His home at Ruddington Hall included a noted stock farm. A generous local benefactor, he bred prize-winning pedigree cattle, pigs and shire horses. An article appeared in Country Life, 1903 in praise of ‘Livestock at Ruddington Hall’. Game birds, large white Yorkshire pigs and rams were all kept at Home Farm in Landmere.
Their fame led to buyers from Britain, Russia, Poland, Austria, Canada, Australia. He was President of the Nottingham Young Men’s Christian Association. Although 73 years of age at the time of his death, he had been in excellent health. Mills, who was childless, was survived by his wife, who had greatly helped in his philanthropic work.
