John Middleton, 1st Earl of Middleton ( – 3 July 1674) was a professional soldier and mercenary from

Kincardineshire Kincardineshire, also known as the Mearns (from the Scottish Gaelic meaning "the Stewartry"), is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area on the coast of northeast Scotland. It is bounded by Aberdeenshire on the north and ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. Beginning his career in the Thirty Years War, during the

Wars of the Three Kingdoms The Wars of the Three Kingdoms were a series of related conflicts fought between 1639 and 1653 in the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, then separate entities united in a personal union under Charles I. They include the 1639 to 1640 B ...

he fought for the

Covenanters Covenanters ( gd, Cùmhnantaich) were members of a 17th-century Scottish religious and political movement, who supported a Presbyterian Church of Scotland, and the primacy of its leaders in religious affairs. The name is derived from '' Coven ...

and Parliamentarians until 1648, when he switched sides to the Royalists. One of his colleagues in the 1639 to 1640

Bishops' Wars The 1639 and 1640 Bishops' Wars () were the first of the conflicts known collectively as the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms, which took place in Scotland, England and Ireland. Others include the Irish Confederate Wars, the First an ...

was Montrose, who later became a Royalist. Despite their similar backgrounds and views, Middleton pursued him with considerable vigour, reportedly because his father died when Montrose's men set fire to his house. Middleton supported the Royalists in the

Second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds e ...

and

Third English Civil War Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...

s and took part in the unsuccessful 1654 Glencairn's rising. Rewarded by being appointed

Lord High Commissioner to the Parliament of Scotland The Lord High Commissioner to the Parliament of Scotland was the monarch of Scotland's's personal representative to the Parliament of Scotland. From the accession of James VI of Scotland to the throne of England in 1603, a Lord High Commission ...

after the 1660

Stuart Restoration The Restoration of the Stuart monarchy in the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland took place in 1660 when King Charles II returned from exile in continental Europe. The preceding period of the Protectorate and the civil wars came t ...

, he fell out with his political colleagues and was removed from office in 1663. However, viewed by Charles II as a capable and reliable soldier, he was compensated with two key strategic commands, first Rochester Castle, then

English Tangier English Tangier was the period in Moroccan history in which the city of Tangier was occupied by England as part of the English colonial empire from 1661 to 1684. Tangier had been under Portuguese control before King Charles II acquired the ...

where he died in July 1674.

Personal details

Born around 1608, John was the eldest son of Robert Middleton of Caldhame and his wife Catherine Strachan; his younger brother Alexander and nephew George both served as Principal of

King's College, Aberdeen King's College in Old Aberdeen, Scotland, the full title of which is The University and King's College of Aberdeen (''Collegium Regium Abredonense''), is a formerly independent university founded in 1495 and now an integral part of the Universi ...

great uncle of George's son John Middleton; and great-great uncle of

Charles Middleton, 1st Baron Barham Admiral Charles Middleton, 1st Baron Barham, PC (14 October 172617 June 1813) was a Royal Navy officer and politician. As a junior officer he saw action during the Seven Years' War. Middleton was given command of a guardship at the Nore, a R ...

Military career

In early life Middleton served as a soldier in France; later he fought against Charles I both in England and in Scotland, being especially prominent at the

Battle of Philiphaugh The Battle of Philiphaugh was fought on 13 September 1645 during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms near Selkirk in the Scottish Borders. The Royalist army of the Marquis of Montrose was destroyed by the Covenanter army of Sir David Lesli ...

and in other operations against

James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose (1612 – 21 May 1650) was a Scottish nobleman, poet and soldier, lord lieutenant and later viceroy and captain general of Scotland. Montrose initially joined the Covenanters in the Wars of the Three ...

. Middleton held a high command in the Engager army which took part in the

Second English Civil War The Second English Civil War took place between February to August 1648 in England and Wales. It forms part of the series of conflicts known collectively as the 1639-1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms, which include the 1641–1653 Irish Confede ...

and was taken prisoner at the Battle of Preston in August 1648. He joined Charles II when he arrived in Scotland in 1650 to be crowned, but fell out with the ruling Kirk Party and was compelled to do public penance at

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mi ...

. He commanded the Royalist cavalry at the

Battle of Worcester The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 in and around the city of Worcester, England and was the last major battle of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A Parliamentarian army of around 28,000 under Oliver Cromwell de ...

in August 1651 and was captured before escaping to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. In 1653, Middleton was chosen to lead a projected Scottish rising; he reached Scotland in February 1654, but the participants were deeply divided and the revolt ended in defeat at the Battle of Dalnaspidal in July. He remained in Scotland until 1655 when he rejoined the exiled court and was created Earl of Middleton in 1656, with the subsidiary title of Lord Clermont and Fettercairn. He was made colonel of a Scottish infantry regiment in the Royalist Army in Exile, although actual command was exercised by Lord Newburgh.Barratt, John. ''Better Begging Than Fighting': The Royalist Army in Exile in the War Against Cromwell 1656-1660''. Helion, 2016. p.30-32

Political career

Following the

in May 1660, Middleton was appointed commander-in-chief of the troops in Scotland and

, which he opened in January 1661. His extreme Royalism led to a political struggle with the Earl of Lauderdale and in 1663 he was deprived of his offices. He then served as Lieutenant-General of the Kent militia and Governor of Rochester Castle from 1663 until 1668, before being appointed governor of

in 1670, acquired when Charles married

Catherine of Braganza Catherine of Braganza ( pt, Catarina de Bragança; 25 November 1638 – 31 December 1705) was Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland during her marriage to King Charles II, which lasted from 21 May 1662 until his death on 6 February 1685. Sh ...

. he died there on 3 July 1674 of injuries sustained by falling down the stairs after a drinking bout.

Family

John Middleton married (contract July 1639), Grizel Durham, who died in September 1666. They had five children together: * Charles Middleton, 2nd Earl of Middleton (1649/1650–1719), married Lady Catherine Brudenell, daughter of Robert Brudenell, 2nd Earl of Cardigan, and Ann Savage, had children. * Lady Grizel Middleton, married William Douglas, 9th Earl of Morton. One child who died in infancy. * Lady Helen Middleton, married Patrick Lyon, 3rd Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne. They had eight children. * Two daughters, names not known, who both died in 1669 unmarried and without issue. Middleton's second wife was Lady Martha Carey (1635/6–1706), married 16 December 1667 at St. Andrew's, Holborn, daughter of Henry Carey, 2nd Earl of Monmouth and his wife Martha Cranfield. They had two children: * John Middleton (1668–1696). Died unmarried without issue. * Lady Elizabeth Middleton (1672–1748), married William Spelman. They had one child who died young.

References

Sources

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