An Afternoon at Warren Hill with George Mills and Bertram de Glanville

After spending the morning in Meads at the now defunct Warren Hill School, it just feels right to spend the afternoon there as well. It seems I'm not ready to leave as of yet.

In the last entry, we saw that Warren Hill had the use of land to the north of the school, just south of Moira House Girls' School, along Carlisle Road. That land (now part of Eastbourne College), it seems, was owned by the school.

We know that business partners Joshua Goodland and F. R. Ebden dissolved their partnership as of 31 July 1931, with Goodland becoming sole owner of the school. From the 11 August 1931 issue of the London Gazette, we can see an entry in a section, containing the addresses and owners of land about to be registered, entitled "Freehold," which reads: "7. Warren Hill, Beachy Head Road, and land in Carlisle Road, Eastbourne, by Joshua Goodland, Warren Hill, Beachy Head Road, Eastbourne."

This "land in Carlisle Road" is, we now know, where the photograph we examined in depth last time was actually captured.

Although Goodland sold the school sometime thereafter, we can surmise when the sale may have occurred based on this research, shared by friend of this site Michael Ockenden on behalf of the Eastbourne Local History Society: "According to street directories, the principals in 1925 were M A North and F R Ebden; in 1929 they were F R Ebden and J Goodland; in 1932 Joshua Goodland is the sole principal; in 1933 the sole principal is H E Glanville. (I have not seen a directory for 1930 or 1931.)"


We know Glanville's exact name is Bertram G. de Glanville. The ELHS has also graciously provided a promotional leaflet created by de Glanville after assuming the reins at Warren Hill. It contains some interesting information, available nowhere else that I know of. Let's take a look at it!


Initially, we find that Warren Hill was founded in 1885, telling us that its demise came shortly after the celebration of its 50th anniversary. The first page continues, "The school stands on high ground at the edge of the South Downs on the western side of Eastbourne. It is within a few minutes [sic] walk of the sea and from the house and grounds there are fine views of the English Channel and the Downs."

This is noteworthy. In two novels of George Mills, Meredith and Co. (1933) and King Willow (1938), prep school boys venture out onto the nearby Downs to play and sometimes engage in perilous escapades. Wikipedia notes that Brighton and Hove are remarkable in their residential encroachment into the South Downs, and as we are not now exactly sure where Windlesham House School (another school at which Mills taught) was located when it was in Portslade at the time, it would appear that Warren Hill, not Windlesham, would have offered the easily walkable access to the Downs enjoyed by his books' schoolboy characters.

This page of the document also adds that "There is a capacious sick wing which has its own kitchens, bathrooms, etc., and can be completely isolated from the main building in case of need."

Might we assume that sick wing is adjacent to the main building, abutting it at the southwest corner, as seen on the 1930 map [below, left]? Or could it be the outlying rectangular building to the west, near Beachy Head Road?


The second page of the document continues: "In the grounds there is a large concrete playground, a gymnasium, five squash racquet courts, a miniature rifle range and a carpentry workshop."

On the 1930 map, it appears we can see what are likely the squash courts to the left of the main building. It's also likely that the concrete playground is in that area as well. Since the gymnasium is listed above as having been "in the grounds," we can reasonably assume it, too was some sort of outlying structure. Unless either the sick wing or the gymnasium had been constructed after 1930, we may well assume that they are the buildings to the left of the main structure.

In addition, it makes sense to have both the gym and the infirmary close to an area that included athletic pursuits engaged in upon concrete and amid gunfire.

In a private photograph previously provided by the ELHS [click HERE to view it], seemingly from this time, we can see a new building at the left that is not in older photographs of the school taken from the south. A game of cricket is being played on that field, and we can see no signs of squash courts or a rifle range from this angle, again leading us to believe those are enclosed in an area behind that new addition to the school at left.

Regarding the playing field in that image we learn: "The playing fields consist of a large level cricket field of over 2½ acres and two other fields adjoining the school."

The "two other fields" are obviously the ones we see next to Carlisle Road, over which Moira House Girls' School looks. They are divided by a wall that was once covered with ivy, and are now owned by Eastbourne College, as we can see in the image.

In an archival photograph taken from another angle, again provided by the ELHS, we see Warren Hill towering at left [click HERE for the image]. We learned from Ockenden at the time: "[This image] is probably from a postcard and shows the view looking up what is now Beachy Head Road with the school on the left. It's hard to date precisely but one can suppose that it is pre 1900. The masters' residence must be the house on the right. The girls walking down the hill are almost level with a group of flint cottages which still stand. One of these was rented during various summers by Arthur Conan Doyle."

It would be interesting to know on which side of the road that unknown number of "flint cottages" mentioned here actually rests.

Figuring that the building on the right hand side of the postcard image is, indeed, the master's residence, Goodland, we can see, owned quite a bit of land in Meads. If the cottages mentioned face Denton Road, behind the supposed masters' residence on Beach Head [as seen today, above], and it was all in possession of the principal of the school, Goodland was, indeed, quite a landholder. One wonders what that entire tract of land as a whole would be worth today!



I do wonder if the current building across from Warren Hill School's location [above] is the same one referred to above as the "residence" of the schoolmaster's. We can do a drive-by via Google today, but we again notice its adorning ivy is no longer in place. Does the ivy in that postcard image obscure some of what we would need to positively identify the currently standing structure as being the same as the one to the right-hand side of the postcard image from the ELHS?

I don't feel qualified, sitting here half a world away, to discern that.


Another aspect of Warren Hill School that figures into the books of George Mills is related in this excerpt from the third page of de Glanville's leaflet: "Unless parents specially desire it, pocket money is not issued regularly to the boys, as it is felt that this practise tends to lead the boys to spend money for the sake of spending and encouraging waste. Any money sent with, or to, the boys is put in a special boys' bank and they may draw upon it in reasonable amounts. It is suggested that the amount sent with or to a boy in any one term should not ordinarily exceed £1."

Hijinks involving the need, or simply the desire, for money from that "bank" figures in many chapters of the stories told by Mills. Whether or not Windlesham House had a similar arrangement at the time, withdrawals from which could only be made under the watchful and thrifty eye of the Head Master, is unknown, and we may reasonably conclude that the yarns Mills spins regarding it were given rise at Warren Hill.

The last sentence on that third page is pertinent to the novels of George Mills as well: "Accomodation is reserved to take the boys to and from Victoria Station at the end and beginning of term, and boys are met at and conveyed to that station."

Not meaning to imply that Windlesham did not offer a similar service, we have no like ephemera or other evidence to conclude that they did. Warren Hill, however, offered such a convenience, and Mills used it to his advantage in designing his plots. Both Meredith and Co. and King Willow, begin at Victoria Station, and it is mentioned as the locale of the very first sentence Mills ever published in 1933:

"Percy Oliphant Naylor Gathorne Ogilvie, complete with a nurse, red hair, and freckles, stood with his mother on the platform at Victoria Station."

There is every reason to believe that Percy, who would soon be nicknamed "Pongo"—a spoilt, unattractive, sheltered nine-year-old—is autobiographically based on George Ramsay Acland Mills himself. Percy is described in this first lad-to-lad exchange after finally arriving at fictional Leadham House School by the Downs:

When his mother had gone, Percy felt the feeling of utter loneliness and physical emptiness which all new boys experience. He walked sadly into the school, and entered an empty form-room. Finding a convenient desk, he sat thereat and wept. He seemed to have sat there a long time, with his face in his hands, when he suddenly looked up and beheld, standing in front of him, the ugliest small boy on whom he had ever set eyes.

The new-comer was first to speak.

'Are you a new boy?'

Percy, who lisped when he was excited, answered, 'Yeth.'


This tender scene simply may reflect Mills's ability to observe and empathisize with young boys, but it more likely additionally reflects Mills own experience, to some degree, upon leaving home to attend Parkfield School in Haywards Heath around 1905.

Mills, as we know from his WWI records, suffered from a speech impediment, and the brief scene above may describe intimately Mills's first anxious experience talking to another child without the comfort and support of having members of his family nearby.

Small, tender, and genuine observations such as these are truly the strength of Mills's prose. Perhaps it's natural that a child so aware of his own language pathology would have painstakingly studied the oral language used by those around him, allowing him to replicate it in a way completely unique to the genre of children's literature of that era.


Returning to de Glanville's leaflet, we find on the last page a list of costs for boys attending Warren Hill.

A boy whose program included all of the extracurriculars offered would have accumulated a tab of over 70 guineas per term, payable in advance. Riding then cost an additional 8 shillings per lesson.

de Glanville acquired Warren Hill from Goodland around 1933, a year deep within the period known as the Great Depression. Michael O. of the ELHS weighs in with this insight:

The school was still in existence in Beachy Head Road in May 1934 because there's a reference to a scholarship in the Times of 29 May 1934.

The prevailing economic situation in the 1930s meant that private schools were having a hard time. Some were forced to close in Eastbourne and I guess this it could have been the reason for the demise of Warren Hill. However, the owner (headmaster) would have been sitting on some valuable real estate and would have been able to sell for a good sum.

Undoubtedly.

de Glanville's bankruptcy was the second one filed in Eastbourne in 1937, with all petitions entirely settled before the end of the calendar year. Given the value of the land, as mentioned, it seems unlikely that he had lost everything.

With this particular entry having grown to an almost unwieldy length, next time we'll take a look at some additional information on de Glanville gleaned by the ubiquitous Barry McAleenan. Don't miss it…

Finding Parkfield...

Lately, I've been catching up on many things that I've been working on. Today I'd like to share some information someone else has been working on—and I really appreciate it!

The following is an exchange of information from friend of the website Barry McAleenan and Liz Graydon, the webmaster of the interesting site Cuckfield Compendium. It was Barry who determined that, although George Mills wrote in the dedication to his 1939 book Minor and Major that he had attended a school called Parkfield in Haywards Heath, the school was likely in nearby Cuckfield. You can read the dedication above, left.

Here's the exchange that Barry began back in May…

On 27/05/2010 11:04, Barry McAleenan wrote:

Dear Liz

I'm trying to find out about the above school in the years 1900 to 1914. All I have established is that its address was: Cuckfield Road, Haywards Heath.

It could have been anywhere between Hurstpierpoint and Cuckfield proper. One of the masters retired to Purcells. I hope he was musical! Can you help?

Kind regards

Barry Mc

Liz Graydon wrote:

There was this mention on Friends Reunited:

Wick and Parkfield Preparatory School
Cuckfield Rd, Haywards Heath, Sussex

The school closed in the Summer of 1974. Created from the merger of two preparatory schools, hence the unusual name, it had existed for around 70 years.
Try googling Parkfield Prep School, there are a few mentions. Cuckfield Road is really bewteen Cuckfield and Staplefield, or so Google maps tells me.

Liz

On 03/07/2010 00:30, Barry McAleenan wrote:

Dear Liz

Many thanks for your industry. I only wish that there were more webmasters of your calibre.

For your shoebox: I have since accessed the Historical Directories website and found this entry:

Kelly's 1915 for Haywards Heath, page 444: Commercial section [Private, similar] Bent, Ernest Lionel, boys' preparatory school, Parkfield, Brighton Road.

I suppose it's possible that the name of the original house may have moved with the school.

With kind regards

Barry Mc

Date: Sat, 03 Jul 2010 09:59:38 +0100
From: Liz

That's interesting, thanks.

When I was googling I kept getting references to George Mills who was both a teacher and a writer. He was at Parkfield http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Mills_%28writer%29 http://www.whoisgeorgemills.com/2010/05/haywards-heath-brighton-line-teddy-boys.html

Friends Reunited also show there being a Wick and Parkfield school in Isaacs Lane, Haywards Heath, but does not indicate whether it is a prep school or not.I expect the West Sussex County Records Office (Chichester) will have records of schools in the area too.

I may be repeating what you have already been able to do. The attached is the 1901 census [right] for Earnest [Ernest] Lionel Bent, schoolmaster at Butlers Green, [:] Parkfield. Butlers Green is on the outskirts of Haywards Heath in the Isaacs Lane area. He was born in Essex.

Attached is the 1891 Census for the likely the same person. (aged 10 years younger and born Essex, same occupation - mathematics) The attached 1881 shows him with his parents as does the 1871.

Wishing you well with your searching

Liz

[NOTE: Liz had attached copies of the 1871, 1881, 1891, and 1901 census forms for Ernest L. Bent. The 1901 U. K. Census form is the one that would be closest in proximity to the time George Mills would have attended the school, which he would have sometime between approximately 1903 and 1909. This 1901 form shows the school being at Parkfield and names several schollmasters, some of whom probably taught young George Mills. Click to enlarge and read it.]

Date: Saturday, July 03, 2010 6:40 AM
From: Barry McAleenan [barrymc@dittonsroad.orangehome.co.uk]

Dear Sam

This is what Liz Graydon has just sent me. Butlers Green is now part of Haywards Heath - pretty much to the right of the T into the 2028 on the old map (which I now date to circa 1925 - since reference was found to the partitioning of Ireland). The 2028 is also known as Isaacs Lane, but the actual junction has been moved. I read the census as Ernest Bent. Parkfield would have been in Butlers Green, which included the top end of Isaacs Lane. [This may have been known as 'the Brighton Road' since it would have been a 'route', if nothing else - but that's only a guess.]

Kind regards

Barry

As always, thank you very much, Barry!

Taking a quick "virtual drive" down Isaac's Lane, I didn't find much: Mostly trees. One thing I did know was that, in looking for the addresses of my own relatives near Manchester, the homes have either been there, or they've been paved over in favor of apartments, subdivisions, or office parks. The fact that I didn't see any of those along Isaac's Lane led me to believe that the school hadn't been "developed" [read: demolished] into another structure or structures.

At one point, I stopped, spun around, and peered up a drive into a place called "Downlands Park [pictured, right]," which was marked with a medical red cross on Google Maps. It certainly evidenced the characteristic size, shape, and multiple chimneys that we've seen on Victorian school buildings like Warren Hill School in Meads and The Craig in Winderere.

Some quick research came up with the fact that the building was Downlands Park Nursing Home, run by an international organizaton called Bupa. I flipped through their on-line PDF brochure for the place and it looks beautiful, missing only Tom, Diane, Jane, and Harvey from Waiting for God—in fact, I think I did see Jane! [For a look around the home and its grounds, click HERE.]

Anyway, I contacted Bupa, who put me intouch with Lorraine Lane, the administrator at Downlands Park, who wrote:

Dear Mr Williams,

Thank you for your enquiry into the history of Downlands Park and yes it was indeed a preparatory school in the early 20th century. I will try to find out some more details for you and contact you as soon as I find out.

Kind regards

Lorraine Lane

Administrator Bupa Care Homes

Downlands Park Nursing Home, Isaacs Lane, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH16 4BQ

It's anyone's guess how long that might take, even if she remembers to do it. Still, it was awfully nice of her to reply so quickly. Thanks, Lorraine!

After letting him know of Ms. Lane's reply above, I received the following message from Barry:

Thursday, July 22, 2010 11:28 AM

Dear Sam

I've finally found Parkfield for you. You will find it just south of the crease [on the attached scan (map, shown)] where the west-going A272 from Haywards Heath junctions with the south-going A273 (Isaacs Lane). In passing, my house is shown on the North East boundary of the large school [Warden Park] in Cuckfield. Purcells is close by, but the mapping resolution of these houses is not good. The school boundaries were straightened out in 1960 or so. This doubled the size of the properties' back gardens. Before this, the land had been a golf course on top of a hill.

Kind regards

Barry

Brilliant! The location of Parkfield on Isaac's Lane near Butler's Green Road is exact location of Downlands Park! [Note: Parkfield is to the far left on the pictured map, showing its proximity to Haywards Heath.]

One more metaphorical piece can be put in my puzzle of the life of George Mills. Parkfield [interior pictured, right] , where Mills had spent time as a boy, has been found.

Well, another mystery solved, and quite satisfactorily I might add. Parkfield School had certainly seemed cloaked so completely in the metaphorical mists of time that I was afraid it had been essentially lost. It's nice to have found it, putting one more piece into the puzzle that is the life of George Mills.

It also heartens me that we may eventually gain information about and insight into the existence of two more schools that figure into the life and professional résumé of Mills: Eaton Gate Preparatory School in London, S.W.1, and the English Preparatory School at Glion, Switzerland, both of which existed at least in the era of the 1920s and/or 1930s.

I can't adequately express my appreciation to Barry Mc for help in gaining leads and insights into research that otherwise would have been beyond me. Thanks once again, Barry—and Liz and Lorraine—very much!

Haywards Heath, the Brighton Line, Teddy Boys, and Uncle Sam's Trousers

Rounding out the week, here are a few words on my recent writings from the savvy and sagacious Barry McAleenan. They have been culled from a variety of sources, and poorly plastered together here by yours truly…

On Haywards Heath, and my 'virtual' ride along Cuckfield Road this week:

"There is now no Cuckfield Road in Haywards Heath, but a road from Hurstpierpoint (going northwards) to Cuckfield is so-named in places. The coming of the railways to HH blew Cuckfield out of the water commercially. It had thrived as an overnight stop for the coaches travelling from London to Brighton. Apparently, this is why it is to be found on so many 'older' maps."

Barry's thoughts on George Mills using 'Haywards Heath' as the location for Parkfield School:

"In the days before post codes, the full postal address effectively included the chain of sorting offices, and with the coming of the railways, this would have changed. From Wikipedia (for background):

• On 10 January 1840, the Uniform Penny Post was established throughout the UK, facilitating the safe, speedy and cheap conveyance of letters, and from 6 May could be prepaid with the first postage stamp, known as the Penny Black.

• The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) (commonly known as "the Brighton line" or "the Brighton Railway") was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1922. [...] Haywards Heath was in use by 1858.

A dedication would tend to abbreviate the address, thereby denying us the actual village where the school may have been, and assuredly tell us where the main railway station was."

So, if I understand correctly, Parkfield may not have been in Haywards Heath per se. The alleged relationship between any past Parkfield School and Cuckfield would only have been established by the fact that there are now, along the internet, a few mentions of a "Wick and Parkfield School" on Cuckfield Road. The websites that school is mentioned on are of fairly recent vintage.

Barry continues: "There is a prep school in HH called 'Tavistock and Summerhill' who may be able to offer you an answer that may help."

I'll see what they may be able to tell me, but, ironically, schools can be a very "iffy" proposition when it comes to disseminating information. For every Windlesham House and Warren Hill, schools and communities who embrace their history and freely offer up archival information, there's an Eaton House Prep and a Magdalen College School, institutions that are not disposed to respond to enquiries, at least not to those of an historical nature.

Now, Barry was, as we know, a student at Seaford's Ladycross Preparatory School during the 1950s, and was there when George Mills taught a summer term in 1956. In regard to the changing hairstyles on the children in the Mills books throughout time [and the uniforms as well]:

1950's Hair-styles

Check out Teddy Boys in Wikipedia on
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teddy_Boy_%28subculture%29

We Ladycross prep school boys were living a very isolated existence in the mid-50s: No TV, no radio and a copy of the Daily Telegraph in the Games Room; teenagers had hardly been invented and we were essentially very cowed pre-teenagers. The record player in the Music Room was only used for classical music on 78's. To be specific, the updated hair-styles [on the 1957 edition of Meredith and Co., pictured left] are wrong. We had a 'short, back and sides' cut about once a month, leaving us tousle-haired and essentially ungroomed [pictured, below, right] - not long and slicked back [per Vernon]. I think we would have considered that look to be a bit 'spivvy'. A few boys came back from holiday with Crew cuts.

Uniforms

Blazers and short grey flannel trousers were Sunday-best so not likely for japes and scrapes. The white edging on blazers in the school photo was used to signify that cricketing colours had been awarded.

I can't speak for other schools since we only met them in sports kit. In the summer we wore fawn 'Aertex' short-sleeve shirts, red tie, khaki shorts with a 'snake belt', ankle socks, and sandals on a daily basis, with a V-neck school pullover when the weather was bleak. We had full-length dressing gowns - not the jacket-style theatre dressing-room look. Pyjamas were not quite as bold-striped [pictured above, left] as your Uncle Sam's trousers.

I rather like writing these emails, so keep on asking the questions. I hope you are making sense of the contemporary vernacular!

I hope I am, too! It would seem the Brocks [C. E. and H. M.] both seem to have had the correct hairstyle of a prep school boy in place, as described above. The long hair illustrated by "Vernon" [circa 1957] wouldn't have been quite accurate, so it seems that hair might simply have been updated to nudge sales along. But Barry does point out: "In those less egalitarian times, there were plenty of publications (including comics like The Dandy, and Enid Blyton's Malory Towers novels) that suggest that there was entertainment value in the doings of the posh kids."

I certainly owe many thank to Barry for helping me steer through British history, geography, and popular culture. I can't even begin to say how much I appreciate his patience and his knack for shaping the details of the world I'm exploring!

It's our Memorial Day holiday this Monday and we have a long weekend to celebrate, barbecue, and hit the beach. It was created as Decoration Day after the War Between the States, but was adapted following the First World War. It's a different holiday than our Veteran's Day [formerly Armistice Day] which I believe would correspond with the U. K.'s Remembrance Day.

Nonetheless, it's also the unofficial kick-off of summertime in the U. S., the calendar be damned! Have a great weekend!

Exploring Haywards Heath

Working once again through the preface to Meredith and Co. (1933) reminded me of my unsuccessful attempts to probe into the dedication of the third novel of George Mills, Minor and Major, published in 1939.

The edition I own and am reading right now [published by Spring Books in what would appear to be the late 1950s] has a dedication that reads: 'To the Headmaster, Staff, and Boys of Parkfield, Haywards Heath, where I received my early education, this book is affectionately dedicated.'

Information about the life of George Mills and his family around the turn of the 20th century is sketchy at best. Mills was born in Cornwall in 1896, and his father, Barton, took a position at the Chapel Royal of the Savoy in 1901, moving the family to London before George's 5th birthday.

George was then at Harrow School from 1910 to 1912. Would it be correct to assume that Mills likely attended Parkfield from approximately 1905 through 1910? I'll assume that, having 'named no names' in his dedication above, he was not currently working there, and was simply reminiscing about a happier, less complicated time in his life.

I haven't had much luck regarding a Parkfield School or Haywards Heath. It appears there had been a "Wick and Parkfield Preparatory School" in Haywards Heath, but all I've really been able to find out about it on-line is that it would have been located on Cuckfield Road and once had full inspection in 1936. Google Maps didn't help much, either. I "drove" up and down rural Cuckfield Road [B2114], east of Haywards Heath itself, from B2115 up to Handcross and only "passed" one school: Newish-looking Brantridge School in Staplefield.

Neither three enquiries sent to the Independent Association of Prep Schools, nor two enquiries of the Haywards Heath Archives, have brought so much as a single reply, let alone any information. It seems to be somewhat of a black hole in the landscape of Sussex history. [UPDATE, 30 July 2010: I apologize for my reference to a "black hole." Thanks to brilliant research by Barry McAleenan and Liz Graydon, we've located Parkfield School!]

Given the difficulty that I've had investigating prep schools, I appreciate all the more the gracuious offers of help and exceptional assistance rendered by the Eastbourne Local History Society during my search for Warren Hill School in Meads, and from Windlesham House in Brighton. Thanks once again to everyone involved in those investigations for all your help!

The Life of B. R. V. Mills, Part 2

In 1891, recent widower Barton Reginald Vaughan Mills, father of a young son, Arthur, was appointed vicar of Bude, on the coast of Cornwall, on a stipend of £170 a year, a sum considered less than his contemporaries, but still more than he'd recently earned at Poughill. Was money an issue? Perhaps, but it would seem, more importantly, that although he may have dreamed of a more metropolitan life, this living kept him close to kith and kin, especially to the patrons of Bude parish, the family of his grandfather, Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, who had helped raise Barton as a child in nearby Killerton, Devon.

We had no news for several years after Barton took up residence at the vicarage, but finally, on 10 January 1894, Barton R. V. Mills married Elizabeth Edith Ramsay, daughter of George Dalhousie Ramsay, C.B., in Kensington, London. In 1893 at the age of 64, Ramsay had just completed thirty years of service to his country as Director of Army Clothing. Various sources have Elizabeth Edith born in either 1865 or 1866, making her 28 or 29 years old at the time of the wedding. Barton himself was 36 on the day of his nuptials.

Soon after, in 1895, Barton's mother, Lady Agnes Lucy Dyke Acland, died on 23 May. But, on 11 June of that same year, Agnes Edith Mills was born in Stratton, Cornwall, to Barton and his new bride.

In 1896, the couple had their second child together and third overall, George Ramsay Acland Mills, born on 1 October 1896 in Bude. That same year, Fairbairn's Book of Crests of the Families of Great Britain and Ireland‎ lists George Dalhousie Ramsay as residing at "7. Manson Place, Queen's Gate, S.W." That seemingly irrelevant fact would soon loom larger in Barton's life, just as my recent discovery of it did in this story.

In 1898, Barton's father, Arthur Mills, died on 12 October, and his estate was probated at £42 035 to Reginald Brodie Dyke Acland, barrister, Theodore Dyke Acland, M.D., the Rev. Barton Reginald Vaughan Mills, and Dudley Acland Mills, a major in the Royal Engineers and Barton's younger brother.

Barton's son, Arthur Frederick Hobart Mills, then aged 13, entered Wellington College, Berkshire, in the Hardinge House, in 1900. His father is listed as "Rev. B. R. V. Mills", at the address: "The Vicarage [right], Bude Haven, N. Cornwall".

One might assume that an inheritance could very easily change the family's prospects, and that seems to have been the case here. In the new century, things are about to change quite a bit for the family of four-year-old George Mills.

The year of 1901 marked the passing of Queen Victoria on 22 January. Barton R. V. Mills preached his first sermon at the Chapel Royal on 2 February 1901 at the Festival of the Purification, Memorial Service on the day and at the hour of the Funeral at Windsor of Queen Victoria. Records show that the preachers on that day were "T E Franklyn, Assistant Chaplain, and Barton R V Mills, Vicar of Bude Haven, Cornwall."

1901, however, is a particularly interesting because of Barton's sudden change of employment. As we see above, Mills is still Vicar of Bude Haven on 22 January. Soon, though, he resigned his position as Vicar of Bude Haven, becoming an assistant chaplain of the Chapel Royal of the Savoy in London.

In the 1901 census taken on 31 March, the Mills family is listed as living in "District 14, Brompton, Kensington, London", but I'm uncertain exactly where, or if they are living in a dwelling by themselves because I haven't seen the entire page. George's half-brother, Arthur, is not listed among the family members in London, or among any of the entire list of "Arthur Mills" within that census. Still, they've departed Bude, Cornwall, and it seems for good.

A new holy cleric preached his first sermon at the Chapel Royal of the Savoy [left] as assistant chaplain on the 25th Sunday after Trinity, 24 November 1901—the preacher of record was "Barton R. V. Mills, Assistant Chaplain."

No lay person I've asked has seemed to think the fact that Barton Mills converted to Roman Catholicism in the late 1870s would have made much of a difference in his becoming an Anglican Vicar or gaining employment at the Savoy. However, in a recent e-mail, the current Chaplain of the Queen's Chapel of the Savoy expressed doubt: "I should be surprised if Mills was appointed assistant chaplain of the Savoy (it was known as the Chapel Royal, Savoy in those days) having 'renounced the Anglican Church.'"

I've sent the surprising results of my research to the Queen's Chapel and, hopefully we'll have an answer soon regarding why a Roman Catholic had been holding positions of such influence in the Anglican Church. It's true that Mills may simply have changed his mind back about his affiliation just as suddenly as he had in changed it the first place. Still, I know that in the United States, if it became known that the clergyman of a Protestant church had ever been a convert to Roman Catholicism, and then flip-flopped back, it would likely cause somewhat of a tempest.

Also in 1901, Barton R. V. Mills published a book of sermons, Marks of the Church [Skeffington & Son: London, 1901], putting some additional funds in the family coffers. That would not have been a bad thing at all, considering the number of mouths to feed in his family was about to increase.

Violet Eleanor Mills was born on 17 November 1902, and in the following year, Arthur F. H. Mills, aged 16, left Wellington College, Berkshire, at the end of three years. It's unclear where young Arthur might have gone, but the most likely possibility would seem to be a return to the home of his father in London.

The Mills family then makes no news, as far as I can discern, until 1906 when Arthur resumes his schooling, entering the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, on September 12. He's rated "Fair" in both his first and second terms, and "Good" in his third term.

At some point during that span of time, though, George Mills was attending Parkfield Preparatory School in Haywards Heath. I'm not having much luck at all finding information on that now-defunct institution, however.

Then, in 1907, Barton R. V. Mills published Fundamental Christianity: an essay on the essentials of the Christian Faith (Reprinted from "The Churchman") [Masters & Co.: London, 1907].

A year later, Arthur F. H. Mills was "gazetted" [as he described it] into the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry. Actually, Sandhurst describes him as having been "commissioned" into the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry on 19 September 1908. It's likely the notion of Arthur saying he had been "gazetted" occurred when the Territorial Force was formed on April 1, 1908, as a result of the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907. Mills then likely went directly into the 5th Battalion of the 214th Infantry Brigade.

Also in 1908, Rev. Barton R. V. Mills, speaking in his capacity as assistant chaplain of the Savoy, participated in that year's Pan-Anglican Congress and, in response to a discussion called The Drink Traffic, the minutes show he "suggested that there was an alternative solution to that of the Licensing Bill. It would be for the State to buy up all of the licensed houses at market value and convert the liquor trade into a Government monopoly. The profits of the trade would easily cover the cost of the purchase."

With prohibition also being discussed, it does seem odd—at least from today's perspective—having had a clergyman speaking on behalf of turning the liquor trade into a profitable government monopoly. Where Mills was then going with that line of thinking is unclear, though.

Perhaps coincidentally, but perhaps not, Barton Mills left the Savoy in that same year, 1908. He would have been about 52 years of age. Could this separation simply have been for the purposes of retirement?

In 1910, Barton sent George Mills, aged 14, following in his footsteps own to Harrow School in London. I'm uncertain of the family's exact address at the time, but in 1911, The Plantagenet Roll of Royal Blood is published, listing "Rev. Barton R. V. Mills" as living at "12 Cranley Gardens S.W."

There was a census in 1911 that showed Barton Mills, still listing his occupation as "Clergyman, Church of England," as the head of the household there at 12 Cranley Gardens, S.W., living with his wife, two daughters, seven servants and a governess in the 20+ room home.

Mills is listed in the 1911 edition of Kelly's Directory of Dorset: "The living [at the church of All Saints] is a rectory, net income £260, including 56 acres of glebe, with residence, in the gift of the Rev Barton R V Mills, M. A., of Cranleigh Gardens, London SW, and Major D. Mills [again, Barton's brother, Dudley]." The parish is Tarrant Keynston.

In 1912, George Mills left Harrow School, presumably to return home. There's quite a gap in the family history, then, until at last George's half-brother, Arthur, was mobilised after the United Kingdom declared war on Germany on 3 August 1914 and sent to France. Arthur was wounded in both legs during or just after the fighting at La Bassée, probably very late in 1914, and soon returned to England.

George, however, had later entered the First World War as a Private in the Rifle Brigade in 1916, where he also may have seen immediate combat in France.

The Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry regiment created to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They participated in the Battle of Flers-Courcelette on 15 September 1916. This was during the Somme Offensive, one of the first uses of tanks by the British in a large scale battle. The tanks in the end proved largely to be a psychological asset. They emboldened attackers and intimidating defenders whenever they advanced. Tactically, however, the tanks did not provide much advantage or support for the British regiments because so many of them broke down as they advanced. Depending on the date of Mills' active assignment to the brigade, he easily could have been a part of that battle.

Mills later transferred to the Royal Army Service Corps where he reached the rank of Lance Corporal before returning to civilian life. This transfer made sense as George's namesake grandfather, Sir George Dalhousie Ramsay, had been Director of Army Clothing through 1893 and the RASC was responsible for transportation of non-ammunition stores such as food, water, fuel, and general domestic stores [such as clothing]. In addition, his uncle, Major Dudley Mills, was an officer in the Royal Engineers.

Also in 1916, perhaps still recovering from his leg wounds, Arthur married Lady Dororthy Rachel Melissa Walpole, daughter of Robert Horace Walpole, the Earl of Orford, in London. The couple apparently had had little income and publishing newspaper and magazine stories had bolstered the household income until, in 1916, they each published the first of their many novels.

During the war, the Mills family as a whole doesn't generate much news at all, save the distant death of Lady Dorothy's maternal grandfather, D.C. Corbin of Spokane, Washington, in the United States on 29 June 1918. Although they couldn't have met more than a handful of times, the multimillionaire American railroad magnate left her an iron-clad trust fund that she could not access until the death of her father, the scandalous Earl of Orford, who had just remarried in 1917.

In 1919, George Mills left the military and matriculated to Christ Church College, Oxford. Barton Reginald Vaughan Mills, "a cleric in holy orders and a scholar, of 7 Mawson Place, Queens Gate," is listed as George's father on the admissions documents at Christ Church.

It is unclear if "Mawson" was transcribed incorrectly at the time, read incorrectly recently, or simply transcribed to me incorrectly, but such a thoroughfare, if it ever had been there, certainly does not now exist in Queen's Gate.

However, as I just discovered yesterday, The County Families of the United Kingdom; or, Royal Manual of the Titled and Untitled Aristocracy of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland [Ballantyne & Co., London: 1919] lists Rev. Barton Reginald Vaughan Mills among its entrants, and cites as his address "7. Manson Place, S.W."

What a difference a single letter makes!

That's particularly interesting because "7. Manson Place, S.W." is, at the time, also the exact address of Barton's father-in-law, Sir George Dalhouisie Ramsay. It appears the family had at some point moved from Cranley Gardens into the home of Sir George, then some 91 years of age.

In that same 1919 text, Barton's occupation is listed as "Acting Chaplain to the Forces and is Joint-Patron of 1 living." Presumably, that living is Tarrant Keynston.

"Acting Chaplain to the Forces" is a title that I'll need to investigate more. Wikipedia states: "The current form of military chaplain dates from the era of the First World War. A chaplain provides spiritual and pastoral support for service personnel, including the conduct of religious services at sea or in the field."

In 1919, Barton Mills would have been some 62 years old. While I'm certain that he was neither "at sea," nor "in the field," his interest in war was quite evident—even if somewhat academic.

Not many months after the Armistice had been signed on 11 November 1918, Mills had a letter published in the journal History: The Quarterly Journal of the Historical Association, vol. IV, April, 1919, reading:

CORRESPONDENCE:

The Athenæum,
Pall Mall, S.W.1.

SIR,
May I, as a new member of the Historical Association, suggest the consideration in an early number of HISTORY, of the following question?
What is the historical evidence of, or against, the theory of the "nation in arms," of which so much has been heard during the war? My own impression is that it is a retrograde movement, and that the tendency of modern civilisation has been to restrict warfare to professional armies instead of arming "the manhood of the nation."
The discussion of this question by an expert ought to be most interesting.

BARTON R. O. MILLS [sic]

It's not the most passionate response to a horrific war ever, but in that brief missive, we do discover that Barton Mills, having recently become a member of the Historical Association, had also become a member of the prestigious Athenæum Club. Members of the Athenæum at the time included Rudyard Kipling, sculptors Gilbert Bayes, Sir Thomas Brock, and Sir George Frampton, and painters John Collier and Sir Luke Fildes. It seems Mills has truly established himself in London.

Sir George Dalhousie Ramsay then passed away on 16 January 1920. Can we assume that the Mills family stayed in his home at 7 Manson Place, S.W.? Is it also reasonable to consider that there may also have been something of an inheritance received by the Mills family? In 1889, Ramsay himself had come into a sizable inheritance, and in 1909, Ramsay and Mills both had been named trustees in the will of one John Crawfurd, who had died in 1868. There had apparently been quite a bit of "capital accumulation" of properties in the will by 1910. It's unknown at this point if this had had any effect on their relationship, business or otherwise.

Also in the year of 1920, Lady Dorothy Mills, Barton's daughter-in-law, received a very favorable review of her latest novel The Laughter of Fools [Duckworth & Co.: London, 1920] in Punch. The novel had been first published in the month of April and had to be reprinted just one month later.

In 1921, George Mills [or perhaps Barton] paid for his admissions examinations on 21 May and entered the University of Oxford. As an Army veteran, he "was exempted from taking Responsions (preliminary examinations for entry) and the examinations of the First Public Examination, under a decree of 9 March 1920… on condition that he had obtained permission from the Vice Chancellor and the proctors; and that he had paid the fee for admission to the examinations the decree excused him from." It's unknown at this point what George then may have studied after his admission or even how long he remained there.

So, Barton and family had likely settled into 7 Manson Place after the passing of Sir George; young George began following in his father Barton's footsteps at Oxford; Arthur—a war hero—was busily writing popular novels; and Arthur's wife, Lady Dorothy, had been finding some success with the pen as well. Everyone had survived the Great War, and Barton Mills—now some 63 years of age—must have felt some contentment.

Still, he had yet to accomplish his own most memorable achievement. And, just as he had experienced in his own life, he would see many unexpected changes visit the lives of those he loved.

But more on those changes, and the remainder of the life of the Revd Barton R. V. Mills, M.A., next time in Part 3!

[Read Part 3, or go back to Part 1.]

Word from Windlesham School!

Yesterday, on a balmy and breezy Sunday afternoon here in central Florida, I tried to do a little internet sleuthing. In my newly-arrived copy of Meredith and Co., the dedication reads as follows [And, yes, I know you can see it, left]:

To MR. J. GOODLAND, sometime Head Master of Warren Hill, Eastbourne; to the STAFF AND BOYS OF THE SAME SCHOOL, and to those of WINDLESHAM HOUSE, BRIGHTON, THE CRAIG, WINDERMERE, and the ENGLISH PREPARATORY SCHOOL, GLION, among whom I spent many happy years, this book is affectionately dedicated.

In trying to track down information on George Mills, I contacted the prestigious and impressive Windlesham School, Washington, Pulborough, RH20 4AY, via an e-mail form at their website, http://www.windlesham.com/. This morning, stamped Monday, March 15, 2010 7:36 AM, I received the cordial and extremely engaging reply below:

Dear Mr Williams,

Thank you for your message which is a most intriguing one. This is so not least as I suspect that I may well have read one of George Mills books in my youth, my father and I both being passionate cricketers. I have subsequently gone onto your 'Who is George Mills?' website, which made for fascinating further reading.

You are correct, I'm sure, in ascribing the dedication as being to this Windlesham House. The school was until 1913 located in the heart of Brighton and then moved out to the suburbs until 1934. Since that time it has been at its present home a short distance away in the heart of the West Sussex part of the South Downs.

A satisfactory answer to your question as to why the dedication should be as you describe it is less easy to establish. There were certainly two brothers and a cousin with the surname Mills at Windlesham in the late 1890s, though none had George anywhere in their names. Equally the school history 1837-1937 makes no mention of a teacher by the name of Mills, but interestingly we are still in contact with a Patrick Mills who left here in 1942, possibly a son?

However, the resources at my disposal are far short of the total archival material that may provide an answer. My role is that of Secretary to the Windlesham House Association, the alumni body. What I will do is to copy into this correspondence Dr Tom Houston, the school historian, a very near contemporary of Patrick Mills. He is currently engaged on an update of the school history and may well have something that can shed further light on the connection.

I very much look forward to his response. I do hope that we can help you resolve a little more about George Mills.

Every good wish.
Richard Martin

An article on the school’s 2010 centenary from Attain, the official magazine of the Independent Association of Prep Schools [IAPS], also describes the school’s history from the its origins: “Windlesham House School originates from a school set up for a dozen or so pupils by Reverend Worsley at Newport on the Isle of Wight in 1826. It was bought by the Malden family in 1837, initially for the children of naval officers, and was moved to Brighton in 1837. In 1913, the School moved to Portslade and in 1934 went to its present site at Washington.”

Right now, we really have no way of knowing how old Mills was when he wrote his books, all published between 1933 and 1939, but is there a clue in Meredith and Co.’s dedication?

When Mills refers to the staff and boys of “WINDLESHAM HOUSE, BRIGHTON”, could he be dedicating his novel to the staff and boys of a school he’d been familiar with as a boy?

A previous posting suggests that Mills attended a school called Parkfield in Haywards Heath. Checking Google Maps, it appears that Haywards Heath may be just 15 or 20 km due north of Brighton, up A273 or B2112, depending which side of Burgess Hill one would be skirting.

If Mills attended Parkfield at a time when he might’ve been acquainted with staff and boys from Windlesham House while it was still in Brighton, the very youngest he could’ve been in 1913 would be about 13 years old. That would have made him around 33 years old when his first book, Meredith and Co., was published, and near 39 when both Minor and Major and St. Thomas of Canterbury went to press. However, he could also have been much older.

Of course, when Windlesham House moved to Portslade in 1934, the school might still have been commonly referred to as being located at Brighton, while meaning the city’s suburbs. That could make Mills at least somewhat younger than a man nearing middle age in 1939.

This would also make sense if Mills served in the military during World War II. Here’s some insight into the climate regarding war with Germany in the late 1930s from historyonthenet.com: When war broke out in September 1939, some men volunteered to join the armed services, but Britain could still only raise 875,000 men. Other European countries had kept conscription between the wars and were able to raise much larger armies than Britain. In October 1939 the British government announced that all men aged between 18 and 41 who were not working in 'reserved occupations' could be called to join the armed services if required.

With a conscription possibly reaching to age 41, and with Nazi “hit and run” bombers working the southeastern coast of England from 1940 on, you don't have to be Hercule Poirot to know it seems likely that the war in some way might have uprooted Mills—or at the very least thrown him off of his usual writing/teaching routines—no matter what age he might have been at the time.

From 1942 to 1943, the heaviest bombing on the south coast was in Eastbourne, home of another locale in Mills’s dedication above. And that’s where we’ll go in our next post.

Meanwhile, as always, please let me know if you have any information about George Mills, his life, his career, or his relationship to 'WINDLESHAM HOUSE, BRIGHTON'!

Word from Heather at Peakirk Books, Norfolk

I’ve ordered Minor and Major from Peakirk Books in Norfolk, U.K., and have been getting great customer service from Heather Lawrence. Here’s my order info:

ITEMS ORDERED-------------
Item.........MILLS, George:, Minor and Major
Item Number..14155
Quantity.....1

Email: info@PeakirkBooks.com
Peakirk Books
Cherry Tree Lodge
Guist Bottom Road, Stibbard
Nr Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 0AQ
United Kingdom
Phone: 01328 829944

It's in transit, but cooler than simply sending me the book itself, Heather graciously consented to research George Mills. Apparently Peakirk is still in the process of moving its location and a “reference book on Boys school story authors” was in the old place. After retrieving it, here’s what she found out, from an e-mail stamped Wednesday, March 10, 2010; 5:57 AM [bold face and italic are mine]:

Hello again

Ref George Mills - I retrieved my book and it told me the following (unfortunately more about the books than the man).

G. M. taught for many years at a prep. School after himself being a pupil at one - Parkfield, in Haywards Heath) - so unsurprisingly his 3 school stories have a similar setting. 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.

The real hero for many is Uggles, a bulldog owned by 1 of the boys whose unexpected appearances cause havoc. King willow was equally a high spirited. Minor & Major was set in a different prep school. - even more whimsical than the previous 2.

Sorry not to have more useful information. The school he went to is located in Sussex, if you want to try and locate it - it may have some information on old pupils.

Kind regards

Heather

Thanks, Heather, for going above and beyond! So, we know that Mills apparently wasn’t primarily a writer, but a veteran teacher at a prep school after having attended one in West Sussex [Parkfield, in Haywards Heath] as a boy. Above, left, you can see a photograph of Haywards Heath [circa 1950] describing that location as “St Wilfrid's Church and the Schools.”

Does anyone have any information on “the Schools”? I'd be very much obliged...