Charles Watson Warrell, Westfield Road, and I-Spy

The lazy, hazy (if not yet terribly crazy) days of north central Florida's summer are tightening their collective sultry grip around the population here, and the constant hum of air conditioners has been added to the songs of the local birds, the buzz of the cicadas, and the croaking of randy frogs in Ocala's numerous retention ponds after a shower.

In no time at all, it seems, I've caught up on more pressing matters related to our research, so it's probably a good time to take a look at some things that have been simmering on the metaphorical back burner.

Back in January we had word from an unnamed friend of Budleigh Salterton's Michael Downes about the discovery of Grey Friars, the home of George Mills and his sisters. Information regarding the abode, 15 Westfield Road, included this:

Interestingly there was another children’s author who lived in Westfield Road – he was the author of a series of the “I Spy” books, but at present the name escapes me!

Now, colour me interested! Two mid-20th century children's book authors just happened to end up as neighbours in Budleigh Salterton in Westfield Road. First of all, let's determine when each of the gentlemen arrived there.

We know the Misses Mills, Agnes and Violet, left their home at Cadogan Gardens in London where they had lived with their mother until her passing in 1945, in 1947. The telephone there was in the name of the "Misses Mills," although we know at some point—either then or in the future—brother George would also reside there.

This information is from a website called Great War Forum:

Charles Watson Warrell was born at Farnborough, Somerset on 23 April 1889. At the time of the First World War he was married (probably to Elizabeth Gill?) and the Head Teacher at Higher Wych School, Whitewell, Flintshire.

At some later date he was Head at Pleasey Hill School, Notts. He came up with the very popular "I-Spy" series of children's books, publishing them from 1948 onwards and assuming the guise of "Big Chief I-Spy". He retired in 1956 and handed over the mantle of Big Chief and the books (which after going through various hands and metamorphoses are apparently still in print).

He went to live at Budleigh Salterton, Devon, and died aged 106 at Matlock, Derbyshire on 28 November 1995.


That gives us the name of George's author/neighbour, and a possible year that Warrell, a veteran of the Great War, probably took up residence at Budleigh, although he it may have taken some time to locate and purchase a dwelling. Perhaps, then, he arrived to stay as late as 1957.

In 1956, as we know, George Mills spent the summer term teaching at Ladycross Preparatory School in Seaford. We also know that he began playing competitive croquet for the first time in 1957, actually taking a prize at the tournament in Budleigh Salterton that July.

George would play croquet alongside his spinster sisters through 1971 when he became too ill to take to the lawns. Before that, George Mills is not listed on any prize lists.

In addition, in his 1973 Croquet Gazette obituary, authored by Budleigh's Gerald Cave, it is noted that George "was a late starter to croquet." Mills would have been 60 years of age when he took that 1957 prize. Can we assume that George may not have been retired before then, had not yet made Grey Friars his permanent home, and was not able to pass his days on the lawns at the club until then?

Warrell and Mills probably arrived at Budleigh intending to make it their permanent residence sometime in 1956 – 1957.

It may be because of my generally skeptical nature, but I'm prone to think that most 'coincidences' generally aren't.

We also know that Mills was enjoying a bit of a renaissance as an author at that time. Andrew Dakers, Ltd. and Spring Books in London reissued his three schoolboy titles (Meredith and Co., King Willow, and Minor and Major) for a new generation's reading pleasure. The post-war baby boom, with most of the boys of an age to enjoy George's titles above by 1957, would seem to have coincided nicely with Mills reaching retirement age.

George necessarily would have spent time in London in 1956-57, signing papers for the reprinting of his texts, and possibly even doing book signings at local booksellers.

Did Mills and Warrell meet as children's book authors, perhaps in London? Let us not forget that they were both schoolmasters, and, as we see above, they were both veterans of the First World War.

If George's plans were to retire with his sisters at seaside Budleigh Salterton, might he have shared that idea with Warrell at a time when Warrell was thinking about how to spend his own golden years?

Perhaps. It would be interesting to know if the two men were friends because we have no evidence at all to suppose that anyone in Budleigh Salterton—not a single person that I know of—knew that George Mills was or once had been a published author of books for children.

Let's finish with an excerpt from Warrell's obituary by Nicholas Tucker of The Independent from 30 November 1995:

After failing with eight publishers, Warrell produced his little books by himself. He then chose his local branch of Woolworth's as a main outlet, drawing on a friendship with that firm's principal book-buyer based originally around a common interest in breeding pigs. Swift sales led to many more books, plus serialisation for two years in the Daily Mail and then, for a longer spell, in the News Chronicle. The whole series was to last till 1986, since when it has re-appeared under a succession of different publishing houses.

Warrell's I-Spy books combined simplicity of design with a great deal of accurate, often ingenious, research. Costing only sixpence, or a shilling in colour, each miniature paperback concentrated on a particular topic ranging from The Seaside to People in Uniform.

Parents… increasingly bought those books best designed to keep children occupied first on train journeys and later in the family car. At its height, the whole I-Spy operation involved over 1 1/2 million young Red-skins, with two women assistants employed solely to answer members' numerous telephone and written questions.

Always happy to appear in his giant head-dress on special I-Spy pow-wows held at different parts of Britain, during which various tasks would be set followed by a grand session of prizegiving, Warrell eventually opted for a quieter life at his home in Budleigh Salterton, where he walked and gardened almost to the end. His birthdays in later years became something of a rallying point for Red-skins both young and old, happy to honour their still surviving Big Chief in his serene and well-earned retirement.

The article concludes:

Charles Warrell, teacher, writer, publisher: born Farmborough, Somerset 23 April 1889; married Elizabeth Gill (deceased; two daughters), secondly Marian Tucker; died Matlock, Derbyshire 26 November 1995.


There is nothing here to suggest clearly that Warrell and Mills had anything but a passing acquaintance, if that, perhaps simply a polite nod of acknowledgement in passing during strolls along Westfield Road [below, left]. Budleigh clearly knew who Warrell was, while George Mills, though an affable croquet player, was apparently locally unknown as a British author.

This fits into our findings that, while people remember the presence of George in Budleigh Salterton, or are sure that they must have met him, I have found no one with any clear recollection of the man.

This rests at odds with this line from Cave's croquet obituary of Mills, mentioned above: "[H]is exuberant and loveable personality made him a welcome member of the game."

George Mills is certainly a mystery: A sociable, witty, exuberant, and lovable man who almost no one seems to be able to remember.

Perhaps this connection with Warrell will prompt someone to write who may have known both men at Westfield Road, and then we may be able to bring George Mills into far greater focus!

Please contact me with any memories of, or information about, Charles Warrell or George Mills of Westfield Road, Budleigh Salterton, and thanks!

A Virtual Walking Tour of Budleigh Salterton (While Thinking Aloud about George Mills)

Churches seem to have always played an important role in the lives of the Mills family. This is probably no better exemplified than by the letter that George Mills wrote to The Times on 8 April 1959 entitled "Dogs in Church," apparently in reply to an on-going, whimsical thread of mail that had struck a chord in Mills. The missive is a nostalgic retelling of a story that George's father, the Revd. Barton R. V. Mills often told about going to church with his parents, Arthur Mills, M.P., and Lady Agnes, as well as their black retrievers, Belle and Achille.

The last line of the death notice of George Mills that we saw yesterday reads: "Funeral service at the Roman Catholic Church on Wednesday, December 13, at 10:30 a.m." Friend Michael Downes couldn't find a grave for Mills in the local burial ground in Budleigh Salterton (although that may have been due to the inclement weather), and until we know where George rests, his story in Budleigh ends in a church with that 10:30 a.m. service.

It's a dazzlingly sunny morning here in Florida, but cuttingly cold for this part of the world [37°F / 3°C] and the level of insulation found in the houses. However, technology has advanced to the point where I can sit here and virtually stroll around Devonshire, exploring—thanks to Google Maps. I know this won't be of interest if you are a resident of Budleigh Salterton, but for me, it's exciting to see the town across the pond!

First, let's look for the Budleigh Salterton Hospital [above] where Mills peacefully departed. It's at the corner of Boucher and East Budleigh Roads in what is apparently Otterton. Really it's just across the croquet lawns and cricket fields—both sporting loves of George—from his home, Grey Friars. It's about 1500 ft. from the Mills home to the main entrance of the hospital, but it appears to be a rather circuitous drive from one to the other.



On the way back to Grey Friars, I strolled down The Lawn from High Street and took a look at the beautiful edifice that appears to be St. Peter's Church of England [above], although I couldn't find a sign. After receiving his Master's in History from Oxford, George's father, Barton, had been a vicar in the Church of England from 1887 through 1901, as well as having been a chaplain briefly in San Remo, Italy, and an assistant chaplain at the Royal Chapel at the Savoy. Subsequently, the senior Mills worked as a religious scholar and as a military chaplain during the First World War.

We know, however, that Barton Mills converted to Roman Catholicism while at Christ Church, Oxford, before becoming a cleric in the Church of England—sometime before 1885. From the United States, it seems odd that a cleric in one denomination would worship as a member of the congregation of a different denomination—Barton Mills certainly must have missed a few Catholic masses while busy delivering sermons for the C of E at the same hour—but no one I've discussed it with in the UK seems very much surprised by that at all (except for the current Chaplain of the Queen's Chapel of the Savoy, Peter Galloway, who found the news implausible and immediately questioned the authoritative 1885 reference book without even bothering to review it because it did not coincide with his bias). Revd. Barton R. V. Mills appears to have been Roman Catholic by faith, Church of England only by vocation. I leave it to the reader to surmise the tenets of which creed would have been passed, personally, from father to children in such a case.

The entire Mills family's repeated affiliation with Catholicism is far more than coincidental, so it's no surprise at all that George's funeral service was held at Budleigh's "Roman Catholic Church" (also named for St. Peter, a fact left out of the death notice, presumably to prevent confusion among those wishing to attend the service). Grey Friars is virtually equidistant between the two churches of St. Peter, so Mills's spiritual choice of denomination clearly wasn't based on mere proximity. The Mills family clearly was no longer associated with the Church of England.


After turning north up Slaton Road and Moor Lane, I turned north on Upper Stoneborough Lane. While walking along Clinton Terrace, I found a lovely, far more simple, brick church [above].

Turning the corner, I found the entrance [above]...

Looking carefully, the sign at front appears to read "Catholic Church of St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles," obviously the location of George's funeral. I imagine Mills closing his dripping umbrella and stepping into the warm, dry vestibule on rainy Sunday mornings...

Returning to Moor Lane, I followed it out to the West, to the very end, where it meets Dark Lane, across from the primary school. There I found St. Peter's Burial Ground, presumably where Michael Downes and his wife, Annie, looked for the final resting place of George Mills one misty winter day.

Approaching the entrance, I carefully read the sign, then strolled along the hedge [above], peering over and thinking... Wishing I could enter...

I wonder if this locale is where George Mills finally went to rest. His paternal grandfather was a powerful M.P., and associated with the Efford Down House in Bude, Cornwall. His paternal grandmother was Agnes Lucy Dyke Acland, daughter of Sir Thomas Dyke Acland VI, 10th baronet, M.P., of Broad Clyst, Devon. The Columb John Chapel at Killerton [below] there in Devon was still being used for Acland family burials after Sir Thomas's death. Could George have found a resting place there?

But one wonders where his father, Barton, was buried after his death in 1932? With the Aclands at Columb John, part of the estate where he and his brother Dudley Mills had been raised for much of their youths by the aging Sir Thomas while father Arthur journeyed to many of the empire's colonies? Knowing where Dudley now rests might help in all of this!

George's mother, Elizabeth Edith Ramsay, was the daughter of Londoner Sir George Dalhousie Ramsay, and she may have been laid to rest alongside her father. Might George be resting near his mother in London—or even with other kin in Scotland?

His wife, Vera Louise Beauclerk Mills, was of the lineage of William I on the Beauclerk side of the family, and granddaughter of the legendary Sinophile Sir Robert Hart on the other. Vera, who passed away in 1942 at the age of 48, may have been buried in a family plot with either family. Could it be that George ended up alongside her?

Or is it likely that the childless Mills, along with his spinster (and presumably childless) sisters, Agnes and Violet, rests together with them in the St. Peter's Burial Ground there in Devonshire, near Grey Friars, the croquet club, and the sea, where they'd all lived so happily for a quarter of a century at the end of their lives?

It's even possible, I suppose, that Mills and/or his sisters were cremated. Still, nothing in the family's past would lead me to believe that.

We've followed the life and career of George Mills—schoolmaster, author, paymaster—from his birth in Bude, Cornwall to his passing in Budleigh Salterton, Devon. He spent a great deal of his life moving around, as we're well aware. I'll admit, I'd very much like to know where, exactly, he at long last came to rest.

MWM Seeking Beryl & Ian

Everything new that I learn about George Mills or his family necessarily informs everything else I've learned. A professor once explained some rudimentary system theory to me, and if I understood it correctly, the gist is this: Change one part of a system and you've made changes in the entire system.

My collection of information about Mills easily fits the American Heritage Dictionary's definition of a "system": A group of interacting, interrelated, or interdependent elements forming a complex whole.

So, the corollary here, I suppose, would be: Learn something new about one aspect of George Mills and you've made changes in what you know about the entire body of information.

Case in point: Here's something I've wondered about for some time now. There are so many aspects to the life of George Mills that as I ruminate over what you've shared with me, that new information informs other bits and pieces I know--or about which I've wondered.

The edition of King Willow whose image [right] was recently posted on the Budleigh & Brewster United website by friend Michael Downes is apparently from the late 1950's of early 1960's. There's no copyright info in that edition of the text, the publisher no longer exists, and dates of publication I've seen on-line (1955 through 1963) have all turned out to have been guesses made by antique booksellers. Given the style of art and haircuts on the characters, that 'era' seems about right.

Those years put the book's new publication squarely in George's time living in Budleigh Salterton. The updated dedication to that edition of King Willow is to a young newlywed couple "Beryl and Ian." This sounds strange, but I've contacted a variety of "Beryls and Ians" around the internet who were born in the late 1930s and none of the couples knew of a George Mills, nor had any books dedicated to them, and it seemed they could've been from anywhere Mills had ever lived or taught.

I'd long speculated that Mills must've lived for years with his spinster sisters at Grey Friars. It is clearly documented that he'd died there, but I knew he might've only been staying with them as an invalid in the last year or so of his life, and had lived elsewhere. We now know that George Mills was a vibrant, long-time resident of the Budleigh community. It's been confirmed, and that now informs what we know about the dedication of the later edition of King Willow!

Is it possible Beryl & Ian are still in Budleigh and their names simply don't appear on-line for me to find? Mills's dedication uses "long voyage" and "good ship" to describe their matrimonial bliss--a perfect metaphor from a man and for a young couple who all live by the sea!

Does anyone now living (or who has lived) in Budleigh know any couples (or ex-couples) named Beryl & Ian who might've known George? My hunch is that they were very likely the children of George's friends at the croquet club and would now be 70-ish years of age. I could be wrong, but the clues point in that direction!

Please let me know if any of this rings a bell, and as always, I very much appreciate your help!

Ain't It Funny How Time Slips Away...

I've been thinking about Dr. David Evans and his recent description of George Mills [right].

"...a very sociable welcoming person."

"...devoted to his sisters Aggie and Vi."

"...but in no way was he dependent on them."

That's good news. As I mentioned in my last entry, I feared that Mills may have become 'damaged' (for lack of a better term) by a string of personal tragedies and illness he'd suffered during the 1940s.

It's good to know that to a physician (and one from a time during which I suppose healers grew to know their patients far more personally), George seemed hale and happy.

Still, the question nags me now just as it did almost a year ago: Why does a fellow write and publish three well-received books during the years 1938 and 1939, and then never publish more than a letter to The Times for the rest of his life—some 32 years?

Backpedaling to the very beginnings of my search for the identity of George Mills, I'll remind you that Heather Lawrence of Peakirk Books in Norfolk opines, "It is possible he just got fed up with writing!"

"Fed up" is a term that I would typically associate with a writer of far less successful tales and far fewer published works. Still, who can say she's wrong?

Another set of words crossed my mind as well. I received a thoughtful and well-considered message from my dear friend, Jennifer, in Philadelphia. Although on a somewhat different topic, it offers a similar line of thinking:

"Maybe [one's] creative life has just run its course. Margaret Mitchell only wrote the one novel... Not every creative person keeps creating until they die. Maybe some people can't sustain that kind of emotional energy. Maybe they don't want to."

That notion of 'not wanting to,' possibly due to being 'fed up,' returns to my mind again and again.

Perhaps while not completely shattering his life, Mills couldn't 'sustain the emotional energy' necessary to write something book length after those tragic events—the death of his wife, a dear friend, his mother, all during a war that left London bleeding and his own health a shambles.

In the words of that noted philosopher, Willie Nelson (seen left, a man who never seems to have lost his muse), "Ain't it funny how time slips away?" Did Mills always mean to write another book? Was his summer term at Ladycross Boys' Catholic Preparatory School in Seaford, Sussex, in 1956 seen as a chance to collect new characters, develop a new setting, and create new stories about prep school boys—a subject he'd once lovingly depicted in such amazingly precise detail? Dr. Tom Houston of the Windlesham House Association describes George thusly: "Mills evidently had a gift for befriending boys and learning their secrets; Meredith & Co. captures the idiom of pupils during the interwar period more accurately than any other novel."

Peakirk's Heather adds: "Meredith & co was 1 of the first prep school stories of its kind, lighthearted & whimsical, a forerunner to the Jennings books of Anthony Buckeridge, in so far as it emphasizes the comical side of school life. However the importance of games & work are not forgotten."

1933's publication of Meredith & Co. by Oxford University Press—a sumptuous, Depression-era book illustrated by the fabled C. C. Brock—speaks volumes about the high regard that was shown by the industry for his manuscript.

Following that with three more books in 1938-1939, had Mills managed so quickly use up all of his stories, his patience, and his passion for writing? And did he ever try to rekindle it all later in life?

Or, despite a nice, little side income from the re-issuing of his schoolboy titles in the 1950s, did the fact that he was an author become something that Mills simply stopped thinking about and ceased discussing with anyone? Were his conversations eventually filled with the weather, bridge strategies, croquet tournaments, and the results of cricket matches at Lord's? Residents of Budleigh's Westfield Road, which ended at the Mills domicile, Grey Friars, today know that another children's author, Charles Warrell, the aged creator of the famed I-Spy books, lived on that very same lane. Why did no one ever seem to realize neighbor George Mills was a children's book author as well?

Michael Downes recently reported: "Budleigh Salterton has a literary festival, and one of the documents produced by our local museum for that event was a list of authors formerly living in the town. George Mills (along with many others) was not on the list, and I have added to it over the years with other names. So George Mills is quite a find for us."

So it seems Mills probably wasn't always 'meaning to get around to it,' as far as writing another book was concerned. Perhaps he was just waiting for inspiration to strike. Still, he certainly didn't let his neighbors and the community at large know of his past, or of any hope he might've had that his literary muse might someday return. Or is it possible he actually had... and no one very much cared?

Jennifer certainly agrees Mills may have been awaiting inspiration and adds: "[But] you can spend the rest of your life sitting around waiting. Tearing things out of one's psyche is an arduous and not always pleasant process. It's easier to say, well, those days are gone. I don't have the energy for that anymore. It's frightening how easy it is to just let your mind sink into its own puddle of lethargy."

Perhaps George Mills was, indeed, 'fed up.' Perhaps he just 'didn't want to' write. Perhaps he faced his own 'puddle of lethargy' and simply never did meet his muse again—even among the prep boys at Seaford in 1956.

For whatever reason, Mills apparently must have spoken so little of his literary career that Budleigh residents never knew they had a popular author in their midst in the person of the very sociable and welcoming George Mills.

Still, I'd love to know: Why?

And I wonder: Is this really all about George Mills?

Or is this really far more about me?

Some "Well-known Budleigh Characters"

More news from Budleigh Salterton and friend Michael Downes!

Here's some of what Michael had to say in his latest message: "Here's a photo [left] of Dr Evans, (George's) GP, and some memories of the family which I've put on my blog… I contacted the funeral directors in Budleigh Salterton in the hope of finding out whether George was buried or cremated, but unfortunately they throw out any records over ten years old."

It's a pity about those records. It may seem a bit morbid, but it would be interesting to know how the story of George Mills ended. A family plot including many of the cast of characters we've learned about here would actually give the story some finality and provide my "relationship" with the Mills family—I do feel a great deal of warmth for them—some closure.

You can read Michael's blog entry "Searching for George Mills in a Parallel Universe" at: http://budleighbrewsterunited.blogspot.com/2011/01/searching-for-george-mills-in-parallel.html

Here is an excerpt from that blog entry:

'"[George Mills] was a very sociable welcoming person," recalls Dr David Evans of his former patient, "as indeed were his sisters. They used to have quite big parties, and were well-known Budleigh characters. He was devoted to his sisters Aggie and Vi. They got on well as a nice little family, but in no way was he dependent on them."

Dr Evans remembers that George Mills and his sisters were croquet fanatics, and were also keen on bridge. "They would go to Budleigh Salterton Croquet Club under all circumstances."

He remembered that Violet was a good golfer. "Just after World War Two she was on a ship to South Africa and was invited to represent the national England golf team."

Again, I delighted to be able to publish such little details like this which at the speed of light will reach my literary detective friend in Florida. Details which, like tiny brush strokes, will help him complete his portrait of the mysterious George Mills.'

Michael also weighs in on the possibility of Budleigh existing in a "parallel universe," a strange notion I recommend that you explore more deeply by clicking on the link above—it's well worth reading!

I know that, to many, these few sentences from Dr. Evans won't seem like much, but to me they're absolute treasures.

After so many months—now going on a year—of investigating the nearly forgotten lives of George Mills and his family, I've become familiar with them all in so many ways. Mostly, though, I know a myriad of recorded details, events, and dates. One of the ways in which I'm least familiar with them all, however, is in any sort of personal way.

We know George Mills to be a very likeable, social fellow. Dr. Tom Houston of the Windlesham House Association wrote of George's time at Windlesham: "In the Michaelmas term 1925 he wrote pieces (a prologue and songs) for a staff concert, and wrote that up in the magazine. He made people laugh, a lot." Houston also believed Mills had been involved in theatre productions as part of the school's Amateur Acting Association.

I worried aloud for some time now that the talented and affable Mills, who never published another book after 1939, may have become a sort of "broken" man after suffering a series of tragedies during and just after World War II. Had Mills become a fellow who tragically had to forfeit a career as an author, and spent his final years needing the care of his spinster sisters?

Not to worry, apparently! Dr. Evans describes Mills as "a very sociable welcoming person," and I must admit, little in his life story could have made me happier.

Hearing of the entertainments of George, Aggie, and Vi—his sisters Agnes and Violet Mills—warmed my heart. I look at the photograph of Grey Friars posted last time and think of it glowing with light in the evening, the end of Westfield Road lined with gas guzzling cars of the post-war era, party-goers hurrying to the house, and the sound of laughter drifting occasionally through the summer air.

Like George, his sisters apparently enjoyed sports and games, and even excelled at them. It also seems the Mills siblings were all healthy and physically, mentally, and socially active well into their seventies.

Some questions remain: As they passed away during the decade of the 1970s, who were the executors of their wills? Who now holds the copyrights to Mills's novels? And what became of their collected family photographs, documents, and memorabilia? One fears that what didn't sell in an estate sale after the deaths of the three childless housemates may have ended up in the dustbin. However, the answer to that last question would likely stem from an answer to either of the first two.

Hopefully others will recall knowing or hearing about these three "well-known Budleigh characters" and their exploits. There's still much to be known about George's life between his enlistment in the armed forces in 1940 and his passing in 1972.

Who knows from where the next bit of information will come? I feel confident that thanks to kind, curious, and generous people like Michael Downes, Dr. David Evans, Barry McAleenan, David Wingate, and others like them, we will, indeed, learn much more!

Grey Friars, a Burial Ground, Croquet, and a Floridian Literary Detective

It's a hazy, winter Sunday morning here in the horse country of Florida. It can't decide if it wants to be cloudy or sunny, chilly or warm. I have a strong cup of coffee and a fine pair of slippers, and I'm savoring this exciting latest entry...

Here's something that doesn't happen every day: George Mills appearing in someone else's blog!

Michael Downes, an author, press officer for Budleigh Salterton's Fairlynch Museum, longtime educator, and friend of Who Is George Mills? posted an entry about this website on his own blog, Budleigh & Brewster United, a site celebrates among other things the connection between his corner of East Devon, birthplace of both Sir Walter Raleigh and Salem, Massachusetts, founder Roger Conant, and the United States of America.

You can read the entry at: http://budleighbrewsterunited.blogspot.com/2011/01/who-was-george-mills.html

The first really exciting aspect of his post is the wonderful photograph that Michael has taken of Grey Friars [above, left]. It has been quite awhile since the name Grey Friars appeared as a passing note in the autobiography of Sir Robert Hart, and it certainly proved elusive—until now! I appreciate the effort Michael put into securing, not only the image, but also the permission of the house's owner for its use.

He also posted this intriguing paragraph:

And yesterday afternoon Annie and I spent time at St Peter's Burial Ground searching for the Mills family grave. Maybe the sea mist had something to do with it, but our search was in vain. However I did have the pleasure of meeting a charming and informative 80-year-old local man who was visiting the many graves of his own family members, and who remembered that George Mills and his sisters were croquet-players. It may be that the Croquet Club as well as the Literary Festival organisers will be pleased to learn about the Mills family.


I wish I'd been there to talk with that local gentleman cloaked in the sea mist covering the burial ground as he shared memories of individuals its possible no one has really thought much about for almost 35 years. George, Agnes, and Violet Mills, as far as I know, all died childless, and its quite likely that a fairly distant relative in the 'Glyn Mills Bank' branch of the family came to Budleigh as executor of Violet's will in 1975, disposed of Grey Friars and the siblings' estate, and left.

It certainly would be interesting to read the probate documents of the wills of George, Agnes, and Violet. It would even allow us to discover who owns the copyright of George's novels, and who we might contact to find out what happened to the family's ephemera—photographs, awards, paperwork, ticket stubs, passports, etc.—all of which would be treasures to me!

The fact that the Budleigh Salterton Croquet Club sat just 100 feet or so from Grey Friars [pictured, right] is important to the story of Mills and his sisters as well. Right now I'm in the midst of sifting through literally decades of croquet tournament results in The Times listing a trio initialed "Miss A. E. Mills," "Miss V. E. Mills," and occasionally a "G. R. Mills," all of whom played in tournaments as singles and sometimes in various combinations as doubles.

We know from his books that George Mills was a man who was fond of sports, and his step-brother, Arthur, loved golf, so much so that for the rest of his life he seemingly never lived more than the proverbial stone's throw from a golf course after leaving London in the wake of his divorce from Lady Dorothy Mills.

It seems, however, George's spinster sisters enjoyed sporting activities as well, given their lengthy record as croquet players. I find it hard to believe that a different "Miss A. E. Mills" and "Miss V. E. Mills" paired up so often in tournaments in London and along the southern coast of England.

There are even tennis results in editions of The Times from 1930s in which a "Miss V. E. Mills" played in tennis tournaments.

Apparently Violet, at the age of 33 on 6 September 1936, was finally defeated in the second round of Ladies' Singles at the Sidmouth Lawn Tennis Tournament by a Mrs. G. Lucas, 6-1, 6-0.

Two years earlier, on 2 August 1934, Miss V. Mills was beaten 6-1, 6-1, by Miss MacTier in the third round of the Bedford Tournament.

[The search engine at The Times website is notoriously finicky, so although these are the only two results I can find in this era of London tennis, I by no means can claim its the exhaustive list and invite anyone who can concoct a better strategy for searching those archives to help me!]

Anyway, what we know is that the family enjoyed sports and remained quite active, even into their "Golden Years."

On 26 June 1970, "Miss V. E. and G. R. Mills," +20, defeated "Mrs. N. A. C. McMillan and Mrs. D. Wayman" in the handicap doubles at Parkstone. Violet would have been almost 68 years old, with George approaching 74.

Later that year at Parkstone, L. S. Butler, +10, beat Miss A. E. Mills on 17 September in level singles. Agnes had just turned 75 years of age on June 11.

Michael Downes has mentioned having a friend who is membership secretary of the Budleigh Salterton Croquet Club [pictured, above left]. As I research Agnes, Violet, and George via The Times, I hope they will be able to come up with some additional documentation on a local and more personal level.

Thank you, Michael (and Annie!), most of all for the line in your blog entry which describes me as a "Floridian literary detective." After months of procrastinating about mowing the lawn and painting the house to fool around with my research on George Mills, my wife must surely believe I'm the biggest slacker around.

Now, it appears that I'm a "literary detective," and I feel much better about everything I've been doing here!

Found: George Mills at Grey Friars!

What was my most exciting Christmas present? Well, I got lots of great stuff—books, CDs, shirts, wine—but I think the one thing that had me most excited was simply delivered to me near Christmas. It actually wasn't a Christmas present at all!

I had left upon my holiday travels and, while checking my work e-mail from a hotel in western Kentucky, I stumbled upon this very Spartan message, copied here in its entirety: "I have info about George Mills."

After replying, I received the following, wonderful e-mail from Michael Downes, author of the book Oundle's War and master of the blog Budleigh & Brewster United - celebrating sisterhood!

Hi Sam

I contacted a lawyer friend of mine who lives in Budleigh Salterton, in the road where George Mills used to live. He tells me that when he moved to Budleigh Salterton in 1972, George Mills had just died, leaving two sisters living in the house, Grey Friars. The good news is that the house is still there, and has not been demolished to make way for a condo. My lawyer friend tells me that the three Mills were all related to the Mills of Glyn Mills Bank. He will speak to the present owner of Grey Friars to see if he knows anything about George Mills.

I have attached a document which I found on the internet about a Mills of the Glyn Mills Bank; lots of names for you to follow up there.

We have a lot of snow here at present. When it clears I will take a photo of Grey Friars and will also visit the town cemetery to see if I can spot George Mills' grave.

Budleigh Salterton has a literary festival, and one of the documents produced by our local museum for that event was a list of authors formerly living in the town. George Mills (along with many others) was not on the list, and I have added to it over the years with other names. So George Mills is quite a find for us.

If you click on the BudleighBrewster link... you will see that I have an interest in life across the pond.

Best wishes

Michael

And this, also in the text, must be an excerpt of an e-mail from Michael's friend:

When we moved to Pagets in 1972 George Mills had just died leaving two sisters living at Grey Friars, which is... directly at the (dead!) end of Westfield Road [pictured, right]. The three Mills were all related to the Mills of Glyn Mills Bank. But what became of that I am not sure. I did not know that George Mills was a children’s author but it is entirely possible. Interestingly there was another children’s author who lived in Westfield Road – he was the author of a series of the “I Spy” books, but at present the name escapes me! I cannot remember whether the Taylors bought Greyfriars from the Mills Family Executor or whether there was another owner(s) in between.


It's odd that messages that so frequently refer to someone's passing would have me so excited, but they do!

I knew George Mills and his sisters, Agnes and Violet, lived in Grey Friars (then apparently written as two words) from several sources, one of which was the Kelly's Directory of Budleigh Salterton for 1939, which contained the interesting residence address: "Spence, Miss, Grey Friars, Westfield Rd ." After finding that, I'd searched on Google Maps and virtually drove the length of Westfield Road, but couldn't determine which house was Grey Friars. The Royal Mail didn't respond to requests for help, and the only additional proof I had that Miss Spence's 1939 home [circled below, left] had also been the residence of George Mills was a letter written to The London Times by Mills, published on Wednesday, 8 April 1959, signed:

Yours faithfully,
GEORGE MILLS.
Grey Friars, Budleigh Salterton, Devonshire.

We know that Mills spent the summer of 1956 teaching at the Ladycross Catholic Boys' Preparatory School in Seaford, which doesn't seem a place to which he'd have been able to commute daily from Budleigh Salterton. He must have been boarded there, possibly at the school itself.

It's also possible, I suppose, that he stayed with his brother, Arthur, for the summer, but George's commute from Downton would've been roughly 160 miles a day, round trip. That seems extremely unlikely, even in those days of cheaper gasoline. You can see the distances on the map, below right, with Budleigh sporting a purple pin, Seaford gold, and Arthur's home in Downton the red letter "A."

Did Mills teach anywhere else after moving to Budleigh Salterton? It's possible. Had he not written books in the 1930s, we wouldn't know where he'd worked during that era—and even knowing, finding out information about Warren Hill School in Eastbourne, The Craig School in Windermere, and the English Preparatory School in Glion, Switzerland has been difficult. And, as we know, it's been extremely difficult to be completely definitive about the school he referred to in his original dedication to King Willow (1939) as the Eaton Gate Preparatory School in London.

Even with the above schools named, we've only been able to surmise what subjects he might have taught or the lengths of time during which he was employed. Even more mysterious is why he moved so often from school to school between 1925 and 1940.

In 1940, Mills's career took a different path for a few years. He became a 2nd lieutenant paymaster in the Royal Pay Corps during WW II, but resigned his commission due to ill health during 1943, and amost disappeared from the public record.

The Pay Corps was something he'd thought about a great deal, and he must have considered himself quite knowledgeable about its operations as we also have a letter to The Times written by him in April 1944 [below, left] in which he critiques the way soldiers are paid. It's signed:

I am Sir, your obedient servant,
GEORGE MILLS, late paymaster, Royal Army Pay Corps,
Naval and Military Club, 94, Piccadilly, W.1.

Despite his ill health, George was apparently able to drag himself down to the club and use it as his mailing address—unless he was residing there. Either way, his mind was sharp enough to have read a letter about military pay in a previous edition of The Times and very pointedly take issue with it.

Mills discusses the streamlining of office procedures and the difficulty of ascertaining exact pay grades for various members of the military.

Perhaps we should be wondering if thinking that Mills found work in Budleigh Salterton as a schoolmaster is errant, and if we should consider the possibility that he found work in an office doing bookkeeping or accounting, based on his experience in the service.

Except for the summer of 1956 that Mills spent in Seaford with the classmates of young Barry McAleenan, we don't have a shred of proof that Mills taught a single day after, say, 1939-1940. In 1956, Mills would have been 59 years old, just about to turn 60.

His books were coming back into print in new editions [below, right] for a new generation of readers. He must have been called upon to discuss his experiences as a teacher in the late 1920s and early 1930s, and the children and places that'd been the inspirations for his novels.

Even if Mills had worked as, say, a bookkeeper in Budleigh Salterton, he may have retired by age 59 and perhaps sought one more taste of those earlier days, before the Second World War, when he was a bright, funny, popular schoolmaster with a young wife and a bright future as an author of noteworthy children's books that were unique in their ability to capture the quirky and amusing parlance of the prep school boys of that time.

Perhaps Mills even considered writing more books as he saw his stories begin to populate the shelves of booksellers once more—something he hadn't seen since before the war.

He never did write professionally again—as a far as we know. Did he ever author another story or text under a pen name? There's no reason to think so, but no proof that he didn't.

I believe that someone out there must know all of this: The Story of George Mills. And that's why it's so exciting to have been contacted by Michael Downes!

There'll be more here from Michael very soon, but let me close by saying, once again, that if you know anything about the life, career, or family of George Mills, please let me know. And thank you very much in advance!