Mills, Thomas^{[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]}

1849 - 1922  (73 years)

• Name	Mills, Thomas
  Birth	1849
  Gender	Male
  Business Address/Year	1890s	Bangor, North Wales, Eng., UK
  	Address: Bangor, North Wales United Kingdom
  Where Active (Non-Specific Address)	1890-1891	Canada
  	Visit
  Where Active (Non-Specific Address)	1893	Canada
  	Visit
  Death	10 Feb 1922	Liverpool?, Eng., UK
  Association	Morde (Relationship: Assistant; partner)
  Person ID	I435	Camera Workers
  Last Modified	26 Apr 2023

  
  

• Photos

  Thomas Mills portrait, undated. He is dressed in his Freemason regalia. He was a member of St. David's Lodge, No. 384, in Bangor.

  
  

  Documents » Slide Show		Thomas Mills' catalogue cover, ca. 1891-1892. Issued in Bangor, North Wales, this cover poetically summarizes Mills' 1890-1891 tour of Canada as part of a British farmers delegation.
  		Thomas Mills and H.G. Neelands news, Vancouver Daily World, 14 Jan 1891, p. 8. While Neelands first name is not given, this is most certainly H.G. Neelands, the driving force behind the Neelands Brothers studio which he established with one, and later a second, brother in Nelson, BC, in Jun 1891.
  		Thomas Mills and Boorne and May news, Calgary Weekly Herald, 11 Mar 1891, p. 1. During his first visit to western Canada, Mills solicited photographs from places he was unable to visit such as Calgary, AB. In this case, Boorne and May offered to sell their photographs.
  		Thomas Mills news, Calgary Weekly Herald, 25 Mar 1891, p. 1. The Calgary town council declined to subsidize Mills' request for photographs.
  		Thomas Mills and H.G. Neelands news, Vancouver Weekly News Advertiser, 21 Jan 1891, p. 8. A fuller account of Mills and Neelands' hunting trip to Chilliwack, BC.
  		Thomas Mills news, Ottawa Daily Citizen, 7 Jun 1892, p. 5.
  		Thomas Mills news, Ottawa Daily Citizen, 6 Sep 1893, p. 1. Following the success of his first photographic trip to Canada in 1890-1891, Mills returned for a followup visit in 1893.

  
  

• Notes

  STATUS: Commercial (visit). BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY: Mills toured Canada extensively in 1890-1891 and 1893. On his first trip he concentrated on scenery in Western Canada, including Vancouver Island and mainland BC, and on his second trip on the landscapes and industries of the eastern half of the country. He was attached in both instances to a British farmers delegation. On the first trip he gathered over 1,000 negatives. On his second trip in 1893 he was assisted by a man named Morde. A catalogue of these views and those from the subsequent tour, as well as correspondence between Mills and the Dominion Immigration Branch, can be found in Immigration Branch records (OOA RG 76). The photographic business Thomas Mills operated in North Bangor, Wales, was a successor to A&C Taylor. Up until May 2020, Mills Media Limited was still owned by the family; it ceased operating due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For a detailed history of the company see its website page (accessed 2 Oct 2022): https://millsmediacreative.co.uk/our-history/ Mills was a member of the Bangor Masonic St. David's Lodge, No. 384 (Freemason's Chronicle, 8 Feb 1890, p. 90, via Museum of Freemasonry).

  
  

• Sources

  [S46] COLLECTION: BVIPA. Album, Visual Records accession no. 198007-005 [S152] COLLECTION: OOA. RG 76, v. 42, file 1049 (OOA microfilm C-4704; BVIPA microfilm B00749) [S627] (Vancouver) World, (Vancouver: World), 19 Nov 1890, 4. [S626] (Vancouver) News-Advertiser, (Vancouver: News-Advertiser), 22 Nov 1890, 8. [S626] (Vancouver) News-Advertiser, (Vancouver: News-Advertiser), 1 Jan 1891, 12. Supplement [S626] (Vancouver) News-Advertiser, (Vancouver: News-Advertiser), 26 Nov 1892, 8. [S626] (Vancouver) News-Advertiser, (Vancouver: News-Advertiser), 30 Aug 1893, 8. [S626] (Vancouver) News-Advertiser, (Vancouver: News-Advertiser), 17 Sep 1893, 1. [S626] (Vancouver) News-Advertiser, (Vancouver: News-Advertiser), 1 Oct 1893, 8.