View source for Eustace Miles

{{Short description|English real tennis player, author and restaurateur}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
| name = Eustace Miles
| image = Eustace Miles.JPG
| caption = Miles in 1908
| full_name = Eustace Hamilton Miles
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1868|9|22|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Hampstead]], England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1948|12|20|1868|9|22|df=yes}}
| death_place = England
| alma_mater = {{Plainlist|
* [[Eastbourne College]]
* [[Marlborough College]]
* [[King's College, Cambridge]]
}}
| spouse = {{Marriage|[[Dorothy Beatrice Harriet Killick]]|1906}}
| country = [[Great Britain]]
| sport = {{ubl|[[Real tennis]]|[[Racquets]]|[[Squash (sport)|Squash]]}}
| olympics = [[1908 Summer Olympics]]
| show-medals = yes
| medaltemplates = {{Medal|Silver|[[1908 Summer Olympics|1908 London]]|[[Jeu de paume at the 1908 Summer Olympics|Jeu de paume – Singles]]}}
}}

'''Eustace Hamilton Miles''' (22 September 1868 – 20 December 1948) was an English [[real tennis]] player, author and [[restaurateur]]. He competed in the [[1908 Summer Olympics]] and was a [[Vegetarianism|vegetarian]] who disliked that label and made his name selling health products and health advice to [[Edwardian era|Edwardian]] Britons.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/17931 |title=Eustace Miles |work=Olympedia |access-date=30 March 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite Sports-Reference}}</ref>

== Early life and education ==
Miles was the grandson of [[Sir William Miles, 1st Baronet]] by his son Captain William Henry Miles, J.P. (1830–1888) and Mary Frances Miles, née Charleton. He was born at [[Hampstead]] and was educated at [[Eastbourne College]], [[Marlborough College]] and [[King's College, Cambridge|King's College]], [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]].<ref>{{acad|id=FML887EH|name=Miles, Eustace Hamilton}}</ref> In 1906, Miles married [[Dorothy Beatrice Harriet Killick]] (nicknamed Hallie).<ref name="West Hampstead Life">[http://westhampsteadlife.com/2014/06/25/eustace-miles-west-hampsteads-tennis-world-champion-and-food-fanatic/13336 West Hampstead’s tennis world champion (and food fanatic)]. West Hampstead Life.</ref>

==Career==
In 1908, he won the Olympic silver medal at the age of 39, after losing the final to [[Jay Gould II]], the bronze medal was won by [[Neville Bulwer-Lytton, 3rd Earl of Lytton|The Hon Neville Bulwer-Lytton]], later 3rd [[Earl of Lytton]]. Miles had, in fact, coached the much younger Gould during his stay in America from 1900 to 1902 when he became the first non-American winner of the US Championship in 1900. He won further the amateur racquets championship of the world in singles in 1906 and in doubles in 1902, 1904, 1905 and 1906; and of England in doubles as well as becoming amateur squash racquets champion of America in 1900. He was amateur [[real tennis]] champion of England in 1898–1903, 1905, 1906, 1909 and 1911 and amateur real tennis champion of the world from 1898 to 1903 and 1905.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

Miles was a prolific author, including collaborations with lifelong friend [[E. F. Benson]] with whom he may have had a college romance,<ref>Masters, Brian "The Life Of E.F. Benson", Chatto & Windus, 1992, pp75-76</ref> on diverse subjects including health (e.g. "Fitness for Play and Work" 1912), athletics ("An Alphabet of Athletics"), diet ("The Failures of Vegetarianism" 1902), ancient history ("A History of Rome up to 500 AD, with Essays, Maps and Aids to Memory" 1901) and [[Classics]] ("Comparative Syntax of Greek and Latin"). His wife, also an author, and him both engaged in philanthropic works including providing free food and clothing to the poor of London, available during winter months near [[Cleopatra's Needle (London)|Cleopatra's Needle]], a charitable exercise supported strongly by [[Queen Alexandra]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}
[[File:A Boy's Control and Self Expression by Eustace Miles.jpg|thumb|A Boy's Control and Self-Expression, published in 1904.]]

==Health and diet==

Miles authored many books on dieting and [[vegetarianism]].<ref name="West Hampstead Life" /> Miles's comprehensive regimen combined abstention from alcohol with games, daily practice of gymnastics, personal cleanliness, breathing exercises, and meditation.<ref>Zweiniger-Bargielowska, Ina. (2010). ''Managing the Body: Beauty, Health, and Fitness in Britain 1880-1939''. Oxford University Press. p. 34. {{ISBN|978-0199280520}}</ref> Miles promoted the concept of "mental hygiene".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0003tnd|title=The Essay - Healthy eating Edwardian-style - BBC Sounds|website=www.bbc.co.uk|language=en-GB|access-date=6 April 2019}}</ref> 

Miles was known for promoting different vegetable diets. He became a vegetarian but refused to be identified under that label as he believed the practice of vegetarianism had many faults, he expounded on these ideas in his book ''The Failures of Vegetarianism''. His diet emphasized [[grain]]s, [[legume]]s and [[Meat analogue|meat substitutes]] which he called "Simpler Food".<ref name="Whorton">Whorton, James C. (2016 edition). ''Crusaders for Fitness: The History of American Health Reformers''. Princeton University Press. pp. 260-262. {{ISBN|978-0691641898}}</ref> He published a monthly magazine, ''Healthward Ho!'' 

Miles advertised and experimented with different diets. He originally embraced a [[uric acid]]-free diet but found it too restricting.<ref name="Whorton" /> He later criticized this diet in a booklet ''The Uric Acid Fetish'' (1915). Miles also experimented with [[Edward H. Dewey]]'s "No Breakfast Plan" but abandoned it in favour of his own "No Lunch Plan".<ref name="Whorton" />

Miles drew publicity for his article on how to live on a diet of two [[plasmon biscuit]]s and one [[lentil]] a day.<ref>Addyman, Mary; Wood, Laura; Yiannitsaros, Christopher. (2017). ''Food, Drink, and the Written Word in Britain, 1820–1945''. Routledge. p. 147. {{ISBN|978-1848936102}}</ref> In 1904, it was humorously reported in ''[[Punch (magazine)|Punch]]'' that during the semi-final of a tennis competition, Miles was surrounded by an angry mob who compelled him to eat a [[meat chop]].<ref>[https://madameulalie.org/punch/The_Danger_of_Being_in_the_Public_Eye.html "The Danger of Being in the Public Eye"]. Punch, 27 July 1904.</ref>

Miles has also been described as an advocate of [[lacto vegetarianism]].<ref name="Tibbles">Tibbles, William. (1914). [https://archive.org/stream/dieteticsorfoodi00tibb#page/243/mode/2up/ ''Dietetics: Or Food in Health and Disease'']. Lea & Febiger. p. 243</ref> His ideas about dieting were criticized by medical health experts as impractical.<ref name="Tibbles" /><ref>Anonymous. (1920). [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=iau.31858044865693;view=1up;seq=612 ''Selfhealth as a Habit'']. ''New York Medical Journal'' 112: 602.</ref> Physician [[William Tibbles]] suggested that "it seems almost impossible for any but the wealthy and leisured classes to follow his teachings thoroughly."<ref name="Tibbles" />

== Eustace Miles Restaurant ==
Miles was the owner of a vegetarian restaurant in Chandos Street, [[Charing Cross]] that was alleged to have served more than a thousand diners a day.<ref name="Whorton" /> He also owned health food shops in London and two other restaurants, in [[Carshalton]] and [[Chelsea, London|Chelsea]].<ref name=":0" /> 

The restaurant is mentioned in the 1914 ''Gourmet Guide to London'' by [[Nathaniel Newnham-Davis (journalist)|Nathaniel Newnham-Davis]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Today |first=Joss Bassett / History |date=2016-08-03 |title=The Food Critic Who Reviewed Victorian London’s Vegetarian Offerings |url=https://time.com/4437418/the-food-critic-who-reviewed-victorian-londons-vegetarian-offerings/ |access-date=2025-05-18 |website=TIME |language=en}}</ref> and briefly mentioned in E. M. Forster's ''[[Howards End]]'' (1910).<ref name=":0">[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/3612486/Notebook.html "Even Edwardians suffered from healthy living"]. The Telegraph.</ref> Although he expanded his business and his restaurant prospered during [[WWI]], interest in vegetarianism declined during that time.<ref name="West Hampstead Life" /> Miles later went bankrupt and sold his properties. When he died he left only £175.<ref name="West Hampstead Life" />

==Publications==
*[https://archive.org/details/b28071281 ''Better Food for Boys''] (1901)
*[https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008683634 ''The Game of Squash''] (1901)
*[http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029039034 ''How to Remember: Without Memory Systems or with Them''] (Frederick Warne & Co., 1901)
*[https://archive.org/details/b28073769 ''Avenues to Health''] (1902)
*[https://archive.org/details/cu31924083762140 ''The Failures of Vegetarianism''] (1902)
*[https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008901154 ''Daily Training''] (1903) [with [[Edward Frederic Benson]]]
*[https://archive.org/details/b28071190 ''Muscle, Brain, and Diet: A Plea for Simpler Foods''] (1903)
*[https://archive.org/details/racquetstennissq00mile ''Racquets, Tennis, and Squash''] (1903)
*[https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008678791 A Boy's Control and Self-Expression] (1904)
*''An Alphabet of Athletics'' (1904)
*[https://archive.org/details/b21529127 ''Breathing for Health, Athletics, and Brain-Work''] (1904)
*[https://archive.org/details/b21697073 ''Cassell's Physical Educator''] (1904)
*[https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/010882576 ''Diversions Day By Day''] [with [[Edward Frederic Benson]]] (1905)
* [http://archive.org/details/howtoprepareessa00mileuoft ''How to Prepare Essays, Lectures, Articles, Books, Speeches and Letters, with Hints on Writing for the Press''] (London: Rivingtons, 1905)
*[https://archive.org/details/b28071244 ''What Foods Feed Us''] (1905)
*[https://archive.org/details/b21538013 ''The New Cookery of Unproprietary Foods''] (1906)
*''Life After Life: The Theory of Reincarnation'' (1907)
*[https://archive.org/details/b28055056 ''The Eustace Miles System of Physical Culture With Hints as to Diet''] (1907)
*[https://archive.org/details/b28054544 ''The Training of the Body''] (1908)
*[https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100114345 ''The Power of Concentration: How to Acquire It''] (1909)
*''Fitness for Play and Work'' (1912)
*[https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/011827346 ''Prevention and Cure''] (1912)
*''The Uric Acid Fetish'' (1915) [with C. H. Collings]
*''Self-Health as a Habit'' (1919)
*[https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/72765 ''Keep Happy''] (1920)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Hallie Eustace Miles. (1930). ''Untold Tales of War-Time London: A Personal Diary''. Cecil Palmer.

==External links==
* {{databaseOlympics|MILESEUS01|Eustace Miles|archive=20070205231312}}
* {{Olympics.com|eustace-hamilton-miles}}
* {{Olympedia}}
* [http://www.ilnpictures.co.uk/ProductDetails.asp?ProductDetailID=76869 Charity]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miles, Eustace}}
[[Category:1868 births]]
[[Category:1948 deaths]]
[[Category:English real tennis players]]
[[Category:English restaurateurs]]
[[Category:English vegetarianism activists]]
[[Category:Jeu de paume players at the 1908 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic real tennis players for Great Britain]]
[[Category:Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain]]
[[Category:Pseudoscientific diet advocates]]