Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1947 - 1987 (Accumulation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
3 cm of textual materials
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Thomas Reagh Millman was born in Kensington, Prince Edward Island on June 14, 1905. He was educated at Prince of Wales College, Charlottetown, University College, Toronto (B.A. 1931, M.A. 1933), Wycliffe College (L.Th. 1933, B.D. 1938) and McGill University where he received his doctorate in 1943, which was published with the University of Toronto Press (1947).
He was ordained deacon in 1933 and ordained priest in 1934. From 1935 until 1941 Dr. Millman was lecturer and dean of residence at the Montreal Diocesan Theological College. From 1950-1954 he was professor of church history at Huron College, London, Ontario, and from 1954 until he retired in 1974 he was professor of church history at Wycliffe College. He was also associated with the Toronto School of Theology. He was awarded the degree of D.D. by the University of Western Ontario in 1953, by Wycliffe College in 1974 and Trinity College in 1977 and the degree of D.C.L. by the University of King’s College, Halifax in 1974.
As a parish priest Dr. Millman served first at Grafton in the Diocese of Toronto, then from 1941 to 1949 he was rector of Dunham and Frelighsberg (St. Armand East) in the Diocese of Montreal and finally at Alvinston with Inwood in the Diocese of Huron. He was made a Canon of St. James Cathedral, Toronto in 1969 and was an honorary assistant for over 40 years at St. Timothy’s Church, Toronto.
Dr. Millman was the first archivist of the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada, serving from 1955 until 1974, as well as a founder of the Canadian Church Historical Society. While in the Diocese of Montreal he was one of the founders of the Montreal Diocesan Archives, along with the Reverends S.B. Lindsay and R.K. Naylor and Professor J.I. Cooper.
Dr. Millman was a church historian who published many works. His first two books were biographies, Jacob Mountain, First Lord Bishop of Quebec (1947) and The Life of the Right Reverend, the Honourable Charles Stewart, Second Anglican Bishop of Quebec (1953). In 1983 he published Atlantic Canada to 1900: A History of the Anglican Church, which was started by Canon A.R. Kelly; Dr. Millman completed the book after the death of Canon Kelly in 1961. Dr. Millman was also a contributor to the Dictionary of Canadian Biography and was also published in the Journal of the Canadian Church Historical Society.
Dr. Millman married Margaret McLeod of Lennoxville, Quebec in 1944. She died in 1991.
Dr. Millman died on November 22, 1996 in Toronto. His funeral took place on November 25, 1996 at St. Timothy’s Church, Toronto. He is buried at St. Stephens, Irishtown, Prince Edward Island.
Repository
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Content and structure area
Scope and content
File contains items related to the Wycliffe College that were not created by Dr. Millman but were included in his personal papers. They are arranged according to the original order, where possible.
There is a letter dated December 28, 1939 from a Public Trustee outlining the bequest to Wycliffe College of $3000 to establish the ‘Parker Scholarship’, as well as a copy of a ledger page showing the scholarship being awarded in 1974. The file contains a one-page document dated February 2, 1973 that outlines the details of the awarding of the Thompson Scholarship.
File contains documents on the history of Wycliffe, author(s) unknown, entitled “Historical Sketch of Wycliffe College” and “A Brief Concerning Wycliffe College”. Included as well is a photocopy of an article entitled “The War and Wycliffe College” from The Varsity Magazine Supplement in 1917. There is also a booklet entitled “The Wycliffe College Fellowship” – with sections ‘What It Is’, ‘Membership’, ‘Wycliffe College’, and ‘The Fellowship Prayer’.
In addition there are documents related to governance at Wycliffe College. The first is an undated report entitled “Wycliffe College: A Commission on Student Government”, outlining suggestions to make Wycliffe more of a community, and of integrating faculty and students. The next is also undated and consists of criticisms made by the Bishop Stephen Neill when he was resident in Wycliffe. Also included is a report with a cover page “The Honourable Mr. Justice Wells, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Wycliffe College, has requested that the following extract from the Annual Report of Dr. Ramsay Armitage be sent to members of the Board and to the Graduates of the College. From the Report of the Principal to the Board of Trustees, Wycliffe College, June 1959.” Another undated report in the file is entitled “Section iv (Churchmanship) of the Report of the Commission on Wycliffe College for submission to the Council and Trustees of the College”. Also included is a copy of the Minutes of the Council and Trustees Meetings held on May 22, 1963, at Wycliffe College.
In addition to these materials there are programs and invitations to Wycliffe College events. Present are the program for the University of Toronto Admission to Degrees, Friday, November 10, 1933, where Dr. Millman received his Master of Arts; a Missionary Convocation invitation from September 1957; the January 1961 invitation and booklet for an event called ‘Wycliffe College at Home”; and the June 27, 1995 invitation to Dr. Millman’s 90th birthday celebration at Cody Library Wycliffe College.
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Related units of description
There are photos of Dr. Millman’s 90th birthday dinner in Series 6, File 2