second-in-command of the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition
Colwell, M. The journey of Burke and Wills, c1971: t.p. (Wills) p. 37, etc. (William John Wills, b. at Totnes, Devonshire on 1-5-1834; d. 1861)
LC data base, 11-28-88 (hdg.: Wills, William John, 1834-1861)
Australian Dictionary of Biography (online) 2 August 2022: (William John Wills (1834-1861), explorer, was born on 5 January 1834 at Totnes, Devon, England. He arrived at Williamstown, Port Phillip, on 3 January 1853. He worked in western Victoria, studied surveying and became an assistant at the astronomical and magnetical observatories at Melbourne, leading to his appointment as surveyor, astronomer and third-in-command to the Royal Society of Victoria's expedition to cross Australian south to north, led by Robert O';Hara Burke, departing Melbourne on 20 August 1860. After many vicissitudes Wills reached the shoreline of the Gulf of Carpentaria on 11 February 1861; Wills was one of three survivors who returned to the Cooper's Creek camp, only to find the others had left the same morning; Wills died there about 30 June 1861. His remains, with those of Burke, were returned to Melbourne, and a public funeral took place on 21 January 1863. In the subsequent inquiry, no blame was attached to Wills.) https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/wills-william-john-4864
