risdon HOWE	01 May 1805	Sydney, NSW, Australia	1832	Kawhia, Auckland, New Zealand	27
Step Brother	George Terry HOWE	18 Dec 1806	Sydney, NSW, Australia	06 Apr 1863	Chippendale, NSW, Australia	56
Sister	Elizabeth Selina WILLS	30 Nov 1807	Sydney, NSW, Australia	18 Jan 1811	Sydney, NSW, Australia	3
Step Sister	Ann HOWE	06 Feb 1809	Sydney, NSW, Australia	10 May 1811		2
Step Sister	Sarah Risdon HOWE	27 Sep 1810	Sydney, NSW, Australia	1879	Redfern, Sydney, NSW, Australia	69
Half Sister	Jane HOWE	09 Nov 1816	Sydney, NSW, Australia	23 Nov 1880	Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia	64

Daughter in Law	Sarah Teresa BARBER DUFF			1907
Son in Law	Henry Colden Antill HARRISON	16 Oct 1836	Cj, NSW, Australia	02 Sep 1929	Kew, Victoria, Australia	92
Daughter in Law	Elizabeth Henrietta (Berry) MACDONALD	26 Dec 1850	Brewarrina, NSW, Australia	25 Jan 1944	Minerva Creek, Springsure, Queensland, Australia	93
Daughter in Law	Sarah Eliza BESWICKE	1852	Victoria, Australia	16 Dec 1916	Kew, Victoria, Australia	64
Daughter in Law	Mary BESWICKE	27 Jun 1853	Lexington, Victoria, Australia	10 Dec 1930	Balwyn, Victoria, Australia	77
Son in Law	Edward Lesley SHAW	16 Jan 1849	Victoria, Australia	08 Apr 1908	London, Middlesex, England	59
Son in Law	Peter TYSON	abt 1852		1904	Sydney, NSW, Australia	52
Son in Law	Thomas George CUE	abt 1855	Cork, Co Cork, Ireland	1920	Vancouver, BC, Canada	65
Son in Law	Henry (Harold) Blomfield BROWN	1851	Boreham, Essex, England	09 Mar 1923	Geelong, Victoria, Australia	72
Son in Law	George Clarence HARDING	1853	St John's Wood, Middlesex, London, England	1913	Hove, Sussex, England	60

Granddaughter	Eva Wills HARRISON	11 Aug 1865	Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia	27 Sep 1869	Victoria, Australia	4
Grandson	Horace HARRISON	25 Dec 1866	Collingwood, Victoria, Australia	1867	Victoria, Australia	1
Granddaughter	Kate Wills HARRISON	26 Feb 1868	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia	1955	Caulfield, Victoria, Australia	87
Granddaughter	Emily Rosalie (Rose) HARRISON	23 Jul 1869		1947	Hove, Sussex, England	78
Grandson	Henry Norman HARRISON	28 Jul 1870		09 May 1895	Broad Arrow, WA, Australia	24
Granddaughter	Ida Mary HARRISON	20 Jan 1872	Kew, Victoria, Australia	01 Aug 1872	Victoria, Australia	0
Grandson	Eric Spencer HARRISON	1874		1874	Victoria, Australia	0
Granddaughter	Ruby Spencer HARRISON	25 Mar 1876	Victoria, Australia	1958	Richmond, Victoria, Australia	82
Granddaughter	Alma Wills (twin) HARRISON	31 Mar 1882	Kew, Victoria, Australia	1960	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia	78
Granddaughter	Eileen Spencer (twin) HARRISON	31 Mar 1882	Kew, Victoria, Australia	1882	Beechworth, Victoria, Australia	0
Granddaughter	Elizabeth Spencer WILLS	12 Mar 1873	Queensland, Australia	24 Oct 1956	Queensland, Australia	83
Granddaughter	Edith Spencer WILLS	10 Jun 1874	Queensland, Australia	15 Sep 1956	Queensland, Australia	82
Granddaughter	Emily (Emilyne) Spencer WILLS	16 Aug 1875	Kew, Victoria, Australia	05 Feb 1960	Queensland, Australia	84
Grandson	Horatio Spencer Howe WILLS	28 Aug 1876	'Cullin-la-ringo', Springsure, Queensland, Australia	30 Aug 1960	Springsure, Queensland, Australia	84
Grandson	Cedric Spencer WILLS	29 Nov 1877	'Cullin-la-ringo', Springsure, Queensland, Australia	25 Sep 1957	Home Hill, Queensland, Australia	79
Grandson	George WILLS	abt 1879
Granddaughter	Minnie Spencer WILLS	27 Apr 1880	Queensland, Australia	23 Sep 1962	Queensland, Australia	82
Grandson	Egbert Spencer WILLS	23 Jul 1881	Queensland, Australia	04 Aug 1888	Queensland, Australia	7
Granddaughter	Rose Spencer WILLS	16 Sep 1882	'Cullin-la-ringo', Springsure, Queensland, Australia	21 Feb 1969	Queensland, Australia	86
Granddaughter	Ruby Spencer WILLS	23 Nov 1883	Queensland, Australia	1978	Queensland, Australia	95
Granddaughter	Ivy Spencer WILLS	30 Jul 1885	Queensland, Australia	09 Feb 1968	Casino, NSW, Australia	82
Grandson	Thomas Wentworth Spencer WILLS	25 Jul 1886	Queensland, Australia	22 May 1963	Queensland, Australia	76
Grandson	Colden Spencer WILLS	15 Oct 1888	'Cullin-la-ringo', Springsure, Queensland, Australia	20 May 1972	Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia	83
Granddaughter	Ethel Mary WILLS	1875	Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia	22 Jun 1919	Sandham, Victoria	44
Granddaughter	Ada (Ida) Clare WILLS	03 Jun 1880	Springsure, Queensland, Australia	1964	Los Angeles, California, USA	84
Granddaughter	Hebe Eugenie WILLS	08 Mar 1885	Queensland, Australia	10 Nov 1948	Toorak, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia	63
Granddaughter	Maud WILLS	1886		1886		0
Granddaughter	Eva Irene 'Rene' WILLS	07 Jun 1888	Queensland, Australia	1980	Kew, Cambrian Hill, Victoria, Australia	92
Grandson	Egbert Horatio WILLS	12 Jul 1878	Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia	1940	Coburg, Victoria, Australia	62
Grandson	Stanley Spencer WILLS	1884	Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia	1884		0
Grandson	Eric Wilfred WILLS	20 Sep 1891		1974	Box Hill, Victoria, Australia	83
Grandson	Edward St Lawrence SHAW	07 Mar 1878	Geelong, Victoria, Australia	1952	Birkenhead, Cheshire, England	74
Granddaughter	Lesley Elizabeth SHAW	04 Feb 1879	Creswick, Victoria, Australia	26 Apr 1879	Victoria, Australia	0
Granddaughter	Ellen Marian SHAW	04 May 1880	Victoria, Australia	28 Oct 1949	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia	69
Granddaughter	Doris Minna SHAW	10 Jul 1881	Tarr...., Victoria	1932	Adelaide, Victoria, Australia	51
Granddaughter	Elshie Adela SHAW	27 Apr 1883	Geelong, Victoria, Australia	12 Dec 1923	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia	40
Granddaughter	Phyllis Joan SHAW	18 Sep 1886	Geelong, Victoria, Australia	18 Jun 1887	Malvern, Victoria, Australia	0
Grandson	Horace Foster SHAW	06 Jun 1888	Armadale, Victoria, Australia	30 Apr 1968	Glen, Victoria, Australia	79
Grandson	Lester Boyd SHAW	06 Nov 1890	Armadale, Victoria, Australia	1960	Sandford, Victoria, Australia	70
Grandson	Max Douglas SHAW	17 Jul 1897	Switzerland	1975	Camb, Victoria, Australia	78
Granddaughter	Eva Jessie Mazie TYSON	1892	Sydney, NSW, Australia	26 Jul 1972	Prahran, Victoria, Australia	80
Granddaughter	Claudia Blomfield-Brown	12 Mar 1884	Geelong, Victoria, Australia	27 Jun 1934	Toorak, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia	50
Grandson	Harold Blomfield-Brown	22 Apr 1885	Geelong, Victoria, Australia	18 Apr 1964		78
Grandson	Reginald Blomfield-Brown	24 Jan 1890	Victoria, Australia
Granddaughter	Kathleen Ruby Spencer HARDING	1880	Westgate On Sea, Thanet, Kent, England

Nephew	Robert Charles HOWE	27 Feb 1820	St Phillips Church of England, Sydney, NSW	14 Jul 1875	Rylstone, NSW, Australia	55
Nephew	Robertus Mansfield HOWE	12 Nov 1822	Sydney, NSW, Australia	26 Feb 1824	Sydney, NSW, Australia	1
Niece	Annie Wesley HOWE	1824	Sydney, NSW, Australia
Nephew	Alfred Australia HOWE	1825		17 Jan 1837	Port Macquarie, NSW, Australia	12
Niece	Mary McLeay HOWE	21 Apr 1827		20 May 1827		0
Nephew	William Lachlan Macquarie REDFERN	1819	Australia	1904	Westminster, London, England	85
Nephew	Joseph Foveaux REDFERN	1823		1830	Sydney, NSW, Australia	7
Niece	Sarah Elizabeth ALEXANDER	1835	Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland	1905	Paddington, London, England	70
Niece	Alice WILLS	06 May 1823	Camden, NSW, Australia	14 Apr 1824	NSW, Australia	0
Nephew	William Henry WILLS	01 Dec 1827		abt 1828		1
Niece	Catherine Spencer WILLS	24 Nov 1831	Ci, Sydney, NSW	27 Aug 1884	Geelong, Victoria, Australia	52
Niece	Amelia WILLS	1854	Kensington, London, Middlesex, England
Nephew	Arthur WILLS	18 Feb 1857	Hammersmith, Middlesex, England	14 Oct 1932	Kew, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia	75
Nephew	Harry Spencer WILLS	13 Sep 1858	Brighton, Sussex, England	1914	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia	56
Nephew	Frederick WILLS	19 Jul 1860	St John's Wood, Middlesex, London, England
Nephew	Charles Ernest WILLS	15 Nov 1861	St John's Wood, Middlesex, London, England
Niece	Margaret Campbell ANTILL	27 Jun 1820	Sydney, NSW, Australia	22 Jul 1849	Camden, Oaks, Picton, Stonequarry, NSW	29
Nephew	John Macquarie ANTILL	30 May 1822	Liverpool, NSW, Australia	1900	Picton, NSW, Australia	78
Nephew	Henry Colden ANTILL	07 Apr 1826	Camden, NSW, Australia	1913	Parramatta, Sydney, NSW, Australia	87
Niece	Alice Sophia ANTILL	1827	Liverpool, NSW, Australia	1920	London, Middlesex, England	93
Nephew	William Redfern ANTILL	1828	Campbelltown, NSW, Australia	1905	Picton, NSW, Australia	77
Nephew	Thomas Wills ANTILL	1829	Campbelltown, NSW, Australia	18 May 1865	Nelson, New Zealand	36
Nephew	Edward Spencer ANTILL	20 Jul 1832	Picton, NSW, Australia	1917	Parramatta, Sydney, NSW, Australia	85
Nephew	James Alexander ANTILL	1834	Cobbitty, Narellan, NSW, Australia	1920	Rockdale, Sydney, NSW, Australia	86
Niece	Selina Elizabeth ANTILL	1837	Cobbitty, Narellan, NSW, Australia	1924	Chatswood, NSW, Australia	87
Nephew	Loftus Cliff ANTILL	06 Dec 1839	Stonequarry, Picton, NSW, Australia	1840	Stonequarry, Picton, NSW, Australia	1
Niece	Sarah Eclipse HOWE	1824	At sea	1905	Callan Park, New South Wales, Australia	81
Nephew	George Risden HOWE	1825		01 Jul 1889	Brisbane, Queensland, Australia	64
Niece	Mary Ann Cowell HOWE	17 Jun 1827	Sydney, NSW, Australia	20 Feb 1905	NSW, Australia	77
Niece	Marion HOWE	1829
Nephew	John Kiwi HOWE	1830		1860	Kawhia, Auckland, New Zealand	30
Niece	Ann Risden HOWE	1832
Niece	Eliza Frances HOWE	1834		13 Oct 1914		80
Niece	Elizabeth Jane HOWE	1836		15 Dec 1916		80
Niece	Emily HOWE	1840		1880	Sydney, NSW, Australia	40
Niece	Maria Elizabeth LEE			09 Nov 1891
Nephew	John Arthur HARRISON			1897
Niece	Adela Ann HARRISON	11 Sep 1834		23 Jul 1910	Victoria, Australia	75
Nephew	Henry Colden Antill HARRISON	16 Oct 1836	Cj, NSW, Australia	02 Sep 1929	Kew, Victoria, Australia	92
Nephew	George Alfred HARRISON	1838
Niece	Kate HARRISON	1840		1914	Minto, NSW, Australia	74
Niece	Alice HARRISON	1842
Nephew	Ernest HARRISON	1845
Nephew	Horace Washington HARRISON	1848	Avon, Victoria, Australia	09 Feb 1869	Ballarat, Victoria, Australia	21

Sister in Law	Catherine (WYER) MCGUIRE	abt 1815	Sydney, NSW, Australia	1893	Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia	78
Sister in Law	Ann MCGUIRE	abt 1819	Sydney, NSW, Australia
Sister in Law	Elizabeth LEE	17 Jun 1802	Sydney, NSW, Australia	17 Aug 1878	Sydney, NSW, Australia	76
Sister in Law	Ann BIRD	1803		1842	Sydney, NSW, Australia	39
Brother in Law	William REDFERN	1774	Canada	17 Jul 1833	Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland	59
Brother in Law	James ALEXANDER	1797	Lanarkshire, Scotland	29 Jul 1877		80
Sister in Law	Celia REIBEY	1802	Camden, NSW, Australia	28 Sep 1823	NSW, Australia	21
Sister in Law	Marie Anne BARRY	21 Sep 1801	London, Middlesex, England	19 May 1870		68
Sister in Law	Mary Ann MELLARD	1830	Peckham, Camberwell, London, Surrey, England
Brother in Law	Henry Colden ANTILL	01 May 1779	New York, NY, USA	14 Aug 1852	'Jarvisfield', Picton, NSW, Australia	73
Brother in Law	John COWELL	1786
Sister in Law	Sarah BIRD	1801		1871		70
Sister in Law	Tawariki Te KIWI
Brother in Law	Frederick LEE
Brother in Law	Edward LEE	1807		27 Jun 1842	Lithuania	35
Brother in Law	Capt. John HARRISON	1800	Cumberland, England	21 Jul 1869	Williamstown, Victoria, Australia	69

Events in Horatio Spencer Howe WILLS (1811 - 1861)'s life
Date	Age	Event	Place	Notes	Src
14 May 1811		Death of father Edward Spencer WILLS (aged 32)	Sydney, NSW, Australia	Note 1	52, 54, 55, 60
05 Oct 1811		Horatio Spencer Howe WILLS was born	Sydney, NSW, Australia	Note 2	52, 54, 55
11 May 1821	9	Death of step father George HOWE (aged 52)	NSW, Australia	Note 3	52, 55
08 Jul 1823	11	Death of mother Sarah HARDING (aged 46)	Sydney, NSW, Australia	Note 4	52, 54, 55, 60
02 Dec 1833	22	Married Elizabeth (MCGUIRE) WYRE (aged 16)	Parramatta, Sydney, NSW, Australia	Note 5	54
1836	25	Birth of son Thomas Wentworth WILLS	Molongolo Plains, NSW, Australia	Note 6	52, 54
25 Dec 1842	31	Birth of daughter Emily Spencer WILLS	'Lexington', Ararat, Victoria, Australia	Note 7	52, 54
01 Dec 1844	33	Birth of son Cedric Spencer WILLS	'Lexington', Ararat, Victoria, Australia	Note 8	52, 54
16 Jun 1847	35	Birth of son Horace Spencer WILLS	Lexington, Victoria, Australia	Reg No 1850/25772	52, 54
11 Nov 1849	38	Birth of son Egbert Spencer WILLS	Lexington, Victoria, Australia	Reg No 1850/25773	52, 54
07 Jan 1852	40	Birth of daughter Elizabeth Spencer WILLS	'Lexington', Ararat, Victoria, Australia		54, 55
28 Jan 1854	42	Birth of daughter Eugenie (Duckey) Spencer WILLS	Lexington, Victoria, Australia	Note 9	54, 55
1856	45	Residence	Geelong, Victoria, Australia	Note 10
01 Mar 1856	44	Birth of daughter Minna Spencer WILLS	"Bellevue", Geelong, Victoria, Australia	Note 11	54
16 Aug 1861	49	Birth of daughter Hortense Sarah Spencer WILLS	Geelong, Victoria, Australia	Note 12	54, 55
17 Oct 1861	50	Horatio Spencer Howe WILLS died	'Cullin-la-ringo', Springsure, Queensland, Australia	Note 13	52, 53, 54

Note 1: Reg No V18112697 2A/1811 - Edward Wills, age 32

Sydney Gazette 18 May 1811, p2
At his house, in George-street, on Tuesday night the 14th instant, Mr. Edward Wills, after a painful illness of nearly three months duration, in his 33d year. The generosity of his disposition ,was evinced in all his actions, his integrity was undoubted; and he lived universally respected, as his death must be sincerely regretted by his most distant acquaintance; while his amiable family and those who were happy in his friendship will be devoted by the melancholy event, to a length of inconsolable affliction.

Note 2: Reg No V18113625 1A/1811 - Edward Wills and Sarah

Note 3: Reg No V18215068 2B/1821 - George Howe - age 51
********************

Johnson, Keith A. Comp. Gravestone inscriptions, N.S.W. Volume 1. Sydney burial ground : Elizabeth and Devonshire Streets "The Sandhills' (Monuments relocated at Bunnerong) / compiled by Keith A. Johnson and Malcolm R. Sainty. n.p., the compilers, 1973
Text: Mr Edward WILLS died 14th May 1811 aged 32 years
Also George HOWE
a Creole of St. Kitt's
born 1769
died 11th May 1821 aged 52 years
He introduced into Australia the art of Printing
instigating the 'Sydney Gazette' and was the first Government Printer
(fourth oldest stone at Bunnerong).
*****************************************

OBITUARY of George Howe in Sydney Gazette
SYDNEY GAZETTE.
IT HATH at length fallen to the task of surviving friendship to announce, in a Column of the SYDNEY GAZETTE, the Death of its Printer, Mr. GEORGE HOWE ; which lamented event took place in the forenoon of Friday last, the 11th instant, at his house in George-street ; and in the sorrowing testimony of affectionate relatives, and sympathising acquaintances, we have traced the sincere regard and respect due to departed worth, and to the memory of an upright, liberal, and benevolent Member of Society. That such are the faithful attributes of the Character to which this humble tribute applies, will, we trust, be universally acknowledged ; and particularly in those circles where his philanthropy and urbanity were displayed; and which, retiring from public notice, ministered, unwitnessed and in private, the consolatory balm to indigence and affliction»

Mr. HOWE was a native of St. Kitt's, in the West Indies, where his Father and Brother conducted for many years the Government Press, which is still continued by his Family in that Island. As a Printer, Mr. HOWE is said to have attained distinguished preeminence in England, and was for a long time employed on some of the most respectable Journals in London. As the original Printer of this Gazette, he had to struggle, in the outset, with many difficulties incidental to such an undertaking, in a remote Colony ; but by perseverance, attention, and the liberal encouragement of the present Government, he at length surmounted them. Mr. HOWE was in his 52nd year.
**************************

http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/howe-george-1600
Australian Dictionary of Biography
George Howe (1769-1821), printer, editor, publisher and poet, was born on the island of St Kitts in the West Indies, the son of Thomas Howe, government printer at Basseterre on St Christopher's Island. George and his brother were both apprenticed to the printing trade. His later work indicates that his education was thorough along the classical lines of the eighteenth century, and that he was well read in European literature.

In 1790 Howe went to London and worked on The Times and other newspapers. He married and his son Robert was born in 1795. In March 1799, together with a companion, Thomas Jones, and under the name of 'George Happy alias Happy George', he was tried at the Warwick Assizes for shoplifting at Alcester; he was sentenced to death but this was commuted to transportation for life. Robert Howe later referred to Alexander McLeay as 'the benefactor of myself and my poor mother', and it was probably McLeay who enabled Howe's family to embark with him in the Royal Admiral. He arrived at Sydney in November 1800, but his wife died on the voyage. Howe himself recovered from a serious illness in 1801 and attributed his survival to D'Arcy Wentworth.

Almost immediately Howe became government printer, and the range of his printing far exceeded the broadsheets and orders of his predecessor, George Hughes. In 1802 he issued the first book printed in Australia, New South Wales General Standing Orders, comprising Government and General Orders issued between 1791 and 1802. On 5 March 1803 he began the publication of the first newspaper, the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser. Robert helped in the printing office when the paper began and 'had the honour, even in those infant days, of gaining the smile and eliciting the astonishment of the King's Representative when he saw us perched on a stool'. According to Robert the old printing press was worth only £2 and they had to manage with a mere 20 lbs. (9 kg) of type; but Howe was an 'ingenious man' and managed in spite of the inadequate press, a chronic shortage of ink and paper, and the refusal or inability of many of his subscribers to pay their debts. He was conditionally pardoned in 1803, and fully emancipated in 1806.

Howe formed an irregular alliance with Elizabeth Easton and between 1803 and 1810 she bore him five children, one of whom, George Terry Howe, later became the first newspaper editor in Launceston. To add to his income he opened a stationery shop and became a private tutor. He offered to teach reading, writing and mensuration and 'the Grammar of the English tongue upon the principles of Drs Lowth, Johnson, Priestly and other celebrated writers who have united their efforts in improving the Grammatical structure of their own beautiful and comprehensive language, which every Englishman ought to be acquainted with, but few attain that have not had the advantage of a classical education'.

Howe's shop and his tutoring enabled him to survive between 30 August 1807 and 15 May 1808, when because of the quarrel between Governor William Bligh and his enemies the Gazette ceased publication. The reason given was lack of paper, but Robert Howe later revealed that the government stores had large stocks of paper. After Bligh's arrest Howe had to threaten to publish the names of his debtors unless they paid him within a fortnight.

In 1810 Howe's printing office was almost destroyed by lightning, but the newly-arrived Governor Lachlan Macquarie renewed his appointment as government printer, and next year granted him a salary of £60. Howe's economic position improved still further when in 1812 he married Sarah, the widow of Edward Wills, who had inherited a profitable store from her husband. Of her five existing children, Sarah married Dr William Redfern in 1811 and Eliza married Major Henry Antill in 1818; a son, Horatio Spencer Wills, became editor of the Gazette and published the first paper edited by a native-born Australian, The Currency Lad, which first appeared in August 1832.

After his marriage Howe became more active in commerce. In 1813 he joined Mrs Mary Reibey in a speculation in sandalwood. In 1817 he became one of the fourteen foundation subscribers to the Bank of New South Wales. In 1813 he published the first natural history and art book printed in the colony, Birds of New South Wales with their Natural History, a collection of eighteen coloured plates of Australian birds with short descriptions of their habits and environment. The artist was John Lewin. In 1819 First Fruits of Australian Poetry, containing two poems by Barron Field, the first book of poetry published in Australia, came from his press. Howe was preparing to publish the first periodical magazine when he died on 11 May 1821. He left property worth £4000.

Robert Howe was dissipated as a young man and in 1819 fathered an illegitimate son. Next year, however, he experienced a spiritual awakening and, in his own words, was 'wonderfully and mercifully visited by God and snatched from infamy in this world and Hell in the next'. He joined the group of Methodists who were working in Sydney and their influence, particularly that of Rev. Ralph Mansfield, was apparent when he published The Australian Magazine; or, Compendium of Religious, Literary, and Miscellaneous Intelligence, the first periodical to appear in Australia. The first number appeared in May 1821 and the publication continued until September 1822. In the meantime, in 1821 Robert Howe had married the colonial-born Ann Bird, who finally agreed to rear Robert's natural son as her own. She bore him four more children, Robert Mansfield, Alfred Australia, Ann Wesley and Mary McLeay, whose names commemorated the strongest influences in Howe's life.

Although his education had not been thorough, Robert Howe continued to edit the Gazette which he had helped his father to publish, but the tone of the paper changed completely. Morality and religion became its main themes. Howe considered that to be 'Printer to Immanuel' was more important than being government printer. A plan to establish another press devoted exclusively to the aims of the Wesleyan mission did not eventuate; but the Gazette reflected Howe's conviction that religion was the only possible means of progress in Australia and the only way to rescue the colony from the 'depths of awful depravity to Righteousness in the Son of God'. This outlook, together with the Gazette's traditional policy of supporting the government, made it impossible for Howe to join the struggle for the freedom of the press between 1826 and 1829. Added to this was the fact that Alexander McLeay, his old benefactor, had become colonial secretary. Despite criticism, the Gazette prospered and for a short time in 1827 became the first daily newspaper in the colony. Robert Howe also continued his father's tradition as a publisher. In addition to religious tracts, in 1826 he published Wild Notes from the Lyre of a Native Minstrel, the first book of poems written by a colonial-born poet, Charles Tompson, whose work had already appeared in the Gazette.

Howe's own personal life was never really happy. On the night of 15 June 1822 he was attacked while returning from a meeting at the Methodist chapel. He could not avoid a number of libel actions arising from the strong denunciation of those who opposed his policy, and in 1827 Redfern publicly horse-whipped him. He wrote that he was 'debilitated through excessive fatigue, mental anxiety and unprecedented and unexpected domestic disquietude and grief to which I have for years submitted'. In 1827 he made a will in which he left most of his estate to his natural son and £100 a year to his wife. Next year he revoked this and left his wife an 'equal division' of his effects which amounted to over £10,000. Contemplating retirement, he installed Mansfield as co-editor of the Gazette; but on 29 January 1829 he was drowned while fishing near Pinchgut and his widow became the proprietor of the paper.

George and Robert Howe had performed important work. To have a newspaper as early as 1803 was of inestimable benefit to both government and settlers. A series of the New South Wales Pocket Almanack, issued in conjunction with the Gazette from 1806, supplemented the dissemination of news and knowledge throughout the colony. The Gazette kept the settlers in touch with home. News from England and excerpts from English literature kept loyalty to England alive. From the beginning George Howe encouraged education and published material calculated to aid both teachers and pupils. He also fostered literature and before 1810 printed more than forty poems, many of which he wrote himself. During Macquarie's administration he printed a further seventy poems including the patriotic odes of Michael Robinson. He has, therefore, a strong claim to the title of 'Father of Australian Literature'. The main difference between George and Robert was that, whereas George Howe advocated reason and common sense, Robert fostered religion.

Note 4: Reg NO V182335818 28 - age 44 - Sarah HOWE

Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser 10 July 1823
DEATHS-
On Tuesday last, at 96 George-street, after a long and extremely painful illness, Mrs. SARAH HOWE, Relict of the late Mr. GEORGE HOWE, Government Printer, in the 45th year of her age.

Note 5: Married by the Rev. John McGarvie at the home of Mrs Jane McGillivray, Palmer Street, Parramatta. - Geddes family tree - ancestry

Note 6: Reg No V18353071 45B/1835
also V1836258 47
Original birth entry ( sent by Terry Wills) has birth 1836 - some confusion here!!!!!

Note 7: Reg No 1850/25770 - Horatio Spencer Wills and Elizabeth
Why discrepancy in date and reg date? - three kids consecutive reg nos.

Note 8: Reg No 25771 - parents Horatio Spencer Wills and Elizabeth
birth cert of son Cedric Spencer has father Cedric Spencer Wills - grazier - 32 years - born Lexington, Western Dist, Victoria

Note 9: Terry Wills correspondence - Emily Spencer, Egbert Spencer, Horace Spencer, Elizabeth Spencer, Eugenie Spencer (Ducky) and Minna Spencer were all born at Lexington, Hortense Spencer was born at Moolap Victoria and died in Surrey UK

Note 10: WILLS Horace Spencer - gentleman with free hold land at Boroondara

Note 11: died 1943 - age 87 = c 1856
Family trees 1 March 1856

Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencer 4 March 1856
BIRTH.
On Saturday last, at Point Henry, Mrs Horace Wills, of a daughter.

Note 12: Empire (Sydney) 17 Sept 1861
BIRTHS
WILLS-On the 16th instant, at Bellevue, Point Henry, Mrs. H. S. Wills, of a daughter.

Note 13: Reg No 356/1862 - Wills and Sarah - 17 Oct 1861

Web: BillionGraves.com Burial Index about Horatio Spencer Wills
Name: Horatio Spencer Wills
Birth Date: 1812
Age at Death: 49
Death Date: 17 Oct 1861
Cemetery: Boroondara Cemetery Kew
Burial Place: Kew, Victoria, Australia

The Argus (Melbourne) 2 Dec 1861
VICTORIA: In its Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction.- In the Will of HORATIO SPENCER HOWE WILLS, late of Belle Vue, in the Parish of Moolap in the County of Grant, in the Colony of Victoria, and of the Cullinglaringo Station on the Nogoa, in the Colony of Queensland, Settler, Deceased
Notice is hereby given that, after the expiration of fourteen days from the publication hereof, application will be made to this Honourable Court, in its Ecclesiastical jurisdiction, that PROBATE of the last WILL and TESTAMENT of the above-named Horatio Spencer Howe Wills, deceased, be granted to Thomas Wills Antill, of the Geelong Branch establishment of the Union Bank of Australia, gentleman, and Elizabeth Wills, the widow of the said Horatio Spencer Howe Wills, deceased, wife of the executors and the executrix named in and appointed by the will of the said Horatio Spencer Howe Wills, deceased, (the other executor, John Rendall Morris, therein named, having renounced probate and execution of the said will, and disclaimed the trusts thereof).
Dated the twenty-ninth day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
MARTYR, TAYLOR, and BUCKLAND, Yarra street, Geelong,and Elizabeth street, Melbourne, proctors for the said Thomas Wills Antill and Elizabeth Wills.

Personal Notes:

from death reg of son Cedric Spencer in 1914
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http://tww.id.au/family-history-wills/edward-spencer-wills-celene/pafg02.htm#30
7. Horatio Spencer Howe Wills (Edward Spencer ) was born on 5 Oct 1811 in Sydney,,New South Wales,Australia. He was christened on 7 Jun 1815 in St Phillip's,Sydney,New South Wales,Australia. He died on 17 Oct 1861 in Cullin-la-ringo,Springsure,Queensland,Australia. He was buried in Garden Creek,Springsure,Queensland,Australia.

Mutch Index b. 1811, Oct 5
bap June 7, 1815 St Phillip's Sydney P.B.
1822 Census living with mother listed as Elizabeth Wills and brother
Edward

Mutch Index - married 1833 Dec by banns
First Settler in Arrarat District of Victoria
Member of Leglislative Council of Victoria for County of South Grant
tenth 10 day of December 1854
1837 Muster Horatio at Newcastle had one convict
4968 Catherine Cochrane age 20 came on the "Caroline" in 1833
Victorian Immigation records
1860 Mar, Mr Horatio S Wills age 54 entered Victoria on "Agincourt"

Massacred by Aborigines at Garden Creek, on the Property
Cullin-la-Ringo, Springsure
Queensland Death Reg No Qld 06/000356
buried Garden Creek Cemetery - Ungazetted cemetery R126 - 551
National Trust of Queensland - part of Horatio's run in 1861 - Portion 4
Coorabelle - 2560 acres
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http://about.nsw.gov.au/collections/doc/horatio-spencer-howe-wills/

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The Argus (Melbourne) 12 March 1921
A NOTABLE PIONEER.
HORATIO SPENCER WILLS. By K.W.H.
The subject of this sketch was born on October 3, 1811. He was the posthumous son of Edward Spencer Wills, a Sydney merchant, some of the members of whose family were leading residents in New South Wales in the early part of the 19th century, Horatio' s eldest sister married Dr. Redfern (after whom Redfern in Sydney was named), and afterwards Mr. James Alexander, a London merchant. Another sister married Major H. C. Antill, of Jarvisfield, Picton, New South Wales. His eldest brother, Thomas S. Wills, owned a very considerable amount of property in and about Melbourne (where he resided for some time) and in other parts of Victoria. His half-sister married Captain John Harrison, the original owner of Swan Water Station, Victoria.
During his childhood Horace, as he was generally called, spent most of his time when out of school on the wharves about Sydney, listening enchanted to the stirring stories of the sailormen of all sorts and conditions, and gradually became imbued with an irrepressible desire for a sea-faring life. This, of course, was strongly opposed by his mother as a quite impossible idea. But when he was about 15 years of age he took the law into his own hands and joined a ship bound for Manila, en route for China. His mother, on learning of the infatuated boy's mad venture, was in great distress which turned to the utmost grief on hearing some weeks after that the vessel had been wrecked and all hands lost. Horror and sympathy were expressed by the community at the untimely end of the high spirited and handsome boy. It appears that the ship had been blown during a violent storm on to one of the numerous coral islands of the Pacific and smashed to pieces. Horace Wills and two other men were washed ashore, but the two men were killed instantly by the savages who were waiting for them on the beach . The romantic story of how Wills escaped with his life, and was in time adopted by the savage chief and tattooed with due ceremony, and how at last, having almost given up hope of ever getting away, he was rescued after two years with great difficulty by the men of a ship which had put in to the island for water, was told by himself for the "Currency Lass" on his return to Sydney.

SETTLING IN VICTORIA
Notwithstanding his trying experiences, he was not yet cured of his love of adventure, and, nothing daunted, a short time after his return from the island of "Uga" (probably in the Marquesas group) he joined a "whaler" and was absent again among the South Sea Islands for more than a year. On his return he spent some time in the office of his stepfather, who owned the first newspaper in Sydney. However, at the age of 21 he determined to settle on the land, and married Miss Elzabeth Wyre, who was even more youthful than himself. His first station was Burra Burra, near Gundagai.

But about 1840 he migrated to Port Phillip, travelling with his family and flocks and herds in true patriarchal fashion. He crossed the Murray at Albury, where he had to construct a rough bridge for their passage. His free and open life he had led at sea had made him very strong, and able to meet the difficulties and dangers of pio- neering with an undaunted spirit and indomitable energy. At the same time it had not lessened his natural humanity nor altered his high standard of life in any way. He finally settled on the Grampians, in the vicinity of Mount Ararat which he so named because, like the Ark, he "rested there". His homestead Lexington is still in existence, though the station has been considerably cut up of late years for closer settlement. Of course, in common with all the early settlers Mr. Wills had much trouble at first with the natives, who naturally resented the occupation of their hunting grounds by the whites. But he always treated them with tact and kindness and it was the irony of fate that he should have met his death at their hands in the end. He would think nothing, if game were scarce, of running in a fat bullock and having it killed for them. If he found that they were spearing his sheep he would frighten them by riding out to their camp with a fowling-piece in his hand and fire it off in their direction. The men would re-
treat to a safe distance and hurl their spears at him, and he used to be amused at the cool way in which they would send the lubras and piccaninnies forward to pick their spears up from under his horse' s feet knowing that he would not hurt them. But in time the blacks came to regard him as
their friend and one old lubra went so far as to claim him as her long dead son, "jumped up white fellow"! He could have filled volumes with his encounters with the blacks, to say nothing of the desperate gangs of bushrangers who infested the bush in those days.

PROGRESSIVE IDEAS
While at Lexington Mr. Wills imported some very fine merino sheep from Saxony. He was also the first to introduce wire netting fencing against dingos, as, when the diggings broke out, most of the shepherds ran away to more exciting scenes. Till then a good deal of the work was done by "assigned" servants, who were generally faithful and hard-working, many of whom had very sad life stories. Among the many kind things Mr. Wil!s did was to send "home" for the family of one of his men, who had been sent out for what would now be considered a trivial offence. After most of the the European ser- vants had left, the great difficulty was to find shepherds, and Mr. Wills employed Chinese for a time, and sometimes black boys. An amusing episode in connection with the Chinese shepherds is told. A new overseer had annoyed them in some way, and one afternoon they (nine of them) were seen approaching the house, an infuriated, gesticulating mob, armed with shear blades fixed to poles, evidently with the intention of running amok. Some force had to be used to bring them to reason but ultimately they were soothed, and eventually their services dispensed with. Wild dogs, not rabbits, were the trouble in those days and Mr. Wills was the first to introduce strychnine for poisoning them. The first big bottle in which it was imported is kept to this day.

After about eleven or twelve years Mr.Wills sold the station and bought an estate (Belle Vue) near Geelong, and while living there he represented South Grant in the Legislative Assembly. He was also president of the agricultural society, and was very pleased one year at winning the gold medal for the best wheat crop in the district. Notwithstanding his many activities, he found time to take his three younger sons to England to school. His eldest son,
Tom, had gone to Rugby some years before. He showed such aptitude for cricket that he soon became the captain of the Rugby Eleven, an honour always much coveted by all the boys in the school. This was the famous Tom Wills, "father of Victorian cricket," whose name will always be regarded with respect and admiration by all lovers of cricket. During his absence Mr. Wills visited some of the largest and best managed estates in England, in order to learn the latest ideas in farming, and on his return brought out the newest machinery.

MURDERED BY BLACKS
Until 1860 he remained in Geelong. But about that time Queensland began to be boomed as a "squatting" country, and he decided to take up land there. With his usual instinct for a good site, he finally bought a lease of land on the Nogoa River, about 200 miles from Rockhampton. He returned home to make final arrangments, and said goodbye to his family in high hopes of success in the new adventure, and expecting to be away just long enough to get things in good working order. He took a large party of shepherds and station hands, some of whom had been with him years before at Lexington — two of them had their wives and families with them. He set out with his stock from Sydney. After about ten months on the road, Cullin-la-ringo (the new station) was reached. The Queensland blacks at that time were very fierce and wild, and Mr. Wills was warned of their treacherous nature, and he had made every preparation for defence in case of attack. Loaded firearms were always stacked ready in one of the tents, but the men would not carry them about. It was impossible to keep the blacks altogether away from the camp without going to extremes as they did not then understand English; but it was hoped that by kind treatment, giving them presents and so on, they would gradually become conciliated. Those who did venture about the camp appeared so friendly that no violence was anticipated from them. However, on the 17th October, 1861, about three weeks after the arrival of the party, during the afternoon siesta a large number of blacks stole on the camp and killed every one in it. It is supposed that the blacks approached the camp in small numbers, as usual gradually increasing and without awakening suspicion surrounding each person, and at a signal killing everyone at the same instant. They had all evidently been taken quite off their guard. A child was at the door of a tent nursing her doll, the cook was by his fire, the bullock-driver with his team and so on. Mr. Wills was found lying on his back a few paces from his tent door. He had evidently been killed by a tremendous blow as he ran out on hearing the cries of the others. His revolver was found lying near him, with one chamber discharged. Other men, scattered about the station, were also killed, making nineteen persons in all. There were only two survivors. They had been shepherding some valuable rams about a mile from the camp, and it was not till their return with the flock at sundown that they had any inkling of the horrible event. Appalled and terrified, one of them jumped on Mr. Wills's horse, which was found still tied up in the shade of a tree near his tent, and galloped to the nearest station with the terrible news.

Such was the tragic end of a very active and useful life. Mr. Wills was only 50 at his death, and was still as strong and full of the joy of life as in his youth. One can picture the terrible blow to his family, de- prived suddenly and in such horrifying cir- cumstances not only of a devoted husband and father, but of one possessed of such a virile and genial personality. He and his party were buried near the scene of the massacre at Cullin-la-ringo, and the Government has reserved the spot. Their graves will be a landmark in the history of Australia, showing at what cost the land was opened up. Mr. Wills's widow died in Geelong in 1907, in her 91st year. The surviving members of his family are Mrs. H. C. A. Harrison (Kew), who was probably the first white child born at Ararat; Mrs. E. L. Shaw (Armadale), Mrs. T. G. Cue (Hobart), Mrs. H. Blomfield Brown (Geelong), and Messrs. Horace and Egbert Wills (East Kew ). Mr. Cedric Wills died a few years ago in Rockhampton, and Mrs. G. C. Harding in England.
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AUSTRALIAN DICTIONARY OF BIOGRAPHY
WILLS, HORATIO SPENCER HOWE (1811-1861), pastoralist and politician, was born on 5 October 1811 in Sydney, the sixth child of Edward Spencer Wills and his wife Sarah, née Harding. His father was transported for life for highway robbery and arrived in Sydney in the Hillsborough in July 1799 accompanied by his wife and eldest child, Sarah. He appears to have been assigned to his wife and they were soon in business as general merchants and ship-chandlers at 96 George Street North, their premises abutting on Sydney Cove. He also owned several small trading vessels in partnership with Thomas Reibey, merchant. Wills was given an unconditional pardon in 1803 and a full pardon on 30 May 1809. He died on 14 May 1811.
On Horatio Wills's first birthday his mother married George Howe , printer-editor of the Sydney Gazette, then being published at 96 George Street. Howe's fortunes were greatly changed by the trading and ship-owning business that Sarah Howe continued to conduct after her first husband's death. Social prestige came to her from the marriage of her eldest child Sarah to Dr William Redfern , and of Elizabeth,[ n.bn Eliza] her fourth child, to Major Henry Colden Antill .

Wills's youth was spent on Sydney's waterfront. He had little formal education, and at 12 was employed in the Gazette office. His mother died on 8 July 1823, two years after George Howe. Soon afterwards young Wills was apprenticed to Robert Howe, who inherited the Gazette and the George Street premises from his father. Wills never liked the trade and quarrelled often with his stepbrother-master. A legend has him running away to sea, shipwrecked in the South Seas and rescued dramatically after living with islanders for two years; none of the dates mentioned accord with actual happenings in his early youth, although he did abscond from his apprenticeship at least three times for short periods. Once he shipped in a sealing vessel, the other times he was at the homes of his sisters, Mrs Redfern and Mrs Antill. Brought to court by Howe in 1827, Wills was defended by William Charles Wentworth and agreed to return to his master's service. His apprenticeship ended about the time of Robert Howe's death on 29 January 1829.
Although printer and publisher of the Gazette in 1832 Wills also edited, published and printed the Currency Lad from 25 August 1832. This four-page weekly journal, whose motto was 'Rise Australia', ceased after eight months. Wills's connexion with the Gazette ended in June 1833.

Wills married Elizabeth McGuire, aged 16, at Parramatta on 2 December 1833. At first they lived at Varroville in the Minto district, then owned by his brother Thomas. From 1834 he held a pastoral lease in the Molonglo district. It was from this holding that Wills overlanded to the Port Phillip District with 5000 sheep and 500 cattle. The journey began on 29 December 1839 and lasted four months. His wife and first child, Thomas Wentworth Wills , aged 4, were in the party, which included drovers, shepherds and Aboriginal stockmen. Wills's party wintered in 1840 near Mount William in the Grampians district; he noted in his diary some years later that he named a near-by hill, Mount Ararat, 'for here, like the Ark, we rested'. In December 1842 he took over a run of 120,000 acres (48,563 ha), which he named Lexington. There he lived for ten years greatly improving the holding, experimenting with wheat, fencing some paddocks with netting that he ordered from England, importing Saxon sheep, and building a fine homestead. He sold Lexington with 28,000 sheep and 3000 cattle for £35,000 in November 1852, and for the next eight years lived on Belle Vue, at Point Henry near Geelong. He made this small property a model farm, and himself something of a country squire, taking active interest in church, agricultural, immigration and charitable movements.
Wills was elected to the Victorian Legislative Council on 10 January 1855, succeeding William Clarke Haines who had become colonial secretary. Next year with Haines he was elected for South Grant to the first Legislative Assembly of Victoria, one of its three native-born members. He made no mark in its deliberations, but actively canvassed land reform, exclusion of Chinese from the goldfields, defence and penal reform. When parliament was dissolved on 24 February 1859 he was in Germany where he placed his three younger sons at school. He did not seek re-election.

In 1860 Wills twice visited central Queensland seeking land. He took over the lease of four blocks, each of twenty-five sq. miles (65 km²), from Peter Fitzalan Macdonald on the Nogoa River, 25 miles (40 km) south-west of the later town of Emerald. The selection was named Cullinlaringo. In January 1861 Wills, his son Thomas, and a party of stockmen, shepherds, other servants and their families left Geelong by ship for Brisbane. The twenty-five men, women and children left Brisbane on 5 February 1861 in bullock wagons and drays with stores for a new station. Some stud rams had been brought from Geelong. Sheep, horses and cattle were bought along the track, mainly in the Darling Downs and Burnett districts. Sixteen weeks later the party reached Rockhampton with 10,500 sheep. Thence they moved slowly along the Dawson track, south of the Fitzroy River, to Cullinlaringo, 250 miles (402 km) west. The expedition was one of the most lavishly equipped seen along the Dawson, and it attracted much attention from settlers, travellers and Aboriginals who became camp followers. Wills ignored warnings not to encourage them or to display supplies of food, clothing, blankets and other stores.

Cullinlaringo was reached in October 1861, eight months after leaving Brisbane. Immediately the building of stock yards, huts and store-rooms was started. A party of Aboriginals settled into a camp near by. Little attention was paid to them; they were friendly, seemed harmless, and had free run of the station. Wills and his people settled to a regular routine, with a rest after each midday meal. In the early afternoon of 17 October the peace of the station was broken by a woman's scream; Wills, resting in his tent, picked up a pistol and fired at an Aboriginal but was battered down with tomahawk and nulla-nulla. With tragic speed eighteen other people were killed. Only three men on the station escaped death. Thomas Wills and two stockmen were away from the station. It was the worst massacre of white men in the history of Australian pioneer settlement.

Wills's careless, lavish display of food, firearms, blankets and clothing had excited the greed of the Aboriginals. Study of the station habits made the raid an easy matter; it was not resisted because there was no preparation against attack. After the massacre the Aboriginals hastily plundered the stores, wagons, tents and huts, and hurried to the ranges. They were followed by a large party of police and settlers, trapped in a valley, and shot down. Few escaped this act of revenge. Wills and his people were buried in a grave at the scene of the massacre, which is remembered in a headstone.

Ironically, transfer of the Cullinlaringo leases was dated 18 October 1861, the day after the massacre. The leases remained with Wills's sons until 1877. Cedric, the second son, worked the property after his father's death and remained in the Peak Downs district all his life. Descendants are still there. Cullinlaringo was sold for £49,000 to the British Food Corporation in 1949 for grain-sorghum growing. The venture failed; later the property was cut up for closer settlement.

The eldest son, Thomas Wentworth Wills, was a noted cricketer at Rugby School, England, and in intercolonial matches for Victoria in the 1860s. Elizabeth Wills died in 1908. Amongst her memorials to her husband is a cottage in the Old Colonists' Homes, Melbourne. Select Bibliography T. F. Bride (ed), Letters from Victorian Pioneers (Melb, 1898); J. T. S. Bird, The Early History of Rockhampton (Rockhampton, 1904); R. V. Billis and A. S. Kenyon, Pastoral Pioneers of Port Phillip (Melb, 1932); W. R. Brownhill, History of Geelong and Corio Bay (Melb, 1955); L. L. Banfield, Like the Ark: The Story of Ararat (Melb, 1955); Wills family papers (privately held). More on the resources <../references/A020548r.htm> Author: C. E. Sayers Print Publication Details: C. E. Sayers, 'Wills, Horatio Spencer Howe (1811 - 1861)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 2, Melbourne University Press , 1967, pp 605-607.

See pictures of Cullin la ringo station - Cullin-la-ringo run, selection 65, 1877. Sixteen years after the death of Horatio Spencer Wills the trustees of the family estate applied for control of the station. This transfer required that the trustees had the run mapped accurately which was completed on 23 June 1877. The map shows the ‘open downs’ which were the primary landscape features of this part of the run. On the eastern boundary on Stony Creek there are drafting yards, stables, the head station, woolshed and shearers hut. The road from Rockhampton to Clermont can be seen running through the station. This map was among four portions of Cullin-la-ringo which were surveyed in 1877, the final year that the leases for Cullin-la-ringo remained with the sons of Wills. In the accompanying map of selection 68 the location of the ‘Murder of Wills and party’ is marked. Collection of the Queensland State Archives
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Source References:

52. Type: Australia Birth Marriage Death Index 1787 - 1985 Record

- Reference = (Birth)

- Reference = (Death)

53. Type: Australia Cemetery Index 1808-2007

- Reference = (Death)

54. Type: Web Page, Abbr: Ancestry Family Trees, Title: Ancestry Family Trees, Auth: Ancestry.com

- Reference = (Death)

- Reference = (Birth)

- Reference = (Marriage)

55. Type: Book, Abbr: Edward Wills Family and Descendants, Title: Ancestor Treasure Hunt; The Edward Wills Family and Descendants in Australia 1797 - 1976, Auth: R.V. Pockley, Publ: Wentworth Books - Sydney, Date: 1976

- Reference = (Birth)

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