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Read about the surname Boon in Mills & Boon part 2: Boon.
November 30, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Read about the surname Boon in Mills & Boon part 2: Boon.
We cannot know which of its several possible sources lie behind Gerald Mills’s surname, but the probability is that it originated in one of the essential peasant occupations of medieval Britain.
November 30, 2025 at 7:40 PM
We cannot know which of its several possible sources lie behind Gerald Mills’s surname, but the probability is that it originated in one of the essential peasant occupations of medieval Britain.
Topographical surnames such as Brook(s), Mill(s), Style(s) and Wood(s) were the first to be altered in this way.
November 30, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Topographical surnames such as Brook(s), Mill(s), Style(s) and Wood(s) were the first to be altered in this way.
Surnames with a meaningless excrescent -s became increasingly frequent in the 16th and 17th centuries, especially in the West Midlands, where the habit may have been imitating hereditary patronymic surnames with final -s (e.g. Jones (surname) and Williams).
November 30, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Surnames with a meaningless excrescent -s became increasingly frequent in the 16th and 17th centuries, especially in the West Midlands, where the habit may have been imitating hereditary patronymic surnames with final -s (e.g. Jones (surname) and Williams).
The chief source of Mills is a common Middle English topographical expression, atte mille ‘at the mill’, to which a meaningless -s was added after Mill had become a hereditary surname, i.e. a family name, in the 15th century or earlier.
November 30, 2025 at 7:40 PM
The chief source of Mills is a common Middle English topographical expression, atte mille ‘at the mill’, to which a meaningless -s was added after Mill had become a hereditary surname, i.e. a family name, in the 15th century or earlier.
Mills might once have meant ‘Mille’s (son)’ or perhaps ‘Mille’s (servant)’, an occupational surname. On the other hand, Miles and Mille are far from common as baptismal names in medieval England.
November 30, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Mills might once have meant ‘Mille’s (son)’ or perhaps ‘Mille’s (servant)’, an occupational surname. On the other hand, Miles and Mille are far from common as baptismal names in medieval England.
Patronymics (from the name of a father) are the second largest category of English surnames but metronymics (from a mother’s name, probably often a widow) are far less common.
November 30, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Patronymics (from the name of a father) are the second largest category of English surnames but metronymics (from a mother’s name, probably often a widow) are far less common.
Mills has several possible origins. It could be a patronymic from the Middle English male personal name Miles, or a metronymic from Mille, a pet form of the female personal name Millicent.
November 30, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Mills has several possible origins. It could be a patronymic from the Middle English male personal name Miles, or a metronymic from Mille, a pet form of the female personal name Millicent.
The surname is in fact common and widespread across the UK, ranking 80th, with 38,742 bearers in the 1881 census.
November 30, 2025 at 7:40 PM
The surname is in fact common and widespread across the UK, ranking 80th, with 38,742 bearers in the 1881 census.
The name has a long history in the locality. In 1573 a William Mills is recorded in Kidderminster, six miles from Old Swinford; in 1641 a Thomas Mills is recorded in Old Swinford itself; and in 1769 a Nancy Mills is recorded in Halesowen.
November 30, 2025 at 7:40 PM
The name has a long history in the locality. In 1573 a William Mills is recorded in Kidderminster, six miles from Old Swinford; in 1641 a Thomas Mills is recorded in Old Swinford itself; and in 1769 a Nancy Mills is recorded in Halesowen.
Gerald Mills’s father, Harry, was born in Wordsley (Staffordshire), two miles from Old Swinford (in Stourbridge, Worcestershire), where Harry’s mother was born, and two miles from Halesowen, where Harry grew up, fatherless, with his mother and his uncle, a master tailor.
November 30, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Gerald Mills’s father, Harry, was born in Wordsley (Staffordshire), two miles from Old Swinford (in Stourbridge, Worcestershire), where Harry’s mother was born, and two miles from Halesowen, where Harry grew up, fatherless, with his mother and his uncle, a master tailor.
Their backgrounds were at opposite ends of the social scale. Mills was the son of a well-to-do West Midlands solicitor and was educated at a university college in Birmingham and Caius College Cambridge. Boon was born into a poor, London household, eldest son of a brewer’s servant.
November 30, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Their backgrounds were at opposite ends of the social scale. Mills was the son of a well-to-do West Midlands solicitor and was educated at a university college in Birmingham and Caius College Cambridge. Boon was born into a poor, London household, eldest son of a brewer’s servant.
Since the 1930s ‘Mills & Boon’ has been a byword for escapist romantic fiction. The firm was established in 1908 as a general fiction publisher by Gerald Musgrove Mills and Charles Boon, who had known each other for ten years as managers in the publisher Methuen and Co. of London.
November 30, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Since the 1930s ‘Mills & Boon’ has been a byword for escapist romantic fiction. The firm was established in 1908 as a general fiction publisher by Gerald Musgrove Mills and Charles Boon, who had known each other for ten years as managers in the publisher Methuen and Co. of London.
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November 30, 2025 at 7:40 PM
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November 18, 2025 at 12:00 PM
More encouragingly, however, Ramsey in Cambridgeshire has a spelling of Hramesige from around 1000, and this looks like a secure case of hramsa ‘wild garlic’.
November 18, 2025 at 12:00 PM
More encouragingly, however, Ramsey in Cambridgeshire has a spelling of Hramesige from around 1000, and this looks like a secure case of hramsa ‘wild garlic’.
The difficulty is, however, that the medieval spellings often leave it unsure whether the root is hramsa, ramm ‘a ram (male sheep)’, hræfn ‘raven’, or a man’s name Hræfn. Hence Ramsey in Essex is explained by Victor Watts as ‘Hræfn, raven, ram’s or wild garlic island’.
November 18, 2025 at 12:00 PM
The difficulty is, however, that the medieval spellings often leave it unsure whether the root is hramsa, ramm ‘a ram (male sheep)’, hræfn ‘raven’, or a man’s name Hræfn. Hence Ramsey in Essex is explained by Victor Watts as ‘Hræfn, raven, ram’s or wild garlic island’.
Hramsa seems to underlie many English place-names, for instance qualifying a woodland term in Romsley in Worcestershire, and valley terms in Ramsden in Oxfordshire and Ramsbottom in Lancashire.
November 18, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Hramsa seems to underlie many English place-names, for instance qualifying a woodland term in Romsley in Worcestershire, and valley terms in Ramsden in Oxfordshire and Ramsbottom in Lancashire.
A more distant relative of creamh is Old English hramsa, the base for dialect words for the plant including rams, ramps and ramsons.
November 18, 2025 at 12:00 PM
A more distant relative of creamh is Old English hramsa, the base for dialect words for the plant including rams, ramps and ramsons.
This Irish name produces a variety of anglicized versions such as Crophill and Crewhill in Co. Kildare; Crawhill in Co. Sligo; Craffield in Co. Wicklow; Cranfield and Crankill in Co. Antrim; and Cranfield in Cos. Down and Tyrone.
November 18, 2025 at 12:00 PM
This Irish name produces a variety of anglicized versions such as Crophill and Crewhill in Co. Kildare; Crawhill in Co. Sligo; Craffield in Co. Wicklow; Cranfield and Crankill in Co. Antrim; and Cranfield in Cos. Down and Tyrone.
However, by far the most common place-name referring to creamh is Creamhchoill ‘wild-garlic wood’, mentioned above.
November 18, 2025 at 12:00 PM
However, by far the most common place-name referring to creamh is Creamhchoill ‘wild-garlic wood’, mentioned above.
The importance of creamh ‘wild garlic’ to early Irish communities is also reflected in numerous townland names. The most direct reference is An Chreamhach, the forerunner to Knavagh in Co. Galway, which means simply ‘the place abounding in wild garlic’.
November 18, 2025 at 12:00 PM
The importance of creamh ‘wild garlic’ to early Irish communities is also reflected in numerous townland names. The most direct reference is An Chreamhach, the forerunner to Knavagh in Co. Galway, which means simply ‘the place abounding in wild garlic’.
The striking effect readily explains the proliferation of the Irish word creamhchoill ‘wild-garlic wood’ in place-names. This is a close compound of creamh ‘wild garlic’ (etymologically related to the English word ramsons) and coill ‘wood’, and it occurs in the names of townlands across the country.
November 18, 2025 at 12:00 PM
The striking effect readily explains the proliferation of the Irish word creamhchoill ‘wild-garlic wood’ in place-names. This is a close compound of creamh ‘wild garlic’ (etymologically related to the English word ramsons) and coill ‘wood’, and it occurs in the names of townlands across the country.