Person

Wills, William John (1834 - c. 1861)

Born
5 January 1834
Totnes, Devon, England
Died
c. 29 June 1861
Queensland, Australia
Occupation
Explorer and Astronomer

Summary

William Wills migrated to Australia in 1852 and in 1860 he was given the position of astronomer and surveyor with an expedition led by R.O. Burke to explore central Australia. They reached the Gulf of Carpentaria but died on the return journey. Willis's diary was edited for publication by his father.

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Details

Chronology

January 1853
Life event - Migrated to Victoria
1858 -
Career position - Assistant to Georg Neumayer at astronomical and magnetical observatories, Melbourne
1858? - 1860
Career position - Assistant, Flagstaff Observatory, Melbourne
1860 - 1861
Career position - Surveyor and astronomer, Victorian Exploring Expedition

Related Events

Archival resources

National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection

  • William John Wills - Records, 1839 - 1863, mfm G 14542; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details

State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection

  • William John Wills - Records, 1839 - 1861, MS 9504; State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection. Details
  • William John Wills - Records, 1839 - 1861, MF 360; State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection. Details

Published resources

Books

  • The Burke and Wills exploring expedition: an account of the crossing of the continent from Cooper's Creek to the Gulf of Carpentaria: reprinted from "The Argus" (Adelaide: State Libraries Board of South Australia, 1963, reprinted 1971), 36 pp. Details
  • Bonyhady, Tim, Burke and Wills: from Melbourne to myth (Balmain (N.S.W.): David Ell Press, 1991), 383 pp. Details
  • Cathcart, Michael, Starvation in a Land of Plenty: Wills' Diary of the Fateful Burke and Wills Expedition (Canberra: National Library of Australia, 2012), 213 pp. Details
  • Joyce, E. Bernie and Mccann, Douglas A., Burke and Wills: the Scientific Legacy of the Victorian Exploring Expedition (Collingwood: CSIRO Publishing, 2011), 368 pp. Details
  • Murgatroyd, Sara, The Dig Tree: the Story of Burke and Wills (Melbourne: Text Publishing, 2000), 372 pp. Details
  • Willis, W. J., A successful exploration through the interior of Australia; edited by his father, William Wills (London: Richard Bentley, 1863), 396 pp. Details

Book Sections

  • Leahy, Frank, 'William John Wills as Scientist' in Burke and Wills: the Scientific Legacy of the Victorian Exploring Expedition, Joyce, E. Bernie and McCann, Douglas A., eds (Collingwood: CSIRO Publishing, 2011), pp. 23-57. Details
  • McLaren, Ian F., 'Wills, William John (1834-1861), explorer' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 6: 1851 - 1890 R - Z, Bede Nairn, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1976), pp. 410-411. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A060444b.htm. Details

Conference Papers

  • Gardner-Thorpe, D.; Gardner-Thorpe C.; and Pearn, J., '"Surgeon" Wills of the Burke and Wills Expedition', in History, Heritage and Health: Proceedings of the Fourth Biennial Conference of the Australian Society of the History of Medicine, Norfolk Island, 2-9 July, 1995 edited by Covacevich, Jeanette, Pearn, John, Case, Donna, Chapple, Ian and Phillips, Gael (Brisbane: Society of the History of Medicine, 1996), pp. 345-350.. Details

Journal Articles

  • Fitzpatrick, Kathleen, 'The Burke and Wills Expedition and the Royal Society of Victoria', Historical Studies, 40 (May) (1963). Details
  • Pearn, John, '"Surgeon" Wills of the Burke and Wills Expedition 1860-1861: New Research and a Medical Perspective of William John Wills (1834-1861)', Queensland History Journal, 21 (8) (2012), 522-36. Details
  • Phoenix, Dave, 'Burke and Wills: an Overview of the Expedition, its Preparation, Planning and Outcomes', Queensland History Journal, 21 (8) (2012), 497-509. Details

Resources

Reviews

  • Cathcart, Michael, Starvation in a Land of Plenty: Wills' Diary of the Fateful Burke and Wills Expedition (2012)
    Stagg, Helen, Journal of Australian Colonial History, 17, (2015), 211-3. Details

See also

McCarthy, G.J.

Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 4 June 2019

EOAS ID: biogs/P000187b.htm

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"... the rengitj, as a visible mark or imprint on the land, is characterised as a place of origin, the repository of all names, as well as a kind of mapped visual expression of the connection between people and places which is to be carried out in the temporal sequence of the journey." Fanca Tamisari (1998) 'Body, Vision and Movement: In the footprints of the ancestors'. Oceania 68(4) p260