George Pilkington Mills
Encyclopedia
George Pilkington Mills was the dominant English racing cyclist of his generation, and winner of the inaugural Bordeaux–Paris cycle race. He frequently cycled from Land's End
to John o' Groats
, holding the world record time on six occasions between 1886 and 1895. He was a member of the Anfield and North Road cycling clubs. He later won races and broke records as a car racer and motorcycle rider.
. Riders choose their own route but the distance then, before ferries shortened it, was about 900 miles. The first record was set by J. Lennox, first name not known, who took six days and 16 hours in 1885 while being paced by tandems. The following year, Mills, who was 18, broke the record twice, once on a large-wheeled penny-farthing
bicycle and once on a tricycle. He rode the bicycle in five days, 1 hour 45 minutes, the tricycle in 5 days 10 hours, an improvement of 29½ hours. The record, on a penny-farthing, still stands. Mills was helped by other members of the Anfield Bicycle Club, who organised accommodation and food, and enrolled other cyclists to guide him.
The journalist and official Frederick Thomas Bidlake
said:
In 1887 he won the North Road 24-hour on a tricycle. He rode 298½ miles on a tandem with R. Tingley in the same year. In 1888 he improved the 100-mile tricycle record with 6h 58m 54s and the 50-mile record with 2h 53m 42s.
because of his reputation in an age when long-distance racing was the fashion. A race from Bordeaux
in the south-west to the capital in Paris would be the longest annual event in France.
The race started at 5am in the Place du Pont Bastide in Bordeaux. There were 38 riders. As well as the British - Mills, Monty Holbein, Selwyn Francis Edge and J.E.L. Bates - there were a Pole and a Swiss. The British riders had woollen jerseys and leggings and their bicycles had footrests on the forks to profit from descents. The French were less organised and had trousers strapped closed at the ankle.
Mills fell on bad roads after 10 km when he touched with the French favourite, Jiel Laval, but neither was hurt. The English group moved to the front when the field began to straggle after the first hour. They led by a mile at dawn after averaging 14 mph. The historian Victor M. Head write: "At 10.30 Angoulème
was reached and the Englishmen stopped to gulp down bowls of hot soup. When they restarted, Mills began to make all the running, drawing steadily away from his companions until, arriving at Ruffeo, he was half an hour in the lead."
The rapid departure surprised the organisers. A report said:
Mills reached Tours
after 215 miles after more than 12 hours on the road. He rested for five minutes, ate raw meat "and a specially prepared stimulant", and set off an hour ahead of the other British riders. "By now," said Head, "the Frenchmen were hopelessly out of the running." He wrote:
The crowd at the finish was put at 7,000.
The first Frenchman - Laval - was fifth, five and a half hours behind Mills. Riders were still coming in two days later.
The Bicycle Union - later renamed the National Cyclists Union - had strict views about amateurism and had demanded its French equivalent ensure that all taking part met its own amateur ideals. Only then would the NCU allow Mills and other British amateurs to take part, although it accepted that professionals such as Charles Terront
could be employed as pacers. When Mills won, the Bicycle Union realised he was the works manager at a bicycle factory and decided he should be asked "whether he paid the whole of his expenses in the above-mentioned race." Only when he could prove that he had did the Bicycle Union concede that he was not a professional.
1884, five years after it was formed. He was a founding member of the North Road Club in London. At his death on 8 November 1945, he was one of only two founding members still alive. The other was E. P. Moorehouse. With Mills dead and Moorehouse ill, the club cancelled presentations to mark their achievements and their long association.
. He was a captain in the Bedfordshire regiment. He left for France in December 1915 and by 1917 had been promoted to lieutenant-colonel. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order
and he was mentioned in dispatches three times.
He became director of the small arms and machine gun department of the Ministry of Munitions after 1918. He joined the Home Guard in the second world war.
, home of the Humber Cycle company
. Raleigh
employed him to run operations at its new factory when it opened in Lenton, Nottingham
, in 1896. There he introduced automation and, in Raleigh's words, "other American practices." He moved in 1910 to west London to join the motor manufacturer Clément-Talbot. It was from there that he joined the army. He worked for the Aster Engineering Company in Wembley
after the war, then in 1924 at Belsize Motor Company in Manchester
.
revolver while training to fend off dogs. He shot five of them.
In 1929 he lived in Bathampton, near Bath, then in 1932 at Malvern
, in 1935 in Bournemouth
From 1938 until he died he lived at Shirley, in Surrey. He died in Westminster Hospital, London, followed by a funeral at Shirley parish church, Shirley, Croydon.
Land's End
Land's End is a headland and small settlement in west Cornwall, England, within the United Kingdom. It is located on the Penwith peninsula approximately eight miles west-southwest of Penzance....
to John o' Groats
John o' Groats
John o' Groats is a village in the Highland council area of Scotland. Part of the county of Caithness, John o' Groats is popular with tourists because it is usually regarded as the most northerly settlement of mainland Great Britain, although this is not a claim made by the inhabitants...
, holding the world record time on six occasions between 1886 and 1895. He was a member of the Anfield and North Road cycling clubs. He later won races and broke records as a car racer and motorcycle rider.
Land's End-John o'Groats
The record from one end of Britain to the other is the longest place-to-place challenge recognised by the Road Records AssociationRoad Records Association
The Road Records Association is a British cycle racing organisation which supervises records on the road but not in conventional races. It is one of the oldest cycle sport organisations in the world, formed in 1888.-Remit:...
. Riders choose their own route but the distance then, before ferries shortened it, was about 900 miles. The first record was set by J. Lennox, first name not known, who took six days and 16 hours in 1885 while being paced by tandems. The following year, Mills, who was 18, broke the record twice, once on a large-wheeled penny-farthing
Penny-farthing
Penny-farthing, high wheel, high wheeler, and ordinary are all terms used to describe a type of bicycle with a large front wheel and a much smaller rear wheel that was popular after the boneshaker, until the development of the safety bicycle, in the 1880s...
bicycle and once on a tricycle. He rode the bicycle in five days, 1 hour 45 minutes, the tricycle in 5 days 10 hours, an improvement of 29½ hours. The record, on a penny-farthing, still stands. Mills was helped by other members of the Anfield Bicycle Club, who organised accommodation and food, and enrolled other cyclists to guide him.
The journalist and official Frederick Thomas Bidlake
Frederick Thomas Bidlake
Frederick Thomas Bidlake was an English racing cyclist of the late 19th century who became one of the most notable administrators of British road bicycle racing during the early 20th century. The annual Bidlake Memorial Prize, was instituted in his memory...
said:
- The sensation was not that he was merely one of a sequence of record breakers, but that he knocked more than a day off each of the previous bests, in a sort of double event, riding virtually without sleep, certainly no more than a wayside nod.
Other timed races
In the summer Mills broke the Land's End-John o'Groats record, he also won the North Road 24-hour time-trial on a penny-farthing with 288 miles, set records on a bicycle for 50 miles and 24 hours (259 miles) and set a tandem-tricycle record for 50 miles.In 1887 he won the North Road 24-hour on a tricycle. He rode 298½ miles on a tandem with R. Tingley in the same year. In 1888 he improved the 100-mile tricycle record with 6h 58m 54s and the 50-mile record with 2h 53m 42s.
Bordeaux–Paris
George Mills won the inaugural Bordeaux–Paris race in 1891. He was invited by the organisers, the newspaper Véloce SportVéloce Sport
Véloce Sport was a leading French cycling periodical that was founded in Bordeaux in 1885. It was the organiser and publicist of the first running of the Bordeaux–Paris cycle race in 1891.-Bourdeaux-Paris:...
because of his reputation in an age when long-distance racing was the fashion. A race from Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
in the south-west to the capital in Paris would be the longest annual event in France.
The race started at 5am in the Place du Pont Bastide in Bordeaux. There were 38 riders. As well as the British - Mills, Monty Holbein, Selwyn Francis Edge and J.E.L. Bates - there were a Pole and a Swiss. The British riders had woollen jerseys and leggings and their bicycles had footrests on the forks to profit from descents. The French were less organised and had trousers strapped closed at the ankle.
Mills fell on bad roads after 10 km when he touched with the French favourite, Jiel Laval, but neither was hurt. The English group moved to the front when the field began to straggle after the first hour. They led by a mile at dawn after averaging 14 mph. The historian Victor M. Head write: "At 10.30 Angoulème
Angoulême
-Main sights:In place of its ancient fortifications, Angoulême is encircled by boulevards above the old city walls, known as the Remparts, from which fine views may be obtained in all directions. Within the town the streets are often narrow. Apart from the cathedral and the hôtel de ville, the...
was reached and the Englishmen stopped to gulp down bowls of hot soup. When they restarted, Mills began to make all the running, drawing steadily away from his companions until, arriving at Ruffeo, he was half an hour in the lead."
The rapid departure surprised the organisers. A report said:
- Everything had been prepared to receive the riders properly [recevoir dignement]: full meals, baths, hot showers, nothing was forgotten, and there were good beds to welcome our heroes, because there was no doubt among the excellent people of Angoulème that it was impossible to ride 127km on a bicycle without immediately needing several hours' rest. To the great stupefaction of the spectators, not one of the riders took advantage of what had been provided. The eventual winner, G.P. Mills, stopped for several moments at best. He had a plan: he let Holbein eat peacefully at the control because he knew that a real champion, Lewis Stroud, was waiting to show him the way out of town and that, with him as a precious, fast and durable pacer he could build up the lead he needed to win the race.
Mills reached Tours
Tours
Tours is a city in central France, the capital of the Indre-et-Loire department.It is located on the lower reaches of the river Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. Touraine, the region around Tours, is known for its wines, the alleged perfection of its local spoken French, and for the...
after 215 miles after more than 12 hours on the road. He rested for five minutes, ate raw meat "and a specially prepared stimulant", and set off an hour ahead of the other British riders. "By now," said Head, "the Frenchmen were hopelessly out of the running." He wrote:
- Although the judges, the officials, and the large crowd had been waiting impatiently for three hours before the winner's weary, mud-caked figure was seen coming along the boulevard de la Porte Maillot, his reception was "wildly enthusiastic", as one writer put it, and he was escorted in triumph to his hotel. The time of 26h 36m 25m was truly remarkable when one considers the appalling road conditions, poor weather, and the delays, and all the other hardships encountered. The British victory was complete. Monty Holbein (27h 52m 15s) came in second, with Edge, nearly three hours away, third, and Bates fourth.
The crowd at the finish was put at 7,000.
The first Frenchman - Laval - was fifth, five and a half hours behind Mills. Riders were still coming in two days later.
The Bicycle Union - later renamed the National Cyclists Union - had strict views about amateurism and had demanded its French equivalent ensure that all taking part met its own amateur ideals. Only then would the NCU allow Mills and other British amateurs to take part, although it accepted that professionals such as Charles Terront
Charles Terront
Charles Terront was the first major French cycling star. He won sprint, middle distance and endurance events in Europe and the United States. In September 1891 he won the first Paris–Brest–Paris cycle race, which at was more than double the length of any previous event...
could be employed as pacers. When Mills won, the Bicycle Union realised he was the works manager at a bicycle factory and decided he should be asked "whether he paid the whole of his expenses in the above-mentioned race." Only when he could prove that he had did the Bicycle Union concede that he was not a professional.
Cycling club life
Mills joined the Anfield Bicycle Club, in LiverpoolLiverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
1884, five years after it was formed. He was a founding member of the North Road Club in London. At his death on 8 November 1945, he was one of only two founding members still alive. The other was E. P. Moorehouse. With Mills dead and Moorehouse ill, the club cancelled presentations to mark their achievements and their long association.
Military service
Mills joined the army in 1889 and retired in 1906 as a major. He volunteered again in 1914 and in March 1915 was stationed at ColchesterColchester
Colchester is an historic town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in Essex, England.At the time of the census in 2001, it had a population of 104,390. However, the population is rapidly increasing, and has been named as one of Britain's fastest growing towns. As the...
. He was a captain in the Bedfordshire regiment. He left for France in December 1915 and by 1917 had been promoted to lieutenant-colonel. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
and he was mentioned in dispatches three times.
He became director of the small arms and machine gun department of the Ministry of Munitions after 1918. He joined the Home Guard in the second world war.
Civilian life
Mills moved several times for work. He worked at Beeston, NottinghamshireBeeston, Nottinghamshire
Beeston is a town in Nottinghamshire, England. It is southwest of Nottingham city centre. Although typically regarded as a suburb of the City of Nottingham, and officially designated as part of the Nottingham Urban Area, for local government purposes it is in the borough of Broxtowe, lying outside...
, home of the Humber Cycle company
Thomas Humber
Thomas Humber was a British cycle manufacturer who founded the Humber bicycle company in 1869 in Beeston, Nottinghamshire. By 1896 the company, under new management, ventured into Humber motor cars and became the first maker of series production cars in England.-Personal life:Thomas Humber was...
. Raleigh
Raleigh Bicycle Company
The Raleigh Bicycle Company is a bicycle manufacturer originally based in Nottingham, UK. It is one of the oldest bicycle companies in the world. From 1921 to 1935 Raleigh also produced motorcycles and three-wheel cars, leading to the formation of the Reliant Company.-Early years:Raleigh's history...
employed him to run operations at its new factory when it opened in Lenton, Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
, in 1896. There he introduced automation and, in Raleigh's words, "other American practices." He moved in 1910 to west London to join the motor manufacturer Clément-Talbot. It was from there that he joined the army. He worked for the Aster Engineering Company in Wembley
Wembley
Wembley is an area of northwest London, England, and part of the London Borough of Brent. It is home to the famous Wembley Stadium and Wembley Arena...
after the war, then in 1924 at Belsize Motor Company in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
.
Car and motorcycle racing
In 1907 he won the TT Race for international heavy touring cars in a 30 hp Beeston Humber. An undated news cutting says he also beat a motorcycling record. It says: "Mr G.P. Mills on his Raleigh motorcycle completed his run from Land's End to John o'Groats on Saturday forenoon and established a new record. He started on his long and trying journey at eight on Thursday morning, and arrived at his destination at 11am on Saturday, after being 50h 46m 30s on the road. Mr F.T. Bidlake was the timekeeper. Mr J. Silver previously held the record, having done the distance in 64h 29m, and Mr E.H. Arnott in 65h 45m. He has not only beaten the motor cycle record, but is also nearly two hours ahead of best motor car time."Personal life
Mills was an excellent shot, and carried a ColtColt
-Firearms company and related:*Colt's Manufacturing Company, an American firearm company*Samuel Colt , its founder*Colt revolver, a firearm made by the company*Colt 45 , various meanings stemming from usage as the name of a firearm...
revolver while training to fend off dogs. He shot five of them.
In 1929 he lived in Bathampton, near Bath, then in 1932 at Malvern
Malvern, Worcestershire
Malvern is a town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, governed by Malvern Town Council. As of the 2001 census it has a population of 28,749, and includes the historical settlement and commercial centre of Great Malvern on the steep eastern flank of the Malvern Hills, and the former...
, in 1935 in Bournemouth
Bournemouth
Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...
From 1938 until he died he lived at Shirley, in Surrey. He died in Westminster Hospital, London, followed by a funeral at Shirley parish church, Shirley, Croydon.