John Miles (businessman)

He was a major landowner in Friern Barnet and Whetstone in north London in the second half of the nineteenth century and was instrumental in the development of those areas.

[1] Miles began his career with Simkin and Marshall, booksellers, in 1829, eventually becoming a partner in the firm.

[1] In 1851,[2] Miles bought for £6,000 the Manor House Farm of 29 acres to the west of Friern Barnet Lane.

[1] His wife Sophia died in 1902 after which the Miles estate lands began to be sold off for development.

Land to the west of Blackett's Brook, adjacent to Manor House Farm, was acquired by the Wilderness Golf Club in 1905 with help from Ernest Lazarus, and with the former Manor House Farm estate eventually became the North Middlesex Golf Club.