William John Wills (1834-1861) came to Victoria with his brother in early 1853. He studied surveying and became an assistant at Georg Neumayer's astronomical and magnetic observatories in Melbourne. Neumayer, a member of the exploration committee of the Royal Society of Victoria, encouraged Wills to join the expedition to the Gulf; he was duly appointed its surveyor, astronomer and third-in-command. The expedition set out from Melbourne on 20 August 1860; soon after, Wills became Burke's lieutenant. Wills kept a diary, which stands as evidence of his own endurance and loyalty to Burke. In winter 1861 Wills was left in camp while Burke and John King went out to try to find Aborigines to obtain food for them; he made his last diary entry on 29 June. King, having left Burke dead, returned to find Wills in the same condition. His body was buried by a search party on 18 September 1861, but later his remains were returned to Melbourne and he was accorded a public funeral with Burke in January 1863.
