at the back of a procession of dignitaries accompanying
Princess Mary in Headingley, Leeds in 1927 Olive was educated at
Roedean School and was accepted into
Cambridge University's Newnham College where her sister
Anne later studied. Olive was in the procession of dignitaries accompanying
Princess Mary in
Headingley in 1927 and on the princess' fundraising committee for the
Leeds General Infirmary. Noël Middleton "married the aristocrat", Olive, at the
Mill Hill Chapel in Leeds in 1914. and was a
City of Leeds councillor alongside Olive's father. Members of the Middleton family were politically active – "staunch Conservatives" (
Tories) and adhered to
High Church Anglicanism. They were close to the
Venerable Archdeacon J.B. Seaton (
Oxford) who, in 1921, officiated at the funeral of Noël Middleton's brother, solicitor Gilbert Middleton, at the wedding of Gilbert's daughter Margaret in Leeds in 1925 and his son Alan's wedding in 1926 at
St. Mary Abbots Church, Kensington at which the
groomsmen reportedly included Alan's brother John, a
Winchester alumni and
Christ Church, Oxford graduate in
Jurisprudence and their uncle, solicitor Noël Middleton. Noël Middleton was a co-founder of the
Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra and a regular guest at musical
soirées at
Harewood House, home of
Mary, Princess Royal. He was reported in November 1949 as representing the
Leeds Musical Festival Committee when conversing with the Princess and her son,
George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood at the
Leeds Civic Hall. In 1909, Middleton was a committee member of the
Leeds Art Gallery alongside architect Sydney Kitson (1871–1937). Olive Middleton's family had contributed to the political life of both the UK and to the civic life of Leeds, especially in the areas of education, housing, and public health, for several generations. Her father,
Francis Martineau Lupton, was a
landowner The 1899
House of Commons Parliamentary Papers record Lupton as being instrumental in establishing a
Parliamentary Inquiry into the religious education for
dissenting Protestants. In June 1914, Olive and her sister-in-law Gertrude—"Mrs Middleton and Miss Middleton"—and Olive's second cousin "Miss Lupton" (later
Lady Bullock) were reported as guests at the
First and Third Trinity Boat Club May Ball. Olive Middleton was close to
the Hon. Doris Kitson, daughter of her second cousin,
Florence, Baroness Airedale (née von Schunck), and attended society balls at her home,
Gledhow Hall. During the First World War, the house was converted into a
Voluntary Aid Detachment hospital run by the
Red Cross and the newly married Olive worked there as a nurse with Doris, a fellow
Old Roedeanian. Gledhow Hall’s
commandant during the war was
Lady Nussey (nee Edith Cliff), the first cousin of Mrs William Middleton (nee Agnes Clara Talbot).
Catherine, Princess of Wales visited London's
Imperial War Museum in 2018 to read records stating that her great-grandmother was "in residence"—on and off—as a VAD nurse at Gledhow Hall from May 1915 to April 1917. Olive Middleton supported the Leeds branch of the Association for the Care and Protection of Friendless Girls which her grandmother
Frances Lupton (née Greenhow) had helped establish in 1885. Also reportedly supporting the association was another of Frances's granddaughters,
Elinor, as well as Baroness von Schunck (née
Kate Lupton) Olive Middleton's brother, Lionel Martineau Lupton (1892–1916) attended
Rugby alongside Alan Lomas Middleton, following which he attended
Trinity College, Cambridge at the same time as
Diana, Princess of Wales's grandfather
Albert Spencer, 7th Earl Spencer where both men studied the same subject. They joined up together to fight in the
Great War which saw Lionel and his two brothers killed. In April 1917,
George V "commanded" that a letter be written to the brothers' father in which the King recognised the exceptional loss of "your gallant" sons. Olive and her family were reportedly invited in 1905 to the "fashionable wedding" at
Holy Trinity, Sloane Street of her second cousin
Alan Cecil Lupton to Mary, sister of
Sir Merrick Burrell, 7th Baronet at which another of Olive's second cousins,
Norman Darnton Lupton (1875–1953), acted as
best man and his sister Agnes as
bridesmaid. Nöel Middleton references having met with Norman in a telegram he sent to his father-in-law, Francis Martineau Lupton, upon the death of Francis' eldest son, Major Francis Ashford Lupton on the
Western Front in 1917.
Newton Park and Beechwood Estates Members of Olive Middleton's family owned the
Newton Park and Beechwood estates in Leeds, the latter being the
family seat where, for decades, the "whole family would gather". The Lupton family are described in the Leeds City Council's photographic archive as "woollen manufacturers and
landed gentry—a political and business dynasty"; Olive's first cousin-once-removed, Baroness von Schunck (née Kate Lupton), alongside her daughter and son-in-law, Baron and
Baroness Airedale, had been invited to the
coronation of King George V in 1911. In 1891, Olive Middleton's grandmother
Frances employed seven indoor servants, including a
lady's maid at Beechwood; the estate's cottages housed gardeners, grooms, coachmen and a
farm bailiff. Her father,
Francis Martineau Lupton, was the eldest son and
heir of
Francis Lupton III and grew up initially at Potternewton Hall on the family's
Newton Park Estate and then their
Georgian Beechwood Estate, in
Roundhay. Whereas the family eventually
sub-divided Newton Park, the Beechwood estate was
entailed to Olive's eldest brother, Francis Ashford Lupton, who lacked a male heir. His death on 26 February 1917 followed the deaths of his two younger brothers—all
First World War casualties. Their father's death occurred in 1921. Olive Middleton and her sister,
Anne Lupton, inherited a portion of the Newton Park Estate but were prohibited from inheriting Beechwood and the estate succeeded to their father's brother,
Arthur Greenhow Lupton. Arthur's only son, Major Arthur Michael Lupton married Dorothy Winifred Lupton, widow of Francis Ashford. He died in 1929 following an accident on his horse the previous year whilst
fox hunting on the
Bramham Moor Hunt, and Beechwood passed to his only son, Thomas “Tom“ Michael Lupton (1920–2008). As Tom was only nine at the time of his father's death, his
spinster aunts, Elinor and Elizabeth—"The Misses Lupton"—were granted a
life interest in Beechwood and continued to live there, occasionally opening their gardens to the public. After their deaths (Elizabeth in 1977 and Elinor in 1979), Tom inherited Beechwood and in 2016, his children continue to retain some of the estate.
City of Leeds dignitaries On 2 September 1914, Lord Mayor
Lord Brotherton announced that the Leeds City Council would be raising a new battalion: the
Leeds Pals. His committee was composed of "City dignitaries" including Olive Middleton's father,
alderman Francis Martineau Lupton and his brother
Arthur Greenhow Lupton. The following year, they were filmed inspecting the Pals troops alongside another one of their brothers,
Lord Mayor Sir
Charles Lupton. Olive's first cousin,
Lady Mayoress Elinor Lupton, regularly played host to the
Princess Royal. and
Sandhurst graduate Major Arthur Daryl MiddletonIn the 1930s, both Noël Middleton and his first cousin,
Major Arthur Daryl Middleton (1892–1962), were committee members of the
Leeds Triennial Musical Festival. In 1942, Major Middleton was a member of the Trustees of the Patronage of
Leeds Vicarage alongside
Henry Lascelles, 6th Earl of Harewood. He was a solicitor at Messrs Middleton & Sons. As the Assistant Commissioner for the
Leeds County Scouts Association, solicitor Alan Lomas Middleton arranged a visit by the Prince of Wales (later
Edward VIII) to Leeds in June 1923 where the Prince's position as the Chief Scout of Wales reportedly saw him examine—"with deep interest"—Middleton's scouts, most of whom were
visually-impaired. The Prince and Middleton had a "very sympathetic conversation" after which the Prince expressed his good wishes and gave them a
salute. Two of Olive Middleton's uncles were
Lord Mayors of Leeds: brothers
Hugh Lupton and Sir
Charles Lupton. Sir Charles also served as
Deputy lieutenant of Yorkshire County (West Riding), and his
Lord Lieutenant was Princess Mary's father-in-law,
Henry Lascelles, 5th Earl of Harewood. In February 1947, the Leeds funeral of former Lord Mayor Hugh Lupton was attended by
civic dignitaries and family, including his great-nephews, brothers Christopher, Anthony and Peter Middleton, and their father, Noël Middleton. In 2022, it was revealed that the duchess' great-great-aunt Gertrude Middleton was also a VAD nurse at
Gledhow Hall, the home of
Baroness Airedale, Olive's second cousin. In 1930, another of Noël Middleton's spinster sisters – Miss Olive Middleton (1870–1961) – was reportedly a committee member of the Workpeople's Hospital Fund alongside her aunt Mrs Arthur Middleton (1858–1950) who, like her niece, was a committee member of the Leeds Association of Girls' Clubs and a friend of the Rev. E. H. Dykes,
Vicar of Oulton (1898–1903). Noël Middleton's brother, Gilbert, was a
lead choralist and
Church warden of
St Chad's Church, Far Headingley The service at the
funeral in 1887 of the brothers' father, J.W. Middleton, was read by the Rev. Dr. Smyth, vicar of St Chad's Church where his son Arthur Middleton had also been a "regular attender" and had his own funeral in 1907. Noël Middleton and his niece, Mrs Ronald Broughton Hopkins (née Margaret Middleton, 1900–1972), held honorary positions on nursing and welfare-related committees in
Leeds. (sister of Olive Middleton née Lupton) who was a leading children's welfare campaigner In August 2025,
The Times reported that the
Princess of Wales's great-great aunt –
Anne Lupton (sister of the Princess's great-grandmother
Olive Middleton), shared her passion for children's welfare with her great-great niece: the Princess. A prominent housing campaigner, Anne set up the London Housing Centre in 1935 where she "mingled with
George V,
Queen Mary,
Edward VIII and
the Queen Mother, all of whom visited Anne's centre".
Photography Many generations of Catherine's family have participated in the art of photography, including her great-great grandfather solicitor John Middleton, her great-grandfather solicitor Noël Middleton, his brother William and their sister Margaret, who was due to study at the
University of Oxford but drowned in April 1900 whilst taking photographs of
Filey Brigg. Catherine's grandfather, Peter Middleton, further nurtured his family's passion for photography. ==Ancestry==