The colonial despatches of Vancouver Island and British Columbia 1846-1871
Miller, William
William Miller was born in 1795. He served in the field train of the Royal Artillery during the Iberian campaigns
of 1811–14 and participated in the expedition to New Orleans.1 Fluency in Spanish allowed him to join the revolutionary forces in South America
where he took a prominent role in several battles to liberate Chile and Peru.2 Simon Bolivar promoted him for these exploits, and he eventually held the rank of
Grand Marshal of Peru.3
However, disagreements with the new government led to his banishment in 1839.4 Four years later he was appointed British Consul General of the Pacific Islands,
primarily Hawaii.5 He negotiated commercial treaties with the Hawaiian government and corresponded with
James Douglas concerning British military deployments in the Pacific.6
For his heavy-handed attempts to secure a favourable lease of property in Honolulu,
he was rebuked by Lord Palmerston for the offensive character, irritating tone, and disputatious style of his communications with the local government.7 In 1859 he returned to Peru and died two years later under a British flag on a warship in
Callao harbour.8