Sir John Vernon Wills, 4th Baronet, KCVO,

KStJ The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (), commonly known as the Order of St John, and also known as St John International, is an order of chivalry constituted in 1888 by royal charter from Queen Victoria and dedica ...

, TD, JP (3 July 1928 – 26 August 1998) was an English landowner, businessman, farmer and royal representative. Born on 3 July 1928, Wills came from a prominent

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

family. One of his ancestors was among the founders of W. D. and H. O. Wills, which became

Imperial Tobacco Imperial Brands plc (originally the Imperial Tobacco Company of Great Britain & Ireland, and subsequently Imperial Tobacco Group plc) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational tobacco company headquartered in Bristol, England. It is ...

."Sir John Wills", ''The Times'' (London), 31 August 1998, p. 23. . His grandfather, George Wills, was president of the latter and was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

in 1923; his son (Wills's father), George Vernon Proctor Wills, succeeded to the baronetcy in 1926 and served as a director of Imperial Tobacco, dying in 1931. Wills's mother was Nellie Jeannie Rutherford,

ARRC ARRC may stand for: * Advanced Radar Research Center, University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma, USA * Advanced Institute for Research on Religion and Culture, Hyderabad, India * Advanced Rocket Research Center, NCTU, Taiwan * Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, ...

, JP (died 1961).Charles Moseley (ed.), ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage'', 107th ed., vol. 3 (Wilmington: Burke's Peerage, 2003), p. 4198. Educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England *Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States *Éton, a commune in the Meuse depa ...

and the Royal College of Agriculture, Wills succeeded his elder brother George to the baronetcy in 1945. He took no part in the family business, instead he ran dairy farms and bred

Hereford cattle The Hereford is a British List of cattle breeds, breed of beef cattle originally from Herefordshire in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It was the result of selective breeding from the mid-eighteenth century by a few famil ...

while pursuing a career in the Territorial Army from 1954 to 1967; he received the

Territorial Decoration __NOTOC__ The Territorial Decoration (TD) was a military medal of the United Kingdom awarded for long service in the Territorial Force and its successor, the Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Territorial Army. This award superseded the Volunteer O ...

for his service. He held

directorships A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulations ...

in the

Bristol and West Building Society Bristol & West (B&W) was a former Mutual organization, mutual building society in the United Kingdom (UK), one of the first to be Demutualization, demutualised to become a Public limited company, publicly traded bank in 1997. Bristol & West had ...

, Bristol Water Holdings Plc, and the

Bristol Evening Post The ''Bristol Post'' is a city/regional five-day-a-week (formerly appearing six days per week) newspaper covering news in the city of Bristol, including stories from the whole of Greater Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire. It was ...

and Bristol United Press. He chaired the Wessex Water Authority from 1973 to 1982. He served as

Pro-Chancellor A pro-chancellor is an officer of some universities in Commonwealth countries. The pro-chancellor acts as a deputy to the chancellor and as practical chairman of the university council. In this role, a pro-chancellor may fulfil a number of for ...

of the

University of Bath The University of Bath is a public research university in Bath, England. Bath received its royal charter in 1966 as Bath University of Technology, along with a number of other institutions following the Robbins Report. Like the University ...

, which awarded him an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

(as did the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

). He was an independent member of the

Somerset County Council Somerset ( , ), archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to ...

from 1958 to 1974. Having been a

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

for

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

since 1962 and the

High Sheriff of Somerset The office of High Sheriff of Somerset is an ancient shrievalty which has been in existence since the 11th century. Originally known as the "Sheriff of Somerset", the role was retitled on 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Government ...

in 1968, he served as the first and last

Lord Lieutenant of Avon The Lord Lieutenant of the County of Avon from the creation of the county on 1 April 1974 to its abolition in 1996 was Colonel Sir John Vernon Wills, 4th Baronet. He subsequently became Lord Lieutenant of Somerset This is an incomplete list of p ...

, from 1974 to 1996, and as the

Lord Lieutenant of Somerset This is an incomplete list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Somerset. Since 1714, all Lord Lieutenants have also been Custos Rotulorum of Somerset. Lord Lieutenants of Somerset *John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford 1552–1555 * Will ...

from 1994 to his death. He was appointed a Knight of Grace of the

Order of St John of Jerusalem The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there u ...

in 1978 and a Knight Commander of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

in 1998. He died on 26 August 1998.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wills, John 1928 births 1998 deaths English landowners English businesspeople 20th-century English farmers Alumni of the Royal Agricultural University People associated with the University of Bath People educated at Eton College Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Military personnel from Bristol British Army officers Lord-lieutenants of Somerset

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

High sheriffs of Somerset