Sir Hugh Myddelton (or Middleton), 1st Baronet (1560 – 10 December 1631) was a Welsh clothmaker, entrepreneur, mine-owner,

goldsmith A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made silverware, platters, goblets, decorative and servicea ...

, banker and self-taught engineer. The spelling of his name is inconsistently reproduced, but Myddelton appears to be the earliest, and most consistently used in place names associated with him.

Early life

Myddelton was born in 1560 at Galch Hill,

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. He as the sixth son of Richard Myddelton, governor of Denbigh Castle in

and MP for Denbigh Boroughs and Jane Dryhurst, daughter of Hugh Dryhurst and Lucy ( Grimsditch) Dryhurst. Among his brothers were Sir Thomas Myddelton,

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional pow ...

, William Middelton, poet and seaman, and Robert Myddelton, also an MP.

Career

He travelled to seek his fortune in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and after being apprenticed to London goldsmith Thomas Hartopp, becoming so successful in that trade that he was appointed Royal Jeweller by

King James I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until hi ...

. In the meantime, he became an alderman and then recorder of Denbigh, and in 1603 succeeded his father as MP for Denbigh Boroughs, which he remained until 1628. He also became a very wealthy merchant and clothmaker.

New River

Myddelton is best remembered as the driving force behind the construction of the New River, an ambitious engineering project to bring clean water into London. After the initial project, started by

Edmund Colthurst Edmund Colthurst (c. 1545 – 1616) was a wealthy English landowner who inherited the former monastic estates of Hinton Priory and Bath Abbey, Somerset, following the death of his father in 1559. He was the son of Matthew Colthurst and Anne Grim ...

, encountered financial difficulties, Myddelton helped fund the project through to completion, obtaining the assistance of

. The New River was constructed between 1608 and 1613 (being officially opened on 29 September that year), and was originally some long. It was not initially a financial success, and cost Myddelton substantial sums, although in 1612 he was successful in securing monetary assistance from King James I. In 1619, the

New River Company The New River Company, formally The Governor and Company of the New River brought from Chadwell and Amwell to London, was a privately-owned water supply company in London, England, originally formed around 1609 and incorporated in 1619 by roy ...

was incorporated by royal charter, one of the first

joint-stock A joint-stock company is a business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares (certificates of ownership). Shareholders are ...

utility companies, with Myddelton as governor. The company would continue to be a powerful and extremely profitable force in London's water supply for nearly 300 years.

Mining activities

In 1617, Myddelton obtained large profits from lead and silver mines at Bronfloydd,

Cwmerfyn Cwmerfyn (historically Cwm-erfin or Cwmerfin) is a hamlet in the community of Trefeurig, Ceredigion, Wales, by road east of Aberystwyth. Historically Cwmerfyn was a lead ore mining village. Geography The Nant Silo stream runs in the vicinity. T ...

and

Cwmsymlog Cwmsymlog is a short valley, sheltering a hamlet of the same name, in Ceredigion, in the west of Wales. Once an important mining area, but the mining slowly declined and finally came to an end in 1901. Now it is peaceful, open countryside with a ...

in Cardiganshire, Wales. Working those mines involved building

aqueducts Aqueduct may refer to: Structures *Aqueduct (bridge), a bridge to convey water over an obstacle, such as a ravine or valley *Navigable aqueduct, or water bridge, a structure to carry navigable waterway canals over other rivers, valleys, railw ...

to serve the stamp mills needed to crush the

ore Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically containing metals, that can be mined, treated and sold at a profit.Encyclopædia Britannica. "Ore". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 7 Apr ...

. Following engineering works at Brading on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

, he was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

on 22 October 1622.

Personal life

Myddelton was twice married. His first wife was Anne ( Collins) Edwards, whom he married shortly before 5 November 1585. Anne, a widow of Richard Edwards of London, was a daughter of Collins of Lichfield, Staffordshire. After Anne's death in 1597, he married Elizabeth Olmstead, daughter and heiress of John Olmstead of Ingatestone, Essex, in 1598. Myddelton's second marriage was presumably arranged by his brother, Sir Thomas, the bride's stepfather. Between his two wives, he had ten sons and six daughters, including William Middleton (1603–), who served as MP for Denbigh from 1630 and 1647. He died in December 1631 at Bush Hill,

, and was buried in the church of St. Matthew Friday Street. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his son

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

. His widow died on 19 July 1643.

Memorials

There is a statue of Myddelton on

Islington Green Islington Green is a small triangle of open land at the convergence of Upper Street and Essex Road (once called Lower Street) in the London Borough of Islington. It roughly marks the northern boundary between the modern district of Angel and Isl ...

. Myddleton is also depicted in a statue situated in a niche of the northeastern step-building of the

Holborn Viaduct Holborn Viaduct is a road bridge in London and the name of the street which crosses it (which forms part of the A40 route). It links Holborn, via Holborn Circus, with Newgate Street, in the City of London financial district, passing over ...

. On an island in the New River at

Great Amwell Great Amwell is a village and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district, in the county of Hertfordshire, England. It is southeast of Ware and about north of London. History On a hill above the church there are some traces of an Iron Ag ...

a stone memorial is dedicated to Myddelton. A blue plaque marks the site of his former residence at the end of Cunard Crescent in

Enfield Enfield may refer to: Places Australia * Enfield, New South Wales * Enfield, South Australia ** Electoral district of Enfield, a state electoral district in South Australia, corresponding to the suburb ** Enfield High School (South Australia) ...

. In Clerkenwell, not far from the original southern end of the New River, Myddelton Square takes its name from him, as do Myddelton Passage and Myddleton Street. Institutions nearby (some closed) that are named after him include Hugh Myddelton Primary School in Myddelton Street; the Myddelton Wing of the LSE Rosebery Hall of Residence, also on Myddelton Street; Hugh Myddelton Secondary school (which closed in the mid 1960s in Sans Walk, Islington); and Myddelton House on Pentonville Road, central office of

Citizens Advice Citizens AdviceCitizens Advice is the operating name of The National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux which is the umbrella charity for a wider network of local advice centres. The abbreviation CitA is sometimes used to refer to this nation ...

. Bounded by the former course along the valley of

Turkey Brook Turkey Brook is a river in the northern outskirts of London. It rises in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, and flows broadly eastwards to merge with the River Lea Navigation near Enfield Lock. Etymology The brook is named from the hamlet Turkey S ...

, Myddelton House at Bulls Cross, Enfield (now the headquarters of the

Lee Valley Regional Park Authority Lee Valley Regional Park Authority (LVRPA) is a statutory body that is responsible for managing and developing the long, Lee Valley Regional Park. The park was established by Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1967. The headquarters of the ...

) was also named in his honour; it was built by Henry Carrington Bowles (formerly a print and map maker of St Paul's Churchyard) whose wife, Anne Garnault, was a member of a

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

family with a controlling interest in the New River Company. There is also a Myddleton Arms on New North Road in

Canonbury Canonbury is a residential area of Islington in the London Borough of Islington, North London. It is roughly in the area between Essex Road, Upper Street and Cross Street and either side of St Paul's Road. In 1253 land in the area was granted to ...

, curiously with that spelling. Myddelton Avenue in Finsbury Park, parallel to Brownswood Road and the site of one of the New River Reservoirs, also is named for him. At the northern end of the New River, Myddleton Road in

Ware Ware may refer to: People * Ware (surname) * William of Ware (), English Franciscan theologian Places Canada * Fort Ware, British Columbia United Kingdom * Ware, Devon *Ware, Hertfordshire * Ware, Kent United States * Ware, Elmore County ...

is situated close to the source of the river. Myddelton Road in

Bowes Park Bowes Park () is situated on the borders of Wood Green, Palmers Green and Bounds Green in London, England. The postcodes for Bowes Park are N13 and N22. The border between the London boroughs of Enfield and Haringey goes through the area. Bow ...

crosses the New River at a point where it goes underground between there and the

Hornsey Hornsey is a district of north London, England in the London Borough of Haringey. It is an inner-suburban, for the most part residential, area centred north of Charing Cross. It adjoins green spaces Queen's Wood and Alexandra Park to the ...

water treatment works, where there is another Myddelton Road off Hornsey High Street. Great Amwell memorial urn
. Retrieved 30 October 2011

References

;Notes ;Sources

Sources

* * *

External links

biography in Science & Society Picture Library
* ttp://www.waterhistory.org/histories/london/ Water-related Infrastructure in Medieval Londonbr>Welsh Biography Online – Myddleton familyBiography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Myddelton, Hugh 1560 births 1631 deaths Myddelton family Welsh civil engineers London water infrastructure People from Denbigh Baronets in the Baronetage of England 16th-century English people Thames Water Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for constituencies in Wales English MPs 1604–1611 English MPs 1614 English MPs 1621–1622 English MPs 1624–1625 English MPs 1625 English MPs 1626 English MPs 1628–1629