Thomas Wentworth Wills was an Australian sportsman who is credited along with Henry Harrison as one of the inventors of Australian rules football. Australian rules football at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. ...

Wills was born on August 19, 1835 in Parramatta and his family moved to western Victoria when he was four years of age. As a boy, Wills played Marn Grook, an Aboriginal game similar to modern football codes with members of a nearby tribe. At the age of fourteen he was sent to England to attend the famous Rugby School. Upon his return to Melbourne in 1856, he became one of Victoria's best cricketers and was a high-ranking member of the Melbourne Cricket Club, despite his convict heritage. August 19 is the 231st day of the year (232nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1835 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Parramatta is a city, suburb and Local Government Area in Sydney, Australia, 25 kilometres west of the central business district (CBD). ... Marn Grook is the name of an Australian Aborginal ball game which is thought by some to be the basis on which the modern game of Australian Rules Football is based. ... Australian Aborigines are the main indigenous people of Australia. ... An Australian rules football match at the Richmond Paddock, Melbourne, in 1866. ... Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area  - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 1st UK 49,138,831 377/km² Ethnicity... A view of Rugby School from the rear, including the playing field, where according to legend Rugby football was invented Rugby School, located in the town of Rugby in Warwickshire, is one of the oldest public schools in the United Kingdom and is perhaps the leading co-educational boarding school... The City of Melbournes coat of arms The central business district of Melbourne, viewed from the north Alternate meanings: Melbourne (disambiguation) Melbourne is the capital and largest city of the state of Victoria, and the second largest city in Australia, with a population of 52,117 in the Central... 1856 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Motto: Peace and Prosperity Other Australian states and territories Capital Melbourne Governor HE Mr John Landy Premier Steve Bracks (ALP) Area 237,629 km² (6th)  - Land 227,416 km²  - Water 10,213 km² (4. ... Cricket is a team sport played between two groups of eleven players each. ... The Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) is a sporting club based in Melbourne, Australia. ...

During July 1858, Wills wrote a letter to Bell's Life, a Melbourne-based sporting publication, inviting anyone who might be interested to participate in a football match on the 31st of that month in Richmond, a suburb of Melbourne. The following week, Wills umpired the first ever organised Australian rules match between Scotch College and Melbourne Grammar on the land which is now home to the Melbourne Cricket Ground. July is the seventh month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... 1858 is a common year starting on Friday. ... Scotch College, Melbourne (also known simply as Scotch) is an independent school for boys located in Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia. ... Cricket at the MCG. The old Members Stand, in the centre background, has now been demolished. ...

On May 17, 1859, Wills chaired the meeting which agreed upon the sport's rules, making the Australian game the first code of football to possess codified laws. During that year, he was also heavily involved in the formation of both the Melbourne and Geelong clubs, both of which he played for and both of which are still in existence today, playing in the Australian Football League. May 17 is the 137th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (138th in leap years). ... 1859 is a common year starting on Saturday. ... Melbourne Football Club logo The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons since 1933, known in their early days as The Redlegs, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League, based in Melbourne, Victoria. ... Geelong Football Club logo The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed The Cats, is an Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League. ... This is a page about the national league in Australian Rules Football. ...

Wills continued to be involved in football, both as a player and administrator, well into the 1860s. His time at Rugby had given him a liking for that school's particular brand of football, and in 1865 he was still trying to introduce a rugby-style cross-bar into the sport. Events and trends Italian unification under King Victor Emmanuel II. Wars for expansion and national unity continue until the incorporation of the Papal States (March 17, 1861 - September 20, 1870). ... 1865 is a common year starting on Sunday. ...

In his later years, Wills became an alcoholic and in May 1880 at the age of 44 he stabbed himself to death with a pair of scissors. This article is about the month of May. ... 1880 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

External Links

• http://www.convictcreations.com/football/inventors.htm
• http://www.footystamps.com/ot_tom_wills.htm