Henry Miles

Henry Miles in 1895 became one of the founders of the firm of Leeming, Miles & Company of Montreal, importers and manufacturers of drugs, chemicals and proprietary articles in the drug and grocery lines. He has since been an active factor in the successful control of the business and to other fields of activity has extended his efforts with equally desirable results. He was born in Lennoxville, P. Q., May 8, 1854. His father, the late Henry Hooper Miles, D. C. L., LL. D., a well known historian and for twenty-five years vice principal of Bishop’s College at Lennoxville, afterward became secretary of the Protestant section of the department of public instruction for the province. He married Elizabeth Wilson, daughter of Dr. William Wilson, of Sherbrooke, Quebec.

In the Lennoxville grammar school their son Henry Miles pursued his preliminary education, which was supplemented by study in the high school of Quebec and in the Laval Normal School of the same city. His early business experience came to him through association with the firm of Lyman, Sons & Company, of which he became manager and managing partner, his association with the house continuing from 1870 until 1895, when he separated his interests and in the latter year organized the firm of Leeming, Miles & Company of Montreal for the importation and manufacture of drugs, chemicals and proprietary articles in both the drug and grocery lines. After continuing for a considerable period as managing partner he was elected to the presidency of the company on incorporation. He is also engaged in the manufacture of medicines as proprietor of a business conducted under the style of Dick & Company and he is publisher and editor of the Montreal Pharmaceutical Journal. Even this does not compass the extent of his business activity, for he is president of the National Hydro-Electric Company, Ltd., and managing director of the Carillon Construction & Development Company, Ltd.

Moreover, Mr. Miles is actively and helpfully interested in organizations for the benefit of trade and business conditions. He is a member of the Chambre de Commerce, was treasurer of the Montreal Board of Trade in 1897-98, was vice president in 1899-1900 and in 1901 became president. The present magnificent Board of Trade building stands as a monument to his energy. He is still an active member of the organization, and since 1901 he has been president of the Montreal Business Men’s League, which has been instrumental in effecting many municipal and other reforms. He is likewise president of the Proprietary Articles Trade Association of Canada, secretary-treasurer of the Montreal Industrial Exhibition Association and in 1900 was a delegate to the International Commercial Congress at Philadelphia. In 1905 he was honorary treasurer of the Hon. John Young Monument Committee. Aside from all these interests of a semi-public character his activities have been salient features in the attainment of success for other organizations and for the public good. He has filled the office of justice of the peace and is consul in Canada for Paraguay. He was one of the founders of the Montreal Philharmonic Society and for a time was director of Trinity church choir, both of which indicate his deep interest in music. He represented the Montreal Board of Trade at the funeral of King Edward in London, England, in May, 1910. Fraternally he is a Mason and an Odd Fellow, in sympathy with the purposes of those organizations. His religious faith is that of the Anglican church, and he was for many years warden of Trinity church and the Church of St. James the Apostle. He has also been a member of the synod. His political belief is that of the liberal party. He belongs to the Canada, Montreal and Country Clubs, and those who meet him in these different organizations find him a social, genial companion. He has been a thorough and discriminating student of many questions that pertain to Canada and her welfare, carrying his researches far and wide. In 1880 he was the author of the Prize Questions in Canadian History, having won the first prize, and in 1900 he published an Address on Commercial Education, indicating deep insight into and thorough knowledge of the question. He made the customs’ tariff a special study for years and has written much on that subject.

Mr. Miles was married in 1875 to Miss McGregor, of Montreal. Nature endowed him with qualities, which developed through persistent energy and laudable ambition, have brought him into prominent relations. Inheriting the strong intellectual force of worthy ancestry, he has developed his talents and his powers not only in the control and enlargement of important business interests, but also along lines in which the general public has been the beneficiary.