Mexborough and Swinton Times August 12, 1938

Mr George William Middleton, of 2 West View, Mexborough, who died on Saturday at Springwell House, Doncaster, to which he had been removed a few days before, was one of the district’s best known personalities.

Mr Middleton was a remarkable -man, and although 82 years of age, his general health  was perfect until a few days before his death.     Although to all intents and purposes he had lived as hermit for over 40 years, he maintain an unquenchable cheerfulness. Mr Middleton had lived in the same house for 81 of his 82 years, had three great hobbies: natural history, chess and reading’.

Perhaps he was best known for the first of these hobbies. On a clear summer day and nights he could often be seen scanning the heavens through a powerful telescope from his vantage point on the Common, and one of his most prized possessions was a letter from the Astronomer Royal at Greenwich, bearing an 1885 postmark and thanking him for his observations on a new star that he was one of the first to discover.

In later years, when his eyesight was failing a little, Mr. Middleton concentrated most of his energies on natural history. He had a complete knowledge of the habits of birds, local flora and the denizens of pools and streams and most of his evenings were spent in the study of his specimens through microscopes.

In his Working days Mr. Middleton was a postman any witnessed the growth of Mexborough Post Office to its present size