H. R. Milner

Milner was born in Sackville, New Brunswick, the son of lawyer, newspaper publisher and historian William Cochrane Milner (1846–1939) and his wife Sarah Althea Smith (1858–1932). He had one sibling, William Binney Milner (1891-1975). He received his education in Halifax, Nova Scotia, first graduating Bachelor of Arts from King's College in 1909, and then Bachelor of Laws from Dalhousie University in 1911. Later in life, from 1957 to 1963 Milner served as the Chancellor of King's.[2] At the time he graduated there was little demand in the Maritimes for lawyers. Partly due to a bronchial condition, his aunt urged him to move west. Milner arrived in Edmonton in 1912 and joined the firm Hyndman and Hyndman.

In 1914 Milner joined the Edmonton Fusiliers attaining the rank of Captain and serving as adjutant of the 194th Battalion.[3] In 1916 he reverted to Lieutenant to go overseas with the 26th Battalion. Milner was wounded twice in combat before being demobilised in 1918.

Milner returned to Edmonton after the War and in 1921, age 32, was made King's Counsel (and Queen's Counsel from 1952 accession of Queen Elizabeth on).

He became associated with various utilities and natural gas companies in Alberta, and was a founding director of Canadian Utilities.

The H. R. Milner Generating Station near Grande Cache, Alberta was named in for H. R. Milner on its dedication in 1972.[4] Edmonton's Milner Building at 10040 104th Street, completed in 1958, was also named for him. Milner was made a Companion of the Order of Canada in 1969, the year he retired.[5]

After he had first moved to Edmonton, Milner met Catherine "Rina" Bury (1887-1952), who at the time was married but estranged from her husband. Not having seen her for several years, in 1918 while recovering in a hospital in England, Milner reunited with Bury, now divorced, who was serving as a nurse. The couple fell in love there and married in 1919. They later had a daughter, Elizabeth (1930-2005). In 1937 the couple wanted to purchase a summer home and decided upon Qualicum Beach on Vancouver Island, a spot where several other Edmonton businessmen had homes. On 14 April 1937 they bought "Long Distance," a home at 2179 West Island Highway. The house had been built between 1929 and 1931 by Hilda Bayley, sister of Brigadier-General Noel Money, and was a bungalow in the style of a Ceylonese tea plantation house. Around 1940 Rina was diagnosed with a hereditary illness and in November 1952 died at age 65.

Sometime before Rina's death, Milner had met Veronica Villiers FitzGerald while on a trip to the United States. Veronica Villiers (1909-1998) was born to Reverend Ernest Amherst Villiers (1863-1933) of the aristocratic Villiers family, and Elaine Augusta Guest (1871-19??). Elaine was the daughter of Ivor Guest, 1st Baron Wimborne, and Lady Cornelia Henrietta Maria Spencer-Churchill, daughter of John Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough. Veronica had married Desmond FitzGerald, 28th Knight of Glin in January 1929, one month before her 20th birthday. The couple had three children, including a son and heir Desmond (1937-2011). At the time Milner met Veronica, she was on a trip with her ailing husband trying to restore his health. After Desmond FitzGerald died in April 1949 of Tuberculosis, Milner and the now widowed Veronica FitzGerald rekindled their friendship. They married in 1954 when he was 65 and she 45.[6]

The Milners twice hosted at Long Distance members of the Canadian Royal Family. Prince Charles and Princess Diana visited in 1986 and Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip stayed there for three days in 1987.[7]

Milner died on 24 May 1975 in Qualicum Beach. In 1996, two years before her death, Veronica Milner made a gift of Long Distance to Vancouver Island University. The university now runs the estate as the publicly accessible Milner Gardens & Woodlands[8] as a living laboratory for VIU.[9]