Alexander Miller
Builder
Alexander Miller (c. 1852–1916) was a Helensburgh mason and builder, one of several in his family who operated their own firms in the town. Miller's father David was a master builder who by 1871 had over 40 employees, including son Dugald (born c. 1854), an apprentice mason. In the late 1870s, David was building large two-storey villas in West Queen Street, Helensburgh, with 'hot and cold water throughout'. By 1881 David had retired. Alexander was by then a 'master builder', employing 30 men, which suggests he had taken over his father's business. 1
Alexander built the red Ballochmyle sandstone Liberal Club Rooms in Colquhoun Street, Helensburgh (J. R. Wilson, 1893) and by 1900 he also supplied granolithic pavements, range and boiler flues, and 'smoke tested' drains. On his retiral in 1915, his son, David Junior, succeeded as owner of the company. 2
Notes:
1: Census 1861–81 and death information, www.ancestry.co.uk and www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk [accessed 16 and 21 July 2012]; Glasgow Herald, 22 January 1879, p. 7.
2: The Helensburgh Directory ... Twenty-Second Edition, Helensburgh: MacNeur & Bryden, 1899, Advertising Supplement, p. xlii; Glasgow Herald, 16 May 1893, p. 8; The Edinburgh Gazette, 31 December 1915, p. 1961.
