169:. On 9 November 1851 the Free Presbyterian Synod appointed Miller Convener of the Academy Committee (the other members were the members of the Session of John Knox Church), and so he may be regarded as the first Chairman of the College Council. In 1853 Miller, along with Rev Duncan MacDiarmid Sinclair (1816-1887), Rev John Tait (1809-60), John Armstrong (1810-1857) of Bush Station and Archibald Bonar, merchant, were appointed the first trustees of the East Melbourne site of Scotch College. Miller was subsequently replaced as Convener of the Academy Committee by Dr.
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Victoria. In May 1864 the Free
Presbyterian Synod divided down the middle and Miller took the side of those who thought union with the Presbyterian Church of Victoria was appropriate. At the close of the year he submitted his resignation from the ministry of John Knox Church, citing the poor health of his wife, although the difficult church situation must also have been relevant. The congregation sided with those opposed to union but ultimately joined the union church in 1867 through the influence of a visiting Scottish minister, Rev
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drafted, but by 1856 Miller opposed further negotiations due to disputation over the doctrinal standards, legislative basis and ministerial supply. The John Knox congregation supported this stand by resolution at a congregational meeting in August 1856. Of his own denomination, "he hoped they would have grace and courage to maintain their own integrity and consistency by refusing all further negotiations until this point (i.e. the legislative basis) should be conceded".
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Miller and several other opponents of union on the proposed basis were expelled by the majority in April 1857, through an apparently illegal motion of 26 paragraphs by Dr. Cairns. A minority synod of the Free
Presbyterian Church of Victoria, of which Miller became the moderator on 14 April continued.
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of the Free Church of
Scotland. The Assembly would not receive him as a deputy of the Free Presbyterian Church of Victoria, but only as one of a body "calling itself" the Free Presbyterian Church of Victoria. This he declined. On the advice of friends, he appealed to appear by way of petition as an
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Miller laboured faithfully as a minister of the Free
Presbyterian Church of Victoria, and was spoken of as "highly esteemed", "possessing good abilities", "amiable in character" and "commanding the love and respect of the community". However, he did not have the vision or capacity of James Forbes.
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The rebuff by the
Assembly did not help stability in the Victorian Synod, and this was aggravated by the May 1861 Assembly undertaking, by a vote of 341 to 64, to recognise the minority only if they ceased to claim they represented the position formerly occupied by the Free Presbyterian Church of
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In 1853, Miller was appointed to the church committee which was to investigate and potentially negotiate the basis for union with the various
Presbyterian denominations in Victoria. A union basis between the Free Presbyterian Church of Victoria and the Church of Scotland Synod of Victoria was
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Miller should not be confused with his contemporary Rev
William Baird Millar/er, who belonged to the United Presbyterian Church of Victoria 1851–53, and never held a charge but engaged chiefly in teaching.
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Address on the
Present Position of the Free Presbyterian Church of Victoria delivered at the Close of the Meeting of Synod on 18 April 1865, by the Moderator with Relative Correspondence etc.
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on 17 April and arrived in
Melbourne on 11 September. He was received by the Free Presbyterian Church of Victoria on 22 September, and appointed to the oversight of the John Knox Church in
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having died the previous month. His ministrations were so acceptable that the congregation soon extended a call to him, which he accepted, and was inducted into the charge on 16 December.
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Miller had arrived in
Melbourne the same day as Robert Lawson, the rector appointed by the Free Church of Scotland for the Academy planned by James Forbes and later known as
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It became the only Free Presbyterian Synod when the majority, with the blessing of the Free Church of Scotland, entered into the union forming the
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Letter on the Position and Necessities of the Free Presbyterian Church of Victoria, to the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland
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201:(1835-1912). The kind of union that occurred in Victoria in 1859 did not occur in Scotland until 1900 and 1929.
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Minutes of the Synod of the Free Presbyterian Church of Australia Felix (afterwards Victoria) from 9 June 1847
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Funds were raised to send Miller to Scotland to represent the interests of the minority at the May 1860
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Minutes of John Knox Free Presbyterian Church, Swanston Street 22/11/1846-1/08/1865
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Presbyterian Union in Australia - To the Editor of the Scottish Guardian
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He married Mary Brisbane (1818-1894), an industrial school teacher from
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the son of John Miller and Isabella Wilson. He studied Divinity at
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Miller returned to Britain around March 1865, where he served the
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by James Campbell Robinson, W.A. Hammer, Melbourne VIC 1947.
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on 21 March 1851. No children have been identified to date.
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individual. The Assembly urged reconciliation and reunion.
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1851–64, and was the first Chairman of the council of
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19th-century Ministers of the Free Church of Scotland
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by Rev. Arthur Paul, Walker May, Melbourne VIC 1865.
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Union in Victoria. Additional Extracts with remarks.
278:The Edinburgh Presbytery and the Australian Union
394:19th-century Australian Presbyterian ministers
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389:19th-century Scottish Presbyterian ministers
185:in April 1859 on a basis drawn up in 1858.
324:The Free Presbyterian Church of Australia
68:Learn how and when to remove this message
142:on 14 August 1849, and was ordained for
31:This article includes a list of general
332:by Rowland S. Ward, Melbourne VIC 1989.
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379:Australian people of Scottish descent
212:for some years, before he retired to
92:who served the John Knox Church, cnr
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262:Free Presbyterian Church in Victoria
90:Free Presbyterian Church of Victoria
37:it lacks sufficient corresponding
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374:Australian Presbyterian ministers
120:He was born on 4 August 1815 in
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183:Presbyterian Church of Victoria
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344:PCEA Archives, Wantirna, Vic.
224:on 10 August 1874 aged 59.
206:English Presbyterian Church
131:Miller was licensed by the
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258:(sermon, Melbourne n.d. ).
309:Annals of the Free Church
222:Callander railway station
106:Scotch College, Melbourne
284:, Edinburgh 1861, 12pp).
154:, its founding minister
350:PCV Archives, Melbourne
133:Free Church of Scotland
52:more precise citations.
399:Australian republicans
290:(Edinburgh 1861, 4pp).
268:, Glasgow 1861, 20pp).
126:New College, Edinburgh
210:St Helens, Lancashire
330:The Bush Still Burns
274:(Glasgow 1861, 2pp).
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256:Victorian Pulpit #5
199:James Oswald Dykes
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282:The Witness
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358:Categories
295:References
140:Linlithgow
136:Presbytery
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214:Callander
144:Melbourne
102:Melbourne
100:streets,
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190:Assembly
148:Victoria
98:Swanston
80:The Rev
318:Sources
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