Philip John Miles

Son of William Miles (1728-1805) and Ann Barrow or Berrow, cousin of William Miles (1791-1844) and father of Philip William Skynner Miles (q.v.). Major owner and mortgagee of 'slave-property' in Jamaica, and one of the very few millionaires dying in Britain before 1850.

1. Married (1) Maria Whetham (?-22 June 1811) daughter of Very Rev. Arthur Whetham 1795; (2) Clarissa Peach (?-22 June 1868) (daughter of Samuel Peach Peach and Clarissa Partridge, and grand-daughter of Henry Cruger) 11/05/1813. Political dynasty included Philip John Miles's son by first marriage: Sir William Miles 1st bart., (13 May 1797-17 Jun 1878) MP for Chippenham 1818-20; New Romney 1830-32; East Somerset 1834-65); Sir William's son Sir Philip John William Miles 2nd bart. (1825-1888, Conservative MP for East Somerset 1878-1885). [For the latter's will, leaving personal estate of £12,125 8s 0d, proved 1888, see National Probate Calendar, 1888.] By his 2nd marriage, Philip William Skynner Miles (1816-1881), MP for Bristol 24 July 24 1837-7 July 1852. [Succeeded his father] [See separate entry for P. W. S. Miles]. His children were: With (1): Sarah Agatha; Elizabeth; Millicent; Agatha; Sir William, 1st Bt. (13 May 1797-17 Jun 1878). With (2): Philip William Skynner (1816-1881); Clara Philippa; J. W. (?-1878); George Frederick William; Ellen; Colonel Charles William; Sybilla Mary (?-24 Dec 1889); Marianne Adelaide; Robert Henry William (1818-1883); Edward Peach William (1829-1881).

2. Described by Rubinstein as a banker (Miles & Co.) 'his father was a planter and then a merchant in Bristol.  William Miles (given by Rubinstein as 1728-28/03/1803) 'went to Jamaica as a young man and acquired a fortune as a merchant. He was then a leading merchant in Bristol and a landowner in Somerset.' P.J. Miles' daughter Marianne married in 1860 Sir Patrick MacDougall (1814-94)'.  P.J. Miles 'was a super-rich Bristol merchant and then (chiefly) a banker in Bristol who remains almost totally unknown'. Left 'Upper Value' (i.e., over £1 million).  William Miles (1791-13/11/1844 at Aix-la-Chapelle), of Manilla Hall Clifton, son of Philip Miles (1735-1823 a partner in Miles' Bank in Bristol) and Elizabeth Peachey, married 1823 Frances Jebb daughter of Joshua Jebb of Walton Hall Derbyshire (dsp), left £160,000: Rubinstein shows him as shipowner and West India merchant and as identified with the firm of 'William Miles and Thomas Kingston' attributed to the 1826 Bristol Directory.

3. Rubinstein has Eliza (or Elizabeth) Miles (probably 1779-02/02/1862) as presumably the last surviving child of Philip Miles (the cousin of Philip John Miles), leaving £140,000.  

4. Philip John Miles bought Abbots Leigh in 1811 and on the estate built Leigh Court between 1814 and 1818.

5. His son Edward Peach William Miles married Olivia Cave, granddaughter of John Cave (q.v.). Edward became a partner in the firm Kington, Miles and Co, which did extensive trade in New Zealand from the 1850s-90s.This represented a diversification from the firm's earlier interest in the Caribbean but was a direct continuation of its colonial trading activities. After Thomas Kington's death, Edward became senior partner of the firm (renamed Miles & Co) and was joined by Fullbert Archer (husband of Mary Elizabeth Cave) as partner. Edward Peach William Miles also held several prominent directorships across the imperial world, including: the New Zealand Shipping Company, The Union Bank of Australia, The London and Westminster Bank, The Panama, New Zealand and Australian Royal Mail Company and remained a member of the Society of Merchant Venturers in Bristol.

6. The portrait of Miles is by John Young. Mezzotint, 1822, 6 7/8 in. x 5 in. (174 mm x 128 mm). National Portrait Gallery: NPG D3657.

7. In addition to the estates listed below, Philip John Miles and Thomas Kington appear to have held a mortgage of £35,000 over the estates of William Shand (q.v.).

1. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage 107th edition (2003) Vol. 2 p. 2689.

2. William D. Rubinstein, Who were the rich? A biographical dictionary of British wealth-holders Volume Two 1840-1859 (MS) references 1845/17 and 1845/18. Life dates from this source. R. H. Vetch, ‘MacDougall, Sir Patrick Leonard (1819–1894)’, rev. Roger T. Stearn, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2004); online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/17470, accessed 12 /08/2012].

3. William D. Rubinstein, Who were the rich? A biographical dictionary of British wealth-holders Volume Two 1840-1859 MS, reference 1862/34.

4. William Evans, Abbots Leigh: a Village History (Bristol, Abbots Leigh Civic Society, 2002).

5. See various reports throughout New Zealand press, available through Papers Past: http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast; Lyttelton Times, Volume XII, Issue 730, 5 November 1859, p. 1.

6. Online at National Portrait Gallery website.

7. Bristol Archives 40114/1 Description: Duplicate Mortgage in £35,000 + interest '1. William Shand, late of the island of Jamaica, but now in Arnhall, co. Kincardine, Scotland, esq., 2. Philip John Miles of Lee Court, par. Abbotts Lee, co. Somerset, and also of the city of Bristol, merchant. 3. P.J. Miles (above) and Thomas Kington of the city of Bristol, merchants and co-partners. Premises: a sugar plantation in par. Clarendon, Jamaica, called Kellits, about 3,000 acres; a coffee plantation in the same par., called The Burn; a pen in the same par. called Mammee Gulley, about 1,000 acres; a sugar plantation in the parish St. John, Jamaica, called Belmont, about 1,500 acres; and all the negroes and other slaves belonging to these premises (a schedule of whom is included). Attached : 1833 March 22 Affidavit sworn before the Lord Mayor of London by witness to the execution of the above Date: 1833 March 12.'

We are grateful to Elisabeth Frankish for her help compiling this entry.