 Wills, a company which (building on the successful tobacco business established by their father) by the late 1800s had become Britain's largest importer of tobacco and manufacturer of tobacco products.William Day Wills was born on 6 June 1797 in Bristol the elder of the two sons of Henry Overton Wills I (1761-1826) by his wife Ann Day.In 1786 his Salisbury-born father, with his partner Samuel Watkins, had opened a tobacco shop in Bristol, which grew into a successful business.