David Wills Archive

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Reference number	WILLS
Level of description	Collection
Date(s)	1928-1979
Extent and medium	46 boxes approx.
Category	Personal Papers
Scope and content	┆Papers of David Wills including correspondence, articles and lectures, newspaper cuttings, photographs and personal items.
History	David Wills was a pioneer of residential therapeutic child care. Born in 1903, he was a Quaker and active member of the Society of Friends. In his early career, Wills worked in a number of hostels for 'maladjusted' boys, and in the Settlement Houses sponsored by Welsh Quakers. In 1935 he wrote an article for 'The Friend', Quaker publication in which he called for a bold experiment in the treatment of young offenders. He believed that creating a community setting in which young people would be encouraged to take collective responsibility for the maintenance and improvement of their environment. Wills believed this would produce far better results than traditional custodial methods. The article caught the attention of Dr Marjorie Franklin secretary for a newly formed group, the Q Camps Committee, supported by supported by British Friends’ Penal Reform Committee. Franklin invited Wills to join the group, and in May 1936 the first Q Camp - Hawkspur Camp, opened on Hill Hall Common in Essex with David Wills as Camp Chief. Following a successful tenure at Hawkspur, Wills was invited by the Friends to take up the appointment of Warden at the newly created Barns School and Hostel, Peebles, Scotland in 1940 which looked to provide residential care for boys considered too disruptive for inclusion in the government evacuation scheme. When Barns closed at the end of the war, Wills relocated to Bodenham Manor School for ‘maladjusted children’ in Herefordshire where he remained until 1961. In the early 1960s, Wills supported a group of Quakers to establish Glebe House,a residential children's home, becoming a founding trustee. Wills was also one of the first Trustees of the Planned Environment Therapy Trust, founded in 1966 by Dr. Marjorie Franklin for the promotion of therapeutic practices. Wills was the author of many influential books examining therapeutic communities: The Hawkspur Experiment (1940), The Barns Experiment (1945), Throw Away Thy Rod (1960), and Spare the Child (1971). Wills was awarded an OBE for his services to education in 1974. Wills passed away in 1981.
Name of creator(s)	Wills, David
Access status	OPEN
Language	ENG