Draft:John Miller (Australian official)

Captain John Miller was involved in the growth and development of the Cairns region.

In 1876 was one of the customs officials to open a port in Cairns for the purposes of collecting customs duty. Cairns was declared a city in 1903.

Miller was the first pilot stationed at Cairns.

Miller is accredited as being a “Founder of Cairns”. There are streets in modern day Cairns named after John Miller or that have connections to his life and work.

Life
Mr John Miller was a native of Eday in the Orkney Islands, Scotland.

On 6 October 1876 Miller was one of the customs officials who came to Cairns to open a port for the collection of customs duties. He arrived from England with his step-son Richard Morton Machan.

John Miller managed a magazine factory which was built and commissioned in the later half of the 1890s. Miller took an interest in the growth and development of the Cairns region and was esteemed in the community. He died in the Cairns Hospital at the age of 91.

Street names
Miller Street in Parramatta Park may have been named after John Miller (or Sinclair Miller), and Magazine Street in Aeroglen, Stratford is originally named because of the magazine factory which was built and commissioned under John Miller’s management.