Miller, William (b. 1818)

The Great-Grandfather of Alexander 'Alec' Miller

Although no birth or baptism record for William Miller has yet been identified, it is likely that he was born in 1818 based on the ages and dates provided in other official documents such as his death record and censuses. 

On 29 July 1843, William Miller (Alec's great-grandfather), a mason, married Isabella Elder at St. Andrews and St. Leonards in Fife, St. Andrews, Scotland. William is listed as a mason, and his surname is spelled as "Millar" with an 'a' instead of "Miller" with an 'e.' This sort of spelling variation was fairly common. According to the Scotlandspeople.gov website, "...the way names were written in different records varied and, when searching for a person in our indexes, the spelling might differ from what you expect. This can be due to one or more of the following factors: transcription error during indexing; misspelling, phonetic spelling or other misinterpretation by registrars and clerks; deliberate or accidental misrepresentation by informants, especially in regard to ages but also with names; name variants."

The 1851 Census lists William as 32 years old living at 53 Union Street in the parish of St. Andrews with his wife Isabella (32) and their three children: Alexander (7), Agnes (6), and James (1).  William's occupation is a stone mason, and everyone is listed as being born in Fifeshire, St. Andrews, except for daughter Agnes who was born in Midlothian, Edinburgh.

Per William's death record he died on 4 December 1857 and was 39 years old.  This further supports the likelihood that he was born in 1818, unless his birth date was between December 4th and 31st, in which case he would have been born in 1817.  The record from the St. Andrews & St. Leonards parish lists William as a mason journeyman, married (therefore his wife Isabella was still living), and residing at Baker Lane in St. Andrews.  The record also identifies his father Alexander as a shoemaker journeyman, still living, and present at William's death, but his mother Mary (Page) Miller was deceased.  The cause of death for William was "phthisis pulmonalis" (tuberculosis), and he was interred in the St. Andrews burial ground.

Additional research shows that an Alexander Miller and a Mary Page lived in St. Andrews and had two other children, Helen in 1810, and Alexander in 1813.  As noted previously, however, what is frustratingly absent from the records is evidence of Alexander and Mary having a third child, namely William in 1818.  But this Alexander Miller and Mary Page from St. Andrews do seem to be the likely parents of William, as their ages and location (the St. Andrews & St. Leonards parish) exactly fit the profile of who William's parents would have been.

Taking it one step further regarding William's likely parents, records from the St. Andrews & St. Leonards parish show an Alexander Miller being born 4 January 1783 in St. Andrews to John Miller and Jean Dalrymple.  Again, while this does not prove that this Alexander was William's father, his age and location are a good match.

Finally, as a side note, while it's unknown whether the "William Miller" mentioned in the following 17 August 1854 article from the Fife Journal refers to the same William Miller as discussed here, it is an interesting possibility to consider (article provided courtesy of Ian McIntyre at the Fife Historical Society).