Steve Hayes wrote: > One of my ancestors is described in the 1851 census as a "sworn corn miler". > > Anyone know what that is? > > I assume that "miler" is a misspelling of "miller", but though I'bve heard of > sworn appraisers, I've never heard of a sworn corn miller before. > There's a reference to 'sworn millers' here http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=64797 "They might grind corn at the mill of the lord at a fixed multure, and the commonalty chose two sworn millers and one page, who might not be appointed or removed without their consent." I presume that was to ensure that all the corn brought to the mill to be ground was returned as flour, without some being skimmed off by the miller. Anne Chambers South Australia anne dot chambers at bigpond dot com