Jim Fisher's Genealogy and Family History Pages

Wills in Dorset

Introduction
Origins of the name
Variants of the name
Marina Wills (1834-?)
John Wills (1807-?)
James Wills (1779-?)
Sarah Wills
Browser compatibility statement

Introduction

This page is devoted to the WILLS ancestors of my mother - the origins of the name, who they were and where and when they lived.

The genealogical data in these pages is accurate to the best of my current (at the time of writing) knowledge. This means it is of very variable reliability, since sources at one extreme are 100% certain (e.g. I know who I married, where and when, and the identity of my parents) to the mere rumour level, such as LDS data extracted from the IGI and Ancestral File, and reminiscences of elderly relatives, some now deceased. Anyone wishing to make any use whatever of this information is therefore strongly advised to contact me for source details.

Origins of the name

The surname Wills means son of Will. The latter has two possible origins, either as a diminutive of the given name William, or (in south and south-west England) a dweller by a stream (from the West Saxon Weill).

Variants of the name

Willes, Willis, Wilson, Willeson, Willison, Willson, Wyllis.

Marina Wills (1834-?)

My maternal grandmother's maternal grandmother was Marina Wills, who was born in Maiden Newton, Dorset and baptised there 18 May 1834. According to the 1851 census she was then employed as a farm servant.

On 11th August 1857 she married John Reed at Maiden Newton parish church. The couple produced eight children:
Henry John (born about 1857 in Maiden Newton)
Rebecca Mary
Frederick (born about 1860 in Sturminster Marshall, Dorset)
Hiram (born 16 Feb 1862 in Blandford Forum, Dorset)
James (born about 1866 in Blandford Forum)
Albert (born about 1868 in Blandford Forum)
Charles (born about 1870 in Blandford Forum)
John (born Wimborne, Dorset, about 1873).

John Wills (1807-?)

Marina's father was John Wills, who was born in Maiden Newton, Dorset 20 Sep 1807. He was an agricultural labourer, and married Mary Symes at Frome Vauchurch, 25 May 1828. The 1851 census shows the couple (both aged 42) living at 133 Claremont, Maiden Newton, with their six youngest children. In all they had ten children (that I know of:
John William (bap Maiden Newton, 19 Nov 1820)
Jesse (bap Maiden Newton, 26 Feb 1823)
Lucy (bap Maiden Newton, 13 Mar 1825)
Francis (bap Maiden Newton, 6 May 1827)
Elizabeth (b about 1832 in Frome Vauchurch)
Marina (bap Maiden Newton, 18 May 1834)
Rebecca (bap Maiden Newton, 27 Sep 1835)
Frances (born Maiden Newton about 1841)
Albert (born Maiden Newton about 1848)
Sarah A. (born Maiden Newton about 1850)

James Wills (1779-?)

The father of John Wills was James Wills, baptised in Maiden Newton 30 Nov 1779. On 11 June 1805 he married Elizabeth Whittle in Maiden Newton. The couple had eleven children, all baptised in Maiden Newton, and most, possibly all, were given their mother's maiden name, Whittle, as a middle name. They were:
Charles Whittle (born 20 Oct 1805)
John (born 20 Sep 1807)
William Whittle (bap 27 Feb 1815)
Reuben (bap 2 Aug 1817)
Grace Whittle (bap 23 Aug 1819)
Mary Whittle (bap 24 Sep 1820)
James Whittle (bap 25 Feb 1823)
Charlotte Whittle (bap 8 Jan 1825)
Absalom (born about 1827)
Henry Whittle (bap 5 Sep 1828)
Walter Whittle (bap 2 May 1830)