Some Questions for a Sunday Morning in May...

Right now, my side project is working on researching the life and myriad of accomplishments of Col. Dudley Acland Mills [pictured, left, as a youth in the 1860s] and his family. In trying to gain insight into Col. Mills, I hope to find helpful connections to the family of his brother, Rev. Barton R. V. Mills. I can't even begin to tell you how exciting for me it would be to gather more information that would be useful in fleshing out the lives of Mills family members of our interest here!

Right now, I'm still creating a "Dudley Mills Time Line and Genealogy" that will enable me to order his life story and family, and help generate research questions for me to pursue. Meanwhile, here are some questions about the Mills family that remain unanswered. Perhaps we may soon be able to shed some light on them:


Arthur Mills, M.P.:

What happened to any letters, papers, family photgraphs, etc., of Arthur Mills after his death? Were they given to the British Library, a university, or are they somewhere?

What kind of man was he known to be? The only reference I can find to him personally is extremely scathing, but his friends included J. S. Mill and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.


Barton Reginald Vaughan Mills:

Under what circumstances did Barton's first wife, Lady Catherine Hobart-Hampden, pass away? Why did Barton leave his vicarage upon her death and live with his father for three years?

Why did he and his young family (children aged 14, 5, and 2) leave Cornwall and a secure rectory on Bude for London to become assistant chaplain of the Chapel Royal (Queen's Chapel) of the Savoy? And why did he leave there in 1908?

Is there any reason that Barton Mills would have been quickly and almost forgotten by the Ramsay side of the family, the kin of his wife, Elizabeth Edith Ramsay? Why was she forgotten as well?

When did Edith pass away, under what circumstances, and how did it impact the children?

How long did the family live at 7 Manson Place, London, after the 1920 death of Sir George Dalhousie Ramsay, with whom they resided? When did they move there?

What kind of man was Barton Mills? What was Edith like? What were they like as a couple and as parents?

How was Barton making a living after he left the Savoy in 1908?

Did he leave any letters, papers, research, or memorabilia behind? Are there any photographs of him or his family?



Arthur Frederick Hobart Mills [Barton's elder son];

Concerning Lady Catherine's death, how did his mother's passing affect young Arthur, as a youngster and as a man?

Was Arthur close to his family, as a youth, as a young man, and later in life?

What sort of fellow was Arthur? What was his relationship with his father? His stepmother?

What was Arthur's wedding to Lady Dorthy Walpole like? Was the wedding ring really made from the bullet that was removed from his ankle in the First World War?

What were the circumstances of Lady Dorothy's car accident returning from Ascot, and what was the reaction of the Mills family? Did they help care for her?

Did Arthur end up living in Hampshire because he had relatives there?

How did Arthur's marriage to Lady Dorothy affect him and the family? Was she close to the Mills family?

Did Arthur's profession—crime, adventure, and romance writer—bother his family at all?

At age 52, Arthur joined the war effort for 8 days in 1939, then relinquished his commission. Under what circumstances did he leave the military (health, age, etc.)?

Why did Arthur fail to write a book from 1940 to 1947 anfter writing at least one book per year from 1920 to 1940 (health, the war, etc.)?

I hate to ask, but what were the circumstances of his divorce in 1932-33?

To whom did the copyrights to his books go?



George Ramsay Acland Mills:

What sort of fellow was George? What was his relationship with Barton?

What was his relationship with his sisters?

Was there any special interest put into George's schooling?

Under what circumstances did George become a schoolmaster?

Is there any reason George moved from school to school—even to Switzerland to teach—during the late 1920s and early 1930s? Did Vera go with him to every locale?

Under what circumstances did he meet his wife, Vera Louise Beauclerk, who had been born in China?

How posh was his wedding and reception?

What were George and Vera like as a couple?

Was George involved in the General Strike in 1926?

What was George's reaction to his father's passing in 1932?

What was the family's reaction to the publication of his first book, Meredith and Co., in 1933?

What was George doing between 1933 and 1938, the years between his first and second books?

Why, suddenly, did George publish three books in two years (King Willow, Minor and Major, St. Thomas of Canterbury)? Why did he then never again publish a book?

What were the circumstances of him returning to the armed forces in 1940 as a paymaster?

What were the circumstances of Vera's death in 1942? What was George's reaction to it?

Under what circumstances did George leave the armed forces due to "ill health" in 1942? Did this have anything to do with the passing of Vera?

Where was George during the war, and where did he live and what did he do from 1943 through his arrival at "Grey Friars, Budleigh Salterton, Devon," where he presumably passed away?

How did he come to work at Ladycross Catholic Boys' Preparatory School in Seaford, Sussex, for a term in 1956? Did he live nearby?

Did he live with or near Agnes and Violet Mills in Devon?

What were the circumstances of his death in 1972?

To whom did the copyrights to his books go?



Agnes and Violet Mills:

What sort of girls were they? Were they devoted to their mother? Their father? Both?

Had they opportunities to marry? What was it like for young women, daughters of a clergyman, in London during the years between the World Wars?

Where were they schooled?

How were they involved in the Girl Guides?

In 1938, they were living in "Cadogen Gardens, S.W." London with "Barbara Mills". When did they relocate there? Who is Barbara Mills?

In 1947, they donate the papers of the late Sir George Dalhousie Ramsay, their grandfather, to the British Library. Under what circumstances was this made, and where were the girls living when they made the donation?

When did the girls move to Devon? Did they live with George or nearby? What was their relationship with him as youths and as they aged?

What were the circumstances of their passing in Devon in 1977?

What happened to any papers, letters, memorabilia, ephemera, and/or family photographs they may have been holding?

If they held any family copyrights (Barton, Arthur F. H., George) to whom did those rights go after the death of Agnes and Violet?


General Question:

How is Brig. Gen. Giles Hallam Mills related to this family?

MR. G. R. A. MILLS and MISS V. L. BEAUCLERK

A wedding announcement from the London Times, Friday, 24 April, 1925 reads [with key attendees and locales bearing my own emphasis]:

MR. G. R. A. MILLS AND MISS V. L. BEAUCLERK

The marriage took place yesterday at Holy Trinity Church, Brompton, of Mr. George Acland Ramsay Mills, son of Rev. Barton and Mrs. Mills, 38, Onslow-gardens, S.W., and Miss Vera Louise Beauclerk, daughter of the late Mr. William Nelthorpe Beauclerk, of Little Grimsby Hall, Louth, Lincolnshire, and Mrs. Nelthorpe Beauclerk, 4, Hans-mansion, S.W. The officiating clergy were the Rev. Barton Mills (father of the bridegroom), the Rev. Walter Farnsworth, vicar of Little Grimsby, the Reverend Watkin Williams, and Rev. H. S. Sard.

The bride wore a cream gown embroidered in gold, and a gold and cream brocade train. She carried a bouquet of cream roses. the train was borne by Master Rafael Beauclerk and Master Robert Hart (cousins of the bride), who were dressed in black velvet suits with yellow shirts, and the bride was also attended by three child-bridesmaids, the Misses Diana and Hermione de Vere Beauclerk (nieces) and Miss Isyllt Llewellyn, and two grown-up bridesmaids, Miss Violet Mills (sister of the bridegroom) and Suzanne Flemming, whose frocks were of yellow georgette.

A reception was afterwards held at the Hans-crescent Hotel, and the bride and bridegroom later left for the honeymoon, which will be spent in Devonshire. Mrs. Mills wore a nigger-brown crêpe de Chine frock, embroidered in gold, with a hat to match.

Among those present were :—

Mrs. Barton Mills, Miss Othlie Mills, Miss Verity Mills, Colonel and Mrs. Dudley Mills, Mrs. Nelthorpe Beauclerk and Miss Beauclerk, Hester Lady Hart, Lady Hart, Mrs. Topham Beauclerk, and the Masters Beauclerk, Miss Agnes Mills, the Japanese Ambassador and Mme. Okamato, Don Carlos Dominguez and Mdlle. Dominguez, M. and Mme. de Lembeke, Mrs. R. de Lembeke, Mr. and Lady Isabel Margesson, the Hon. Mrs. Walter Paton, the Hon. Sophia Trollope, Mr. and the Hon. Mrs. Llewellyn, the Hon. Montagu and Mrs. Forbes, Theodosia Lady Hughes and Miss Winifred Hughes, Sir Claude and Lady Mallet, Lady Arnold, Sir William and Lady Adair, Lady Thompson, Sir John and Lady Jordan, Lady Atterbury, Sir Henry and Lady Burke and Master Burke, Lady Pontifex, Lady Addis and Miss Addis, Lady O'Conor, Lady Trollope, Mr. Benson Kennedy, Mr., Mrs., and Miss Wardrop, Colonel F. Gore, Mrs. Daniell, Mrs. Rolls, Mr. William Stone, Mr. Richard Pryce, the Misses Bryant, Ms. Sinclair, Mrs. Lacy Rogers, Miss Ethel Rogers, Mr. and Mrs. Erskine Barrett, Mrs. Alfred Porter, Mr. Gerald E. Maude, Mrs. Hayes Dashwood, Mrs. Eden, Mrs. Rochford, Miss Hughes, Mrs. Lane, Miss Jane Lane, Mrs. Fleming, Mr. and Mrs. Cory, Mrs. Baxter, Mr. and Mrs. Blois, Mr. Jenning, Captain Russell, Mrs. Dudley Morrison, Miss Henrietta Gladwell, Mr and Mrs. Seddon, Mrs. Philip Du Cros, Mrs. Arnold Ellert, Miss Irene Hart, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Legge, Mrs. Cecil Fleurscheim, Captain and Mrs. Stanley Musgrave, Miss McConnell, Mrs. Leigh Taylor, Mrs. Douglas Ramsay and Master Ramsay, Mrs. Lugard, Mrs. de Vere Evans, Mrs. Ash, Mrs. Duncan Payne, Mrs. Wingate, Mrs. Ronald Wingate, Miss Plowse, Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Norman Lamplugh, the Misses Sanders, the Misses Chance, Major and Mrs. Brodie and Master Michael and Master Alexander Brodie, Mrs. Fardell, Mrs. and Miss Lindsay Watson, Miss Garford, Miss Wyndham Murray, Miss Ricardo, Mr. Derrick Clayton, Mr. Clive Bayley, Mr. and Mrs. Hubert Ansell, Miss Bower, Mr. Watkin Williams, Mrs. Watkin Williams, Mrs. Greenfield, Miss Acland, Miss Griffith, Mrs. Montague(?) Napier, Mrs. Bowra, Mr. and Mrs. A. Hughes, Mrs. Wintringham, Captain and Mrs. Gerald Greig, Miss Sparks, Mr. M. Acheson, Mrs. Leigh-Pemberton, Mme. Challe, Major R. B. Denny, Mr. R. W. S. Seton, Mr. and Mrs. Boyd Bredon, Mr. Eric Sachs, Mrs. Spencer Beaumont, Mrs. and Miss Farnsworth, Miss Standen, Mrs. Cavendish, Mr. and Mrs. Stirling, Mrs. Arthur Mcdonald, Miss Jean Anderson, Mrs. and Miss Vandeleur, Colonel and Mrs. Mortimer, Mr., Mrs., and Miss Seton, Mr. and Mrs. Flannery, Mrs. Griffith, Mrs. C. F. Hughes, Mrs. George Cooper, Miss McEwan, Mrs. Hazlett, Mrs. Darrioch, Mrs. George Lyster, Mr. and Mrs. Godfrey Pharazyn, Miss Ruth Pharazyn, Mrs. Peet, Mr. Mackellar, Colonel Jocelyn, Mrs. Heaton Armstrong, and Mrs. Langley.


It seems quite an international affair, although I'm unfamiliar with most of the names on the guest list. If any of them ring a bell with any readers, I do hope you'll let me know. Notably absent is the older step-brother of George, author Arthur Frederick Hobart Mills of London, born 12 July, 1887 and then 37 years of age. That same year, writing under the name Arthur Hobart Mills [He also wrote for American magazines as Arthur Mills], he published his book The Gold Cat [Hutchinson & Co., London; 1925]. By 1926, it was in its third edition. He was the author of dozens of books found in the British Library, mostly adventure fiction, as well as some memoirs of the First World War that he'd written under the pseudonym "Platoon Cammander" [right]. (The website Great War Dust Jackets charcaterizes the writings of the elder Mills brother as "now long forgotten", much like the published work of George Mills.) A. F. H. Mills is described as "a handsome and well connected man but with little money [in 1916]". One wonders exactly how as yet unpublished—and seemingly by comparison quite unaccomplished— younger step-brother George would have been described at the time of his own wedding in 1925, and if the half brothers got along.

Arthur F. H. Mills was the son of Revd Barton R. V. Mills and the late Lady Catherine Valentia Mary Hobart-Hampden, who took the rank of Earl's daughter at the wedding. Lady Catherine passed away in 1889, and Revd Mills remarried, taking Elizabeth Edith Ramsay, daughter of military man Sir George Dalhousie Ramsay, C.B., as his wife on 10 January, 1894. [George Ramsay Acland Mills was born to them on 1 October, 1896.]

The eccentric Lady Dorothy Rachel Melissa Walpole Mills, a cousin as well as then-wife of Arthur Hobart Mills, was also not in attendance. Lady Dorothy was a half-American who was also a journalist, writer, and well-known world traveler/explorer. In 1925, she had only just returned from becoming the first white woman to reach Timbuktu and had recently published The Arms of the Sun and The Dark Gods [Duckworth & Co., London, 1924 and 1925, respectively]. She likely did not attend the Mills/Beauclerk nuptials as she was undoubtedly traveling [as seen, left], at least some of 1925 in Palestine, and readying herself to publish four books in the next two years: A science-fiction novel, Phœnix, [Hutchinson & Co.: London], and travel books Beyond the Bosphorous and Through Liberia [Duckworth & Co., London] in 1926 and Episodes from the Road to Timbuktu [G. G. Harrap and Co., London] in 1927. She's the author of twenty-some books in the British Library, scattered here, here, and here.

It's conceivable Lady Dorothy was a bit busy in 1925! Incidentally, she is also the subject of a search for information similar to my own being conducted by American James Wallace Harris, who describes Lady Dorothy as "a forgotten writer whose books are about to disappear."

Anyway, it appears that George Mills and Vera Beauclerk boarded their own ship called Matrimony with much ado made of it, even without the reigning heavyweight authors of the family in attendance.

Easter that year was on 12 April, 1925. According to Windlesham, Mills "taught 4 terms at Windlesham House School from Lent 1925 until Easter 1926".

So Mills almost certainly would have been teaching at Windlesham at the time of wedding. As noted previously: "In April George Mills married Miss Vera Beauclerc; they bought a house on Benfield Way, Portslade. [below, right]"

The word "they" would imply that the purchase was made after the wedding, the then-28-year-old Mills opting to settle down near the school in Portslade with his 31-year-old bride.

The association of Mills and Vera lasted until her passing on 5 January, 1942, just months short of what would have been their 17th wedding anniversary.

The association of Mills and Windlesham was far shorter in duration. The list of wedding guests above simply does not appear to be any sort of compendium of British citizens likely to have been wildly sympathetic with the General Strike of 1926. That doesn't mean, however, Mills didn't walk with the million or so labourers who supported the coal miners during the strike's dates of 3 May, 1926, and 13 May, 1926.

According to wikipedia.org and its reference, the 1988 book Two Georges: The Making of the Modern Monarchy by David Sinclair, the Trade Union Congress "feared that an all-out general strike would bring revolutionary elements to the fore. They decided to bring out workers only in the key industries, such as railwaymen, transport workers, printers, dockers and ironworkers and steelworkers."

Mills just seems a terribly unlikely candidate to have been swept up in any fervency [left] on behalf of the coal miners, despite having possibly fought alongside some youngsters whose destiny would soon be found within those mines after the armistice. I find it incredibly difficult to believe, at least from my desk here in 2010, that a "junior appointment" and freshly minted bridegroom and homeowner would've risked his new found position at Windlesham, a situation he apparently loved dearly.

Still, a truly trusted authority on Windlesham, Dr. Houston, has speculated, "[Mills] could, like a handful of other prep school masters, have been excited by the General Strike (that term)."

Stranger things have happened, and "wildcat" involvement in a strike—even though Mills was no longer very much a youngster, being almost 30 years of age by May, 1926—would, indeed, go a long way in explaining his then bouncing from Eastbourne to Windermere, on to Glion, and back to Eaton Gate in London as a preparatory school master over the next decade, instead of having stayed settled at Windlesham.

Was Mills so active politically that it may have had a negative impact on his career at the time? As always, any thoughts, ideas, or information on the subject would be greatly appreciated!