William Miller

Who was William Miller?

William Miller, also known as Professor William Miller, was an Australian athlete, the only athlete to hold Australian championships for boxing, fencing, wrestling and weight-lifting.

Miller was born in Liscard, Cheshire, England, the son of Alexander Miller, a wine and spirits merchant, and his wife Sarah Anne, née Hatton. At age 5, William Miller arrived in Victoria, Australia with his family. From 1862 to 1869, Miller worked for the Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company as station-master and telegraph instructor.

Miller became proprietor of the Melbourne Gymnasium, and instructor to some the leading Melbourne schools. Miller won the Australian broadsword championship in 1872. In the USA from 1874 to 1880 he defeated cosmopolitan champions in boxing and wrestling, out of 72 matches, he had 55 wins and 11 draws. In 1879 he defeated Duncan Ross walking over 102 miles in 24 hours and drew with the champion weight-lifter Richard Pennell, both lifting 1550 lbs. of iron.

In 1895 Miller published Health, Exercise and Amusement in Melbourne. In 1903 Miller returned to the USA and became manager of the San Francisco Athletic Club and later athletic instructor with the New York police. Miller lived in Baltimore from 1917 and died there on 11 March 1939. After his death, The Baltimore Sun described him as 'one of the greatest all-round athletes in the world'.