Miller was born in Chesterfield, though the family moved to Stockton when Henry was young. He entered the Newcastle College of Medicine in 1931 and was a houseman at Great Ormond Street in 1939. Because of his sartorial elegance, he was known in his registrar days as 'Gorgeous' Miller. He rose to become Professor of Neurology and Dean of Medicine at Newcastle and, from 1968, vice-chancellor of the university, where the neurological departments he established rapidly acquired an international reputation.
Miller was a big man in every way, full of energy, clinical ability and with a spiky flow of language. His views were outspoken and sometimes controversial - he attacked the prohibition of cannabis, and doubted the wisdom of artificial life support for the incurably ill. As well as being Secretary-General of the World Federation of Neurology, and President of the Associations of Physicians of Great Britain and Ireland, he became a public figure and frequent broadcaster. His main research interest was multiple sclerosis, and textbooks like Diseases of the Nervous System and his monograph Medicine and Society (1974) will be a lasting memorial. He died in Jesmond of heart disease.
Lord Walton of Detchant, born in Rowlands Gill and educated at Spennymoor, has been a worthy successor and has headed the Muscular Dystrophy group of Great Britain. His fascinating autobiography From Northumbria to World Neurology is rich in local detail and contains a glowing tribute to Henry Miller.