The Edition
Between The Bids
The Life Of An Auctioneer
Between The Bids is a tribute to honest traders, loyal clients and the enduring value of doing what you said you would do. Told in Andrew Miller's own voice, it opens a window onto a fascinating and seldom-documented industry - and onto the people who built it.
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An Extract
From Yorkshire To Africa
My story doesn't begin with me standing in an auction ring. It begins long before, in Yorkshire, England.
Following the Napoleonic Wars of the early 1800s, Britain faced widespread unemployment. The British government launched a colonisation scheme to settle around 4 000 individuals in the Eastern Cape region of South Africa, both to relieve domestic pressure and to reinforce their frontier against the Xhosa people. Of the tens of thousands of applicants, only about 4 000 were approved, and financial constraints meant only a portion could be transported.
One of the key ships in this initiative was the Nautilus, which departed from Gravesend on 3 December 1819. One of my ancestors, Thomas Miller (born in London in 1793), was a member of John Mandy's party aboard the Nautilus. He had married Mary Ann Rawlins in August 1811 in Hanwell, Middlesex, and they emigrated with their four young children - Sarah (b. 1812), Thomas (b. 1815), Sophia (b. 1817) and James (b. 1819). Carrying little more than their basic belongings, they had sailed south across the Atlantic into complete uncertainty.
Thomas settled successfully, purchasing a farm about six miles southeast of Grahamstown. There, he amassed a notable homestead complete with 150 head of cattle, two wagons, and various farming implements. In 1822, Mary Ann gave birth to their fifth child, John Miller, who was the first Miller born on African soil. She and Thomas had nine children by the time Thomas died in Grahamstown on 7 October 1838, at around age 45.
Continues in Between The Bids, chapter one.
Specifications
| Format | Paperback |
|---|---|
| Pages | 270 |
| Dimensions | 240 × 170mm |
| ISBN | 9781048322521 |
| Category | Biography & Memoirs |
| Published | 2026 |
