Charles William Miller [1874-1953]
Charles was born in Sao Paulo in 1874 to a Scottish father and a mother of Brazilian/ English descent. At the age of 10 years he was sent over to Southampton for schooling and soon picked up the skills of soccer and cricket. He played in a match of the MCC v Hampshire but luck was not on side as he scored but 12 runs.
In 1893-4 season Miller played for
St Mary's a teamconsisting of mainly
choirboys from St Mary's Church
that later became known as
"The Saints".
On completion of his education he worked for a shipping line, the Royal Mail line, and in 1894 returned to his homeland and worked for the Sao Paulo Railway but continued his association with shipping as he acted as the Royal Mail Steamship Company's agent. In 1904 he was appointed as Acting British Vice Consul.
In 1939 on a visit to England with his daughter he narrowly escaped death in the first IRA bombing on the mainland. Heading to Waterloo Undergound station, his daughter made him pause to admire a display in a shop window when the bomb detonated ahead.
Charles had acquired multi skills at ball games and introduced rugby and soccer to Brazil as league sports and formed Sao Paulo Athletic Club. With Charles playing as striker SPAC won the championship in 1902 - 4. However in 1906 he was playing in goal when the team was defeated by 9 to 1, a day that he was never to forget in the years ahead.