Thomas Hutton Mills was born in James Town, Accra, the son of Emma Bannerman, the second daughter of Governor James Bannerman,[1] and John Edward Hutton Mills, a James Town merchant.
[2] After working as chief clerk in the office of his uncle Edmund Bannerman, a barrister and newspaper proprietor, Hutton-Mills travelled to England in 1891 to study law at the Middle Temple, returning to practise in Accra on being called to the Bar in 1894.
[1] In 1897 he was prominent in debate over the Town Council and Compulsory Labour Ordinances.
The main adviser to Kojo Ababio, he championed the rights of people in the Alata quarter of Accra.
[3] He was the first President of the National Congress of British West Africa in 1920.