Hallie Eustace Miles

Harriet Beatrice Dorothy "Hallie" Miles (born Beatrice Dorothy Harriet Killick; 12 January 1855 – 25 November 1947), who first wrote under the name Hallie Killick and later wrote as Hallie Eustace Miles and Mrs. Eustace Miles, was an English writer, restaurateur, and social reformer. She wrote on home economics, health, religion, social issues, and wartime life. Her works included the published World War I diary Untold Tales of War-time London: A Personal Diary and the vegetarian cookbook Economy in Wartime; Or, Health Without Meat (1915), later retitled Health Without Meat. Miles also contributed to newspapers including the Daily Mirror and Daily Express. With her husband, the sportsman and writer Eustace Miles, she operated a vegetarian restaurant and health food centre in London.

Biography

Early and personal life Beatrice Dorothy Harriet Killick was born on 12 January 1855 in Devizes. Her father was Rev. Richard Henry Killick. The church had previously been associated with her father, who served as its vicar during the 1860s. After her father's death in 1903, Killick experienced depression. She later wrote that Expression and Depression, a book by Miles, helped in her recovery and led her to write about her own experiences. After finding Miles's address, she contacted him. Their correspondence developed into a relationship, and Killick adopted his dietary ideas, including vegetarianism, before their marriage.

Career

Eustace Miles planned a "Simpler Food Restaurant" that would sell inexpensive meat-free meals. In 1906, after the couple's marriage, they opened the Eustace Miles Restaurant on Chandos Street, Charing Cross. It served meat-free meals for athletes, students, writers, workers, and professionals. Its customers also included suffragettes of the Women's Social and Political Union and Sylvia Pankhurst.

The restaurant served more than 1,000 meals a day. The American food writer James Beard described it as the "only quality vegetarian restaurant in London".

Writing

Miles's books included Life's Orchestra, Life's Colours, The Ideal Home and Its Problems, The Cry of the Animals to their Human Friends, Story of the Coronation and Passing of King Edward VII, The Pilgrimage of the Cross, Economy in Wartime; Or, Health Without Meat, The Cry of the Desolate, Our Kitchen, and The New Road.

During World War I, Miles kept a diary about her work organising concerts in hospitals and recruitment centres, the effect of the war on daily life, and the presence of refugees in London. It was published in 1930 as Untold Tales of War-time London: A Personal Diary. The diary has been cited in studies of wartime Britain and women's writing during the First World War.

In 1915, Miles published a vegetarian cookbook with 160 recipes, Economy in Wartime; Or, Health Without Meat, later retitled Health Without Meat. A 14th edition was published in 1931.

Miles wrote for newspapers including the Daily Mirror and Daily Express.

Social reform Miles supported animal rights, vegetarianism, and feminism. The Humanitarian League held meetings at the Eustace Miles Restaurant. She also promoted food reform through recipes that combined simple vegetarian dishes, such as lentil salad and scrambled eggs on toast, with commercial protein supplements including Emprote.

Death Miles died at her home in York Mansions, London, on 25 November 1947.

Legacy Miles's Economy in War Time was included in the University of Iowa Libraries' 2012 exhibition "Books in the World of Downton Abbey". In 2014, her diary was used in the documentary The Great War: The People's Story, in which Miles was portrayed by Alison Steadman. She was also included in Travis Elborough's list of "top 10 literary diarists".

Publications From Shadow Into Sunshine: June 24 To October 26, 1902 (London: William Clowes & Sons, 1903) Life's Orchestra (preface by Helen Mathers; London: Anthony Treherne & Co., 1904) Life's Colours (introduction by Helene Vacaresco; London: Eustace Miles, 1906) The Animals' Plea for Sunday Rest (The Celtic Press, 1907) The Cry of the Animals and Birds to Their Human Friends in Their Own Words (introduction by Ernest Bell; foreword by John Strange Winter; London: Drane & Co., 1910) The Ideal Home and Its Problems (London: Methuen & Co., 1911) Story of the Coronation and Passing of King Edward VII (London: W. Clowes, 1911) The New Road The Pilgrimage of the Cross (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1912) Economy in Wartime; Or, Health Without Meat (Methuen & Co., 1915) The Cry of the Desolate (London: E. Miles) Our Kitchen (London: Eustace Miles) Milestones on the Road to All-Round Efficiency & Health (with Eustace Miles; London: Eustace Miles, 1922–1927) Untold Tales of War-time London: A Personal Diary (London: Cecil Palmer, 1930)