Hawkesley
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AWKESLEY,
more anciently known as Hawkeslow, is an old moated residence in the parish of
King's Norton which gave its name to the family of Hawkeslowe, whose heiress,
Agnes Hawkeslowe, brought it in the early years of the fifteenth century to
Nicholas Middlemore (46), a younger son of Thomas Middlemore (3) and Isabel
Edgbaston. 
Thus, like his father and
his nephew, John Middlemore (16), the founder of. the Haselwell line, Nicholas
Middlemore married an heiress, and hence acquired a designation for his
line. His descendants, in consequence,
became known as the Middlemores of Hawkesley.
Like their kindred at Edgbaston and Haselwell they were of Visitation
rank, for the pedigree of the Hawkesley line was entered at the Heralds'
Visitation of Worcestershire in 1634, and in the same year the younger branch,
which settled in Lincolnshire, entered their pedigree at the Visitation of that
county. Their position at this period
is indicated by their alliances with such families as Throckmorton, Gatacre,
Goodwin, Dingley, and Baskervile, while the State Papers show that both the
senior line of Hawkesley and the junior of Enfield were active in political and
religious matters. Hawkesley House, still remarkable for a very fine moat and
famous for the Parliamentarian siege in 1645, yet remains in the possession of
the Middlemore family, being at the present time the property of Mr. Middlemore
of Melsetter. No small interest attaches to the place from the
fact that it has now been in the possession of the Middlemores for some fifteen
generations, and previously was owned by their ancestors the Hawkeslows, who
were, as will be seen later, a family of some local importance. Of the date
when the Hawkeslows acquired this property we have, however, no knowledge.
Haselwell Hall remained in the Middlemore family but nine generations while
Edgbaston was associated with the senior line some ten generations.
No less than four times, twice being in the direct line, have the Middlemores of Hawkesley and Birmingham, as will be gathered by the key pedigree, married ladies of their own name and kindred: in the first instance William Middlemore (51), of Hawkesley, married his distant cousin, Margaret Middlemore, of Edgbaston, daughter of Richard Middlemore (8) and Anne Greswolde. His grandson, William Middlemore (53), of Hawkesley, married his distant cousin, Susanna Middlemore of Haselwell. The latter's second son, William Middlemore (55), of Hawkesley, married his maternal cousin german, Eleanor Middlemore, of Haselwell, and lastly, Mary Middlemore, daughter of Richard Middlemore (58), of Hawkesley, married her second cousin, John Middlemore (66), of Stratford-on-Avon.
The Middlemores of Hawkesley were Roman Catholics their names often
appear on the Recusant rolls, and some members of the family continued in that
communion into the nineteenth century.
In the elder line the latter generations conformed to the English
church, for Richard Middlemore, of Hawkesley (58), who died 1804, and his son
Richard Middlemore, of Hawkesley (59), who died 1831, baptized their children
at the parish church of King's Norton, and acted also as churchwardens. The latter's brother, Robert Middlemore, of
Walsall (61), who was baptized by Anglican rites in
Figure 31 King's Norton Church
King's Norton church, also conformed, as did his father and brother, and his own children were baptized at Walsall parish church. He, however, appears at the last to have been received into the Roman communion, for his name is entered in the obituary of St. Mary's Roman Catholic church at Walsall in 1827, with the note " sacramentis rite susceptis," but his descendants who now represent this line of Middlemore have remained members of the Church of England.
Like their kinsmen at Edgbaston and Haselwell they were distinguished for their loyal adhesion to the King's cause in the Great Rebellion, and it is not surprising, therefore, to find that their estate became much lessened, and the elder line of the Hawkesley Middlemores ceased to hold that same position which their ancestors occupied, though to the last they retained Hawkesley House[1], which ultimately descended to the daughters and co-heirs of that Richard Middlemore (59), who died in 1831,
On their deaths in 1873 the representation of this line rested in their first cousins William Middlemore, of Walsall, and Peter Middlemore, of Liverpool, sons of Robert Middlemore (61), of Walsall, who both died in 1884. William Middlemore left no family, but his brother Peter is represented by his three grandsons who are now resident at Liverpool.
Besides offshoots which have continued but one or two
generations, as did the Middlemores of Sussex, there have been two important
branches to which separate chapters will be devoted.
These are the Middlemores of Lincolnshire, who came from Henry Middlemore (74),
of Enfield, and died out about 1717, and the still existing Middlemores of
Birmingham, who branched off in the person of Robert Middlemore (64), who died
in 1766.