William John Wills (1834-1861) was an English surveyor who also trained for a while as a surgeon. He achieved fame as the second-in-command of the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition, which was the first expedition to cross Australia from south to north, finding a route across the continent from the settled areas of Victoria to the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Early Years
Wills father was Dr William Wills and his mother was Sarah Mary Elizabeth nee Calley (Kelly). His siblings were Thomas James (b. 1837), Charles Henry, (b. 1839), Elizabeth Margaret, ‘Bessie', (b. 1843) and Hannah (b. 1845).

William John Wills was born in Totnes in Devon on 5 January 1834 and lived at Ipplepen. He suffered a fever as a young child and was home tutored by his father. From 1845 to 1850 he attended St Andrews Grammar School, Ashburton and then was articled to Dr Wills' surgical practice. In 1852 he studied practical chemistry at St Guy's and St Bartholomew's hospitals in London.

Wills' father bought a share in a Melbourne gold mining company in 1852 but Sarah objected to Dr Wills leaving for Australia. William and Thomas left Dartmouth on 1st October 1852 aboard the Janet Mitchell and arrived in Williamstown, Port Phillip on 3rd January 1853. The brothers found work in Deniliquin as shepherds.

Dr Wills followed the boys out to Australia, arriving in October 1853 and the three moved to Ballarat. William John Wills worked as a digger and a buyer for a bank. In 1855 he began to study surveying and worked for Mr Taylor, the Surveyor of Crown Lands in the Ballarat district. He moved to Melbourne to work under Georg Balthasar von Neumayer at the Flagstaff Observatory. Wills lived in Dorcas Street, South Melbourne until 1859 when he moved into the Observatory.

Burke and Wills Expedition
In May 1860, Robert O'Hara Burke was appointed to leader of the expedition and in July 1860 Wills was appointed Third-in-Command, surveyor and astronomical observer.

The expedition left Melbourne on 20 August 1860 with a total of 19 men, 27 camels and 23 horses. The reached Menindee on 23 September 1860 where several people resigned, including the second-in-command, George James Landells, and Wills was promoted to Second-in-Command.

Coopers Creek, 400 miles further on, was reached on 11 November 1860 by the advanced group, the remainder being intended to catch up. After a break, Burke decided to make a dash to the Gulf of Carpentaria, leaving on 16 December 1860. William Brahé was left in charge of the remaining party. The small team of Burke, Wills, John King and Charley Gray reached the mangroves on the estuary of the Flinders River, near where the town of Normanton now stands, on 9 February 1861. Flooding rains and swamps meant they never saw open ocean.

Already weakened by starvation and exposure, progress on the return journey was slow and hampered by the tropical monsoon downpours of the wet season. Gray died four days before they reached the rendezvous at Cooper Creek. The other three rested for a day when they buried him. They eventually reached the rendezvous point on 21 April 1861, 9 hours after the rest of the party had given up waiting and left, leaving a note and some food, as they had not been relieved by the party supposed to be returning from Menindie.

They attempted to reach Mount Hopeless, the furthest outpost of pastoral settlement in South Australia, which was closer than Menindie, but failed and returned to Cooper Creek. While waiting for rescue Wills became exhausted and was unable to continue. He urged Burke and King to continue on, leaving him alone with food, water and shelter. Wills died alone at a place called Breerily Waterhole on Coopers Creek in South Australia. He died at the end of June 1861, the exact date of his death is uncertain, but was most likely the 28th or 29th. Soon after, Burke also died.

King survived with the help of Aborigines until he was rescued in September by Alfred William Howitt. Howitt buried Burke and Wills before returning to Melbourne. In 1862 Howitt returned to Coopers Creek and disinterred Burke and Wills' bodies, taking them first to Adelaide and then by steamer to Melbourne where they were laid in state for two weeks. On 23 January 1863 Burke and Wills received a State Funeral and were buried in Melbourne General Cemetery.