1947 Eddie Miller, Boxer from Blantyre
Thank you to Michael Gillan who nominated Blantyre boxer, Eddie Miller into our Hall of Fame.Michael emailed me, “Eddie was a Blantyre person who moved to Australia and became featherweight champion of Australia, beating Ronnie clayton for the british empire featherweight championship.”
Eddie Miller was born in Blantyre, Scotland on May 10th 1917. At the height of his fame, he weighed 9 st. 0 lbs.- Height 5 ft. 5 ins.- Reach 68 ins, putting him into featherweight category.
In 1927, he emigrated to Australia with his parents. Fighting in Australia, his ultimate objective was always to win the British Empire Featherweight title. After winning in 1947, he retired to bookmaking, where he did well, commenting it was a lot easier than boxing. He also ran a successful gym. He died in 1991.
You can watch a former opponent remember Eddie here
My father was always very proud of coming from Blantyre and would tell stories about it to his children. Here is some additional information if you’re interested.
His father was a coal miner in Blantyre. The family left Scotland in 1926 (not 1927 as stated in the article), at a time when many people were emigrating from Scotland to the US, Canada and Australia. When they first arrived in Australia, the family settled in the mining town of Kandos, in the Central West of New South Wales. The family later moved to Sydney.
When the Depression hit, as an elder son he left home to make his own way while still a teenager. There were 11 children in the family and not enough to go around. It was around this time that he took up boxing as a way to make a living.
In 1942, when his career was at its peak, he moved to Melbourne, which was my mother’s home town.
Dad went to Britain after the war to further his career in boxing. He spent several months there working as a professional boxer. He was looking for a chance at the Empire title, but his challenge was not accepted. During that time, he and my mother visited Blantyre and stayed with members of his extended family (uncles, cousins, etc.).
After boxing, he was a trainer for a while. This is before my own memory, but I heard from family stories that he was one of the coaches of the Australian boxing team at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. Until the mid-50s he ran a hotel in Carlton (a suburb of Melbourne) and then ran a taxi business in the pretty seaside town of Mornington, which is South of Melbourne.
Dad passed away at the age of 76 in 1993, having been born in 1916 (not 1917).
Thank you Mark. I will make the corrections in the archive and in any future text. Appreciated sincerely.