Mexborough and Swinton Times March 4, 1938

Mexborough Veteran Who Has Lived In Same House for 81 Years

Mr. George William Middleton, of 2, West View, one of Mexborough’s best-known personalities, today celebrates his 82nd birthday. Mr. Middleton is a remarkable old man. His general fitness is excellent, but the most remarkable thing about him, however, is his unquenchable cheerfulness. He is to all intents and purposes a hermit, having lived by himself for over 40 years.

Mr. Middleton. who incidetitly has lived in the same house for 81 of his 82 years, has three great hobbies in which his interest through the years has never waned: natural history, chess and reading.

He is perhaps best-known for the first of these, and search in our old files reveals that as long ago as 1888 Mr. Middleton was facetiously designated ,”The Astronomer Royal”. He possesses a powerful telescope and on a clear and calm summer day can often be seen scanning the heavens from his vantage-point on the Common. One of his most prized possessions is a letter from the Astronomer Royal at Greenwich, bearing an 1885 postmark thanking him for his observations on a new star that he was one of the first to discover.

Natural History Interests.

Mr. Middleton is also well up in knowledge of the habits of birds, flora and the animalculae of pools and streams, and a reporter spent and interesting hour or so inspecting his extensive collection of slides, several of which he has made himself. He has two microscopes: one which he bought 60 years ago for 6s, and a more expensive one, itself over 40 years old. It is with the perusal of standard works on natural history that Mr. Middleton now spends most of his evenings.

Chess is his chief sub-hobby, but he has not been able to indulge in it for some years owing to there being a lack of keen opponents in the district. At one time he was very keen and used regularly to enter for the competitions organised by newspapers. In a few years, he won over 100 first prizes in such competitions.

In his working days Mr. Middleton was a postman and he has witnessed the development of the Post Office from its being a side-line to a confectionery business in Church Street to its present state. He joined the staff in 1888 when he and two others were responsible for the delivery and collecting of mails to a district covering Thurnscoe, Goldthorpe, Barnburgh, Bolton-on-Dearne, Harlington, Adwick, and Mexborough, and he retired some years ago after giving nearly half a century of yeoman service to the Department.

Mr. Middleton’s good health he attributes largely to the fact that he has never done any smoking.It is his practice to go to bed about mid-night and to rise at 8.30 a.m.; he invariably pays a visit to the Public Library reading room during the morning, and in the afternoon, if it is fine, takes a short stroll. He usually spends his evenings reading novels or examining his specimens through the microscope.