Peter Middleton (MP)

{{Short description|English merchant and politician (1603–1661)}}

Peter Middleton (1603–1661) was an English merchant and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1659 and 1660.

Early life

Middleton was the fourth son of Margaret Mounsel (a daughter of merchant John Mounsel, of Weymouth) and Robert Middleton, MP for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis and the City of London.{{cite web |last1=Ferris |first1=John. P. |last2=Healy |first2=Simon |title=MYDDELTON, Robert (c.1563-1616), of Mincing Lane, London; formerly of Weymouth, Dorset |url=http://www.histparl.ac.uk/volume/1604-1629/member/myddelton-robert-1563-1616 |website=www.histparl.ac.uk |publisher=History of Parliament Online |access-date=20 May 2022}} After the death of his mother, his father married Eleanor ({{nee}} Saltonstall) Harvie, the widow of Vincent Harvie and a daughter of Lord Mayor of London Sir Richard Saltonstall.{{cite book |last1=Waters |first1=Robert Edmond Chester |title=Genealogical Memoirs of the Extinct Family of Chester of Chicheley: Their Ancestors and Descendants |date=1878 |publisher=Robson & Sons |isbn=978-5-87335-084-1 |page=41 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oGMBAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA40-IA2 |access-date=19 May 2022 |language=en}} Her sister, Elizabeth Saltonstall, was married to Richard Wyche, and her brother, Peter Saltonstall, was equerry at the court of James VI and I.{{cite book |last1=Worsley |first1=Lucy |title=Cavalier: A Tale of Chivalry, Passion, and Great Houses |date=20 December 2008 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=978-1-59691-941-9 |page=48 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZFP5xz2aBfIC&dq=Peter+Saltonstall+equerry&pg=PA48 |access-date=19 May 2022 |language=en}} Another sister, Hester Saltonstall, was married to Peter's uncle, Sir Thomas Myddelton, the parents of Thomas Myddelton, also an MP.{{cite web|url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/myddelton-thomas-1556-1631|title=MYDDELTON, Thomas (c.1556-1631), of Galch Hill, Denb., Tower Street, London Stansted Mountfichet, Essex. - History of Parliament Online|website=www.historyofparliamentonline.org}}

Among his large family were uncles Thomas Myddelton, a Lord Mayor of London,{{cite web|url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/myddelton-thomas-1556-1631|title=MYDDELTON, Thomas (c.1556-1631), of Galch Hill, Denb., Tower Street, London Stansted Mountfichet, Essex. - History of Parliament Online|website=www.historyofparliamentonline.org}} William Myddelton, a poet and seaman who died at Antwerp in 1621,{{cite web |title=Myddelton, William, (1556-1621), Soldier |url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F35244 |website=discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk |publisher=The National Archives |access-date=24 May 2022}} and Sir Hugh Myddelton, 1st Baronet, a merchant and clothmaker who was appointed Royal Jeweller by King James VI and I.{{cite DNB|wstitle = Myddelton, Hugh |volume=39|first=Gordon |last=Goodwin}}

Career

In 1627 he became a Turkey merchant and joined the Levant and East India Companies. He was later living in Russia, where he was probably a buyer of furs. He held £1,000 stock in the East India Company, and was a member of the committee of the company from 1659 until his death.{{cite web |last1=Helms |first1=M. W. |last2=Ferris |first2=John. P. |title=MIDDLETON, Peter (1603-61), of Mincing Lane, London. |url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1660-1690/member/middleton-peter-1603-61 |website=www.historyofparliamentonline.org |publisher=History of Parliament Online |access-date=25 May 2022}}

In 1659, Middleton was elected Member of Parliament for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis in the Third Protectorate Parliament. He was re-elected MP for the constituency in 1660, when he was involved in a double return to the Convention Parliament but was accepted by the House on 5 May. He was one of the five MPs who were authorised to raise a loan of £2,000 in the City of London and who then funded the loan from their own pockets after they met with some difficulty. They received the thanks of the House on 25 May. He was a commissioner for assessment for London from August 1660. He stood for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis in 1661 but was defeated.