Baron Middleton, of Middleton in the County of Warwick, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain, created in December 1711 for Sir Thomas Willoughby, 2nd Baronet, who had previously represented Nottinghamshire and Newark in Parliament. It was one of twelve new peerages created together and known as Harley's Dozen, to give a Tory majority in the House of Lords.

The Willoughby baronetcy, of Wollaton in the County of Nottingham, had been created in the Baronetage of England in 1677, for the first baron's elder brother Francis Willoughby, who at the time was aged only about nine, with special remainder to him, the first baronet's only brother, and he duly succeeded him when his brother died at the age of twenty in 1688. Their father, the landowner and naturalist Francis Willughby (1635–1672), of Middleton Hall, Warwickshire, had died when they were both small children.

The first Lord Middleton was followed by his eldest son, the second Baron (1692–1758), who had previously sat as one of the Members of Parliament for Nottinghamshire and Tamworth. He was succeeded by his son, the third baron, who died unmarried, and then by a younger son, the fourth Baron. The direct line then failed, and Henry Willoughby, 5th Baron Middleton (1726–1800), was the son of the Hon. Thomas Willoughby (c. 1694–1742), second son of the first Baron. On the death of his son, the sixth Baron (1761–1835), this line also failed.

Extensive estate and personal papers of the Willoughby family are held in the Middleton collection at the department of Manuscripts and Special Collections, University of Nottingham. They include the Wollaton Antiphonal.

The current family seat is Birdsall House, near Malton, North Yorkshire. The Middleton family owned Wollaton Hall, a stately home near Nottingham on which Mentmore Towers was based, and Middleton Hall in Warwickshire until they were sold by the 11th Baron in the 1920s.

Title succession chart

Line of succession

  • 15px Thomas Willoughby, 1st Baron Middleton (1670–1729)
  • 15px Francis Willoughby, 2nd Baron Middleton (1692–1758)
  • 15px Francis Willoughby, 3rd Baron Middleton (1726–1774)
  • 15px Thomas Willoughby, 4th Baron Middleton (1728–1781)
  • Hon. Thomas Willoughby (1694–1742)
  • 15px Henry Willoughby, 5th Baron Middleton (1726–1800)
  • 15px Henry Willoughby, 6th Baron Middleton (1761–1835)
  • Francis Willoughby (1727–?)
  • 15px Digby Willoughby, 7th Baron Middleton (1769–1856)
  • Rev. Hon. James Willoughby (1731–1816)
  • Henry Willoughby (1780–1849)
  • 15px Henry Willoughby, 8th Baron Middleton (1817–1877)
  • 15px Digby Willoughby, 9th Baron Middleton (1844–1922)
  • 15px Ernest Willoughby, 10th Baron Middleton (1847–1924)
  • 15px Michael Willoughby, 11th Baron Middleton (1887–1970)
  • 15px Michael Willoughby, 12th Baron Middleton (1921–2011)
  • 15px Michael Willoughby, 13th Baron Middleton (b. 1948)
  • (1) Hon. James Willoughby (b. 1976)
  • (2) Thomas Willoughby (b. 2007)
  • (3) Rupert Willoughby (b. 2011)
  • (4) Hon. Charles Willoughby (b. 1986)
  • (5) Hon. John Willoughby (b. 1951)
  • (6) Hon. Thomas Willoughby (b. 1955)
  • Brigadier Hon. Henry Willoughby (1932–2009)
  • (7) Guy Willoughby (b. 1960)
  • (8) James Willoughby (b. 1999)
  • Rev. Hon. Charles Willoughby (1822–1875)
  • James Willoughby (1856–1947)
  • Commander Ronald Willoughby (1884–1971)
  • (9) Christopher Willoughby (b. 1938)
  • Rev. Bernard Willoughby (1896–1997)
  • (10) Colin Willoughby (b. 1949)
  • (11) Philip Willoughby (1993)
  • Rev. Hon. Percival Willoughby (1827–1913)
  • Colonel Herbert Willoughby (1853–1913)
  • (12) Major John Willoughby (b. 1942)
  • (13) John Willoughby (b. 1967)
  • Rev. Nesbit Willoughby (1854–1919)
  • Lawrence Willoughby (1908–1980)
  • (14) Guy Willoughby (b. 1958)

References

  • Papers of Barons Middleton and their predecessors, held at Manuscripts and Special Collections at The University of Nottingham