Jenny Hutton messaged saying, “My ancestors John Connal (Connel) and his wife Margaret are referred to as the Millers of Millheugh Mill on their children’s church birth records in the late 1700s to early 1800s. I don’t know how long they were there or if they lived out their lives there. Any help would be welcomed.”

I replied to:

Hi Jenny. Thanks for your message (which I’ve finally got round to!). It was great to add John Connal’s name to the list of Millers at that location, which I know was John Miller in 1760 and Alexander Corse in 1799.

Millheugh Mill (Millheugh with 2 Ls at that earlier time) was located at the bottom of the Pech Brae, the steep hill that drops to the side of the Calder River. It was powered by a lade running through the Millheugh Estate, then at the time owned by the Miller family.

This was a time prior to census and valuation roll, so it will be extremely difficult to ascertain when the couple lived there, or moved away, although I would point to death certificates which may at least indicate if they were in the general area.

The old mill is no longer there, but there’s a great sketch of it from 1799 by Jean Claude Nattes.