Helen Miller (abt. 1803 - bef. 1851)

Born about 29 Jun 1803 in Kinnoull, Perthshire, Scotland

Wife of Thomas Low — married 23 Jun 1822 (to before 1851) in Redgorton, Perthshire, Scotland

Descendants

Died before 1851 before about age 47 in Redgorton, Perthshire, Scotland

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Dee Dodds [send private message]

Biography

1803: Helen was likely born on 28-Jun-1803, the 4th of 9th children to John Miller and Ann Urquhart (see the research notes below). She was bapised on 3-Jul-1803 at Kinnoull ^[1].

1822: Six days before her 19th birthday Helen married Thomas Miller, on 23-Jun-1822 in Redgorton ^[2]. Thomas was a 35 year-old widower with a 3.5 year old daughter, and working as a blacksmith at Downhill, near Redgorton.

Over the next 15 years Thomas and Helen had at least 7 children: William (25-Apr-1824), Maria (26-Feb-1826), Margaret (24-Feb-1828), Charles (20-Dec-1829), Peter (11-Mar-1832), Helen (18-May-1834), Peter (27-Aug-1837) ^[3]. The only child to die as infant appears to have been the first Peter (1832).

1841: The 1841 census (taken on 6th June) ^[4][5] lists 54yo Thomas (with his age rounded down to 50, and listed as an Innkeeper) still living at Downhill with Helen (listed as 35yo, but a few weeks short of 38yo), and their children: William (17yo), Maria (15yo), Margaret (13yo), Charles (11yo), Helen (7yo), and Peter (3yo). Also with them is Thomas' older brother James (70yo), an 18yo blacksmith apprentice and a young child.

At some point in the next 10 years Helen died. No death record or grave record has yet been located but Thomas is listed as remarrying (to Christian Logie) for a third time in 1851. He lived in 1866, dying on 19-Mar-1866 at the age of 79.

Research

Helen Miller's origins are unclear. The 1841 Census (held on 6th June) gives her age as 35 and born in Perthshire, and given that ages were rounded down to the nearest 5 this would put her birth as likely between mid-1801 and mid-1806. She was married on 23-Jun-1822, so again, this would put her birth prior to mid-1806.

There are a significant number of people named Helen Miller born in Perthshire in the period 1800-1810 ^[6]. Most of these can be discounted, as follows:</br>

• Helen Miller, b. ~1801, Perth, p=John Miller + Mary Whitelaw [mar. Thomas Jackson, 6-Jul-1823, Kinnoul; Children James (3-5-1824), Mary (16-11-1826), John (~1828), Thomas (11-4-1830), Magnus (16-9-1831); died 1866, aged 65, parents listed as John Miller + Mary Whitelaw]
• Helen Miller, b. 1-5-1803, Perth; parents listed as David Miller and Margaret Buchan [probable death record: Helen Miller, d. 29-8-1804, Perth, aged 1y4m, f=David Miller (from Ancestry)]
• Helen Miller, b. 16 Aug 1804, Fowlis Wester (12 miles west of Redgorton), parents = John Miller + An Mccara [probable marriage to David Anderson, 10-Oct-1830, Errol]
• Helen Millar, b. 30 Aug 1805, Caputh (8 miles north of Redgorton), parents = James Millar + Helen Hall [died. Helen Donaldson (m.s. Millar), 1864, aged 58, Caputh, mother gives as Hall]

And there are a number that are too early or late for an age of 35 in the 1841 census:

• Helen Millar, b. 24 May 1801, Forgandenny (13 miles south of Redgorton), parents = John Millar + Janet Low
• Helen Miller, b. 13 Nov 1806, Fowlis Easter, parents = Thomas Miller + Isabel Miller
• Helen Millar, bap. 14 Feb 1807, Moneydie, p=William Millar and Janet Grimmond
• Helen Miller, b. 27 May 1807, Dunning, p=John Miller + Helen Duncan
• Helen Miller, b. Mar 1809, Scone, p=David Miller + Agnes Bruce
• Helen Millar, b. 29 Oct 1809, Comrie, p=William Millar + Margaret Menzies

This leaves just one main possibilities for Helen's birth:

• Helen Miller, b. 29-Jun-1803, bap. 3-Jul-1803, Kinnoull; parents = John Miller, Ann Urquhart ^[7].

No marriage or other census records (other than those below) can be located that match to this record - and hence it cannot be excluded as a possibility. The only other possibility would be that Helen was born in or near Redgorton, but the birth record is missing, though this seems unlikely.

Given that Helen's children are known, the names might provide a hint at the possible names of Helen's parents (see https://blog.findmypast.co.uk/traditional-scottish-naming-patterns-2115646700.html and http://myweb.wyoming.com/~msaban/SCTname.htm for information on naming patterns in Scotland). Helen's children were:

• William : named after he husband Thomas's father, William Low?
• Maria Whittet : Thomas's mother was Mary Gibson, Or is this Helen's mother? (note: sometimes the middle name is after the local minister, but the minister of Redgorton from 1812-1864 was William Liston).
• Margaret : Is this Helen's mother?
• Charles : Is this Helen's father?
• Peter : Normally this child would be named after the father (Thomas). This might indicate that they are not adhering to the normal naming patterns.
• Helen : This matches to Helen.

It is also worth noting that Thomas and Helen's son William had a child which they named "Helen Millar Low". The name is spelt Millar on the birth record and on the gravestone. This could indicate that Helen's name was "Millar" and not "Miller", or William may have misremembered the name (the latter seems more likely given that every other record lists the name as "Miller").

It seems highly likely therefore that the last birth record above (b. 29-Jun-1803, Kinnoull) is the correct one. If this is indeed the correct record then Helen was the 4th of 9 children of John Miller and Ann Urquhart: Isobel (23-Apr-1797), Janet (22-Apr-1799), John (28-Apr-1801), Helen (3-Jul-1803), Thomas (12-Oct-1805), James (7-Jun-1807), Margaret (26-May-1809), Leonard (13-Sep-1811), and Jean (28-Oct-1814).

Sources

1. ↑ 03/07/1803 MILLER, HELEN (Old Parish Registers Births 369/ 20 259 Kinnoull) Page 259 of 437; Sources from Scotlands People https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk
2. ↑ Scotlands People: Old Parish Registers Marriages 390/ 30 153 Redgorton. See https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/
3. ↑ Scotlands People: Old Parish Registers Births 390/ 30 18,23,30,37,46,57,71, Redgorton. See https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/
4. ↑ Ancestry.com. 1841 Scotland Census. Original data: 1841 Scotland Census. Edinburgh, Scotland: General Register Office for Scotland. Reels 1-151. General Register Office for Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland. Parish: Redgorton; ED: 3; Page: 7; Line: 1490; Year: 1841.
5. ↑ FreeCen 1841 Census: Piece: SCT1841/390; Place: Redgorton -Perth; Folio: 3; Page: 7; Address: Downhill. See http://www.freecen.org.uk
6. ↑ Sourced from Scotlands People and Ancestry.
7. ↑ 03/07/1803 MILLER, HELEN (Old Parish Registers Births 369/ 20 259 Kinnoull) Page 259 of 437; Sources from Scotlands People https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk