Thomas Mills High School

Thomas Mills, a wealthy businessman and a prominent member of the Baptist community, is one of the two great benefactors of Framlingham, the other being Sir Robert Hitcham, lawyer. There is no known portrait of Thomas. A Suffolk man, but not a native of Framlingham, Thomas came to the town in 1640 when he became an apprentice to one Edward Smith, wheelwright. Thomas obviously impressed his master, for in due course he inherited the business (1660). In 1662 he increased his fortune considerably by marrying Alice Groome, the widow of a wealthy Pettistree landowner. The marriage appears to have been a happy one but sadly Alice died in 1691, leaving all her estate to her husband. Thomas was a prominent member of the local Baptist congregation. In those days of religious persecution, this was a dangerous course and he narrowly escaped imprisonment on a number of occasions. Clearly, he was a man of principle as well as a man of business. When he died, Thomas left his fortune for good causes in Framlingham and other locations where he had had business interests. His will ordered the building of almshouses for the elderly poor which still stand - Pevsner calls them "a stately range". Unlike Hitcham's Almshouses, Thomas wanted people to be accepted whatever their religious convictions - a remarkable thing at that time.