Matches 3,001 to 3,050 of 3,167
| # |
Notes |
Linked to |
| 3001 |
Stage Beauty:-
http://www.stagebeauty.net/th-frames.html?http&&&www.stagebeauty.net/forbes-robertson/forbes-robertson-b.html | FORBES-ROBERTSON, Beatrice (I2393)
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| 3002 |
Staying as a boarder | BILLSON, Herbert Henry (I000056)
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| 3003 |
Staying with her brother Thomas Harvey Harris | HARRIS, Phoebe Harvey (I000160)
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| 3004 |
STEVENSON MARGARET NANCY 07 August 2003 Probate No. 1285030 Death 18 May 2003 Grant and will Oxford | STEVENSON, Margaret Nancy (I1928)
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| 3005 |
Stillborn | HOOPER, Oscar (I1298)
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| 3006 |
STOCKS MILL, WITTERSHAM
This large white weatherboarded post mill on its single-storey tarred brick roundhouse, is the largest postmill in Kent. Though originally carrying common sweeps, four single-shuttered spring sets had been in use for most of its life, The mill is winded by a tail-pole and talthur and never had a fantail. It drove two pairs of stones overdrift, one each at breast and tail respectively. Its centre post is one of the stoutest to be seen on any mill. It stood on six foot high brick piers.
The mill was built in 1781 and there is a date carved on the post "RV 1781", though this may possibly record the date of its removal as some think it started life at a previous site. The mill stopped work in 1900 and both the mill and the nearby Tudor-style millhouse were purchased by the Edwardian actor, Norman Forbes-Robertson. He took a keen interest in the mill and kept it in good order and well repaired during his ownership.
However, the mill still needed extensive repairs by 1958 when new sweeps were fitted; more repairs were needed again in 1968. The mill was purchased by Kent County Council who undertook major restoration in 1980, fittingnew sweeps and repairing and repaintingthe woodwork. The mill has been firmly anchored by the tail-pole and massive steps; though the sweeps are shutter-less, they are turned annually through 90degrees to relieve strain. Nearly all the machinery has been dispersed.
The mill is open to the public by the "Friends of Stocks Mill" on summer Sunday afternoons.
LOCATION: Beside the B2082 road, 1 mile north-east of the village of Wittersham.
GRID REF: TQ 132273 | ROBERTSON, Norman Forbes (I000360)
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| 3007 |
Story about the SS Pencarrow - a 4850 ton tramp steamer.
WILLIAM JOHN MORGAN: Born Cardiff, 7th April 1905. Died, 26th January1986… William Morgan, my father, was born in Railway Street, Splott, Cardiff on Saturday 7th April 1905. He was the eldest of four children and was educated at Moorland Road School, Splott. His first employment was on a milk round whilst still at school. He would get up at 5.30 a.m. and work until 8.00 a.m., then go home for breakfast, before going to school at 9.00am. He started this work at about 9¬10 years of age. He did reasonably well at school and left at the age of 14 years, without a blemish on his record. His first serious employment was as an Apprentice Carpenter with the Cambrian Wagon Works in Maindee, Cardiff. I distinctly recall him telling me how very hard the work was for a 14 year-old. For the first 6 months the only tools he required were a large hammer and a cold-chisel. His job was to chisel off the bolt heads fastening the very heavy wagon timbers, in order that they could be repaired / replaced. The “real” carpenters then took over and made the repairs. This was a very dirty job as most of the wagons were coal trucks from the Welsh mining valleys. Also, many a knuckle and finger were “Skinned”! At about the age of 19 years, he finally completed his apprenticeship and was considered a fully fledged carpenter, enabling him to gain employment with Cardiff City Corporation building council houses. At this time; the year was 1924 and when employment became hard to find in the 1926/7 “Slump” era, he was laid off for some time. Unable to find suitable work during this very difficult period, he joined the Merchant Navy as a Ship’s Carpenter. I don’t recall the names of all the many ships he sailed in, but I do know that he served for a good many years aboard a 7,000 ton vessel called the S.S. Pencarrow and it was whilst serving aboard her that the following adventure took place. Sometime in 1931, they left Barry Docks loaded with a full cargo of best Welsh anthracite, destined for Buenos Aires in Argentina. The voyage was quite uneventful, especially for dad, because, as ship’s ‘Chippie’ there wasn’t a lot to do, except for a few deck and watch duties, when his turn came around. On leaving port, his first important task was to secure the anchors to prevent their accidental deployment. This entailed having to mix a few buckets of concrete to secure the anchor chains to the deck between the anchor port holes and the chain locker. As a 7,000 ton Tramp Steamer the Pencarrow wasn’t very fast and only cruised at approx. 8-10 knots. At this speed the distance of 6800 nautical miles took about 30 days and the whole projected voyage time was to be about 10 months! So, knowing in advance, how much idle time he would have, he decided to make a model of the “Cutty Sark”. Working from scratch with a set of accurate plans and without any modern-type kit facilities, this was to be quite an undertaking. The conditions under which he worked were very spartan, for without any electric lighting; he had only candles and an oil lamp to see what he was doing. This was because his tiny cabin was well below decks, right over the propeller shaft and without daylight. When duties and weather allowed, he was occasionally able to take the work up on deck. Apart from a few chains and the flag, [made by an old friend, Bob Rebane of Barry], the whole of the model was hand-made! After unloading their cargo at Buenos Aires they re-loaded with an inferior Argentinean “Duff” coal which was destined for power station use in New Zealand. This very light and dusty coal packed down well in the forward and after holds and when the plimsoll line indicated the vessel was fully loaded, each hold was only three quarters full. They were later to discover that this was a “Blessing in Disguise!” On leaving Buenos Aires, the Captain decided to steam north, up the South American seaboard and enter the Pacific by way of the Panama Canal, thereby avoiding an uncomfortable rounding of Cape Horn. The journey to and through the Panama Canal was uneventful, allowing for plenty of model making. It was when they were well out into the Pacific and past the Galapagos Islands that the fun started. One night, whilst in his bunk, he heard a change in the prop shaft rhythm, which seemed to be coming from the stern area. When he notified the Chief Engineer they investigated the after shaft bearings, but apart from being slightly warm, couldn’t find anything wrong. This unusual rhythm persisted and despite investigations the cause was not evident, until......... part of a blade fell off their three bladed propeller! Naturally, this sent serious vibrations through the ship and engines were shut down immediately. They were now drifting aimlessly out in the vast ocean, with no radio on board and at the mercy of the sea and weather. Fortunately the weather remained calm for the duration of the following events. Having a diver’s kit on board, a man was sent down to investigate and he reported to the Chief that it was possible to effect a temporary repair, but they would have to somehow get part of the prop higher in the water to be able to work on it. This was where their cargo came to be very useful. It was decided, using the two wheel barrows on board, to partially unload the after hold and place the coal in the forward hold. When the forward hold was full and the stern still not high enough out of the water, they piled coal onto the foredeck until this was achieved. While this was going on, dad took out some oak ships timber and fashioned a replacement part for the broken prop blade and drilled one inch holes, filled them with molten lead to make good the desired weight. [Guesswork!] Having succeeded in making the repair, they then had to move the coal back to the after hold to put her back onto an even keel. This done they headed back towards Panama for proper repairs. The whole operation had taken almost two weeks and they were very fortunate in that, the weather remained calm in all that time. The trip to Panama was a very slow one, making only 1-2 knots. On arrival they went into dry dock and when the dock was drained the repair just about fell off! By this time they were into 1932 and I have a photograph of my father, taken at the time, with a ship¬mate. On the back of which, my mother has written, “someone, somewhere, 1932”. On leaving Panama, they carried on to New Zealand and picked up another cargo which was unloaded in Australia. They reloaded in Oz and carried this cargo back to Liverpool, arriving 10 months after leaving Barry. Having laboured on it for all these 10 months, his fine model was almost complete except for the display case in which it is now displayed. Prior to WW2, he loaned the model to the Greenwich Museum, where the original “Cutty Sark” is now on display. After the outbreak of war, the museum suggested that he had the model back in Cardiff for safe keeping. This, despite their assurance that they had it insured for £250, in 1939! It is now in my possession. © B. G. (Reels) Morgan. 27.10.2005. | DAY-MURPHY, William Thomas (I000312)
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| 3008 |
Suffered with terrible leg ulcers throughout later life.
After she retired she toured Europe on package tours with Bill Francis and her friends, Doddy and Topsy. | MILLS, Eileen Mary (I000077)
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| 3009 |
Surname inferred from the fact that her daughter Lucy Sophia A Mouland was recorded in the 1871 Census as being the Grand Daughter of William and Ann HOLDAWAY, with whom she was staying.
Researched by Adney Tingle | HOLDAWAY, Lucy Sophia (I1428)
|
| 3010 |
Surname transcribed as "Eynn" on Ancestry's database | WINN, John Jarvis (I000419)
|
| 3011 |
Susan McGuiness MacKinolty | MCGUINNIS, Susan (I435)
|
| 3012 |
Suspect Death date: died before 1821. | MILLS, John Augustus Hibberd (I001110)
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| 3013 |
Suspected Surname of George Budd Churcher's father | BUDD ?, ? (I2054)
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| 3014 |
SWANN, Violet Prudence
Registration district: Cambridge
County: Cambridgeshire
Year of registration: 2004
Month of registration: September
Date of Birth:30 October 1913
District no: 331/1
Reg no: D64C
Ent no: 219
DOR: 904
| GOODFIELD, Violet P (I1774)
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| 3015 |
Tasmania, Australia, Index to Death Notices in The Mercury, 1854-1930
Name: MacKINOLTY
Death Date: 11 Oct 1923
Parent/Spouse: Harriet
Publication Date: 12 Oct 1923
Or-
| MACKINOLTY, Joseph James (I621)
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| 3016 |
Tasmania, Australia, Index to Marriage Notices in The Mercury, 1854-1962 | Family: Aubrey Stanley BRATT / Ethel Alvina MACKINOLTY (F218)
|
| 3017 |
That she was a sister of Elizabeth comes from Ray Wilson. | WOOD, Annie (I000254)
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| 3018 |
The 1841 census is the only one she is recorded in, with an age that indicates she was born around 1826. | IRELAND, Frances Sarah (I1319)
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| 3019 |
The 1871 Census records that she was a niece of James Mills, not a daughter.
This census also records James Mills age as 66 - from previous census he should be 64. | MILLS, Sarah (I000408)
|
| 3020 |
The 1901 Census shows Mary's age as 68 which makes her birth in 1833. | LINGARD, Mary (I1627)
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| 3021 |
The 1911 Census records that James and Sarah had 9 children born alive.
Apart from Thomas William there must have been three other children who probably died in infancy. | Family: James MILLS / Sarah (Kate?) IRELAND (F000017)
|
| 3022 |
The 1911 Census taken on 2nd April records her as three days old.
Jun Q 1911 8c 590 Barton I | TAYLOR, Irene (I1763)
|
| 3023 |
The Admiralty Surface Weapons Establishment originated in an Experimental Department set up in 1917 at HM Signal School, Portsmouth, to coordinate research work undertaken since 1896 on the Torpedo School ships HMS Defiance and HMS Vernon. In 1941 the Experimental Department became the Admiralty Signal Establishment which, like its predecessors, was largely concerned with communications. However, technological advances during the Second World War necessitated an increase in related fields of research, and in 1948 these were brought under one body, the Admiralty Signal and Radar Establishment at Portsmouth. In 1959 it was decided that missile technology justified an extension of its scope, and on being amalgamated with the Admiralty Gunnery Establishment (AGE) it received the title of Admiralty Surface Weapons Establishment (ASWE). It is responsible for various aspects of research, development, design and trial of equipment, devices and techniques in the fields of communications, radar missile control, and electronic counter-measures and in related fields.
In 1971 the Admiralty Compass Observatory was absorbed into ASWE as its Navigation Division, and in 1984 the Establishment was amalgamated with Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment (AUWE) and Admiralty Marine Technology Establishment (AMTE) to form the Admiralty Research Establishment (ARE).
(National Archives ADM 220) | MILLS, Gordon Raymond (I000048)
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| 3024 |
The bride's father was George Wheeler, Tailor. The groom's father was John Smith, Laborer.
The marriage was witnessed by Edward Alfred Wheeler and Edith Mary Smith (a daughter of John Smith and Mary Ann Gregory).
| Family: John SMITH / Sarah WHEELER (F393)
|
| 3025 |
The ceremony was performed by a Presbyterian Mininster.
He was buried in unconsecrated ground - No. 9821
The Entry No. in the register was 2952 | MILLS, Thomas William R.E (I000044)
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| 3026 |
The consent of the couple's fathers were required in writing for the marriage. | Family: Robert Bloomfield MCKIMM / Margaret Valerie WYNN (F000182)
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| 3027 |
The copy of his birth certificate is dated 18th October 1901 and stamped
"Royal Commission Patriotic Fund". This is just five months after the death of Thomas William.
The assumption is that Eva Annie may have had a grant to pay for the burial of her husband.
Ron & I visited the offices of the Patriotic Fund in London during May 2003. They don't have any records of grants to individuals. | MILLS, Major William George R.E (I000007)
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| 3028 |
The Destroyer HMS Decoy, commanded by Lt.Cdr. G.I.M. Balfour (RN), was assigned to operate in the North Atlantic, where she picked up 41 survivors of the British merchantman Quebec City, which was torpedoed and sunk by the German IXC class U-boat U-156 on 19 September 1942 north-northwest of the Ascension Island. | BARR, Herbert Charles (I1718)
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| 3029 |
The extracts from the Northern Rhodesia Journal can be found at http://www.nrzam.org.uk/ | MILLS, Frederick William (I1471)
|
| 3030 |
The family bible says 1847. | NEWNHAM, Amy Augusta (I000205)
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| 3031 |
The first Catholic to become a public notary | HAYES, Patrick Philpott (I000580)
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| 3032 |
The house was bought on the 16th April 1959 in the name of Maud Mary Mills and sold on 22nd June 1959 to her son Vivian. The price for both sales was £1350. On James Jesse's death the house was sold for £3400 (21st May 1963) | Family: Colonel James Jesse MILLS, O.B.E. - C.B.E. / Maud Mary HAYES (F000108)
|
| 3033 |
The Irish Civil Registration Index records-
Registration District - Simla
Dec Q 1890
Estimated Birth Year 1863 | MURPHY, William Norman MD (I1626)
|
| 3034 |
THE LDS source - India Births and Baptisms, 1786-1947 records-
William Norman Murphey
Birth 10 Nov 1862
Baptism 10 Dec 1862
Baptism place - Kamptee, Madras, India.
Father's name - Miah William Murphey
Mother's name - Harriet | MURPHY, William Norman MD (I1626)
|
| 3035 |
The LDS Source states his age was 29 (born 1861) and that he was an Army Surgeon. | MURPHY, William Norman MD (I1626)
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| 3036 |
The memorials erected in the chapel at Boherlahan to John Coppinger and his father bear the arms:-
1st and 4th - O'Connell with crescent for difference
2nd - Coppinger: Az. a bull's head between 3 stars for difference
3rd - McMahon: Arg. 3 lions passant guardant. | O'CONNELL, John Charles Joseph William Coppinger (I000567)
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| 3037 |
The National Archives reference TNA/RG/8/57 | BILSON, John (I2501)
|
| 3038 |
The occupation of "Sea Captain - deceased" appears on his illegitimate daughter Sarah Ireland's marriage certificate to James Mills in 1863.
She recorded her father's name as James Ireland and his occupation as Sea Captain which was apocryphal to hide the fact that her mother never married him. He would always have been away at sea ...
Sarah's birth certificate revealed the true name of her father - James Mickleburgh. It's doubtful that she ever saw her own birth certificate. | MICKLEBURGH, James (I1867)
|
| 3039 |
The only time that the middle name Kate appears in the records is on her marriage certificate | IRELAND, Sarah (Kate?) (I000050)
|
| 3040 |
The Parish Register of Baptisms records her as "Base Born Daughter of Betty;Garrett;Fovant;Single woman | GARRETT, Charlotte (I001104)
|
| 3041 |
The Parish Register of Baptisms records her as :-
Base born ; Dau of ;Elizabeth ; GARRETT ; Fovant ; Single woman | GARRETT, Caroline (I001108)
|
| 3042 |
The Parish Register of Baptisms records her as :-
Base Born ; Dau of ;Elizabeth ; GARRETT ; Fovant ; Single woman | GARRETT, Mathilda (I001109)
|
| 3043 |
The Parish Register of Baptisms records her as:-
Base Born Daughter of Elizabeth;Garrett;Fovant;Single woman | GARRETT, Harriet (I001106)
|
| 3044 |
The Parish Register of Baptisms records him as:-
Base Born Son of Elizabeth ; Garrett ; Fovant ; Single woman Barford St Martin | GARRETT, George (I001105)
|
| 3045 |
The Parish Register of Baptisms records that she was "Base Born Daughter of Elizabeth;Garrett;Fovant;Single woman" | GARRETT, Anna Maria (I000746)
|
| 3046 |
The Rediscovered Family
The " Fifties and Sixties"
When I was young and my Grandpa (William George Mills) was alive, many enjoyable school holidays were spent at his house in Gosport and I paid no real attention to the past. He told me that his father (Thomas William) had died when he was only two years old and that his mother had also died at a fairly young age. The only other thing that I remember him telling me was that when he died he was the youngest Staff Sergeant in the British Army.
As for memorabilia; in the house at Spring Garden Lane, Gosport, very few items existed. During the war the family's effects, which were in storage at Pickfords in Plymouth, were destroyed in an air raid. What survived was presumably with my Grandpa while he was abroad serving with the Royal Engineers or kept in the family house at 45, Peel Road, Gosport, which was mainly full of the property of the other side of the family; the Francis'.
A silver topped walking stick inscribed with the monogram TWM, an Army pay book (now lost), five photos, one purporting to show Thomas William with his brother Jesse taken in Plumstead, one of TW as a soldier in the R.E, two of his wife Eva Annie nee Williams taken in Pembroke Dock and a small photo of the elderly father of TW, James Mills, were the only items remaining.
There was no written history of the family, no family Bible, no photograph album, nothing, except a few verbal snippets.
These snippets amounted to the following:-
1 James Mills was Scottish and had come down from Glasgow to live in Plumstead and work at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich.
2 He had a son called Thomas William who was in the R.E and was possibly stationed in Jamaica, Pembroke, Chepstow & Gosport.
3 He was thought to have had another son called Jesse who was also in the R.E and attained the rank of Colonel.
4 Thomas William was known to have lived with his wife at Clayhall, Alverstoke in the same road as his wife's relations and was thought to have died in 1900.
Jump forward to May 1975.
My parents had moved to Pratts Bottom near Orpington. I've no idea now what prompted us but my wife and I decided to research our backgrounds so we stayed with them and went St Catherine's House in London to consult the Births, Marriages and Deaths indexes for our respective forbears. I found the marriage details of Thomas William, which confirmed what I already knew. His father was James Mills; a fitter, but the certificate gave no clue as to where he was born or where his father lived. That is as far as I managed to get because the Birth Indexes showed any number of Thomas or T Mills' all over Britain for the year in which he was born - 1874. Which one was the right one? The same applied to the Death Indexes. We didn't have the money to buy all of them so I gave up.
Jump forward again over twenty years to November 2001.
I had recently managed to get out of the rat race that was running a small family business and had joined a hardwood conservatory company in Witney as Technical Director. I invited an old acquaintance Derek Stocker, a representative for a sealed unit company, to visit me but we ended up talking about genealogy. He told me that the Latter Day Saints had a huge worldwide online database and had also produced a complete transcript of the 1881 Census on 26 CD's available to purchase for just less than thirty pounds. I ordered it and began searching. The same problem was evident; too many identical names, but I printed out the most likely ones which included a family in Ashford, Kent. The father though, had been born in Barton, Lancashire and this didn't fit with the story that he was Scottish or lived in Plumstead. The online database of the LDS wasn't any help. I searched the Scots Origins database on their web site but there was no trace of anybody that I could firmly identify.
At this time I was travelling round the country troubleshooting as part of my job and one of the places I had to go was Richmond. While I was there I decided to go to the Public Record Office at Kew and signed up for a Readers Ticket. In the hour or so I had available I picked up a pile of information leaflets on what to search and how and resolved to spend some more time there.
Shortly afterwards, the conservatory company went bankrupt and I went back to fitting windows on my own without the baggage of premises, employees etc. I found that I actually had time to spare and could indulge the growing thirst for knowledge about my background.
The PRO was in the process of digitising the 1901 Census and I was really looking forward to this being made available online. I was probably partly responsible, along with several million others for overloading the site and causing it to crash. There was nothing else for it but to visit Kew in person. But, there was a problem. The microfiche records of the 1901 Census don't include a name index so you have to know the road where an ancestor lived in order to get any information. I went next to the Civil Registration Indexes and searched for the death record of Thomas William. I chose what I thought to be the most likely ones and ordered the certificates. There were two. One had the wrong parentage but the other recorded the father as being James Mills, present at the death and even gave his address; 98, Robert Street, Plumstead. At last, a breakthrough. Thomas William died 25th May 1901in Barracks No.2 Newcastle upon Tyne of typhitis and peritonitis, which must have been exceedingly painful. The date, coincidentally, was his son's third birthday - how tragic.
The morning that TW's death certificate arrived (28th May 2002) I decided that I just had to drop everything and go immediately to Kew as I now had two addresses.
I couldn't find anything at all in the 1901 Census for Newcastle, as the address wasn't specific enough so I turned to the microfiche for Robert Street. There he was, James Mills with his wife Sarah and a daughter, Sarah A.
He gave as his birthplace; Barton upon Irwell, Lancashire and his daughter had been born in Ashford, Kent. The implication didn't hit me until I went back to my car for a break and looked through all the other papers I had accumulated. The family in Ashford in 1881 was the same one! I rang my Dad on the mobile phone to tell him in a state of emotion that his Grandfather, Thomas William really did have a brother called James Jesse and that there was another brother, Edward and two sisters, Louisa and Sarah as well. Writing this now in May 2003 still brings tears to my eyes.
A further search of the 1881 Census came up with yet another sister, Ellen, who was in service as a Nanny for a family back in Eccles, Manchester, which is very close to Barton. Her birth certificate proves the relationship.
Shortly afterwards I learnt that the PRO were going to put the digitised version of the 1901 Census on their internal network as a trial. I went to Kew like a shot.
Whilst waiting for a computer to become available I went to the rack of shelves holding the Army Lists to look for James Jesse Mills. Sure enough, there he was, his Army career documented in black and white. Not in the Royal Engineers but in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps. I followed his progress round the world up until 1935 when he was promoted to the rank of Colonel - with an O.B.E to boot. He was also a Member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers.
Getting onto the computer was memorable. To have the ability to do a name search amongst so many millions is truly mind blowing. I found Thomas William living with his wife Eva Annie and their son William George in Coburg St., Tynemouth. This was recorded just two months before he died. James Jesse was staying at the Royal Hotel, Plymouth, presumably having been posted there. Edward was married and living in Greenwich. Of Louisa and Ellen there was no trace as they were probably married. I have since found various links but have yet to follow these up.
I made two trips to the Family Records Centre in Islington where the Civil Registration Index is kept in huge bound volumes and by June I was in possession of birth certificates for all the children of James Mills. I also got a birth certificate for his wife Sarah but despite all attempts - even going to the Local History Centre in Manchester and searching burial records at Shooters Hill, Woolwich with my father Ron - I could not find any record of James himself; birth, marriage or death.
Ron had been trying for some time to get the M.O.D, in the form of the Army Personnel Centre in Glasgow to produce the army records for TW and JJ. As Thomas was a non-commissioned officer, his career does not appear to have been documented, but as JJ was an officer he should have been recorded in quite some detail. On the 4th December 2002 the typewritten transcript of his dossier arrived. The only thing missing was his marital status; it seems that this crucial piece of information was irrelevant in Army thinking.
Ron provided the impetus for the next piece of research. He had remembered that JJ was a Member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers and as such would have had to apply for Membership. A phone call to the Institute at Bird Cage Walk in London got us an appointment to search their records. We came away with photocopies of his original handwritten applications; of which there were two - July 1903 and February 1921. Most importantly, there was a note of the date of his resignation - 29th January 1937 and his address - "Bourneside", Gomshall. There was still no clue as to whether or not he had married.
The house in Gomshall was visited in November; it is now an art gallery and wine merchants but the owners had no knowledge of previous occupants. I searched the net and came up with a phone number for the Shere and Gomshall Local History Society. Ann Noyes directed me to the electoral registers held at the Surrey History Centre in Woking. My Dad and I duly travelled to Woking and found JJ in residence at Bourneside together with a Maud Mary. Was she his wife? Were there any children? The registers stopped in 1939 due to the War and by 1950 when they started again JJ had disappeared.
After having travelled numerous times to the PRO and the FRC I finally discovered that Oxford County Library held a complete copy of the Civil Registration Index on Microfiche. I wish I'd found that out a lot earlier - it would have saved a lot of time and money being only ten miles away.
First of all I found his marriage to Maud Mary in 1910 but I couldn't find a record of her birth. Looking at the Army dossier I saw that he was stationed in Ireland at the time and as Maud's (apparent) maiden name was Murphy there was a possibility that she was Irish.
I tracked down a number of deaths of a JJ Mills and on the 17th December the right certificate arrived which recorded his address as 2, Ethel Road, Broadstairs and the informant was A. Mills - daughter in law of 110, Lauderdale Mansions, Maida Vale. So he must have had a son - but what was his name?
I wrote letters to both the London and Broadstairs addresses asking for information. On the 28th December, Tony Royse, the current owner of the Broadstairs house replied by e-mail to say that he had looked up his Deeds and the Land Registry details which showed that the house had been bought in April 1959 by Maude Mary Mills whose previous address was 7, Bowling Street, Sandwich. They also showed that a Vivian Hayes Mills of 110, Lauderdale Mansions, Maida Vale had bought the house from Maud in June of 1959. I now had the name of JJ's son.
I sent another letter to the owner of the house in Sandwich and on the 15th January 2003 received a reply from Keith Wells together with two histories of the house and a set of photographs. One of the histories confirmed that JJ had bought the house in 1938 so he must have moved there directly from Gomshall.
There was now a very good chance that there were relatives alive and kicking. Had Vivian and his wife had any children?
The net again pointed the way forward. The London Metropolitan Archives, very near to the FRC in Islington hold the electoral registers for the London Boroughs. Off I went to do some more digging. It was most fortuitous that the three children I discovered were all living at home when they came of age and were recorded as being eligible to vote. Things were getting scary - the three children would now be respectively 62, 59 and 55 and they were of the same generation as my father.
Back again at Oxford County Library I couldn't find a record of Vivian's birth and surmised that he may have been born in Ireland. I applied to the Office of the Registrar General in Dublin for a birth certificate that arrived while we were on holiday in New Zealand.
I turned to the current electoral registers, courtesy of an Internet subscription with www.192.com. I found two SAH Mills'- one in Ireland and one in England. I wrote letters to them both but never received a reply. There were 42 MJ Mills' so I concentrated on Vivien instead. At Oxford Library I found her marriage to Peter Graville in 1964. Back on the net the electoral register recorded them as living in Leominster. What should I do next - phone? What would be the reaction? Discretion being the better part of Valour, I wrote a letter and enclosed various documents proving our relationship. I sent it by Recorded Delivery and waited. After two weeks the package was returned to me. I took the plunge, telephoned and left a message on an answering machine. I reposted the package with a postscript to phone my father as my wife and I were taking a five-week break in America, New Zealand and Australia.
On the 21st February 2003 Lynne and I flew to Los Angeles to stay for two days with my Uncles, Fred and Ron Billson who had emigrated after the War. Things started badly when some idiot mistook my suitcase for his at Los Angeles Airport. Virgin staff tracked him down to Beverley Hills and organised a courier to collect and deliver it to Thousand Oaks. It arrived well after midnight! The next morning though, there was a telephone call from my father to say that he had had a call from Vivien. My heart went out to him - I was so proud that I had been able to achieve so much from so little and put two people in touch from a family that had lost all contact over a hundred years ago. The incredible bonus of finding out that Sean's children and his wife were in Sydney (which we were due to visit for a week towards the end of our holiday) was just stupendous.
Needless to say we spent a very happy evening with them all. Selina and Noah saw us off from the airport on the following day - an emotional parting.
Whilst we were in New Zealand I couldn't stop researching. My Great Aunt Beatrice Billson was supposedly buried at Purewa Cemetery in Auckland. We found the family plot with a headstone, which we cleaned. Three other older relatives were interned there as well and I telephoned my mother from the graveside to let her know that her side of the family was just as important.
Despite all the successes there is a huge amount left to do. Many questions have been raised - some I shall be able to answer in time - some will remain without answers, such is the nature of family history.
The future
It must be recorded! Please pass on anecdotes, potted histories, snippets about the past, anything - you never know what might be useful. New arrivals, marriages, change of address - let me know.
Corin Mills - Great Great Grandson of James Mills.
May 2003 | Source (DOC000001)
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The Social Security Death Index notes that his last residence was:-
14607 Rochester, Monroe, New York | BILLSON, Cyril Alfred (I000054)
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The Sydney Morning Herald
MCKIMM, William James Gerald. Death notice 20 SEP 1985 Death. Published in The Sydney Morning Herald 21 SEP 1985 | MCKIMM, William James Gerald (I58)
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The Sydney Morning Herald
OLIPHANT, Geraldine Minnie. Death notice 23 OCT 1990 Death. Published in The Sydney Morning Herald 25 OCT 1990. | MCKIMM, Geraldine Minnie (I53)
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| 3050 |
The Tate Gallery owns a painting by Eric: "In the Forest, Pont-Aven" 1895
Oil on canvas T01825 Purchased 1973
http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/forbes-robertson-in-the-forest-pont-aven-t01825/text-catalogue-entry | FORBES-ROBERTSON, Eric (I000361)
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