Edward Thomas Miles (1849–1944) was a businessman and politician from Van Diemen's Land, who during his long life was variously a merchant seaman, a

Free Trade Party The Free Trade Party which was officially known as the Australian Free Trade and Liberal Association, also referred to as the Revenue Tariff Party in some states, was an Australian political party, formally organised in 1887 in New South Wales, ...

Member of the Tasmanian Parliament, a Minister in the Braddon government, and an entrepreneur.

Life

Miles was born in

Hobart Town Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-smalle ...

Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania used by the British during the European exploration of Australia in the 19th century. A British settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land in 1803 before it became a sepa ...

(

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

) in 1849. He worked on ships trading with India, China and South Africa, and after 1879 commanded a series of ships trading the Tasmanian East Coast. He was elected to the Tasmanian lower house of Parliament, the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...

, in December 1893 for the

Electoral district of Glamorgan The Electoral district of Glamorgan was a single-member electoral district of the Tasmanian House of Assembly. It centred on the town of Swansea in eastern Tasmania, and included Bicheno, Little Swanport and the Freycinet Peninsula. After 1886, ...

and held that electorate until 1899. In 1900 he successfully contested the

Electoral district of Hobart The electoral district of Hobart was a multi-member electoral district of the Tasmanian House of Assembly. It was based in Tasmania's capital city, Hobart. It was created at the 1897 election under a trial of the Hare-Clark electoral model alon ...

, but resigned after a matter of weeks to pursue business interests. Miles served briefly as Minister for Lands and Works in the Braddon government between May and October in 1899. After Parliament Miles engaged in a number of business activities, perhaps the most significant of which was the establishment in 1906 of Tongkah Harbour Public Company Limited for tin mining off the west coast of

Siam Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 mi ...

(

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

) in the

Andaman Sea The Andaman Sea (historically also known as the Burma Sea) is a marginal sea of the northeastern Indian Ocean bounded by the coastlines of Myanmar and Thailand along the Gulf of Martaban and west side of the Malay Peninsula, and separated from ...

. A monument to Miles was unveiled on

Phuket Island Phuket (; th, ภูเก็ต, , ms, Bukit or ''Tongkah''; Hokkien:普吉; ) is one of the southern provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. It consists of the island of Phuket, the country's largest island, and another 32 smaller islands of ...

in 1969. He retired to Ringwood, Victoria, in 1909, then survived another 35 years.

Legacy

Miles was the grandfather of John Miles,

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

Member of the

Legislative Council of Victoria The Victorian Legislative Council (VLC) is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Victorian Legislative Assembly, Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House, Melbourne, Parli ...

for

Templestowe Province Templestowe Province was an electorate of the Victorian Legislative Council. It existed as a two-member electorate from 1967 to 2006, with members serving alternating eight-year terms. It was traditionally held by the Liberal Party, but was held b ...

from 1985–1992.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miles, Edward Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly 1944 deaths 1849 births