SIR JOHN WILLS

Sir John Wills, businessman and farmer, died on August 26 aged 70. He was born on July 3,1928. A WELL-KNOWN figure in the West Country, who served on the boards of several com - panies , Sir John Wills enjoyed one unique distinction: he was the first and last Lord - Lieuten - ant of the County of Avon. Born into the Bristol tobacco family of 18th and 19th-centur merchant venturers, Sir Jo. Vernon Mills, the 4th baronet was educated at Eton and the Royal College of Agriculture, Cirencester, and commis - sioned into the Coldstream Guards in 1946. He succeeded

his brother, Sir George Wills, who was killed on active ser - vice , to the baronetcy in 1945. His forefathers had founded WD and HO Wills, which lat - er became Imperial Tobacco. Although he played no.part in the family business, Wills was a reassuring and calming pres - ence in a number of the re - gion ' s boardrooms, including those of the Bristol & West ^uilding Society and Bristol Jnited Press. He became particularly as - ziated with the water indus - ty . being chairman of both Bristol Waterworks and the Wessex Water Authority when they were public utilities. He was a member of the National Water Council, 1973-82 .

He plso ran a collection of dairy > ms in Somerset, and throughout the 1950s he was re - nowned as a premier breeder of Hereford cattle. Despite his active business life, Wills maintained his mili - tary links, serving in the North Somerset Yeomanry, 1954-67 . He was subsequently honorary colonel of the...