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{{Short description|Judge of the High Court of England and Wales and a mountaineer}}
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[[Image:SirAlfredWills (useable).jpg|thumb|right|200px|Sir Alfred Wills.]]
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Sir '''Alfred Wills''' [[Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council|PC]] (11 December 1828 – 9 August 1912) was an [[England|English]] [[High Court judge]] and a well-known [[Mountaineering|mountaineer]]. He was the third President of the [[Alpine Club]] from 1863 to 1865.
{{Use British English|date=May 2012}}
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[[File:SirAlfredWills (useable).jpg|thumb|Sir Alfred Wills.]]

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'''Sir Alfred Wills''' (11 December 1828 – 9 August 1912) was a [[High Court judge (England and Wales)|judge of the High Court of England and Wales]] and a well-known [[Mountaineering|mountaineer]]. He was the third President of the [[Alpine Club]], from 1863 to 1865.


==Early life==
==Early life==
Wills was the second son of William Wills, [[Justice of the Peace|JP]], of [[Edgbaston]], [[Birmingham]], and of his wife Sarah Wills, a daughter of Jeremiah Ridout. He was educated at a school in Edgbaston and at [[University College London Law Faculty|University College London]], where he held [[Exhibition (scholarship)|exhibitions]] and scholarships in Mathematics, Classics and Law, graduating [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] in 1849 and [[Bachelor of Laws|LLB]] in 1851.
Wills was the second son of William Wills, [[Justice of the Peace|JP]], of [[Edgbaston]], [[Birmingham]], and of his wife Sarah Wills, a daughter of Jeremiah Ridout. He was educated at [[King Edward's School, Birmingham]] and at [[University College London Law Faculty|University College London]], where he held [[Exhibition (scholarship)|exhibitions]] and scholarships in Mathematics, Classics and Law, graduating [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] in 1849 and [[Bachelor of Laws|LLB]] in 1851.


==Legal career==
==Legal career==
[[File:Justice Wills Vanity Fair 25 June 1896.jpg|thumb|Wills caricatured by [[Leslie Ward|Spy]] for ''[[Vanity Fair (British magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'', 1896]]
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Wills became a [[barrister]] from [[Middle Temple]] during 1851 and was appointed [[Queen's Counsel]] during 1872. He was first Recorder of Sheffield, 1881–84; a Judge of the Queen's and King's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice, 1884–1905, President of the Railway and Canal Commission, 1888–1893, and Treasurer of the Middle Temple, 1892-1893.


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Wills was called to the [[barrister|bar]] by the [[Middle Temple]] in 1851 and was appointed [[Queen's Counsel]] in 1872. He was first Recorder of Sheffield, 1881–84; a Judge of the Queen's and King's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice, 1884–1905, President of the [[Railway and Canal Commission]], 1888–1893, and Treasurer of the Middle Temple, 1892–1893.
During his career as a judge, Alfred Wills notably presided over the trial in which [[Oscar Wilde]] was convicted for "committing acts of [[sodomy law|gross indecency]] with other male persons".


During his career as a judge, his most notable act was presiding over the trial in which [[Oscar Wilde]] was convicted for "committing acts of [[sodomy law|gross indecency]] with other male persons". Willis sentenced Wilde to two years' hard labour.<ref>{{Old Bailey|defendant=Oscar Fingal O'Fflahartie Wills Wilde, Alfred Waterhouse Somerset Taylor|trialdate=22 April 1895|id= t18950520-425|access-date=22 April 2010}}</ref> The judge described the sentence, the maximum allowed, as "totally inadequate for a case such as this," and that the case was "the worst case I have ever tried".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Foldy |first=Michael S. |title=The Trials of Oscar Wilde: Deviance, Morality and Late-Victorian Society |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |page=47 |year=1997 |isbn=0-300-07112-4}}</ref> Wilde's response of "And I? May I say nothing, my Lord?" was drowned out in cries of "Shame" in the courtroom<ref>[http://famous-trials.com/wilde/335-statement Sentencing Statement of Justice Wills] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180326143605/http://famous-trials.com/wilde/335-statement |date=26 March 2018}}.</ref>
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With his father [[William Wills]], he co-authored ''An essay on the principles of circumstantial evidence : illustrated by numerous cases'' (1905), still a standard text often cited.

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With his father William Wills, he co-authored ''An essay on the principles of circumstantial evidence : illustrated by numerous cases'' (1905), still a standard text often cited.{{who|date=September 2014}}


==Mountaineer==
==Mountaineer==
The ascent of the [[Wetterhorn]] by Wills and his party during 1854, which Wills mistakenly believed was the first (it was actually first climbed during 1844) was the beginning of the so-called [[golden age of alpinism]]. From that time on, climbing mountains as sport became fashionable.
The ascent of the [[Wetterhorn]] above [[Grindelwald]] in the [[Bernes Alps]] by Wills and his party in 1854, which Wills mistakenly believed was the first (actually summited a decade earlier by local guides Melchior Bannholzer and Hans Jaun on 31 August 1844) is considered the beginning of the so-called [[golden age of alpinism]]. His account of the expedition helped make climbing mountains as sport fashionable.


He was the third President of the [[Alpine Club]] from 1863 to 1865.
He was the third President of the [[Alpine Club (UK)|Alpine Club]] from 1863 to 1865.


A mountain refuge near Chamonix still bears his name.
A [[mountain hut]] near Chamonix bears his name: the [[Refuge Alfred Wills]].


==Publications==
==Publications==
*''Wanderings among the High Alps''
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=9HsSAAAAYAAJ ''Wanderings among the High Alps''] (1856)
*''The Eagle's Nest in the Valley of Sixt'' (1860)<ref>{{cite journal|title=brief review of ''The Eagle's Nest in the Valley of Sixt''|date=November 1860|page=461|journal=Christian Examiner and Theological Review|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yOcWAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA461}}</ref>
*''The Eagle's Nest''
*''Wills on Circumstantial Evidence'' (ed.)
*''Wills on Circumstantial Evidence'' (ed.)
*''Rendu's Théorie des Glaciers de la Savioe'' (translation)
*''Rendu's Théorie des Glaciers de la Savioe'' (translation)
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==Honours==
==Honours==
*[[Knight]]ed, 1884
*[[Knight]]ed, 1884
*[[Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council|Privy Councillor]], 1905
*[[Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council|Privy Councillor]], 1905


==Family==
==Family==
Wills married firstly, during 1854, Lucy, daughter of George Martineau. She died in 1860, and in 1861 he married secondly Bertha, daughter of Thomas Lombe Taylor, of [[Starston]], [[Norfolk]]. His second wife died during 1906. He had three sons and two daughters.
In 1854 Wills married Lucy, daughter of George Martineau. She died in 1860, and in 1861 he married Bertha, daughter of Thomas Lombe Taylor, of [[Starston]], [[Norfolk]]. His second wife died in 1906. He had three sons and two daughters.


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
*[http://www.xreferplus.com/entry.jsp?xrefid=6208844 WILLS, Rt Hon. Sir Alfred] at [[Who's Who (UK)|Who Was Who 1897-2006]] online at Credo Reference (accessed 6 January 2008)
*[https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/214097225.pdf] ''[[Vanity Fair (British magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'', The Honourable Sir Alfred Wills, 9 W. Res. L. Rev. 1 reprinted (1957) in the [[Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law]] (accessed 20 December 2020)


==External links==
==External links==
{{Commonscat|Sir Alfred Wills (1828-1912)}}
{{Commons category|Sir Alfred Wills (1828-1912)}}
*[http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=ft409nb30v&chunk.id=d0e5119&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d0e4627&brand=eschol A good explanation of "An essay on the principles of circumstantial evidence" and its importance]
*[http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=ft409nb30v&chunk.id=d0e5119&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d0e4627&brand=eschol A good explanation of "An essay on the principles of circumstantial evidence" and its importance]
*[http://www.refuge-wills.com/wills_welcome.htm Refuge Alfred Wills]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071008145841/http://www.refuge-wills.com/wills_welcome.htm Refuge Alfred Wills]

{{Authority control}}


{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
| NAME = Wills, Alfred,
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = 11 December 1828
| PLACE OF BIRTH =
| DATE OF DEATH = 9 August 1912
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wills, Alfred,}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wills, Alfred,}}
[[Category:British mountain climbers]]
[[Category:1828 births]]
[[Category:1828 births]]
[[Category:1912 deaths]]
[[Category:1912 deaths]]
[[Category:English mountain climbers]]
[[Category:English mountain climbers]]
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[[Category:English judges]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Alpine Club (UK)]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Alpine Club (UK)]]
[[Category:Queen's Bench Division judges]]
[[Category:Queen's Bench Division judges]]
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[[Category:English barristers]]
[[Category:English barristers]]
[[Category:Members of the Middle Temple]]
[[Category:Members of the Middle Temple]]
[[Category:Queen's Counsel 1801-1900]]
[[Category:19th-century King's Counsel]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council]]

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[[Category:19th-century English judges]]

[[Category:20th-century English judges]]
{{UK-law-bio-stub}}
{{England-sport-bio-stub}}
{{climbing-bio-stub}}

[[fr:Alfred Wills]]
[[it:Alfred Wills]]

Latest revision as of 04:41, 19 November 2023

Sir Alfred Wills.

Sir Alfred Wills (11 December 1828 – 9 August 1912) was a judge of the High Court of England and Wales and a well-known mountaineer. He was the third President of the Alpine Club, from 1863 to 1865.

Early life[edit]

Wills was the second son of William Wills, JP, of Edgbaston, Birmingham, and of his wife Sarah Wills, a daughter of Jeremiah Ridout. He was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham and at University College London, where he held exhibitions and scholarships in Mathematics, Classics and Law, graduating BA in 1849 and LLB in 1851.

Legal career[edit]

Wills caricatured by Spy for Vanity Fair, 1896

Wills was called to the bar by the Middle Temple in 1851 and was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1872. He was first Recorder of Sheffield, 1881–84; a Judge of the Queen's and King's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice, 1884–1905, President of the Railway and Canal Commission, 1888–1893, and Treasurer of the Middle Temple, 1892–1893.

During his career as a judge, his most notable act was presiding over the trial in which Oscar Wilde was convicted for "committing acts of gross indecency with other male persons". Willis sentenced Wilde to two years' hard labour.[1] The judge described the sentence, the maximum allowed, as "totally inadequate for a case such as this," and that the case was "the worst case I have ever tried".[2] Wilde's response of "And I? May I say nothing, my Lord?" was drowned out in cries of "Shame" in the courtroom[3]

With his father William Wills, he co-authored An essay on the principles of circumstantial evidence : illustrated by numerous cases (1905), still a standard text often cited.[who?]

Mountaineer[edit]

The ascent of the Wetterhorn above Grindelwald in the Bernes Alps by Wills and his party in 1854, which Wills mistakenly believed was the first (actually summited a decade earlier by local guides Melchior Bannholzer and Hans Jaun on 31 August 1844) is considered the beginning of the so-called golden age of alpinism. His account of the expedition helped make climbing mountains as sport fashionable.

He was the third President of the Alpine Club from 1863 to 1865.

A mountain hut near Chamonix bears his name: the Refuge Alfred Wills.

Publications[edit]

  • Wanderings among the High Alps (1856)
  • The Eagle's Nest in the Valley of Sixt (1860)[4]
  • Wills on Circumstantial Evidence (ed.)
  • Rendu's Théorie des Glaciers de la Savioe (translation)

Honours[edit]

Family[edit]

In 1854 Wills married Lucy, daughter of George Martineau. She died in 1860, and in 1861 he married Bertha, daughter of Thomas Lombe Taylor, of Starston, Norfolk. His second wife died in 1906. He had three sons and two daughters.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Old Bailey Proceedings Online, Trial of Oscar Fingal O'Fflahartie Wills Wilde, Alfred Waterhouse Somerset Taylor. (t18950520-425, 22 April 1895).
  2. ^ Foldy, Michael S. (1997). The Trials of Oscar Wilde: Deviance, Morality and Late-Victorian Society. Yale University Press. p. 47. ISBN 0-300-07112-4.
  3. ^ Sentencing Statement of Justice Wills Archived 26 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ^ "brief review of The Eagle's Nest in the Valley of Sixt". Christian Examiner and Theological Review: 461. November 1860.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sir Alfred Wills (1828-1912).
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