Local & Community History Month: When did the Middleton Estate leave the possession of the Willoughby family?

On 7th June 1924, the Tamworth Herald newspaper reported that Godfrey Ernest Percival Willoughby, 10th Lord Middleton, had announced that he intended to sell a number of the Willoughby family’s ancient manorial estates including Wollaton and Newark-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire and Middleton in Warwickshire. The reason he decided to sell was said to have been as a result of the costs of the death duties that he was required to pay following the death of Digby Wentworth Willoughby, 9th Lord Middleton, in 1922. Moreover, a substantial portion of the family treasures, including artwork and many books from the renowned medieval Willoughby Library, were also sold around the same time in order to pay the tax.

It was announced that the auctioneers for the sale of the Middleton Estate were to be Messrs. Thurgood, Martin & Eve and they produced an auction catalogue of the particulars of the Estate with the aim of selling Middleton at an auction on 20th November 1924. The auction catalogue also published an extensive history on the buildings and people of Middleton Hall, which had been written by Egbert de Hamel in 1901. That account was supplemented by the historical description of Middleton that had been written by William Dugdale in 1656.

Cover of the 1924 Auction Catalogue of the Middleton Estate

However, the auction on the 20th November did not take place. This was probably because, on 11th November 1924, the 10th Lord Middleton died.

Michael Guy Percival Willoughby, 11th Lord Middleton, duly inherited the Willoughby estates and had to pay death duties on all them, even the ones that were already in the process of being sold. He was thus faced with a tax bill to pay death duties for not only the 9th Lord Middleton but also the 10th Lord Middleton. Therefore, the Middleton Estate was almost immediately placed for auction again, along with many more Willoughby estates including Applecross in Scotland.

New auctioneers were appointed for this second sale, Messrs. James Styles & Whitlock in conjunction with Messrs. Winterton & Sons. It took place at the Grand Hotel in Birmingham on Tuesday 9th December 1924 at 2pm. This auction effectively ended the ownership of Middleton by the Willoughby family.

The sale not only included Middleton Hall but almost the entirety of Middleton parish and also land in some adjacent parishes. In the original catalogue there were 102 lots. However, the final auction sale was only 99 lots because the three of the lots had been sold prior to the auction. The catalogue also instructed that the existing tenants of the properties on the Estate were to negotiate with their new owners after the sale.

At the auction, 70 lots sold for what was reported as an acceptable amount of about £75,000 (about £3 million today). The Tamworth Herald newspaper reported on 13th December 1924 that all of the principal lots were sold and many of the lots containing the farms had been sold privately to the previous tenants prior to the auction. It added that there was a keen interest in the smaller lots and many of the small holdings sold for up to £89 per acre (about £3,654.24 today). The report also said that the areas left unsold were soon expected to be sold privately. At this auction, John Averill purchased Lot 1, which contained Middleton Hall.

Further Reading:

"Lord Middleton Decides To Sell", Tamworth Herald, 7 June 1924.

"The Hall Sold", Tamworth Herald, 13 December 1924.

Author - Debbie Jordan, Middleton Hall Volunteer.

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