WILLS, James William Urbane [Junior] (1860-1920) was active in St. John’s, Newfoundland in 1889-90, and again from 1892-94, where he was a member of the architectural firm called Wills & Sons, Architects (see list of works under James W.U. Wills, [Senior]). Born in Devon, Co. Somerset, England on 21 January 1860, both he and his younger brother Arthur J. Wills were trained in England by their father, and likely accompanied him on trips to the British colony of Newfoundland when their father was employed as Clerk of Works overseeing the additions to the Anglican Cathedral in St. John’s, Nfld. in 1883-86.
J.W. U. Wills Jr. left Newfoundland in early 1890 and moved to Knoxville, Tennessee to join his brother in the architectural partnership of Wills Brothers, Architects. In May of that year, the brothers opened a branch office in Asheville, North Carolina, located about 100 miles east of Knoxville, and they offered to design “…all kinds of buildings in the most modern styles, on the best and most approved scientific principles“ (Asheville Daily Citizen, 2 April 1890, 4, advertisement for the new firm of Wills Brothers). Their practise in North Carolina was successful, and they received commissions for educational, ecclesiastical and residential buildings in Asheville while their father remained in Newfoundland. The Great Fire in St. John’s in July 1892 likely prompted both of the brothers to leave North Carolina and return to Newfoundland where they assisted their father with rebuilding efforts in 1892-94. By 1895 J.W.U. Wills Jr. had moved to Philadelphia, Penn. where he lived and worked for the next 25 years. He died in Philadelphia on 15 October 1920.