Person Record

Metadata

Name

Miller, Herb

Othernames

Herbert Miller

Born

Jan. 8, 1916

Birthplace

Chesley, Bruce County, Ontario

Places of residence

Rocky Saugeen, Glenelg Township, Grey County
St. Johns, Newfoundland (stationed there with the Royal Canadian Navy, c. 1943)
Welbeck, Ontario [Grey County]

Titles & honors

Durham Town Council Outstanding Volunteer Award
Conservation Award of Distinction from SVCA
Keeper of the Stream from Saugeen Conservation
Award of Appreciation from Boy Scouts
The Charlie Kelly Award
The Citizen of the Year Award from the Durham Rotary Club
Ontario Bicentennial Meda (1984)
The Premier of Ontario Award
International Year of Older Persons Award (1999)
Heritage Community Recognition
The Queen's Jubilee Medal (2002, received posthumously)
Herb Miller Sawmill (County of Grey-Owen Sound Museum, later moved to Grey Roots)
Herb Miller Photograph and Lecturn in the Grey County Archives reading room area

Father

James "Jim" Miller

Mother

Irene Miller (nee Trafford)

Nationality

Canadian

Education

Rocky Saugeen school, often known as "Rocky School", U.S.S. No. 2 Bentinck and Glenelg

Notes

Herb Miller was born at Chesley in 1916. His parents, Jim and Irene (Trafford) Miller, were married in 1915. They later moved to the vicinity just north of the Rocky Saugeen Bridge [Bentinck Township, Grey County]. At that time, Jim Miller operated the power house on the river, which supplied electricity for The Durham Furniture Co. Limited. Jim worked at the power house for 42 years, beginning in 1918/1919. In addition, he also ran a lumber trucking business. Jim and Irene had 13 or 14? children. Jim and Irene celebrated their 60th anniversary in 1975.

In the Second World War, Herb served on a corvette. He had joined the war effort in 1940. He was a stoker on a number of vessels, including a mine sweeper (the MELVILLE) in the North Atlantic He loved going to Halifax in later years and also to reunions, so that he could keep in touch with his former shipmates. His brother, Chester Miller, was a Stoker First Class, posted to the PRINCE DAVID at Halifax. However, there was an accident, and Chester was discharged from duty in 1940. Herb was eventually discharged from the Navy in 1946. The two brothers are pictured in uniform in a 1990 book about the Durham Legion's history (Branch 308). This source mentions that Herb served on H.M.C.S. ELK and H.M.C.S. HARVESTER. He had the rank of Chief Petty Officer.

Herb's wife was formerly Miss Gladys Young. She had trained as a nurse at the Owen Sound General & Marine Hospital. Gladys died in 2004. Her parents had been Joseph and Mary (Baker) Young of Grey County. Herb and Gladys were married on March 2, 1943.

Herb purchased the Welbeck mill and built up a very fine business nearby that sold hardware and other items. He was an important supporter in the Durham Wood Show, and was also very helpful to the County of Grey-Owen Sound Museum, often giving free quantities of cedar blocks for shingle-making, or advice or assistance with other projects at the museum. He served on the Museum Board as well. He also worked towards the creation of a Grey County Archives.

The following information is from a 1998 speech that mentioned him when he helped open the "Herb Miller Sawmill" at the County of Grey-Owen Sound Museum:

"Mr. Miller was born at Chesley in 1916, a son of Jim and Irene Miller. In 1918, his family moved to Bentinck Township, where, for the next 42 years, his father Jim operated the power house on the Rocky Saugeen, which supplied electricity to the Durham Furniture Factory. One of Herb's first jobs was at a sawmill at Dyer's Bay. He also did some cedar logging and shingling work in Grey County and worked for a while at the Durham Furniture Co. During the Second World War, Herb joined the Royal Canadian Navy. After the war, in 1947, he began operating the Welbeck Sawmill in Bentinck Township. This historic Grey County mill had been converted to water-power in the early 1870s, but as a site had been used for milling purposes apparently as far back as 1849. After the Millers bought Welbeck, the mill had contracts to built tables for provincial parks, as well as contracts to produce railroad ties for the railways. Herb had the original mill re-wheeled in 1956 and added some diesel power to augment its water power.

Unfortunately, disaster struck in 1966 when the Welbeck mill burned down. Undeterred, Herb soon had a new mill underway, and also developed an excellent hardware and lumber store nearby. Also in 1984, his dream of fully re-creating a productive water-powered shingle mill became a reality at Welbeck. Herb certainly has a lot of experience and expertise as a millwright and businessman, and is a community-minded citizen, and talented model ship-builder. As well, through his 20 years of service as a Museum Board Member and Chairman, and his work as a past President and member of the Grey County Historical Society, he has done a lot to help preserve Grey County history. He also is certainly an inspiration to folks who like good, old-fashioned quality and wood-crafting excellence! The Museum always goes to the Welbeck Sawmill when we need cedar blocks to cut up for our shingle-making demonstrations. In addition, Herb's daughter, Bonnie Krause, who currently has the Welbeck Store, has also given us an old 28 inch industrial planer, which was originally used long ago for planing wooden parts for Toronto streetcars before Welbeck acquired it. Eventually, we would like to have the planer operational too in our "Herb Miller" sawmill."

A number of Herb Miller's relatives (including Chester) are recorded on the 1958 Burns Presbyterian Church centenary quilt, which was made by Rocky Saugeen church women. See 2015.003.001.

The following tribute is from one of his daughters, Betty Moric:
"Herb Miller was born in Chesley on January 8, 1916, to James Miller and Irene Trafford and was raised in Glenelg Township along with twelve siblings. As a youngster, Herb enjoyed many activities with his brothers as they fished and hunted in and around the Rocky Saugeen River. His father ran the power house on the Rocky Saugeen River for the Durham Furniture Company in Durham and Herb often helped his father in the early years. It gave him the background for working with machinery that he used for the rest of his life.
In 1940, Herb joined the navy, where he was an engineer on a Q-boat which at one time patrolled the St. Lawrence River looking for German U-boats. He was also on a converted private yacht which patrolled the north coast area of South America. In 1941, he was a member of the first crew of the minesweeper MELVILLE which was 202 feet long and had 90 crew members. They covered the triangle area from Newfoundland, New York to Iceland on convoy duty.
On a cold March 2nd, 1943 day, Herb married Gladys Young who was the daughter of Joseph Young and Mary Baker from the Townsend Lake area. Gladys & Herb travelled by train/boat to St. Johns, Newfoundland where Herb was stationed with the Royal Canadian Navy. When the war was over and he was discharged, Herb & Gladys returned to the area where he was raised. In 1947, they bought the Welbeck Sawmill and lived in the homestead. The couple had five daughters--Bonnie Benninger, Betty Moric, Mary Hunt, Grace Miller and Marjorie Wells. Tragically, in 1973 Grace was killed in airplane crash while flying to Cyprus in the Mediterranean. Herb had eleven grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren.
Over the next fifty years, many changes occurred at Welbeck. The sawmill went through significant development changes and ties and lumber for the local building economy were produced from local logs. In 1966, the original mill was destroyed by fire and a new mill was rebuilt just west of the original mill with new equipment purchased from Quebec. At this time and during the summers, it was not uncommon for the front yard of the Miller home to be full of picnic tables and small utility sheds. Out of this was born the affiliation with the Home Hardware store franchise in 1976 when more and more hardware was stocked for resale. Herb's daughter Bonnie worked alongside her father during these days and eventually bought the business before Herb retired.
Herb was a member of many associations and clubs over the years including Past President of Durham Scouts and Guides, Past President and Member of the Durham Legion, on the Board of Directors of the Grey-Owen Sound Museum and Grey County Historical Society, the Society of Preservation of Old Mills, a Director of [the] Grey County Archives. He was also a Trustee for the Preservation of the "Sackville" (corvette located in Halifax waterfront), member of the Owen Sound Marine Rail Museum and the Saugeen Valley Conservation Foundation. He was a faithful supporter of many fund raising organizations and especially the Heart and Stroke Foundation for which he built his famous play house for the annual fund raising event. He was a founding member of the Durham Wood Show, which continues to bring together many woodworkers and interested people during August in Durham.
He was a recipient of many awards of recognition, some of which include the Durham Town Council Outstanding Volunteer Award, Conservation Award of Distinction from SVCA, Keeper of the Stream from Saugeen Conservation, Award of Appreciation from Boy Scouts, The Charlie Kelly Award and The Citizen of the Year Award from the Durham Rotary Club. He was also recognized in 1984 with the Ontario Bicentennial Medal, the Premier of Ontario Award, International Year of Older Persons Award in 1999, Heritage Community Recognition, and most recently, he received posthumously the Queen's Jubilee Medal in 2002.

In a letter to Herb dated April 12, 2002, Robert Legace, a teacher at St. Peter & St. Paul School in Durham wrote:
"Your impact on the community will be a legacy that will endure for generations. Your sense of community and general goodwill has affected both Durham and our country at large. Your deep sense of honour and duty inspired myself and others to want to work for the betterment of our society. Your leadership role has inspired many and your memory will continue to do so."

Herb Miller died peacefully on April 20, 2002, with his family at his side." (Betty Moric)

Occupation

Sawmiller / Welbeck Sawmill
Second World War Royal Canadian Navy veteran (served on corvettes and a minesweeper, 1940-1946)
Model Ship Builder

Publications

"School Play Recalls War's Horrors", THE SUN TIMES, Nov. 7, 2002 [school play "Never Again", based on the life of the late Herb Miller]
A HISTORY OF BENTINCK TOWNSHIP, p. 47 (shows Herb and Chester as schoolboys at the Rocky School)
LEST WE FORGET, 1990 (re Durham Legion's history), p. 105
Moric, Betty, "Herb Miller 1916-2002", GREY COUNTY'S SESQUICENTENNIAL 150 YEARS OF HISTORY, Special Edition, May, 2003, pub. by the Grey County Historical Society
______________, p. 78 has a 1928 school image including Herb Miller, Chester, Ralph and Georgina Miller at U.S.S. No. 2 Bentinck & Glenelg

Relationships

-County of Grey-Owen Sound Museum Board Chairman
-Grey County Historical Society
-supported the Grey County Archives project
-Branch ___ Royal Canadian Legion (Durham, Grey County)