Early life

Miles was educated at Marlborough College

Marlborough College

Marlborough College is a British co-educational independent school for day and boarding pupils, located in Marlborough, Wiltshire.Founded in 1843 for the education of the sons of Church of England clergy, the school now accepts both boys and girls of all beliefs. Currently there are just over 800...

 and Trinity College, Oxford

Trinity College, Oxford

The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope , or Trinity College for short, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It stands on Broad Street, next door to Balliol College and Blackwells bookshop,...

 where he took an MA in Classics

Classics

Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...

 in 1875. He also attended Cuddesdon College

Ripon College Cuddesdon

Ripon College Cuddesdon is a Church of England theological college in Cuddesdon, a village outside Oxford, England.-History:Ripon College Cuddesdon was formed from an amalgamation in 1975 of Cuddesdon College and Ripon Hall...

 in their fourth term of 1873 and terms one to three of 1874 where he trained for the priesthood.

England

Miles was ordained deacon

Deacon

Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...

 on 20 September 1874 by John Fielder Mackarness

John Fielder Mackarness

John Fielder Mackarness was a Church of England bishop.Mackarness was appointed Vicar of Tardebigge , Rector of Honiton and finally Bishop of Oxford...

, Bishop of Oxford

Bishop of Oxford

The Bishop of Oxford is the diocesan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford in the Province of Canterbury; his seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford...

, and was curate

Curate

A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...

 of Banbury

Banbury

Banbury is a market town and civil parish on the River Cherwell in the Cherwell District of Oxfordshire. It is northwest of London, southeast of Birmingham, south of Coventry and north northwest of the county town of Oxford...

 (1874-1876). He was ordained a priest, also by the Bishop of Oxford, on 19 September 1875 and became curate of Buckingham

Buckingham

Buckingham is a town situated in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire. The town has a population of 11,572 ,...

 (1876-1877). He then sought opportunities abroad and sailed for South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 in 1877.

South Africa

Bishop Allan Becher Webb established the St Cyprian's Theological College in a building in St George's Street, Bloemfontein, in 1876, in the hopes of addressing some the needs of the still new, isolated, poor and sparsely populated Diocese of Bloemfontein. It opened in 1877, with Bishop Webb himself, Archdeacon D.G. Croghan, the Revd K. Champernowne, and the Revd William Thomas Gaul

William Thomas Gaul

William Thomas Gaul was Rector of All Saints Church, Du Toit's Pan, Kimberley, afterwards of St Cyprian's Church, Kimberley, Rural Dean of Griqualand West, and Archdeacon in what was still the Diocese of Bloemfontein, before being elected the second Bishop of Mashonaland, where he styled himself...

 as lecturers. Miles was recruited due to his Cuddesden connections to serve here as Theological Tutor and was Warden of the College from 1877-1882. "Native" students were tutored by the Revd William Crisp. The College was not, however, a success and served latterly only as a boarding house until that closed in 1883.

Whilst at the college, Miles also served as rector of St Cyprian's Church

St Cyprian's Cathedral, Kimberley

The Cathedral Church of St Cyprian the Martyr, Kimberley, is the seat of the Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Kimberley and Kuruman, Anglican Church of Southern Africa. It became a Cathedral when the Synod of Bishops gave a mandate for the formation of the new Diocese of Kimberley and Kuruman in...

 in Kimberley from 1881-1882.

Miles also served from 1880 to 1882 as a canon

Canon (priest)

A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....

 and the chancellor

Chancellor

Chancellor is the title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the Cancellarii of Roman courts of justice—ushers who sat at the cancelli or lattice work screens of a basilica or law court, which separated the judge and counsel from the...

 of the Anglican Diocese of the Free State

Anglican Diocese of the Free State

The Anglican Diocese of the Free State is a diocese in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa.-History:The first service North of the Orange River to be taken by an Anglican clergyman was conducted in 1850 by Robert Gray, the first Bishop of Cape Town. In 1863, Edward Twells was consecrated the...

 under Bishop Webb.

Upon leaving South Africa, Miles left a considerable library of books which went to form part of the diocesan library in Bloemfontein.

Return to England

Afterwards he returned to England where he had to start his ordained ministry as a curate at St Margaret of Antioch's Church, Barley, Hertfordshire

Barley, Hertfordshire

Barley is a village and civil parish in the district of North Hertfordshire, England. According to the 2001 census, it has a population of 659. The place-name refers to a lea or meadow and not to the grain-producing plant...

 from 1882 to 1884, then becoming Vicar of St Mary's Shirehampton

Shirehampton

Shirehampton, near Avonmouth, at the north-western edge of the city of Bristol, England, is a district of Bristol which originated as a separate village. It retains something of its village feel, having a short identifiable High Street with the parish church situated among shops, and is still...

 from 1884 to 1888 before moving to be Vicar of Almondsbury

Almondsbury

Almondsbury is a large village near junction 16 of the M5 motorway, in South Gloucestershire, England.-Description:The village is split by a steep hill, part of the escarpment overlooking the Severn floodplain. At the bottom of the hill is Lower Almondsbury where a pub and hotel, The Bowl Inn, is...

 in 1888.

Family

Miles was the son of the Reverend Robert Miles (1818-1883), the rector

Rector

The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...

 of Bingham

Bingham, Nottinghamshire

Bingham is a market town in the Rushcliffe borough of Nottinghamshire, England.-Geography:With a population of around 9,000 people it lies about nine miles east of Nottingham, a similar distance south-west of Newark-on-Trent and west of Grantham. It is situated where the A46 intersects the A52...

 in Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...

, and grandson of Philip John Miles (1773–1845) by his second marriage to Clarissa Peach (1790 - 1868). Philip John Miles was an English landowner, banker, merchant, politician and collector, who was elected MP for Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

 from 1835 - 1837 having earlier been elected for Westbury

Westbury (UK Parliament constituency)

Westbury was a parliamentary constituency in Wiltshire from 1449 to 2010. It was represented in the House of Commons of England until 1707, and then in the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and finally in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801...

 from 1820 - 1826 and Corfe Castle from 1829 - 1832. Charles Miles was therefore brother of Frank Miles

Frank Miles

George Francis "Frank" Miles was a London artist who specialised in pastel portraits of society ladies, also an architect and a keen plantsman.-Life and career:...

, cousin of Philip Napier Miles

Philip Napier Miles

Philip Napier Miles JP DLitt h.c. 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 organizational abilities and through good works of various kinds...

 and half-cousin of Sir Philip Miles, 2nd Baronet

Sir Philip Miles, 2nd Baronet

Sir Philip John William Miles, 2nd Baronet was an English politician. Educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge, he then served in the 17th Lancers. He was a sheriff of Bristol in 1853 and partner in the family's bank, Miles & Co from 1852 - 1854...

. He cared for his brother, Frank, during his final four years at Brislington Assylum and was Administrator to Frank's estate after his death. Miles bequeathed £3,600 13s 8d (£3million in 2008 terms) to his wife when he died in 1898, by comparison his cousin, Sir Cecil Miles, 3rd Baronet, left £171,591 17s 4d (£145million in 2008 terms) in the same year.

Miles and his wife, Fanny Jane Miles, had a son, Allen Oswald Miles (2nd Lt, 13th (Service) Bn (Forest of Dean)(Pioneers), Gloucestershire Regiment), who was killed in France on 30 June 1916, aged 27. He had been educated at Pembroke Lodge Preparatory School, Southbourne, Hants, Lancing College

Lancing College

Lancing College is a co-educational English independent school in the British public school tradition, founded in 1848 by Nathaniel Woodard. Woodard's aim was to provide education "based on sound principle and sound knowledge, firmly grounded in the Christian faith." Lancing was the first of a...

 and Trinity College

Trinity College, Oxford

The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope , or Trinity College for short, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It stands on Broad Street, next door to Balliol College and Blackwells bookshop,...

, Oxford where he took an M.A, becoming one of the masters at Pembroke Lodge. He had enlisted in December 1914 in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserves.