Nathaniel
Frary
"Frank"
Miller
Born in Williamsburg, Hampshire, Massachusetts, United States
Ancestors 
Son of Alvah Miller
and Patty (Hillman) Miller
Brother of
Sarah Balch (Miller) Wells, Martha Miller, Augustus Miller, Martha (Miller) Graves and Alvah Miller Jr
Husband of
Martha Ann (Messerve) Miller
— married
4 Jul 1845 in New York, United States
Husband of
Margaret (West) Miller
— married
18 Apr 1863 in Westbourne, Sussex, England, United Kingdom
Descendants 
Father of
Frederick Alvah Miller
Died
at age 47
in Prinsted, Westbourne, Sussex, England, United Kingdom
Profile last modified
| Created 1 Apr 2014
This page has been accessed 2,426 times.
Biography
Nathaniel Frary Miller was born in Williamsburg, Massachusetts, on October 2, 1821, the son of Alvah Miller and Patty Hillman.[1] His middle name, "Frary," was the surname of his mother's step-father.
Nathaniel was a wealthy American businessman, a partner in H.B Chaflin & Co., New York, and it was Margaret (West) Miller (abt.1828-1919), his second wife, who dedicated the stained glass window in St John's Church. He was the grandfather of Agatha Christie and he married Margaret, a niece of Richard Kelsey, on the 18th of April 1863 at Westbourne, Sussex, England.[2]
Richard Kelsey was a Prinsted landowning farmer and records show that he owned a number of plots of land from the Manor House to the Main Road and in the 1861 census had 161 acres employing 8 men and 3 boys. In1866 he sold a parcel of land identified as Homefield, to Nathaniel Frary Miller and this became Fraryhurst.
Nathaniel died aged 47 on 9th May 1869 in the Parish of Westbourne, (noted as Prinsted, Westbourne, Sussex, England on the death registration)[3]. but remember that Southbourne did not exist at this time and Prinsted, Lumley and Nutbourne were all part of Westbourne until 1878 when St. John's Churchwas consecrated. Nathaniel was buried on 11th June 1869 (lot 18760) in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.
The 1841 to 1871 censuses show Richard Kelsey and his relatives as living in Prinsted. Richard Kelsey (the first People's Warden at St. John's Church) died in 1879 and both his sisters, Margaret and Frances Kelsey, are listed as living in Fraryhurst in 1881, and only Frances in 1891. Margaret Miller (nee West) moved to Ealing, and various members of her family lived with her from 1881. The 1911 Census, records Agatha Christie, aged 20, living with her step grandmother at 99, Uxbridge Road, Ealing. In her autobiography Agatha describes Margaret as an intelligent feisty woman on which she based her Miss Marple character.
We now know who Nathaniel was and that he lived locally, as his death is recorded in the Westbourne register. We know he married a local girl, Margaret West in 1863. [4] He bought land in 1866 and Fraryhurst was built during the 1860's, as stated in the Prinsted Conservation area appraisal Margaret continued to own Fraryhurst until 1909 and her cousins lived there after she moved to Ealing. It was sold in 1909 to Mr Lucas for £1537 which included outbuildings, offices, garden and orchard. In July 1918 Margaret, Muriel and Hope Ricardo leased Fraryhurst and then bought it in 1919. The three sisters lived at Fraryhurst for 40 years, and during the mid 1950's the orchard was divided and sold as individual plots. This became Frarydene. When Muriel died Fraryhurst was sold in 1958.
This all started because I just asked the question, who was Nathaniel Frary Miller and his widow that dedicated this beautiful stained glass window in St John's. No one seemed to know so that set me off on a mission and I am really pleased I now have an answer. The shame is the house no longer has the painted name 'Fraryhurst' over the front door, it was removed in late 2012.
Sources
- ↑ "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F454-LP1 : 10 February 2018), Nathaniel F. Miller, 02 Oct 1821; citing Williamsburg, Hampshire, Massachusetts, 120; FHL microfilm 760,643.
- ↑ *"England, Sussex, Parish Registers, 1538-1910", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2Q7-L4YP : 11 March 2018), Nathaniel Frary Miller and Margaret West, 1863, Image
- ↑ "Death Registration", General Register Office (Kew): England & Wales death registration: 1869 J Quarter, in WESTBOURNE, volume 02B, page 230
- ↑ England & Wales marriage registration: Westbourne [district], Volume 2b, Page 625, June quarter 1863
See also;
- "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCYG-3NT : 23 December 2020), Frank Miller, Brooklyn, Kings, New York, United States; citing family , NARA microfilm publication (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
- "England Marriages, 1538–1973 ", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N228-BXB : 12 March 2020), Nathaniel Frary Miller, 1863.
- "England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2JN6-LVP : 31 December 2014), Nathaniel Frary Miller, 1869; from "England & Wales Deaths, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Death, Westbourne, Sussex, England, General Register Office, Southport, England.
- "New York, Church and Civil Deaths, 1824-1962", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F69T-FY9 : 3 November 2020), Nathaniel F Miller, 1869.
- Find a Grave, database and images (accessed 05 February 2021), memorial page for Nathaniel Frary Miller (2 Oct 1821–9 May 1869), Find A Grave: Memorial #32560928, citing Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, Kings County (Brooklyn), New York, USA ; Maintained by BKGeni (contributor 46895980).
- Agatha Christie on Wikipedia, accessed 1 Apr 2014.
Acknowledgments
- Nathaniel MILLER. was created by VeronicaWilliams on 1st April 2014.
- My thanks to David Holman for his assistance with land registry research.
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M > Miller > Nathaniel Frary Miller
Categories: Williamsburg, Massachusetts | Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York
Here is what I understand from sources provided.
Nathaniel died in 1869...in an unnamed house in Prinsted, Westbourne, Sussex. That unnamed house burned down in 1876. Fraryhurst was built AFTER his death, The only thing we can't say, with regard to his death location, is that he died in Fraryhurst. Despite Fraryhurst being built on the same land we must go with what existed at the time of death. Nathaniel, before he died, gifted the property to his wife and it appears the Kelsey's continued to reside there, but not as the owners.
Regards Lorraine
edited by Ruth Heelan
Just a follow up to your comment. I have been collaborating with Tosca Brady who has done extensive research on the family. She read your comment and her reply to it is below...I agree with her that it would be good practice to use the location given on a primary source like the death registration. Her research into the family bears this location up. I will make the change in the bio to meet this. Her emailed reply to me is as follows..
Here's the citation for Nathaniel's death: General Register Office (Kew): England & Wales death registration: 1869 J Quarter, in WESTBOURNE, volume 02B, page 230.
The correct place of death should read "Prinsted, Westbourne, Sussex, England", just as it appears on the actual death registration entry. According to a local history, the unnamed house where Nathaniel died burned down in the summer of 1876 (John Henry Mee and L.F. Salzmann. Bourne in the Past: Being a History of the Parish of Westbourne. Hove, Sussex, England: Cambridge's, 1913. Page 5). The house known as Fraryhurst was apparently built on the same land sometime after that.
The house and land at Prinsted, Sussex, was given to Margaret in the form of a trust fund by her husband in May 1866; however, that property seems to have continued to be the residence of Margaret's uncle and aunts, the Kelseys, until they died 1879-1891. Margaret and Nathaniel would have visited the Kelseys in Sussex, of course, and Margaret continued to visit for years afterward.
Margaret and Nathaniel's own permanent residence was Timperley Villas, Timperley, Cheshire, which they began renting in early 1864. Nathaniel was registered to vote there in 1868, and was still living there in September 1868 when he signed the codicil to his will. His widow remained at that address until the mid-1870s (she's in the census of 1871, and also a few 1870s Cheshire directories).
I hope this helps--thanks to everybody who works on the tree!