| Jock Mills |
 John Millen (his real birth name) was born on Wednesday, 6th October, 1875, in Maryhill, Glasgow. The midfielder was a guest player for George Easton's Thistle in January, 1911. Age 35, he made his only appearance on Wednesday, 4th January, 1911, in a 1-0 win at home to St Mirren in a Benefit match. There were no goals for Jock in his one-off appearance for Thistle. His club-list included Maryhill and Partick Thistle. Jock died on Monday, 10th July, 1950, in Cradock, Eastern Cape, aged 74. |
| Jock Mills's Summary Totals |
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| League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Competitive | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| All Games | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
 2,000 were at Firhill on Wednesday, 4th January, 1911, to pay tribute to Alex McGregor in his benefit. We can guess from the 12.30pm kick-off that folks were still in 'New Years' mode. Adding to the sense of occasion, celebrity singer Harry Lauder ceremoniously kicked-off for St Mirren. With such force in fact, he burst the ball! It seems there was a bit of a party atmosphere, with a wrestling contest at half-time! Thistle, as they so often did in these type of occasions, used the fixture to try out a number of fringe / guest players. Jock Mills, making a one-off guest appearance, played at right half on the day. Jock, who had been a key player for Maryhill Juniors in his younger days, was a well known celebrity figure of the day, a popular variety performer as both a singer and a comedian. As for the match itself, the players were wary of the treacherous conditions. Thistle had most of the early play and, after he had wasted a good chance, Anderson scored the only goal for Thistle. The second half saw defences on top and it ended 1-0. John King, Thistle's outside left, was the best forward of the 10 on show. The first born son of James Millen (joiner journeyman, later butcher) and Elizabeth Millen (née Craig) who were married in April 1875 in Glasgow, the 15-year-old was enaged as a barber's assistant, and as he moved through life he became very entrepreneurial. Although a player of no little ability, it was probably apparent to him that he could never make a career as a professional footballer and, adopting the stage name of "Jock Mills" he made a lot of gramophone recordings between 1906 to 1916, and was a touring performer in the fields of singing and comedy. One of his most famous songs was "The Suffragee" which was his riposte to the Suffragette movement of the time. In October 1917 the 42-year-old Jock was was called up to serve in the army, much to his chagrin and despite his protestations. Successful throughout the UK and beyond, in his later years he retired from the stage and became the landlord of his own pub, the Jock Mills' Variety Bar, in Cowcaddens Street. He was married to Mary, but became a widower in 1945. Jock retired from business in 1949 but, sadly, news came through in the summer of 1950 that he had passed away in South Africa where his son, also John, signed the death register entry. His will is interesting he was highly successful and left a great deal of money which various government agencies swallowed in taxes. See the 'Scrapbook' tab for more reading on Partick Thistle's pop star! |
| (WS/AFK/JK) |
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