Ronald Laurier Miller (1915 - 1997)

Ancestors

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Biography

I had an lengthy interview with Ron Miller in 1995. Some of the details have been shown to be incorrect, but there's still a lot of useful information on the King and Miller families.

Ron remembered the King family as follows:

Capt. Robert King sailed under Nelson, and lost a leg at the Battle of the Nile (or Trafalgar). In compensation, he was granted three properties in Canada; one in Margaretville, one in Cataraqui (outside of Kingston), and on Rice Lake near Peterborough. He and his son, John King, were carpenters. The Cataraqui property was sold to the Bracken family; currently it is the site of an Alcan plant. (John - the son - was a choirmaster in England, and married in England prior to coming to Canada).

The Wakeford family, who had the water rights on a river flowing out of some lake^[1], put out a contract for the building of 14 houses in a town which was then called Dingbat. John King, who had been working in the Kingston shipyards, won the contract to build the houses. He later suggested the name of the community be changed to Battersea.

John's children^[2] were:

• William Crickmore, who joined the Imperial Army, and who was the winner of several Bisley trophies.
• Henrietta King (Henrietta Goplen's grandmother?)
• Sarah, who was 19 when they moved from Nova Scotia. She became a schoolteacher in Keelerville, and had to walk a couple of miles to work each day, passing the house of William and Rachael Miller. She subsequently married their son, John.
• John Henry King
• Edward King
• Mariah King, who became a school teacher in O'pinnicum (?). She married Charlie Keith.

The last four children formed a 4 voice choir; Sarah - soprano, John Henry - tenor, Edward - bass, and Mariah - alto. Ron remembered a family gathering at which some difficulties must have arisen (or been remembered); Sarah suggested they "let bygones be bygones", and sing ... and they did.

Ronald also remembered three sisters of John King:

• one who married Henry VanLuven^[3];
• Betsy Brewer^[4]; and,
• "Auntie" Thorne, who married John Thorne^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ Ron couldn't remember the name of the lake, but it must have been Loughborough Lake
2. ↑ This would be John Crickmore King (1821-1881)
3. ↑ Sarah Thomasin Susan King
4. ↑ Elizabeth Barton King, daughter of John King and Abigail Barton, who married Phillip Brewer
5. ↑ Ron must be thinking of Maria Sabine King, who married Woodbury Thorne

• Interview with Ron in 1995
• Headstone in Sandhill Cemetery, Battersea, Ontario