[Index]
Thomas Wentworth WILLS (1836 - 1880)
Children Self + Spouses Parents Grandparents Greatgrandparents
Thomas Wentworth WILLS (1836 - 1880)

+

Sarah Teresa BARBER DUFF ( - 1907)
 Horatio Spencer Howe WILLS (1811 - 1861) Edward Spencer WILLS (1778 - 1811) Edward WILLS ( - 1814)
Elizabeth (WILLS) (1738 - 1822)
Sarah HARDING (1776 - 1823) Thomas HARDING
Sarah (HARDING)
Elizabeth (MCGUIRE) WYRE (1817 - 1907) Michael (WYER) MCGUIRE (1781 - 1823)



Jane WALLACE (1780 - )



Thomas Wentworth WILLS
Thomas Wentworth WILLS Thomas Wentworth WILLS Thomas Wentworth WILLS Thomas Wentworth WILLS
Pic P1. copied from
http://sydney.edu.au/alumni/sam/july2010/sport.shtml

Pic 1. copied from
http://sydney.edu.au/alumni/sam/july2010/sport.shtml

Pic 2. copied from
http://www.clayfieldwines.com/Thomas%20Wills.htm

Pic 3. copied from
http://gorey.com.au/archives/3088

Pic 4. Statue by Louis Laumen at the Melbourne Cricket Ground of Tom Wills umpiring the first recorded match of Australian rules football between Scotch College and Melbourne Grammar School on 7 August 1858.

copied from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tom_wills_statue.jpg

b. 1836 at Molongolo Plains, NSW, Australia
+. Sarah Teresa BARBER DUFF ( - 1907)
d. 02 May 1880 at Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia aged 44
Near Relatives of Thomas Wentworth WILLS (1836 - 1880)
Relationship Person Born Birth Place Died Death Place Age
Grandfather Edward Spencer WILLS 13 Aug 1778 London, Middlesex, England 14 May 1811 Sydney, NSW, Australia 32
Grandmother Sarah HARDING Aug 1776 London, Middlesex, England 08 Jul 1823 Sydney, NSW, Australia 46
Grandfather Michael (WYER) MCGUIRE abt 1781 Meath, Ireland 17 Mar 1823 Sydney, NSW, Australia 42
Grandmother Jane WALLACE abt 1780 Ireland

Father Horatio Spencer Howe WILLS 05 Oct 1811 Sydney, NSW, Australia 17 Oct 1861 'Cullin-la-ringo', Springsure, Queensland, Australia 50
Mother Elizabeth (MCGUIRE) WYRE 1817 Sydney, NSW, Australia 28 Dec 1907 Geelong, Victoria, Australia 90

Self Thomas Wentworth WILLS 1836 Molongolo Plains, NSW, Australia 02 May 1880 Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia 44

Spouse/Partner Sarah Teresa BARBER DUFF 1907

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

Aunt Sarah WILLS 23 Apr 1796 England Dec 1876 St Giles, London, England 80
Uncle William REDFERN 1774 Canada 17 Jul 1833 Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland 59
Uncle James ALEXANDER 1797 Lanarkshire, Scotland 29 Jul 1877 80
Uncle Thomas WILLS 05 Aug 1800 Sydney, NSW, Australia 29 Jul 1872 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 71
Aunt Celia REIBEY 1802 Camden, NSW, Australia 28 Sep 1823 NSW, Australia 21
Aunt Marie Anne BARRY 21 Sep 1801 London, Middlesex, England 19 May 1870 68
Aunt Mary Ann MELLARD 1830 Peckham, Camberwell, London, Surrey, England
Aunt Eliza WILLS 10 Sep 1802 Sydney, NSW, Australia 30 Sep 1858 St Leonards, North Sydney, NSW, Australia 56
Uncle Henry Colden ANTILL 01 May 1779 New York, NY, USA 14 Aug 1852 'Jarvisfield', Picton, NSW, Australia 73
Uncle Edward Spencer WILLS 16 Feb 1805 Sydney, NSW, Australia 1830 London, Middlesex, England 25
Aunt Elizabeth Selina WILLS 30 Nov 1807 Sydney, NSW, Australia 18 Jan 1811 Sydney, NSW, Australia 3
Aunt Jane HOWE 09 Nov 1816 Sydney, NSW, Australia 23 Nov 1880 Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia 64
Uncle Capt. John HARRISON 1800 Cumberland, England 21 Jul 1869 Williamstown, Victoria, Australia 69
Aunt Catherine (WYER) MCGUIRE abt 1815 Sydney, NSW, Australia 1893 Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia 78
Uncle William ROOPE 1881 Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia
Aunt Ann MCGUIRE abt 1819 Sydney, NSW, Australia

Cousin William Lachlan Macquarie REDFERN 1819 Australia 1904 Westminster, London, England 85
Cousin Joseph Foveaux REDFERN 1823 1830 Sydney, NSW, Australia 7
Cousin Sarah Elizabeth ALEXANDER 1835 Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland 1905 Paddington, London, England 70
Cousin Alice WILLS 06 May 1823 Camden, NSW, Australia 14 Apr 1824 NSW, Australia 0
Cousin William Henry WILLS 01 Dec 1827 abt 1828 1
Cousin Catherine Spencer WILLS 24 Nov 1831 Ci, Sydney, NSW 27 Aug 1884 Geelong, Victoria, Australia 52
Cousin Amelia WILLS 1854 Kensington, London, Middlesex, England
Cousin Arthur WILLS 18 Feb 1857 Hammersmith, Middlesex, England 14 Oct 1932 Kew, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 75
Cousin Harry Spencer WILLS 13 Sep 1858 Brighton, Sussex, England 1914 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 56
Cousin Frederick WILLS 19 Jul 1860 St John's Wood, Middlesex, London, England
Cousin Charles Ernest WILLS 15 Nov 1861 St John's Wood, Middlesex, London, England
Cousin Margaret Campbell ANTILL 27 Jun 1820 Sydney, NSW, Australia 22 Jul 1849 Camden, Oaks, Picton, Stonequarry, NSW 29
Cousin John Macquarie ANTILL 30 May 1822 Liverpool, NSW, Australia 1900 Picton, NSW, Australia 78
Cousin Henry Colden ANTILL 07 Apr 1826 Camden, NSW, Australia 1913 Parramatta, Sydney, NSW, Australia 87
Cousin Alice Sophia ANTILL 1827 Liverpool, NSW, Australia 1920 London, Middlesex, England 93
Cousin William Redfern ANTILL 1828 Campbelltown, NSW, Australia 1905 Picton, NSW, Australia 77
Cousin Thomas Wills ANTILL 1829 Campbelltown, NSW, Australia 18 May 1865 Nelson, New Zealand 36
Cousin Edward Spencer ANTILL 20 Jul 1832 Picton, NSW, Australia 1917 Parramatta, Sydney, NSW, Australia 85
Cousin James Alexander ANTILL 1834 Cobbitty, Narellan, NSW, Australia 1920 Rockdale, Sydney, NSW, Australia 86
Cousin Selina Elizabeth ANTILL 1837 Cobbitty, Narellan, NSW, Australia 1924 Chatswood, NSW, Australia 87
Cousin Loftus Cliff ANTILL 06 Dec 1839 Stonequarry, Picton, NSW, Australia 1840 Stonequarry, Picton, NSW, Australia 1
Cousin John Arthur HARRISON 1897
Cousin Adela Ann HARRISON 11 Sep 1834 23 Jul 1910 Victoria, Australia 75
Cousin Henry Colden Antill HARRISON 16 Oct 1836 Cj, NSW, Australia 02 Sep 1929 Kew, Victoria, Australia 92
Cousin George Alfred HARRISON 1838
Cousin Kate HARRISON 1840 1914 Minto, NSW, Australia 74
Cousin Alice HARRISON 1842
Cousin Ernest HARRISON 1845
Cousin Horace Washington HARRISON 1848 Avon, Victoria, Australia 09 Feb 1869 Ballarat, Victoria, Australia 21

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

Brother in Law Henry Colden Antill HARRISON 16 Oct 1836 Cj, NSW, Australia 02 Sep 1929 Kew, Victoria, Australia 92
Sister in Law Elizabeth Henrietta (Berry) MACDONALD 26 Dec 1850 Brewarrina, NSW, Australia 25 Jan 1944 Minerva Creek, Springsure, Queensland, Australia 93
Sister in Law Sarah Eliza BESWICKE 1852 Victoria, Australia 16 Dec 1916 Kew, Victoria, Australia 64
Sister in Law Mary BESWICKE 27 Jun 1853 Lexington, Victoria, Australia 10 Dec 1930 Balwyn, Victoria, Australia 77
Brother in Law Edward Lesley SHAW 16 Jan 1849 Victoria, Australia 08 Apr 1908 London, Middlesex, England 59
Brother in Law Peter TYSON abt 1852 1904 Sydney, NSW, Australia 52
Brother in Law Thomas George CUE abt 1855 Cork, Co Cork, Ireland 1920 Vancouver, BC, Canada 65
Brother in Law Henry (Harold) Blomfield BROWN 1851 Boreham, Essex, England 09 Mar 1923 Geelong, Victoria, Australia 72
Brother in Law George Clarence HARDING 1853 St John's Wood, Middlesex, London, England 1913 Hove, Sussex, England 60
Events in Thomas Wentworth WILLS (1836 - 1880)'s life
Date Age Event Place Notes Src
1836 Thomas Wentworth WILLS was born Molongolo Plains, NSW, Australia Note 1 52, 54
17 Oct 1861 25 Death of father Horatio Spencer Howe WILLS (aged 50) 'Cullin-la-ringo', Springsure, Queensland, Australia Note 2 52, 53, 54
02 May 1880 44 Thomas Wentworth WILLS died Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia Note 3 52, 53, 54
Note 1: Reg No V18353071 45B/1835
also V1836258 47
Original birth entry ( sent by Terry Wills) has birth 1836 - some confusion here!!!!!
Note 2: 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.
Note 3: Reg No 4455 - age 45 - parents unknown
Cause of death - suicide

Australian Cemetery Index - Thomas Wentworth Wills - age 44 - b c1836 - death 2/5/1880- Heidelberg Cemetery


The Argus (Melbourne) 4 May 1880
INQUEST.

SUICIDE OF MR. T. W. WILLS.

Dr. Youl held an inquest at Heidelberg yesterday upon the body of Thomas Went- worth Wills, aged 45 years, who committed suicide on the previous day.
Sarah Theresa Wills, widow of deceased, deposed that her husband had been drinking for years. She took him to the Melbourne Hospital on Saturday last, and he was ad- mitted, because he could not sleep. At 9 o'clock the same night she was told that her husband was on the verandah, waving his hands at some imaginary object. She got him into the house, and he went to bed, but did not sleep. A constable watched him, until a man named Dunmoody came to watch him. On Sunday, at 1 o'clock, the man went to his dinner, and deceased then went into the kitchen, and stabbed himself with a pair of scissors.
David Dunmoody labourer, who was employed to watch deceased, gave corroborative evidence and deposed that deceased tried to choke himself by holding his mouth and nose. When witness went to dinner he put away everything he thought deceased could harm himself with. Both deceased and his wife drank to excess.
The jury found that deceased committed suicide while of unsound mind from excessive drinking.
Personal Notes:
Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tom_wills_statue.jpg
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https://upclosed.com/people/tom-wills/
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http://tww.id.au/family-history-wills/edward-spencer-wills-celene/pafg02.htm#30
28 M i Thomas Wentworth Wills was born on 19 Aug 1835 in ,Lower Minto,New South Wales,Australia. He was christened on 11 Jan 1837 in St Andrew's Church,Sydney,New South Wales,Australia. He died on 2 May 1880 in ,Heidelberg,Victoria,Australia. He was buried in Warringal Cemetery,Heidelberg,Victoria,Australia.

from Mutch Index
born 19 Dec 1835
baptised 11 Jan 1837 by Rev John McGarvie (minister who performed marriage of parents)
Founder of Aussie Rules Football

from Graham-Vivian, M.C. 20 Sept 1951
quote"I find in the Register of Rugby School that there were only two Wills entries before 1867
William Wills son of William Wills esq Norton hall Cannock Staffordshire age 12 jan 19 Entrances after Midsummer 1817
And
Thomas Wentworth Wills son of Horatio Wills Esq Australia age 15 Aug 19 (Entrance in Feb 1851)

Queensland Justice of Peace 27 May 1863 A/4833 225

Victorian register of deaths no 4455 Thomas Wentworth Wills aged 45 b. Ararat (incorrect - Born while parents at Burra Burra, Molongo Disrict
baptised Sydney)
??? marriage to Sarah Theresa Barber at Castlemaine Vic
From The Last Will and Testament of Thomas Wentworth Wills dated 22nd February, 1877
" Now I hereby give, devise and bequeath the income arising from the said sum of One thousand, five hundred and fifty pounds unto and to the use of Sarah Theresa Barber (formerly) Sarah Theresa Duff, my Housekeeper now residing with me at Geelong for and during the term of her natural life absolutely for her own sole and separate use and free from the control of her present and any future husband.
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Summary of a BOOK __ Tom Wills: His spectacular rise and tragic fall - Greg de Moore 1958
"Tom Wills has been acknowledged by the AFL as the most significant founder of Australian Rules football. In 2008, Round 19 of the AFL season has been named the 'Tom Wills Round'. He was Honorary Secretary of the Melbourne Cricket Club, played cricket for Melbourne, Collingwood, Richmond and Geelong Cricket Clubs, captained most teams he played with, and represented Victoria in intercolonial cricket matches. He played cricket into his 40s. He played and umpired football for Melbourne and Geelong. Tom Wills was born in 1835 and died in 1880. He was born on a sheep run on the Molonglo River, 180 miles southwest of Sydney. His family moved to a property near Geelong, and later bought a station at Cullin-la-Ringo in Queensland. Tom was schooled at Rugby School in England, sent there at 14 and returning to Australia at 21 in 1856. While there, he excelled at cricket, and this lead to his international reputation as a cricketer playing for Australia. He died in Melbourne in 1880, stabbing himself to death. He was an alcoholic and despite coming from a very well-to-do family, he died destitute."--Provided by publisher. Great sporting prowess and a battle with alcohol. A charmer and a rogue. First hand experience of racial tension. This could be a contemporary story but it's 150 years old. It's the story of Tom Willis, a cricketer and the creator of Austalian rules in 1858. His father was killed by aborigines, but Tom went on to coach them.

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Australian Dictionary of Biography
WILLS, THOMAS WENTWORTH (1835-1880), cricketer and footballer, was born on 19 December 1835 at Molonglo Plains, New South Wales, eldest son of Horatio Spencer Howe Wills and his wife Elizabeth, née McGuire. He was educated in Melbourne until 1852 when he went to Rugby School where he played football and captained the cricket XI. Intended for Magdalene College, Cambridge, in 1856, he did not matriculate but he was included, by Oxford's permission, in the Cambridge XI in the inter-university match of that year. In 1853-56 he became a notable amateur cricketer in England, playing mainly for the gentlemen of Kent, but also for the Marylebone Club and on one occasion for United Ireland.

Wills returned to Melbourne late in 1856 and played twelve games for Victoria against New South Wales in 1857-76, scoring 319 runs at an average of 21.27 and taking 72 wickets at 10.23. He played for several teams, but mainly for Richmond and for the Melbourne Cricket Club, of which he was secretary in 1857-58. Although articled to a Collingwood solicitor in 1859 he seems never to have practised. In 1861 he accompanied his father and others overland to take up a property at Cullinlaringo, Queensland; in October all but Wills and two others who were absent from the camp were killed by Aboriginals. After helping his brother to run the property he returned to Melbourne in 1864.

Wills then became a cricket coach and trained the Lake Wallace region Aboriginal side that toured England in 1868. As a batsman he could be crudely effective, 'He uses a three pound bat and hits terrific' said James Lillywhite, but he was noted more as a bowler. Wills was constantly accused of throwing, especially his faster deliveries. But fast or slow, thrower or bowler, he returned some devastating analyses at all levels of cricket.

A frequent and cantankerous letter-writer to the sporting press, Wills's most famous letter was in Bell's Life in Victoria, 10 July, 1858, calling for cricketers to take up a winter sport for fitness' sake. The response to this letter enabled him, his brother-in-law H. C. A. Harrison, and others to meet and draw up rules for a football game later to be known as Victorian or Australian Rules. Wills played over 210 games, mainly for Geelong, until he retired in 1876.

The indulgence in drink that seemed inseparable from the cricket of those days found a too-eager practitioner in Wills. As early as 1873 there were thinly veiled public accusations that colonial beer was affecting his cricket and in later years he had to be put under restraint. On 2 May 1880 at his Heidelberg home he eluded the vigilance of a man set to watch over him and stabbed himself to death with a pair of scissors. The inquest returned a verdict of suicide while of unsound mind caused by excessive drinking. For one who had been called 'the Grace of Australia' and 'a model of muscular Christianity' it was a sad end. He was buried in the Heidelberg (Warringal) cemetery after an Anglican service, survived by his common-law wife Sarah Teresa Barber. Only one Melbourne paper, the Argus, acknowledged her existence and she finds no mention in Henderson's chapter on the Wills family. There were no children.
Select Bibliography

F. Lillywhite, A. Haygarth, Cricket Scores and Biographies,vols 4-5 (Lond, 1863, 1876); A. Henderson (ed), Early Pioneer Families of Victoria and Riverina (Melb, 1936); D. J. Mulvaney, Cricket Walkabout (Melb, 1967); Bell's Life in Victoria, 1857-68; Australasian, 8 May 1869, 8 May 1880; Age (Melbourne), 3 May 1880; Argus (Melbourne), 4 May 1880; Leader (Melbourne), 8 May 1880. More on the resources

Author: W. F. Mandle

Print Publication Details: W. F. Mandle, 'Wills, Thomas Wentworth (1835 - 1880)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 6, Melbourne University Press, 1976, pp 409-410.
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Terry Wills correspondence - Thomas Wentworth (1836-1880) like his uncle did not have Spencer in his name. He was born in 1836 not 1835 I will attach a copy of his birth entry. !835 is a common error. He was never married and had no children.
His common law wife (Sarah Theresa Barber) was still married to her husband when she died in 1907, they were never divorced so says her death certificate.
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 = (Birth)
- Reference = (Name, Notes)
- Reference = (Death)
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