Background
Born on 29 July 1788 at Croom"s Hill, Greenwich, he was youngest son of Samuel Gillam Mills, a surgeon.
Born on 29 July 1788 at Croom"s Hill, Greenwich, he was youngest son of Samuel Gillam Mills, a surgeon.
He was educated privately, and, after a brief experience in a merchant"s counting-house, was articled in 1804 to a firm of solicitors.
In 1810 he placed himself for a year"s study in conveyancing under James Humphreys. Lung disease compelled Mills to winter in Nice in 1814-1815. On inheriting a moderate fortune, he abandoned the law to write.
He died of a recurrence of his old complaint at Southampton on 9 October 1826, unmarried.
A few months before his death he was elected one of the Knights of Malta, in recognition of his History of the Crusades.
