Brigadier General Alfred Douglas Miller, CBE, DSO (1 March 1864 − 5 December 1933) was a British Army officer.

Alfred Douglas Miller
Born(1864-03-01)1 March 1864
Died5 December 1933(1933-12-05) (aged 69)
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Army
RankBrigadier General
Unit2nd Dragoons (Royal Scots Greys)
Commands held2nd Dragoon Regiment (Royal Scots Grey)
Battles/warsSecond Boer War
First World War
AwardsCommander of the Order of the British Empire
Distinguished Service Order
Mentioned in Despatches
RelationsSir John Miller (son)

Early life edit

Miller was the son of Lieutenant-Colonel James Miller (1829−1909), late 11th Hussars, of Shotover Park, Wheatley, Oxfordshire, JP, DL, High Sheriff of Oxfordshire in 1880, and Sarah Dorothy (d. 1911), daughter of Thomas Moore Evans. The Miller family were, in previous generations, merchants in Scotland, with James Miller's father, Alexander, coming to own Ashford Hall, Middlesex.[1][2][3]

Military career edit

Miller was commissioned a lieutenant in the 2nd Dragoons (Royal Scots Greys) on 7 February 1885, and promoted to the rank of captain on 28 June 1893. He was adjutant of the Royal Scots Greys from 1896 to 1900.[4] With the outbreak of the Second Boer War he was chief staff officer to Sir John French and, on 24 December 1901, he was appointed a Deputy-Assistant Adjutant-General on the staff in South Africa.[5] He was promoted major on 20 February 1902.[6] For his service in the war, Miller was mentioned in despatches (dated 8 April 1902)[7] received the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in the South Africa Honours list published on 26 June 1902,[8] and was noted for future staff employment.[9]

Miller led the 2nd Dragoon Regiment (Royal Scots Grey) as a lieutenant colonel from 1907 to 1911, was promoted to colonel in 1911, and ultimately reached the rank of brigadier general.[10] He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1919 New Year Honours.[11]

Personal life edit

In 1899, Miller married Ella Geraldine, daughter of John Fletcher, of Saltoun Hall, of a landed gentry family.[12][13] They had five children. He died in England on 5 December 1933.[10]

Footnotes edit

  1. ^ The Lord Lieutenants and High Sheriffs of Oxfordshire, Christine Peters, The Perpetua Press, 1995, pp. 185, 195
  2. ^ Lewis Carroll's Diaries: The Private Journals of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll), ed. Edward Wakeling, Lewis Carroll Society, 1993, p. 312
  3. ^ "Shotover House and the Miller Family" (PDF). wheatleyarchive.org.uk. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  4. ^ Hart's Army list, 1903
  5. ^ "No. 27456". The London Gazette. 22 July 1902. p. 4674.
  6. ^ "No. 27416". The London Gazette. 14 March 1902. p. 1812.
  7. ^ "No. 27443". The London Gazette. 17 June 1902. pp. 3967–3974.
  8. ^ "No. 27448". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 June 1902. pp. 4191–4192.
  9. ^ "No. 27490". The London Gazette. 31 October 1902. p. 6909.
  10. ^ a b "General A.D. Miller is dead in England". New York Times. 6 December 1933. p. 23.
  11. ^ "No. 31097". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1919. p. 83.
  12. ^ Burke's Landed Gentry, 18th edition, vol. 3, ed. Hugh Montgomery-Massingberd, 1972, Fletcher of Saltoun pedigree
  13. ^ The Lord Lieutenants and High Sheriffs of Oxfordshire, Christine Peters, The Perpetua Press, 1995, p. 195