Wills History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Scotland
Ireland

The family name Wills is derived from the ancient Germanic personal name William, which itself comes from the roots will, meaning will or desire, and helm, meaning protection.

Early Origins of the Wills family

The surname Wills was first found in Cornwall where they held a family seat at Saltash from very ancient times.

"The house belonging to the rectorial estate is called Polgarran, or Polgorran, and was about a century since a seat of the family of Wills, who were lessees of the rectory. This house was rebuilt by Mr. Anthony Wills, who being embarrassed in his circumstances, quitted the parish, and with his six or seven sons, presented himself to the Prince of Orange at Torbay, offering them all as soldiers in his army. Their services being accepted, they conducted themselves with so much prudence, fidelity, and valour, that they all acquired the dignity of captains, and some among them became majors or colonels. One in particular, was made a standing major of the field, and was afterwards, in 1714, made principal commander of the army and troops of horse, against the Pretender at Preston, in Lancashire. For his valour and achievements he was created a Baronet of England, and general of all the land forces in the kingdom. On the death of Mrs. Wills, widow, this estate fell into the hands of the bishop, who leased it out to Mrs. Dorothy Crewys. The name of Wills is still well known in this parish; but whether these belong to the family before mentioned, it is difficult to say." 1

Early History of the Wills family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Wills research. Another 77 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1620, 1666, 1698, 1741 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Wills History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Wills Spelling Variations

Cornish surnames are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. The frequent changes in surnames are due to the fact that the Old and Middle English languages lacked definite spelling rules. The official court languages, which were Latin and French, were also influential on the spelling of a surname. Since the spelling of surnames was rarely consistent in medieval times, and scribes and church officials recorded names as they sounded rather than adhering to any specific spelling rules, it was common to find the same individual referred to with different spellings of their surname in the ancient chronicles. Moreover, a large number of foreign names were brought into England, which accelerated and accentuated the alterations to the spelling of various surnames. Lastly, spelling variations often resulted from the linguistic differences between the people of Cornwall and the rest of England. The Cornish spoke a unique Brythonic Celtic language which was first recorded in written documents during the 10th century. However, they became increasingly Anglicized, and Cornish became extinct as a spoken language in 1777, although it has been revived by Cornish patriots in the modern era. The name has been spelled Wills, Will, Wylls and others.

Early Notables of the Wills family

Notable amongst the family at this time was

Sir Charles Wills (1666-1741), British general, son of Anthony Wills of St...
Charles Wills appears to have been appointed a subaltern in Colonel Thomas Erle's foot regiment (disbanded in 1698), with which corps he served in the Irish campaign...

Wills World Ranking

In the United States, the name Wills is the 1,170^th most popular surname with an estimated 24,870 people with that name. 2 However, in Australia, the name Wills is ranked the 647^th most popular surname with an estimated 6,026 people with that name. 3 And in New Zealand, the name Wills is the 293^rd popular surname with an estimated 2,072 people with that name. 4 The United Kingdom ranks Wills as 575^th with 11,364 people. 5

Migration of the Wills family to Ireland

Some of the Wills family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 52 words (4 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Wills migration to the United States +

Early North American immigration records have revealed a number of people bearing the name Wills or a variant listed above:

Wills Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Bennet Wills, who settled in Maine in 1627
Thomas Wills, who settled in Maryland in 1633
Elizabeth Wills, who landed in Virginia in 1638 6
Elizabeth Wills, mentioned in a Virginia land grant of 1638
Thomas Wills, who arrived in New England in 1638 6
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Wills Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Solloman Wills, who landed in Virginia in 1701 6
Benjamin Wills, who was an emigrant in bondage, arriving in America in 1757
John Wills, who arrived in North Carolina in 1769 6

Wills Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

George Wills, who landed in Maryland in 1833 6
William Wills, who landed in Texas in 1835 6
Abraham Wills, who arrived in Baltimore, Maryland in 1835 6
Mr. J. Wills, (b. 1824), aged 24, Cornish miner departing from Penzance aboard the ship "Mountaineer" arriving in the United States on 29th May 1848 7
Mr. Thomas Wills, (b. 1829), aged 22, Cornish settler departing from Penzance aboard the ship "Mountaineer" arriving in the United States on 30 April 1851 7
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Wills migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Wills Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

Richard Wills, fisherman of St. John's, Newfoundland, in 1794 8

Wills Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

Charles Wills, aged 20, who arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1864

Wills migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Wills Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. William Wills, (b.1806, aged 22 born in Liskeard, Cornwall, UK convicted in Cornwall on 25th March 1828, sentenced for 7 years for housebreaking, transported aboard the ship "Sir Charles Forbes" in 1830 to Van Diemen's Land, Tasmania, Australia 9
Mr. William Wills (b. 1808), aged 22, Cornish settler convicted in Cornwall, UK on 25th March 1828, sentenced for 7 years for breaking into the house of Hannibul Boase and stealing jewellery and other items, transported aboard the ship "Sir Charles Forbes" on 1st April 1830 to Van Diemen's Land, Tasmania, Australia 10
Mrs. Ann Wills, (b. 1793), aged 38, English cook who was convicted in Middlesex, England for 14 years, transported aboard the "Burrell" on 31st December 1831, arriving in New South Wales, listed as having 2 children on board 11
Mr. Joseph Wills, English convict who was convicted in Stafford, Staffordshire, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Elphinstone" on 20th January 1836, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 12
Charles Wills, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Singapore" in 1839 13
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Wills migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Wills Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Alfred Wills, who landed in Wellington, New Zealand in 1842 aboard the ship Brougham
James Fabian Wills, who landed in Wellington, New Zealand in 1842 aboard the ship London
A. Wills, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Brougham" in 1842
Mr. James William Wills, (b. 1800), aged 40, English settler born in Devon travelling from Plymouth aboard the ship "Timandra" arriving in New Plymouth, Taranaki, North Island, New Zealand on 24th February 1842 14
Mrs. Betsy Wills, (b. 1802), aged 39, Cornish settler born in Cornwall travelling from Plymouth aboard the ship "Timandra" arriving in New Plymouth, Taranaki, North Island, New Zealand on 24th February 1842 14
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Wills migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 15

Wills Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

John Wills, who settled in St. Christopher (Saint Kitts) in 1634
Roger Wills, aged 20, who arrived in Barbados in 1635 6

Contemporary Notables of the name Wills (post 1700) +

David Herbert Wills (1964-2023), American sportscaster who served as the radio voice of the Tampa Bay Rays from 2005 until his death, inducted into the Irish-American Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016
Maurice Morning "Maury" Wills (1932-2022), American professional MLB baseball player and manager from Washington, D.C., the National League Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 1962 stealing a record 104 bases
Maury Wills (b. 1932), American baseball player 16
Frank Wills (1822-1857), English-born, American architect who is best known for his Gothic Revival churches throughout North America
Elliot Taylor "Bump" Wills (b. 1952), American former Major League Baseball second baseman
James Robert "Bob" Wills (1905-1975), American Western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader
Gary Wills (b. 1934), American author, journalist, and historian awarded the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction
Chill Theodore Wills (1903-1978), American Academy Award nominated film actor and singer
Royal Barry Wills (1895-1962), preeminent Boston architect and author
Christopher J. Wills (b. 1938), Professor of Biology at University of California, San Diego
... (Another 16 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Historic Events for the Wills family +

HMS Cornwall

Edward Douglas Wills (d. 1942), British Leading Stoker aboard the HMS Cornwall when she was struck by air bombers and sunk; he died in the sinking 17

HMS Repulse

Mr. John William Wills, British Marine, who sailed into battle on the HMS Repulse (1941) and survived the sinking 18
Mr. Charles Richard Wills, British Able Bodied Seaman, who sailed into battle on the HMS Repulse (1941) and died in the sinking 18

The Wills Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: Sursum
Motto Translation: Upwards

Citations +

Hutchins, Fortescue, The History of Cornwall, from the Earliest Records and Traditions to the Present Time. London: William Penaluna, 1824. Print
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
"Most Common Last Names in Australia." Forebears, https://forebears.io/australia/surnames
"Most Common Last Names in New Zealand." Forebears, https://forebears.io/new-zealand/surnames
"UK surname ranking." UK Surname map, https://www.surnamemap.eu/unitedkingdom/surnames_ranking.php?p=10
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Cornwall Online Parish Clerks. (Retrieved 2018, April 30). Emigrants to New York 1820 - 1891 [PDF]. Retrieved from http://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/pdfs/emigration_new_york_1820_1891.pdf
Seary E.R., Family Names of the Island of Newfoundland, Montreal: McGill's-Queen's Universtity Press 1998 ISBN 0-7735-1782-0
Cornwall Online Parish Clerks. (Retrieved 30th May 2018). Retrieved from http://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/pdfs/tasmanian_convicts_cornish.pdf
Cornwall Online Parish Clerks. (Retrieved 30th May 2018). Retrieved from http://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/pdfs/emigration_australia_convicts.pdf
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 5th November 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/burrell
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 16th March 2022). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/elphinstone
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) SINGAPORE (aka SINCAPORE) 1839. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1839Singapore.gif
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 26th March 2019). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2010, September 27) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
Force Z Survivors Crew List HMS Cornwall (Retrieved 2018, February 13th) - Retrieved from https://www.forcez-survivors.org.uk/biographies/listcornwallcrew.html#A
HMS Repulse Crew members. (Retrieved 2014, April 9) . Retrieved from http://www.forcez-survivors.org.uk/biographies/listrepulsecrew.html