Hi Phill,
I hope that this extra info will help others to recognise the family and somene mau be able to help you with your query


Leslie Jacob Mills was born 25 September 1899 in Feilding
- the 11th of 12 children of:
George MILLS (1854-1908) & Alice Maria SMART (1855-1939)

their children were:

1884 - William George Thomas Mills
1886 - Ann Daley Mills
1887 - Charles Alfred Mills
1889 - Frank Henry Mills
1890 - Frederick Edmund Mills
1891 - Walter James Mills
1893 - Nellie Alice Mills
1894 - Isaac Mills
1896 - Jane Mills
1897 - Herbert John Mills
1899 - Leslie Jacob Mills
1901 - May Maria Mills

George died in Cheltenham, Manawatu
- he & Alice are buried PLOT 455, ROW 107, BLOCK 2 at Feilding

Thanks once again ngairedith. Your info plugged a few more gaps in my knowledge of the Mills

Mmmm just looking through the list of names. I seem to recall an Arthur (known as Pat) being mentioned by my late forebears bringing the number to 13 children. Is my recollection correct?

YES, you're right phill,

There was an Arthur Mills born in 1895 to George & MARIA Mills which is probably Alice Maria.
He lived in Dannevirke, died 25 April 1975 and is buried PLOT 4, BLOCK 3 at Mangatera Cemetery, Dannevirke

... Alice Maria Mills remarried in 1910 to Richard Charles POPE, 2 years after the death of her husband George

Arthur served in WWI as Trooper 16317 with NZEF, 16th Reinforcements NZ Mounted Rifles Brigade, embarking from Wellington on the 'MOERAKI' 10 Aug 1916
His NEXT OF KIN was his mother, Mrs Pope of Cheltenham, Feilding

NOTE Alice Maria died 11 Nov 1939 aged 83 and is buried with 1st husband George as Alice Maria MILLS

thanks again ngairedith.

so phill,

what can you tell me about Leslie Jacob Mills?

When did he move over to Queensland ??
Did he marry there ?
If so, do you know her name ?
When and where did he die ?

Unfortunately very little. Not sure when he moved to Queensland or whether he married or indeed when and where he died. He seems to have lost contact with his family when he crossed the Tasman. He was described as a bachelor at the time he moved. He is probably the Leslie Jacob M., farmer, Landsborough, Qld., that appears in the electoral rolls of 1925 and 1936. I have one photo of him and it appears as an insert in a family photo taken at the time of Alice Maria Pope (Mills) funeral in 1939. Judging from the photo I would think he was in his thirties when the photo was taken.

He was living in Peachester in 1968. You could probably get some answers from this lady;
Peachester History Committee
c/- Helen Page
1393 Peachester Road
Peachester Qld 4519
But include a stamped addressed envelope.

Here's a phone number. 07 54049557 hopefully it still works.

thanks janilye. I shall follow your advice. Leslie may have had contact with some of the Mills in NZ but I don't know which ones and I now assume the ones that did keep in contact are know are now deceased.

he died in New Zealand on 15 April 1970

aww he did go back home. He must have had contact with someone.

yes BUT, maybe his ashes are in Queensland as I cannot find him in NZ.
Cannot find him in Peachester cemetery either

I looked in Peachester Cemetery too. In every electoral roll- and there were nine of them, he was living alone. I can't see why his ashes/burial would be in Queensland, when after forty years he's gone home to his birthplace to die. Perhaps he is buried where he was born.

FOUND HIM,

Leslie Jacob Mills was born 22 Sep 1898
- had been living in Longburn as a Timber Worker
- he died 16 April 1970
- burial records say he was 72 (should be 71 OR mot the right Leslie Jacob)
- he was buried in Kelvin Grove cemetery, Palmerston North
- BLOCK 064 - BLOCK 012 - AREA Q

trouble is ... he probaby wasn't a Timber Worker at the age of 72 which suggests a past occupation which THEN suggests that if he was working in NZ he wasn't in Qld so this may not be the son of George & Alice Maria OR the one in Peachester is not the son of ....

this is certainly developing into a bit of a puzzle. I know his brother Frank Henry Mills was buried at Kelvin Grove. Frank died as the result of a MVA at the age of 62 in 1952. Leslie according to the log further up the page was born 25 Sept 1899 and this concurs with the little I know of him in the family records. ngairedith suggests that he was born 22 Sept 1898. His brother Herbert John Mills was born in 1898, April to give the precise month so it would seem unlikely that Les was born in the same year.

Herbert John Mills was born 25 April 1897 in Feilding
- he married Mavis Etta WILTON in 1931
- they live in Lockwood Rd., R.D.5 at Kairanga
- he died 16 July 1982 aged 85
- he is buried (with Mavis) PLOT 052 - BLOCK 009 - AREA Q at Kelvin Grove

ngairedith the date for Herbert John's birth seems to make the few records I have very suspect. He certainly did marry Mavis Wilton and the place of burial would seem to be correct

It's ok phill, I'm in the process of writing a journal for this family and then we can compare notes and sort out what is what (and who is who)
Once it's in journal form it is easy for us to add to or edit and get it right :)

journal wll be posted by morning

Thanks for your journal note directly above because I've just gone back to the information that I have on the 13 Mills' children and their dates of birth. The dates for William George T., Ann Delia, Charles Alfred, Frank Henry, Frederick Edmund, Walter James and Nellie Alice concur with what appears in the first journal above but the dob for the Mills after Nellie ie from Arthur onwards are at variance with those above. The opportunity to clear this up would be great.

shouldn't really tell you at this time BUT there may have been 14 children

will cross that bridge tomorrow :)

Wow!!! That would be a surprise not only to me but also to other relatives with whom I correspond. I do know that Aunty May Cole, the youngest of the Mills family had a child exnuptially because my very elderly mother remembers playing with him when they were very young.

If not for a woman or money, maybe something happened in NZ to make Leslie Jacob leave there -but why go there? and before all the people from Peachester jump on me let me assure both of you I am not being detrimental to your town, I mean Landsborough in general, in the 1920's! he was young and it just seems like a long way to go to cut trees, I think he was running to or running away.

janilye: An interesting theory. It seems Leslie Jacob left more questions than answers. I wish I had been older and more aware when the bulk of his siblings were around so that I could ask. Frank Henry, my grandfather, never spoke of Leslie but then he didn't talk about his other siblings either so I don't know whether Leslie disgraced himself (to be pejorative) or the family or not. Leslie was young, too young to enlist in WWI but a number of his brothers did so all-in-all this was an unsettling time for the family and Leslie may have been spurred to be a little adventurous in his own way. There has never been any family knowledge/discussion about Leslie having a wife, children or leaving any tangible item that would serve to enlighten us. As I've mentioned in a journal entry above the only thing I have of Leslie is a cameo photo of him that has been inserted in a family photo taken in 1939.

George and Alice Mills by ngairedith

ngairedith: it seems that we may have more in common than our use of Family Tree Circles. In consulting with another researcher within the family group, noting the extensive coverage on your George and Alice link above and noting that you mentioned previously that you were writing a journal on this particular family (probably this same link) the family researcher went on to say, "I shall confer with 'Ngaire Edith' to see where she is up to with her section on family". I responded by saying that that is curious because I have had contact with a ngairedith on Family Tree Circles, could this be the same person, to which my family member said, "Yes, Ngaire uses FTC quite extensively." Well! Well! Well! and presuming this ngairedith is one and the same Ngaire Edith this is very exciting.

ngairedith; The link for George and Alice Mills seems to have failed. Are you able to refresh the link?

Ah!! the link has recovered. What I can add to the volumes that you have supplied on the Mills (with a little bit about the SMARTS which is a future project of mine) and with specific reference to Leslie Jacob is as follows: Leslie remained a bachelor and Thos. Griggs and Sons of Palm. Nth (the company has since been subsumed by Lychway) were the undertakers that buried him. Lychway had on file a handwritten note that presumably was the draft funeral notice for "The Manawatu Evening Standard" which I think was the only local paper at the time. The note reads as follows: "Mills, Leslie Jacob of Brisbane, Australia. On April 16th 1970 at Palmerston North. Dearly loved brother of William, Ike, Herbert, Arthur, Fred, Jane and May and the late Charlie, Frank, Jim, Annie and Nellie and also a much loved uncle. Messages to Walkers Road, Longburn. Aged 72 years.