Miller Ships

by John Manley

 

As well as trains H.W.Miller also produced a number of ships, some appear to form series or sets.  I'm not sure of the exact numbers produced, but many were sold, like the train badges, to raise funds for the Railway Servants Orphanage.  I've done some limited research, which is far from complete, that has shed a little light on their origins.

 

Many of the ships were owned by railway companies and were in effect a continuation of the railways across the seas to the various islands within the British Isles.  The London, Midland and Scottish Railway owned the following ships, all of these were produced by Miller, and are of identical form:-

 

Duke of Lancaster (1928-1956)
Duke of Rothesay (1928-1956)
Duke of Argyll (1928-1956)
Duke of York (1935-1975)

 

The years refer to the dates in service by the LMS.  Ships were often renamed and the practice of using old names over and over again really confuses the situation.  The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway, and the North Western Railway also had a Duke of Argyll together with a Duke of Cumberland, but I've not seen a Miller ship with this name so I think it was the LMS ship.  The Duke of Lancaster was also produced as a ships wheel as well, but the ship has two funnels and is clearly a different ship.  This would appear to be part of a series with the Duchess of Montrose and R.M.S. Hibernia as they are identical.  Others may also have been issued like this?

 

Duke of Lancaster
Duchess of Montrose (1930-1965) owned by Caledonian Steam Packet Company.  There were also a Duchess of Argyll and Duchess of Hamilton but I've not seen badges of these names.
R.M.S. Hibernia

 

The Liverpool & North Wales Steamship Company had three ships that operated between Liverpool, Isle of Man and Llandudno all of which were made by Miller:-

St.Tudno (1926-1963)
St.Seiriol (1931-1962)
St.Trillio (1936-1962)

 

London & North Western Railway had two ships:-

 

Cambria (1920-1949)
Hibernia (1920-1949)

 

These both have the British Railways logo so must be post 1948, and as the ships went out of service in 1949 this further narrows down the date. (?)

 

I have no idea about the following two ships, but the badges are the commonest of all, and are identical:-

Jeannie Deans
Waverley

 

The following five ships were used on Lake Windermere, and appear to exists in two shades of blue, the pale blue version not having the Miller mark.  The Teal and Swan are the same ship, but the Cygnet and Swift are different:-

The Teal	The Swan
The Cygnet	The Swift
The Tern	I need this one to complete the set!

 

Finally there are a few miscellaneous badges which may or may not complete the Miller ships.  Some or all of these may have been similarly sold as the above.  I await fellow collectors responses.

Glen Usk
Brighton Queen
Scillorian
Queen of the Isles
Brixham Belle.  Not really a ship, but a boat