Major Tom Wills, Coldstream Guards, scion of the Wills baronets, died 20 March, 2024. He was 83.
He was owner of Miserden Park, a grand Jacobean manor with expansive, intricately laid out grounds near Stroud in Gloucestershire. He was High Sheriff of Gloucestershire in 1985, and appointed Exon HM Body Guard of the Yeomen of the Guard in 1993
He was born 31 May, 1940, (twin with a brother Frederick), a son of Major Michael Desmond Hamilton Wills, MC (1915-1943), Coldstream Guards, and his wife Mary Margaret Mitford (1916-2006), scion of that landed gentry family. His mother married 2ndly, 1947, Colonel Sir Martin St John Valentine Gibbs, KCVO, CB, DSO (1917-1992, of The Manor House, Ewen, near Cirencester.
Wills married in 1982 (div 1992), Penelope Howard-Baker (born 1953), daughter of Benjamin Howard-Baker, of Glascoed Hall, Llansilin, Shropshire, by his wife the former Ann Layfield, by whom he had issue, a son, Nicholas James Noel Hamilton Wills (born 1983), now of Miderden, and a daughter, Camilla Jane Hamilton Wills (born 1985).
Miserden was built in the early 17th century by the Sandys family. The natural scenery of Miserden, where it’s situated, is spectacular: its gardens overlook the River Frome and a deer park, while its grounds incorporate woodland and farmland. This magical, multifaceted estate in a Cotswolds hamlet, also called Miserden, has evolved gradually as successive owners have left their mark on it.
In the 1920s, Edwin Lutyens made a significant contribution to Miserden, which scooped the Historic Houses Garden of the Year Award in 2018; this has been presented annually since 1984 and is sponsored by Christie’s. In 1919, (Frederick) Noel Hamilton Wills (1887-1927), (grandfather of Maj Tom), bought the property in 1913 — and commissioned Lutyens to design a new east wing with an arched loggia after the house was badly damaged by a fire. He also created a loggia and a striking topiary yew walk featuring crenellations echoing those of the loggia.
It seems to run in the Wills family to be green-fingered. Tom Wills, a grandson of Noel and his wife the former Margery Fraser moved into the estate after his grandmother died in 1980 and devoted himself for 40 years to maintaining her legacy, while making his own additions, largely inspired by his passion for trees and forestry. In 2013, he planted a circle of lime trees opposite the house to mark the centenary of the Wills family owning Miserden. He also established its arboretum, planting about 75 per cent of its trees.
Maj Tom Wills was appointed LVO by Queen Elizabeth II.
A private funeral for family and those of Miserden village, by invitation, will be held on Wednesday 10 April, 2024. There will be a Memorial Service at the Parish Church of St John Baptist, Cirencester on Wednesday 15 May, 2024.
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