Patrick Miller (died 26 February 1845) was a Scottish officer in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

and a politician. He sat in the

House of Commons of Great Britain The House of Commons of Great Britain was the lower house of the Parliament of Great Britain between 1707 and 1801. In 1707, as a result of the Acts of Union of that year, it replaced the House of Commons of England and the third estate of th ...

from 1790 to 1796. He was the son of Patrick Miller of Dalswinton, an

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

banker. He was a nephew of Sir Thomas Miller, 1st Baronet and a first cousin of William Miller (1755–1846). He became a captain the in

14th Dragoons The 14th King's Hussars was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1715. It saw service for two centuries, including the First World War, before being amalgamated with the 20th Hussars to form the 14th/20th King's Hussars in 192 ...

in 1789, and was with his regiment in Ireland when he was elected at the 1790 general election as the MP for Dumfries Burghs. The election was fiercely contested, with Miller's patron the 4th Duke of Queensberry spending over £8,000, while rival candidate Sir James Johnstone spent over £12,000 (equivalent to £ in ). Johnstone lodged a

petition A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offici ...

, but Miller's election was upheld on 1 April 1791. Miller left the army in 1791, and although he does not appear to have spoken in Parliament, he did vote in

division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

s. However, his record was inconsistent, as he followed the shifting politics of his patron Queensberry. He did not stand for re-election in the 1796 general election. In 1806 he wrote to Charles Fox seeking his support for a re-entry to Parliament, and apologising for his previous erratic conduct. He explained that this was due to Queensberry's "silly and selfish views", but his efforts were unsuccessful.

References

Year of birth unknown 1845 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies British MPs 1790–1796 14th King's Hussars officers {{UK-army-bio-stub