DIGGING INTO MY FAMILY'S PAST

  THE FAMILY OF ALEXANDER MILLER – MY GREAT GRANDFATHER Much of this information came from Maisie Miller (Mary Miller, daughter of Alexander’s third son, Charles). July 2024 - This information needs some updating as I have found some new records since putting this together in 2017.       ALEXANDER MILLER, b 1839 Alexander was the second son of John Lucas Miller and his wife Mary Jean McDougal. Alexander was baptised with his other living siblings in 1843 in St Mary’s Catholic Cathedral after the family converted from Protestantism. It is not clear if the children had earlier been baptised at St Cuthbert’s Church of Scotland, where their father was apparently an Elder of the church, when they were born but so far no records to that effect have been discovered by me . Alexander became a compositor and printer under the guidance of his father who was a Master Printer. His youngest brother, Andrew Carruthers Miller, also became a printer. Alexander lived with his pa...

  In the 1980s, a cousin of my father, Mary “Maisie” Miller shared with me this list of the family of John Miller b 1811.   Since then I have been able to do a little research, mostly using  www.scotlandspeople.com.au  which  is a pay-per-view site.  In the records, the name Millar is often used interchangeably with Miller. I will use Miller in all cases.    This is what I know of the family to the present time.      JOHN LUCAS MILLER b 1811   Most of the records for John give only his first name and surname.  However in the 1881 Census his name is recorded as John Lucas Miller.    The birth of a John Miller is recorded in the parish of St Cuthbert’s Church of Scotland in Edinburgh, on 14 th  January 1811.  His father William was described as a joiner and John’s mother named as Katherine Jack.  In the 1841 census, a William Miller, aged 72, occupation given as Wright, was living in Lady Lawson’s...

Some time ago, while researching James Ross, a Scottish Soldier, I came across an article in this Dublin newspaper. I would love to claim the Sergeant James Ross as "my" James Ross whose story appears in this blog under "There was a Soldier, a Scottish Soldier". The information I have of "my" James Ross has him enlisted in the 79th Highlanders. Is it possible that he changed regiments in the later part of his British Army career?  From what I know at the moment, James was active in the 79th Highlanders in    Crimea and in the North-west Frontier, India in the 1850s.       He married in 1869 in Edinburgh and would appear to have lived there for the rest of his short life.  I am recording this article because the dates do fit "my" James and it is not  impossible that he may have been the James in this story. If so, he would have had a fifth   medal in his collection. As a fifth medal has not so far come to light, this does weaken the ...