BADGER FAMILY CHRONICLES

© Christopher Earls Brennen

CHAPTER 8

THE MILLER FAMILY

Churchtown in the lower left and Castletown just northeast of Strabane

Area around Lack, County Fermanagh, home of David Miller

This chapter delineates the family of Frances Jean Miller who married Dermot Storey Badger and whose descendants are described in the previous chapter. It begins with her forebears.

  1. David Millar (senior) was born in 1798 in the parish of Ardstraw, Co. Tyrone, and became a farmer in Churchtown near Strabane. He is the earliest Miller ancestor who is known to us. There is a Churchtown about 3 miles southwest of Strabane in County Donegal but it is unclear whether that is the right townland. He married Mary ? in 1820. The Tithe Applotment Book for Ardstraw Parish in 1833 includes David Millar of Churchtown as well as Andrew Millar of Churchtown who may well have been his brother or father. David Millar (senior) was living in the parish of Ardstraw in 1860. David died in Ardstraw on Mar.20, 1860, and Mary died on Jan.12, 1850. David and Mary Miller are memorialized in a gravestone inscription in Ardstraw Old Cemetery which reads in part, ... of his parents David Miller Who died 20th March 1860 aged 62 years, Mary Miller who died 12th Jan 1850 aged 50 years .. . The children of David Millar (senior) and his wife Mary:
    1. Thomas Millar was born in 1821 in Ardstraw, County Tyrone. On Jan.13, 1894, in Strabane Methodist Church, he married Fanny Irvine. They lived in Castletown, near Strabane. Unfortunately Fanny suffered from mental illness and was hospitalized in Omagh. Thomas died in 1893 in Clougheon, County Tyrone, and left provision for his beloved wife and for the erection of a tombstone memorializing his mother and father in Ardstraw Old Cemetery. Fanny died in Omagh on Jun.10, 1896. They are memorialized in the gravestone inscription in Ardstraw Old cemetery which reads, in part, ... his brother Thomas Miller who died 29th July 1893 aged 72 years ... Also Fanny, wife of the aforesaid Thomas Miller Who died 10th June 1896 aged 58 years . Thomas and Fanny Millar had at least one child:
      1. John Miller was born on May 20, 1870, in Ardstraw, Co.Tyrone, to Thomas and Fanny Miller. He died in 1871.
    2. Margaret Millar was born in 1831 and died on Sep.3, 1869, in County Tyrone. She is memorialized in a gravestone inscription in Ardstraw Old cemetery which reads, in part, ... his sister Margaret Miller who died 3rd Sept 1869 aged 38 years.
    3. Mary Millar was born in 1832 in Ardstraw, County Tyrone. On Dec.26, 1854, in Ardstraw Presbyterian Church, she married William James Russell, born in 1824. Mary died in County Donegal in 1894 and William died in 1900. Their children:
      1. Mary Russell was born in Killygordon, County Donegal, in 1862. On Nov.5, 1889, in Strabane Methodist Church, she married James Taylor McConaghey. He died in 1899 so that Mary is listed in the 1901 Census the head of the houehold at Rooskey Upper, Castlefinn, County Donegal. She is living with her brother Charles and her 3 sons and 2 daughters. The children of James and Mary McConaghey:
        1. Mary C.M. McConaghey was born in County Donegal in 1892 and is listed in both the 1901 Census and the 1911 Census as living with her mother in Rooskey, County Donegal. On Jun.12, 1918, she married John Blair.
        2. Margaret Jane McConaghey was born in County Donegal on Jan.9, 1894, and is listed in both the 1901 Census and the 1911 Census as living with her mother in Rooskey, County Donegal. On Nov.11, 1921, she married Samuel Dobson. She died in Letterkenny on Nov.16, 1944.
        3. John William Blair McConaghey was born in County Donegal in 1897. He is listed in both the 1901 Census and the 1911 Census as living with his mother in Rooskey, County Donegal.
        4. Thomas Russell McConaghey was born in County Donegal on Mar.10, 1898. He is listed in both the 1901 Census and the 1911 Census as living with his mother in Rooskey, County Donegal.
      2. Charles Miller Russell was born in Killygordon, County Donegal, in 1863. In April 1894 he sailed from New York aboard the "Umbria" and arrived in Liverpool so he was living with his sister Mary in Rooskey, County Donegal, at the time of the 1901 Census. He died in County Donegal in 1938.
      3. David Russell was born in Killygordon, County Donegal, on Mar.10, 1867.
      4. Margaret Russell was born in Killygordon, County Donegal, on Nov.26, 1868. On Aug.17, 1898, in Pollockshaws, Renfrew, Scotland, she married Thomas Russell Corsie. About the same time she is listed as a Salvation Army Officer in Pollockshaws and in 1901 is listed as a resident in Port Glasgow, Renfrewshire. Thomas and Margaret Russell had two childrena:
        1. William James Corsie was born in Saltcoats, Ayrshire, Scotland, in 1900 and is listed as living in Port Glasgow in the 1901 Census. He died in Oct. 1974.
        2. Elizabeth Corsie was born in Cambuslang, Scotland, in 1904 and died in Healdsbury, Sonoma, California, in 1977.
      5. Thomas Russell was born in Killygordon, County Donegal, on Mar.6, 1874.
      6. Isabella Russell was born in Killygordon, County Donegal, about 1879. She married James Reid Crammond in Letterkenny, County Donegal, and they had children:
        1. James Crammond was born in 1911.
        2. Thomas Crammond was born in 1911.
        3. Mary Reid Crammond was born in Stranorlar, County Donegal, in 1901.
        4. Norah Frances Crammond was born in Stranorlar, County Donegal, in 1908.
        5. Rebecca Louisa Crammond was born in Stranorlar, County Donegal, in 1904.
        6. Annie Katline Crammond was born in Stranorlar, County Donegal, in 1905.
        7. Isabella Fenton Crammond was born in Stranorlar, County Donegal, in 1902.
    4. Charles Millar was born in 1834 in Ardstraw, County Tyrone, and became a minister in the church. He married Margaret Elizabeth Patterson, born in 1854. In 1861 Charles is listed in the 1861 Census of Canada as living in Stafford, Renfrew, Ontario. Charles died in Milltown, County Tyrone, on Mar.14, 1894, and Margaret died on Jan.22, 1918. They are memorialized in a gravestone inscription in Ardstraw Old Cemetery, County Tyrone, which reads: Miller: Erected by Elizabeth Miller in loving memory of her beloved husband Revd Charles Miller who died 14th March 1894 aged 60 years. Also his wife Margaret Elizabeth Miller, born 9th October 1854, died 22nd January 1918 aged 63 years 3 months and 13 days. To the left hand side: Also in loving memory of his parents David Miller Who died 20th March 1860 aged 62 years, Mary Miller who died 12th Jan 1850 aged 50 years, his brother Thomas Miller who died 29th July 1893 aged 72 years, his sister Margaret Miller who died 3rd Sept 1869 aged 38 years and his nephew John Miller Who died 20th Oct 1871 aged 16 months. To the right hand side of above: Also Fanny, wife of the aforesaid Thomas Miller Who died 10th June 1896 aged 58 years. Charles and Elizabeth had one child:
      1. David Joseph Miller was born in 1882 and went to Trinity College, Dublin, where he qualified in medicine. He served in WWI and was badly injured, spending the rest of his days in hospital. He died in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1960.
    5. James Millar was born in 1841 in County Tyrone and died in 1899.
    6. David Millar (junior)
      David Millar (junior) was born in 1836 in County Tyrone. He married Mary Anne Woodburn (born in County Derry about 1838) on Mar.7, 1861, in Garvagh First Presbyterian Church, parish of Errigal, civil district of Coleraine, County Londonderry. On the marriage certificate he is described as of full age, a bachelor farmer of Churchtown, County Tyrone whose father is David Millar, a farmer, while Mary Anne is decribed as a spinster of full age of Ballintemple whose father is Matthew Woodburn, a farmer. The witnesses were Thomas Millar (probably his eldest brother) and James McElpatrick. David and Mary Anne must have moved around for their son Charles was born in County Fermanagh in 1863 while their daughter Isabella and their first son John were born in County Tyrone in 1865 and 1873 and their son William Walter and daughter Agness were born in County Fermanagh in 1875 and 1882. So they must have moved from Newtown Stewart, County Tyrone, to Lack, County Fermanagh between 1873 and 1875. By the time of the 1901 Census they are living in the village of Lack. In the 1896 Belfast and Ulster Directory, the section on the village of Lack includes the inhabitant David Millar, clerk of the petty sessions. Since the petty sessions in Lack were only held every month or so this was probably a part time assignment and David probably also ran a farm. Though David is listed in the Lack household in the 1911 Census, he appears to have been absent during the 1901 Census and so is not listed in that return. However, in the 1911 Census David is listed as a 72-year-old Clerk of the Petty Sessions (Presbyterian like the rest of the family and born in County Tyrone) living in the village of Lack, County Fermanagh, with his wife, 72-year-old Mary Anne Miller (born in County Derry), two of their children, and two grandchildren, 5-year-old Ella Noble (Anglican and born in Co.Fermanagh) and 1-year-old Gordon Miller (Presbyterian and born in Belfast). Also listed in the household is a domestic servant, 18-year-old Mary Anne Higherty, a Roman Catholic born in County Tyrone. David Miller is also listed as a Clerk of the Petty Sessions on the marriage certificate of his son John Wesley Miller. David died in Lack on Jul.21, 1913. Some of the children of David and Mary Anne Millar:
      1. David Miller, son of David and Mary Ann Miller, was born on Dec.15, 1861, in Churchtown, Parish of Ardstraw, County Tyrone, and was baptized in Ardstraw Presbyterian Church on Mar.23, 1862. David died in 1921, aged 60.
      2. Thomas Miller, son of David and Mary Ann Miller, was born on Jul.1, 1863, in Churchtown, Parish of Ardstraw, County Tyrone, and was baptized in Ardstraw Presbyterian Church on Sep.13, 1863. In Mar. 1890 he married Eliza Jane Rinchey and they had two children listed below. Eliza must have died in the second childbirth or shortly thereafter for, on Jul.31, 1894, in Colaghty Parish Church, Lack, County Fermanagh, Thomas married Mary Bowles, the daughter of James Bowles, and they had three sons. In the 1896 Belfast and Ulster Directory, the section on the village of Lack, County Fermanagh, includes the inhabitant Thomas Millar, loan fund clerk, draper, and general merchant. On Sep.28, 1912, he signed the Ulster Covenant at 110 Wellington Street, Glasgow, Scotland, which may mean he had moved to Glasgow and could explain why he is not recorded in the 1901 or 1911 Census for Lack. Thomas died on Mar.26, 1921, in Strabane. The children of Thomas Millar:
        1. Edith Agnes Miller, daughter of Thomas and Eliza was born in Lack, Co.Fermanagh, on Nov.25, 1890, and was baptized in Colaghty Church of Ireland on Nov.25, 1890.
        2. female Miller, daughter of Thomas and Eliza, was born in Lack, Co.Fermanagh, on Jun.13, 1893.
        3. male Miller, a son of Thomas and Mary.
        4. male Miller, a son of Thomas and Mary.
        5. William Miller, a son of Thomas and Mary.
      3. Charles Miller was born on Jun.12, 1865, in Kesh, County Fermanagh. In the 1901 Census he is listed as an unmarried 29-year-old farmer's son (born in Co.Fermanagh) living in the village of Lack, County Fermanagh, with his parents. In the 1911 Census he is listed as an unmarried 37-year-old agricultural laborer (born in Co.Fermanagh) living in the village of Lack, County Fermanagh, with his parents. Charles signed the Ulster Covenant in Lack on Sep.28, 1912. He died in Lack on Dec.23, 1922.
      4. Isabella Woodburn Miller was born on Oct.2, 1866, in Newtownstewart, County Tyrone. On Jan.30, 1896, Isabella Miller was married to William Monteith (born in 1870, the son of John Monteith) in Colaghty Church of Ireland, parish of Magheraculmoney, Irvinestown, County Fermanagh. William died on Dec.26, 1897, in County Monaghan, prior to the 1901 Census for in that Census Isabella is listed as an widowed 27-year-old shopkeeper, Isabella Montheith, living in the village of Lack, County Fermanagh, with her parents. In the 1911 Census she is listed as an widowed 35-year-old draper (born in Co.Tyrone) living in the village of Lack, County Fermanagh, with her parents. Isabella died in Holywell Hospital, Antrim, on Apr.8, 1959. Isabella and William had one child:
        1. David Woodburn Monteith was born in Aug. 1897, in Lack, County Fermanagh, and died there on Mar.14, 1898.
      5. Mathew Miller was born on Aug.4, 1868, in Newtonstewart, Co.Tyrone. On Dec.26, 1894, he married Etta Myers (born in 1873 in Nelliston, Montgomery County, NY, the daughter of Henry Myers and his wife Christina Bowers) in Manhattan, New York. They are listed in the 1900 Census as living in Lyon Village, Wayne County, NY, and in the 1920 Census as living in Hudson, New Jersey. Mathew died on Feb.15, 1921, in Hudson County, New Jersey, Mathew and Etta had three children:
        1. Henry Millar was born in 1900 in New York County, New York.
        2. Mathew Millar was born in 1901 in New York County, New York.
        3. Gladys Millar was born on Jan.6, 1910 in New York County, New York, and married George Barile (1907-1993). Gladys died on Mar.10, 1993, in Whiting, Ocean County, New Jersey.
      6. John Miller was born on Jul.27, 1870, in Newtonstewart, Co.Tyrone. In the 1891 register of the Lack School, 17-year-old John Millar is listed as Presbyterian and the son of the Clerk of the Petty Sessions. John died on Oct.20, 1871, in Newtownstewart. He is memorialized in a gravestone inscription in Ardstraw Old cemetery which reads, in part, ... John Miller Who died 20th Oct 1871 aged 16 months.
      7. William Walter Millar was born to David Millar and Mary Ann (Woodburn) on Aug.31, 1875, in Lack, County Fermanagh. In the 1891 register of the Lack School, 15-year-old William Millar is listed as Presbyterian and the son of the Clerk of the Petty Sessions. In Jul. 1913, William boarded the "Caledonia" in Londonderry and arrived in New York on Aug.2, 1913. On Jan.22, 1914, in Franklin County, Ohio, William married Florence H. Woodward, born in 1887 in Urbana, Champaign, Illinois, to William B. Woodward and his wife Blanche Hunter. They are listed in the 1920 Census as living in Urbana Ward 1, Champaign, Illinois along with their 4-year-old daughter, Dorothy. In the 1930 US Census, 52-year-old William W. Miller, a silk salesman who emigrated in 1902, and his wife, Florence Miller, are listed as living in District 117 of Los Angeles, California along with their 14-year-old daughter, Dorothy A. Miller (born in Ohio). In the 1940 US Census, 62-year-old William W. Miller, a representative for woolen mills, and his 53-year-old wife Florence W. Miller are living alone at 1726 Fletcher Avenue in South Pasadena. William died in California on Apr.14, 1951, and Florence in Los Angeles on Dec.30, 1970 (she is reputedly buried in Vesperland, Forest Lawn Cemetery, Glendale, California, but I have not been able to confirm this). William and Florence had a daughter:
        1. Dorothy Ann Miller was born in Ohio about 1916. In the 1920 Census she is listed as a 4-year-old living in Urbana Ward 1, Champaign, Illinois with her parents, but soon moved west to California with them. In the 1930 US Census, she is listed as a 14-year-old living with her parents in District 117 of Los Angeles, California. In the 1940 US Census, 23-year-old Dorothy Ann Miller, a teacher in public school, single and born in Ohio, is living at 425 California St?, El Monte, California, with two other female public school teachers.
      8. James Woodburn Miller was born on Jan.11, 1878, in Lack, County Fermanagh, to David Miller and Mary Anne Woodburn Miller. In the 1891 register of the Lack School, 13-year-old James Millar is listed as Presbyterian and the son of the Clerk of the Petty Sessions. James married twice. His first wife was Emma Larkin, born in Cookstown on Jan.11, 1878, the daughter of Joseph Larkin and Isabella Irvine/Irwin, whom he married on Apr.27, 1903, in Colaghty Parish Church, Lack, Co. Fermanagh. She is listed in the 1901 Census as a schoolteacher in Lack, County Fermanagh. They had three children listed below. Emma died in Belfast on Jun.1, 1909, and is buried in Dundonald Cemetery, Belfast. On Feb.28, 1912, James married for the second time to Florence Annie Stevenson (listed in the 1911 Census as a bookkeeper) in Fisherwick Presbyterian Church, Belfast. James and Florence had four children. James died on May 5, 1941, in Portaferry, County Down, and is buried in Dundonald Cemetery, Belfast. "John" Woodburn Miller of 53 Palmerston Road, Belfast, a manufacturer's agent, who died May 5, 1941, in Portaferry, County Down had his will probated in Belfast on Dec.24 to Florence Annie Miller, his widow; his effects were £382 11s. 2d. Florence died on Sep.7, 1963, in Belfast. The children of James Woodburn Miller:
        1. Joseph Larkin Miller, the son of James and Emma Miller, was born on Oct.7, 1904, and died as an infant.
        2. male Miller was stillborn.
        3. James Harold Miller, the son of James and Emma Miller, was born on Mar.14, 1907, in Balmoral, Shankhill Parish, Belfast. He married Mary Christina Dickson, known as Maisie, on May 15, 1935, in Malone Presbyterian Church, Belfast. James died in Belfast on May 25, 1939, and is buried in Dundonald Cemetery, Belfast. James and Mary had children:
          1. Daphne Lorena Miller was born in 1935.
          2. Ivan Harold Miller was born on Sep.24, 1937.
          3. female Miller died in infancy on May 25, 1939, at Knock Hill, Belfast.
        4. David Charles Gordon Miller, the son of James and Emma Miller, was born in Belfast on May 16, 1909, and is listed as a 1-year-old named Gordon residing in Lack, County Fermanagh, with his Miller grandparents; he went to live with his grandparents after his mother died in 1909. In Aug. 1946 in Fisherwick Presbyterian Church, Shankhill Parish, Belfast, he married Catherine Fryers Hildersley, daughter of Henry James Hildersley and his wife Annie McDonald Gunn McNeil. Gordon died on Feb.7, 1967, in Belfast, and is buried in Glenalina, Belfast City Cemetery. Catherine died on Mar.29, 1994, in Wiltshire, England.
        5. Austin William W. Miller, the son of James and Florence Miller, married Edith Marion Shanks on Dec.26, 1938, in Crescent Presbyterian Church. Edith died in 1986. Austin and Edith had two children.
        6. female Miller, the daughter of James and Florence Miller, married a man named Fred Marshall.
        7. Florence M.P. Miller, the daughter of James and Florence Miller.
        8. Ian Randolph Miller, the son of James and Florence Miller, was born in Belfast in 1921 and died on May 3, 1931, in Belfast.
      9. Ellen Elizabeth Agnes Miller was born on Oct.1, 1880, in Lack, County Fermanagh, to David Miller and Mary Anne Woodburn Miller. In the 1901 Census Agnes is listed as an unmarried 18-year-old schoolgirl (born in Co.Fermanagh) living in the village of Lack, County Fermanagh, with her parents. On Feb.13, 1903, Agnes was married to Andrew Noble in Colaghty Church of Ireland, parish of Magheraculmoney, Irvinestown, County Fermanagh. Andrew Noble was born on Aug.20, 1874, the son of Thomas Noble and Mary Jane (Knox) of Ederney, Irvinestown, County Fermanagh. In the 1891 register of the Lack School, 15-year-old Andrew Noble from the townland of Cloy is listed as Church of Ireland and the son of a farmer. In the 1901 Census the unmarried 25-year-old Andrew Nelson Noble (Church of Ireland) is recorded as living in the townland of Oghill, parish of Drumkeeran, County Fermanagh. In the 1911 Census Andrew Noble, aged 31, is listed as a grocer (born in County Fermanagh) living in house #28 in Lack Town, County Fermanagh, with his wife, Helen Agnes Noble, aged 27, and two of the children listed below. Ellen died in Belfast. The children of Andrew and Agnes Noble:
        1. Isabella Woodburn Noble was born in Lack, County Fermanagh, on Apr.25, 1905, and is listed in the 1911 Census as 5-year-old living with her grandparents in Lack, Fermanagh. She died in Bangor, County Down, on Oct.30, 1983.
        2. David Andrew William Noble was born on Sep.22, 1906, in Lack, County Fermanagh, and is listed in the 1911 Census as 3-year-old living with his parents in Lack. He married a woman named Margaret or Peggy.
        3. Percy Thomas Noble was born in 1909 in Lack, County Fermanagh, and is listed in the 1911 Census as 1-year-old living with his parents in Lack.
        4. Ronald Matthew Noble was born on Mar.17, 1920, in Lack, County Fermanagh, and married a woman named Susan. He died in Belfast in 1998.
        5. Cyril Knox Noble was born on Nov.26, 1922, in Lack, County Fermanagh, and died unmarried in Belfast in 2010.
        6. Mary Beatrice Noble was born on Mar.25, 1928, in Lack, County Fermanagh, and died in Belfast on Jan.1, 1976.
      10. John and Jane Miller.
        John Wesley Miller was born in Newtonstewart, County Tyrone, on Dec.8, 1873 (other records suggest about 1877). It is possible that the John W. Miller, a 23-year-old unmarried salesman and Presbyterian born in County Tyrone, who is listed in the 1901 Census as a boarder in the home of Robert and Strawberry Croft at 19 Crumlin Road, Belfast, is our ancestor. We do know that on Aug.26, 1903, in Strabane Second Presbyterian Church our John Wesley Millar married Jane Fyffe, born on Dec.21, 1877, in Ballee, Strabane, County Tyrone. John is listed on the marriage certificate as a bachelor of full age, a shopkeeper who is resident in Belfast at the time of his marriage. His father is stated to be David Millar, Clerk to the Petty Sessions. Jane is listed on the marriage certificate as a spinster of full age who is resident in Castletown, Strabane, at the time of her marriage. Her father is stated to be James Fyffe, a farmer. At the time of the birth of their eldest child, John Reginald Miller, on Jun.3, 1904, they were living at 22 Avonbeg Street, Belfast, and John Wesley Miller was working as a boot shop manager. John became an ironmonger and boot merchant in Strabane, County Tyrone. The 1911 Census records John and Jane Miller and their family living at 38 Main Street, Strabane, County Tyrone. They are Presbyterians who read and write and have a 17-year-old Roman Catholic servant named Margaret Diver (born in Donegal) living with them. John died in Strabane on 23 Jul.23, 1942; Jane survived him and was living at "Briarwood", Urney Road, Strabane when she prepared her will.

Marriage Certificate of David Millar and Mary Anne Woodburn

Marriage Certificate of John Wesley Miller and Jane Fyffe

1911 Census return of David Miller and family in Lack, Fermanagh

1911 Census return of John Wesley Miller and family on Main Street, Strabane

Christopher E. Brennen