Sir Robert Hart of Lisburn

Below, I've just found an excerpt from an on-line version of a book entitled Hart of Lisburn Northern Ireland: The Story of Sir Robert Hart by Stanley Bell [1985, Lisburn Historical Press]. Hart would be Vera Mills's grandfather and "Evey" would be Evelyn Hart, Vera's mother. It's seen here exactly as it was transcribed on-line, except for my brackets and my emphasis:


Sir Robert Hart's first daughter Evelyn Amy, "Evey" married William Nelthorpe Beauclerk on the 5th September 1892. She was educated at first by mademoiselle de Mailly in Bournemouth. When that school closed she was then sent to a small school run by Miss. Reilly in Bray, near Dublin in 1880. In a letter to Campbell on the 27th October 1880, Hart [in China] records, "We have good letters from Evey: she likes her new school and is very happy there. Please send her £2 for Christmas and New.Year's pocket money." She was then looked after by her aunt, Juliet Bredon.

He did not at first approve of her marrying so old a man. She died on the 10th June 1933. She was his second wife. :ze Was the eighth Duke o f St. Albans, a descendant of Charles 11 [sic]. He was appointed the British Consul to Peru.

There were two children by this marriage. Vera Louise was born on the 21st September 1893 and Hilda De Vere on the 21st January 1895.

Vera Louise married George Ramsey Ackland Mills on the 24. 4. 1925, (son of the Rev. Barton Reginald Mills, assistant chaplain of the Royal Chapel of the Savoy), a prep schoolmaster and writer of school stories, from Greyfriars, Budleigh Salterton, Devon. Both are now dead and had no children.


As we know, George Mills was born in Cornwall where his father was a vicar. The elder Mills later became assistant chaplain in the Savoy in 1901. The above also cites 1925 as the date of Mills's marriage, not 1926.

Most interestingly, in this excerpt, Mills is from "Greyfriars, Budleigh Salterton, Devon," and we know that "Devonshire" is cited at ancestry.com as the location where he passed away.

Sadly, this also confirms that the Mills were childless. However, how much stock should we put in a reference that spells not one, but BOTH of his middle names incorrectly?

As always, if you have any information about Mills, especially after his marriage to Vera Beauclerk, please don't hesitate to e-mail me or leave a comment—and thank you!