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!

Returning to Agnes, Violet, and Sporting Pursuits

Researching George Mills, his family, his acquaintances, his education, professions, his military experience, his neighbourhoods, his communities, and his pastimes can be, to swipe from Lennon & McCartney, a long and winding road. Sometimes it's simply too tempting not to drift away from a line of study—for example, when I received photographs of Joshua Goodland and Warren Hill School a couple of months ago.

Long overdue, it's time to return to some unfinished business!

Earlier this year, we looked at the years the Mills siblings—Agnes, George, and Violet—spent in Budleigh Salterton, Devon, and what immediately stood out was their dedication and apparent skill in the sport of croquet.

We examined their records, tournaments, and comrades from 1947, when the Misses Mills moved to Grey Friars in Budleigh, through to their passing in the early 1970s.

There is no athletic record of George Mills prior to his entrance into the croquet world, but his sisters are a different matter entirely!

To rewind a bit, Agnes Edith Mills was born in Cornwall on 11 June 1895 while her father, the Rev. Barton R. V. Mills, was vicar of Bude Haven. Her mother was Elizabeth Edith Ramsay, whom the widower had married on 11 January the year before. George Ramsay Acland Mills was born a year later on 1 October 1896. Violet Eleanor Mills came along on 17 November 1902, after Barton's father, Arthur Mills, M.P., had passed away and the family relocated to Kensington, London.

There is no record of where or when the girls went to school although they must have. One of the few things we know about them as young ladies is that they would have been well aware of the inception of Robert Baden-Powell's popular scouting movement in 1907, as well as when Agnes Baden-Powell [pictured above, right, with Robert] founded the Girl Guides in 1910. The Mills sisters were about 15 and 8 years of age at the time. They were "keen" on the Guides, presumably with Agnes taking Violet under her wing.

The Girl Guides embraced physical fitness, survival skills, camping, and citizenship—skills and traits that would serve British girls well during what we now know were two major global conflicts on the horizon.

Physical fitness must have been important to the girls. We already know they played competitive croquet into their seventies. Was it a late in life commitment to health, or something in which they had always been involved?

Dr. David Evans of Budleigh Salterton [left], who knew the siblings, recalls that Violet was a good golfer, and that "just after World War Two she was on a ship to South Africa and was invited to represent the national England golf team."

While Dr. Evans's estimate of the time fell on the wrong side of the war, we do know he was correct about the South African voyage. Violet, then 33, steamed into Southampton on 20 April 1936 from Durban, South Africa, via Natal and Madeira, aboard the Edinburgh Castle of the Union Castle Mail Steamship Co, Ltd., along with Gladys Emily Mills, 39, a nurse whose home was in Southern Rhodesia but who was bound for Wallasey, Cheshire, near Liverpool, who intended to make a "foreign country" her future permanent residence, and who was presumably a relative.

This is Violet's only recorded trip abroad and must have been the voyage during which she the golfers made overtures. At 33, she still of an age to play competitive age for golf. She would have been in her mid-40s following World War II, past her prime, and an unlikely candidate for such an invitation.

The search engine at The Times database is notoriously parsimonious about revealing all of its information about any one subject, but we do know that on 19 October 1937, Violet (34 handicap) played in the Ladies' Parliamentary G. A. at the Ranelagh Club in Barnes with a Lady Hampden (almost certainly a relative of her half-brother Arthur, the son of her father's first marriage to Lady Catherine Valentia Mary Hobart-Hampden; Violet was a 30 handicap), and finished third, just 2 feet from the cup on the 19th hole of the competition [right].

On 26 October 1938, Violet played the same tournament and again finished third, with her ball on the 19th fairway, in a competition that took place under adverse conditions in which visibility was only 50 yards.

Finally, at the Ladies' Parliamentary Tournament in Pulborough on 17 May 1939, a 36-year-old Violet was eliminated in the second round "by 6 and 5" at the hands of her opponent, Miss E. Bevin.

Assuming that Violet played in the first round of that tournament, we know there are likely up to 8 times as many results of golfing events that include Violet, but that weren't accessed by the paper's ridiculous search engine. (And, for this marginal access, they charge me a costly premium!)

Besides golf, however, we find that before 1936, Violet was a fairly accomplished lawn tennis player.

On 6 October 1933, she played in the Sidmouth Tournament, but was knocked out in the second round by Mrs. G. Lucas, 6-1, 6-0.

In 1934, she played the Bedford Tournament, beating Miss K. Silas in the first round, 6-3, 6-4, on 31 July, but falling to Miss MacTier in the second round, 6-1, 6-1, on 2 August.

Finally, on 7 October 1938, Violet and her Ladies' Doubles partner, Miss M. C. Hervey, were defeated by the Hon. Mrs. D. Rhys and Miss E. M. Dearman, 6-0, 6-3, in the semi-final round of the Felixstowe Tournament.

Again, unless she and her partner drew a bye directly into the semi-finals, or unless that tournament began in the semi-final round, there must be results which I cannot locate by searching. Given that, there must also be many other tournament results crouching within the Byzantine archives of The Times.

The database reveals only one athletic event for Miss Agnes Mills before 1950: She and her croquet partner, F. E. Green, were defeated by 12 in Handicap Doubles during the second round of the Ealing Tournament on 3 May 1934 [above, left].

While we may never know the extent of the participation of the Misses Mills in organized sports, it is clear that things must not have worked out with the "national" team which extended an invitation to Violet in 1936. Labouring under the assumption that a membership on the team would have included a place in that autumn's Curtis Cup match against the United States, Violet must not have earned that spot. A British Pathé newsreel, released on 5 November 1936, names each member of England's team, which does not include Violet Mills (Click HERE to view the newsreel; additional footage is HERE).

Still, even to be considered for that prestigious team is truly noteworthy in a nation as keen on golf as the founder of the sport, the U.K.

However, we do, in fact, know the extent to which Agnes and Violet were involved in croquet before the Second World War, thanks to the database at the Croquet Association.

We'll look at the involvement of the Misses Mills in pre-WWII croquet next time. Stay tuned!

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!