Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
Holden C. Mills fonds
General material designation
- Textual record
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
- Source of title proper: Title based on provenance of fonds
Level of description
Fonds
Repository
Reference code
CA PCNSWH MHCA0014
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
-
1923-1944 (Creation)
- Creator
- Mills, Holden C.
Physical description area
Physical description
.07m of textual records
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
Other title information of publisher's series
Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Name of creator
Mills, Holden C.
(1853-1927)
Biographical history
Holden Compton Mills (1853-1927), the son of Benjamin S. Mills (1820-1893) and Virginia F. Compton (1819-1892), spent most of his early years in St. Eleanors, Prince Edward Island. His parents married in 1849 and lived for a short time in York, Ontario where Holden was born. Benjamin farmed and milled flour. Holden assisted his father and eventually established himself as a flour and oyster dealer with an office on Water Street in nearby Summerside. By the early 1900's he was specializing in the shipment of Malpeque oysters mainly to Quebec and Ontario. He had started in the oyster industry during its peak in 1882 and survived in business throughout the decline caused by over-fishing and seabed damage and then the setback in 1915 due to "Malpeque disease". By 1922 the oyster stocks began to recover and Holden continued with his shellfish export until December 1926 when failing health forced his retirement. In the 1920's he became involved with the booming fox fur industry and was president of the Pavilion Silver Fox Company Ltd. In 1925. In 1881 he married Catherine Green (1856-1944), the eldest daughter of Harry Compton Green who served for many years as Postmaster in Summerside. Around 1898 the Mills moved into a large home designed for them by William Critchlow Harris at 168 Central Street, Summerside. They had one child who died at 1-½ years. H.C. Mills served for years as a warden in the St. Mary's Anglican Church. His obituary noted him to be "one of the outstanding figures of Summerside. . . actively identified with the business and social life of the town".
Custodial history
The account book was passed down through the Mills family to Miss Helen Mills. Helen's father was Ernest Mills, son of William B. Mills who was a cousin to Holden. The wife of W.B. Mills was Henrietta Green, a younger sister to Holden's wife Catherine Green. Ena Mills, the wife of Helen's brother William David Mills found it prior to the auction of the estate of Helen Mills who moved into Andrews Lodge in Summerside.
Scope and content
The fonds consists of one item which is an account book titled "Day Book" He began making entries on Tuesday 1 May 1923 and continued until 26 December 1926. Presumably he became ill and someone else then recorded his personal and business transactions until 4 March 1927. There was a gap from that date until 6 April 1927 during which time Mr. Mills passed away. From April 1927 to the last entry in March 1944 there are financial recordings for his widow. Prior to that, Holden used the book for tracking personal expenditures for his home and automobile, donations to St. Mary's Church, purchases from local companies, wages for a domestic helper and an endowment to the building fund at King's College in Halifax, N.S. Other entries noted the results of local elections, planting of vegetable gardens, birthday dinners and the marriage in 1923 of his wife's niece Katherine Green and her untimely death in 1924 after baby Holden Taylor was born. In the autumns of 1923-26, H.C. Mills recorded his purchases of oysters and clams and the subsequent sale to numerous customers. His most important suppliers were Wallace Noye of Ellerslie and Russell Clark of Mount Stewart. He shipped most of the oysters to the Rideau Club in Ottawa, the York Club and the M. Doyle Fish Co. in Toronto, the Montreal Club in Montreal and J.H. Gingras in Quebec City. There are numerous entries for the Pavilion Silver Fox Co. regarding payments to rancher Joseph Arsenault, purchase of supplies and the sale of pelts and live animals.
Notes area
Arrangement
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
NO RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
PERMISSION FOR USE/REPRODUCTION IS REQUIRED FROM THE MACNAUGHT HISTORY CENTRE AND ARCHIVES; QUESTIONS REGARDING COPYRIGHT ARE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE USER
Finding aids
NO FURTHER FINDING AID AVAILABLE
Associated materials
Related materials
Accruals
Alternative identifier(s)
Standard number area
Standard number
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Mills, Holden C. (Creator)
Genre access points
Control area
Description record identifier
Institution identifier
Level of detail
Language of description
- English