Sir William Middlebrook, 1st Baronet (22 February 1851 – 30 June 1936) was an English

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

and

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

politician.

Family and education

William Middlebrook was born at Birstall in the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

the son of John Middlebrook and Eliza Priestley. His mother was a distant relation of

Joseph Priestley Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, Unitarian, Natural philosophy, natural philosopher, English Separatist, separatist theologian, Linguist, grammarian, multi-subject educator and Classical libera ...

the philosopher, theologian and scientist.The Times, 1 July 1936 p18 He was educated at Huddersfield College. In 1880 he married Alma Jackson from Morley, the daughter of William Jackson, the founder of the Peel Mills in Leeds. They had one son and two daughters.''Who was Who'', OUP 2007

Career

Middlebrook went in for the law. He served his

articles Article often refers to: * Article (grammar), a grammatical element used to indicate definiteness or indefiniteness * Article (publishing), a piece of nonfictional prose that is an independent part of a publication Article(s) may also refer to: ...

Barton-upon-Humber Barton-upon-Humber () or Barton is a town and civil parish in North Lincolnshire, England. The population at the 2011 census was 11,066. It is situated on the south bank of the Humber Estuary at the southern end of the Humber Bridge. It is sou ...

The Times, 14 February 1908 p14 and was admitted as a solicitor in 1872 or 1873. He began to practice in Birstall but later moved to

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

and Morley, where he lived at Thornfield House, now the Masonic Lodge. He built up a large practice in which he was later joined by his son Harold.

Politics

Middlebrook held Liberal political views, perhaps strengthened by his active and lifelong membership of the

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

. In 1883 he was elected a

lay Lay or LAY may refer to: Places *Lay Range, a subrange of mountains in British Columbia, Canada * Lay, Loire, a French commune *Lay (river), France * Lay, Iran, a village * Lay, Kansas, United States, an unincorporated community * Lay Dam, Alaba ...

member of the

Wesleyan Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan–Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charle ...

Conference and in 1893 he became Treasurer of the Methodist General Chapel Committee. He entered Liberal politics and served as Hon. Secretary to the Spen Valley Liberal Association from 1885 to 1895. In 1892 he was elected a member of Morley

Town Council A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities. Usage of the term varies under different jurisdictions. Republic of Ireland In 2002, 49 urban district councils and 26 town commissi ...

and was appointed an

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

in 1894. He was

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of Morley in 1896 and in 1904 and he served as Mayor of Leeds in 1910–11. He was made an Honorary Freeman of Morley in 1919. While he was

Mayor of Leeds The Lord Mayor of Leeds (until 1897 known as the Mayor of Leeds) is a ceremonial post held by a member of Leeds City Council, elected annually by the council. By charter from King Charles I in 1626, the leader of the governing body of the bo ...

, Middlebrook inaugurated a scheme for extending

Leeds Infirmary Leeds General Infirmary, also known as the LGI, is a large teaching hospital based in the centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, and is part of the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. Its previous name The General Infirmary at Leeds is still ...

under which nearly £130,000 was raised. He received the honorary freedom of Leeds in 1926. Middlebrook entered the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

at a by-election in 1908 for Leeds South. The seat had become vacant on the death of the sitting Liberal MP, Sir John Lawson Walton (1852–1908) who held the office of

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

at the time of his death. It seems that one of the reasons Middlebrook was selected was his ability to give financial aid to the Leeds South Liberal Association. Walton had paid the salary of his political agent and Middlebrook undertook to pay the constituency £100 a year. This was at a time when MPs were not yet paid a salary. The by-election took place on 13 February 1908 and Middlebrook held the seat for the Liberals with a majority of 359 over his Unionist opponent

Reginald Neville Sir Reginald James Neville Neville, 1st Baronet (22 February 1863 – 28 April 1950), born Reginald Neville White, was a British barrister and Conservative and Unionist Member of Parliament. He was created a baronet in 1927. Background and educ ...

, with Labour's Albert Fox in third place. Middlebrook held his seat until the 1922 general election when he was defeated in a straight fight by Labour's Henry Charleton. He did not stand for Parliament again.

Honours and appointments

Middlebrook was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in 1916 and 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 14th ...

in 1930. He served on a number of Parliamentary committees. In 1918 he was appointed to a Select Committee to look into

gas Gas is a state of matter that has neither a fixed volume nor a fixed shape and is a compressible fluid. A ''pure gas'' is made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon) or molecules of either a single type of atom ( elements such as ...

prices and dividends in the wake of damage to the industry during the First World War. In 1922 he was nominated as Chairman of an Inquiry set up by the International Labour Office of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

into the problem of disinfection of wool and hair infected with

anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Bacillus anthracis'' or ''Bacillus cereus'' biovar ''anthracis''. Infection typically occurs by contact with the skin, inhalation, or intestinal absorption. Symptom onset occurs between one ...

spores, especially relating to keeping flocks of sheep and related animal products free from contamination. Middlebrook acted as Chairman of the Local Legislation Committee of the House of Commons from 1913 to 1922 and it was in recognition for this work that he was knighted. With this background and his local government experience it was no surprise that he was appointed to sit on the

Royal Commission A royal commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue in some monarchies. They have been held in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia, Mauritius and Saudi Arabia. In republics an equi ...

on Local Government set up in 1928. He was sometime member of the Consultative Council on Local Heath Administration and also served as a Justice of the Peace. After the death of Lord Oxford and Asquith in 1928, a memorial to the former Liberal leader and

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

was erected in his birthplace of Morley. Middlebrook as a Freeman of the Borough offered to have a bronze bust and tablets of Lord Oxford's history erected in the Town Hall. The memorial was formally presented to the town of Morley by Middlebrook on 29 October 1928.The Times, 30 October 1928 p18

Death and heir

After he retired Middlebrook moved from Morley to

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

where he died after a long illness on 30 June 1936 aged 85 years. He was succeeded to the Middlebrook Baronetcy by his son Harold (1887–1971).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Middlebrook, William 1st Baronet 1851 births 1936 deaths People educated at Huddersfield New College People from Birstall, West Yorkshire English solicitors English Methodists Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 UK MPs 1918–1922 Councillors in Leeds Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Knights Bachelor Politicians from Leeds Lord mayors of Leeds English justices of the peace People from Morley, West Yorkshire