CFHS code : MG185
Parish : St Mary the Great
Inscription : In Memory of a dear father ELIAS MILLER d 27 Mar 1942 aged 71 also beloved mother FRANCES HARRIET d 25 Jan 1959 aged 86 also memories of their youngest son Lieut RONALD ELVIN MILLER Essex Regt killed in action 18 July 1944 aged 30 buried at the British Military Cemetery Bayeux France
Monument : Headstone/Kerb stones
Above information from Cambridge Family History Society Survey
Lat Lon : 52.202062, 0.13830852 – click here for location
Monument
This headstone with kerb stones and flower holder, in the parish area of St Mary the Great, is located between the eastern path and the eastern boundary wall, about halfway between the southern end of the cemetery and the cross path to the centre circle.
Inscription
‘In memory of a dear father Elias Miller
who died Mar 27th 1942 aged 71 years’
‘And a beloved mother Frances Harriet,
who died Jan 25th 1959, aged 86 years’
‘Also memories of their youngest son
Lieut. Ronald Elvin Miller, Essex Regt
killed in action July 18th 1944, aged 30 years
buried at the British Military Cemetery Bayeux France’
Reunited
Elias Miller (28 March 1870 – 27 March 1942)
Elias was born in Orwell, Suffolk and baptised there on 8 May 1870. He was the son of agricultural labourer George and Charlotte (née Ward) and aged 11 was working as a plough boy in Orwell. He moved to Cambridge to work on the railway and was promoted from engine cleaner (1891) to railway fireman (1901) and then engine driver (at least 1911 onwards). Elias married Frances Nelson in 1892 in Sudbury, Suffolk and they had eleven children: Kate Amelia (1893-1986), William George (1895-1963), Ernest Edwards (1896-1975), Florence Mildred (1898-1993), Doris Lilian (1900-1901), Agnes Ada (1902-1982), Reginald Arthur (1904-1980), Kathleen May (1907-1981), Percy Richard Robert (1909-2000), Doris Lilian (1911-1995) and Lt Ronald Elvin (1913-1944).
They started married life in Sudbury, but had moved to live at 39 York Street by 1898 and later lived at 82 Sturton Street (1911 onwards). By 1939 Elias had retired and he died aged 71 years old.
Frances Harriet Miller (née Nelson) (21 April 1872 – 25 January 1959)
Frances was born in Swaffham and baptised there on 15 May 1872. She was the daughter of Robert Horatio Nelson (1834-1909) and Emily (née Herring) (1844-1886). Her father worked as an engine fitter for Great Eastern Railway and by 1875 her family had moved from Norfolk to live at 145 Sturton Street. She married Elias Miller when she was 20 years old and continued to live at 82 Sturton Street after he died.
Lieutenant Ronald Elvin Miller (21 August 1913 – 18 July-1944) – WW2 soldier – see also Life Story page
Ronald was the youngest son of Elias and Harriet was born at 82 Sturton Street. In 1939 he was living at home and working as a mono keyboard printer. He married Mercy Brown (1919-1994) in 1942 and served with the 2nd Battalion Essex Regiment. He was killed in action and is commemorated on the Bayeaux War Memorial.
Mercy Miller did not remarry and died in Cambridge on 10 April 1994 aged 74 years old.
Sources:
War Graves Photographic Project
Ancestry
Newspaper archives
By Ian Bent and Claire Martinsen
[If you have any further information about this family, please contact us at friendsofmillroadcemetery@gmail.com]