Tom Murgatroyd Miller belonged to the Miller family who lived in Manor Farm, Knottingley, situated very neatly behind the Church of St. Botolph’s.

One of the oldest remaining buildings in town, Manor Farm is very well known by the older residents of Knottingley. Its connection with the Miller family came though the Murgatroyd's.

Christopher Murgatroyd, who had married Louise Cole from Chepstow, purchased Manor Farm from the Clough family of South Elmsall in 1914.

Mr Bob Miller served in the First World War where he sustained severe injuries in the trenches resulting in the loss of both legs and was in fact taken prisoner by the Germans. It was their medical care and treatment during his time in the prison camp that saved his life.

Later, when he was returned home, he was sent to the artificial limb centre at Roehampton where he was a patient for a year. Due to certain medical difficulties, the centre was only able to supply him with one limb.

On his return to Knottingley he established a shop selling leather goods and in the 1920's he met and married Elsie (pictured above) a daughter of the Murgatroyd family and by this marriage the Miller Family name became linked with the Murgatroyds. Bob and Elsie had four children; Elsie, Louise, Tom and Miriam

Tom Murgatroyd Miller was serving in the Royal Navy in the Second World War when he met and married Joan Shaw from Liverpool in February 1943. Sadly eight months later on the 9th of October 1943 he was to lose his life at sea while serving on board H.M.S. Panther.

The Miller family also lost Pilot Officer George Henry Miller, who we featured in the March issue of the Knottingley Digest magazine. Pilot Officer Miller was the brother of Bob Miller and uncle to Tom.

This brief look at a typical English family can be mirrored so easily by many countless other families from around the country during wartime.

The Miller Family History submitted by
Maurice Haigh & Louisa Hayes