Charles Middleton, 1st Baron Barham

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Admiral Charles Middleton (painting by Isaac Pocock , before 1805)
Charles Middleton, 1st Baron Barham, about 1809

Charles Middleton, 1st Baron Barham (born October 14, 1726 in Leith , Lothian (Scotland) , † June 17, 1813 in Barham Court near Teston in Kent ) was a British nobleman, politician and admiral in the Royal Navy . As First Lord of the Admiralty between 1805 and 1806 he was Lord High Admiral .

Life

Middleton, son of customs officer Robert Middleton and his wife Helen Dundas, joined the Royal Navy in 1741 and became a lieutenant in 1745 . On May 22, 1758 he was promoted to captain and earned services as commander of the frigate HMS Emerald in the West Indies .

On December 21, 1761 he married in the Church of St Martin-in-the-Fields on Trafalgar Square Margaret Gambier († 1792), the daughter of the lawyer and administrator of the Fleet-Prison James Gambier and his wife Mary Mead. From this marriage there were no male descendants, only the only daughter Diana Middleton, who married Gerard Edwardes in 1780 .

In 1778 he succeeded Maurice Suckling, the Third Sea Lord, and was thus responsible for procurement and material for the Navy as Comptroller of the Navy . He held this position until he was replaced by Sir Henry Martin, 1st Baronet in 1790. During this time, on October 23, 1781, he was conferred the hereditary title of Baronet , of The Navy , with the special inheritance regulation that the title could also be inherited by his son-in-law Gerard Edwardes and his male descendants in the absence of male descendants. In 1784 he was elected to the British House of Commons , where he represented the Borough of Rochester until 1790 . In 1787 he was promoted to Rear Admiral and in 1793 to Vice Admiral .

He served as Lord of the Admiralty between 1794 and 1795 and was also promoted to Admiral in 1795. On April 30, 1805, Middleton succeeded Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, as First Lord of the Admiralty. As such, he also held the office of Lord High Admiral and was thus one of the Great Officers of State . He remained in this position until he was replaced by Charles Gray, Viscount Howick in 1806. At the same time, on May 1, 1805, he was appointed a member of the Privy Council .

He was also raised to hereditary peer on May 1, 1805 as Baron Barham , of Barham Court and Teston in the County of Kent, and thereby became a member of the House of Lords . This award was made with the special addition that in the absence of male descendants, the title could also be passed on to his daughter Diana Noel and her male descendants.

When he died in 1813, according to the special inheritance regulations, his baron title fell to his daughter Diana and his baronet title to her husband Gerard, who had both changed their family name to "Noel" with a royal license from May 5, 1798. After his death, his estate was distributed because of his will to his thirteen grandchildren, each of 10,000 pounds sterling received.

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predecessor Office successor
New title created Baronet, of The Navy
1781-1813 		Gerard Noel
New title created Baron Barham
1805-1813 		Diana Noel
Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville First Lord of the Admiralty
1805–1806 		Charles Gray, Viscount Howick
personal data
SURNAME Middleton, Charles, 1st Baron Barham
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British admiral and politician
DATE OF BIRTH October 14, 1726
PLACE OF BIRTH Leith , Lothian (Scotland)
DATE OF DEATH June 17, 1813
Place of death Barham Court, Teston , Kent