Miles Romney (July 13, 1806 – May 3, 1877) was a British convert to

Mormonism Mormonism is the religious tradition and theology of the Latter Day Saint movement of Restorationist Christianity started by Joseph Smith in Western New York in the 1820s and 1830s. As a label, Mormonism has been applied to various aspects o ...

Mormon pioneer The Mormon pioneers were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), also known as Latter Day Saints, who migrated beginning in the mid-1840s until the late-1860s across the United States from the Midwest to the S ...

and early settler of the American west, including St. George, Utah. In 1837, Romney and his wife, Elizabeth, joined the Church of the Latter Day Saints in a baptism ceremony just south of

Preston, Lancashire Preston () is a city on the north bank of the River Ribble in Lancashire, England. The city is the administrative centre of the county of Lancashire and the wider City of Preston local government district. Preston and its surrounding distr ...

, England. Soon after, they emigrated to the United States to join with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in

Nauvoo, Illinois Nauvoo ( ; from the ) is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States, on the Mississippi River near Fort Madison, Iowa. The population of Nauvoo was 950 at the 2020 census. Nauvoo attracts visitors for its historic importance and it ...

Early life

Romney was born in

Dalton-in-Furness Dalton-in-Furness is a town and former civil parish in the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. In 2011 it had a population of 7,827. It is located north east of Barrow-in-Furness. History Dalton is mentioned in the Domesday Book, w ...

, Lancashire in 1806. He was the son of George Romney, Jr. (whose father, George Romney, Sr., was first cousin to the English portrait artist also named George Romney) and Sarah King. On November 16, 1830, he married Elizabeth Gaskell. The couple eventually had nine children, including

Miles Park Romney Miles Park Romney (August 18, 1843 – February 26, 1904) was a prominent American builder in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was born in Nauvoo, Illinois, the son of Miles Romney. He was the president of the St. George Soci ...

, and moved to the Preston area where they may have been practising members of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...

congregation at St Mary's parish church in

Penwortham Penwortham () is a town in South Ribble, Lancashire, England, on the south bank of the River Ribble facing the city of Preston. The town is at the most westerly crossing point of the river, with major road and rail links crossing it here. T ...

. Romney worked as a

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenters t ...

in the area, working as far afield as Preston. Seven years after the founding of

Church of Christ Church of Christ may refer to: Church groups * When used in the plural, a New Testament designation for local groups of people following the teachings of Jesus Christ: "...all the churches of Christ greet you", Romans 16:16. * The entire body of Ch ...

(renamed the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in 1838), in 1837 three missionaries were sent to Northwest England, and started preaching in Preston. Romney and his wife were early converts, baptized in the

River Ribble The River Ribble runs through North Yorkshire and Lancashire in Northern England. It starts close to the Ribblehead Viaduct in North Yorkshire, and is one of the few that start in the Yorkshire Dales and flow westwards towards the Irish Sea ...

just south of Preston. They then emigrated to join other members of the Church in

United States

Once in the United States, Romney worked as an architect, designing or assisting in building early temples, tabernacles and other buildings important to

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

(LDS Church). Romney worked in both Nauvoo and westward in Utah, and assisted in building the

Nauvoo Temple The Nauvoo Temple was the second temple constructed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.''Manuscript History of the Church'', LDS Church Archives, book A-1, p. 37; reproduced in Dean C. Jessee (comp.) (1989). ''The Papers of Jose ...

. After coming to Utah, Romney went with a group of pioneers to settle St. George, Utah. There he served as superintendent of construction for the St. George Utah Temple, the first LDS temple completed in the state of Utah. As an architect, Romney designed the St. George Tabernacle and Brigham Young Winter Home and Office, the latter with his son, Miles Park Romney. Both are listed on the U.S.

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

. Miles Romney supervised the construction of the St. George Temple and Tabernacle. Romney died in St. George, Utah, on May 3, 1877 from complications suffered from a fall while working on the St. George Temple. Romney is an ancestor of politicians George W. Romney and

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Romney, Miles People from Dalton-in-Furness English carpenters Converts to Mormonism English Latter Day Saints English emigrants to the United States Architects of Latter Day Saint religious buildings and structures Architects from Utah Romney family 1806 births 1877 deaths 19th-century British businesspeople

Early life

United States

See also

References