Grave of Abraham Mills, Conwy

Grave of Abraham MillsAbraham Mills (d. 1828)

Abraham Mills was a geologist and Fellow of the Royal Society. He wrote several papers and books on the geology of the British Isles.

He worked for a copper mining company on Anglesey until it lost its lease on the Mona Mine in 1785. The company soon transferred him to Co. Wicklow, Ireland.

In 1795 he informed the authorities that gold had been found in the vicinity. In a paper published by the Royal Society the following year, he described “the extraordinary circumstance of native gold being found” in the vicinity of Arklow, Co. Wicklow. He estimated that 800 ounces of gold were collected in just six weeks by a “great concourse of people” who “were busily engaged in endeavouring to procure a share of the treasure” – until the militia arrived.

His tombstone notes he was “late of His Majesty’s Ordnance Department Dublin”. He served as an infantry Captain in 1798 when the British government quelled the Irish Rebellion, inspired by the French and American Revolutions. Around this time he was also a partner in Macclesfield’s first bank.

He died aged 78 at Bodlondeb on 2 March 1828. Bodlondeb is the mansion just outside Conwy town walls. In 1828 the previous mansion still existed, lower down the slope from the one which is now local authority offices.

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