Appendix B

THE MIDDLEMORES OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE.

Figure 56  Key Pedigree Q.  The Middlemores of Stonehouse, Avening, and Minchinhapton

 

HE Middlemores of Gloucestershire have existed in that county for at least twelve generations, extending over a period of upwards of three hundred and fifty years, and, though it does not seem likely that it will ever be possible to show or prove the connection which not improbably exists between them and the Warwickshire family, it may be of interest to briefly place on record what has been learnt respecting them.

The last three or four generations of this still existing family have occupied but a humble rank, though preserving the tradition of their descent from men of moderate substance, clothiers and the like, a statement which is borne out by the researches which have been made. These Middlemores have been settled at Avening or its immediate neighbourhood for about seven generations.

Another branch continued at Leonard Stanley until the death of Giles Middlemore, in 1785 [1]

Figure 57   Signature of Giles Middlemore

His daughter and heiress, Sophia, married Nathaniel Miles, but

Figure 58  Signature of Sophia Middlemore

 on the ultimate extinction of their issue the representation of this family passed to his sister Sarah Middlemore, who died in 1766, having married Thomas Whittard, of a yeoman family settled at Uley at least as early as the sixteenth century. Their senior living descendant in the fourth generation, the Rev. T. M. Whittard, assumed by deed poll in 1879 the surname of Middlemore as a prefix to commemorate the fact that he is the representative of this particular line of the Middlemores of Leonard Stanley.

It is unnecessary to deal with the Gloucestershire Middlemores in the same detail as other lines, but a few notes, together with the accompanying tabular pedigree, will render their history sufficiently clear.

Already it has been shown that the Warwickshire and Worcestershire families were associated with Gloucestershire by the settlement of William Middlemore (13) at Bristol as a dyer, and by the residence of John Middlemore, son of John, of Hawkesley (50), at Bream, in the Forest of Dean, but it is only requisite to mention this here for the purpose of saying that, so far, no trace of a conneftion between the Warwickshire Middlemores and the present Gloucestershire family can be discovered.

These Middlemores have been settled in one district of very limited area; the three villages of Stonehouse, King Stanley, and Leonard Stanley, are closely adjacent, their churches being within a mile of each other, while Averting is not more than five or six miles away at the end of an adjoin­ing Cotswold valley, and it is worthy of note that this district has always been one of the principal settlements of the cloth manufacturers or " clothiers," as in former times  theywere usually called.

The earliest evidence we have of the name is the will of William Middlemore, of Stonehouse; which bears date 1551. That his  son Williamis the William Middlemore who married Eleanor Shatford; in 1582, at. Leonard Stanley, .seems probable, though, as far as time is concerned, an intermediate generation would be possible. But of this, neither the Stonehouse registers, which begin in 1558, nor those of Leonard Stanley, 1570, and King Stanley, 1573, -afford us indication.

The history of the Gloucestershire Middlemores in the middle of the seventeenth century is most obscure. This is doubtless due in large measure to those not infrequent defects in parish registers which are the result of the disturbances of the Civil War.  The baptisms of several Middlemores are wanting, and few other records being available, it is not possible to construct other than a tentative pedigree as indicated by the dotted lines in the accompanying chart.  The difficulty of assigning to the various individuals named in the various records their proper place in the family pedigree is enhanced by the repetition of similar Christian names, and the existence at the same period of at least five adult Middlemores, who for some years repeatedly occur in the. manor rolls of Leonard Stanley.               We have therein clear evidence of Giles, Richard,
Richard, Anthony, and William Middlemore ,who were living at Leonard Stanley in 1680. It is certain that two of these, Giles and Richard, were brothers, for the will, 1690, of Giles Middlemore, of King Stanley, proves as much. William Middlemore, who was presumably a bachelor, mentions no. brother in his will in 1685, but refers to his cousin Richard, expressly describing him as the son of his uncle Anthony, to whom he left a small legacy.  The other Richard Middlemore, a man evidently well to do, tenant of Mr. Sandford's grist mill at Downton, and churchwarden of Leonard Stanley, was ancestor of that extinct line of Middlemores which is now represented by the Whittard family, the descendants of his granddaughter Sarah.  The will of his brother, Giles Middlemore, 1690, indicates pretty clearly that they were sons of Giles Middlemore and Deborah Horston.  He gives to his cousin Deborah Horston, with whom he dwelt, £10,to Mary Dangerfield, living with his cousin Deborah, 20s., and he appoints his loving kinsmen Jasper Byam and Samuel Byam as overseers of his will.  Now we find in the Leonard Stanley registers record of the following marriages:

Edward Whorston and Alice Selwin, 1597.

Deborah Hoston and Giles Middlemore, 1638.

Samuel Hoston and Catharine Sandford, 1630.

Richard Hoston and Mary Wood, 1636.

Sarah Hoston and Jasper Byam, 1630.

Elizabeth Houston and Henry Dangerfield, 1591.

These entries plainly show that the Horstons, Dangerfields, and Byams were all related, and presumably also Giles Middlemore,
 through the Horston family.  How they may have been connected is hinted at in the subjoined table

This, of course, is not conclusive, but the theory enables us to account for all the various Middlemores in Stanley with whom we meet at this period.

There remains only Richard, the son of Anthony Middlemore, mentioned as such in the will of William Middlemore in 1686. It seems probable that be is the other Richard Middlemore first mentioned and described as "poor " in one of the Leonard Stanley manor rolls, and further, that he is that Richard whose two sons, Richard and John, were baptized, respectively, in 1672 and 1678, at Leonard Stanley; the first named child, Richard, seems to have died the following year, 1673, but of John we have no further record.           His date of baptism would indicate that he may be the John Middlemore[2] of Avening who died,- as
 his tomb at Forest Green shows, in 1755,-aged seventy-six; and was ancestor of the Middlemores of Avening and Minchinhampton.

Their history is sufficiently set out in the tabular pedigree but it is worth while noting that in this line occurs the only connection as far as we know, which the name has with America. Richard Middlemore, of Avening, emigrated with his family to the United States, but died of yellow fever at Baltimore, Maryland, and was buried in St. Paul's churchyard in that city in 1797. His wife and children on his death came back to England, but the elder son, Thomas, returned to America, and is said to have married, leaving only two daughters, who settled in Alabama.

THE MIDDLEMORES OF CUMBERLAND

 

HE Registrar General's Index. at Somerset House during the period 1839-95, contains 195 Middlemore entries. Of these about twenty-eight, or nearly one-sixth, relate to a family of Middlemore moftly connected with Carlisle, all of whom appear to be of humble rank.  Their origin, as given by tradition,, goes back to a William _.Middlemore, stated to have lived at Thursby, between the village of Wigton and Carlisle.. He had a family of four sons and a daughter, James, William, Richard, Hannah, Jude of whom the first and last are known to have left descendants.  Further, it is said, that some of the sons were ^" at the battle of Waterloo," and that they ^" came from the south."  The first named William Middlemore, was perhaps born about 1760 or 1770, but in the absence of register searches in Cumberland
 parishes it is of course impossible to say whether this family is of long standing in the, north, and unconnected with the Mid-land family, or whether they may be a comparatively modern settlement of some "humble London Middlemore.

It may be well to note the coincidence that William Richard Middlemore- (33), of -Grantham, who died in 1772, aged about forty-one; was resident at "Carlisle in 1768, but it is in the highest degree improbable that any connection existed between the families. Some particulars respecting the descendants of William Middlemore, of Thursby, have been supplied by William Middlemore, residing in Carlisle in 1897, who is a grandson of Jude Middlemore.  From these facts, and information in the Registrar General's books, it has been found possible to construct a tabular pedigree of five generations, which is indicated in brief outline on this page.

 

THE MIDDLEMORES OF STAFFORDSHIRE

 

ITH the exception of the Middlemores of Hawkesley, there are none of the name now to be found in the Midlands other than that family which is referred to on p. 4, ante.  These Middlemores, who are of lowly position, have lived for many years past in various places in the neighbourhood of Birmingham and Walsall. All that has been ascertained respecting them has been learnt from Joseph Middlemore, who, in 1891 was living at Whitehall Road, Coldmore, Walsall, and from the books of the Registrar General at Somerset House.  The scanty information thus obtained is shown in the following brief pedigree:

Figure 59  Pedigree of James Middlemore of Sutton Colfield

It is to be observed that Joseph Middlemore was unable to supply even the name of his grandfather, and it is not likely that any direct search would enlighten us as to the origin of this family.