Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

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Death

Biographical Notes

William Edmund Miles was born on 15 January 1886 at Waimate, the only son of Edmund Charles Miles and Jane Charity née Osborn. Jane Charity Osborn had married Edmund Charles Miles on 8 July 1888. Edmund died the next day. Twin daughters (Caroline Emily and Elizabeth Ann) were born to Jane and Edmund (posthumously) on 6 November 1888. Two children had been born prior – William Edmund Miles in 1886 and Alma Jane Miles in about 1887.

A civil case was heard at the Waimate Court on 19 September 1916. “Mrs W. Reynolds (Mr Lucas) sued William Reynolds her husband for £25 14s 6d, of which £l3 17s 6d was arrears of board, under an arrangement by which defendant was to pay 12s 6d per week. Defendant was married to plaintiff in 1907. As well as the arrangement for board defendant made over to Mrs Reynolds a life interest in a section. At the time of the marriage both parties had certain cattle; plaintiff four and defendant five. All the cattle were to be the property of plaintiff and it was arranged that four were to be sold. Other cattle were purchased and at the present time the herd stood at twelve. On a recent Sunday the defendant seized the cows and sold them to a Mr Dench. Mrs Reynolds knew nothing of the sale, and she and her daughter scoured the countryside for them, thinking they were lost. They eventually tracked the cattle to Studholme, where the original buyer had disposed of them to two other parties. After explanations had been made the cows were again secured by the plaintiff, and she now claimed £6 for damage to the cows, £4 1s for cost of search and droving fees, and £1 6s for milk which she had to purchase to keep her customers going. After hearing evidence, the Magistrate gave judgment for the £l3 17s 6d arrears, £3 for injury to cows, and tho other two amounts claimed, defendant to pay costs amounting to £5 13s 6d, in all £26 8s.” Now Jane Charity Miles had married William Reynolds in 1903.

As a young man William Miles lived with his mother and step-father at Waimate. He was a labourer for the Public Works Department at Culverden when his name was drawn in the Ninth Ballot and he was called up for service in early July 1917. He had already een recorded on the Reserve Rolls. Enlisting on 26 July 1917, he named his mother a snext-of-kin – Mrs J. C. Reynolds, Belt Street, Waimate. He was single and of Church of England affiliation. He was classified C2. His eyesight was very poor; glasses were to be provided. Also, the little finger on his right hand had been amputated at the second joint. Having been posted to the 42nd Reinforcements on 17 June 1918, Private W. E. Miles was transferred to the 43rd Reinforcements on 26 September and to the 44th Reinforcements on 5 October. On 14 November 1911 he was granted leave without pay. When he was demobilized at Trentham on 26 November 1918, he was described as of good character.

William married Violet Miranda Jones in 1922, when he was living at Palmerston North. He continued to work for the Public Works. He and Violet moved about frequently – Stratford district, Central Otago, Marlborough, Mackenzie Country and more. William Edmund Miles, No 82130, 1st N.Z.E.F., died at his Geraldine residence on 23 February 1949, aged 63 years. He was buried in the Geraldine Cemetery, members of the Geraldine R.S.A. attending his funeral. Later in the year, Violet married John Frederick Monk. Violet Miranda Monk died on 15 July 1983 and was buried at Geraldine with William Miles. John Frederick Monk died in 1957. Jane Charity Reynolds died in 1941 and was buried at Waimate with her beloved husband, William Reynolds, who had died in 1937. Alma Miles married in 1905 and died at Waimate in 1976; Elizabeth, who had married a Geraldine man in 1915, was accidentally drowned at Moana, Westland, in 1924. A clause in Jane Reynold’s Will suggests that she was not sure whether her daughter Caroline was living or had any issue. She appointed her son, William Edmund Miles, a platelayer of Kaikoura and afterwards a Public Works employee of Mayfield near Ashburton, as one of her executors and bequeathed some of her property in Waimate to him. She left other of her Waimate property to her daughter Alma Jane Lewis and household furniture and effects to her daughter Caroline Emily Miles.

Sources

Sun, 6 June 1916, Timaru Herald, 4 July 1917, 29 January 1937, Press, 24 February 1949 (Papers Past) [01 July 2022]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [30 June 2022; 01 July 2022]; Geraldine Cemetery headstone image (Timaru Districr Council) [01 July 2022] Probate records (Archives NZ/Family Search) [01 July 2022]

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Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, South Canterbury Genealogy Society

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