John Mills (Conservative politician)

Colonel Sir John Digby Mills (29 September 1879 – 2 July 1972) was a British Conservative Party politician and British Army officer. He served as Member of Parliament for New Forest and Christchurch from 1932 to 1945.

Colonel
Sir John Mills
Member of Parliament for New Forest and Christchurch
In office
1932–1945
Preceded byWilfrid Ashley
Succeeded byOliver Crosthwaite-Eyre
Personal details
Born
John Digby Mills

(1879-09-29)29 September 1879
Died2 July 1972(1972-07-02) (aged 92)
Political partyConservative
Spouse
Carola Tuck
​
​
(after 1918)​
Parent(s)Rev. Cecil Mills
Anne Henrietta Frances Nicolls
EducationCharterhouse School
Alma materOriel College, Oxford

Early life

Mills was born on 29 September 1879 to The Reverend Cecil Mills and Anne Henrietta Frances Mills, née Nicolls.[1][2] He was christened on 2 November 1879.[3] He was educated at Charterhouse, then an all-boys public school in Surrey.[2] He studied at Oriel College, Oxford, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree.[2]

Career

In 1901, Mills was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Warwickshire Yeomanry of the Imperial Yeomanry, British Army.[2][4] He saw active service in Egypt, Gallipoli, and France.[2] He left the British Army in 1920, with the rank of major.[2]

On 2 September 1939, Mills became a lieutenant in the National Defence Companies.[5] In 1940, he was a group organiser for the Local Defence Volunteers.[2] From 1941 to 1943, he was commander of the New Forest Group of the Home Guard, and held the rank of colonel.[2] From 1943 to 1945, he served as second in command of the Hampshire Zone.[2]

Political career

Mills was elected as the Member of Parliament for New Forest and Christchurch between 1932 and 1945.[6] From 1943 to 1945, he was the Second Church Estates Commissioner, the link between the Church of England and the House of Commons.[2]

Church career

Mills was a Member of House of Laity between 1944 and 1960, and a Church Commissioner between 1948 and 1958.[7]

Personal life

On 16 June 1918, Mills married Carola Marshall Tuck (1889–1995) at the British Consulate-General in Alexandria, Egypt.[8] Carola was the daughter of Somerville Pinkney Tuck and Emily Rosalie Snowden (née Marshall) Tuck and sister of diplomat Somerville Pinkney Tuck.[9] Together they lived at Bisterne Manor in Ringwood, Hampshire and Taverham Hall in Norfolk, and had three sons, including:[2]

  • John Micklethwait Mills OBE (1919–2009), a Maj. who married Prudence Mercy Emmeline Matthews, youngest daughter of Sir Ronald Matthews.
  • Giles Hallam Mills CVO CB OBE (1922–2011), a Maj.-Gen. of the Royal Green Jackets who married his cousin, Emily Snowden Hallam Tuck, a daughter of William Hallam Tuck, in 1947.[10]

Knighthood and death

Mills was knighted in 1958 and died on 2 July 1972.[11]

References
  1. Marquis Ruvigny, Plantagenet Roll of the Blood Royal, being a complete table of all the descendants now living of Edward III, King of England: Essex Volume (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1907), page 54. Hereinafter cited as Plantagenet Roll of the Blood Royal: Essex.. Cited by: "John Digby Mills", thepeerage.com, retrieved 25 December 2013
  2. "MILLS, Col Sir John (Digby)". Who's Who & Who Was Who. A & C Black. Retrieved 3 March 2017. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  3. "John Digby Mills", England, "Warwickshire Parish Registers, 1538-1900," index, FamilySearch, accessed 25 Dec 2013.
  4. "The Services". Leamington Spa Courier. British Newspaper Archive. 29 November 1901. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  5. "No. 34669". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 September 1939. p. 6065.
  6. "Major John Mills", Hansard 1803–2005 → People (M), retrieved 25 December 2013
  7. Who was who, Volume 7, Publ. A. & C. Black, 1971, page 545. (ref)
  8. "MISS TUCK WED IN EGYPT. Judge's Daughter Married Lt. Col. J. D. Mills of British Army June 16". The New York Times. 9 August 1918. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  9. "MRS. SOMERVILLE P. TUCK; Widow of Ex-Presiding Judge of International Court of Egypt". The New York Times. 15 April 1940. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  10. "WILLIAM H. TUCK, REFUGEE OFFICIAL; Industrialist Also Was Aide to Hoover Dies at 76". The New York Times. 31 August 1966. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  11. Cook, C.; Jones, P.; Sinclair, J.; Weeks, Jeffrey (20 April 1977). Sources in British Political History 1900–1951: Volume 4: A Guide to the Private Papers of Members of Parliament: L–Z. Springer. p. 60. ISBN 978-1-349-15762-4.
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