MIDDLETON, Robert (d.1610), of Colchester, Essex.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603, ed. P.W. Hasler, 1981
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Family and Education

s. of Robert Middleton, bailiff and alderman of Colchester. educ. ?St. John’s, Camb., matric. pens. 1558; I. Temple 1568, called. m. Jane, wid. of Ambrose Gilbert, 1s.

Offices Held

?J.p. Harwich 1603.

Biography

As Middleton is described in the election return as ‘Robert Middleton, junior esq.’ it seems likely that his father, who lived in St. Runwald’s parish, was still alive in 1579 and that it was he, not the son, who held many offices in Colchester between 1568 and 1579, as well as before that period. In 1579, however, Robert Middleton the younger was granted an annuity for life as counsel for the town. He was returned in May 1579 to fill the vacancy in Parliament caused by the death of Nicholas Clere. Clere himself had replaced Henry Golding I, who had been returned in 1572 and died in 1576. All three were local men. In 1602 Middleton’s heir was admitted to the Inner Temple because his father was ‘an ancient utter barrister, and near for antiquity unto the degree of the bench’.

In his will, dated 27 Aug. and proved 30 Nov. 1610, Middleton left most of his land and chattels to his son Robert, the executor. He also bequeathed legacies to various friends, relatives and servants, and £3 to the poor of St. James’s parish.

Essex Rev. i. 154; iv. 241; Cal. Harwich Borough Muniments, 21; Cal. Colchester Ct. Rolls, ed. Harrod, 75; Colchester recs. assembly bk. 1576-99; Trans. Essex Arch. Soc. n.s. xvii. 37; Cal. I.T. Recs. i. 451; PCC 94 Wingfield.

Ref Volumes: 1558-1603

Author: J.H.

Notes

  • 1. Did not serve for the full duration of the Parliament.