The Will describes ELIZA MILLER as "Spinster the younger daughter of the late JOHN MILLER of Troonah (?) near Ennis in the County of Clare": I assume it should have referred to "Toonagh" which is some 7 miles east of Ennis.

Since the Will does not make provision for what should happen if Sir John Edward were to die before she reached the age of 21, one can assume Eliza was already 21 or over when the Will was signed 30JLY1818, and that she was therefore born before AUG1797.

Nothing has been discovered about Eliza, or why she was named in the Will. It's possible that her father, the late John MILLER who lived near Ennis, co.Clare, may have been a descendant of John MILLER of Drumline, co.Clare who was the father of Sir John RIGGS MILLER of Ballycasey (in the parish of Drumline). In other words, she could have been a distant(?) relative of Sir John Edward.

	MALACHY  RYAN

When Thomas John RYAN married in 1877 (see below), the Civil Marriage Record shows his address as Tyone House, Nenagh and his father as MALACHY RYAN (mother's name not shown). Tyone was a Townland of 298 acres in the Civil Parish of Nenagh and the Barony of Upper Ormond.[S43]

The marriage took place 05MAY1816 at St John's Church, Limerick, co.Limerick, between a MALACHY RYAN and an ELIZABETH MILLER. However, the Church Marriage Record shows this took place in the Church of Ireland and no addresses or ages of the bride and groom, or their parents' names, are entered. "Malachy RYAN" was not an unusual name in that part of Ireland in the nineteenth century amd this may not be Thomas John RYAN's probable grandfather. Furthermore, this may not be the Eliza MILLER referred to in Sir John Edward's Will, because that refers to her as a spinster and the Will was dated 2 years after the marriage took place, but he would probably have been aware of the marriage if it was the Eliza mentioned in his Will.

A MALACHY RYAN married a MARY POWER on 28FEB1843 at Nenagh Roman Catholic Church, Co.Tipperary, but the Church Marriage Record merely records their names and that they were both R.C. - no details of there addresses or their parents' names. This was the only marriage at Nenagh in the appropriate timeframe, and may or may not be that of Thomas John RYAN's parents.
The three other marriages of a MALACHY RYAN in Northern Tipperary within the appropriate time frame for Thomas John's father did not take place in Nenagh:
17OCT1845 to a BRIDGET REDDAN in Borrisokane Parish/District (Witnesses Wm Hogan and Hony Mara)
26NOV1845 to a MARY CLEARY in Monsea Parish/District (Witnesses Thomas Ryan and Mary Byrne)
21OCT1852 to a MARGARET FOGARTY in Newport Parish/District (Witnesses Wm Hogan and Mary Ryan)

The only record of a baptism of a Malachy Ryan that took place in Nenagh Roman Catholic Church was in 1873. However, there is a gap in its Baptismal Records between 1810-30 and also between 1843-44.

Slater's 1856 Directory of Ireland [S50] lists Malachi Ryan of 'Tyone & Island Bawn Mills', Nenagh, under the Trade, Profession, Business etc of 'Millers & Corn & Flour Dealers' and lists Malachi Ryan, Esq., of 'Tyone', Nenagh, under the Trade, Profession, Business etc of 'Nobility, Gentry & Clergy'.

BIRTH

Because Thomas John's age wasn't entered on his Civil Marriage Record in NOV1877, he was 21 or over at that time, and was therefore born in or before 1856.

I have paid to view all seven records of baptisms of a Thomas Ryan that took place in Nenagh Roman Catholic Church from 1845 until 1856 but none were for a son of MALACHY RYAN. However, there is a gap in its Baptismal Records between 1843-44, and the marriage of a MALACHY RYAN in that church took place in FEB1843, so Thomas John may have been baptised in 1843 or 1844 (though this would make him 33 or 34 when he married).

MARRIAGE

THOMAS JOHN RYAN married MARGARET BERNAL in St Michaels' Roman Catholic Church, Limerick on 07NOV1877. The Church Marriage Record merely records the names of John RYAN (sic) and Margaret BERNAL, and that they were both R.C. Luckily, the Civil Marriage Record is more comprehensive and shows that Thomas John RYAN was a Merchant of Tyone House, he was a bachelor with no age quoted (i.e. aged 21 or over) and his father was MALACHY RYAN who was also a Merchant. He married Margaret BERNAL of Albert Lodge, Limerick who was a 19 year old spinster and whose father was John BERNAL, a Merchant. The names of neither mother are shown, but the witnesses are shown as HENRY MILLER RYAN and GERTRUDE MARY BERNAL.

Although 'MARGARET' is entered with only one forename, her Will (see below) was in the name of 'MARGARET JOSEPHINE'. One source misquoted her name as 'MARY JOSEPHINE' [S68] This may have been because of confusion with the marriage of Dr Robert AMBROSE, M.P., FRGS, (1855-1940) to MARY JOSEPHINE, daughter of 'RIGGS MILLER-RYAN' (sic), Castle-connell, Limerick.[S96] (In 1856 a Thomas RYAN was living in Castle Connell and was the Master in the Catholic National School.[S99])

When a plaque was unveiled in 2005 at the Nenagh Heritage Centre to honour John Desmond BERNAL, FRS, a newspaper report of the unveiling in the Tipperary Star in August 2005 stated that he was the nephew of Thomas John's widow: "John Desmond Bernal, crystallographer, molecular physicist, social scientist, committed Communist and campaigner for world peace, was born in Brookwatson, Nenagh on May 10, 1901. He was the eldest child of Samuel and Elizabeth (Bessie). His ancestors had been Sephardic Jews who arrived in Ireland in 1840 from Spain, via Amsterdam and London. On settling in Ireland, the family converted to Catholicism. Samuel [BERNAL] came originally from Limerick. He emigrated for some years to Australia and on his return stayed with his sister MARGARET RIGGS-MILLER in Tullaheady, just outside Nenagh.".
A paper that appeared in the Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London in 1992 stated that John Desmond's grandfather John Bernal was an auctioneer, furniture dealer, and railway company director. His father Samuel emigrated in Australia in 1884 and worked a sheep-farm, returning in 1898 to live with his elder sister, Mrs Riggs-Miller, near Nenagh Co Tipperary, helping with the management of her farm. Samuel's wife (Margaret's mother) was an American who Samuel had met in Belgium, when travelling the continent with Margaret. Elizabeth was required to convert to Catholicism in order to marry Samuel, much to the disapproval of her father, who was a Presbyterian Minister in San Jose, California.

CHANGE OF SURNAME

Thomas John RIGGS-MILLER, Esq, of Tyone, co.Tipperary, a J.P. for co.Tipperary, "assumed by Royal Licence in 1889 the names of Riggs-Miller in lieu of Ryan, in compliance with the Will of Sir John Edward Riggs-Miller, Bart".[S68] The date of the change was 15APR1889, according to page 417 of that year's Dublin Gazette [S126], and I am currently awaiting confirmation of the documentary source for the statement made to me by an Irish archivist recently that the Grant of Arms was also transferred to Thomas John RYAN. This was a year after JOHN RIGGS MILLER alias JOHN MANVERS had died childless, and so Thomas John RIGGS-MILLER inherited the estates of Sir John Edward RIGGS MILLER 'in tail'.

However, the 4th edition of Fairbairn's Book of Crests [S8] ascribed the Crest and Motto illustrated on the left to "THOMAS JOHN RIGGES-MILLER (sic), Esquire, J.P., of Tyone House, Nenagh, county Tipperary, Ireland". The Motto, which translates as "I would rather die than be dishonoured", is that of the Clan RYAN [S77], and the crest of a "wolf's head erased ... gorged with a collar" (with different colours for the head and for the collar) is used by a number of MILLER families. It is not the crest ascribed to MILLER of BALLYCASEY which Thomas John is said to have had transferred to himself.

PROPERTIES AND OFFICES HELD

In the 1876 Return Of Owners Of Land in Ireland, the Lists for co. Tipperary include an entry for "Thomas J. Ryan - Tyrone, Nenagh - 1,319 acres".[S86]

Bassett's 1889 Directory of co.Tipperary [S50] lists Thos J Riggs-Miller of Tyone House, Nenagh, under the Trade, Profession, Business etc, of 'Union Nenagh' (where he is listed as "Ex-Officio Guardians", i.e. one of the Guardians for the Poor Law Union of Nenagh), under 'Farmers, Residents' (where he is listed as a J.P.), and under 'Magistrates'.

DEATH

Thomas John RIGGS-MILLER died in 1895.[S68]

HIS WIDOW

CHILDREN

THOMAS  JOHN  RIGGS-MILLER  the  Second

BIRTH

'THOS.JOHN RYAN' was baptised in Nenagh Roman Catholic Church, Co.Tipperary. on 07DEC1883.[S104] This was before the surname RIGGS-MILLER was assumed in lieu of Ryan in 1889. His father and mother are recorded as 'THOS.RYAN' and 'MGT.BERNAL', and his sponsors were Samuel BERNAL and Clare BERNAL. As explained previously, Samuel was Margaret's brother.

The civil birth of a THOMAS JOHN RYAN is also recorded in 1880, and a civil death in 1914. However, these events are recorded in Co.Tipperary (South) [S105] and therefore probably refer to a different person.

EDUCATION

In the 1901 Census of England,[S76] Thomas Riggs MILLER (sic) age 17 was a scholar at Beaumont College, Old Windsor, London (a Roman Catholic School for Boys).

MARRIAGE

The marriage of THOMAS JOHN RIGGS-MILLER was registered in the Strand Registration District of London in the fourth quarter of 1905.[S51] The copy of the certificate shows that he was a 21-year-old bachelor and the son of THOMAS JOHN RIGGS-MILLER, deceased. Under 'Rank or Profession' he was described as "Gentleman" and his residence at the time of the marriage was "St Martin in the Field"(London), where the marriage took place on 15NOV1905. He married Georgie Elsie Graburn (sic) MARRIS-JEROME, a 21-year-old spinster resident in Benson, Oxford whose father was entered on the certificate as Graham MARRIS deceased, a doctor.

The bride's details in the announcement in the Times newspaper [S107] differ slightly from those on the certificate:

" RIGGS-MILLER: JEROME.-On Wednesday, the 15th Nov., at 2 p.m., at the Church of St Martin-in-the-Fields, by the Revd.Harold F.Davidson, THOMAS JOHN RIGGS-MILLER, of Tyone House, Nenagh, Co.Tipperary, Ireland, to ELSIE MORRIS(sic) JEROME, of Gould's Grove, Wallingford. "

The birth of a George (sic) Elsie G MARRIS was registered in the Marylebone Registration District of London in the second quarter of 1882.

Her death at the age of 38 was registered in the Wycombe Registration District of Buckinghamshire in the fourth quarter of 1921.[S106] The copy of the death certificate shows that she died 9NOV1921 at Ridge End, Marlow Common, Great Marlow and that the informant was her stepfather J.K.Jerome of the same address. The announcement in the Times newspaper [S108] stated:

" RIGGS-MILLER:-On the 9th Nov., at the residence of her step-father, Jerome K.Jerome, Ridge End, Marlow Common, GEORGIA (sic) ELSIE GRABOURNE RIGGS-MILLER, the Wife of J.J.(sic) Riggs-Miller, of Nenagh, Tipperary, and beloved daughter of Mrs.Jerome K.Jerome. "

A Georgina Elizabeth H S MARRIS married Jerome Klapka JEROME in the Chelsea Registration District of London in the second quarter of 1888: the entry was also indexed under the name of Georgina Elizabeth H S NESZA. Georgina Elizabeth H S NESZA had previously married in the Marylebone Registration District of London in the second quarter of 1881 to William James G. MARRIS. So Georgie's father's full name was William James Graham MARRIS rather than Graham MARRIS.

JEROME K. JEROME

In the 1891 Census, Georgie's stepfather Jerome K. JEROME is shown as an author living in Chelsea Gardens, Pimlico with his wife Georgina E JEROME and three female servants. Georgie is enumerated as Elsie G MARRIS (but indexed by Ancestry.co.uk as MERRIS) and described as his step daughter, whilst Jerome and Georgina also had a 3 month old daughter Rowena D. (in the GRO Index of Births for the first quarter of 1891 as Rowena Dorothy).

Jerome K. Jerome is probably best known as the author of "Three Men in a Boat" but also wrote a number of other humorous books. An extremely detailed description of his life can be found on the website of The Jerome K. Jerome Society. That is the source of the portrait in pencil of Jerome which appears on the frontispiece of 'My First Book' (1897), and also the source from which the following excerpts have been extracted:

Two years later [in 1888] he married Georgina Elizabeth Henrietta Stanley Marris, known by her pet name of Ettie. She was the daughter of a Spanish soldier and, when Jerome first met her, married to a Mr Marris with a five-year old daughter, also christened Georgina but known as Elsie. Georgina filed for divorce, it became absolute on 12 June 1888 and Jerome and she were married nine days later. They were both twenty-nine years old. The honeymoon was spent on the Thames and Jerome began writing Three Men In A Boat on his return. The book appeared in 1889 and made him rich and famous. In one leap he was made for life, part of the literary establishment, sitting above the salt with a loosely-knit circle of friends who included...J.M. Barrie, Rider Haggard, H.G.Wells, Conan Doyle,...Thomas Hardy,...and Rudyard Kipling...

Jerome was much in demand as a lecturer, an occupation which complimented his love of travel, and we find him quite at home in Russia, America and especially Germany. His own daughter Rowena was born in 1889 (like her father, she too was to have a brief stage career) and in 1900 he moved the whole family to Dresden for two years...

Another black event was the death of his stepdaughter Elsie in 1921 at the early age of thirty-eight. She, his beloved Ettie and Rowena receive barely a mention in his autobiography. That part of his life he preferred to keep private...[He died] on 14 June 1927. His wife outlived him by eleven years. Rowena, who never married, died in 1966, the last surviving member of that branch of the Jerome family. JKJ, Ettie, Elsie and Jerome's sister Blandina lie side by side in the beautiful churchyard of Ewelme, Oxfordshire, not far from the River Thames.

CHILDREN

No details of any children of Thomas John have been found in the Indexes of Civil Registration of Births in England and Wales. However, it is likely that he and his wife may have lived in Ireland and the births of any children would therefore have been registered there.

DEATH

Details of Thomas John's death are not yet known.

JOHN  RIGGS-MILLER  of  TULLAHEADY

Mr John Riggs MILLER (sic) died at his home Tullaheady 13JLY2002. He was one of the actors that helped to found the Nenagh Players in 1943 and later spent about six years touring professionally all over Ireland, before returning to Nenagh to resume appearing with the Nenagh Players. He also took part in several Nenagh Choral Society productions.

John was survived by his wife NANCY, son TOMMY, daughters JENNAFER (sic) and DOROTHY, sons in law, daughter in law, sisters SHEILA and PATTIE, and grandchildren.

The funeral took place at St Mary's of the Rosary 13JLY2002 and after Funeral Mass on 14JLY2002 burial was in Tyone cemetery. Fuller details, together with a photo of JOHN, can be viewed online in The Guardian newspaper, Nenagh, Co.Tipperary. A vote of sympathy was passed to the wife and family of Mr John Riggs Miller at the Monthly Meeting of North Tipperary County Council held in Nenagh 15JLY2002.

OTHER  RIGGS-MILLERs  or  RIGGS MILLERs

Other RIGGS-MILLERS and Riggs MILLERs have been identified, either in or near Nenagh itself or elsewhere in Ireland, and also elsewhere in the world.

It is highly probable that at least one or more of these may be related to or descended from THOMAS JOHN RIGGS-MILLER alias RYAN. But until such a link can be proved, they have been segregated and documented on a separate page.