ABSTRACT
Successive generations of the Wills family had much in common. They were guided by a strong belief in the parable of the talents, though this did not lead them to adopt a completely austere, puritanical view of life. Congregationalism taught them a sense of responsibility to those less fortunate than themselves, and their religious nonconformity was the mainspring of their political radicalism; though as the character of English radicalism changed over the nineteenth century, they gradually came to appear less radical and more paternal. Moreover, towards the end of the century certain members of the family became Anglicans but this had little effect on their general outlook on life. Sobriety and distaste for personal extravagance, which sometimes appeared as petty meanness, are their most apparent personal characteristics.
