New Images: Hugh, Barbara, and John Chittenden

I am extremely excited to be in receipt of some wonderful images from the archives of the Chittenden family. Sent by a relative of the generation of the family we've examined in association with Newlands School in Seaford, these are marvelous sepia images of characters from our ongoing story.

Above left, we find Hugh Faithfull Chittenden alongside his soon-to-be bride, Barbara May Grundy. We know her here as Barbara Chittenden, croquet contemporary, partner, and nemesis of the Mills siblings, George, Agnes, and Violet, then of Budleigh Salterton.

Above is an image of Hugh Faithfull Chittenden that quite possibly could be of a vintage similar to the Newlands Sports Days (1930s) video discovered on YouTube. He may, in fact be one of the men seemingly in authority captured while not facing the camera.

Next we see Barbara [above] as Mrs. Chittenden, now wife of Hugh, in a lovely portrait. It's quite possible that in that same YouTube video, we catch a fleeting glimpse of Barbara at the 23 second mark. I can't be certain, but there's certainly a resemblance. You can see the woman in question below and decide for yourself!

Finally, we meet [below] the son of Hugh and Barbara, Hugh John Robert Chittenden, a WWII hero who, as we know, was born in Oxfordshire in the summer of 1918 and lost his life on active service with the Military Police of the East Africa Corps in October, 1942. He was known to the family as John.

Thank you more than I can adequately say to the Chittenden family for access to these personal family treasures. The message in which they arrived also added this information regarding the transition of Newlands Schoiol to H. F. Chittenden. here is how it occurred [my emphasis]:

I know in your blog you mention you are unsure how the school was passed to Hugh. Before Hugh, there were two proprietors - a Johnny Grant and a one of the Wheelers (i.e. Hugh's mother's side of the family). Hugh's business partner in the School was initially Edward Cooper (David's Godfather) and then when this partnership was dissolved he then when into partnership with Tom Manning (known by everyone as TDM).

Once more, many thanks, and I look forward to the possibility that this may lead to more information regarding the family, the school, and even our mysterious and elusive George Mills!

New Information: Lady Frances Ryder, Jack Mitchell, and Dr. Harold J. Penny

Hello, everyone! My, it's wonderful to have something to write about George Mills again—even if it won't be about George directly!

I'm delighted! And when it rains, it tends to pour—well, at least here in sub-tropical Florida—and I awakened this morning to find not one, but two Mills-related items in my mailbox. The first regards the home of George's widowed mother, Edith, and spinster sisters, Agnes and Violet, during the Great Depression, when the Mills women lived at 21 Cadogan Gardens, S.W. [left].

During that time, and during the Second World War, a boarder at the home, specifically in "21B," was Lady Frances Ryder. In a previous post we discovered that she did, indeed, live with the Mills during the war, and facilitated the Isles Dominion Hospitality Scheme from her flat with the help of Miss Celia Macdonald.

Reader Roger Kelly writes:

In Who Is George Mills I see you are -like me- puzzled by Lady Ryder and what went on at Cadogan Gardens. It was a club, and used as a postal address and meeting place for people of no fixed address. Close to the heart of the British establishment, there were filing clerks behind the scenes: think of the first ten minutes of "A Matter of Life and Death" -"Stairway to Heaven" to you.

Lady Ryder's organisation comes up in an online biography I'm writing of an overseas student [Jack Mitchell, right] in England towards the end of 1935.

See it on my website here
www.kosmoid.net/technology/jackmitchell

best wishes
Roger
near Edinburgh



Thank you so much, Roger!

While the Mills women are not mentioned on that web page, we find there must have been quite a bit going on. The hospitality scheme is clarified here at the well-researched website:

November 1935

Social efforts to engage new Rhodes scholars continued to target Winston. Jack also would be drawn into the net by the end of the year. It started with an invitation to meet Miss Macdonald of the Isles at Rhodes House on Friday 1st. It was an informal dance evening making things go with a swing and about 30 Rhodes Scholars were there of all nationalities –a high proportion Americans - with a good number of quite nice English and Danish girls. Miss Macdonald of the Isles, whose very name helped to cast a spell, announced that a social week was being arranged in London for Rhodes Scholars and others in the second week of December, and there would be a chance to stay with different people in the Christmas break too. Very kind, but as Jack says, these people arrange the “scheme” in much the same way as others as well-to-do go “slumming”.

Miss Macdonald ran Lady Ryder’s Empire hospitality scheme for English-speaking officers, Rhodes scholars and other eligible students from the dominions and overseas. At the scheme’s headquarters in 21B Cadogan Gardens, Sloane Square, London, tea was dispensed and dances were held. Card indexes were kept of 1600 or so potentially lonely visitors who might be helped each year, and of appropriate households prepared to provide a home, friendship and the prospect of some suitable female company for weekends, vacations, leave, study and convalescence. Girls of good family could be drafted to serve as live-in help for host households while the young overseas guests came to stay. It all seemed very well organised. The recipients were duly grateful if sometimes a little amused by all the thoughtfulness for their moral and physical welfare. In the war years ahead Miss Macdonald’s pastoral work would be extended to Czechoslovak, Polish, Norwegian, Dutch and French free forces officers and to the airmen who would find themselves stationed in the hundreds of airfields scattered around the country.


Later in this wonderfully thorough biography, we find:

Hospitality ahead

Saturday evening [7 December 1935] was set for Miss Macdonald’s big At Home at 21B Cadogan Gardens. Among the throng with Winston –and missing Jack– were Eric Haslam, his friend Hoon of Victoria, Gibson a friend of Wood, Porus, Rossiter of Merton, Norman Davis again, Lionel Cooper of Capetown, McPherson, Stewart of Canada, and more ad infinitum. Among the girls were Miss Lovegrove of Canada and Miss Dinah Nathan of Wellington NZ.

The Lady Ryder Scheme’s hospitality continued through the week with a Sunday trip to Hampton Court Palace, a personal tour of Sir Christopher. Wren’s Old Court House [right] and afternoon tea with its owner Norman E. Lamplugh, dinner with the Holding family in Kensington, on Monday a coach tour from Cadogan Gardens to be shown round the vast HMV record factory at Hayes, then to hosts Mr and Mrs Powell in Earls Court with Gunther Motz, Miss Hearn from Canada and Miss Lewis from Australia. Afterwards all were invited to a magnificent Ball given by the Goldmiths Company where Winston spent time with Motz, Miss Johnson from England and Miss de Charme from Paris. Tuesday took them to Twickenham for the varsity rugby match where Oxford’s kiwi captain Malcolm Cooper excelled against Cambridge; in the evening to a studio performance at the Gate Theatre by Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies. Wednesday was set for lunch in Kensington with the family of Sir John Gilmour the recent Home Secretary and dinner in the City with the Grocers Company where the speakers were Jack’s old friend Lord Bledisloe and Miss Macdonald of the Isles. Thursday’s trip from Cadogan Gardens was to Hatfield House with a personal tour conducted by the tough old Marchioness of Salisbury. On Friday the academic aspirants were dispersed to their hosts in the country for the weekend. And Jack could join in for a break at last after his busy week in the Lab.


The context in which we discover this information is through the life of John Wesley “Jack” Mitchell, FRS, (1913-2007), an outstanding international scientist from New Zealand whose work in chemistry and physics examined the properties of materials and extended the possibilities of high speed photography [left].

It turns out that Lady Ryder's scheme encompassed far more than simply caring for servicemen (and presumably women) during the war, and it seems natural to think that, with Ryder hosting teas and large parties—note that a "throng" of international personalities on that "Saturday night" mentioned above—the Mills family must have been involved quite closely with the scheme and attendant at parties and dances, and perhaps even the scheme's outings.

This fits well with what we know about the Mills sisters: Posh, even a bit snobbish, and socially comfortable with a wide range of individuals from many different walks of life and diverse nationalities, especially peerage. One look at the list of croquet players they played with and against while situated at their retirement home in Budleigh Salterton attests to that!


Speaking of croquet, an Australian player by the name of Dr. Harold J. Penny took to the lawns against the Mills family (including George), and he was the subject of the second message I received this morning, this one from Dr. Robert Likeman:

Harry,

Here is a brief bio of Harold Penny from my forthcoming book. It may help to fill in some of the blanks in your blog.

Kind regards,
Robert

1. PENNY, Harold John, Captain (1888-1968). MB BS Adel 1913. Penny was born in Semaphore SA, the youngest son of Charles James Penny, a teller in the Bank of Adelaide, and his wife Emma Stephens. He was educated at St Peter’s College and Adelaide University. He rowed for the University in 1911 and again in 1912. After graduation he completed his residency at Adelaide Hospital and the Children’s Hospital. During the former term, he made the papers three times for treating patients with gunshot wounds. He was commissioned in the RAMC in March 1915, and sailed for England on the RMS Mongolia. The first thing that he did on arrival in England was to get married, to Winifred Annie Lake from Bristol. Penny was promoted Captain in March 1916. He returned to Australia after the war, and set up practice in Nailsworth SA, but evidently Winifred did not care for Australia, and the couple returned to England. They were divorced in 1925 on the grounds of Winifred’s adultery with a dentist, Frederick Rowat. The same year Penny married a vicar’s daughter from Harrow-on-the Hill, Mary Violet Ridsdale (1901-1974). They returned to Nailsworth, but in 1928 announced their intention of moving to Western Australia. It is uncertain how long they remained there, but before 1938 they had returned to England to settle at Tunstall, Staffs. Penny was a world class player of croquet. He died in Bournemouth in 1968.


Dr Robert Likeman


Thank you, Dr. Likeman!

Interestingly, the news reports we read involving Dr. Penny were, indeed, regarding gunshot wounds, a subject in which he obviously became an expert. It would then be wholly natural that he would have been highly desirable as a medical officer during the war.

Dr. Likeman is Director of Health for the Australian Army and the author of Gallipoli Doctors: The Australian Doctors At War Series, Volume 1 (First Edition 2010, Slouch Hat Publications, McCrae, Victoria), and I presume Penny's biography will be found in Volume 2. Dr. Likeman (LtCol, CSM) is the author of several other books on Australian Military History that can be found at the Slouch Hat Publications website. Volume 1 was awarded a Silver Medal in the New York Independent Publishers Awards earlier this year.


(Oh—and just an aside regarding the film A Matter of Life and Death (Stairway to Heaven in the U.S.): It starred David Niven, whose mother, Etta, coincidentally was dying in a nursing home in Kensington along with Revd. Barton R. V. Mills, father of George Mills, when the Mills family patriarch passed away in 1932!)


It really is wonderful to be writing about the life and times of George Mills once again! Should you have any information, theories, details, ideas, suppositions, hypotheses, or just want to discuss George or his family and friends, please let me know at the e-mail address, far above, to the right.

Many thanks!

From the Mailbox: A Budleigh Croquet Photograph

As we wrap things up here at Who Is George Mills?, one thing that does keep us going is our metaphorical mailbox. A message has arrived this week with a clarification and an interesting observation.

Here's a not from Chris Williams of the Croquet Association regarding a previous entry and the colour photograph you see below [click to enlarge]:


I spoke to Martin Granger-Brown over the weekend and he was a member at Budleigh in the late 60s/early 70s and remembers the Millses. I showed him the photo that you published on Saturday 9th July and he was able to name a few more of the people in the photo.

You have

Front Row: Unknown could be Robin Godby who lived in London, Joan Warwick, John Solomon (who was the subject of the poem I sent you by Gerald Cave), Bill Perry + Sally his dog, unknown, Sir Leonard Daldry.

Back Row: John Cooper (I think), unknown, unknown, unknown, Guy Warwick, unknown, Gerald Cave.


He reckons that the back row is

John Cooper, unknown, Ralph Bucknall, Jim Townsend, Guy Warwick, unknown, Gerald Cave.

He also thinks that the lady on the right in the front row is Lady Daldry.

He also said that Aggie was very haughty and posh and used to look down on people.

Regards,
Chris


Thank you so very much, Chris! We are now able to put some names alongside a few more faces in the above photograph.

For our purposes here, though, what is even more interesting is the brief observation in the last sentence.

We know from the Devonshire Park photograph (circa 1957) that Aggie Mills, sister of George Mills, had no qualms about placing herself front and center in the image among women who were presumably her friends. Players and croquet personalities of greater notoriety than Aggie placed themselves off to the side: The legendary Hope Rotherham springs immediately to mind.


Her brother George and sister, Violet Mills, both found themselves positions towards the rear and away from the center in the image. You can see them all marked on the image above.

One wonders why so few people today recall George Mills, and really have dim recollections of his sisters much beyond a first impression—good or bad—of any of the Mills siblings.

Perhaps it was a bit of haughtiness, apparently on the part of sister Aggie, that tended to keep others somewhat at arm's length from the Mills. Agnes and Violet were already ensconced at Budleigh Salterton in 1947, and George apparently came to live with them somewhat later—likely around the occasion of that 1957 photograph.

While the family—apparently even including George—were quite social themselves, one can't help but wonder how reserved their friends and acquaintances may have been. It's interesting to note that despite the involvement of the three Mills sibs in croquet at Budleigh, none of them seem to appear in group photographs of cheerful players at the club.

Agnes, as they say, apparently was known to enjoy pulling the cork, as they say. Might it be that this social family—led by elder sister Agnes—may not have been enormously well-liked, at least not as much as they were well-known socially?

The reality that Budleigh Salterton was unaware that George Mills had once been a successful children's book author—and, in fact, his books then were being reprinted in the late 1950s for enjoyment by a new generation of readers—is completely mystifying to me.

Perhaps haughtiness and a condescending attitude played some role in it.

It is, at least, worth considering.

Rooms to Let: 21, Cadogan Gardens, S.W.3

It's a sunny morning with gentle breezes wafting through the horse country of north central Florida off the tail of Hurricane Irene. The heat index is supposed to creep up to a stifling 108°F today, but it's no longer summer here as it is in most of the United States: The children here have already been back in school for a week!

My plan had been to wrap up our study of George Mills by the time I returned to my classroom, but I fell just short of that. Today, we'll look at one aspect of the Mills family that may be of interest, although it's uncertain exactly how much it deals with George Mills directly.

As you may recall, George was married in 1925 and purchased a home in Portslade. His father, the Rev. Barton R. V. Mills, passed away in January 1932 while his family was residing at 24 Hans-road in London. The name on the family's telephone listing changed to "Mrs. Barton Mills" that same year.

Labouring under an assumption that George may still have been residing in his Portslade home when he was not away teaching at Windermere and Glion, Switzerland, the residents of 24 Hans-road would have been Edith Mills, Barton's widow and George's mother, and Agnes and Violet Mills, the spinster sisters of George.

Then, in 1933, the address for family's telephone listing in the London directory changed from Hans-road to 21 Cadogan Gardens, S.W. 3, although the telephone number—SLoane 3278—remained the same.

The family obviously had moved to new quarters after the patriarch's death. Let's go to the London Times, however, for more information.

A classified advertisement in the 11 April 1933 edition of The Times reads:


COOK-GENERAL, required for flat; 3 in family. Apply after 3 or write, Barnard, 21 Cadogan Gardens, S.W. 3.


We don't know exactly when the remaining members of the Mills family moved to Cadogan Gardens—just that the address appeared in the November 1933 telephone directory. The relocation came early enough, however, to make the printing deadline for a November directory.

There are two ways to look at the above entry at first glance. One way is to assume that the previous residents were simply in need of a cook, a domestic who later moved away with them when that family left in favour of the Mills.

"Barnard" may, I suppose, have been a dependable servant in charge of interviewing the new cook, but for which set of residents we do not know. It may have been the surname of the new owners just as easily. Still, if George and his wife, Vera, were still living in Portslade in 1933, the members of the Mills family moving into 21 Cadogan Gardens would have, indeed, numbered three: Edith, Agnes, and Violet.


Let's see what else we may find in The Times…

In the 9 December 1933 edition, almost two years after the death of Rev. Barton Mills, we find this advertisement in the classified category FLATS & CHAMBERS:

ADJACENT HARROD'S, KNIGHTSBRIDGE. — LARGE ROOM on entrance floor, adjoining bath room to be LET, Unfurnished ; constant hot water, electric light and power ; excellent service and catering ; 42s. per week. — 24 Hans Road S.W. Sloane 4025.


I'm not exactly sure what this tells us, save what a large room near Harrod's went for per week. It is possible the family had held onto the property, and that the Mills were subletting rooms at 24 Hans Road [right] as a source income—as far as we know, none of the Mills women were working. While the number Sloane 4025 was not their own phone number, it may have been the number of an agent who handled rentals for them or an additional line at 21 Cadogan Gardens.

Or it may have had nothing to do with them at all: I can search London directories by name, but not by telephone number.

Once again assuming the property to have something to do with the Mills family, we can see the worldwide economic depression has tightened on London. Here is virtually the same advert, this time from 30 October 1934:


KNIGHTSBRIDGE (adjoining Harrod's):. — BED-SITTING ROOMS. Furnished and unfurnished; h. and c. basins, constant hot water; house telephones. Furnished from 27s. 6d. ; unfurnished from 25 s.-45s., to include service and light; all meals at moderate prices. — 18 and 24, Hans Road, S.W.3 Kens. 7541.


Less than a year later, 24 Hans-road had multiple furnished and unfurnished rooms to let, and "excellent catering" had become "meals at moderate prices." Couple that with the addition of 18 Cadogan Gardens and change in phone number and we might assume that, even had the Mills retained 24 Hans through 1933, it likely was no longer among their assets. Someone else had acquired the property.


Why might the Mills family have held 24 Hans Road in order to let rooms, even for a short while? It seems to be what they were doing during that time, evan at Cadogan Gardens [left]. Let's take a look at a few more classified advertisements from The Times.

This is from death notices in the 20 December 1937 issue of The Times:

HIBBERT. — On Dec. 17, 1937, at 21 Cadogan Gardens, S.W., HELENA MIDDLETON (LENA), widow of CAPTAIN EDWARD ROWLEY HIBBERT, and last surviving child of Christian Allhusen, of Stoke Court, Stoke Poges, in her 80th year.


While it's possible Mrs. Middleton had simply been visiting, why then was no actual address provided? She clearly would have been boarding at 21 Cadogan Gardens with Edith and the girls.


From the 25 May 1938 issue of The Times, in the column entitled FORTHCOMING MARRIAGES:

MR. P. N. LOXLEY AND MISS E. L. DAWNEY

A marriage has been arranged, and will shortly take place, between Peter Noel Loxley, H.M. Diplomatic Service, only son of the late Captain Noel Loxley, Royal Navy, and of Mrs. Loxley, temporarily of 24, Cadogan Gardens, S.W.3, and Elizabeth Lavender Dawney, daughter of Major-General and Mrs. Guy Dawney, of Longparish House, Longparish, Hampshire.


Here we find another widow of a British officer living with the Mills, albeit seemingly temporarily in this case.

One wonders how many boarders of this era quite honestly took a room 'temporarily' yet subsequently never relinquished it.


In addition, we find this item in the 29 September 1939 edition of The Times:

MR. R. H. AMES AND MISS C. ZIMMERMAN

The engagement is announced between Robert Hugh Ames, only son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Y. Ames, 21, Cadogan Gardens, and Miss Carlotta Zimmerman, niece of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Meyer, 440, Park Avenue, New York City.


Here we find a couple, Mr. and Mrs. Ames, taking up residence with Edith and the girls. London telephone directories show that the Ames had their own phone in the house, and a Robert Y. Ames was at the time a barrister of the Temple Bar.


In a section entitled LADY CLERKS & TYPISTS, in the 13 April 1942 issue of The Times, we find:

LADY Francis Ryder requires a Secretary and a Card Index Hand, both for Services hospitality organization ; trained, experienced ; good references ; 40 or over ; Write 21, Cadogan Gardens, S.W.3.


Records show that Lady Ryder was involved in hospitality for servicemen during the Second World War. From the website Australian War Memorial, we find a paper written by Hank Nelson for the "2003 History Conference – Air War Europe" entitled A Different War: Australians in Bomber Command.

Of the bomber crews, Nelson writes:

Even when they were operating frequently, aircrew could eat, sleep, read, and play a game of billiards in conditions far removed from those inside a bomber fuselage. When crews were stood down, had a “48” (a 48-hour leave pass), or took their regular six days leave in every six weeks, they could travel to the local towns – Lincoln, Grimsby, Skegness, and York – and go to a dance, have a meal at a pub, see a movie, or attend a service at Lincoln Cathedral or the Thomas Cooper Memorial Baptist Church in St Benedict Square, Lincoln. They could go to the home of an English crew member, or that of a family nominated by the Lady Frances Ryder and Miss MacDonald of the Isles Dominion Hospitality Scheme, sleep in, read the newspapers, and wander across the fields. Or they could catch a train to London, stay at the Strand Palace Hotel close to the Boomerang Club and Codger’s bar, see the sights, and take in the show at the Windmill Theatre, John Gielgud as Hamlet at the Theatre Royal, Noel Coward’s Blithe spirit at the Duchess Theatre, or a concert at Albert Hall. Less than 24 hours later, aircrew could be taking a Halifax on a test flight preparing it for an operation over the Ruhr.

The National Portrait Gallery listing for Lady Ryder states: "Lady Frances Ryder (1888-1965), Organiser of Dominion Services and Students Hospitality Scheme; daughter of 5th Earl of Harrowby." A pair of 1925 portraits of her taken by photographer Alexander Bassano is seen above, right, and at left.

Apparently much of Lady Ryder's organising was done from the home of Edith, Agnes, and Violet Mills!


Among the death notices in the 19 May 1944 issue of The Times, we discover:

KITTERINGHAM. — On May 18, 1944, at 21, Cadogan gardens, S.W.3, MATILDA JEMIMA KITTERINGHAM, passed peacefully away. Requiem, St. Mary's, Cadogan Street, S.W.3, to-morrow (Saturday), at 10:00 a.m., and afterwards at Kensal Green.

A spinster, Kitteringham had been a nurse at "T.F.N.S. No. 5 City of London General Hospital" according to the 15 April 1919 edition of the Edinburgh Gazette, page 1479.


In the 22 September 1944 edition of The Times, we find this interesting advertisement:

REQUIRED shortly, COUNTRY ACCOMODATION for mother, two small boys, and nurse, for one or two months. — Gilmour, 21, Cadogan Gardens, S.W.3.


Without speculating on the reason for requiring these "country accommodations," one must envision 21 Cadogan Gardens as having been a rather interesting place during the war: Married couples, elderly spinsters (one of them a Peer), aging military men, and single mothers with young boys, all living with the genteel Mills ladies in London at a time when wartime rationing and German rockets must have made each day quite trying, to say the very least.

It sounds like quite an interesting place to live, and we do know that, in 1944, George Mills was using the Naval and Military Club in London [left]—which itself had suffered damage from Nazi bombs—as his address, having relinquished his commission in the Royal Army Pay Corps in 1943.

We find, then, that it is possible that housing in London may have been so difficult to find that Mills couldn't get a room in his family's own home. It's also possible, though, that he simply didn't want one there, preferring the club to 21 Cadogan Gardens.


On 12 December 1945, Edith Elizabeth Ramsay Mills, mother of George, Agnes, and Violet, would pass away. From the 14 December issue of The Times:

MILLS. — On Dec. 12, 1945, after a few days' illness at 21, Cadogan Gardens, S.W.3, ELIZABETH EDITH, widow of REV. BARTON R. V. MILLS, and daughter of the late Sir George Dalhousie Ramsay, C.B. Funeral at Holy Trinity Church, Brompton, on Monday Dec. 17, at 2 p.m. Please, no flowers.


The family did not immediately vacate 21 Cadogan Gardens, and death would soon visit once again. From the 21 June 1946 issue of The Times:

DRUMMOND. — On June 18, 1946, CAPTAIN FREDERICK HARVEY JOHN DRUMMOND, M.C., of 21, Cadogan Gardens, S.W.3, beloved husband of Elizabeth, and son of the Lady Katherine Drummond and the late Allan H. Drummond. Funeral at Sherbourne, near Warwick, Monday, June 24, at 2 o'clock. Memorial service at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, June 24, at 2:30 p.m. Flowers to Messrs Ashton and Co., 235, Fulham Road, South Kensington.


Funeral arrangements and services for boarders like drummond [his geleaology is seen, excerpted from the 1908 text Coke of Norfolk and His Friends by Anna Maria Wilhelmina Stirling, at left] may have been becoming a bit too much for the Mills sisters—assuming George was not living with them at Cadogan Gardens.

As noted before here, by 1947, Agnes would have been 52 years old, and Violet, 45. Now with no mother [who'd been born, married, lived, and died right there in Kensington] to keep them in London, it would be no surprise to find that the girls might leave town to live out their Golden Years.

1947 also found these additions to the British Library's Manuscripts Catalogue: "Ramsay (George Dalhousie) of the War Office; knt. 1900. Correspondence and papers 1835-1898," and "Papers of G. D. Ramsay rel. to the Royal Army Clothing Dept. 1855-1898," Add. 46446 – 46450.

The donors of those manuscripts? "Mills (Agnes Edith). Miss. grand-daughter of Sir G. D. Ramsay. Presented, jointly with Miss V. E. Mills 1947," and "Mills (Violet Eleanor). Miss. grand-daughter of Sir G. D. Ramsay. Presented, jointly with Miss A. E. Mills 1947."


It seems that the girls had been busy cleaning out 21 Cadogan Gardens following their mother's passing, and finally arranging a place for the papers of Sir George Dalhousie Ramsay, their maternal grandfather, to reside in perpetuity [right].


Since the presentation of Sir George Dalhousie Ramsay's papers to the British Library was in the name of Misses Agnes and Violet Mills, may we assume that George was not in residence with them at the time of the discovery and bequeathing of their grandfather's manuscripts?

The listing for Mrs. Barton Mills [SLOane 3278; 21 Cadogan gdns, S.W.3] stays in place in the London directories until its last appearance in the 1947 book.


The Misses Mills then appear in the 1948 telephone directory at Budleigh Salterton, residing at Grey Friars. Given the actual listing—"The Misses Mills"—George was not residing with them in Budleigh at the time.


To summarize the life of the Mills family between 1932 and 1947, after the death of Rev. Barton Mills, his wife and daughters relocated from Hans Road to nearby Cadogan Gardens and began running what was basically a boarding house (although I am certain that, given their elite neighbourhood and clientele, there must have been an upscale euphemism they would have preferred) through the Great Depression and the Second World War.

Their rooms must have had a quality of exclusivity about them as we do not find any advertisements to let them. "Word of mouth" about the Mills home must have been enough to keep them full of tenants.

[We should, however, keep in mind the capricious and obstinate nature of the on-line search engine of The Times database. When we used it to collect croquet results for the Mills siblings, it provided access only a small fraction of the information available. It is distinctly possible that the Mills did advertise for tenants in The Times on many occasions and the exceptionally poor search engine there cannot locate those entries.]

Following the death of their mother Edith in 1945, the spinster sisters of George Mills cleaned out 21 Cadogan Gardens in 1947 and took their lives—Agnes was 53 that year, and Violet 45—to Devon, where they took up residence at Grey Friars, at 15 Westfield Road [left], in Budleigh, literally just a hundred or so feet from the croquet club.

Eventually George finally would—probably in the late 1950s—come to live with them, all of them playing bridge and croquet until the 1970s, when George passed away in December 1972 and the girls both in July 1975.

Croquet, Memories, and Dr. William Ormerod

Yesterday afternoon I had the distinct pleasure of an interview with croquet icon Dr. William P. Ormerod. To hint that I conducted the interview would be misleading: Dr. Ormerod has a wealth of information, anecdotes, and memories, and he was kind enough to take me on a quick tour of a by-gone era in the game's past.

In fact, Ormerod [seen, far left, in the 1969 photograph at left], born in 1937 in Bristol, continued his family's position as the longest line of physicians in Britain's history, starting in 1789, the year of the French Revolution, and continuing for, I believe, seven generations.

Of his roots in the sport of croquet, the charming Dr. Ormerod recalls, "My first tournament was in 1952 when aged 15 years, and my first opponent was at Parkstone [against] a lady, Miss Hedges. She was in fact Lady Barbarolli's aunt, and when she knew that I was also musical and played the 'cello, she said 'William, don't let's play this silly game; we should go inside and talk about music!'"

His initial involvement with the sport came at the suggestion of Kathleen Ault, a player of that era who was associated with croquet legend, author, and philanthropist Maurice Reckitt.

Ormerod recalls that Reckitt [right], as we know, was associated with the company Reckitt Colman, but the "directors paid him to stay away from the board meetings." He was a fine croquet player who first won a championship in 1935, and later wrote the text Croquet Today.

Reckitt was a noted Christian socialist, but also was known as a "champagne socialist," because of his belief that whether one won or lost at croquet, it was always best to follow play with champagne.

He and his wife, Aimee, loved dancing, an activity for which they were well known for some 40 years. Aimee was also an accomplished tennis player who had competed at Wimbledon in the 1920s, but Ormerod recalls that she played the 'cello as well. His recollection, however, is that she at last gave a recital during which something went awry, and she sadly never played in public again.


Dr. Ormerod also tells wonderful stories of some other noted personalities of the era.

He felt a kinship with Major Freddy Stone, a player who had begun playing at a young age as well, at 12 or 13 years old in 1912, and who "hit the ball like a bullet." Stone had a distinguished military career, but his most noteworthy service might have been in the British army's assistance during Turkey's Hakkari earthquake in 1930.

The Turks had been foes during the First World War, but afterwards the English provided such substantial help that Stone was told, "We will never fight against the British again!"


Of another player, legendary Daisy Lintern, who was also a noted manager of croquet tournaments, Ormerod recalls that, "as opposed to white, ladies at the time wore colorful silk dresses and hats to play."

Lintern apparently once had occasion to attend a funeral on the day of a match while wearing a hat festooned with flowers. Deciding her floral hat to be too much for the service, she quietly set it aside, out of sight. Much to her surprise, the casket was later brought out with the hat sitting on top, having been mistaken for a wreath!


Ormerod also has fond memories of Guy and Joan Warwick, with whom he stayed while in Budleigh Salterton, almost next door to the Mills siblings, George, Agnes, and Violet. His association with the Warwicks began even before Guy and Joan moved to Budleigh.

Brother and sister, the Warwicks [left] had lived, as we know, in a Victorian house in Peterborough, and while Dr. Ormerod was attending Cambridge in 1956, he would ride "from Cambridge to Peterborough by bus and play croquet all day long." During his time spent there, Guy, an architect, would drive Ormerod to Hunstanton, and "on the journey there, he would point out buildings he had designed, especially in the Georgian style."

Soon after that, the Warwicks had retired to Budleigh, which Dr. Ormerod recalls as being a "special" place: "When I was a boy Majors retired to Exmouth, Colonels to Sidmouth, and Brigadiers, Generals and Top Brass to Budleigh--all towns within 10 miles of each other !"

Joan Warwick was a noteworthy player of croquet, and Ormerod recollects her as powerful, and that while most women relied on some finesse, Joan was "not a very elegant player like some of the ladies, but she had a good eye for the ball," and consistently hit the ball quite hard!


Finally, of George, Agnes, and Violet Mills, Ormerod has a few memories.

He recalls the siblings were "well educated and had apparently come from a family that was well-connected," as well as having had enough money to live by their own means. He remembers visiting their home just once, when he was 19 years of age (it would have been 1956-1957), but has no real memories of the occasion.

Of Agnes [seated, right], Dr. Ormerod recalls that Aggie "was a great character," whose gait was unusual, waddling along with out-turned feet. (We've already been told that children in Budleigh were fascinated by Agnes's unusual appearance). He describes her as "very nice, highly educated... and very involved in croquet."

One other thing: Agnes apparently played with unusual equipment that apparently came from Burma!

Contrasted with her much larger sister, Violet Mills was "slim and ladylike, not as good a player as Agnes," but again, "a very nice person."

Of George Mills, Dr. Ormerod seems almost apologetic about his lack of remembrance. Aware today of Mills's status as a children's book author, he did not know then that Mills wrote, nor has he been able to find anyone else who knew that Mills had been a writer. "Even my mother did not, which surprises me," he explained, "as she was quite a literary person."

He recalls Mills [left] only as a player, but does remember that George had been "a smart, dapper chap, a great contrast to Aggie," the latter often having been rather careless about her appearance. It did not surprise Dr. Ormerod at all that George Mills had spent time at Harrow and Oxford, and he distinctly recalled that Mills had "an unclear voice, [and] a lisp."

Interestingly, when told that Lt.-Col. Gerald Cave of Budleigh had described George Mills as "exuberant," "loveable," and "enthusiastic," he replied, "Those are words I would use to describe Gerald Cave himself."


This past weekend Dr. Ormerod played croquet in the "Dorset Golf Croquet Champs. at Parkstone, where I played my first croquet tournament in 1952 aged 15 years."

He continues: "Talking about croquet players in the 1950's and playing croquet at present brings a wry smile to my face; all the financial markets continue to plummet and major problems in middle east and horn of Africa. But Sir Francis Drake still played Bowls as the Spanish Armada approached Plymouth in 1588 !"


Ironically, as we spoke that evening, four cities in England, including London, had concluded a day of frightening rioting and looting, reminding me that times have certainly changed since the Mills siblings took to the lawns.


The croquet resume of Dr. William P. Ormerod is stellar, and it includes the fact that he played on the MacRobertson series winning team in 1956 when at Cambridge University, aged 19 years, as well as in 1963, 1969, and 1974. In addition, he won the Delves-Broughton Open Golf Croquet Doubles Championship in 1954 when aged 17 years, partnering Brigadier A.E. Stokes-Roberts at Roehampton. Ormerod was winner of the Open Doubles Championship seven times (in 1960 partnering H.O.Hicks, and in 1971/2 1975/6 and 1977/8, partnering G.N.Aspinall). He was also winner of the Parkstone Dorset Salver Open Croquet event on nine occasions between 1956 and 2010—a remarkable 54 years between winning it for the first and the latest time!

Now Dr. Ormerod spends a great deal of time "coaching golf croquet at Swanage Croquet Club where I also belong."


Dr. Ormerod has played around the world. A more complete sketch of his career accomplishments in the sport of croquet can be found HERE. For his record in the database of the Croquet Association, between 1954 and 1984, click HERE.

It was great honor to have the opportunity to discuss the sport with the legendary Dr. Ormerod, and I am grateful for his kindness, his time, and his generosity.


[Update: Here's an update I received from Dr. Ormerod on Tuesday, August 23, 2011: "For the sake of accuracy here are just two further comments. It was Aggie Mills who had a marked lisp, not George(although he may have had one). Also I see you have mentioned Hakkari on the Turkey/Iran border as the site of the serious earthquake in 1930--certainly that was the site mentioned for 1930 quake in literature; however his comments re Turkey not fighting the British I well remember. This comment was also made by a patient of mine, Mr. Shillabeer, who served as a private under Major Freddie Stone and also helped at the earthquake. Mr Shillabeer died in the 1970's and was from Ermington, Devon, before moving to Parkstone in approx. 1968. (I was a GP in Parkstone 1965--1995 before retiring last year after 15 years as a government Tribunal Doctor working with the Judiciary)." Thank you once again, Dr. Ormerod, for your patience and your time. I remain extremely grateful for your kindness.]

Dr. Harold J. Penny of Adelaide and Stoke-on-Trent

Today we'll meet a person who numbered among the most common opponents of the Mills family: Dr. H. J. Penny. Penny presents a figure with an interesting history, especially when one includes him among the diverse mix of post-WWII croquet characters and personalities with which we've become acquainted here at Who Is George Mills?

Harold John Penny was born on 24 June 1888 to Charles James Penny and Emma Stephens Penny in Semaphore, Adelaide, South Australia [upper left]. Of his family or youth we know little to nothing, but in the Adelaide Advertiser of Tuesday, 22 December 1903, we find that Penny (out of St. Peter's Collegiate School) —then 15 years of age—had passed Junior Examinations at "The University." Penny had passed exams in English Literature, Greek, Latin, French, geometry, and chemistry, earning him a place on the "List of students who have passed five or more subjects, and who therefore, receive the junior certificate."

In the same newspaper two years later, on Monday, 18 December 1905, Penny passed three Senior Examinations at the University of Adelaide: Greek, Latin, and geometry. Five passed examinations were required for earning a senior certificate, so Penny's name appeared on a list below that one: "List of candidates who have passed in less than five subjects."


In 1906, Penny also passed five examinations, according to the Tuesday, 25 December, edition of The Advertiser: Greek, Latin, French, arithmetic and algebra, and geometry. He received a 1906 senior certificate.

In the same chronicle, on Thursday, 19 December 1907, Penny appears on a "Pass List" of the University of Adelaide, once more having passed examinations in Greek, Latin, and French.

At this point, Penny, who apparently has enjoyed years of schooling in languages and maths, seems to have left it all for a spell.


He crops up again in 1911. According to data recorded at http://www.rowinghistory-aus.info/, Penny rowed in the Adelaide University Men's Eight, which competed at the 1911 Australian University Championships in Port River, Adelaide. His team finished 3rd behind Melbourne and Sydney Universities.

According to that site: "This was the first of four straight wins pre WWI for Melbourne but the margin was small - 1 1/2 lengths from Sydney. The race was conducted over a 3 mile course on 10th June 1911."

Penny rowed for Adelaide again in the 1912 Championship held in the Parramatta River, Sydney, and once again his team finished 3rd behind Melbourne and Sydney. The site this time adds: "The race was conducted on 1st June 1912."

Penny was clearly back at Adelaide, but studying what subject in earnest?

The Advertiser dated Thursday, 18 December 1913, carried this information about the 25-year-old Australian: "The Dean of the Faculty of Medicine presented for the degrees of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery:-Walter John Westcott Close, Laurance Llewellin Davey, Sydney Ernest Holder, Frederick Neill Le Messurier, Reginald Blockley Lucas, John Christian Mayo, Harry Carew Nott, Harold John Penny, Harold Powell, and Joseph Stanley Verco (Everard Scholar)."


The next day, Friday, 19 December 1913, the same newspaper ran this item [seen, left]: "At a meeting of the South Australian Medical Board on Monday , afternoon Walter John Westcott Close, Sydncy Ernest Holder, Frederick Neil LeMessurier, Reginald Blockley Lucas, John Christian Mayo, Harry Carew Nott, Harold John Penny, Harold Powell, .Joseph Stanley Verco, and Laurance Lewellin Davey, all M.B., B.S., Adelaide, 1913; and James McBain Ross, M.R.C.S., Eng., L.R.C.P. Lond., 1901, were registered as legally qualified medical practitioners."


By 10 January 1914, we find this note in a column entitled "Personal" within the Adelaide Advertiser: "Dr. Harold John Penny, M.B., B.S., (Adel. 1913), was appointed by the Executive Council to be a resident medical officer of the Adelaide Hospital for the ensuing 12 months."


By 12 March 1914, Penny made the papers in a case in which the master of a four-masted barque, Hougemont, John McDonald, was accused of "having on 18 February unlawfully and maliciously shot at [inebriated able seaman] John Murray with a revolver, with intent to do grievous bodily harm."

The article continued: "Harold John Penny, resident medical officer at the Adelaide Hospital, said he treated Murray in the institution on February 19."

The case was held over for trial, while Penny must have had some interesting dinner table conversation that day.


According to The Advertiser, dated Tuesday, 21 April 1914, Penny took part in an inquest into the death of a 38-year-old laborer, Joseph Eade, who had died at the hospital on 16 April: "Dr. Harold John Penny, of the Adelaide Hospital attributed the cause of death to shock and hemorrhage, consequent upon bullet wounds. These were just below the ribs on the left side of the body. The internal organs in this vicinity were injured. The deceased had told the witness that he used a firearm with his right hand… The Coroner's verdict was that deceased died from bullet wounds self-inflicted whilst of unsound mind."


Yet another case, this one described in the same paper on Saturday 27 February 1915, actually involving the will, estate, and beneficiarfies of Catherine Ratliffe of Australia Plain, cited: "Harold John Penny, medical practitioner at the Children's Hospital, said that on January 21 he was a resident medical officer at the Adelaide Hospital. He recollected the informant being brought in. She was suffering from shock and hemorrhage, caused by three recent bullet wounds in the right shoulder, two cuts on the lip, and a bruise near the collarbone. He attended to the patient for 10 days until she left the hospital. The wounds could be caused by bullets from a revolver of the kind produced."


Perhaps it was the violence of such cases that caused Penny to look into a shift to the local Children's Hospital [picturd, left].

And treating those victims of gunshot wounds would foreshadow the next phase of Penny's medical career.

We now fast-forward to the London Gazette of 1 June 1915 for the item regarding Penny. In a section entitled "ARMY MEDICAL SERVICE. Royal Army Medical Corps." it says: "The undermentioned to be temporary Lieutenants:— Dated 26th March 1915. Harold John Penny, M.B."


That notice confirmed what had appeared in the Adelaide Advertiser on Saturday 20 March 1915, several months after Great Britain had entered hostilities in the First World War: "Dr. Harold J. Penny, late of the Adelaide and Children's Hospitals, and youngest son of Mr. C. J. Penny, Hackney, has been notified of his appointment to the staff of the R.A.M.C., and leaves by the R.M.S. Mongolia [seen below, right] on Thursday next for London."


The Gazette followed with this in their 10 April 1916 edition, in a similar section: "ARMY MEDICAL SERVICE. Royal Army Medical Corps." It reads: "The undermentioned temporary Lieutenents to be temporary Captains:— Dated 26th March 1916. Harold J. Perry, M.B."


In exactly one year, Penny had entered the service and been promoted to Captain. Under unprecedented and nightmarish conditions, Penny was obviously excelling.


Following the war, the Medical Directory of 1919 listed Penny's practice as having been in his hometown at "23, Osborne Street, Hackney, Adelaide, S.A." Penny have returned to Australia and hung out a shingle after witnessing the carnage of the war. Considering the chemical warfare, as well as the technological advances made in the efficient mechanized destruction of soldiers, during the worldwide conflict, one shudders to think of some of the horrors he witnessed—ones that would have made those gunshot simple gunshot wounds treated in Adelaide seem extremely mild by comparison.

But records at Britain's National Archives at Kew contain the following record: "Divorce Court File: 8145. Appellant: Harold John Penny. Respondent: Winifred Annie Penny. Co-respondent: Frederick Haddon Rowat. Type: Husband's petition for divorce. Covering dates: 1925."


This would indicate that, at some point between 1919 and 1925, Penny relocated once again, this time to back to England.

F. H. Rowat was a dentist. His description in the 1960 edition of The Author's & Writer's Who's Who reads: "ROWAT, Frederick Haddon, FDS, HDD, LDS b: India 1894. e: Merchant Venturers Sch. Bristol, m: Munro-Chick. d: 2. Dentist, publ.: This Won't Hurt a Bit (J. Wright); The Palmy Days of British Oratory (Ceylon Times), a: Braeside, North Petherton, Somerset."


Penny's wife was probably born in Australia in the late 19th century, but there is no dearth of "Winifred Annies" having been born in South Australia during that period. Her maiden name is unknown. Neither records from the UK nor Australia record their marriage. In fact, ancestry.com has no record of the Penny union in any of its collections.

In 1938, at the age of 50, Dr. Penny sailed into Southampton aboard the steam ship Balmoral Castle of the Union-Castle Line on 19 September from Madeira. His address is handwritten as "28 Windmill St., Tunstall, Stoke/Trent."


This address is corroborated by a 1950 Stoke-on-Trent telephone directory, which lists his practice—clearly a partnership—in this way:

Penny, H. J, & Fee, S. R, Physns, Srgns,
      28 Windmill St, Tunstall . . . . . . Stoke-on-Trent 87642

His residence is listed as:

Penny, Dr. H. J,
      Claremont Porthill . . . . . . . . . . . Stoke-on-Trent 88180


The Medical Directory of 1961, however, lists the practice as being called "Penny, Fee, Wojtulewski, & Neill."


Notable on the manifest of Dr. Penny's return trip from Madeira is the lack of a wife, or even of a travelling companion. He was the only unaccompanied male from Britain or its colonies on the voyage. This trip alone may say a great deal about the pain from which Penny still must have suffered due to the betrayal committed by his wife and their divorce proceedings some 13 years earlier.

In the Medical Directory for 1959, Commonwealth List, Penny is listed as practicing at "28, Holland Street, Tunstall, Staffs," and it indicates his "Date of Registration" as having been 3 May 1915—coincidental with his arrival for service in the Royal Army Medical Corps.


Penny began playing tournament croquet, just before his trip to Spain, having competed in the North of England from 27 June to 2 July 1938. He also played that tournament in 1939, as well as in the Derbyshire Championship and for Hurlingham's Younger Cup, in which he beat Aimee Reckitt.

After the war, Penny—58 years of age in the summer of 1946—returned to the lawns. His career post-war record can be found in the database of the Croquet Association by clicking HERE.

Although the CA records Penny as an opponent of the Mills siblings—George, Agnes, and Violet—just 3 times (1-2 versus Agnes Mills), results from the London Times provide some evidence that—aside from doubles games which included George Mills—Penny played Violet Mills at least 3 times. He lost to her in 1960 (Parkstone) and twice (Budleigh Salterton). In fact, there is no evidence Penny ever beat Vi Mills.

Six career games against the Mills siblings may not seem like a great deal, but it does make him one of their arch enemies here—especially figuring in his appearances as a doubles partner and opponent of one or the other of the sibs.

The Times also records the Mills siblings as having encountered a C. H. R. Penny during their time playing croquet, although I also cannot locate him in the database. The Pennys played doubles together at least once, on 15 September 1960 at Parkstone, where they lost to the tandem of George Mills and Bryan Lloyd-Pratt [pictured, left], (-13).

A 1960 telephone directory for Southampton lists a C. H. R. Penny as residing at Chaffyn Grove Cottage, 75 Bourne Avenue, with telephone number "Salisbury 2905."


[Update: This was received today, 6 July 2011, from Mr. Williams of the CA:

CHR (Christopher) Penny is in the 1946-1984 database. Search for Christopher Penny. I have 14 games for him between 1957 and 1963.

Chris

For career information on Christopher H. R. Penny, click HERE, and thank you, Chris!

The database records no games against them, but C. H. R. Penny played singlely against the Mills at least once: He defeated Violet Mills in the Level Singles Final at Parkstone in 1960, according to The Times.]


Were the two Pennys related, they would have played even more matches as a family against the Mills family—hence, their inclusion here.

A member of what we recently saw referred to as "Croquet's Old Brigade," Dr. H. J. Penny died in Bournemouth, Dorset, England in March 1968. As far as we know, he never remarried. Penny played croquet from 1938 through 1967, winning 232 of 513 post-war games.