Onslow Gardens, Action in South Africa, and an Epic Match on Court No. 18

Some thoughts after watching the U.S. and England advance in the World Cup, and spending the entire rest of the day not working in the garden, but watching the incredible Nicolas Mahut-John Isner match in the inexorably fading lightof Court No. 18 at Wimbledon. After 188 service aces, 108 5th set games, two sweaty players, and a partridge in a pear tree, the match will resume—once again—tomorrow, and apparently during that long-awaited royal visit…

Just a couple of weeks ago, I was wondering about the address 38 Onslow Gardens, S.W. I think I'll just take a moment here to reflect on that.

I'd wondered about George Mills using the 38 Onslow Gardens address on his WWI enlistment papers in 1916. I wondered, since I knew the family had an address of 12 Cranley [or Cranleigh] Gardens in the recent past, might it have been George's own address, one which he shared with his half-brother, Arthur.

We've seen, however, that according to telephone records, the family had, indeed, moved to Onslow Gardens by the publication of the August 1915 London telephone directory. Now there wouldn't be any reason to think that George—who claimed to be a student on his 1916 enlistment form—wasn't residing with his parents.

And Arthur F. H. Mills, George's half-brother, talked of going to his "rooms" in London before embarking to France in 1914. Those rooms might've been at 12 Cranley Gardens, but they almost assuredly weren't at 38 Onslow Gardens, something I'd wondered about.

And as we saw in our last post, it's apparent that Rev. Barton R. V. Mills, George's father, had begun using 7 Manson Place, S.W. as a his address by 1919, even though the family ostensibly was still living at 38 Onslow. It's likely that the aging Sir George Dalhousie Ramsay—almost 92 at the time of his 1920 passing—had a family member caring for him full time in 1919, possibly Barton, or Barton in conjunction with his wife, Edith, Sir George's daughter.

Perhaps, given that the Mills used that address when George was enrolled at Christ Church, it might have been George's address. The young man may have been "enlisted" to care for his ancient grandfather after his return from the First World War, and may have been living there full time before embarking for Oxford.

Most of my questions about 38 Onslow Gardens S.W. have ended up being answered by the London telephone directories. But those directories have propmpted some new queries that we'll examine soon.