Born as Millie Haring on 8 April 1922 her birth was registered in Shoreditch. She was the youngest of the five children of Barney Haring (1880-1947) and Sarah Haring née Zomerplaag (1888-1966). She had two elder brothers, Henry Haring, also known as Harry Haring (1911-1996) and Pierre Haring who was born in 1913 and died in infancy the following year. Her elder sister, Rachel Haring (1909-1942), married Gerson Levie (1904-1943) and lived in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. They had two children and were all victims of the Holocaust. Her sister and both children were murdered on 8 October 1942 at the Auschwitz Concentration Camp in German occupied Poland. A younger sister Yetta Haring (1924-2014) was also born in Shoreditch.
When she was aged seven, she moved to Stoke Newington and attended Princess May School. She won a scholarship to Owen's School but left at the age of sixteen..
The 1939 England and Wales Register shows her living at 16 Brighton Road, Stoke Newington, with her parents and brother Harry. Her occupation was shown as a shorthand typist whilst her father was a traveller in electrical accessories, previously a diamond polisher and her brother a ladies and gents hairdresser, previously a carpenter.
In 1940 she married Montague Miller (1918-1999) in Stepney and they had two children, Elizabeth S. Miller b.1946 and Bernard D. Miller b.1949. Telephone directories from 1961 onwards show her husband listed at 105 Highgate West Hill, London, N.6.
She was a social worker and studied for a Social Science Diploma at London University
A Labour Party politician, she was chairman of the Housing Committee for the Borough of Stoke Newington, vice-chairman of the governors of Woodberry Down Comprehensive School, president of the Stoke Newington International Baden-Powell Guild, leader of women's organisations of the Labour Party, and chair of the Area Advisory Committee and London Advisory Council. She served as Mayor of Stoke Newington in 1957-58 and during this time she set up a voluntary committee of local organisations concerned with visiting the elderly and disabled. In 1965, when the Borough of Stoke Newington was abolished and became part of the London Borough of Camden, she continued to be elected as a councillor and served as the Mayor of Camden in 1967-68. She was the first woman to lead a London Borough when she became the leader of Camden Council from 1971 to 1973. She failed by 285 votes to become the member of parliament for Ilford North in the general election held on 28 February 1974 but was elected for the same constituency in the general election held later that year on 10 October 1974 with a majority of 778 votes.
She died, aged 55 years, on 29 October 1977 and her death was registered in the North Buckinghamshire district. She was cremated in Islington on 22 November 1977. Probate records confirm that her home address remained as 105 Highgate West Hill, London, N6 and when administration was granted on 22 September 1978 her effects totalled £19,682.
Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan
