MIDDLETON, Sir William, 5th Bt. (1738-95), of Belsay Castle, Northumb.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1790-1820, ed. R. Thorne, 1986
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

1774 - 7 July 1795

Family and Education

b. 6 June 1738, 1st s. of Sir John Lambert Middleton, 4th Bt., of Belsay by Anne, da. of Sir Nathaniel Hodges, wid. of Warner Perkins, attorney. m. 20 Apr. 1774, Jane, da. and h. of Lawrence Monck of Caenby, Lincs., 3s. 2da. suc. fa. as 5th Bt. 2 Mar. 1768.

Offices Held

Cornet, R. Horse Gds. 1756, lt. 1759, capt. 1762, ret. 1774.

Biography

Middleton was returned for a fourth time as the candidate of the independent gentlemen of Northumberland in 1790, despite rumours that he was to resign his seat.1 An opponent of Pitt in the Parliament of 1784—though an infrequent attender and a member neither of the Whig Club nor of Brooks’s—he voted against government on Oczakov, 12 Apr. 1791, the same month as he was listed favourable to repeal of the Test Act in Scotland, but is not known to have done so again in the 1790 Parliament. His inclusion in a list of Members ‘supposed attached’ to the Duke of Portland in December 1792 was queried, but he presumably transferred his support to government, for he was marked ‘pro’ in the ministerial survey drawn up for the next general election. On 4 Mar. 1793 he was granted leave of absence because of ill health.2 He is not known to have spoken in the House. He died 7 July 1795.

Ref Volumes: 1790-1820

Author: J. M. Collinge

Notes

  • 1. Northumb. RO, Blackett mss ZBL244, E. to W. Blackett, 2 Dec. [1786].
  • 2. CJ, xlviii. 318.