Charles Wills

Sir Charles Wills KB, PC
Sir Charles Wills
Member of Parliament for Totnes
In office December 1718 – December 1741
Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance
In office April 1718 – December 1741  †
Governor of Portsmouth
In office 1718–1719
Governor of Berwick-upon-Tweed
In office 1715–1718
Personal details
Born	Charles Wills 1666 St Goran, Cornwall
Died	25 December 1741(1741-12-25) (aged 75) London
Resting place	Westminster Abbey
Nationality	English
Political party	Whig
Occupation	Soldier and politician
Awards	Privy Councillor 1719 Order of the Bath 1725
Military service
Allegiance	England 1689–1707  Great Britain 1707–1741
Years of service	1689–1741
Rank	General
Unit	Colonel, 30th Foot 1705–1716; Buffs, 1716–1725; Grenadier Guards 1726–1741
Battles/wars	Williamite War in Ireland The Boyne; Aughrim Nine Years' War Landen Namur 1695 War of the Spanish Succession Cádiz; Guadeloupe; Barcelona; Cagliari; Almenar; Saragossa; Brihuega Jacobite rising of 1715 Preston

General Sir Charles Wills KB PC (October 1666 – 25 December 1741) was an English officer in the British Army and a politician. He served as Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance and sat as a member of parliament for Totnes from 1718 to 1741.

He began his military career in 1689, serving successively in the Williamite War in Ireland, the Nine Years War and the War of the Spanish Succession. During the Jacobite rising of 1715, he commanded government troops at the Battle of Preston, which ended the rising in England.

Wills was rewarded with promotion to lieutenant-general and returned for Totnes, a seat controlled by the Duke of Bolton, a prominent Whig. Despite making little impact on Parliament, he was a reliable supporter of the government and appointed Privy Councillor in 1719.

George I made him one of the first members of the newly revived Order of the Bath in 1725, but Wills failed to gain a peerage as expected. He died in London on 25 December 1741 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.