John Miles (16 March 1816 – 5 May 1886) was an English businessman who was master of the

Stationers Company The Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers (until 1937 the Worshipful Company of Stationers), usually known as the Stationers' Company, is one of the livery company, livery companies of the City of London. The Stationers' Compan ...

and a director of the New River Company. He was a major landowner in Friern Barnet and Whetstone in north London in the second half of the nineteenth century and was instrumental in the development of those areas.

Early life and family

John Miles was born at 16 Bridge Street in

Blackfriars Blackfriars, derived from Black Friars, a common name for the Dominican Order of friars, may refer to: England * Blackfriars, Bristol, a former priory in Bristol * Blackfriars, Canterbury, a former monastery in Kent * Blackfriars, Gloucester, a f ...

, London, on 16 March 1816. He married Sophia and together they had children Sophia, Charles, and Henry when they were living at Chessington, Surrey. They later moved to Hampstead and to Friern Barnet where they had children Eliza and Amy.

Career

Miles began his career with Simkin and Marshall, booksellers, in 1829, eventually becoming a partner in the firm. He became master of the Stationers Company and a director of the New River Company, the later bringing him significant wealth.Heathfield, John &

David Berguer David Ian Berguer (born October 1939) is a British local historian and author, and the chairman of the Friern Barnet and District Local History Society. His books include ''The Friern Hospital Story'' (2012), the story of the former Colney Hatch As ...

. (2016) ''Whetstone Revealed''. London: Chaville Press. pp. 164–165. In 1851, Miles bought for £6,000 the Manor House Farm of 29 acres to the west of Friern Barnet Lane. He had the farm house rebuilt, possibly by Edward and William Habershon, and renamed it Manor House. The building is now the clubhouse for the North Middlesex Golf Club. Miles was a significant landowner in the area. In addition to the 29 acres of Manor House Farm, he owned land extending north into Whetstone and Oakleigh Park North."John Miles - A Victorian Churchwarden"
John Philpott, ''Friern Barnet Newsletter'', No. 29 (April 2007), pp. 2-5.

Philanthropy

All Saints' Church, Oakleigh Park exterior

Miles's philanthropic activities included a number of charities associated with the book trade. He also employed the Habershons to extend St James the Great church and to design St James's School in Friern Barnet Lane. He gave the land and financed the construction of

All Saints' Church All Saints Church, or All Saints' Church or variations on the name may refer to: Albania *All Saints' Church, Himarë Australia *All Saints Church, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory * All Saints Anglican Church, Henley Brook, Western Austr ...

(1881–82), parish hall, and a vicarage in Myddleton Park, to serve the people of the expanding

Oakleigh Park Oakleigh Park is a loosely defined district in the north of the London Borough of Barnet. It adjoins Whetstone, and is often regarded either as part of that or of East Barnet, although the East Coast Main Line forms a border with the latter. T ...

estate, and served as churchwarden of both churches. His son Henry was vicar of All Saints'.

Death and legacy

Miles died on 5 May 1886. His wife Sophia died in 1902 after which the Miles estate lands began to be sold off for development. Land to the west of Blackett's Brook, adjacent to Manor House Farm, was acquired by the Wilderness Golf Club in 1905 with help from Ernest Lazarus, and with the former Manor House Farm estate eventually became the North Middlesex Golf Club.Friern Barnet: Social and cultural activities.

British History Online ''British History Online'' is a digital library of primary and secondary sources on medieval and modern history of Great Britain and Ireland. It was created and is managed as a cooperative venture by the Institute of Historical Research, Universi ...

. Retrieved 16 April 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miles, John 1816 births 1886 deaths English booksellers People from the City of London Whetstone, London Churchwardens 19th-century English businesspeople