Philip (Mills) Broughton-Mills

Ancestors

Son of John Henry Broughton Mills and Janice (Bennett) Mills

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Philip Broughton-Mills [send private message]

Biography

My father was in the Royal Air Force. I was born at the London air base but lived there only briefly, moving to four other bases in England during my childhood. As a result of not growing up in a single location, I am told that I speak with a military accent.

In 1988 my mother began a role as an evangelist in Quarry Bank, West Midlands, settling down to provide some consistency to my schooling. I did well, taking my Mathematics and Art GCSEs early, and being invited to join Mensa at age 12. I spent most of my teenage years programming computer games in my bedroom, to the detriment of my social skills.

My parents had been using the shortened surname Mills, but when I turned 18 and had to register for official documents, I used the Broughton-Mills surname that appeared on my birth certificate.

My middle name was given in memory of my late uncle, who was killed when a car hit his bicycle.

In 1999 I began studying a degree in Artificial Intelligence at the University of Derby which was the only place in the country offering a dedicated degree in the subject. I remained in this small city for 14 years, enjoying the capability to walk everywhere (about 6 miles per day), thus I never learned to drive. I feel it is important to stay physically active to offset time spent sitting at a computer.

In 2003, while still at university, I began working in finance for the National Health Service, until 2010 when all 300 staff in my company were made redundant. This gave me a feeling of insecurity about the future, so I developed an interest in self-sufficiency and ascetic lifestyles including veganism and Buddhism. I did 6-month stints at several companies over the next few years, but none were compatible with my new ethics.

In 2013 I sold all my possessions except a backpack of clothes and my laptop computer and began a lap of the UK as a full-time live-in volunteer with organisations such as WWOOF and Workaway. This included the opportunity to visit Inishlacken island in Galway, which once belonged to my great great great grandfather Coleman Broughton. I spent 2014 volunteering in the Canary Islands, 2015 in Bulgaria, 2016 in Greece, including a month in a Syrian refugee camp, and have been mostly in France since 2017. I have helped over 60 host families/communities/temples with work including farming, building renovation, and English teaching.

I have dual English/Irish citizenship, so I am relieved to still be European after Brexit.

I became interested in genealogy because people would ask about the origin of my double-barrelled surname, so I decided to find out. I can now trace my Broughton line back to Ailward de Broughton of Lancashire, who came from France to England with William the Conqueror in 1066, and my Mills line back to James Mills of Turnings, County Kildare, Ireland, who died 1743. Some of my favourite ancestors are a one-armed cowboy, a dragoon that kidnapped his wife, and a morbidly-named couple.

Genealogy Goals

Would appreciate help proving the existence of Sarah Campbell born 1834, married Mr Norris in Ireland, emigrated to Texas. A lot of my celebrity connections pass through her, so I see her profile all the time and it frustrates me that I may have invented her.

Marie Sabine Metzenen, is described as being from a family of Swiss artists/architects. The name isn't that common, so I'd like to make more connections, such as to South African church architect Alfred Metzenen.

Seeking any descendant of Joseph Davidson (Cumberland 1750) to take a DNA test, to prove/disprove that he was my ancestor, per my Bennett fatherhood revision.

I would like a male Mills descendant of the Mills line of County Galway to take a Y-DNA test to match against mine to prove/disprove a connection to my Mills line of County Kildare.

Trying to correct erroneous information on WikiTree about the Broughtons of Broughton Tower.

Approach to Genealogy

WikiTree has proven itself to be the best way to perform genealogy that is discoverable by new cousins. It's better to collaborate on our public tree than to privately hoard information about ancestors and treat them as your property. Everything I have is public on WikiTree, I don't have a separate stash of information.

Paid Ancestry.com trees are unreliable because mistakes are duplicated from one tree to another without people verifying the sources. I use FamilySearch so that everyone can view the evidence for free, no need to take my word for anything.

My biographies are often bare because I'm less interested in the individuals than I am in the enjoyable detective work of, for example, systematically triangulating relatives (example), or noticing inconsistencies that reveal a false identity (example).

Advance Directive: To aid WikiTree with the administration of my account in the event of my incapacitation or death, I hereby give permission for all profiles that I manage to be transferred to any other WikiTreers, whether or not they are currently on the trusted list of those profiles.

DNA

I've taken DNA tests with all the main companies so you can compare against my results at:

• 23andMe.
• Ancestry DNA.
• Family Tree DNA.
• GEDmatch.
• My Heritage DNA.

Ethnicity

Philip (Mills) Broughton-Mills is 8/16 English.

Philip (Mills) Broughton-Mills is 7/16 Irish.

Philip (Mills) Broughton-Mills is 1/16 Swiss.

Roughly aggregated from all my DNA tests, I am:

• 40% Irish/Scottish. My father's side.
• 30% English. My mother's side.
• 20% Northern European.
• 10% East European.

Relationship Declarations

The system needs these on my profile to display "confirmed by DNA" badges on relationships:

Paternal relationship is confirmed by a Family Tree DNA Family Finder test match between Philip Broughton-Mills and his father, John Mills. Predicted relationship from FTDNA: parent/child, based on sharing 3384 cM across 22 segments.

Paternal relationship is confirmed by an AncestryDNA test match between Philip Broughton-Mills and his third cousin, Living DeMontigny. Their most-recent common ancestors are William Dobbin and Catherine Bell. Predicted relationship from AncestryDNA: 3rd–4th Cousin, based on sharing 95 cM across 7 segments.

Paternal relationship is confident based on a 23andMe test match between Philip Broughton-Mills and his third cousin once removed, Living DeMontigny. Their most-recent common ancestors are William Dobbin and Catherine Bell. Predicted relationship from 23andMe: 3rd–4th Cousin, based on sharing 49 cM across 3 segments.

Paternal relationship is confirmed by an AncestryDNA test match between Philip Broughton-Mills and his second cousin once removed, Living Nicholson. Their most-recent common ancestors are John Nicholson and Ellen Campbell. Predicted relationship from AncestryDNA: 3rd–4th Cousin, based on sharing 157 cM across 7 segments.

Paternal relationship is confirmed by an AncestryDNA test match between Philip Broughton-Mills and his third cousin, Living Collier. Their most-recent common ancestors are John Nicholson and Ellen Campbell. Predicted relationship from AncestryDNA: 3rd–4th Cousin, based on sharing 91 cM across 6 segments.

Maternal relationship is confirmed by an AncestryDNA test match between Philip Broughton-Mills and his first cousin once removed, Living Bennett. Their most-recent common ancestor is Elizabeth De'Ath. Predicted relationship from AncestryDNA: 2nd–3rd Cousin, based on sharing 246 cM across 12 segments.

Maternal relationship is confirmed based on a 23andMe test match between Philip Broughton-Mills and his second cousin once removed, Living Milligan. Their most-recent common ancestors are Charles De'Ath and Sarah Bennett. Predicted relationship from 23andMe: 3rd Cousin, based on sharing 98 cM across 5 segments.

Paternal relationship is confirmed based on a 23andMe test match between Philip Broughton-Mills and his third cousin, Living Nicholson. Their most-recent common ancestors are John Nicholson and Ellen Campbell. Predicted relationship from 23andMe: 3rd Cousin, based on sharing 54 cM across 2 segments.

Maternal relationship is confident based on an AncestryDNA test match between Philip Broughton-Mills and his 3rd cousin once-removed, Living Smith. Their most-recent common ancestors are Edwin Bennett & Caroline Greenstock. Predicted relationship from AncestryDNA: 2nd–3rd Cousin, based on sharing 125 cM across 4 segments.

Further Information

Find me at:

• Facebook profile of Philip Broughton-Mills
• WorkAway profile of Philip Broughton-Mills

Sources

• First-hand information entered by Philip Broughton-Mills.
• "England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV4Q-ZNVD : 1 October 2014), Philip William B Mills, 1980; from "England & Wales Births, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Birth Registration, Hillingdon, Middlesex, England, citing General Register Office, Southport, England.
• "England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV4Q-3FVN : 1 October 2014), Philip William Broughton-Mills, 1980; from "England & Wales Births, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Birth Registration, Hillingdon, Middlesex, England, citing General Register Office, Southport, England.