Henry Ernest Milner (18 April 1845 – 10 March 1906) was an English civil engineer and landscape architect.

Personal life

He was the son of landscape architect

Edward Milner Edward Milner (20 January 1819 – 26 March 1884) was an English landscape architect. Early life and career Edward Milner was born in Darley, Derbyshire, the eldest child of Henry Milner and Mary née Scales. Henry Milner was employed at C ...

and his wife, Elizabeth Mary Kelly, who had eleven children, of whom Henry Ernest was the eldest, born in Liverpool on 18 April 1845. He was educated by private tutor in Germany and France. In 1869 he married Mary Dickey, daughter of Canadian Senator

Robert B. Dickey Robert Barry Dickey (November 10, 1811 – July 14, 1903) was a participant in the conferences leading to the Canadian Confederation of 1867 and is therefore considered to be one of the Fathers of Confederation. Born in Amherst, the son of ...

. The couple had two children: a son, Barry Ernest, and a daughter, Winifred; she married Edward White who was trained in, and ultimately took over, his father-in-law's landscape architecture practice.

Career

Milner's working career started in London during 1862 when he was employed by

Morton Peto Sir Samuel Morton Peto, 1st Baronet (4 August 1809 – 13 November 1889) was an English entrepreneur, civil engineer and railway developer, and, for more than 20 years, a Member of Parliament (MP). A partner in the firm of Grissell and Peto, he ...

. He remained in London until 1864 when he travelled to Russia on an assignment to carry out work on railways as an assistant engineer. During 1868 he moved to

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

, where he was the resident engineer on the

Windsor and Annapolis Railway The Windsor and Annapolis Railway (W&AR) was a historic Canadian railway that operated in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley. The railway ran from Windsor to Annapolis Royal and leased connections to Nova Scotia's capital of Halifax. The W&AR played ...

. He worked with his father's company after returning to England, becoming a full partner in 1881. Among the commissions he undertook were:

Ashtead Park Ashtead Park is a Local Nature Reserve in Ashtead in Surrey. It is owned by Mole Valley District Council and managed by the Surrey Wildlife Trust. It contains several important listed buildings. The Park itself has remains of a Roman building, ...

; Victoria Park in

Glossop Glossop is a market town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is located east of Manchester, north-west of Sheffield and north of the county town, Matlock. Glossop lies near Derbyshire's borders with Cheshire, Greater Manches ...

; and

Overtoun Bridge Overtoun Bridge is a category B-listed structure over the Overtoun Burn on the approaching road to Overtoun House, near Dumbarton in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It was completed in 1895, based on a design by the landscape architect H. E. M ...

in West Dunbartonshire for Lord Overtoun. He was elected to membership of the

Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters are located in the UK, whi ...

in 1878. Working abroad again by 1885, he was commissioned by Count Tasziló Festetics to redesign the landscaping around the recently expanded

Festetics Palace The Festetics Palace is a Baroque palace located in the town of Keszthely, Zala County, Zala, Hungary. The building now houses the Helikon Palace Museum. The palace's construction, started by Kristóf Festetics family, Festetics in 1745, lasted mo ...

Keszthely Keszthely (; also known by other alternative names) is a Hungarian city of 20,895 inhabitants located on the western shore of Lake Balaton. It is the second largest city by the lake and one of the more important cultural, educational and economi ...

, Hungary. He returned several years later, in 1893, to do further work. Around 1895 Milner was trading from a business address in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

, London. Following the 1890 publication of his book, ''The Art and Practice of Landscape Gardening'', Milner was hired to plan several notable projects. These included the designs for the 250 acre grounds surrounding Sir

Edward Watkin Sir Edward William Watkin, 1st Baronet (26 September 1819 – 13 April 1901) was a British Member of Parliament and railway entrepreneur. He was an ambitious visionary, and presided over large-scale railway engineering projects to fulfil his b ...

's tower at

Wembley Park Wembley Park is a district of the London Borough of Brent, England. It is roughly centred on Bridge Road, a mile northeast of Wembley town centre and northwest from Charing Cross. The name Wembley Park refers to the area that, at its broadest ...

; although the gardens, which incorporated architectural features like a fountain, were completed, financial constraints and problems with the foundations of the tower meant only the first level was built and that was knocked down in 1907. He was also commissioned to design the gardens at

Friar Park Friar Park is a Victorian neo-Gothic mansion in Henley-on-Thames, England, built in 1889. It was originally owned by eccentric lawyer Sir Frank Crisp and purchased in January 1970 by English rock musician and former Beatle George Harrison. ...

for Sir

Frank Crisp Sir Frank Crisp, 1st Baronet, (25 October 1843 – 29 April 1919) was an English lawyer and microscopist. Crisp was an enthusiastic member, and sometime officer, of the Royal Microscopical Society. He was generous in his support of the Society, ...

and the

parterre A ''parterre'' is a part of a formal garden constructed on a level substrate, consisting of symmetrical patterns, made up by plant beds, low hedges or coloured gravels, which are separated and connected by paths. Typically it was the part of ...

Gatton Park Gatton Park is a country estate set in parkland landscaped by Capability Brown at Gatton, near Reigate in Surrey, England. Now owned by The Royal Alexandra and Albert School, Gatton Park comprises of manor and parkland. The property is G ...

under instructions from

Sir Jeremiah Colman ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English language, English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist i ...

. In 1897 the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...

initiated an award for British horticulturists, styled as the

Victoria Medal of Honour The Victoria Medal of Honour (VMH) is awarded to British horticulturists resident in the United Kingdom whom the Royal Horticultural Society Council considers deserving of special honour by the Society. The award was established in 1897 "in per ...

, to be given to people the officials of the society "considered deserving of special honour". Milner is listed as one of the first sixty individuals awarded it. Two years later, in 1899, he was presented with the Swedish North Star award for several contracts he had undertaken in the Royal Gardens.

Death and legacy

Milner died at his home, 119 Gipsy Hill, Norwood, on 10 March 1906. He is buried in Darley.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Milner, Henry Ernest 1845 births 1906 deaths British landscape and garden designers Victoria Medal of Honour recipients