Birthplaces, records, and the stories behind them.
Joseph Alexander (JA) and Anne Elizabeth (AE) had nine children between 1894 and 1913, born across a succession of inner-Sydney addresses. Tracing their lives has revealed a number of anomalies within the birth records — particularly relating to the naming of the mother, the recording of marriage dates, and inconsistencies in JA’s stated birthplace and occupation.
To date, I have been able to obtain original birth certificates for Josephine, Charles, Margaret, Patrick, and Albert. For the remaining four children, only typed extracts survive, which unfortunately omit much of the contextual detail recorded on the originals.
These inconsistencies became one of the most compelling aspects of my research and prompted a deeper investigation. Many of the explanations for these irregularities lie outside the children’s lives themselves and are explored in more detail on the page devoted to JA’s first wife, Mary Ann Rayner.
What follows is the story of each child — where they were born, what the surviving records tell us, and what became of them.
Josephine Miller (1894–1970)
Josephine, the eldest child of Joseph Alexander Miller and Anne Elizabeth Chalker, was born on 8th July 1894 at 19 Gordon Lane, Paddington. This house still stands today. Her father was 40, a Jamaican-born former seaman who had been discharged in 1888 and was now earning a living as a cook ashore. Her mother, Anne Elizabeth, was 24. They lived here in 1894 & 1895.
Gordon Lane was typical of inner-city Paddington in the 1890s: narrow, crowded, and lined with small terraces rented by working families. Life here was shaped by shared yards, outdoor toilets, and the constant pressure of rent and irregular income. As the eldest child, Josephine would likely have taken on responsibility early, helping care for younger siblings as the family grew.
Josephine married Walter Joseph Naughton in 1959, at the unusually late age of sixty-five. The couple had no children. She died in 1970, aged seventy-three, having lived through the transformation of Sydney from a colonial city into a modern metropolis.
This address appears only once in the records — on Josephine’s birth certificate. The certificate records her mother as Mary Ann Lake, aged 30, from London, England. The marriage date is given as 29th February 1890, which is notable because 1890 was not a leap year.
JA listed his occupation as a cook and his birthplace as Canada.
Charles Hampden Miller (1896–1918)
Charles Hampden Miller was born on 26th February 1896 at 17 Little Palmer Street, Woolloomooloo. This terrace still stands today also. JA his father was 42 and his mother AE was 26. Woolloomooloo was a densely populated waterfront suburb, closely tied to shipping, boarding houses, and casual labour — a world not far removed from JA’s earlier life at sea.
Charles’s childhood unfolded during years of upheaval. Disease outbreaks, government resumptions, and housing demolitions were common in inner-Sydney, and families like his often moved with little warning. Crowded living conditions meant illness and hardship were constant companions.
This address is particularly significant. According to the Sands Directory, AE’s aunt Elizabeth Kelly (also known as Hilton) had been living at this property since 1894. Rate assessment notices show that JA was renting the property from 1896 to 1901 it had 5 bedrooms. He is also recorded living at this address in the Sands Directory in 1896. There is no evidence that he operated a restaurant or boarding house from this location.
When Elizabeth Kelly married James Rush on 9th January 1895, she recorded this address and signed her name as Lizzie Hilton. One of the witnesses was Lizzie Miller?
Charles’s birth certificate lists his mother as Elizabeth Chalker, aged 26, from Mittagong, with a marriage date of 21st January 1891. JA again recorded his occupation as a cook, this time stating his birthplace as Halifax, Canada.
At the outbreak of the First World War, military service offered steady pay and a sense of purpose. Charles enlisted on May 30th, 1916, claiming to be twenty-five when he had only celebrated his 20th birthday 3 months prior. He sailed with the 27th Battalion to England from Perth. While stationed in England, he went AWOL for three weeks and shortly afterwards married Harriet Daisy Bryant on 10th February 1917 in Surrey. They had no children.
While in England Charles transferred to the 28th Battalion and sailed to Etaples, France. On 1st June 1918, while returning from the front for five days’ rest, his battalion was bombed by an aircraft. Charles died from wounds received.
He was killed in France on 1st June 1918, aged just twenty-two.
There is interesting reading in here (Link to Australian War Memorial record)
Margaret Miller (1898–1978)
Margaret was born on 18th November 1898 at 143 Crown Street, Darlinghurst, it’s the terrace with the picket fence that would be demolished just a few years later as part of Sydney’s ongoing inner-city redevelopment. JA was 44 and AE was 28.
Her early life coincided with increasing government attention to sanitation, housing quality, and urban planning — changes that often displaced poorer families rather than improving their conditions. Growing up in a household shaped by frequent moves, shared spaces, and economic uncertainty. Domestic labour was an expected part of girls’ upbringing, with daughters trained early for future roles as wives, mothers, or domestic workers.
Margaret’s birth certificate records her mother as Mary Ann Blake/Lake, aged 35, from Hertfordshire, England, with a marriage date of 16th January 1891. JA described himself as a hotel cook and gave his birthplace as Falmouth, Jamaica.
She married James Gough on 30th June 1917 at the age of 18, during the height of the First World War. A time when early marriages were common. Her life reflects the endurance demanded of women whose contributions rarely appear in official records but sustained families through decades of change. Together they had ten children, a family size that reflects both social expectations and economic necessity of the period.
Margaret died in 1978, aged 80, having devoted much of her life to child-rearing and domestic labour.
The Sands Directory shows that JA was living at this address from 1898 to 1901, before the terraces were demolished in 1902. There is no evidence that he operated a restaurant or boarding house from this location.
Patrick Lindsay Miller (1903–1974)
Patrick, my grandfather, was born on 4th November 1903 at 601 George Street, Sydney when JA was 49 and AE was 33.
It still stands today operating as an adult book shop. This address appears to have been JA and AE’s first major venture into the restaurant and boarding house business. Prior to this, following his discharge as a seaman, serving as a cook and steward, in 1888, JA worked as a cook at various establishments throughout Sydney. George Street was a busy commercial thoroughfare, and living where one worked was common for small business operators seeking to reduce costs.
Patrick’s childhood coincided with Federation and a growing sense of national optimism, but working-class life remained precarious. Children in boarding houses were exposed to constant movement of strangers, long working hours for parents, and blurred boundaries between home and business. Add to that an early exposure to responsibility
JA lived and worked at 601 George Street from 1901 to 1905. There are many references to it in the Sands Directory as “Mr’s Millers” or “Joseph Miller Restaurant”
Patrick’s birth certificate lists AE as his mother aged 33, from Mittagong, with a marriage date of 24th January 1890. JA aged 49 described himself as a ship’s cook, born in Jamaica.
Patrick married Frances Dunning in 1923. They had four children Joan, Josephine, Charles, and Phillip (my father). Patrick passed away in 1974, aged 70, his life spanning Federation, two world wars, and the Depression.
Joseph Miller (1905–1971)
Joseph was born on the 10th of May 1905 in the same George Street residence as Patrick, but by the time he reached childhood the family’s circumstances were already shifting again. His surviving birth record, limited to an extract, reflects the fragility of documentation for families who moved frequently and lived outside formal systems of property ownership.
Joseph grew up during a period when boarding houses and small restaurants were increasingly regulated, and competition in inner-city trades intensified. For children in such households, education was often secondary to learning practical skills and contributing to family survival.
By adulthood, Joseph entered a world reshaped by industrialisation, unionisation, and expanding suburbs. His life reflects the transition from dense inner-city living to a more dispersed urban population.
His birth certificate survives only as an extract, which records his mother as Ann Elizabeth Chalker, aged 36, from Mittagong. JA aged 51 is described as a restaurant keeper from Halifax, Canada. The marriage date is not recorded.
Joseph married Eileen Cooper in 1926 in Glebe.
He passed away in 1971, aged 66.
Harry Miller (1907–1983)
Harry was born on 25th March 1907 at 32 Regent Street, Chippendale. JA & AE moved their restaurant and boarding house here in late 1906 after 601 George St. The below photograph is from the Demolition Books ,32 is the terrace on the right, from the City of Sydney Archives 26th August 1907 just weeks before it was demolished. https://archives.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/nodes/view/662662
JA was renting the property from the NSW Government, according to rate notices, from 1907 to 1911. A sign of the family’s engagement with public rental systems designed to manage urban poverty and redevelopment.
Then from 1911 to 1915 according to rate notice his landlord was the Estate of the Late Samuel Cornwall. Chippendale was heavily industrial, with factories, workshops, and rail infrastructure dominating the landscape.
The demolition and rebuilding of the family home during Harry’s infancy exemplifies the instability faced by inner-city residents. Families were expected to adapt quickly, relocating to business premises or temporary accommodation with little notice.
Harry’s childhood spanned the First World War and the difficult post-war years, when employment prospects were uneven and economic security uncertain. His adult life would later be shaped by the Depression and wartime mobilisation, experiences shared by many men of his generation.
His birth certificate extract lists AE as the mother aged 38 and JA aged 52 describes himself as a restaurant keeper from Halifax, Canada, North America.
Around November 1907, the house was demolished and rebuilt. During construction, JA moved the family into his business premises at 374 Pitt Street, where he ran a restaurant and boarding house from 1905 to 1910. The family returned to 32 Regent Street in 1909, before Doris was born.
Harry married Eva Isabel Waterton on 1 July 1933 at Kensington.
He passed away on 30 August 1983, aged 76.
Doris Violet Miller (1909–1989)
Doris Violet Miller was born on 1st June 1909 at 32 Regent Street. Although the building was new, the pressures of working-class life remained unchanged.
Doris grew up around boarding houses and restaurants, environments where women’s labour was essential and children were expected to contribute.
The photo below is from the archives it was built in 1908 and was knocked down to build apartments in approx. 1979.
While the house was being rebuilt, the family lived at 374 Pitt Street, where JA advertised Meals for 4d and Weekly Residence from 10/6.
Her birth certificate extract lists Ann Elizabeth as the mother aged 39 and JA 54 years old describes himself as a restaurant keeper from Halifax, Canada, North America. She married Francis Dominic Turner on 21st October 1931 at the age of 22. They had two sons, Francis Alexander and Bruce Victor.
Doris died in 1989, aged 77.
Alma May Miller (1911–1988)
Alma May Miller was born on 22nd April 1911 at 32 Regent Street. She was born late in her mother’s childbearing years, after decades of economic strain and domestic labour.
Alma reached adulthood during a period of social change, with shifting expectations around women’s work and marriage.
Her birth certificate records Ann Elizabeth Chalker, as her mother aged 42 and JA aged 56 again gives his birthplace as Halifax, Canada, with no occupation listed.
Alma married Herbert James Dargin in 1941 at Newtown.
She passed away in 1988, aged 77.
Albert Frederick Miller (1913–1982)
Albert, the youngest of JA and AE’s children, was born on 10 May 1913, also at 32 Regent Street.
His original birth certificate records Elizabeth Ann Chalker, aged 42, from Mittagong, as his mother, with a marriage date of 16 January 1891 — the same date used on Margaret’s certificate fifteen years earlier. JA described himself as a restaurant keeper, born in Jamaica, West Indies.
Albert married Freda Bertha Emma Reynolds in 1934 at Newtown. They had one daughter before Freda passed away in 1974.
Albert died on 9 December 1982, aged 69.
JA occupied 32 Regent Street from 1907 to 1917 as the family home while running a business there also. First renting from the NSW Government and later from Samuel Cornwall. As is on the plaque of the existing units that occupy that address now which were built in 1997.
JA & AE purchased the family home at 46 Watkin Street, Newtown, on the 9th of March 1915.Then moved there in 1916.
This link will give more information on The Family Home
Also, while JA & AE ran businesses from the family home from 1901 to 1916, they ran a standalone restaurant and boarding house at 374 Pitt Street from 1905 to 1911. Then 285 Castlereagh St operated as a boarding house only from 1914 till 1919 until they took on Astoria House at 23 Stanley Street from 1920 till 1931.
This link will give more information on JA & AE Restaurants & Boarding Houses
Joseph Alexander Miller 1854-1939 