William George Miller was born at Orange Tree Place on 29 July 1853. His birth certificate clearly shows his mother as Elizabeth and his father as one Thomas Kingsland, a carpenter. This is probably true as, after 1837, a certificate for an illegitimate child shows the mother’s name and occupation. If the child’s father is not known then the space for the father’s name would be left blank. If, on the other hand, the father went along with the mother when she made the notification, then his name would be entered. Additionally, when a couple are married then the mothers name would appear as “Elizabeth Kingsland formerly Miller”. In cases like that of our William George, the mother’s name would be entered simply as “Elizabeth Miller” and the child’s surname would be that of the mother.

After his birth William George next appears on the 1861 census as a “Scholar, aged 7” in the home of his grandparent George and Jane at 1 Orange Tree Place, Wilmington, Kent. His mother, Elizabeth, is not on that record.

The next reference to him is in the 1871 census showing him as “Pawnbrokers Assistant, aged 17”.

He must have moved from Wilmington to Dartford as we have no further trace of him until 1872 when, according to the records of Spurgeon’s College, he joined that establishment. There is a copy of the letter received by Edward Donald Miller from the college which outlined his movements over the next few years. Another part of the family legend, passed down from Edith Miller, that says that Spurgeon himself heard William George preaching at a street corner evangelistic meeting and was sufficiently impressed to take him to be trained as a missionary. The known facts are that he was with the Baptist Missionary Society from 1874 to 1876, having spent 1875 and 1876 in Benares (transliteration of Varanasi, holy city in India). It is then recorded that he was "Invalided from Benares in 1876".

The College records go on to show that he "Withdrew from the College Conference in 1878-88 - no reason given". The version that Ernest William Thomas had is that William George discovered his illegitimate origin and decided that he was not suited to be a missionary. In 1877 he joined the Metropolitan Police. The following details are from a letter that Ernest William Thomas received from Scotland Yard:

Joined, 25 June 1877. Warrant no.61625. Posted to “N” Division, Islington. Transferred, 30 June 1880 to “G” Division, Finsbury. Transferred, date unknown, to “X” Division Paddington as PC 242 X. Promoted, 15 August 1887 to Sergeant and transferred to Clapham Division as PC 48 W. Promoted, 14 May 1888 to Sub-Inspector and transferred to “J” Division, Bethnal Green. Promoted, date unknown, to Inspector and transferred to “H” Division, Whitechapel. Promoted, 8 February 1896 to Sub-Divisional Inspector, a rank apparently equivalent of the present-day Chief Inspector, and transferred to "E" Division, Holborn, in charge of Hunter Street station. Resigned, 5 October 1902 after serving 25 years, 103 days, Certificated "Very Good" Pension Number 15048, 118 pounds 17 shillings and 6 pence per annum. Age on resignation, 49. Address on resignation, 90 Tufnell Park Road, London W6.

On November 3rd 1898, while serving at the Hunter Street station, William gave an interview to Charles Booth as part of his social survey into life and labour in London. Booth described William as “ .. a tall, grave, portly man, wears spectacles, very pleasant manner and voice. .. ” (Booth's notes are held in the Library of the London School of Economics).

As far as is known, he then moved to Westcliffe-on-Sea with his family, where he stayed until the Zeppelin raids started in 1916.

From August 1919 William served as the Fuel Overseer for Southall Norwood Urban District Council (SNUDC). After serving on various committees, including the library committee, as an elected member of the SNUDC (East Ward) William finally lost his seat on 3rd April 1922.

In late 1922, after some problems with the Library Accounts the then Librarian was sacked after the sum of £7.7.6 (a little over £300 in 2009) and was made to repay the money. Consequently William was offered the post of Acting Librarian until a new appointment could be made.

The report on his death in the “Southall Messenger” (The Baptist Church magazine) of March 1931 shows that was when he moved to Southall. Initially this was to 3 Orchard Maisonettes, Hortus Road, and in about 1918 to 24 St. John's Road where he spent the remainder of his life.

From the latter part of the 1914-18 war he was involved in local affairs including being Fuel and Food Controller (operating from the library in Osterley Park Road), Town Councillor and for a short time, temporary librarian. Illness - some sort of “waterworks” problem curtailed his activities around 1924. This coupled with a stroke which caused him to fall and break a shoulder bone in 1930, finally resulted in his death in 1931.

©Barry Miller 2005