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JOHN EDWARD (AUGUSTUS?) RIGGS MILLER
BIRTH
The reference to John Edward in his mother's entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB) [S112] states he had a third christian name of Augustus. That is also stated in his entry in the Alumni Oxonienses (in the name of "MILLER, (Sir) JOHN EDWARD AUGUSTUS (Bart.)") (sic) [S117], but that may however have been the source for the reference in the ODNB. However, in all other records that have been found, he is referred to only as Sir John Edward RIGGS MILLER, and that is how he described himself in his Will, where he would have been expected to state his full name.
His entry in the Alumni Oxonienses states he was born in France [S117] (which is where Walpole's Letter on the Riggs-Millers says his parents moved, after spending what funds they then had). It also says he matriculated 15OCT1789 aged 19,[S117] i.e. born in 1769 or 1770. This is consistent with the case papers for Travers and others v Miller and others which say he died "aged about 55 years"[S13], i.e. born about 1770, but his monument in Bath Abbey says he died on 02AUG1825 aged 57, i.e. born 1767 or 1768.
EDUCATION
He has an entry in Alumni Oxonienses [S117] which states he matriculated from Christ Church College at Oxford University on 15OCT1789 aged 19. It also states that he became a barrister-at-law at Lincoln's Inn, London (one of the four Inns of Court) in 1794.
BARONETCY
He would have inherited the baronetcy when his father died (on 28MAY1798), becoming Sir John Edward RIGGS MILLER, Bart. His second name was sometimes omitted when he was referred to as Sir John RIGGS MILLER (and erroneously by Holworthy as Sir John RIGGS) but, other than when a source only uses his first name, he is referred to here by both his forenames to distinguish him from his father
MARRIAGE
In NOV1801 (date not quoted), Sir John RIGGS MILLER, Bt. married Miss BEAUCHAMP (first name not quoted), elder daughter and co-heir of the late John Beauchamp, of Pingness, Cornwall.[S32] From Sir John Edward's Will, and an Allegation brought when it was probated [S13], her first name was Ellen.
PUBLIC LIFE
The Times on 24AUG1803 (Page 3 Column B) reported that "Sir John Riggs Miller, of Ringmer, near Lewes," (in the county of Sussex) "is raising a very respectable troop of Cavalry, who are to mount and equip themselves without any expence (sic) to Government." This was at the time of the Napoleonic Wars.
PROPERTIES
Documents relating to an Allegation brought in 1826 when his Will was probated (see below) describe him as "formerly of Ballycasey, Co. Clare, Ireland, and of Swalcliffe House, near Banbury, Oxon.; late of Dallington, Northants".[S13] Dallington is now a suburb of Northampton (about 1 mile north-west of the city centre). When he and his wife each subscribed to 5 copies of Antoinette Baroness de Poly's book "Memoirs of the Family de Poly" published in Northampton in 1822, it included them in the List of Subscribers as 'Sir John Riggs Miller, Bart. Dallington' and 'Lady Riggs Miller, Ditto'.[S122]
There is a reference in the Will of an Andrew Drinan in 1802 to "lands of Coolsekin (sic), Tureen (sic), Armagh beg (sic) and Riggsdale"[S42]: the first three townlands are immediately adjacent to the townland of Riggsdale in county Cork, and it states the four were "held under Sir John Riggs, Bt". However, these townlands would have been part of the "considerable estate in Cork" devolved to Sir John RIGGS MILLER on the death of Sir John's mother-in-law Mrs Margaret RIGGS in 1788:[S40] Sir John died in 1798, before Andrew Drinan wrote his Will in 1802, at which time they would have been inherited by Sir John Edward RIGGS MILLER not by "Sir John Riggs".
DEATH
He died on 2AUG1825. His Will dated 30JLY1818 states that "I desire that my body may be interred within the abbey Church of Bath and that there may be a plain monument with my name & age and my fathers name and age and expressing also that he was buried there as well as my maternal Grandmother Mrs Margt Riggs".[S44] The monument shows he died aged 57, though another source states he died "aged about 55 years".[S13]
HIS WIDOW
Sir John Edward's Will states "To my dear wife Ellen for whom I feel the most tender love and deep respect I leave no property in land or money because she is sufficiently provided for by our marriage settlement, and by the moiety of the Beauchamp Estate".[S44]
When it was probated on 19APR1826, an Allegation was brought by the Executors in proving the will,[S13] "against Dame Ellen Riggs Miller Widow the lawful Relict of the said deceased, now of unsound mind and incapable of managing her estate acting by Ann Cranmer Blencowe (wife of the Reverend James Blencowe) of Pengreep [Cornwall] the Committee of her person, and the said Reverend James Blencowe Committee of her Estates appointed by the authority of the High Court of Chancery of Great Britain, and also against Jane Elizabeth Wheatley (wife of John Wheatley Esquire) the natural and lawful sister and only next of kin of the said deceased". The papers accompanying the Allegation include a number of drafts of his Will, with some pages missing, and other correspondence.
The British census of 1851 lists his widow, Lady RIGGS MILLER living at Great Cleeves, in St Thomas Apostle parish in Exeter, Devon (with a resident companion, two nurses, a cook, a house-maid and a house-servant). Lady RIGGS MILLER is shown as having been born in Penzance, Cornwall, England, and as then being aged 73, which means that she was born about 1777/78.[S87]
Her death was registered in the July-September quarter of 1860 in St Thomas Registration District of Devon (which included Exeter) as Ellen Riggs MILLER.[S95]
CHILDREN
Sir John Edward RIGGS MILLER and Lady Ellen had no children.
HIS WILL
Sir John Edward was the only son of Sir John (the first to adopt the surname RIGGS MILLER) and, faced by the prospect of dying childless, he wished the surname RIGGS MILLER to be perpetuated by other means. His Will therefore stipulated that the person entitled to possession of his freehold estates must take the surnames of RIGGS MILLER and bear his arms:
- It specified that person firstly as JOHN MANVERS and any son of his (in order of birth) or failing that the husband of any daughter (in order of birth).
- If that line of succession died out, then the estates were to go in similar priority from ELIZA MILLER.
- If Eliza MILLER's line also died out, the estates were to go to his next of kin who would be entitled (under the Statute of Distribution of Intestates Effects) to his personal estate as if he had died intestate.
ANY SUBSEQUENT RIGGS MILLER OR RIGGS-MILLER IS THEREFORE NOT DESCENDED FROM THE ORIGINAL SIR JOHN RIGGS-MILLER.
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