Finding a Future is the story of a family’s pursuit of independence;
hard-working northern Europeans and new generations who find lives in
New Zealand, Australia, and the United States. Rodney Miller shares how
the unspoken past of voyage takers enabled new lives in new worlds, by
taking hazardous sea journeys to escape hardship, old-world poverty,
disease or persecution. As Miller explores family history, he uncovers
the life of ancestors in the poorest parts of Scotland, England,
Northern Ireland, and Germany. In this family history and personal
memoir, he sketches lives from the 1700s in the old world to new
opportunities in far-off lands. He shares reminiscence and glimpses of
Australia through to the 1970s, as he grew up to find his own future.
Miller finds ancestors’ transformations from laborer to quartermaster,
footman to farmer, gravedigger to greengrocer, schoolteacher to court
officer, and salesman to senior manager. With views into old worlds and
new, this is a story of grit and commitment, of family joys and
premature loss, of love pursued, and solitude endured… a warm
remembrance of the valued lives of forebears, family, and friends.
