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CHAPTER TWO  

MY  SOMEWHAT UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT  TO LOCATE
GEORGE MILLS' FAMILY ORIGINS
IN BRIDGWATER, SOMERSET.

The 1881 census had shown me that my Grandad, George Mills, was 32 years old, on that census night.  However, his age as shown on his marriage certificate indicated that he was 25 years old when he married Emily Fuller in 1871.  Because, it seems that the ages shown in census returns could be 'suspect' I decided that perhaps it might be wise to look for his birth from 1845 through to 1850 ---- just in case!

However, although I tried looking for his birth, I found  absolutely nothing on him, or his father.  I felt that I was probably lacking in experience for researching family history, so I approached a company called Somerset Ancestral Research to see if they could help me to trace my Great Grandad's birth.  Unfortunately, their attempts to trace them also came to naught.  Nevertheless, the details of their searches did make for interesting reading, and showed me the difficulties involved in trying to confirm who my ancestors might have been.

Initially, they checked the 1851 census for Bridgwater and its surroundings for a William Mills, and then went on to check the whole of Somerset for him.  Their research found four men called William Mills residing at Crewkerne, with others at Castle Cary, Taunton St. Mary, Taunton St. James, Wilton and Otterford.  Apparently, all the Mills's they discovered, were of an age to have been fathers, but further research failed to show any of them with a son named George or Henry, and certainly, with no Bridgwater connections.

There was just one Mills folio at Bridgwater, and that was for a widowed Eliza, aged 36 and born at Spaxton, Somerset, with two sons, Joseph (9) and James (2), both born at Bridgwater.  Just in case there had been a misspelling somewhere, they also checked for folios under the surname of Miles in the 1851 Bridgwater census.  The researchers also examined a large number of baptisms from 1846 - 1851 at the Bridgwater Anglican Churches of St. Mary, St. John and Holy Trinity, but were still unsuccessful.

There was one very slight possibility that they had found, under the Bridgwater Union Workhouse census.  There were two folios under the surname of 'Miles'.  Perhaps they should have been 'MILLS' ---- but written down as 'MILES', by mistake!

Apparently the tendency was to segregate persons in the workhouse, but these people appeared to be related.  There, listed under the surname of Miles was an Amelia Miles, age 28, who was unmarried and had been born at Spaxton, Somerset ---- just a few miles from Bridgwater.  She was described as being a General Servant, and was there with her two sons, Henry, aged 6, and Francis aged 4 months, both of whom were born at Exeter, Devon.

It was also pointed out to me, that the widowed Eliza Mills ---- whose name appeared in the 1851 Bridgwater census, who would obviously have had a different maiden name ---- had also been born in Spaxton.  Searches of the baptisms at that parish were also carried out, but still failed to reveal an Amelia under the names of either Miles or Mills.

The researchers advised me that such things have turned out like that on many occasions, and although the Henry Miles born to Amelia, circa 1845 might possibly be my forebear, it would be quite impossible to confirm it as fact.  If indeed, it had been the case, the chances are that Henry may possibly have grown up thinking that he had been born in Bridgwater, rather than Exeter, since he would have been quite young when he originally moved from Exeter with his mother.

Unfortunately, it now looks as though I have reached a stalemate situation with regard to the origins of my Great Grandfather, George (or Henry) Mills and his father William.  I will of course continue to search for more information about them but the possibility of finding any seems somewhat doubtful.

Anyway, it is obvious that George (or Henry) Mills definitely existed, and at some stage, he must have left Somerset to make his way into Kent.  Whether it was his family/mother that made the move with him whilst he was still young, or whether he made the journey on his own, as a young man seeking work, is not known.

Therefore, having 'failed' in the area of finding out when my Great Grandad George Mills was born, or anything about his parents, I turned my attention to finding out about  Emily Fuller's family background.

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