Biography of Michael Guy Percival Willoughby, 11th Baron Middleton (1887-1970)
Middleton Family biographies
- Sir Richard Willoughby (c.1290-1362)
- Sir Hugh Willoughby (c.1380-1448)
- Richard Willoughby (d 1471)
- Sir Henry Willoughby (1451-1528)
- Sir Henry Willoughby (d 1549)
- Sir Francis Willoughby (1546-1596)
- Sir Percival Willoughby (d 1643)
- Sir Francis Willoughby (1588-1665)
- Francis Willughby F.R.S. (1635-1672)
- Sir Francis Willoughby, 1st Baronet (1668-1688)
- Cassandra Brydges, née Willoughby, Duchess of Chandos (1670-1735)
- Sir Thomas Willoughby, 1st Baron Middleton (1672-1729)
- Francis Willoughby, 2nd Baron Middleton (1692-1758)
- Francis Willoughby, 3rd Baron Middleton (1726-1774)
- Thomas Willoughby, 4th Baron Middleton (1728-1781)
- Henry Willoughby, 5th Baron Middleton (1726-1800)
- Henry Willoughby, 6th Baron Middleton (1761-1835)
- Digby Willoughby, 7th Baron Middleton (1769-1856)
- Admiral Sir Nesbit Josiah Willoughby (1777-1849)
- Henry Willoughby, 8th Baron Middleton (1817-1877)
- Captain Francis Digby Willoughby (1819-1846)
- Digby Wentworth Bayard Willoughby, 9th Baron Middleton (1844-1922)
- Godfrey Ernest Percival Willoughby, 10th Baron Middleton (1847-1924)
- Henry Ernest Digby Hugh Willoughby (1882-1916)
- Francis George Godfrey Willoughby (1890-1915)
- Michael Guy Percival Willoughby, 11th Baron Middleton (1887-1970)
The 11th Baron was the second surviving son of the 10th Baron Middleton . He was educated at Wellington and Sandhurst, and then joined the 17th Lancers, and subsequently the 10th Lancers in India as a regular soldier. He served with his regiment in the Mesopotamia Campaign 1915-1916 and 1918-1919, and then returned to India. He retired from the army in 1923 after the death of his uncle, the 9th Baron, and returned to England. He succeeded his father as 11th Baron Middleton in 1924, and oversaw the sale of the bulk of the Willoughby family property outside Yorkshire, including Wollaton Hall in Nottinghamshire and Middleton Hall in Warwickshire. Between the wars he was Colonel of the 5th Battalion Green Howards (Territorial Army). In the Second World War he commanded the 5th and 30th Battalions, East Yorkshire Regiment. The 11th Baron took on a number of local administrative and ceremonial roles, including J.P. and Lord Lieutenant of the East Riding of Yorkshire, 1936-1968, President of University College, Hull, from 1931, and Chancellor of Hull University from 1954. He became a Knight of the Garter in 1957 and was made an Honorary Freeman of Hull in 1968.
Family
He married Angela Florence Alfreda (d 1978), eldest daughter of Charles Oswin Hall of Eddlethorpe, Malton, Yorkshire, in 1920, and had:
- Digby Michael Godfrey John, later 12th Baron Middleton (1921-2011), succeeded by his son Michael Charles James 1948-) as 13th Baron Middleton
- Henry Ernest Christopher (b 1932) m 1stly Jean Adini Hills in 1955 (div. 1990) and 2ndly J. Elizabeth Bache in 1990
- Angela Hermione Ida (b 1924) m the Hon. Charles Henry Romer Wynn in 1947
- Jean Elizabeth Mary (b 1928) m Sir Fergus John Matheson, 7th Baronet, in 1952
Archive Collections
- A series of letters from the 11th Baron to his parents (1897-1923), and various letters to the 11th Baron (1940-1958), appear in the fourth accrual of the Middleton Collection (Mi 4 F ) held in Manuscripts and Special Collections at the University of Nottingham.
- Title deeds, settlements, estate and legal papers relating to the 11th Baron's ownership of the Willoughby estates are part of the Middleton Collection held in Manuscripts and Special Collections at the University of Nottingham.
Published Sources
- There are no notable published works concerning the 11th Baron