Charles Mills, 2nd Baron Hillingdon
Charles William Mills, 2nd Baron Hillingdon | |
|---|---|
| Born | Error: Invalid birth date for calculating age |
| Died | April 6, 1919 (aged 64) |
| Occupation(s) | Financier, politician |
| Years active | 1885–1892 (MP) |
| Known for | British Conservative Party member, partner at Glyn, Mills & Co, 2nd Baron Hillingdon |
Charles William Mills, 2nd Baron Hillingdon (26 January 1855 – 6 April 1919) was a British financier and Conservative Party member who represented a constituency in the House of Commons between 1885 and 1892, delivering a recorded speech in 1889.
As the firstborn son of Charles Mills, 1st Baron Hillingdon, and Lady Louisa Isabella—daughter of Henry Lascelles, 3rd Earl of Harewood—Mills held the rank of lieutenant in the Queen's Own West Kent Yeomanry and was a partner at the banking institution Glyn, Mills & Co.
During the general election of 1885, Mills secured the parliamentary seat for Sevenoaks, a constituency considered a Conservative stronghold. He owned The Wildernesse estate there and actively endorsed community projects including local allotments and an orphanage. He chose not to seek re-election in 1892. Upon his father's passing in 1898, he inherited both the barony of Hillingdon and the family residence, Hillingdon Court.
That same year, he engaged architect Edwin Lutyens to design Overstrand Hall, which reached completion in 1901. Although Nikolaus Pevsner praised it as among Lutyens' most outstanding creations, some contemporaries viewed it as less charming compared to his finest architectural achievements.
In March 1900, Lord Hillingdon was admitted as a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society. Additionally, he was godfather to Harry Elkins Widener, who tragically died aboard the Titanic.
Lord Hillingdon passed away in April 1919 at age 64. His title was inherited by his second son, Arthur Mills, who served as MP for Uxbridge. His eldest son, Charles Thomas Mills, had been killed during combat on the Western Front in 1915.
In 1886, he married Alice Marion Harbord, daughter of Charles Harbord, 5th Baron Suffield; Overstrand Hall was presented to them as a wedding gift. At his death in 1919, his estate was valued at around £1 million.