Eustace Hamilton Miles (22 September 1868 – 20 December 1948) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

real tennis Real tennis – one of several games sometimes called "the sport of kings" – is the original racquet sport from which the modern game of tennis (also called "lawn tennis") is derived. It is also known as court tennis in the United Sta ...

player who competed in the

1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, United Kingdom, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were ori ...

restaurateur A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspec ...

, and a diet guru who made his name selling health products and health advice to

Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

Britons.

Career

Miles was the grandson of

Sir William Miles, 1st Baronet Sir William Miles, 1st Baronet (13 May 1797 – 17 June 1878), was an English politician, agriculturalist and landowner. He was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford, and was created a baronet on 19 April 1859, of Leigh Court, ...

by his son Captain William Henry Miles, J.P. (1830–1888) and Mary Frances Miles, née Charleton. He was born at

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

and was educated at

Eastbourne College Eastbourne College is a co-educational independent school in the British public school tradition, for day and boarding pupils aged 13–18, in the town of Eastbourne on the south coast of England. The College's headmaster is Tom Lawson. Over ...

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. Founded in 1843 for the sons of Church ...

and King's College,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

. In 1906, Miles married Dorothy Beatrice Harriet Killick (nicknamed Hallie).West Hampstead’s tennis world champion (and food fanatic)
West Hampstead Life. In 1908, he won the Olympic Silver Medal at the age of 39, after losing the final to

Jay Gould II Jay Gould II (September 1, 1888 – January 26, 1935) was an American real tennis player and a grandson of the railroad magnate Jay Gould. He was the world champion (1914–1916) and the Olympic gold medalist (London, 1908, then und ...

, the Bronze Medal was won by The Hon Neville Bulwer-Lytton, later 3rd

Earl of Lytton Earl of Lytton, in the County of Derby, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1880 for the diplomat and poet Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 2nd Baron Lytton. He was Viceroy of India from 1876 to 1880 and British Ambassado ...

. Miles had, in fact, coached the much younger Gould during his stay in America in 1900–2 when he became the first non-American winner of the US Championship in 1900. He won further the amateur racquets championship of the world in singles in 1906 and in doubles in 1902, 1904, 1905 and 1906; and of England in doubles as well as becoming amateur squash racquets champion of America in 1900. He was amateur

champion of England in 1898–1903, 1905, 1906, 1909 and 1911 and amateur real tennis champion of the world in 1898-1903 and 1905. He was a prolific author, including collaborations with lifelong friend E.F. Benson with whom he may have had a college romance, on diverse subjects including health (e.g. "Fitness for Play and Work" 1912), athletics ("An Alphabet of Athletics"), diet ("The Failures of Vegetarianism" 1902), ancient history ("A History of Rome up to 500 AD, with Essays, Maps and Aids to Memory" 1901) and

Classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

("Comparative Syntax of Greek and Latin"). He married Hallie Killick, also an author, and both engaged in philanthropic works including providing free food and clothing to the poor of London, available during winter months near

Cleopatra's Needle Cleopatra's Needles are a separated pair of ancient Egyptian obelisks now in London and New York City. The obelisks were originally made in Heliopolis (modern Cairo) during the New Kingdom period, inscribed by the 18th dynasty pharaoh Thutmose I ...

, a charitable exercise supported strongly by

Queen Alexandra Alexandra of Denmark (Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia; 1 December 1844 – 20 November 1925) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 22 January 1901 to 6 May 1910 as the wife of King ...

Health and Diet

Miles advertised and experimented with different

fad diet A fad diet is a diet that becomes popular for a short time, similar to fads in fashion, without being a standard dietary recommendation, and often making unreasonable claims for fast weight loss or health improvements. There is no single defini ...

s. He originally embraced a

uric acid Uric acid is a heterocyclic compound of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen with the formula C5H4N4O3. It forms ions and salts known as urates and acid urates, such as ammonium acid urate. Uric acid is a product of the metabolic breakdown of ...

-free diet but found it too restricting.Whorton, James C. (2016 edition). ''Crusaders for Fitness: The History of American Health Reformers''. Princeton University Press. pp. 260-262. He later criticized this diet in a booklet ''The Uric Acid Fetish'' (1915). Miles also experimented with

Edward H. Dewey Edward Hooker Dewey (21 May 1837 - 21 December 1904), best known as Edward H. Dewey, was an American physician. He was a pioneer of therapeutic fasting and the inventor of the "No Breakfast Plan". Career Dewey graduated from the College of Medic ...

's "No Breakfast Plan" but abandoned it in favour of his own "No Lunch Plan". Historian

Ina Zweiniger-Bargielowska Ina-Maria Zweiniger-Bargielowska, known professionally as Ina Zweiniger-Bargielowska, is a British-American academic historian specialising in 20th-century Britain. Since 2010, she has been Professor of History at the University of Illinois at ...

has noted that "Miles's comprehensive regimen combined vegetarianism and abstention from alcohol with games, daily practice of gymnastics, personal cleanliness, breathing exercises, and meditation." Miles promoted the concept of "mental hygiene". Miles authored many books on dieting and

vegetarianism Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism may ...

. Miles drew publicity for his article on how to live on a diet of two

plasmon biscuit Plasmon biscuits are a biscuit containing plasmon, a proprietary dried milk. The manufacturers claimed that of plasmon equalled of milk. Plasmon was manufactured by the International Plasmon Company and was added to a number of different produ ...

s and one

lentil The lentil (''Lens culinaris'' or ''Lens esculenta'') is an edible legume. It is an annual plant known for its lens-shaped seeds. It is about tall, and the seeds grow in pods, usually with two seeds in each. As a food crop, the largest pro ...

a day. In 1904, it was humorously reported in ''

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...

'' that during the semi-final of a tennis competition, Miles was surrounded by an angry mob who compelled him to eat a

meat chop A meat chop is a cut of meat cut perpendicular to the spine, and usually containing a rib or riblet part of a vertebra and served as an individual portion. The most common kinds of meat chops are pork and lamb. A thin boneless chop, or one wit ...

. Miles was known for promoting different vegetable diets. He became a vegetarian but refused to be identified under that label as he believed the practice of vegetarianism had many faults, he expounded on these ideas in his book ''The Failures of Vegetarianism''. His diet emphasized

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...

legume A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock f ...

s and

meat substitutes A meat alternative or meat substitute (also called plant-based meat or fake meat, sometimes pejoratively) is a food product made from vegetarian or vegan ingredients, eaten as a replacement for meat. Meat alternatives typically approximate qua ...

which he called "Simpler Food". He published a monthly magazine, ''Healthward Ho!'' and was the owner of a vegetarian restaurant in Chandos Street,

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City; ...

that was alleged to have served more than a thousand diners a day. His restaurant is briefly mentioned in E. M. Forster's ''

Howards End ''Howards End'' is a novel by E. M. Forster, first published in 1910, about social conventions, codes of conduct and relationships in turn-of-the-century England. ''Howards End'' is considered by many to be Forster's masterpiece. The book was ...

'' (1910). He also owned health food shops in London and two other restaurants, in

Carshalton Carshalton () is a town, with a historic village centre, in south London, England, within the London Borough of Sutton. It is situated south-southwest of Charing Cross, in the valley of the River Wandle, one of the sources of which is Carshalton ...

and

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. Although he expanded his business and his restaurant prospered during

WWI World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, interest in his dieting ideas declined. Miles later went bankrupt and sold his properties. When he died he left only £175. Miles has also been described as an advocate of

lacto vegetarianism A lacto-vegetarian (sometimes referred to as a lactarian; from the Latin root lact-, ''milk'') diet is a diet that abstains from the consumption of meat as well as Egg as food, eggs, while still consuming dairy products such as milk, cheese, yog ...

.Tibbles, William. (1914)
''Dietetics: Or Food in Health and Disease''
Lea & Febiger. p. 243 His ideas about dieting were criticized by medical health experts as impractical.Anonymous. (1920)
''Selfhealth as a Habit''
''New York Medical Journal'' 112: 602. Physician William Tibbles suggested that "it seems almost impossible for any but the wealthy and leisured classes to follow his teachings thoroughly."

Publications

''Better Food for Boys''
(1901)
''The Game of Squash''
(1901)
''Avenues to Health''
(1902)
''The Failures of Vegetarianism''
(1902)
''Daily Training''
(1903) ith_Edward_Frederic_Benson.html" ;"title="Edward_Frederic_Benson.html" ;"title="ith Edward Frederic Benson">ith Edward Frederic Benson">Edward_Frederic_Benson.html" ;"title="ith Edward Frederic Benson">ith Edward Frederic Bensonbr>''Muscle, Brain, and Diet: A Plea for Simpler Foods''
(1903)
''Racquets, Tennis, and Squash''
(1903)
A Boy's Control and Self-Expression
(1904) *''An Alphabet of Athletics'' (1904)
''Breathing for Health, Athletics, and Brain-Work''
(1904)
''Cassell's Physical Educator''
(1904)
''Diversions Day By Day''
ith Edward Frederic Benson] (1905)
''What Foods Feed Us''
(1905)
''The New Cookery of Unproprietary Foods''
(1906) *''Life After Life: The Theory of Reincarnation'' (1907)
''The Eustace Miles System of Physical Culture With Hints as to Diet''
(1907)
''The Training of the Body''
(1908)
''The Power of Concentration: How to Acquire It''
(1909) *''Fitness for Play and Work'' (1912)
''Prevention and Cure''
(1912) *''The Uric Acid Fetish'' (1915) ith C. H. Collings*''Self-Health as a Habit'' (1919)
''Keep Happy''
(1920)

References

External links

Charity

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miles, Eustace 1868 births 1948 deaths English real tennis players Jeu de paume players at the 1908 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics Olympic real tennis players of Great Britain Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Pseudoscientific diet advocates Vegetarianism activists

Career

Health and Diet

Publications

References

Further reading

External links