A christening record in 1743 at St James, Clerkenwell of John Wills, the son of John and Ellenor (sic), may be relevant.
He entered a mark at Goldsmiths Hall in 1779 as a watch case maker from 2 Bull and Mouth Street and in the same year notified a change of address to St John’s Lane, Smithfield where Land Tax assessment records indicate he remained until at least 1800.
John Littler Thompson of Hoxton signed indentures in 1795 to be his apprentice.
Page 344 of the book Watchmakers and Clockmakers of the World notes John Wills of St John’s Lane having been made an apprentice in 1758, gaining his freedom in 1770 and records his death as 1824.