William Miller of Buckland parish, Eday

April 7, 2013 By Leave a Comment

A sheet inserted in the Pandora’s pay book (Adm 35/1360)

The Pandora‘s James Miller was likely from Eday; in 1793 his brother (or was it his father, uncle or cousin?) William was paid out more than five pounds of James’ ‘neat wages’.

Any Miller genealogists out there with a late 18th C William Miller from Buckland parish (Eday, Orkney) in their family tree? I would appreciate hearing from you.

NB: Buckland = Backaland ?

 

 

Filed Under: Miller/Millar, Orkney Names Tagged With: , ,

Davidson re Miller/Millar

December 6, 2012 By Leave a Comment

 

Some correspondence below with Kay Davidson on 29 Mar last. re Miller/Millar.

I’m now inclined to think the Pandora’s James Miller/Millar may be the fourth listed as this James’ father was William Miller – to whom the Admiralty paid James Miller’s “neat wages” in 1792 (Adm 35/1360)  “Neat” wages were the nett wages owed to a sailor who had been “discharged dead” during a voyage – i.e. after deductions had been made for  purchases of goods he had made or for services he had received – e.g. clothing and bedding (“slops”) tobacco or VD treatments.  Noted in the ship’s “pay book”.

>>>>>>…… “Hi Peter
I thought I would send you the following as I think it may provide a possible match for James Miller from Orkney. There are four possibles on this list but the second one seems the most likely. The information you sent me says that James Miller was 21 when he was recruited. If the second James Miller was christened one or even two and a half months after he was born then he would still have been 21 when he was recruited on September 8th 1790.
The first and third James Millers would have been 22 and the fourth one is a Millar with ‘a’.This information comes from www.FamilySearch.org
I was redirected to this site while searching on the IGI index.
I forgot to say that I think it’s unlikely that George Eglington will turn out to be Orcadian. The name sounds very English and I couldn’t find any Orkney births of that name at all.
Best wishes,
Kay.”
James Miller

Scotland, Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950
christening: 29 Jun 1768 EVIE AND RENDALL,ORKNEY,SCOTLAND
parents: Alexr. Miller, Ann Brough
James Miller

Scotland, Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950
christening: 20 Nov 1768 HOLM AND PAPLAY,ORKNEY,SCOTLAND
parents: John Miller, Helen Bewes
James Miller

Scotland, Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950
christening: 19 Apr 1767 EVIE AND RENDALL,ORKNEY,SCOTLAND
parents: John Miller, Katharine Yorston
James Millar

Scotland, Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950
christening: 14 Sep 1767 WESTRAY AND PAPA WESTRAY,ORKNEY,SCOTLAND
parents: William Millar, Margaret Reid

 
“Hi Kay
Thx for the details re Miller (Millar?)
I think you’re probably right abt Eglington – But if I remember correctly from my notes, there was one b in Caithness!  I’ll have to check – moreover it shows that just because someone was recruited in the Orkneys, doesn’t necessarily mean he was b. there;  seafaring men were notoriously mobile and stopped somewhere for a while after arriving there upon a previous voyage
The Miller/Millar example is a good illustration of how complicated this research will be – I guess it shows that we will have to be exact about the ages found in the sources – makes you wonder whether someone who was 1 month or a few weeks shy of his 21st b/day when recruited would have given 21 instead of 20!  also it shows that having more information to hand will help deciding which is whic – e.g. the 4 Rbt Bowlers I found could be narrowed down because i had reliable source material saying he had a sister called Theodosia!
It’s all grist for the mill!……” >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Filed Under: Miller/Millar, Orkney Names, Research