Though Leslie s/o Matthew Mills was born in Ireland about 1811, all of our records of him are English.
KENILWORTH
He was 34, and the recipient of an unspecified pension, when he arrived in Warwickshire. (I suspect he was a disbanded soldier or sailor.) That was when he visited a house on Castle End Road, in Kenilworth, around 1844. He probably wanted to see Martha Burton. (Whose surname was Mills before she married Nathaniel Burton at St Thomas, Birmingham, 12 Dec 1838.) She may have been a kinswoman. In fact, Kenilworth's parish register had been accumulating “Mills” entries for a century! They were working class families: tradesmen, servants and agricultural laborers.
Leslie may have come back to England intending to meet them, but his attention was soon drawn elsewhere. The Burtons were boarding with a poor widow. Martha Munro was the local washerwoman and a proud matriarch whose home was bursting with family. One of her married offspring, Mrs Bates, was a frequent visitor. Martha also had a grandson and her unmarried Jane living with her.
There were few opportunities to talk at home, but many Victorians were passionate walkers. Leslie and Jane may have walked the grounds of Kenilworth’s ancient castle, or along the country lane that led to Coventry. (Some 19th centuries travelers claimed this is the prettiest road in England.) Even working class couples often waited a year or two, so we can’t be sure how long the courtship lasted.
On May 30th 1845 Leslie Mills and Jane Munro married. Two witnesses signed the register: a young gardener from down the street and Martha Munro (who made an “X” in the register.)
The Mills remained in Kenilworth for four years, greatly adding to the bustle at Castle End. It didn’t matter that Jane was setting up her own household. No sooner had she moved out, than her younger sister Ellen took up residence.The only difference was that Jane was adding new people to the mix. First there was Leslie, then she started baring children: Ellen in 1848 and Mary the year after that.
BIRMINGHAM
1851 Census Basil Heath Road, Speedwell Mill, Edgbaston (a suburb of Birmingham)
Leslie Mills - Head aged 40 - Carter and pensioner, a British subject born in the colonies.
Jane Mills - wife aged 30 - born Kenilworth
Mary Mills - age 1 - born Kenilworth
Leslie, meanwhile, was observing the impact of railroads upon Birmingham. Few could have foreseen how rapid transit would transform the city into England’s second largest economic centre. Nor did they realize how it would impact local real estate values. The rural villages surrounding Birmingham were suddenly accessible to city dwellers desiring cheaper housing. A paper mill and chemical plant were but the first of many factories erected in the once rural parish of King’s Norton.
Leslie moved there almost immediately after the local stationed opened. He appears to have rented accommodations on Balsall Heath Road, near the old Speedwell watermill on the river Rea. A map from 1864 depicts this as the border of development. There was some development to the South, mostly well laid out sub-divisions, but the river is relatively untouched. Only turn around and there is a solid block of houses stretching back to the center of Birmingham.
Leslie become a “carter.” He and Jane left their two-year-old daughter Ellen behind with Martha, while they got established. (It would be hard enough looking after the baby!) Only things didn’t go as profitably as Leslie intended. He discarded his transport business and found employment as a “servant.”
Their first two children were born in Kenilworth, where Jane's mother lived. got pregnant again. Then she returned to Mother’s, where she gave birth to Martha Jane in 1853.
1861 Census Basall Heath Road, Speedwell Mill, Edgbastion.
Leslie Mills - Head, 50 - Pensioner, born in the British colonies
Jane Mills - wife, 39 - born Kenilworth
Mary Mills - 11 - scholar born Kenilworth
Martha Mills - 7 scholar - born Kenilworth
Annie Mills - 5 - born Birmingham
Ellen Mills was still living with her grandmother, Martha Munro, in Kenilworth when the 1861 census was taken.
Leslie Mill's tombstone says: "Leslie Mills, who departed this life August 15, 1864, aged 53 years. Also of Ellen Mills, daughter of Leslie and Jane Mills, who departed this life on November 28 1875, daughter of Leslie and Jane Mills, aged 27 years. He never sleeps who guards our souls.
CHILDREN
Ellen Mills c 1848 Kenilworth - Nov 28, 1875.
Mary Mills - c 1850, Kenilworth, Warwickshire; married Henry Martin in Birmingham on13 Apr 1872
Martha Jane Mills born May 8 1853 married Robert Garretty, who later took the surname Cross.
Annie Mills born 1855 - witnessed her older sisters will in 1869.