 He was born on 2 March 1761 in Salisbury, England, the son of Edmund Wills, a watchmaker, & his mother Rebecca, daughter of Henry Overton of Andover, Hampshire.He came as a young man by coach from Salisbury to Bristol where he formed a partnership with Samuel Watkins to open a tobacco shop on 73 Castle Street, Bristol.They named their operation "Wills, Watkins & Co." When Watkins retired from the business in 1789, it became "Wills & Co", with Wills as sole proprietor.