Evelyn Mills née Price

I had seen her several times when I was a child back in the 1940s, a kindly lady, who was an aunt, the elder sister to my father. We lived in Geelong, Victoria, but she in Canterbury, Melbourne, so there were only fleeting visits.

In the mid 1960s I came to live in Melbourne and as one does, visited. She was living in Upwey at the time, in a solid but sparse, timber residence that had been built for a previous premier of Victoria, Sir Thomas Bent. She was alone, her husband Alexander Rud Mills having deceased in 1964. It was always my disappointment that I had never met him in the flesh. Evelyn Louisa Mills, born Evelyn Price to parents Frederick Andrew Price and Helena Louisa Rogers, looked forward to my visits, which through the late 1960s and early 1970s became increasingly frequent. We passed the time in the seemingly lost art of conversation, either out on the broad verandah under the gums on summer afternoons and evenings, or inside before roaring log fires during winter’s bleakness.

Slowly, I began to know and appreciate her. She was the epitome of my family’s heritage, and I have not seen the likes of her since and doubt that I ever will again, though some upcoming and possibly enterprising teenagers of early twenties grand-nieces may prove me wrong in time.

Evelyn’s mother, Helena, had died in childbirth in 1903 at Geelong – a caesarean operation that failed. Thus Evelyn became the surrogate mother at the age of 14 to her five siblings. Her long struggles through decades to ensure that the family stood on solid ground faced many hurdles. She was accepted by the Victorian Education Department as a junior teacher at Chilwell Primary School in Geelong, Victoria, prior to World War 1 and after retirement was offered the position of headmistress for a time at Mitcham State School. In between these times she had travelled through much of Victoria teaching in remote towns, though two of her mountain-top experiences in teaching were at Bright and at Parkville, Melbourne.

Aunt’s romance with Alexander Rud Mills spanned approximately 30 years. Family problems on both sides, and it seems Fate, conspired to keep them from marrying. They managed to become engaged but it was called off because of the pressure of family relationships and it was not until 1951 when both were in their sixties that they were able to tie the knot. In the late 1920s Evelyn became interested in Rud's philosophies and attended the many Odinist festivals with him in the Victorian countryside. Some years after Rud’s death she handed to me many of his books and some writings, stating at the time that some of these were given to the State Library of Victoria. An investigation led me to discover that they were not on public show but were held away from view on a restriction order. Fortunately this is not the case today and Rud's books may be called down for research purposes.

Painting by Evelyn Mills, circa 1940s.

Several months prior to her death in 1973 Evelyn handed to me a marked copy of Rud's "The First Guide Book to the Anglecyn Church of Odin" and requested that the Order for the Burial of the Dead be read at her funeral. I was very pleased to do this for her. She had made a few changes to make it more amenable for the Christians in the congregation but over-all it was an Odinist order of service. It was accepted well by those present with the exception of the funeral director – who was, I believe, a Methodist lay preacher – and who could not hide his discomfort.

Aunt was a remarkable woman, the driving force behind her younger siblings and undoubtedly of great comfort to Rud over the years. I am the richer for having known her and possibly a little poorer for not having personally known her husband.

Graham