Emily Frances Miller Malcolm

Emily Frances Miller and George Malcolm

Emily Frances Miller

Emily Frances Miller was born 6 September 1836 in Liverpool, the seventh child of Joseph Dundas Miller and Elizabeth Tomlinson. She was christened 15 Jan 1837, St. Jude Church, West Derby, Lancashire.¹ Her father, a shipbroker, died in 1847 in Madeira, just after her eleventh birthday. About four years later her mother died. Emily and her younger brother, Benjamin, were left in the care of their older brother, William Charles Miller.

Emily married a Scot, George Malcolm, a lieutenant in the 34th regiment, 14 Dec 1859 in St. Hillary's Church, Wallasey, Cheshire. George’s father, also George Malcolm, was listed as a merchant on Emily and George’s record of marriage.² George was born 15 February 1836, in Lanarkshire, Scotland, in the greater Glasgow area.⁴ At the age of 18 he was sent to Crimea with his regiment and was there at the fall of Sebastopol in 1855; he was also at the seige of Lucknow in India during the Indian Mutiny in 1857 and was later promoted to the rank of colonel.

Emily and George had five children: Emily, George Leith, who died as an infant, George John Huntley, known as Huntley, Ethel May and Lawrence Ferrier, who died when he was just eleven. In 1861, George – listed in the census as Henry – and Emily were living on Mersea Road in Colchester, Essex, with their three-month-old daughter, Emily, born in Colchester. Also living in the household were two of Emily’s brothers, Henry Miller, 34, a Brazilian merchant, and Francis Benjamin Miller, 23, a landholder, and three servants.⁵

Some times during their marriage, the family would be together, such as when they were in India. Other times, Emily and the children would be living somewhere in England while George was off at war or doing his military duty. In 1865 they were in India, where one of their sons was born. In 1879 their oldest child, Emily, married in India, so the family was probably there at that time also.

In 1881 Emily and the two youngest children were living in St. Cuthbert, Cumberland.⁶ Family notes say that after Emily and George returned from India, they lived in Essex, England, in a lovely home named Park Hall. It is not known when Emily and George returned to England for good, but they spent their last years in Essex, England. In 1892, when Emily wrote her will, they were living in Sible Hedingham, Essex, at a place called Baker’s Farm. The will was witnessed by the coachman and the cook. Emily left everything to her husband, George.⁷

They were living at Blue Bridge House, Halstead, Essex, when Emily died on 11 October 1898, age 62.⁸

After Emily’s death, George went to live with his daughter Ethel May and her husband, Dr. Nicholas Elrington, in Wethersfield, Essex, and later made a trip to Manitoba, Canada, to visit his son Huntley and family. George died in London, after an operation, on 13 December 1903, age 67.⁹ He was buried beside Emily in Halstead Cemetery. His obituary noted that he was “geneality itself” and that “by all who knew him he was highly esteemed.”¹⁰

Admiral Frances Spurstow Miller, nephew of Emily Miller Malcolm, in a letter to Janet May Malcolm Stockdale, Emily’s granddaughter, wrote in 1937: "I had the joy of being in touch with Emily all my life. such a merry and bright little person with flashing eyes, wicked and full of mischief."

Park Hall, home of Emily and George Malcolm, Essex, England

Christening record: Emily Frances Miller, 1837, FamilySearch.org Record Search Pilot collection: England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975; extracted from FHL MF 1545846, Parish registers for St. Jude's Church, West Derby, 1832-1965, baptisms 1832-1854, item 3, p.13.

Spurstow Miller Charts Recompiled from Donovan Miller's Charts by Hope Healy Koontz and Anne Healy Field, 1978. Original research by Adm. Francis S. Miller, 1863-1953.

Record of marriage: Emily F. Miller and George Malcolm, 1859. Parish registers for St. Hillary's Church, Wallasey, 1574-1957, FHL MF 1737060, Marriages, 1754-1870, p.180, Record 359. George Malcom, bachelor, lieutenant, 34th reg, of Bootle; father: George Malcolm, merchant. Emily Frances, spinster, of New Brighton; father: Joseph Miller, merchant. Ceremony performed by Rev. Joseph D. Miller [Emily's brother].

Family records give his place of birth as Old Monkton, Lanarkshire, but this cannot be located on a map. In the 1861 Census, Colchester, Essex, his place of birth is listed as Renfrew, Scotland, which is west of Glasgow in Renfrewshire. In a birth record his birth was recorded in the parish of Bothwell, in Glasgow, at Bredisholm. Bredisholm is a road and an estate in the parish of Old Monkland in Glasgow. Bothwell and Old Monkland were adjacent parishes. I would tend to go with the birth record.

Notes handed down in family say that Col. Malcolm served in the 42d Highlanders, also known as the Black Watch. However, records show that he served with His Majesty’s 34th Regiment throughout his career:
His marriage license in 1859 gives his occupation as a Lieutenant in the 34th Regiment.
In the 1861 census he is a Lieutenant with the 34th regiment
On his son Huntley’s christening record in 1866 he is listed as Capt: H.M. 34th Reg.
The 1881 census for Emily notes that she is the wife of a Major in the 34th Regiment in India.
In his wife Emily’s will, written in 1892, she names her husband, George Malcolm late of the 34th Regiment.

1861 Census, England, Essex, Colchester (Indexed data from Ancestry.com, 1861 England Census (online database). Provo, UT: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005. Census information from the GRO, London), RG9; Piece 1097; Folio 15; p.23; parish of Botolph, borough and town of Colchester.

1881 Census. England, RG11 Piece 5636, Folio 90, Page 3; FHL MF 1342355, Cumberland, St. Cuthbert Without, Carlisle, RG11, Piece 5156, Folio 113, p.27.

Will of Emily Frances Miller, d.1898, Great Britain. Principal Probate Registry, Record copy wills, 1858-1925, FHL MF 1885333: 1898 Oct. W-Z 1898 Nov. A-R. Will was written at Baker Farm, which might be Bayker Farm, which can be found on streetmap.co.uk, south of the town of Sible Hedingham, off Lamb Lane.

Will/Probate of Emily Frances Malcolm, d.1898. Great Britain. Principal Probate Registry, Record copy wills from the District Probate Registries, 1858-1899, FHL MF 1565536: M Aug., 1898 (Birmingham) to Dec. (York) O Jan., 1898 (Birmingham) to May (York), p.182. Source gives date and place of death.

Handwritten answers of Janet Mary Dearlove Miller, b.1913, to questions sent by Hope Healy Koontz, 10 July 1984 note that Col. Malcolm died at Blue Bridge House, Halstead, Essex, which is also where he and his wife retired. Janet is the daughter of Janet May Malcolm and greatgranddaughter of George Malcolm. But the Colonel’s obituary and the Civil Registration Index of Deaths for that time period, gives his place of death as London: the death was reported in the December Quarter for a George Malcolm, age 67, vol. 1a, p.361, in the district of Marylebone, an area of London.

British Newspaper Archives, Obituaries, dbase with images, FamilySearch.org, 19 Dec 1903. Chelmsford, Essex, England, United Kingdom, page 0003, Records extracted by FindMyPast and images digitized by FamilySearch. The British Library, London; FHL microfilm 101918332.

Anne Healy's Genealogy, Created October 2002
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25 Jan 2011
Updated 7 Nov 2019

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