Robert Millis 3
- Born: 22 Nov 1851, Forgandenny, PER, Scotland, UK
- Marriage (1): Annie Wylie on 5 Jan 1869 in Thames, Coromandel, NZ 1
- Marriage (2): Mary Ellen Kelly on 6 Oct 1924 2
- Died: 11 Aug 1934, Auckland, New Zealand aged 82 4
- BuriedMale: 13 Aug 1934, Auckland, New Zealand 5
 General Notes:
Robert worked as a Printing Engineer in Dunedin.
In 1888 he founded the engineering firm of R. Millis & Son.
In the 1920s he went to England to patent a flat-bottomed bag making machine but sold the patent.
Back in New Zealand he worked on a machine to harness tidal energy. 6
Death Notes:
Age:82-83
Burial Notes:
There is one gravestone at the family plot The inscription reads;" Sacred to the memory of James beloved husband of Mary E. Wylie died 5th April, 1924 aged 66 Also of Robert Millis 11th August 1934 aged 83 yrs also Amelia Kelly, John Kelly, Alice Kelly RIP." Note date of death on the inscription is different to the death certificate (11th instead of 10th August)
Noted events in his life were:
• Alt. Birth, Sep Q 1848, Tonbridge, KEN, England, UK. Volume no: 5
Page no: 527
• Alt. Birth, 22 Nov 1850, , Perthshire, Scotland, United Kingdom. 7
• Immigration: on the Aldergrove from Greenock, Scotland, 25 Jul 1875, Dunedin, , , NZL. 8
• Occupation: Printer, 1890, Dunedin, , , NZL.
• Invention: Wave harnessing generator, Cir 1900. 9 Power from the waves of St Clair
A FRIEND showed me the accompanying photograph, taken about the turn of the century, which shows a group of interested persons watching something unusual going on at a point on the cliffs beyond St Clair. It was a demonstration by a Dunedin inventor to show how he could harness the power of the waves.
The idea of obtaining a workable power of commercial value from the force exerted by the action or movement of the waves has long attracted engineers and inventors the world over. Various ideas have been put forward from time to time, and it is interesting that Dunedin should have made its contribution.
It was in 1903 that a Dunedin man, Robert Miller, patented a method which, according to his own theories and tests, was practical in a limited way. On a Wednesday afternoon in March that year, a group of people gathered at the caves, a mile or so along the coast southward from Cargill Castle at 5t Clair to see the inventor demonstrate his project.
He had chosen an inlet along this rugged coast at the foot of the sandstone cliffs, and here he had floated a pontoon of logs weighing about six hundredweight with a wire rope attached to each corner. These ropes were led through a series of pulley blocks which were suspended from a cable stretched across the inlet, as can be seen in the photograph.
The ropes were attached to sprocket chains which passed over ratchet wheels running on a spindle. The ratchets were free wheels, similar to the free wheel of a bicycle. Each time the float sunk between the waves, the ropes communicated power to the machine; again in much the same way as when a bicycle pedal is pushed down. The ratchet ran free-when the pontoon rose with each succeeding waves. The power so generated was transmitted by a cog to a flywheel.
Spectators saw the flywheel rotating at a high speed and steadily exerting about one horse-power. The advantage of the ropes being attached to the four corners of the pontoon was that as one corner might be rising another might be falling, so that every movement of the pontoon was turned -to account. There were therefore four rackets on the spindle, one for each rope; :and this supplied a continuity of movement and steadiness to the drive. In order to take , up the slack of the chains on their return, counterweights were suspended.
Mr Millis claimed that for each ton of float one horsepower could be gained. He estimated that a 500-ton-float would provide 500 horse-power. He reckoned that in such a large generator, governors and a heavy flywheel would be required to deal with the intermittent power difficulty.
Those present at the demonstration could find no fault in the driving force supplied by the flywheel, which showed no perceptible irregularity. It was Mr Millis's contention that such a machine, set up in a suitable bay on the sea coast, should be able to provide sufficient power to be converted into electricity for use in Dunedin. His intention was to build a larger machine in place of the demonstration one.
At present, no report of this further development of the project has been traced.
I wonder what did happen to Robert Millis's invention
The Otago Daily Times1980 - 1990
By Dunedin historian Hardwicke Knight
• Occupation: Engineer, 1907, Dunedin, , , NZL. 10 The following is the wording of an advertisement in Wise's NZ Post Office Directory 1907
R MILLIS & SON
General Engineers & Machinists
19 Bath Street, Dunedin
Engines and Machinery of every description erected and repaired. Machinery Knives and Dies made and re-ground. Plans prepared and Estimates given for Special Machinery. Jobbing Work and Orders of all kinds executed with dispatch.
Telephone No. 506
• Occupation: Engineer, 1912, Dunedin, , , NZL. 11
• Invention: Patent granted for improvements in and relating to lifts, 10 Apr 1930.
Robert married Annie Wylie on 5 Jan 1869 in Thames, Coromandel, NZ.1 (Annie Wylie was born on 5 May 1853 in Glasgow, LKS, Scotland, UK 7 and died on 28 Dec 1922 in Auckland, New Zealand 12.)
Noted events in their marriage were:
• Residence, 1893, Dunedin, , , NZL. Eden Street, Dunedin Central
• Residence, 1906, Dunedin, , , NZL. 130 Maitland Avenue, Dunedin
• Residence, 1911, Dunedin, , , NZL. 272 Main Road, Normandy, Dunedin
Robert next married Mary Ellen Kelly on 6 Oct 1924.2 (Mary Ellen Kelly was born in 1872 in Manchester, LAN, England, UK and died in 1958 in Auckland, New Zealand 13.)
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