Thomas Miller

of Ireland, England, and Albemarle, Province of Carolina

homas Miller  was born 9 June 1648 in Crediton, Devonshire, England[i], [ii] , [iii].  He was the son of Joseph Miller, (son of Thomas Miller) of Rossgarland and Castlestingley, or Castle Annesley, County Wexford, Ireland[iv] and Patience Larkham, (daughter of Rev. Thomas and Patience (Wilton) Larkham) of Tavistock, Devonshire, England.

His father, Joseph Miller was a lieutenant in Oliver Cromwell’s parliamentary army in Ireland. Lieutenant Miller possibly was in Ireland at the same time Reverend Thomas Larkham was a chaplain in Sir Hardres Waller’s regiment in Ireland. Miller came into possession of Rossgarland (or Annesley) Castle through the Cromwellian Act of Settlement.[v]

Lt. Joseph Miller died in Ireland 8 May 1656, when Thomas was not yet 8 years of age.[vi]  In his will, dated 4 May 1656, Lt. Joseph Miller bequeathed to his young son, "[the] town & land of Ballylclane, Coy. Wexford & lands in parish of Clongeene, Coy. Wexford (500 acs. in all)" (Welpy, 1921). This was the land Lt. Joseph Miller received through “a grant of Ballysampson, Horetown, Poolsallagh, and Ballygarry, co. Wexford, 474 acres, 2 roods, 18 perches, under the Act of Settlement”.[vii]

On June 21, 1656, the widow Patience Miller, came from Ireland to her father’s home in Tavistock, likely seeking assistance with her estate in Ireland.[viii]   Reverend Thomas Larkham’s diary shows that he covered the living costs of the Miller family in the weeks following their arrival in Tavistock.

On August 1, 1656, Reverend Larkham accompanied Patience Miller "to Plymouth, intending for Ireland," but the wind interfered with travel and he returned to Tavistock, where he preached on Sunday, August 3rd. [ix]  The next day they went again to Plymouth, setting sail about midnight, and

“… on the Friday following landed at Passage, in the Haven of Waterford, with my daughter Miller. Many clouds layover her estate. But by the good hand of my God I despatched many businesses, and on Friday, September 12th, came to Bristoll, and the Thursday following, September 18th, came safe to my house at Tavistock. I was absent six Lord's days and no more. I was in Ireland and preached at Lieut. Col Scott's castle, called Langrage, about one mile from Rossgarland Castle, in which my daughter, Patience Miller, lived, the 17th day of August, being the Lord's day, and the last of the 54th of mine age."[x]

By fall 1656, young Thomas Miller, his mother Patience and sister Jane were living in Tavistock with Reverend Thomas Larkham, his wife Patience and  their grandson (Thomas Miller’s cousin) Tom Larkham, who was orphaned and being raised by his grandparents.[xi] The two young cousins, Tom Miller and Tom Larkham were close in age and possibly more like brothers.  This relationship would factor significantly later in their lives. Reverend Larkham likely was a key influence in the lives of his two fatherless grandsons as a role model and provider.  While Reverend Larkham clearly reared young Tom Larkham, his diary ledger indicates that he also contributed significantly to the upbringing and schooling of Thomas Miller.

Patience Miller returned to Ireland in 1657 while young Thomas and Jane Miller remained with their grandparents in Tavistock.[xii] In November 1659, Patience Miller brought Thomas, Jane and Ann back to Ireland with her.  Thomas’ older sister Mary remained in Ireland; some of the time in Dublin.[xiii] 

Apothecary and Tobacco Exporter

Thomas Miller returned to live with his grandfather in Tavistock on October 26, 1664.[xiv]  By this time, Rev. Larkham was no longer a practicing minister and had opened an apothecary shop in Tavistock.  Thomas Miller and his mother helped Rev. Larkham with the shop.  During this time, Patience (Larkham) Miller had remarried a Mr. Harries.[xv], [xvi], [xvii]

In October 1665, the Five Mile Act, or Nonconformists Act 1665, was passed.  The act forbade clergymen identified as nonconformists (such as Rev. Larkham) from living within five miles (8 km) of a parish from which they had been expelled, unless they swore an oath never to resist the king, or attempt to alter the government of Church or State.[xviii]  Once the act was in force, Rev. Larkham was prevented from staying in Tavistock and he gave up the apothecary shop on 18 January 1666 (1665/66).[xix]

Thomas Miller learned enough from assisting his grandfather that he was able to set up his own apothecary shop, first in Okehampton by April 1667[xx] and later in back in Tavistock.  By November 1667, he was also exporting tobacco from Virginia.[xxi]

Rev. Larkham died December 20, 1669. He was buried 23 December 1669 and his will was proved 9 March 1669/70.  Based on his bequest to his daughter, Patience of his apothecary utensils, she continued work in the apothecary business.[xxii] 

 Thomas Miller also continued in the apothecary business, although he expanded his focus to Ireland and he clearly was engaged in the tobacco trade.  On 1 March 1672/73, Thomas Miller was recorded in Albemarle (what is now North Carolina) contracting for shipment of a large quantity of tobacco from Albemarle to England as well as his own passage. In his contract Miller was identified as an apothecary of “Balley Samson in the County of Waxford in Ireland.” [xxiii] (Referencing the land he inherited from his late father in Ballysampson, County Wexford)[xxiv]

On 22 March 1672/73, Thomas Miller set sail from Albemarle with Robert Riscoe, master of the brigantine Good Hope of Albemarle, whom he hired to transport his tobacco to Fowey Harbor, England. The voyage was not successful. The leaking boat ran aground on shoals.  Riscoe made the decision cancel the voyage across the Atlantic and he instead sailed the damaged vessel to Newport, Rhode Island one month later. In a Newport court, Thomas Miller filed suit against Riscoe for breach of contract and for the damage to and loss of his tobacco.[xxv]

Thomas Miller charged that that the Good Hope had not been seaworthy before it left Albemarle; that the leaks had not resulted from the accidents occurring during the journey. Riscoe argued that the leakage was the result of treacherous shallows along the northern Carolina coast, combined with violent storms, and he could not be held responsible for any damage. The Newport court found in favor of Riscoe and ordered Miller to pay Riscoe’s court costs. Furious, Miller refused and left town without paying. Believing that the Newport court had not given him a fair trial, he appealed the case to the higher, Suffolk County Court in Boston, but he lost there as well (The Colonial Society of Massachusetts, 1933)[xxvi]. It was mid-autumn by the time the suit was settled. Miller apparently abandoned his journey to England and sold what salvageable tobacco was left in Massachusetts.  He appeared in Albemarle records once again in November 1673.[xxvii]

Adversarial Relationships

Thomas Miller’s life in Albemarle during the years 1673-1679 has been well-documented by North Carolina historians.  His relations with Carolinians and New Englanders during this time continued to deteriorate and become increasingly hostile.  He purportedly felt there was a conspiracy to cheat him of his rightful money. One recent source describes him as,

“given to vulgar, offensive remarks, and as an official he was abusive and domineering.”[xxviii] Another source states, “Thomas Miller was not a person to attract friends in great numbers. Although dictatorial, he was a most efficient man, possibly too much so. Given to excessive drinking and loose talk, he more than once abandoned discretion in conversation to voice an opinion, often derogatory, on almost any subject. In his lust for power, Miller was guilty of “many extravagant things,” decreeing strange limitations for members of the legislature and levying fines without even the pretense of a trial. If these dictates were ignored, Miller was not hesitant to publish warrants calling for the apprehension, dead or alive, of some of the most prominent men in the county.”[xxix]

These description are likely based on the allegations made of Thomas Miller from 1673-1677.

Could the experiences of his grandfather in New England thirty years earlier have influenced perceptions of him in the Carolinas and New England?  Certainly there are similarities in the personalities of the two men.  Thomas Miller’s maternal grandfather was the nonconformist clergyman Thomas Larkham who came to New England in 1640 with his family, first to Massachusetts, and then to Dover (now New Hampshire), which Reverend Larkham named Northam after his vicarage in England.  During his two years in New England, his ideas were considered controversial and he developed a tempestuous relationship with the local minister, Hansard Knollys, whom he ousted. Like his grandson, Reverend Larkham was outspoken and voiced his opinion on religious and civil matters to which he disagreed.  This led to great discontent and even outright physical fighting with Knollys and his followers.  Commissioners from Boston were sent to arbitrate and they found both parties at fault. Governor John Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay Colony was particularly critical of Thomas Larkham and even validated allegations that he fathered an illegitimate child with his landlady.  (No record of this has actually been documented, although some sources claim Larkham admitted to be the father, a claim which doesn’t appear to haven been verified.) Thomas Larkham departed New England for England with his eldest son Thomas on 14 November 1642, leaving behind his wife and three younger children (including Thomas Miller’s mother, Patience).  They returned to England some time later.

Ironically, Robert Riscoe’s wife, Anna Willix, was the daughter of Belshazzar Willix, of Exeter, New Hampshire (near Dover, New Hampshire).  Belshazzar Willix arrived in Exeter in 1640, the same time Thomas Larkham arrived in Dover.[xxx]  It is likely that Willix knew Reverend Thomas Larkham, although the nature of the relationship is unknown.  When Robert Riscoe died, Anna Willix Riscoe married James Blount.  Both James and Anna Blount played key roles in the upheaval known as Culpeper’s Rebellion, discussed below.

Given the nature of Thomas Miller’s relationship with Carolinians, it’s not surprising that on his return to Albemarle in the fall of 1673 he joined forces with Thomas Eastchurch, another unpopular newcomer with grievances against his neighbors. Thomas Eastchurch was from Chudleigh, Devonshire, England, the son of James and Shilston (Clifford) Eastchurch.  It's not known if Thomas Miller and Thomas Eastchurch knew each other before arriving in Albemarle, although they both lived their early lives in Devonshire. Eastchurch was appointed surveyor-general of Albemarle in 1671, and was in Virginia when he claimed that “severall persons at Albemarle pretending that I am indebted to them have Atacked and otherwise made spoyle of my estate.”[xxxi] 

The alliance of Thomas Miller and Thomas Eastchurch only increased the antagonism of neighbor Carolinians, particularly when Eastchurch made it clear that he was seeking to oust the acting governor of Albemarle, John Jenkins, and take his place.  In November 1673, one of Jenkins’s supporters alleged that Thomas Miller made treasonable remarks about the king and his family.  Miller was brought before an Albemarle magistrate who was sympathetic to the Eastchurch-Miller cause.   The magistrate dismissed the case, remarking that Miller was always saying such things as those charged but meant nothing by them.[xxxii]

Two years later, Thomas Miller was once again charged with blasphemy and treasonable remarks. In March 1675/76 he was indicted on those charges and imprisoned pending trial. In May he was taken to Virginia for trial on the order of Sir William Berkeley, one of the Lords Proprietors of Carolina as well as governor of Virginia. Miller was acquitted in a trial held by Berkeley and the Virginia Council. After his acquittal, Miller set sail for England.[xxxiii]

Acting Governor of Albemarle

Thomas Eastchurch's influential first cousin, Thomas Clifford (first Baron Clifford of Chudleigh), recommended him to the Lords Proprietors for the governorship of Albemarle. Thomas Miller joined Thomas Eastchurch in London, and the two men briefed the Proprietors on their account of the Albemarle situation.  The Proprietors subsequently issued commissions to both men, appointing Thomas Eastchurch “Governor and Commander in-Chief of Albemarle…”; “Governor and Commander in-Chief of all such settlements as shall be made upon the rivers of Pamplico and Newse in Carolina.” and “Surveyor-General of Albemarle and of such settlements as shall be made on the rivers of Pamplico and Newse, during pleasure.”[xxxiv]  Thomas Miller was appointed “Registrar of Albemarle, during pleasure”.  Thomas Miller was also appointed by “Anthony, earl of Shaftesbury, to Thomas Miller to be his deputy of the Province of Albemarle”[xxxv] and by Crown officials as customs collector for Albemarle.[xxxvi]

Around the same time, George Durant, an early settler of Albemarle, went to London to protest conditions in Albemarle to the Lords Proprietors.  When he learned of Eastchurch’s appointment as governor, he told the Lords he would revolt and refuse to allow the appointment of Eastchurch.[xxxvii]  

Thomas Miller and Thomas Eastchurch departed England for Albemarle via the West Indies to assume their new offices in Albemarle. On the island of Nevis, Thomas Eastchurch met a woman of “a considerable fortune”, Anna, the widow of Nicholas Clarke who died in 1675 [xxxviii]. Nicholas Clarke was the heir of a prominant plantation family from the nearby island of Antigua and his widow inherited all of his estate.  In order to stay at Nevis longer, Eastchurch sent Thomas Miller to govern Albemarle in his place, giving Miller a commission naming him president of the Council and acting governor.[xxxix]

When Thomas Miller arrived at Albemarle in July 1677, he had just turned twenty-nine years old. He was met by a hostile group of armed colonists who believed he had no legal authority to act as governor. Hiring his own armed guard, Miller assumed office as governor by force. For the next five months, he collected customs “with efficiency”, enforcing the British Navigation Acts, including "penny-per-pound tax" on tobacco which further antagonized the colonists.[xl]^, [xli] 

Culpeper’s Rebellion

There were many allegations against Thomas Miller as acting governor: he illegally placed unfairly heavy fines on those who formerly opposed Eastchurch; he imposed restrictive election procedures and eligibility rules barring election of his opponents to the Assembly; he charged the cost of his armed guard against the public treasury; and he leveed unusually high taxes.  As a result, hostility toward Thomas Miller reached a nexus in late 1677.[xlii], [xliii]

In early December of 1677, George Durant returned to Albemarle from England aboard Captain Zachariah Gilliam’s 5-gun ship the Carolina.  Thomas Miller, also serving as Customs Collector, asked Gilliam if he had ever transported tobacco from Albemarle.  Gilliam replied that he had carried some 180 hogsheads, to which Miller charged Gilliam with repaying duties of one penny a pound on the cargo.  Despite the fact that Gilliam claimed the duties had been paid in England, Miller had Gilliam arrested.  When Miller learned that George Durant was a passenger on the ship, Miller arrested him as a “Traytour”.  In response, a plan of action was laid by the angry crew and several Albemarle colonists,[xliv] [xlv] including John Culpeper, George Durant, James Blount, who captured and imprisoned Thomas Miller and most other officials in his government.[xlvi]

Illustration of Thomas Miller imprisoned after Culpeper's Rebellion from an 1890 history book.
Image from the New York Public Library. Source: http://ncpedia.org/biography/miller-thomas

After the Albemarle colonists elected a new Assembly and Council, Miller was tried for his alleged offenses. By this time, Thomas Eastchurch had arrived in Virginia on his way to Albemarle.  Learning of the rebellion in Albemarle, Eastchurch decided to remain in Virginia, but sent a proclamation to Albemarle ordering Thomas Miller’s release.  Miller was returned to the log jail he had been held in. Shortly thereafter, Eastchurch became ill and died in Jamestown, Virginia. Thomas Miller remained in prison for nearly two years, during which time the Albemarle colonists governed themselves.  With the help of friends, Miller escaped from prison in August 1679 and fled to Virginia, where he obtained passage to England.[xlvii], [xlviii]

Aftermath

Thomas Miller returned to England in December 1679. Upon his arrival in London, he issued a series of complaints to customs officials and others against the Albemarle colonists, including John Culpeper, who had been appointed to replace Miller as customs collector, and Zachary Gillam.  Culpeper was arrested and indicted on a charge of treason for participating in Miller's overthrow and for assuming the office of customs collector. The charges against Gillam were shortly dismissed, and Culpeper was acquitted after a lengthy trial. The Lords Proprietors testified at Culpeper's trial that Thomas Miller had illegally taken power in Albemarle and had committed many illegal acts, so that neither his overthrow nor Culpeper's part in it was treasonable.[xlix]

Despite this, Thomas Miller was rewarded for his efforts in the Carolinas. Responding to his many petitions, treasury officials ordered monthly payments to Miller for more than a year. He received more than £244 for his maintenance and as compensation for "his great sufferings" in Albemarle.  In March 1680/81 Thomas Miller was appointed customs collector of Poole, and in July 1682 he was transferred to a more lucrative post at Weymouth.  This career was brief and ill-fated. By 14 May 1684 Miller had been removed from office and imprisoned for mishandling funds.[l]

While he was in prison, Thomas Miller’s cousin, Thomas Larkham (grandson of Rev. Thomas Larkham) gave bond as surety for his cousin.  When Thomas Miller died in prison, probably in the spring of 1685, Thomas Larkham was arrested and imprisoned for the debt owed by his cousin Miller.  Tragically, Thomas Larkham also died in prison, sometime between 21 June 1685 when he wrote his will and 16 October 1685 when his widow made her first petition to the Customs Commissioners to be discharged of the bond given by her late husband as surety for Thomas Miller.  Larkham’s will was proved 4 February 1686. After his death, his widow’s possessions and home were seized.   This is documented by a series of petitions by Hannah Larkham, relict of Thomas Larkham between 16 October 1685 and 26 September 1688:

16 October 1685

“Reference to the Lord Treasurer of the petition of Hannah Larkham, relict of Thomas Larkham of London, showing that her husband being bound for Thomas Miller, collector of the customs at Pool and Weymouth, in 1,000 £ bond was arrested for some arrears due by Miller and died in prison and that his goods were seized, and praying that she may enjoy her goods, being all she has left, and proceedings be suspended till Miller's plantations in Carolina can be regained for satisfying the King's debt.”[li]

28 October 1685

“Same by same to same of the petition of Mrs. Larkham, relict of Tho. Larkham, who was surety in 1,000 £ for Thomas Miller, collector of Weymouth port, who died in prison indebted to the King, whereupon petitioner's husband was arrested and soon after also died and petitioner's goods seized for the debt: prays stay of proceedings till some essays be made for regaining Miller's plantations in Carolina seized by the rebels.”[lii]

11 July 1688

“Same to the Customs Commissioners of the petition of Hannah Larkham, widow [of] Tho. Larkham; shewing that in 1677 Tho. Miller ‘being Commander in Chief [sic: erratum] and collector of Customs in Carolina’ was robbed not only of the King's money but of 1,000 £ of his own and after two years' imprisonment in irons made his escape and being afterwards made collector of Poole ran in arrear to the King for which he was arrested and died in prison; and petitioner's husband being his security was arrested and is since dead and petitioner's goods are seized and she turned out of doors; that the said Miller's papers are so embezzled that his accounts cannot be made up; that her said husband had been ever loyal and left her in a miserable condition: therefore prays to be discharged from her husband's bond and that her goods may be restored.”[liv]

On 26 September 1688, Hannah Larkham was discharged of the bond given by Thomas Larkham as surety for Thomas Miller.

26 September 1688

“Treasury warrant to the Customs Commissioners to discharge Hannah Larkham, relict of Thomas Larkham, late of London, deceased, of the bond given by her said husband as surety for Thomas Miller, ut supra, pp. 1995–6; the said Miller, after his escape from the rebels in Carolina, having obtained an order for restitution which was prevented by the Earl of Shaftesbury, and being impoverished thereby ran in arrear to the King as customer of Poole and Weymouth, was arrested and died in prison and petitioner's husband was also arrested and died in 1685, though he was always loyal and opposed the traitorous design of the Exclusion: the Customs Commissioners having reported Aug. 27 last that petitioner's statements are true and that in regard of her utter poverty they have no objection to discharge said bond.”[lv]

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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McIlvenna, Noeleen. A Very Mutinous People: The Struggle for North Carolina, 1660-1713. Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina, 2009. Print.

Oliver, V. L. (1891). The History of the Island of Antigua, One of the Leeward Caribees in the West Indies, From the First Settlement in 1635 to the Present Time (Vol. I). London: Mitchell and Hughes.

Oliver, V. L. (1899). The History of the Island of Antigua, One of the Leeward Caribees in the West Indies, From the First Settlement in 1635 to the Present Time (Vol. III). London: Mitchell and Hughes.

Parker, Mattie Erma E. "Miller, Thomas." NCpedia Home Page. N.p., 1 Jan. 1991. Web. 22 June 2014. http://ncpedia.org/biography/miller-thomas.

Radford, G. H. "Thomas Larkham." Report and Transactions of the Devonshire Association for the Advancement of Science, Literature, and Art. Vol. XXIV. Plymouth: William Brendon and Son, 1892. 96-146. Print.

"Upheaval in Albemarle: The Story of Culpeper's Rebellion." Ed. Jan-Michael Poff. North Carolina Office of Archives & History - Department of Cultural Resources - Historical Publications Section - The Colonial Records Project, n.d. Web. 22 June 2014. < http://www.ncpublications.com/colonial/Bookshelf/Monographs/upheaval/preface.htm >.

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