 He was the eldest of the 18 children of Henry Overton Wills II (1800-1871) by his first wife Isabella Board.He was a first-cousin of William Henry Wills, 1st Baron Winterstoke, the first Chairman of Imperial Tobacco, formed by the merger of the family's original business with twelve other tobacco firms.He was the elder brother of Sir Edward Payson Wills, 1st Baronet (1834–1910) of Hazelwood and Clapton-in-Gordano and of Sir Frederick Wills, 1st Baronet (1838-1909) of Northmoor (father of Gilbert Wills, 1st Baron Dulverton).