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William Middlebrook

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Middlebrook
Sir William Middlebrook

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

Family and education[edit]

William Middlebrook was born atBirstallin theWest Riding of Yorkshirethe son of John Middlebrook and Eliza Priestley. His mother was a distant relation ofJoseph Priestleythe philosopher, theologian and scientist.[1]He was educated atHuddersfield College.In 1880 he married Alma Jackson fromMorley,the daughter of William Jackson, the founder of the Peel Mills in Leeds.[2]They had one son and two daughters.[3]

Career[edit]

Middlebrook went in for the law. He served hisarticlesatBarton-upon-Humber[4]and was admitted as a solicitor in 1872[5]or 1873.[3]He began to practice in Birstall but later moved toLeeds[4]and Morley, where he lived at Thornfield House, now the Masonic Lodge.[6]He built up a large practice in which he was later joined by his son Harold.[1]

Politics[edit]

Middlebrook held Liberal political views, perhaps strengthened by his active and lifelong membership of theMethodist Church.In 1883 he was elected alaymember of theWesleyanConference[4]and in 1893 he became Treasurer of the Methodist General Chapel Committee.[3]He entered Liberal politics and served as Hon. Secretary to theSpen ValleyLiberal Association from 1885 to 1895.[5]In 1892 he was elected a member of MorleyTown Counciland was appointed anAldermanin 1894.[4]He wasMayorof Morley in 1896 and in 1904 and he served as Mayor of Leeds in 1910–11. He was made anHonorary Freemanof Morley in 1919.[3]While he wasMayor of Leeds,Middlebrook inaugurated a scheme for extendingLeeds Infirmaryunder which nearly £130,000 was raised. He received the honorary freedom of Leeds in 1926.[1]

Middlebrook entered theHouse of Commonsat aby-election in 1908forLeeds South.The seat had become vacant on the death of the sitting Liberal MP,Sir John Lawson Walton(1852–1908) who held the office ofAttorney Generalat the time of his death.[7]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.[8]This was at a time when MPs were not yet paid a salary.[9]The by-election took place on 13 February 1908 and Middlebrook held the seat for the Liberals with a majority of 359 over hisUnionistopponentReginald Neville,withLabour'sAlbert Fox in third place.[10]Middlebrook held his seat until the1922 general electionwhen he was defeated in a straight fight by Labour's Henry Charleton. He did not stand for Parliament again.[11]

Honours and appointments[edit]

Middlebrook wasknightedin 1916[12]and created abaronetin 1930.[3]He served on a number of Parliamentary committees. In 1918 he was appointed to aSelect Committeeto look intogasprices and dividends in the wake of damage to the industry during the First World War.[13]In 1922 he was nominated as Chairman of an Inquiry set up by the International Labour Office of theLeague of Nationsinto the problem of disinfection of wool and hair infected withanthraxspores, especially relating to keeping flocks of sheep and related animal products free from contamination.[14]Middlebrook acted as Chairman of the Local Legislation Committee of the House of Commons from 1913 to 1922[3]and it was in recognition for this work that he was knighted.[1]With this background and his local government experience it was no surprise that he was appointed to sit on theRoyal Commissionon Local Government set up in 1928.[15]He was sometime member of the Consultative Council on Local Heath Administration[16]and also served as aJustice of the Peace.[3]

After the death ofLord Oxford and Asquithin 1928, a memorial to the former Liberal leader andprime ministerwas 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.[17]The memorial was formally presented to the town of Morley by Middlebrook on 29 October 1928.[18]

Death and heir[edit]

After he retired Middlebrook moved from Morley toScarboroughwhere he died after a long illness on 30 June 1936 aged 85 years. He was succeeded to theMiddlebrook Baronetcyby his son Harold (1887–1971).[1]

References[edit]

  1. ^abcdeThe Times, 1 July 1936 p18
  2. ^"Britannia Road, Thornfield".Leodis.
  3. ^abcdefgWho was Who,OUP 2007
  4. ^abcdThe Times, 14 February 1908 p14
  5. ^abThe Times guide to the House of Commons.Politico's. 2003. p. 41.ISBN1-84275-034-8.OCLC59462577.
  6. ^"Thornfield, just off Britannia Road".Leodis.
  7. ^The Times, 20 January 1908 p8
  8. ^Blewett, Neal (1972).The peers, the parties and the people; the British general elections of 1910.Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 280.ISBN0-333-09811-0.OCLC497155.
  9. ^"The long, tortured history of MPs' pay".23 November 2009. Archived fromthe originalon 24 November 2009.
  10. ^Craig, Fred W. S. (1974).British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918.London: Macmillan. p. 134.ISBN0-333-16903-4.OCLC1043610.
  11. ^Craig, Fred W. S. (1969).British parliamentary election results, 1918-1949.Glasgow: Political Reference Publications. p. 163.ISBN0-900178-01-9.OCLC62803.
  12. ^"No. 29483".The London Gazette.22 February 1916. pp. 1946–1947.
  13. ^The Times, 20 April 1918 p7
  14. ^The Times, 3 April 1922 p5
  15. ^The Times, 24 October 1928 p11
  16. ^"Ministry of Health: Consultative Councils".Br Med J.2(3066): 443–5. October 1919.doi:10.1136/bmj.2.3066.443-a.PMC2342811.PMID20769649.
  17. ^The Times, 10 May 1928 p9
  18. ^The Times, 30 October 1928 p18

External links[edit]

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of ParliamentforLeeds South
1908–1922 		Succeeded by
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baronet
(of Oakwell)
1930–1936 		Succeeded by
Harold Middlebrook
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