I whanau a James Milne, i muri mai i mohiotia ko James Mill, i roto i te Northwater Bridge, i roto i te parakihi o Logie Pert, Angus, Scotland, te tama a James Milne, he kaihanga hu, me te kaiahuwhenua iti. I timata tona whaea, Isabel Fenton, o te hapu i mate i te hononga ki te Stuart ara ake, whakatau e kia whiwhi ia i te mātauranga tuatahi-rate, a ka tonoa ia ki te kura parakihi tuatahi, ka ki te Montrose Academy, i reira noho ia tae noa ki te tau rerekē o tekau ma whitu me te hawhe. Na tomo ia ki te Whare Wānanga o Edinburgh, te wahi i wehe ia ano he kairangahau Kariki. I roto i te Oketopa 1789, i whakaturia ia hei minita o te Ekalesia o Scotland, engari i tutaki ki te angitu iti. E ai ki John Stuart Mill's Autobiography, tona papa, "ahakoa whakaako i roto i te Scotch i te mahi Scotch i roto i, i whakaputaina e tona ake rangahau, me te whakaako i tona ake rua tekau ma rua, i
Te wheketere