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Alternatively, the name be from Michaelmas, denoting the season or day that the child was born. 1 2 3
The surname Midlemiss was first found in Lincolnshire where they held a family seat at Middlemarsh. 4 5
Middlemarsh is also a tything, in the parish of Mintern-Magna, union of Cerne, hundred of Cerne, Totcombe, and Modbury, Cerne division of Dorset. 6
Early records in England are scarce but we did find on record of Thomas de Meddelmersee in 1297. 5
So we must look to Scotland for early entries for the family. "The Middlemasses were vassals and tenants of the district around Kelso, and derived their surname from 'lie Middlemestlands in villa et territorio de Calco,' mentioned in 1029. William de Meldiemast who petitioned for a benefice in the gift of the abbot of Kelso, 1406 (Pap. Pet., I, p. 624) was probably Schir Wilyeam Myddilmast, the 'lwvit chapellain' of Archibald de Douglas, earl of Wigtoun, vicar of Selkirk in the first quarter of the fifteenth century." 7
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Midlemiss research. Another 350 words (25 lines of text) covering the years 1350, 1425, 1439, 1495, 1497, 1513, 1530, 1537, 1566, 1567, 1590, 1603, 1610, 1611, 1612, 1629, 1652, 1665, 1670, 1674, 1692 and 1742 are included under the topic Early Midlemiss History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Until the dictionary, an invention of only the last few hundred years, the English language lacked any comprehensive system of spelling rules. Consequently, spelling variations in names are frequently found in early Anglo-Saxon and later Anglo-Norman documents. One person's name was often spelled several different ways over a lifetime. The recorded variations of Midlemiss include Middlemass, Middlemas, Middlemaist, Middlemiss and many more.
More information is included under the topic Early Midlemiss Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Thousands of English families boarded ships sailing to the New World in the hope of escaping the unrest found in England at this time. Although the search for opportunity and freedom from persecution abroad took the lives of many because of the cramped conditions and unsanitary nature of the vessels, the opportunity perceived in the growing colonies of North America beckoned. Many of the settlers who survived the journey went on to make important contributions to the transplanted cultures of their adopted countries. The Midlemiss were among these contributors, for they have been located in early North American records: George Middlemane (Middlemast) settled in Virginia in 1679; William Middlemass, who came to Virginia in 1723; James Middlemiss, who came to America in 1726.