Philip John Miles (1773–1845) was an English landowner, slave owner, merchant, shipowner, banker and politician from

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. Through his banking interests he found himself on the register of owners of slaves on plantations in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

though only as mortgagee in possession in cases when his bank had taken possession of plantations through the default of their owners on mortgage payments. He left an estate of over £1.2 million (), making him the first recorded millionaire of Bristol.

Life

He was born on 1 March 1773, the second but only surviving son of William Miles (1728–1803), a Bristol West India merchant, and his wife Sarah Berrow. His elder brother William died aged 23 in 1790, and he inherited from his financier father in 1803. Miles was a partner in Miles Bank of Bristol, and later Miles, Harford & Co, which eventually became part of NatWest. He had

Leigh Court Leigh Court is a country house which is a Grade II* listed building in Abbots Leigh, Somerset, England. The grounds and park are listed, Grade II, on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England. The site ...

Abbots Leigh Abbots Leigh is a village and civil parish in North Somerset, England, about west of the centre of Bristol. History The original Middle English name was ''Lega'', and the village became Abbots Leigh in the mid-12th century when Robert Fitzhardi ...

rebuilt, 1814–8. Miles also owned properties and extensive estates elsewhere including

Kings Weston House Kings Weston House () is a historic building in Kings Weston Lane, Kingsweston, Bristol, England. History It was built between 1712 and 1719 was designed by Sir John Vanbrugh for Edward Southwell on the site of an earlier Tudor house, remodell ...

(by

Sir John Vanbrugh Sir John Vanbrugh (; 24 January 1664 (baptised) – 26 March 1726) was an English architect, dramatist and herald, perhaps best known as the designer of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. He wrote two argumentative and outspoken Restora ...

), The Manor House (Old Rectory) at Walton-in-Gordano,

Walton Castle Walton Castle is a 17th-century, Grade II listed mock castle set upon a hill in Clevedon, North Somerset, England, on the site of an earlier Iron Age hill fort. History The Domesday Book records the site as belonging to "Gunni The Dane", how ...

, Cardigan Priory and Underdown by

Anthony Keck Anthony Keck (1726–1797) was an 18th-century English architect with an extensive practice in Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire and South Wales. Life Keck was born at Randwick, Gloucestershire in 1726 He designed in the "austere ...

in Ledbury, Herefordshire, where the family originated before moving to Somerset. He sat three times as a Member of Parliament, for from 1820, for from 1829, and for from 1835. Under the

Slave Compensation Act 1837 The Slave Compensation Act 1837 (1 & 2 Vict. c. 3) was an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom, signed into law on 23 December 1837. It authorised the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt to compensate slave owners in the Brit ...

he received money from properties in Jamaica and

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

in compensation for the release of more than 2000 slaves. Miles died on 24 March 1845. His lifelong friend John Benett wrote in his private diary

"Philip John Miles of Leigh Court near Bristol died from the effects of influenza in his 72nd year. He was one of my oldest and most valued friends - he was a sensible and pruent man; highly honest in all his mercantile and other dealigs with the world - a kind husband, father and master to his servants, and in money matters I would say liberal. He was a steady and sincere friend and as such I lament the loss of him. He died surrounded by 13 children and his wife."

The Bristol Mercury wrote

"His manners and deportment were plain and unassuming, free alike from affectation and coarseness, they bore the English stamp of honest and hearty sincerity. His disposition corresponded with his appearance. He gave away much in charity, but he gave it without the slightest ostentation."

Family

Miles married: # In 1795, Maria Whetham (1776–1811), daughter of

John Whetham John Whetham (1733/4–1796), DD, a graduate of Exeter College, Oxford was Dean of Lismore from 1791 until 1796: he was also Archdeacon of Cork from 1793 and died at Clifton, Bristol on 1 May 1796."Clerical and Parochial Records of Cork, Clo ...

; and # In 1813 Clarissa Peach (1790–1868), daughter of Samuel Peach Peach. From the first marriage there was one son and four daughters. *

Sir William Miles, 1st Baronet Sir William Miles, 1st Baronet (13 May 1797 – 17 June 1878), was an English politician, agriculturalist and landowner. He was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford, and was created a baronet on 19 April 1859, of Leigh Court, ...

, *Sarah Agatha Miles (1799–1830), *Maria Miles (1804-1822), *Elizabeth Miles (1806–1853), *Milicent Miles (1808–1867). From the second marriage, seven sons and four daughters. * Philip William Skinner Miles (1816–1881), father of

Philip Napier Miles Philip Napier Miles JP DLitt ''h.c.'' (Bristol) (21 January 1865 – 19 July 1935) was a prominent and wealthy citizen of Bristol, UK, who left his mark on the city, especially on what are now its western suburbs, through his musical and organis ...

; *John William Miles (1817–1878), died unmarried, lived with brother Henry Cruger Miles and sister Clarissa Philippa Miles at Penpole House *Robert Henry William Miles (1818–1883), father of

Frank Miles George Francis Miles (22 April 1852 – 15 July 1891) was a London-based British artist who specialised in pastel portraits of society ladies, also an architect and a keen plantsman. He was artist in chief to the magazine ''Life'', and between 1 ...

, and Robert Miles (cricketer), *George Frederick William Miles (b. 1820), *Ellen Octavia Miles (b. 1821), *Charles William Miles (1823–1892), *Sybilla Mary Miles (1827-1889), *Edward Peach William Miles (born 1829 at Abbots Leigh - died 1889 at Raglan, New Zealand), married Olivia Caroline Cave (1831 - 1870) and had three children; great-grandfather of

Peter Miles (courtier) Sir Peter Tremayne Miles (26 June 1924 – 15 October 2013) was a British Army officer, businessman and courtier in the Household of Elizabeth II. Miles was born in Long Ashton, Somerset, the son of Lt-Col Edward Miles MC and Mary Gibbs and a de ...

*Henry Cruger William Miles s:Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715-1886/Miles, Henry Cruger William (1832-1888) died unmarried, lived with brother John William Miles and sister Clarissa Philippa Miles at Penpole House. High Sheriff of Bristol in 1866. *Marianne Adelaide Miles (b. 1834) who married General Patrick MacDougall, Commander of the British Troops in Canada *Clarissa Philippa Miles (1838-1892) died unmarried, lived with brothers Henry Cruger Miles and John William Miles at Penpole House

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miles, Philip John 1774 births 1845 deaths English bankers British slave owners Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of Parliament for Bristol Businesspeople from Bristol Tory MPs (pre-1834) UK MPs 1820–1826 UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1831–1832 UK MPs 1835–1837