From Sarah Wills Howe to Thomas Wentworth Wills: An Australian Family Biography

This project will be the first biographical study of the Wills family, a significant yet forgotten colonial family. Across three generations, from 1798-1880, the project will use the innovations and insights of family biography to reassess key turning points in Australian history in which the Wills family figured prominently. From the economic success of its matriarch Sarah Wills, to the tragic decline and suicide of her grandson, the sublimely gifted sportsman Tom Wills, the project will bring a new perspective to those years. Through the illustrative capacity of family biography this project will not only uncover some forgotten historical figures but will also offer new interpretations of critical aspects of Australian colonial history.