Group portrait of Sir Nicholas Miller (d. 1658), of Oxenhoath, Kent, with his wife, Anne, and one of his daughters, all full-length, a spaniel at their side, in a landscape with mounted cavalry beyond

Sir Nicholas Miller (d. 1658), of Oxenhoath, Kent, was the son of Nicholas Miller, of Horsnells Crouch, in Wrotham, Kent, who was Sheriff of Kent, and his wife, Jane, daughter of John Polley, of Preston, Kent. The sitter's father had purchased the Manor of Oxenhoath, in the parish of West Peckham, Kent, originally owned by the Culpeper family, from Sir George Chowne, of Fairlane. The sitter's wife, Anne, was the daughter of William Style, of Langley, Kent, and the sister of Sir Humphrey Style, of Langley, Kent. The Style family had come to prominence at the outset of the 16th century through the successful mercantile activities of Sir John Style, Anne's great-great-grandfather, who became an Alderman of the City of London. A double portrait of Sir Humphrey Style and his wife Elizabeth (English School, c. 1640), was sold at Christie's, London, 16 June 2005, lot 203. The contents of Langley Park were sold by Knight Frank & Rutley in June 1917.

Sir Nicholas Miller and his wife had four daughters, Jane, Anne, Elizabeth and Margaret, and four sons. Their eldest son, Humphrey (d. 1709), was created a Baronet in 1660 and served as Sheriff of Kent in 1666, and on his son Sir Borlace Miller's death in 1714, the estate of Oxenhoath was inherited by Borlace's sister, Elizabeth, who had married Leonard Bartholomew, of Rochester.

Sir Nicholas Miller is shown in military dress in this portrait, with a mounted cavalry beyond. The Millers were prominent supporters of the Royalist cause in Kent during the Civil War (see A. Everitt, The Community of Kent and the Great Rebellion 1640-60, Leicester, 1966, p. 215).