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  1. #1
    rellim
    Guest

    Default Miller, Jamaica -St Ann Bay or Kingston

    My GrandDad Joseph Alexander Miller born 31 August 1854 was a "Ship's Cook" who arrived in Australia circa 1879.

    His Dad (Joseph Miller) was a Mariner and married a Margaret Turner in St Ann Bay Jamaica circa 1850.

    Can't find any reference to either Joseph or son J. A. Miller in arrivals by ship in Australia. Nor any reference to birth or marriage for J or JA Miller in Jamaica.
    Unfortunately, Miller is a very common name.

    JA had 3 sisters who were living in Kingston in the 1920's there names were:
    Annie, Hattie and Sarah.

    Does anyone know how to get to records at St. Ann's Bay or Kingston?
    Is it possible to search Admiralty records via the web?
    Are there any web searches for ships crews?

    Any help will be welcome.

    Charles

  2. #2
    Heather
    Guest

    Talking Jamaican Records

    Quote Originally Posted by rellim View Post
    My GrandDad Joseph Alexander Miller born 31 August 1854 was a "Ship's Cook" who arrived in Australia circa 1879.

    His Dad (Joseph Miller) was a Mariner and married a Margaret Turner in St Ann Bay Jamaica circa 1850.

    Can't find any reference to either Joseph or son J. A. Miller in arrivals by ship in Australia. Nor any reference to birth or marriage for J or JA Miller in Jamaica.
    Unfortunately, Miller is a very common name.

    JA had 3 sisters who were living in Kingston in the 1920's there names were:
    Annie, Hattie and Sarah.

    Does anyone know how to get to records at St. Ann's Bay or Kingston?
    Is it possible to search Admiralty records via the web?
    Are there any web searches for ships crews?

    Any help will be welcome.

    Charles
    Hi Charles.....

    I am the Admin for this Forum, but due to some glitch, I was not notified when there were posts.

    That said, I have well over 200 films at the Mormon FHC on Jamaica and it is very easy to research the Church of England parish records prior to 1880, which is when Civil Registration started. There was a gray area from 1870 to 1880 as they tried to get Civil Reg'n. up and running. The records from 1880 on are excellent.

    However....you will not find any of the above information on the IGI. It is very sparse for the West Indies. Also I might mention that your "Miller" is also an occupation and that makes it even harder. My english name I am researching is "Cooper".....same thing as Miller.

    Give me some time and I might get over to the FHC, or you could go to Patricia Jackson's most excellent *pay* website and put the name in. The search function is free of course, and a lot of the records are too. The link is jamaican family search.

    OK.....I put in both Miller and Margaret Turner and naturally got an awful lot of links. But it looks like quite a few of them are from the Falmouth area, which is where there were military garrisons.

    Also a lot of them were in the catholic records....is this possible??

    Cheers.....Heather (had some down time due to surgeries, but bear with me)

  3. #3
    rellim
    Guest

    Default Miller in Jamaica

    Hi Heather,

    Many thanks for your reply. My GrandDad ( J.A ) has been a bane in the lives of all the Miller grandchildren mainly because:
    1) he died in 1939 and we were too young to ask questions before his death. 2) He arrived in Sydney (deserted?) circa 1879 and had relationships with at least 2 women and on the childrens birth certificates he used different places for his own birth.
    In total there were 9 children ALL with different places for his own birth ranging from:
    Canada; Halifax, Canada; Halifax, Jamaica; Falmouth UK;
    Falmouth, Jamaica; Kingston; Jamaica and no entry.
    THEN on 11 April 1930 he had ALL of the childrens birth certificates altered to read his own place of birth as "Halifax, Canada". How he convinced the NSW BDM Office to do this is a mystery.
    Family oral history states that he had a "blazing row" with his eldest son Charles, who was a Ship's Steward (pre 1914) and had been to Jamaica and had not visited J.A's 3 sisters in Kingston. (Charles joined the Army and was killed in France June 1918)

    I will try the site you mentioned and again thanks for providing a glimmer of hope.

    Charles

  4. #4
    Heather
    Guest

    Lightbulb

    Quote Originally Posted by rellim View Post
    Hi Heather,

    Many thanks for your reply. My GrandDad ( J.A ) has been a bane in the lives of all the Miller grandchildren mainly because:
    1) he died in 1939 and we were too young to ask questions before his death. 2) He arrived in Sydney (deserted?) circa 1879 and had relationships with at least 2 women and on the childrens birth certificates he used different places for his own birth.
    In total there were 9 children ALL with different places for his own birth ranging from:
    Canada; Halifax, Canada; Halifax, Jamaica; Falmouth UK;
    Falmouth, Jamaica; Kingston; Jamaica and no entry.
    THEN on 11 April 1930 he had ALL of the childrens birth certificates altered to read his own place of birth as "Halifax, Canada". How he convinced the NSW BDM Office to do this is a mystery.
    Family oral history states that he had a "blazing row" with his eldest son Charles, who was a Ship's Steward (pre 1914) and had been to Jamaica and had not visited J.A's 3 sisters in Kingston. (Charles joined the Army and was killed in France June 1918)

    I will try the site you mentioned and again thanks for providing a glimmer of hope.

    Charles
    Hi Charles.....

    Wow, you do have a rather involved mess there, but it may just be unravelled with a bit of patience. First of all, what I find intriguing (as a Canadian married to a Jamaican, grin) is that the birth places he used were Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Falmouth, Trelawney, Jamaica. There is a l-o-n-g history of Jamaicans going to Nova Scotia for schooling and so on....happened in Ron's family as well. They usually went to Dalhousie University in Halifax!!!! Ok, that is one clue.

    Another is that there are Canadian sites that I will find that are on the Maritime Provinces (Nova Scotia being one of 4) and perhaps there might be something there. I will poke around the World War One sites as well. My own ancestors are from the Province next door to Nova Scotia and there is a wealth of info out there.

    So don't give up hope. The Jamaican films just may give some information as well.

    Cheers....Heather in snowy Toronto.

  5. #5
    Geoffers
    Guest

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by rellim View Post
    My GrandDad Joseph Alexander Miller born 31 August 1854 was a "Ship's Cook" who arrived in Australia circa 1879. His Dad (Joseph Miller) was a Mariner and married a Margaret Turner in St Ann Bay Jamaica circa 1850.....Is it possible to search Admiralty records via the web? Are there any web searches for ships crews?
    Admiralty records relate to the Royal Navy. Merchant Seamen are covered by Board of Trade (BT) records, these are held at The National Archives (TNA).

    Have a look through this TNA research guide on Merchant Seamen, Registers of Service 1835-1857

    There is an index to the registers in BT114. You may be able to pay for TNA to search this in order to obtain his ticket from BT113

  6. #6
    rellim
    Guest

    Default Merchant Seamen

    Hi Geoffers,
    Many thanks, I will give the Archives a try.

    Charles

  7. #7
    rellim
    Guest

    Default Miller Halifax

    Hi Heather,

    I trust all your surgery has now healed and all is OK and your cold weather would not help much would it?

    About a year ago I joined a "Pay" Jamaican site and whilst it gave a few contacts there none of them proved helpful and the only reference I found was for the "Will" of a Miller, Margaret, St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, widow, 1881. It 4 #32. And this did nothing for me because I could not look at this Will.

    Another Member of this site (Jamaican Family Search ) sent me the following:

    Samuel Wilson MILLER b.circa 1820, married Rebecca REID on 16th July 1854 at St.Luke's Anglican Church, Aboukir, St.Ann. Jamaica


    Alexander MILLER married Mary Ann BROWN


    Again not much use even though my Granddad (J A ) MAY have married in Jamaica before turning up in Sydney. I have just looked through my original "Post" and find that I failed to mention that JA is recorded as marrying a Mary Ann Blake or Lake in Sydney 1890 and 2 daughters were of this union.
    Also JA and my Dad's mother (Ann E Chalker) "Officially" married in 1927 after all children had been born.
    SO, was JA escaping from a Jamaican marriage or waiting for Mary Ann Blake (or Lake) to die before he could make an honest woman of Grandma.???

    If J A told the truth and his own Dad was a Mariner then the suggestion of Geoffers about the UK National Archives might shed some light.
    You mentioned Dalhousie University in Halifax and whilst JA had a very "English" type of speech he was - he says - a Ship's Cook so I don't think he went to Uni.

    Many many thanks for any info you might be able to uncover in Canada and by the way, JA was a coloured person - say an walnut type of skin colour and I have attached a photo of him to this Post.



    [IMG]G:\Miller Tree\J. A. Miller\J. A.Miller .jpg[/IMG]


    Charles

    PS The photo will not upload?

  8. #8
    rellim
    Guest

    Default Heather, a photo of J. A.



    I have tried to follow the method described by Rod Neep on B-G Forums and can only hope that it works.

    Charles

    Heather,

    I can't see the photo so I guess it did not upload.
    Last edited by rellim; 10-04-2008 at 7:38 AM. Reason: Photo

  9. #9
    MarkJ
    Guest

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by rellim View Post
    [IMG]G:\Miller Tree\J. A. Miller\J. A.Miller .jpg[/IMG]


    Charles

    PS The photo will not upload?
    You have tried to link a photo from your G drive here, which won't work.
    Not sure why you had problems with photobucket or other photo app online, but it will only be something easy to sort out.
    When you upload an image to photobucket, you are given a link to paste into the forum.
    Have another try and, if it doesn't work, please feel free to PM the link address to me and I will see if I can get it to work for you.

    Cheers,
    Mark

  10. #10
    rellim
    Guest

    Default Heather and all, Photo at last.


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