Middlemore Family Genealogy

t has been mentioned in the Introduction as a possibility that the Middlemores may be descended from that Robert, son of Jordan de Alrewic, to whom by an ancient deed, undated, but probably of about the time of King John, the lord of Barr confirmed a grant of a moor called Middlemoor. But in the absence of any confirmatory evidence of this suggestion it would be out of place to. endeavour to trace the descent of Jordan de Alrewic.

The first direct mention of the family of Middlemore is to be found in the Plea Rolls of the Kings Court in the early part of the reign of King Edward the Third. At that date we find distinct notice of several of the name, who apparently were all in life together about the year 1330, and were residing in the same part of Warwickshire.         These were : William de Middelmore of Solihul, Simon de Middelmor, John de Midelmore, Walter, son of John Middelmore, and Roger de Middelmor of Tanworth. How they were related, or which of them is to be regarded as the lineal ancestor of the race, we have as yet no means of deciding, nor, perhaps, is it to be expected that we shall ever unravel the precise kinships of persons living in the far-off days of King Edward the Third.

With the view of finding references to these early Middlemores, three sets of records for the reign of Edward III have been carefully scanned. These are the De Banco Rolls, the Exchequer Plea Rolls, and the Assize Rolls. The first relate to the Court of Common Pleas or Common Bench, so called to differentiate it from the King's Bench, the records of which are known as the Coram Rege Rolls; the two latter, the Exchequer Plea Rolls and Assize Rolls, explain themselves. All three classes have yielded information.

The Middlemore Country.   To understand the early settlements and migrations, it is needful to have some knowledge of the district round Birmingham, more especially of that part lying to the south. A glance at the map will show that on the main road which runs south-east from Birmingham to Warwick, and about six miles from that city, lies the village of Solihull. Knowle, in which village was the little Abbey where Joyce Middlemore was Prioress from 1438 to 1460 is but a couple of miles further on. Across country and due south-west of Knowle, only five miles away, is Tanworth. About three miles further south, on the Birmingham and Alcester road, is the picturesque hamlet of Mapleborough Green, with its moated farmhouses. It parishes to Studley, where Thomas Middlemore founded the chantry in 1406. Close to is Ipsley, and only three miles further south on the Alcester road is the village of Coughton, the seat of the Throckmortons, with whom two branches of the Middlemores allied themselves in marriage. Returning northwards to Birmingham we find close to that city on the south, and now forming an integral part of it, is the parish of Edgbaston, acquired by the marriage of Thomas Middlemore in the latter years of the fourteenth century. This alliance diverted the Middlemores from their old settlement; Edgbaston from that time to the eighteenth century became the chief seat of the family. Close too, are Moseley, Yardley and Northfield, and adjoining Edgbaston is King's Norton, so called because it was ancient demesne of the Crown. In this parish, which formed part of the royal manor of Bromsgrove, are the two remaining Middlemore seats-Haslewell Hall, acquired by marriage with the heiress of the family of that name, and Hawkeslow, now Hawkesley House, which came by marriage with Agnes Hawkeslow, still in the possession of the Middlemore family. Haslewell Hall, which ceased to be a Middlemore property nearly two hundred years ago, presents no features of antiquity, but Hawkesley, though rebuilt probably on part of the old foundations, is still remarkable for a fine moat, even now filled with water, which surrounds the house.

In the De Banco Rolls of 3 Edward III, 1330, Avice, who was the wife of Henry att Grange of Solyhull, sued Roger de Middelmore for the third part of a messuage and a plough land in Tanwworth.  The suit is again entered in the roll for Easter term.In the succeeding Trinity term Roger de Middelmore of Taneworth and Lucy, who was wife of John Trages, were fined for unjustly detaining a tenement in Tanworth. It is reasonable to infer that these two entries relate to the same transaction Avice may have been the widow of a former owner of the tenement in Tanworth, compelled, after her re-marriage to Henry att Grange, to sue the heir, Roger de Middlemore, for her widow's thirds, and, as it would appear, successfully.  Lucy, the wife of John Trages, it may be presumed was also a Middlemore.

In 3 Edward III, 1330, the Sheriff of Warwickshire directed William de Sydenhale and Simon de Middelmore to order John de Clynton, son and heir of the late John de Clynton of Retherfeld, to appear and pay a sum of money owing by his late father. In the same year we have another mention of Simon de Middelmore, when he and William de Sidenhale and others represented the defendants in an action brought by the Prioress of Markgate against William Tredesun and others.

In 5 Edward III, 1332, Simon de Middelmore was surety in a Warwickshire action between Robert Parles of Coleshill and Simon atte Sache.

The Assize Roll, 10 Edward III., mentions John de Midelmore as a witness in a suit between Henry de Sydenhale and others against Walter le Honable respecting premises in Farnburgh, doubtless the Farnborough in the Kineton hundred of Warwickshire.

In the same year, October, 1336, as commissioner with John de Peyto and John de Heyford, John de Middelmore held an inquest concerning lands of the Abbot of Bordesle.

In 7 Edward III, January 1333, Thomas de Blaunkfront, then going to Ireland, nominated John de Middelmore as his attorney in England for one year.

Three and a half years later, John de Middelmore and John de Whateley were directed by the King's letters patent to arrest Robert jyntborowe, his wife, and others, and to lodge them in the gaol at Worcester Castle for robbery.

In 13 Edward III, 1339, John de Middelmor was witness to a deed relating to the manor of Schenley Maunsell, Buckinghamshire.

In 5 Edward III, 1332, John de Middlemore was attorney for Ralph de Perham in a dispute concerning lands in Longedon.

In 16 Edward III, 1343, John, son and heir of John de Myddelmore, released to Sir William Trussell, sell., knt., lord of Notehurst, premises in Solihulle and Teneworth which he held by grant of Letice his mother.

In 1333 Walter son of John de Middelmore was plaintiff in an action against. Christian le White of Solihull in respect of a messuage and thirty acres of ground in that place.

Henry de Middelmore, in 1365, was appointed attorney for Thomas de Beauchamp during his absence abroad. In 1368 he was, with others, defendant in a plea of assize at the suit of Richard Waryn.  It may reasonably be inferred that he is to be identified with Henry Middlemore, the father of that Thomas Middlemore, the London citizen, who married the heiress of Edgbaston.

Richard Middelmore, priest, was presented by Katherine de Berkele, lady of Wotton, to the perpetual chantry of Overe near Gloucester, on 6 June 1374•

John de Middelmore and Richard de Midelmore occur as justices in Warwickshire in 1367 and 1368.

In 1380 was an assize to inquire if William Borleye of Yerdeley, Edward Middlemore of Toneworth and Joan late wife of Thomas de Fulwood had unjustly disseized John de Fulwood of his freehold in Toneworth with acres of land and 6 acres of meadow.

Henry Middemore, chaplain, occurs in a fine of 21 Richard 11, I397-8, at Almaly in Herefordshire.

It is impossible to satisfactorily determine the relative position of these early members of the family, but the references to them show clearly enough that they were possessed of considerable influence in Warwickshire before the middle of the fourteenth century, and that Studley, Soli­hull and Tanworth were the parishes in which, so far as we yet know, they were first settled.

These fragmentary references seem to indicate that the three earlier generations mentioned in the pedigree entered at the various visitations, and now preserved in Heralds' College, are correctly given. The table printed on page serves to indicate how the various early members of the family may have been related to one another.  These scattered notes are of no small interest, since they carry back the history of this family about six hundred years, for some of those whose names are thus preserved to us by these dry legal records must have lived in the latter years of the thirteenth century.