[Index]
Edward Spencer WILLS (1805 - 1828)
Children Self + Spouses Parents Grandparents Greatgrandparents
Edward Spencer WILLS (1805 - 1828) Edward Spencer WILLS (1778 - 1811) Edward WILLS (1741 - 1814)



Elizabeth (WILLS) (1739 - 1822)



Sarah HARDING (1776 - 1823) Thomas HARDING



Sarah Elizabeth (HARDING)



b. 16 Feb 1805
d. 1828 at London, Middlesex, England aged 23
Parents:
Edward Spencer WILLS (1778 - 1811)
Sarah HARDING (1776 - 1823)
Siblings (6):
Sarah WILLS (1796 - 1875)
Thomas Spencer WILLS (1800 - 1872)
Eliza WILLS (1802 - 1858)
Elizabeth Selina WILLS (1807 - 1811)
Horatio Spencer Howe WILLS (1811 - 1861)
Jane HOWE (1816 - 1880)
Events in Edward Spencer WILLS (1805 - 1828)'s life
Date Age Event Place Notes Src
16 Feb 1805 Edward Spencer WILLS was born 36
14 May 1811 6 Death of father Edward Spencer WILLS (aged 32) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 36
08 Jul 1823 18 Death of mother Sarah HARDING (aged 46) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 36
1828 23 Edward Spencer WILLS died London, Middlesex, England Committed suicide 36
Personal Notes:
Edward Spencer Wills was born on 16 Feb 1805 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He was christened on 14 Jul 1805 in StPhillip's CofE,Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He died in 1828 in London,,,England. He was buried in Devonshire St cemetery,.

from Mutch Index
baptised as Spencer Wills born 16 Feb 1805 and baptised July 14th 1805
baptism record V18051453 1A Sydney St Phillip's as Edward Wills
Also recorded as 1805 baptism of Spencer Wills
went to England to study first at Cambridge and then at Lincoln's Inn.
He was considerably in debt and committed suicide in 1828.

Evidence of outbursts of disrespect or violence of children towards parents is rare, and when
such incidents took place between young and old of means or rank, they were treated very
seriously as breaches of proper conduct. Just after his stepfather George Howe died in 1821,
young Edward Spencer Wills, seventeen years old, stood at the side door of the house where the auction of Howe's goods was proceeding. He refused to allow Joseph Underwood,
Howe's executor, to come in, slamming the door in his face. Underwood was outraged by
this rudeness, calling Edward 'Puppy' and demanding an explanation. Wills opened the door
and threatened to knock him down if he called him so again. 'You axe a puppy!' roared
Underwood, so Wills promptly 'struck me in the face and cut my mouth'. THe court ordered
him to pay a fine of fifty pounds.325 Even in such glimpses of struggles and tension, as well
those of harmonic family relationships, it is clear that the role of aging and old people was
not passive or superfluous, but continuous, active and integral.
325 Papers from trial of Edward Spencer Wills, 8 November 1821, CCJ R1976 p288
AONSW.

Sydney Gazette 18th August 1831.
THE LATE MR. E. S. WILLS.

The lamented death of that amiable and promising young Australian, Mr. Edward Spencer Wills, was announced in this journal some weeks ago; but the particulars have not, we believe,been hitherto recorded in any of the Sydney journals. Among some of the old parcels which arrived from London by one of the last ships, but which, being quite out of date, were laid aside un-opened, we have accidentally discovered a slip cut out of the Times newspaper, containing a detailed report of the Coroner's Inquest. Though it comes much after the proper time, we think it will still be read with mournful interest by many of our readers.
There is an inaccuracy in the statement of Mr. Wills' family connexion : his mother was married to Mr. George Howe, the original proprietor and founder of the Sydney Gazette, and father to the late Mr. Robert Howe, whose untimely death is mentioned by Mr. Cosgrave.
" CORONER'S INQUEST.
Source References:
36. Type: Book, Abbr: Edward Wills Family, Title: Ancestors Treasure Hunt, The Edward Wills Family and Descendants in Australia 1797-1976, Auth: R V Pockley, Publ: Wentworth Books, Date: 1976
- Reference = 64 (Birth)
- Reference = 64 (Death)
- Reference = 64 (Name, Notes)

This public tree has about 60,100 people. Every person in the tree is related by birth or marriage to at least one other person in the tree - no strays. The people in the tree come mainly from four projects.
  1. My family tree. The original project begun about 1998. ID numbers less than about 6,000
  2. Canberra and Queanbeyan Pioneers. The next 30,000 begun about 2004. Sourced almost entirely from HAGSOC's excellent 'Biographical Register of Canberra and Queanbeyan'. The project began when I decided to add siblings, spouses and parents for a relation with an entry in the Register. 12 years work.
  3. Wagga Pioneers. I moved to Wagga and thought I would extend the Queanbeyan project by adding people from Wagga Wagga & District Family History Society's 'Pioneers of Wagga Wagga and District'. About 10,300 people added over about a year.
  4. Tumut Valley Pioneers. During the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, I decided to extend the above projects by adding pioneers of the Tumut Valley. Initial sources were Snowden's 'Pioneers of the Tumut Valley' and 'Relict of ... Lives of Pioneering Women of Tumut and District'. Excellent references published by Tumut Family History Group. I've also added material from newspapers of the time - especially, death records, obituaries and weddings from 'Tumut and Adelong Times'. This project is in its early stage and might take a few years. I plan to extend to the upper Monaro (Adaminaby, Kiandra, Cooma, Jindabyne).
I upload new information to this website about every 3 months. My motivation for these projects is to provide public information for people seeking to trace ancestors and what became of them. Much of the information I provide can be difficult to find.
If you find errors - anything incorrect (dates, places, wrong parents, wrong children), and you have evidence, I would love to fix them. Or, if you have information that would extend my projects, do not hestiate to contact me on the email link below. I do not publish information on living people - which means I'm not much interested in people born after about 1920, and I usually distrust material from before about 1770 without extremely good sources.
g.bell@bigpond.net.au
When you click the mail address abouve, if it does not open your email app, copy the address on the screen.
Geoff Bell, September 2020