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Hugh Miller (1802 – 1856)
Hugh Miller is one of the most famous figures in Scottish geology. Although only living until the age of fifty-four, Miller would become a writer, folklorist, stonemason, fossil hunter, lecturer, traveller, man of faith, social justice campaigner, journalist, and newspaper editor.
Hugh Miller was born in Cromarty in 1802 in a thatched cottage built in the 1700s by his ancestor (a pirate of the Caribbean). When Hugh was five years old, his father was tragically lost at sea. Without a father figure, he became a troublesome child and quit school aged fifteen and joined his uncles as a stonemason. In 1820, whilst working at a quarry on the Black Isle, Miller found his first Jurassic ammonite fossil and discovered geology. Ten years later in 1830, he found the first of his famous fossil fish from the Old Red Sandstone formation (formed at the bottom of an ancient lake over 385 million years ago). Being self-taught without a formal education, Miller gave an account of his finds in his book “Scenes and Legends” (1835) which got him noticed by the wider scientific community many of whom travelled to Cromarty to meet him; among them Louis Agassiz who scientifically described Miller’s fish fossils.
Hugh Miller Bust At Birthplace Cottage Museum Like most scientists during the early 19th century, Hugh Miller was a creationist and did not believe in evolution. He did however acknowledge the Genesis story may not be entirely correct, realising Earth was far older than the 6,000-year age originally suggested. In his early twenties, he became an Evangelical and spoke out against religious injustice and intrusion into the Church of Scotland. In 1840, he moved to Edinburgh with his family to pursue a career as editor of The Witness newspaper which championed the evangelical message. When the Great Schism in the Church took place in 1843, Miller joined the newly formed Free Church of Scotland.
Hugh Miller would go on to publish several books on geology, including his most famous in 1841: “The Old Red Sandstone; or New Walks in an Old Field”. He also corresponded with the likes of Charles Darwin, Roderick Murchison, and Richard Owen, and in 1852 became the president of the Royal Physical Society in Edinburgh and gave lectures on geology to crowds of thousands. Tragically however, in December 1856, Miller took his own life and was later buried in The Grange cemetery in Edinburgh.
In 1890, Hugh Miller’s two sons opened his historic birthplace cottage as a museum. In 1938 it was acquired by the recently formed National Trust for Scotland, Scotland’s largest conservation charity, who still care for both it and Miller House next door (Built by Hugh’s father in 1797). One of the very few museums worldwide that is devoted solely to the work of a single geologist, it has a large variety of historic artefacts on display including a letter written by Charles Darwin and a mourning ring dedicated to Miller that was found in South Africa. The museum also has a collection of Miller’s fossils on display, as well as a handling collection of local and international fossils: from ammonite and fish fossils found on the Black Isle, to mammoth hair from Russia, and megalodon shark teeth from the USA. The museum offers a wide range of citizen science activities throughout the year, including fossil hunting walks along Cromarty beach where Miller made his most famous discoveries. You can find out more about the museum and these science workshops by visiting the National Trust for Scotland’s website at:NTS Hugh Miller’s Birthplace Museum
Hugh Miller's Birthplace and Museum Gallery
Image credit: Hugh Miller’s Birthplace NTS