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Clan Middleton (Tartans, Crest) and The Story Behind

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Middleton

Clan Crest: Issuing out of a tower Sable, a lion rampant Gules, armed and langued Azure

Clan Motto: Fortis in Arduis (Brave in Difficulty)

Origin of Name: Place name, Kincardineshire

Lands: Kincardineshire

Clan Chief: None, armigerous clan

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Middleton Clan History

Middleton is thought to be derived from the lands of Middleton of Conveth, which are located near Laurencekirk in Kincardineshire. A charter of William the Lion confirms these lands. Umfridus de Midilton was present in 1221 when land was granted to the Abbey of Arbroath.

Humfrey de Middleton's name appears on the Ragman Roll of 1296, and Robert de Middleton was imprisoned at Dunbar Castle that year.

For about three hundred years, the family was known as "of Middleton of that Ilk," until Charles II made John Middleton 1st Earl in 1656.

John Middleton was a professional soldier who served the King of France in Hepburn's regiment. He returned to Scotland in 1642 and joined the Covenanters, serving as second in command at the Battle of Philiphaugh in 1645. He was appointed Commander-in-Chief in 1646 and later that year negotiated the final terms of Montrose's surrender.

In 1651, he fought for Charles II as a major-general in the Battle of Worcester. After being wounded, he was apprehended, but escaped and joined Charles II in exile in Paris. He remained in Charles' service until the Restoration, when he was elevated to the rank of 1st Earl of Middleton and appointed to a number of important Scottish positions. After a disagreement with the Earl of Lauderdale, he lost these positions in 1663. He was appointed governor of Tangier in 1668 after serving as governor of Rochester and Lieutenant-General of the Kent militia. He died in 1674.

Charles Middleton, the second and final Earl of Middleton, was John Middleton's son. He was Scotland's Secretary of State and Ambassador to the Imperial Court in Vienna. He was later imprisoned in England for refusing to recognize the 1688 revolution and the accession of William and Mary, but he managed to escape. After Charles's sons were captured while attempting to invade Scotland with the help of French troops, the title of Earl was forfeited.

During WWI, Sir Thomas Middleton of Rosefarm in Cromarty served as deputy director general of the Department of Food Production and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1936.

Middleton Places & People

Clan Middleton People

Charles Middelton's

1st Baron Barham Charles Middleton (1726-1813)

He was born in Leith, Edinburgh, to a British naval officer and politician.

Middleton joined the Royal Navy as a captain's servant in 1741. In 1745, he was promoted to lieutenant and served in the Seven Years War. He was given command of the frigate HMS Arundel in 1759. The following year, while commanding HMS Emerald, he distinguished himself in the West Indies by capturing sixteen French ships and several privateers, earning the gratitude of merchants in the British colony of Barbados.

Middleton was created a baronet and elected Tory Member of Parliament for Rochester in 1784, a seat he held for six years before being promoted to Rear Admiral three years later. He later became a Lord of the Admiralty and, in 1795, Admiral of the Blue. In 1805 he was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty and made Baron Barham of Barham Court and Teston in the County of Kent. Lord Barham was promoted to Admiral of the Red in September 1805. He died eight years later, at the age of 86, at his home, Barham Court.

Sir Charles Middleton, in addition to his service in the Royal Navy, was instrumental in the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire. While Middleton did not play a direct role in the effort to abolish the slave trade (achieved in 1807) or slavery itself (in 1833) by speaking out about it as an MP, he did play an important role as a behind-the-scenes facilitator.

1st Earl of Middleton John Middleton (1619–1674)

Early in his career, he served as a soldier in France; later, he fought against Charles I in both England and Scotland, most notably at the Battle of Philiphaugh and other operations against the great Montrose. He was in command of the Scottish army that marched to save the king in 1648, and he was captured after the Battle of Preston. When Charles II arrived in Scotland in 1650, he joined him.

Charles II appointed Middleton to lead the planned Scottish uprising in 1653. He arrived in Scotland in February 1654, but the insurgency was a total failure. Its leader, who could not be blamed for the outcome, remained in Scotland until 1655, when he rejoined Charles II, who made him Earl of Middleton in 1656.

In 1660, he returned to England with the King and was appointed commander-in-chief of the troops in Scotland as well as Lord High Commissioner to the Scottish parliament, which he inaugurated in January 1661. He was an outspoken supporter of the restoration of the episcopacy, which contributed to serious disagreements between the Earl of Lauderdale and himself, and he was deposed in 1663. He later became governor of Tangier (1667), where he died in June 1674.

Middleton Tartans

Middleton Tartan Modern

Middleton Crest & Coats of Arms

Clan Middleton Crest

Crest Description: A lion rampant Gules, armed and langued Azure, issuing from a tower Sable.

Coats of Arms for Middleton:

A word about Coats of Arms:

A coat of arms is granted to an individual under Scottish heraldic law (with the exception of civic or corporate arms). A 'family coat of arms' does not exist. With the exceptions noted above, the arms depicted below are personal arms. Only the person who has been granted these weapons has the right to use them.

Earl of Middleton MIDDLETON

Divided by fess, A lion rampant, armed and langued, Or and Gules, within a double tressure, flory counterflory, of the second and first, and counterchanged.