28 and 28A Castle Street

The Mills Family and the later Owners

Home Page

1840 Tithe Map
(PDF file format)

Castle Street
Numbers
 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6 Oriel Cottage
 7
 8 Oriel House
 9 Lion House
10 Wigmore House
11 Porch House
12 Epworth House
13
14 Bank Cottage
15 Clematis Cottage
17 The Priory
20
22
24
26
28 & 28A
30
32 to 42
44
46
48
50 Munday Cottage
Fairfield House
Stokefield House
The Hatch
Thornbury Cottage 
Thornbury House

Click here to read about the earlier owners of the property.

The Builder's House

This was Mills the builder's house;
outhouse after outhouse
at the back as if from the start
he was travelling out.  The kitchen
a shack at the side, had a stove and cold tap
there were buckets to catch the leaks
from the roof, walls unpainted, rooms
unheated -the whole place neglected.
A lifetime he spent doing the houses
of others, his own left undone
but for one refinement - in every
dark cupboard he fixed a light
And maybe he had his priorities right -
leaving the front of his life unpainted
and all the dark places light.

(A poem by Diana Hendry after the death of Ivor Mills)

The properties at 28 and 28A Castle Street in Thornbury were long associated with the Mills family.  However we do not know when they actually bought the property, although we know that they moved into the house sometime around 1916.  Thornbury Museum has notes made by members of the Methodist Church about the Mills family, who were stalwarts of the church for many years.  The notes refer to Robert Mills who was a decorator who was appointed trustee of Methodist Church in 1925  and reappointed 1948.  The notes by members of the Methodist Church make it clear how important Robert Mills was to Thornbury Methodists.  According to the notes he:

"was a trustee in the interwar period when there was great pressure that the Thornbury Methodist Church should be closed.  He refused as a trustee to sign the closure paper work. He lived into the 1970s and with the expansion of Thornbury from 3000 to over 10000 saw his chapel filling up again and the great joy that his act of faith in refusing to agree to closure had been justified.  I do not know how many of the other trustees of the 1925 list had agreed with him".

The 1881 Census implies that Robert was the son of  George Mills a 54 year old mason and his wife Sarah aged 60 (Sarah seems to have been called Martha in the 1871 Census).  Robert was only aged three at that time.  However the parish records make it clear that Robert and his older brother James were actually the sons of George Mills' unmarried daughter Georgina.  Robert was baptised in Thornbury on 24th October 1878.  The 1891 Census shows him living in Horse Shoe Lane with his widowed grandmother Martha Mills aged 69.  It seems that Sarah was probably more often known as Martha.  Martha Mills died 23rd June 1900.

We do not know where Robert Mills was living in the 1901 Census but it seems very likely he was living in St Phillips in Bristol with Thomas and Mary Nation.  However in this case Robert was described as George Robert and was said to be a nephew of the Nations.

In the December quarter of 1903 Robert Mills married Phyllis Liddiatt in Bristol.  Phyllis had been a house servant in Westbury on Trym in Bristol.   The 1881 Census shows her in the house of her grandfather, Daniel Liddiatt a labourer then aged 58.  They were living at 45 St Mary Street.  Her parents were William and Ellen Liddiatt.  William Liddiatt was a coachman to William Grove Salmon.

We believe that the photograph on the left was taken at the wedding of Robert and Phyllis.  We have been told that Robert is the man in the centre of the photograph and so we assume that Phyllis is the young lady on the right.  We have been told that it is possible the young man on the left is Billy Liddiatt.  If that is the case he would Phyllis's younger brother.  Please click on the thumbnail image for a larger photograph.

It seems likely that Robert and Phyllis came to live in Thornbury after their marriage because when their son Arthur Robert began at the Council School his date of birth was given as 7th July 1905 and this was registered in Thornbury.  We do not know exactly where.  The 1907 Voters List gives Gillingstool as their address.  The  1910 Rate Book indicates that they moved to 12 Pullins Green.  The 1911 census shows Robert was a painter (house decorator) aged 33 and he was living there with his wife, Phyllis, aged 33 and sons, Arthur aged 5 and Ivor aged 1.  Robert's address in the 1912 Trade Directory  was "John Street" which at that time would be still be Pullins Green.  The 1913 Voters' List also says Pullins Green.

From as early as 1918 Robert Mills was in the Trade Directories in Castle Street and the company later traded from this property in Castle Street as Mills and Phillips.  We believe that the "Phillips" in this would be the family of William Alfred Phillips of Upper Bath Road.  This family were also Methodists and William Henry Phillips became a painted and decorator.

The records of Thornbury Grammar School show that the family's address was  Castle Street when the elder son, Arthur Robert was admitted to the school on 18th September 1916.  Arthur Robert was very successful at school and gained his Cambridge Junior exam in 1919 and his Cambridge Senior in 1921, in which he gained a distinction in Botany.  He passed his Higher School Certificate in English and History and left school in July 1923 to attend Bristol University.

Robert and Phyllis's second son Ivor was born 24th July 1909, also in Thornbury. 

 In 1917 Robert was given a conditional exemption from the First World War, although we have not seen the reason for the exemption.  At that time the record shows that he was living in Castle Street and aged 35.  We have been told that Robert did fight in "the War".  However we have been given the impression that he fought in the Boer War, although we have no details of this.

The 1918 Trade Directory shows that Robert was trading in Castle Street.  By 1923 the business was trading as Mills and Phillips. 

We have a thumbnail photograph here on the right of a coach outing for the members of the Methodist Church in 1927.  Click on it to see a larger photograph to see that it shows Robert Mills with a moustache, standing at the back.  His son Ivor is standing next to him and Arthur is sitting next to them, with his arm leaning on the side.

The 1935 Electoral Roll shows that Ivor was still living in 28 Castle Street living with Robert and Phyllis in Castle Street.  By this time he was working in the business too.

In 1936 Ivor married Gwendoline Timbrell in Thornbury.  Gwendoline had been born in Thornbury in 1916.

By the 1938 Electoral Roll Gwendoline's name had also appeared there. 

Phyllis Mills died on 28th August 1951 aged 73.  Robert Mills appears to have remained as interested as ever in the Church.  We know that Robert  was reappointed Trustee of the Methodist Church in 1968 when retired and living at 28 Castle Street.  In this context "28 Castle Street" could be either 28 or 28A.  Robert died November 8th 1972 aged 94.

We have been told by members of the Methodist Church that in the 1970s Ivor was their organist.  The names of Ivor and Gwendoline Mills continued to appear in Electoral Rolls at this address until the 1980's.

Gwendoline Mills died 29th July 1983 and Ivor on 10th February 1984.

We have been told by many people that Ivor was much liked and respected in Thornbury and we would very much like to know more about him.  Diana Hendry who then lived at Epworth House a few doors further up the street wrote a poem to honour this unassuming man who had such integrity.  We know that he was also regarded as a very accomplished tradesman.  Several people who saw the business operating were very impressed by the the production of wallpaper which was printed and cut to order by a fascinating machine in the tall building at the back of the house.  This service seems to have been unique in Thornbury.

The Embletons who bought the house in 1984 have sent us the above photographs which show the rear of the house during the extensive building work that occurred at that time.