William Millar (1814-1887)
1888 Obituary [1]
WILLIAM MILLAR, son of General Millar, R.A., was born at Woolwich on the 16th October, 1814.
At the age of fifteen he became a pupil with Messrs. Maudslay and Field, and remained eight years with that firm.
In 1843 he accepted the post of Superintending-Engineer for the Russian Black Sea fleet and naval ports, to reside at Nicolaieff, which port became the chief seat of his long labours, with the exception of the period of the Crimean War, when he was sent to Moscow. Mr. Millar occupied this post twenty-five years, and was highly esteemed by all, from the highest to the lowest.
In 1867 he was appointed by the Russian Government to be Chief Engineer to a large rocket-factory which was then in course of erection. The machinery was all arranged and erected from his plans and under his supervision, and for the remaining twenty years of his life he was chiefly occupied with this work, frequently designing new machinery when he saw his way to making improvements.
He received several gold medals from the Russian Government, and was made a Knight of the Order of St. Stanislaus, receiving Queen Victoria’s permission to wear the cross and ribbon of the order. He died at Odessa on the 21st August, 1887, after a long and painful illness, and, according to his frequently expressed desire, he was buried at Nicolaieff, in the tomb which contains the remains of his wife. Mr. Millar was a man who cared little for the praise of those above him, but did his duty for duty’s sake, with a single-mindedness seldom met with.
He was elected an Associate of the Institution on the 29th of June, 1841, and though long qualified for Membership, elected to remain in the lower grade until 1878, when, the class being reorganised, he was made an Associate Member.