Miles Romney (July 13, 1806 – May 3, 1877) was a British convert to

Mormonism Mormonism is the theology and religious tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement of Restorationism, Restorationist Christianity started by Joseph Smith in Western New York in the 1820s and 1830s. As a label, Mormonism has been applied to va ...

Mormon pioneer The Mormon pioneers were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), also known as Latter-day Saints, who migrated beginning in the mid-1840s until the late-1860s across the United States from the Midwest to the S ...

and early settler of the American west, including

St. George, Utah St. George or Saint George is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Utah, United States. Located in southwestern Utah on the Arizona border, it is the principal city of the St. George metropolitan statistical area (MSA). The cit ...

. In 1837, Romney and his wife, Elizabeth, joined the Church of the Latter Day Saints in a baptism ceremony just south of

Preston, Lancashire Preston () is a city on the north bank of the River Ribble in Lancashire, England. The city is the administrative centre of the county of Lancashire and the wider City of Preston, Lancashire, City of Preston local government district. Preston ...

, England. Soon after, they emigrated to the United States to join with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in

Nauvoo, Illinois Nauvoo ( ; from the ) is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States, on the Mississippi River near Fort Madison, Iowa. The population of Nauvoo was 950 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Nauvoo attracts visitors for its h ...

Early life

Romney was born in

Dalton-in-Furness Dalton-in-Furness is a town in Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, England, north east of Barrow-in-Furness. Along with the rest of the Furness peninsula, it was historically part of Lancashire. It is in the parish of Dalton Town with Newton, a ...

, Lancashire in 1806. He was the son of George Romney, Jr. (whose father, George Romney, Sr., was first cousin to the English portrait artist also named George Romney) and Sarah King. On November 16, 1830, he married Elizabeth Gaskell. The couple eventually had nine children, including

Miles Park Romney Miles Park Romney (August 18, 1843 – February 26, 1904) was a prominent American builder in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was born in Nauvoo, Illinois, the son of Miles Romney. He was the president of the St. George Soci ...

, and moved to the Preston area where they may have been practising members of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

congregation at St Mary's parish church in

Penwortham Penwortham () is a town and civil parish in South Ribble, Lancashire, England, on the south bank of the River Ribble facing the city of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. The town is at the most westerly crossing point of the river, with major road ...

. Romney worked as a

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenter ...

in the area, also working in nearby Preston. Seven years after the founding of

Church of Christ Church of Christ may refer to: Church groups * Christianity, the Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ * Christian Church, an ecclesiological term used by denominations to describe the true body of Christia ...

(renamed the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in 1838), in 1837 seven missionaries were sent to

Northwest England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of 7,4 ...

, and started preaching in Preston. Romney and his wife were early converts, baptized in the

River Ribble The River Ribble runs through North Yorkshire and Lancashire in Northern England. It starts close to the Ribblehead Viaduct in North Yorkshire, and is one of the few that start in the Yorkshire Dales and flow westwards towards the Irish Sea (t ...

at Preston. They later emigrated to join other members of the Church in

United States

Once in the United States, Romney worked as an architect, designing or assisting in building early temples, tabernacles and other buildings important to

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

(LDS Church). Romney worked in both Nauvoo and westward in Utah, and assisted in building the

Nauvoo Temple The Nauvoo Temple was the second temple constructed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.''Manuscript History of the Church'', LDS Church Archives, book A-1, p. 37; reproduced in Dean C. Jessee (comp.) (1989). ''The Papers of Jose ...

. After coming to Utah, Romney went with a group of pioneers to settle

. There he served as superintendent of construction for the St. George Utah Temple, the first LDS temple completed in the state of Utah. As an architect, Romney designed the St. George Tabernacle and Brigham Young Winter Home and Office, the latter with his son, Miles Park Romney. Both are listed on the U.S.

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. Miles Romney supervised the construction of the St. George Temple and Tabernacle. Romney died in

, on May 3, 1877, from complications suffered from a fall while working on the St. George Temple. Romney is an ancestor of politicians

George W. Romney George Wilcken Romney (July 8, 1907 – July 26, 1995) was an American businessman and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as chairman and president of American Motors Corporation from 1954 to 1962, the 43rd gove ...

and

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Romney, Miles People from Dalton-in-Furness English carpenters Converts to Mormonism English Latter Day Saints English emigrants to the United States Architects of Latter Day Saint religious buildings and structures Architects from Utah

Miles The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of length; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English f ...

1806 births 1877 deaths 19th-century British businesspeople

Early life

United States

See also

References