john mills was a person of considerable eminence in the 18th century, though little definite is known because no record exists of his life. from his manner of expression, it is possible he may have lived his early life in foreign countries a long time, possibly in france, but he was not born there. in 1741 he was staying in london, where he had made preparations to go to jamaica. he cancelled those plans because, as he wrote "having met with something more advantageous which engages me to stay in england" mills married a french woman, and they had two children; one baptised in paris on 27 april 1742 and another born in may 1743.