Tudor Mills Family Roots

A Memory of Highmoor Cross.

I have always loved Highmoor; my father, John Tudor Mills, was born there, at Satwell, in 1924, his mother Doris Tudor having been born opposite St Paul's church in Highmoor in 1900; her parents, George Tudor, of Cowhill, Gloucestershire,and Annie-Marie Smith, of Kingsclere, moved to Highmoor circa 1898 following their marriage (his second). George Tudor was a local "Excavating Road Contractor", and worked in partnership with the Frouds of Assendon. George's sister, Hannah Davis, nee Tudor, was already living in the area (Ipsden) with her family; when Mr Davis died, she moved to Bix, circa 1901, living at Bix Brand farm; her daughter married Horace Froud,and their descendants still live at Laurences Farm, Bix,to this day.

My grandfather, William "Billy" Mills, was born in Lyminster, Littlehampton, but moved to Rotherfield Greys when his father, John Mills, became a farm bailiff there some time between 1900--1911; John lies buried in Rotherfield Greys churchyard, William at Fairmile Cemetery. George Tudor had been married previously, having already fathered 12 or so children before Doris was born, and the youngest of these, Frederick Tudor, an invalid, lodged with his aunt, Hannah Davis, in Bix, before marrying a Smith from Rotherfield Greys, whose family had been the tenants/ landlords at the Green Tree in Shepherds Green. Another son, Thomas Tudor, also lived nearby (Witheridge Hill) and his daughter Phyllis (or Phillis) Tudor was at school in Highmoor with Doris Tudor and her sisters Mary (Polly) Tudor, Julia (Judy) Tudor and brother James (Jim) Tudor.

Through Tudor and Mills marriages around Highmoor, I also have links to, as well as the Frouds, the Greens and Baldwins; in fact, the late John Green, of Highmoor and Henley, was my father John Mills's cousin, John Green's father having married my grandfather Billy Mills' sister, Margaret ( Katie) Mills.

My father loved his childhood days in Highmoor,and waxed lyrical about it in some of his poetry. His mother, Doris, never forgot her roots, and although she spent much of her long (92 -year) life in Henley, she LOVED to be taken for a drink in the "Dog and Duck" or the "Green Tree". She also liked to visit her parents' grave in St Paul's churchyard, where her father George ( died 1920s) and beloved mother Annie-Marie (died 1940s) lie together beneath the inscription " 'Til The Shadows Flee Away ".

Roger Mills, Church Avenue, Henley-on-Thames.