G. & R. Wills & Co. : SUMMARY RECORD [BRG 304] • Mixed material
Photographs
Photographs of the company's Adelaide premises, personnel, sporting teams and early social events, founders and early directors, interstate premises in Western Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and Northern Territory, centenary celebrations in 1949, and photographs of shipping interest. Also includes two collections of mounted photographs of company staff in formal, informal and work occasions, collected by former staff member, ca. 1949-1980 (originals in Reserve, B&W copies and separate name lists available for reference).
Tobacco sale at Port Adelaide
First tobacco sale in South Australia held at Port Adelaide 5 September 1932.
Premises of Wills & Co, Rundle Street
Premises built 1852 at 80 Rundle Street, Adelaide (north side) on City Acre 42 for Wills & Company, drapers.
Factory of G. & R. Wills & Co, North Terrace
Factory on City Acre 21, North Terrace, Adelaide, erected 1853. The building still stands, with an extension built on the east side in the 1870s in the same style.
Factory and warehouse of G. & R. Wills & Co, North Terrace
Warehouse and factory on City Acre 21, North Terrace, Adelaide, erected in two stages, the right-hand part (west section) in 1853 and the left-hand part on the east side in the mid 1870s. This building complex is still standing.
Head office of G. & R. Wills & Co. Limited, Gawler Place
Premises on City Acre 20, corner of Gawler Place and Fisher Place, Adelaide, erected in 1914. The adjacent building of three storeys and basement in Fisher Place is the rear section of G. & R. Wills' North Terrace premises.
Site of former York Theatre, Rundle Street
The York Theatre stood on the corner of Rundle Street and Gawler Place, Adelaide, City Acre 43, and was demolished in 1962 for the widening of Gawler Place. The building behind is the head office of G. & R. Wills & Co. Limited, which was also partly demolished for the new roadway. The crane visible on the left-hand side is being used for the construction of the Prudential Building on North Terrace. Note policeman directing traffic on right. (Photograph taken 4 April 1962).
George Wills & Co. Limited football team at Jubilee Oval
Football team which played against a G. & R. Wills & Co. side at Jubilee Oval, Adelaide, on 4 June 1928. Managing Director J. H. (later Sir James) Gosse is standing in back row, fourth from right. The bespectacled gentleman, second from right in the back row, is John Charles Neill who lived on Le Fevre Terrace and was manager of George Wills and Co for 52 years. Buildings visible behind include part of the R.A.& H. Society, the Exhibition Building and Elder Conservatorium of Music.
George Wills
George Wills (1825-1906) founder with brother Richard of G. & R. Wills & Company. He went back to England to manage the company's London buying operations.
SS Waratah
The 'SS Waratah', probably in Sydney, NSW. The 'Waratah' sank off Durban, South Africa, in 1909 with all passengers lost.
Architectural drawings and specifications of work
Architectural and site plans for premises owned by G. & R. Wills & Company Limited in Adelaide (North Terrace, Rundle Street & Fisher Place), Brisbane, Perth, Launceston and Sydney, with specifications of work for some of these.