Marmaduke Middelton (1867-1947)

Marmaduke Francis Middelton came from an ancient family of gentry who had held the manor of Ilkley since the 12th century, as well as estates in various other parts of the country. In the early nineteenth century, the family’s main residence was at Stockeld Park, but Myddelton Lodge, just north of the river from Ikley, was also used by the family and from the 1840s onwards became the family home.

Marmaduke, born in London in 1867, was the eldest surviving son of Charles Middelton and Helen Fraser. He was educated at Beaumont and at Stonyhurst, since the Middeltons had remained Roman Catholic throughout. His father, Charles, was not the eldest son, but inherited the estate in 1885 on the death of his brother William. By that date, the financial situation of the Middelton’s estate was precarious: much of the property was heavily mortgaged and William’s will left substantial legacies to other family members. Although in the preceding years, the sale of land in Ilkley had raised substantial sums, little thought had been given to securing the family’s future and Charles had not the ability to rectify this situation. In 1890, Stockeld Park was sold and in 1892, the family left Myddelton Lodge for the last time. The contents were auctioned and the house let. In that same year, Charles executed a deed of settlement, with his son Marmaduke and Henry Stourton as trustees, and in 1894 he transferred full ownership to Marmaduke.

It was therefore Marmaduke who saw to the final dismantling of the Middelton inheritance and by 1900, nearly all of the remaining property in Ilkley had been sold. This allowed the mortgage to be cleared from the remainder of the estate, while Marmaduke purchased Highfield, a substantial house in Ripon, as a home for his father and himself. However in order to support his life-style and his gambling, Marmaduke soon embarked on a new series of mortgages, as well as selling off further parcels of land. Myddelton Lodge was sold in 1912 and Highfield in 1920.

After leaving Highfield (at some date between 1906 and 1909), Marmaduke seems to have led a somewhat nomadic existence. In 1931, the final sale of property took place, and from then on there is no further record of him until February 1947 when he was transferred from a private nursing home in London to St. Joseph’s Hospice in Hackney. He died there in November that same year and was buried in an unmarked grave belonging to the hospice.