Reverend William Miller, 1820 Settler^[1]

1779 - 1856  (77 years)

• Name	William Miller  [2]
  Title	Reverend
  Suffix	1820 Settler
  Birth	1779  [3]
  Baptism	1808	London Church (Edward Street), London, England   [4]
  Gender	Male
  1820 Lineage	Yes
  Settler	15 Feb 1820	Gravesend, Kent, England   [1]
  	Gush's party on the Brilliant
  Settler ID	2873
  Name	William (Rev) Miller 1820
  Occupation	a Husbandman  [1]
  Death	29 Nov 1856  [4, 5]
  	Description: dropsy
  Burial	Grahamstown Cemetery (Wesleyan/Methodist), Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa   [4]
  Person ID	I58228	master
  Last Modified	27 Nov 2021

  
  

  Father	Morris Miller
  Mother	Elizabeth, - wife of Morris Miller
  Family ID	F22288	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Elizabeth Dennison, 1820 Settler,   b. 1778   d. Abt 1821 (Age 43 years)
  Marriage	Abt 1810  [1]
  Children	+ 1. Elizabeth Miller, 1820 Settler,   b. 1812, England d. 3 Aug 1887, Seven Fountains, Eastern Cape, South Africa (Age 75 years) + 2. Mary Ann Miller, 1820 Settler,   b. 1814   3. John Miller, 1820 Settler,   b. 1817   bur. Rondebosch, Western Cape, South Africa
  Family ID	F20988	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	27 May 2007

  
  

  Family 2	Ann Watson,   b. 1792   d. 28 Jan 1857, Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa (Age 65 years)
  Marriage	6 Jan 1843	Grahamstown Church (Baptist), Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa
  Family ID	F36917	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	11 Sep 2013

  
  

• Event Map

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  Baptism - 1808 - London Church (Edward Street), London, England Settler - 15 Feb 1820 - Gravesend, Kent, England Marriage - 6 Jan 1843 - Grahamstown Church (Baptist), Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa Burial - - Grahamstown Cemetery (Wesleyan/Methodist), Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Settler Photos

  Miller, Rev William Keywords: Picture

  
  

• Notes

  William Miller was one of the leading figures in the foundation of the Baptist denomination in Southern Africa. Originally from England, he and his wife, Elizabeth Miller, were a part of a small Baptist congregation, consisting of only eleven people, who joined the "1820 Settlers," a group of pioneers who landed on South African soil in 1820 at Algoa Bay, situated in the current Eastern Cape Province. Shortly after their arrival the Baptists held their first service under a thorn tree in front of Miller's tent. Hereafter Miller began to assume the role of the spiritual shepherd for the small congregation. The church was formally founded under the leadership of William Shepherd who built a cottage to accommodate their religious services in Salem and encouraged the congregation to recognize William Miller as the official pastor of the church. As soon as this was finalized, the Lord's Supper (communion) was celebrated for the first time in South Africa in a Baptist church. The small church at Salem began to grow slowly and opportunities opened for Miller to minister in the town of Grahamstown, some thirty miles away. For quite some time he moved back and forth between the two towns, at first by foot and later by horse, until he found it necessary to seek employment in a carpenter's shop in Grahamstown. This move allowed him to focus more specifically on the congregation in Grahamstown, which first outgrew the cottage they were borrowing initially for their services, and then even outgrew the carpenter's shop where Miller worked. Apparently the congregation became quite the talk of the town whenever they would march down to the river that ran through the town to baptize new converts. As the congregation was growing, they decided that it was time to build a proper church building. Miller laid the foundation stone and the congregation gave as much as they could, both in materials and financially and helped with the construction of the chapel as well. The first Baptist chapel was officially opened in July 1824. The congregation flourished under the leadership and care of their shepherd, William Miller. Miller remained the pastor of the congregation for thirty years in total before stepping down, but even after this he remained intimately involved in the church until his death. He died on the November 29, 1856 at the age of seventy-seven. After the death of his first wife, Elizabeth Dennison, in about 1821 in Salem, Eastern Cape, Miller appears to have remained a widower until January 6, 1843 when he married Ann Humphreys nee Watson in the Baptist Church, Grahamstown. From her age at this time it would appear that she was born in 1792 and died on January 28, 1857 in Grahamstown. Her first husband was a Richard Joseph Humphreys whom she would have married around 1810 in England prior to coming to South Africa with the 1820 Settlers. It is not known when he died although there is a request from him to the Colonial Government for a grant of land in 1837. He and Ann had nine children, the last being born in 1831. Miller had four children from his first marriage and they were all born in England prior to them sailing for South Africa with the 1820 Settlers. Miller founded the Baptist denomination with a mere handful of people, but from these humble beginnings the denomination has grown and has become one of the most wide-spread and active denominations in southern Africa, with hundreds of congregations and several theological training institutions. Bradley Anderson Bibliography: Holt, Basil. Our 1820 Founder: A Memoir. South Africa: South African Baptist Historical Society. Ayliff, John. "Memoir of Mr. Wm. Miller, Founder of the Baptist Interest in South Africa" in The South African Christian Watchman and Wesleyan Church and School Record (vol. IV, no. 2, Feb. 1857) pp. 37-45. Roy, Kevin. Zion City RSA: The Story of the Church in South Africa. South African Baptist Historical Society: Cape Town. 2000. Hudson-Reed, Sydney (ed.). Together for a Century: History of the Baptist Union of South Africa. South African Baptist Historical Society: Pietermaritzburg. 1977. Hockly, Harold Edward. The Story of the British Settlers of 1820 in South Africa. 2nd enlarged and revised edition. Cape Town and Johannesburg: Juta & Co. 1957. This article, received in 2004, was written by Bradley Anderson, a student at Capetown Baptist Seminary, a DACB participating institution, under the supervision of Dr. Kevin Roy, liaison coordinator. http://dacb.org/stories/southafrica/miller_william.html Interesting newspaper article Founder of the Baptist Church in SA

  
  

• Sources

  [S6] M D Nash, "The Settler Handbook", (Chameleon Press ISBN 0 620 10940 8). [S3527] 1820 Settler's Centenary Genealogical records, (https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/305287), https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSVZ-YSBX-Y?i=532 (Reliability: 3). [S387] Morse Jones, E, "Roll of the British Settlers in South Africa", (A.A. Balkema / Cape Town). [S379] Makin, A E, "The 1820 Settlers of Salem (Hezekiah Sephton's Party)", (ISBN 0 7021 0208 3). [S1459] Rev H J Batts, "History of the Baptist Church in South Africa", (T Maskew Millar, Cape Town, 1920), page 11.