| Notes |
- David J. Thompson
78 Shavian Blvd., London, ON, N6G 2P3
Tel: 1-519-858-0239; Fax: 1-519-858-8223
May 18, 2002
Mr. R. Millie
8700 North Shore Drive
Jonesboro, GA, 30236.
Ms. Melanie Maasdam
2205 195th Street
Clarion, Iowa 50525
Dear Bob & Melanie:
I wrote recently about some Millie's I found in Scotland I thought might be precursors of Melanie's H.H. Millie. Melanie asked me to explain, and I thought it would be a good exercise to see if it hangs together. I think Bob's line may well be connected as well, so here goes:
We have these facts:
" Henry (aka "Harry") H. Millie (H.H. Millie) was born in Ireland Feb 8, 1863. His brothers were Charles Thomas Millie and Samuel Boucher Millie. We know this from the information I got last year from the National Archives. The three emigrated to Canada in the early 1880's.
" H.H. Millie's brother Samuel Boucher Millie joined the North-West Mounted Police force on September 1, 1899 and was discharged on March 25, 1904. The archive records refer to his next of kin, Miss Lily Hariot Millie of Ballymooney, Gashill, Kings. Co., Ireland. Another record identifies his next of kin as his sister, Margaret McDowell of Upper Edmonton, now a London suburb. Samuel joined the 179th Battalion in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in World War I. This relationship is confirmed in the Archives records, and per note received from Melanie apparently written by H.H.'s daughter Emma. Although reported to have died in Winnipeg during WWI, the archives records suggest he claimed a pension in British Columbia under the name William Thompson.
" H.H. Millie's Charles Millie was found in Battleford, Saskatchewan. It appears that he was a member of the Battleford Home Guard Volunteers in the rebellion of 1885. He was given a land grant for services but took $$ instead. By 1901, when Henry had settled in Carman Manitoba, Charles was working for a rancher in Alberta near Wetaskiwin. In the letter from H. H. Millie in Carman, Manitoba to the Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police it says that his brother Charles had died just previous to September 11, 1902. He died shortly after in Wetaskiwin. This relationship is confirmed in the Archives records, and per note received from Melanie apparently written by H.H.'s daughter Emma.
H. H. Millie also had 4 sisters per information from Melanie, as well as from the archives records of Samuel.
" Margaret Ellen Millie married a McDowell and was living in London, according to Samuel's next of kin record, at the time of WWI, at 16 Angel Road, Upper Edmonton, Enfield, England. A note from Melanie says she died December 5, 1921, aged 68, interred in Tottenham Cemetery. I found these records (LDS British Vital Records, 2nd Edition) which give the husband as Frederick, and two children, an unnamed boy and an unnamed girl, born in Dublin:
MCDOWELL, Birth
Gender: Male
Birth Date: 4 Sep 1875 Birthplace: No 3 South City, Dub, Ire
Recorded in: Dublin, Ireland
Collection: Civil Registration
Father: George Frederick MCDOWELL
Mother: Margaret Ellen MILLIE
Source: FHL Film 255935 Dates: 1875 - 1875
***********************
MCDOWELL, Birth
Gender: Female
Birth Date: 4 Dec 1873 Birthplace: No 3 South City, Dub, Ire
Recorded in: Dublin, Ireland
Collection: Civil Registration
Father: George Frederick MCDOWELL
Mother: Margaret Ellen MILLER
Source: FHL Film 255889 Dates: 1873 - 1875
I couldn't find them in England yet in the 1881 census.
" Lillian Hariot Millie - per note received from Melanie apparently written by H.H.'s daughter Emma, never married
" Henrietta Millie - per note received from Melanie apparently written by H.H.'s daughter Emma, never married; and
" Mary Millie, married Charles Castle.
The parents of H.H. Millie and the others were identified by Melanie as Henry Millie and Mary Dempster. The death certificate for H.H. lists his father as Henry Millie, and his mother as Mary. Note that the death certificate says that the father, Henry Millie was born in Scotland.
I found the following marriage record (in the LDS British Vital records CD's, 2nd edition) for Henry and Mary Dempster, which says Henry's father was Thomas and Mary's was Charles Dempster:
MILLIE, Henry Age: 30
Wife: Mary Jane DEMPSTER Age: 21
Marriage Date: 31 May 1851 Recorded in: St Thomas, Dublin, Ireland
Collection: Civil Registration
Husband's Father: Thomas MILLIE
Wife's Father: Charles DEMPSTER
Source: FHL Film 101326 Dates: 1851 - 1851
(I will call H.H.'s father Henry 1821, his approximate birth date, to minimize further confusion)
According to notes from Melanie, extracts from the Kings County Chronicle report that Henry Millie Died January 7, 1891, in his 71st year at Ballymooney, Geashill, (which was where H.H. was born per his death certificate, and per his obituary in 1917 in Kelowna, B.C.). Henry's wife Mary Jane died May 20, 1899, aged 68.
According to the letter dated January 1, 1920 from Aunt Margaret Ellen McDowell (H.H.'s sister) to her niece Emma Millie McGarrity (Melanie's grandmother), the Millie's settled in Scotland. Emma Millie McGarrity's grandfather's grandfather (ie: Henry Millie's grandfather) had 4 sons, John, Tom, Andrew and Robert. The letter says that all 4 went to Ireland. Tom Millie was Henry Millie's father according to this letter. This marriage record above is consistent with this information. I was previously unable to find a Millie family in Scotland, or anywhere else which included 4 sons named John, Tom, Andrew and Robert, let alone one which would fit the requisite time frame. With the new LDS British Vital Records collections however I found the following family in Fife with the right collection of sons. Better still, the unusual name of the mother make it virtually certain, for me anyway, that the son Thomas, born 1796, is went to Ireland, as presumably did the other sons as described in Ms. McDowell's letter. The following lists the 6 sons of Henry Millie (yes, yet another one) and Magdalene Rumgay (note the name):
1. MILLIE, John Bir 1791 Scot Fife Ceres
Fa: Henry Millie, Mo: Magdalene Rumgay
2. MILLIE, Andrew Chr 1793 Scot Fife Ceres
Fa: Henry Millie, Mo: Magdaline Rumgay
3. MILLIE, David Chr 1794 Scot Fife Ceres
Fa: Henry Millie, Mo: Magdaline Rumgay
4. MILLIE, Henry Chr 1794 Scot Fife Ceres
Fa: Henry Millie, Mo: Magdaline Rumgay
5. MILLIE, Thomas Chr 1796 Scot Fife Ceres
Fa: Henry Millie, Mo: Magdaline Rumgay
6. MILLIE, Robert Chr 1798 Scot Fife Ceres
Fa: Henry Millie, Mo: Magdalene Rumgay
I found the marriage of this Henry and Magdalene on the LDS FamilySearch website:
Marriage:
Magdalene RUMGAY; Sex: F; Spouse: Henry MILLIE; Marriage: Abt. 1790; Banderran, Ceres, Fife, Scotland; Film # 457767
I also found the following birth record of Magdalene-I presume it is her, how many can there be?:
Magdalan RUMGAY; Sex: F; Christening: 1 September 1765, Cameron, Fife; Parents: Andrew RUMGAY, Mary Mackie. Reference: Batch # C114122, 1695-1819, Call # 1040151, Printout # 6900431.
The real proof that Thomas of this family went to Ireland lies in the marriage record below:
LATIMER, William
Wife: Magdalene Rumgay MILLIE
Marriage Date: 23 Oct 1847 Recorded in: St Peter, Dublin, Ireland
Collection: Civil Registration
Husband's Father: James LATIMER
Wife's Father: Thomas MILLIE
Source: FHL Film 101286 Dates: 1847 - 1847
Magdalene Rumgay Millie of Dublin Ireland, daughter of Thomas Millie, MUST be the granddaughter of Henry Millie and Magdalene Rumgay of Fife. There surely can't be another Thomas Millie, of the same generation, who would name his daughter Magdalene Rumgay. Since we know that Thomas, father of Henry 1821, and grandfather of H.H Millie was born in Scotland, and moved to Ireland, and had brothers named Andrew, John and Robert, and there are so few Millie's generally, let alone in Ireland, he must be the same person as the father of Magdalene Rumgay Millie of Dublin, and she is an aunt of H.H. Millie and his siblings. Also note that like Henry 1821, she was married in Dublin, and only 4 years before Henry 1821.
Next, who did Thomas marry? Who was Henry 1821's mother? Well, the LDS website has a marriage record for a Thomas Millie and Mary McWattie, 9 December 1818, Dundee, Angus, Scotland (batch # M112824, Source Call # 0993401, Printout call # 6902959). Is this the correct Thomas? Here we go back to the letter Margaret McDowell wrote in 1920 to her niece, Emma Millie. The transcribed copy Melanie sent says:
There was a slip of paper enclosed in this letter from Aunt Maggie McDowell and this is the info as follows:
"PRIVATE and don't tell acquaintances, does no good. My father's Grandfather committed suicide from loss of an awful large sum in speculation and I believe he was a Millie, French, but I may be mistaken, he may have been McQuatty."
So yes, Thomas married Mary McWattie in Dundee. Margaret McDowell's father was Henry 1821, and his grandfathers would have been Henry Millie (married to Magdalene Rumgay) and Mary McWattie's father. This reference proves that this is the correct spouse for Thomas.
Again searching the LDS site, we find a record for the christening of Henry Millie, 10 October 1819, Dundee, Angus, Scotland; father-Thomas Millie, mother-Mary McWattie (batch # C112827, Source Call # 0993425, Printout call # 6900646)
So Melanie, I think we have you back to Scotland:
1. Henry Millie married Magdalene Rumgay in Fife Scotland in 1790.
2. Thomas, born 1796 in Ceres, Fife, Scotland, married Mary McWattie, 9 December 1818, Dundee, Angus, Scotland.
3. Henry Millie born 10 October 1819, Dundee, Angus, Scotland, married Mary Dempster 1851 in Dublin
4. Henry Herbert Millie (H.H. Millie) born February 1863 in Ireland, emigrated to Canada early 1880's, married Caroline Sarah Mills, abt. Feb. 1900 in Manitoba
5. Emma Lily Millie born abt March 6, 1901, married Joseph Patrick McGarrity, 1919
6. Lawrence Patrick Dempster McGarrity, born 1924, married Jean Anderson
7. Melanie McGarrity
I think this is pretty accurate based upon these published records. If you are energetic, you should order the microfilms from the LDS and copy the records yourself, ideally taking a print or the original registers. Not only will this document the facts, but the original registers may have additional information not picked up on the LDS indexes.
The next question is what happened to the other brothers of Thomas who went to Ireland, who were their children and grandchildren, and did Thomas have any other children besides Henry 1821 and Magdalene.
Bob's Henry Thomas Beale Millie (H.T.B.) was born September 14, 1862, in Kilkenny, Ireland, and emigrated to Canada around the time of H.H. and his brothers. H.T.B.'s parents were Robert Millie and Elizabeth Beale. (Although born in Ireland, I have always held out to Bob that he is Scottish in origin: Millie's all come from Scotland, and the south of England (perhaps French before that, but that is all beyond me), and H.T.B. was Presbyterian, basically a Scottish Protestant religion.) Was this Robert another son of Thomas, and a brother of Henry 1821 and Magdalene? Or was he a son of one of Thomas' brothers, Andrew, John or Robert, and a first cousin of Henry 1821 and Magdalene? I think given the scarcity of Millie's generally, and in Ireland in particular, these Irish Millie's of Scottish descent must be connected, and H.T.B. and H.H. were cousins, sharing common grandparents in either Thomas Millie and his wife ??, or in Henry Millie and Magdalene Rumgay. The common names, Henry, Henrietta, Robert and Thomas are all there (H.T.B also had a sister Henrietta). All were Presbyterian, indicating Scotch origin, and all came from the counties around Dublin.
If I were a betting man, that's where I would put my money.
Best regards
David
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