Author: Milliken, Richard Alfred
Biography:
MILLIKEN, Richard Alfred (1767-1815: DIB)
He was born at Castlemartyr, County Cork, to Robert Milliken, of Scottish Quaker descent, and his wife Elizabeth Battaley of Wiltshire. He studied at Midleton School (now Midleton College) in Cork before going to Dublin where he was admitted to King’s Inn in 1792. Although he later worked as an attorney in Cork, his real interests were literature and watercolour painting. With his sister Anna—as Anna Millikin she published several historical novels and a schoolbook for girls—he established a literary monthly magazine, The Casket, which ran from Apr. 1797 to Feb. 1798. During the 1798 Rising, he served with the Royal Cork Volunteers. Subsequently he returned to his literary career, writing verse and drama; his plays were performed in London but not published. He also wrote a tale, The Slave of Surinam (1810). Neither the ODNB nor the DIB comment on a marriage but there are records of one to Ann Raymond in Cork in 1801. In 1805 he joined Cork’s Apollo Society of amateur actors. He died of a stroke on 16 Dec. 1815 and was buried in the cemetery at Douglas near Cork. His sister published his collected works and wrote the accompanying biographical memoir. (DIB 29 July 2021; ODNB 29 July 2021; ancestry.co.uk 29 July 2021)
Other Names:
- R. A. Milliken
- Richard Milliken