Hugh Myddelton

Sir Hugh Myddelton (or Middleton), 1st Baronet (1560 - 10 December 1631) was a Welsh goldsmith, clothmaker, banker, entrepreneur, mine-owner and self-taught engineer.

The sixth son of Richard Myddelton, governor of Denbigh Castle and MP for Denbigh in north Wales, he travelled to seek his fortune in London and after being apprenticed to a goldsmith became so successful in that trade that he was appointed Royal Jeweller by King James I. In the meantime he became an alderman and then revorder of Denbigh, and in 1603 succeeded his father as MP for Denbigh, which he remained until 1628. He also become a very wealthy merchant and clothmaker.

He is, however, best remembered as the driving force behind the construction of the New River, an ambitious engineering project to being fresh water from Hertfordshire to 17th century London. After the initial project encountered financial difficulties, Myddelton helped fund the project through to completion. The New River was constructed between 1609 and 1613 (being officially opened on 29 September that year), and was originally some 38 miles (60km) long. It was not initially a financial success, and cost Myddelton substantial sums, although in 1612 he was successful in securing monetary assistance from King James I.

In 1617, Myddelton obtained large profits from lead and silver mines at Bronfloyd, Cwmerfyn and Cwmsymlog in Cardiganshire, Wales. Following engineering works at Brading on the Isle of Wight, he was created a baronet in 1622.

He died in December 1631, and was buried in the church of St. Matthew Friday Street, London. He had a family of ten sons and six daughters.

One of Sir Hugh's brothers was Sir Thomas Middelton (c. 1550-1631), lord mayor of London, and another was William Middelton (c. 1556-1621), poet and seaman, who died at Antwerp on the 27th of March 1621.

Memorials

There is a memorial to Myddelton on Islington Green. Clerkenwell streets, close to the Round Pond, the original southern end of the New River, include Myddelton Square and Myddelton Passage; Hugh Myddelton Primary School in Myddelton Street; Hugh Myddelton Secondary school (which closed in the mid 1960s) in Bowling Green Lane Islington were also named after him. Myddelton Avenue, parallel to Brownswood Road and the site of one of the New River Reservoirs, also takes its name from him. At the northern end of the New River, Myddleton Road in Ware is situated close to the source of the river. Myddleton Road in Bowes Park crosses the New River at a point where it goes underground between there and the Hornsey water treatment works, where there is another Myddelton Road off Hornsey High Street. Myddelton House at Bulls Cross, Enfield (now the headquarters of the Lee Valley Park Authority) was also named in his honour; it was built by Henry Bowles and his wife Anne Garnault, a member of a family connected with the New River Company, and is bounded by the former course along the valley of Turkey Brook.

References

* [http://www.scienceandsociety.co.uk/results.asp?
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* [http://home.clara.net/wfha/wales/tallis/descr/denbigh.htm page 534 of "Tallis's Topographical Dictionary of England and Wales", published 1860]
* [http://www.waterhistory.org/histories/london/ Brief history of construction]
*Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition