| Battle: | Battle of Dunbar in Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland |
| Ship/Arrival: | Unity, Dec 1650 |
| Prisoner and List: | James Middleton, #55 on George S. Stewart’s Captured at Dunbar list |
| Name Variations: | Middleton, Medellton |
| Residences: | Dover/Oyster River and Great Island, New Hampshire; Kennebec, Maine |
| Other SPOW Associations: |
Published: 23 Aug 2016
Updated: 04 Mar 2020
Researchers: Dr. Andrew Millard, Teresa Rust, B. Craig Stinson
Editor: Teresa Rust
IMPORTANT UPDATE! (July 2018)
According to, Christopher Gerrard, Pam Graves, Andrew Millard, Richard Annis, and Anwen Caffell, Lost Lives, New Voices: Unlocking the Stories of the Scottish Soldiers at the Battle of Dunbar 1650, (England: Oxbow Books, 2018), on page 251, James is categorized as:
Probable [that he is a Dunbar prisoner transported on the Unity]
Appears: 1658. D.aft.1683. Probably one of Valentine Hill’s seven Scots. [Exiles; BCS; SPOWS; Ch.7 & 8]
For explanations of the category, abbreviations and references see List of Dunbar prisoners from Lost Lives, New Voices.
First Generation in the New World
1. JAMES PATTERSON, was born presumably in Scotland and died after 1676.
https://www.americanancestors.org/DB522/i/21071/257/1427098887
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Scots at Oyster River
James Middleton by B. Craig Stinson
15 August 2016
James Middleton was a single man who probably worked originally for Valentine Hill. In his early life he was in court for frequenting taverns and also for quarreling and fighting. The fight that got him into court was with two Englishmen and with Scot William Gowen. Middleton may have worked in the home of the local medical doctor, David Ludecas Edling. When Dr. Ludecas died in 1660 followed by Mrs. Edling in 1664, James Middleton was assigned to administer their estate. Later he sold land to the same William Gowen he had fought with in earlier years.
14 Feb 1658 – admitted as inhabitant of Dover [GDMNH 478]
3 June 1659 – convicted of frequenting taverns and for quarrelling and fighting.
Fined £20, Valentine Hill was surety on his bond for good behavior. That same time, Philip Chesley, Thomas Footman, and William Smith (Gowan) were convicted of quarrelling with Middleton and were fined; George Vezie was convicted of being more than half an hour in the tavern.
New Hampshire Court Records, 1659
26 October 1660 – on jury of inquest in the death of Thomas Canyda who was killed when a tree fell on him.
May have worked in home of Dr. David Ludecas Edling at Dover
1660 – administered estate of Ludecas Edling
1664 – administered estate of Mrs. Edling [HTDNH 82-83] [GDMNH 447]
16 Sep 1676 – was a resident of Great Island
1676 – sold land at Small Point on the Kennebec to William Gowen. [GDMNH 280 and HTDNH 83]
No known family [GDMNH 478]
Sources:
HTDNH History of the Town of Durham, New Hampshire, vol. 1, Everett S. Stackpole and Lucien Thompson, 1913, pp. 82-83.
GDMNH Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire, Noyes, Libby, and Davis, Portland, Maine: The Southworth-Anthoensen Press, 1928-1939, pp. 280, 447, 478.
New Hampshire Court Records 1640-1692, vol. 40, Ed. Otis G. Hammond, The State of New Hampshire, 1943, pp. 139, 199, 469
B. Craig Stinson
August 15, 2016
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