Robert Myddelton

Robert Myddelton (or Middleton) ( – 1616) was a Welsh politician who served as MP for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis and the City of London in the Parliament of England. Early life Myddelton was born at Denbigh Castle in Denbigh, Wales, of which his father was governor. He was the seventh son of Jane ( Dryhurst) Myddelton and Richard Myddelton (–1577/8) of Galch Hill, Henllan who was also MP for Denbigh Boroughs. Among his siblings were Sir Thomas Myddelton, a Lord Mayor of London, William Myddelton, a poet and seaman who died at Antwerp in 1621, and Sir Hugh Myddelton, 1st Baronet, a wealthy merchant and clothmaker who was appointed Royal Jeweller by King James VI and I. His paternal grandparents were Fulk Myddelton of Llansannan and Margaret ( Smith) Myddelton. His maternal grandparents were Hugh Dryhurst, alderman of Denbigh, and Lucy ( Grimsditch) Dryhurst. Career He apprenticed as a skinner in London under Erasmus Harby, beginning in 1582. After leaving London, he moved to Weymouth where he married the stepdaughter of Thomas Barefoot, an MP for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis. By 1597, he was living in London as neighbour to fellow apprentice, and brother-in-law and business partner, Robert Bateman. He became involved in Merchant Adventurer shipping cloth to Germany and was one of the original investors in the East India Company, jointly investing £500 with Bateman and his brother Sir Thomas in 1599.