John George Miles (17 Jan 1838 – 20 December 1884) was a 19th-century

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

, New Zealand. Miles was born in 1838 in

Finsbury Finsbury is a district of Central London, forming the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Islington. It borders the City of London. The Manor of Finsbury is first recorded as ''Vinisbir'' (1231) and means "manor of a man called Finn ...

, London, the son of John Hamilton Miles and Mary Smith. He arrived in

Nelson, New Zealand (Let him, who has earned it, bear the palm) , image_map = Nelson CC.PNG , mapsize = 200px , map_caption = , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint = , coordinates_footnotes = ...

around 1853 and farmed near the town. He married Alice Harriott Smith on 20 September 1860 at Spring Grove (located between

Brightwater Brightwater (Māori language, Māori: ''Wairoa'') is a town southwest of Nelson, New Zealand, Nelson in Tasman Region, Tasman district in the South Island of New Zealand. It stands on the banks of the Wairoa River, Tasman, Wairoa River. Bright ...

and

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

), Waimea, New Zealand. Their son Bramston Hamilton Miles was born on 22 February 1863, but his wife died three weeks later from childbirth complications on 14 March. He represented the Waimea electorate from to January 1866, when he retired. The 1865 parliamentary session had already finished on 30 October, and in early December, Miles addressed a public meeting reviewing his term as the electorate's representative, and saying goodbye to his constituents, as he planned to spend the next two years in England. He offered to be their representative again upon his return. He had promised his dying wife to take their son to England, so that he could be brought up by her parents and siblings. Miles and his son left the country on the ''Asterope'' for England on 29 December 1865 from

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

. Miles returned to New Zealand on the ''Electra'', which arrived in Wellington on 22 October 1867, and continued to Nelson on the ''Rangitoto''. He moved to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Victoria, where in January 1872, he was secretary ''

pro tem ''Pro tempore'' (), abbreviated ''pro tem'' or ''p.t.'', is a Latin phrase which best translates to "for the time being" in English. This phrase is often used to describe a person who acts as a ''locum tenens'' (placeholder) in the absence of ...

'' of the newly established South Melbourne Gas Company. On 18 May 1872, he married Maria Matilda Downer at St James Cathedral. They had a son, Charles Henry Valentine Miles, the following year, but he died on 11 March 1874 aged 13 months; at the time, the family was living at Emerald Hill. By 1877, he was an accountant, land, and commission agent. In March 1883, Miles was appointed secretary at the Austin Hospital for Incurables; by then, they were living in

Prahran Prahran (), also pronounced colloquially as Pran, is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 5 km south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City ...

. Miles died at Prahran on 20 December 1884. He was a fellow of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Miles, John George 1838 births 1884 deaths Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society New Zealand farmers New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates People from the London Borough of Islington English emigrants to New Zealand 19th-century New Zealand politicians