- Frank Miles
George Francis Miles (1852–1891) was a
London artist who specialised inpastel portraits of society ladies. He was the son of the Rev. Robert Miles, therector of Bingham inNottinghamshire , and grandson ofPhilip 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 forBristol from 1835 - 1837 having earlier been elected forWestbury from 1820 - 1826 andCorfe Castle from 1829 - 1832. Frank Miles was therefore cousin ofPhilip Napier Miles and half-cousin ofSir Philip Miles, 2nd Baronet .Today, Frank Miles is best known for being a friend and house-mate (and many believe a lover) of
Oscar Wilde whom he met in 1876. Miles introduced Wilde toLillie Langtry , and to his friend and patron LordRonald Charles Sutherland-Leveson-Gower , who later became the model for the worldly Lord Henry Wotton in Wilde's novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray ".In 1887, Miles was committed to an asylum near
Bristol , and he died in 1891 of what was diagnosed as 'general paralysis of the insane ['General paralysis of the insane' or 'General paresis of the insane' was a term for neurosyphilis.] (4 years), exhaustion and pneumonia'.In the 20th century, Miles achieved brief notoriety as being an unlikely suspect for
Jack the Ripper theorists. The thin line of argument was that he lived onTite Street near SirMelville Macnaghten ; a cousin was an equerry toPrince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence (another unlikely suspect); and the brother ofMontague Druitt , yet another suspect, was in the same regiment that Miles had been in.Frank Miles and his artistic inspiration
Lillie Langtry is portrayed in the mini-series "Lillie" (1978).Notes
References
* Neil McKenna, "The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde"
* Donald Rumbelow, "The Complete Jack the Ripper"
* Molly Whittington-Egan "Frank Miles and Oscar Wilde: such white lilies" published by Rivendale Press, Jan. 2008
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