Freeman Wills

Life
?1849-1913 [Freeman Wills or Freeman Crofts Wills]; b. Kilkenny; son of W. G. Wills [q.v.]; ed. TCD; auditor of the Hist in 1860; Anglican orders; held parish in Finisbury London; author of sermons, spiritual handbooks and editor and Lives of Illustrated and Distinguished Irishmen (rev. & enl. 1847) by his father, whose biography he also wrote (1889); he also enjoyed great success with an adaption of Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities, played repeatedly with Martin Harvey as Sydney Carton; d. Eastbourne 1913. PI OCIL

 

Works
Theology & Society
  • Sermons Preached in S. Agatha’s Chapel, Wilson Street, Finsbury [by] Freeman [Crofts] Wills (London & Edinburgh [1876]), 16cm. [digitised at the request of the NL of Scotland].
  • Seven Last Words from the Cross, by Freeman Wills (London:  Printed by R. Clay, Sons, and Taylor 1876) 30pp. [Pamphl. No. 269; Church No. 3337; Reproduction of orig. in Pusey House Library St Giles].
  • The Church and Spiritualism,  by the Rev. F. C. Wills (London:  G.J. Palmer 1877), 15pp.
    Church Polytechnics for Young Man [sic] and Lads:  An Address [by] Freeman Crofts Wills (London:  Rivingtons 1888), 18pp.
  • Our Lads, The Great Problem [An Appeal for the Building Fund of the Finsbury Polytechnic[,] by F. C. Wills] (London [1888]), 18cm.
  • Lay Sermons for Practical People,  edited by Freeman Crofts Wills (London:  Griffith & Farran [1890]), viii, 268pp.; 20cm.
Drama
  • Ida:  A Drama in Four Acts [by] Freeman Wills (London:  Printed by Spottiswoode & Co. New-Street Square 1882), [4], 81pp., [1]; 8vo.
  • The Only Way:  A Tale of Two Cities,  adapted by Freeman Wills and Frederick Langbridge from Charles Dicken’s [sic] novel “A Tale of Two Cities” [1899], 25cm [Foot of t.p.: ‘Originally produced at the Lyceum Theatre London under the management of Mr Martin Harvey (the Lessee, Sir Henry Irving) on Thursday February 26th, 1899. [Bound typescript marked as a prompt book for Sir John Martin-Harvey’s production at the Lyceum Theatre, London, 1899, with manuscript annotations; signed on flyleaf, ‘the property of Sir John Martin-Harvey, Parkholme, East Sheen’; fragile; donated to V & A Theatre & Performance by George Marshall from the estate of Lois P. Marshall (née Bicknell) in her memory.]
  • The Only Way: A Tale of Two Cities [,] adapted by Freeman Wills [and Frederick Langbridge.] from Charles Dickens' novel. Produced at the Lyceum Theatre February 16, by Martin Harvey. [Plates of scenes of the play and portraits of actors. Souvenir of the 100th performance] (London:  Lyceum Theatre; Nassau Press 1899), 4º [Other names incl. Freeman Crofts Wills].
  • The Only Way: A Tale of Two Cities,  adapted by Freeman Wills from Charles Dicken’s novel (Hull, England: Grand Theatre & Opera House 1901), 1 sh. [performed 23.9.1901; leading performers Mr. Martin Harvey, Miss Amy Coleridge.
    [Mimi in The Only Way [1918], [1], 4, 2, [1], 4 lvs.; [part of script as typescript, 20x23cm.; fragile; marked in MS ‘for performance’ and ‘donated by Eva Embury[ׄ], who played Mimi on tour ca. 1918].
  • The Breed of the Treshams, [by] John Rutherford;  A Cigarette Maker’s Romance,  [by] Charles Hannan; The Only Way,  [by] Freeman Wills (Hull:  Theatre Royal 1905), 1 sh. [performed 2-7.10.1905 – resp. 05/10, 02-04/10, & 06-07/10; leading performer: Martin Harvey].
  • The Breed of the Treshams, by John Rutherford;  The Only Way, a dramatised version by Freeman Wills of Charles Dickens' story A Tale of Two Cities;  Oedipus Rex, trans. by Professor Gilbert Murray and adapted by W. L. Courtney (Hull:  Grand Theatre & Opera House 1912), 1 sh. [performed 11-16.3.1912 – resp. 11-12/03,  13-14/03, & 15-16/03; leading performers: Mr. Martin Harvey, Miss N. De Silva.
Biography
  • W. G. Wills: Dramatist and Painter (London: Longmans Green 1898), 284pp., [front. port.]
Reference works
  • [ed. & rev.,] The Irish Nation:  Its History and Its Biography, by J. Wills, D.D.., and by F. Wills, M.A., 4 vols.  (London & Edinburgh:  A Fullarton & Co. [1871-75] 1875), 8º [22cm]. ill; with pls. [dark green buckram cover; see details].
Miscelaneous

Address Delivered in the Dining-hall of Trinity College at the First Meeting of The Eighteenth Session [of the] College Historical Society November 21, 1860,  by the Auditor, Freeman C[rofts] Wills, A.B. (Dublin:  William McGee 1860 [for the College]),  40pp.; 21cm.

Bibliographical details
The Irish Nation:  Its History and Its Biography, by J. Wills, D.D.., and by F. Wills, M.A., 4 vols.  (London & Edinburgh:  A Fullarton & Co. 1871-75]), 8º [22cm]. ill; with pls. [dark green buckram cover]; and Do., Vol. IV (London, NY & Dublin: A Fullarton & Co. 1875), 709pp; Index, 705ff. [with vol. and page against each alphabetical person treated]. (Imperfect copy available at Internet Archive - online [missing some from papers with t.ps. of all volumes bound at conclusion and each dated 1875.)

Note that the title-pages various cite Fullarton (London); Fullarton (London & NY); Fullerton (Edinburgh) (Fullarton (Dublin), and (Fullarton London, New York, and Edinburgh). The date of publication is missing from the t.p. of some editions (e.g., Edin. [1847]) and also appears in catalogues variously as 1871-75 and 1873-75 - however, all copies of the first volume met with bear the date og 1875 suggesting a uniform printing at the date of the last volume.

Criticism
Allardyce Nicoll, A History of English Drama 1660-1900 [2nd edn.] (Cambridge UP 1959), Vol. 5, p.210; see also Irish Book Lover, Vol. 8.

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References
D. J. O’Donoghue, Poets of Ireland (Dublin: Hodges Figgis 1912), gives bio-dates: b. about 1840.

Allardyce Nicoll, A History of English Drama 1660-1900 [2nd edn.] (Cambridge UP 1959), Vol. 5, cites The Only Way as being successfully produced by Martin Harvey (Lyceum, Feb. 1899).

COPAC/Discover - full listing for Freeman [Crofts] Wills.
  • Address Delivered in the Dining-hall of Trinity College at the First Meeting of The Eighteenth Session [of the] College Historical Society November 21, 1860,  by the Auditor, Freeman C[rofts] Wills, A.B. (Dublin:  William McGee 1860 [for the College]),  40pp.; 21cm.
  • Sermons Preached in S. Agatha’s Chapel, Wilson Street, Finsbury [by] Freeman [Crofts] Wills (London & Edinburgh [1876]), 16cm. [digitised at the request of the NL of Scotland].
  • Seven Last Words from the Cross, by Freeman Wills (London:  Printed by R. Clay, Sons, and Taylor 1876) 30pp. [Pamphl. No. 269; Church No. 3337; Reproduction of orig. in Pusey House Library St Giles].
  • The Church and Spiritualism,  by the Rev. F. C. Wills (London:  G.J. Palmer 1877), 15pp.
    Church Polytechnics for Young Man [sic] and Lads:  An Address [by] Freeman Crofts Wills (London:  Rivingtons 1888), 18pp.
  • Our Lads, The Great Problem [An Appeal for the Building Fund of the Finsbury Polytechnic[,] by F. C. Wills] (London [1888]), 18cm.
  • Lay Sermons for Practical People,  edited by Freeman Crofts Wills (London:  Griffith & Farran [1890]), viii, 268pp.; 20cm.
  • Ida:  A Drama in Four Acts [by] Freeman Wills (London:  Printed by Spottiswoode & Co. New-Street Square 1882), [4], 81pp., [1]; 8vo.
  • The Only Way:  A Tale of Two Cities,  adapted by Freeman Wills and Frederick Langbridge from Charles Dicken’s [sic] novel "A Tale of Two Cities. [1899], 25cm [Foot of t.p.: ‘Originally produced at the Lyceum Theatre London under the management of Mr Martin Harvey (the Lessee, Sir Henry Irving) on Thursday February 26th, 1899. [Bound typescript marked as a prompt book for Sir John Martin-Harvey’s production at the Lyceum Theatre, London, 1899, with manuscript annotations; signed on flyleaf, ‘the property of Sir John Martin-Harvey, Parkholme, East Sheen’; fragile; donated to V & A Theatre & Performance by George Marshall from the estate of Lois P. Marshall (née Bicknell) in her memory.]
  • The Only Way: A Tale of Two Cities[,] adapted by Freeman Wills [and Frederick Langbridge.] from Charles Dickens' novel. Produced at the Lyceum Theatre February 16, by Martin Harvey. [Plates of scenes of the play and portraits of actors. Souvenir of the 100th performance] (London:  Lyceum Theatre; Nassau Press 1899), 4º [Other names incl. Freeman Crofts Wills].
  • The Only Way: A Tale of Two Cities,  adapted by Freeman Wills from Charles Dicken’s novel (Hull, England: Grand Theatre & Opera House 1901), 1 sh. [performed 23.9.1901; leading performers Mr. Martin Harvey, Miss Amy Coleridge.
    [Mimi in The Only Way [1918], [1], 4, 2, [1], 4 lvs.; [part of script as typescript, 20x23cm.; fragile; marked in MS ‘for performance’ and ‘donated by Eva Embury[ׄ], who played Mimi on tour ca. 1918].
  • The Breed of the Treshams, [by] John Rutherford;  A Cigarette Maker’s Romance,  [by] Charles Hannan; The Only Way,  [by] Freeman Wills (Hull:  Theatre Royal 1905), 1 sh. [performed 2-7.10.1905 – resp. 05/10, 02-04/10, & 06-07/10; leading performer: Martin Harvey].
  • The Breed of the Treshams, by John Rutherford;  The Only Way, a dramatised version by Freeman Wills of Charles Dickens' story A Tale of Two Cities;  Oedipus Rex, trans. by Professor Gilbert Murray and adapted by W. L. Courtney (Hull:  Grand Theatre & Opera House 1912), 1 sh. [performed 11-16.3.1912 – resp. 11-12/03,  13-14/03, & 15-16/03; leading performers: Mr. Martin Harvey, Miss N. De Silva.
—COPAC Search - accessible online [accessed 02.10.2024].
[ Note: The catalogue variously cites Freeman Wills Freeman Crofts Wills as author of the works listed. In cases where both author-atttributions are quoted or added to a given title in the co-ordinated catalogues (i.e., COPAC), the name <Crofts> has been added in square-brackets. ]

Notes
Momento: a theatrical programme of The Only Way by Freeman Wills, a dramatisation of [Charles] Dicken’s Tale of Two Cities (Royal Theatre Dublin, 14 Nov. 1906), printed on white silk by Martin Harvey & Co., and encased with others of the same kind, is framed at at Mulligans [public house], Poolbeg St., Dublin.

Namesake?: Note possible confusion with the Freeman Wills Crofts [q.v.] whose books - mainly detective works - are listed on num. author-records with Freeman Wills in response to online searches for the latter. Likewise, in the Dictionary of irish Biography (RIA 2002), a search for “Freeman Wills“ brings up “Freeman Wills Crofts” (1879–1957), and not the other. The version of the name of the above as Freeman Crofts Wills appears to be erroneous - although his father W[illiam] G[orman] Wills used two names in his signature and title-pages - suggesting that Freeman Wills might do the same. On the title-page of the revised version of Illustrious Lives, however, Wills Jnr. appears only as Freeman Wills where his father is named W. G. Wills as primary author of the work..

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