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Author: Miller, James

Biography:

Miller, James (1791-d after 1862: RLF)

Born at Dunbar, East Lothian, he was the son of George Miller (q.v.) and his wife, Janet (Jameson). James took over his father’s printing business in about 1821 and continued issuing the Cheap Magazine founded by his father.  From 1824 he printed the Haddingtonshire Register. He was a member of the Haddington Masonic Lodge and a keen antiquarian and historian; in addition to his book of poetry, he published History of Dunbar (1830) and Lamp of Lothian, or the History of Haddington (1844). He suffered financial and health problems later in life; he may also have had episodes of insanity. In 1858 and 1861 he applied to the RLF. The application describes him as a widower with one son and two daughters still living. No record of his marriage has been traced and his wife’s name is not known. His letter to the RLF records the sorry details of his financial woes; the fund granted him £30 in 1858 and £20 in 1862. His date of death is not known but Martine gives his place of death as the House of Refuge in Edinburgh. His St. Baldred of the Bass includes The Luckless Drave, usually attributed to George Miller; it is possible that both it and Verses in Memory of Dunbar Collegiate Church were written by James Miller. (RLF file, NCCO; John Martine, Reminiscences and Notices of Ten Parishes of the County of Haddington [1894]; ancestry.co.uk 10 Mar. 2020)

 

Books written (1):