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.
Wollaton Hall is an Elizabethan country house of the 1580s standing on a small but prominent hill in Wollaton Park, Nottingham, England. The house is now Nottingham Natural History Museum, with Nottingham Industrial Museum in the outbuildings. The surrounding parkland has a herd of deer, and is regularly used for large-scale outdoor events such as rock concerts, sporting events and festivals.
Middleton is a small village in the North Warwickshire district of the county of Warwickshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 630.
Sir Charles Hilton Seely, 2nd Baronet, VD, KGStJ was a British industrialist, landowner and Liberal Unionist politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Lincoln from 1895 to 1906 and for Mansfield from 1916 to 1918. He was a Justice of the Peace for Hampshire and Nottinghamshire and the Deputy Lieutenant for Nottinghamshire. He was also a Knight of Grace of the Order of St John.
George Granville, 1st Baron Lansdowne PC, of Stowe, Cornwall, was an English Tory politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons from 1702 until 1712, when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Lansdown and sat in the House of Lords. He was Secretary at War during the Harley administration from 1710 to 1712. He was also a noted poet and made a name for himself with verses composed on the visit of Mary of Modena, then Duchess of York, while he was at Cambridge in 1677. He was also a playwright, following in the style of John Dryden.
Francis Godolphin, 2nd Earl of Godolphin,, styled Viscount Rialton from 1706 to 1712, was an English courtier and politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1695 and 1712, when he succeeded to the peerage as Earl of Godolphin. Initially a Tory, he modified his views when his father headed the Administration in 1702 and was eventually a Whig. He was a philanthropist and one of the founding governors of the Foundling Hospital in 1739.
Sir Percival Willoughby of Wollaton Hall, Nottinghamshire was a prominent land owner, businessman, and entrepreneur involved during his lifetime variously in mining, iron smelting, and glass making enterprises in Nottinghamshire. He was also an important investor in the Newfoundland Company.
Francis Willoughby, 2nd Baron Middleton, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1713 to 1727. He succeeded to a barony in the Peerage of Great Britain.
John Fane, 7th Earl of Westmorland, styled The Honourable John Fane from 1691 to 1733 and Lord Catherlough from 1733 to 1736, of Mereworth Castle in Kent, was a British Army officer and politician who sat in the House of Commons in three separate stretches between 1708 and 1734.
Thomas Willoughby was an English landowner and Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1720 to 1734.
Thomas Willoughby, 4th Baron Middleton, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1762 to 1774, when he succeeded to the peerage as Baron Middleton.
Henry Willoughby, 8th Baron Middleton, was an English peer.
Sir Charles Duncombe of Teddington, Middlesex and Barford, Wiltshire, was an English banker and Tory politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1685 and 1711. He served as Lord Mayor of London from 1708 to 1709. He made a fortune in banking and was said to be worth £400,000 later in life, and the richest commoner in England on his death.
Francis Greville, of the Castle, Warwick, was and English Tory politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1695 and 1710.
Thomas Harley (c.1667–1738), of Kinsham Court, Herefordshire. was a British lawyer, diplomat and Tory politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons from 1698 to 1715. He was an ally of his cousin Robert Harley.
Sir John Verney, of Compton Verney, Warwickshire, was a British barrister, judge and Tory and then Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons from between 1722 and 1741.
Richard Child, 1st Earl Tylney, was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1708 and 1734. Initially a Tory, he switched to supporting the Whigs after 1715. He held no Office of State, nor any commercial directorship of significance, but is remembered chiefly as the builder of the now long-demolished Palladian "princely mansion" Wanstead House, one of the first in the style constructed in Britain. In the furnishing of his mansion Child became the main patron of the Flemish painter Old Nollekens. He died in March 1750 aged 70 at Aix-en-Provence, France, and was buried on 29 May 1750 at Wanstead.
Richard Bulkeley, 4th Viscount Bulkeley, of Baron Hill, Anglesey, was a Welsh Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1704 and 1724. He was extremely hot-tempered and was involved in several personal and family disputes with local Whig leaders.
James Bertie of Stanwell and Westminster, Middlesex, was a British Tory politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons for 34 years between 1695 and 1734.
Harley's Dozen were twelve new peerages created in December 1711 by the British Tory government of Robert Harley which was struggling to gain a majority in the Whig-dominated House of Lords. This came at a time when the government were negotiating peace terms to end the ongoing War of the Spanish Succession, which were unlikely to pass the Lords where opposition Whigs and some Tories had joined to block them under the slogan "No Peace Without Spain".
