People of Note

Carver of Harthill, Chesterfield, and Morthen

Family Background

The Middleton estates at Eyam were purchased from the Fitzherberts of Norbury in 1654. Through the failure of the male line the estates descended to Jonathan Oxley of Sheffield. On the death of his son in 1783 they passed to the Rev. John Carver, rector of Whiston, who inherited through his mother, a daughter of Thomas Allen of Chapletown and Elizabeth Middleton, whose second husband was William Longsdon. Carver's son Marmaduke Middleton Carver assumed the name of Middleton in accordance with the terms of Jonathan Oxley's will in 1795. He was High Sherriff of Derbyshire in 1808 and had claims to be considered a minor poet. He resided at Leam Hall and died in 1868.

Rev. Marmaduke Carver, Rector of Harthill, Derbyshire had three sons and a daughter:

• Marmaduke of Pump House, Chesterfield
• Charles, Rector of Eyam who graduated Christ College, Cambridge, and married a Miss Rotheram , an heiress of Eckington
• Edward, who succeeded his father as Rector of Harthill
• Abigail

Marmaduke Carver, of the Pump House, Chesterfield, married Ann, sister of Thomas Milward, of Chesterfield. Their daughter, Ann, married George Ward, of Killamarsh. Their son, Marmaduke was a Chesterfield attorney who became Town Clerk of the Borough and died in 1751.

Marmaduke senior, died on 19 June 1756, aged 84 years, there is a memorial to him in Chesterfield parish church.

Through Marmaduke senior, the main line descends to Marmaduke Middleton Carver, of Leeme, Derbyshire, Sheriff of Derbyshire in 1808. He changed his name to Middleton in 1795, and his son and heir, John Carver Middleton assumed the name of Athorpe in 1821.

The Carver Coat of Arms was granted on 7th January, 1757, to John Carver of Morthen Hall, Rotherham Yorkshire.

In 1739 Marmaduke Carver of Chesterfield, purchased Morthen estate from Henry Browne of Morthen, clerk, and John Browne, of Warsop, clerk. They had inherited Morthen on the death of their father Obadiah Browne of Whiston, clerk, in July 1735.

A document dated 1793 records Rev. John Carver and his wife Sarah (daughter of Thomas Allen of Sheffield, grocer and wife Elizabeth Middleton) of Morthen, a life tenant of property in Morthen, under the will of his grandfather Marmaduke Carver of Chesterfield. John and Sarah had 2 children: Sarah of Chesterfield, and Marmaduke M. of Leam (changed his name to Marmaduke M. Middleton)

Through the failure of the male line the The Middleton estates at Eyam descended to Jonathan Oxley of Sheffield. On the death of his son in 1783 they passed to the Rev. Carver, who inherited the estates through his mother.

Will of Rev J. Carver

Will of John Carver of Morthen County of York, Rector of the Parish of Whiston and Treeton
Dated 7th September 1807

Executor:Marmaduke Middleton Son

Directs that his debts, funeral expenses be paid by executor out of personal estate if sufficient if not to be charged to his real estate with the deficiency

Legatees:

1. Mrs Edna Topp an annuity of £? to be paid quarterly
2. Sarah Carver Daughter Such sum ... ? with what she was entitled to by will of her Grandmother and under Testators named settlement would make up £5000 - six months after his decease

He gave £50 to be distributed by executor among servants living with him, at his decease

To M. Middleton Son The residue of his estate and effects real and personal.

Carver's son Marmaduke Middleton Carver assumed the name of Middleton in accordance with the terms of Jonathan Oxley's will in 1795. He was High Sherriff of Derbyshire in 1808 and had claims to be considered a minor poet. He resided at Leam Hall and died in 1868.

John Carver Middleton the son and heir of Marmaduke Middleton Carver assumed the name of Athorpe in 1821. He married Mary Anne Athorpe, of Dinnington Hall.

On 5 April, 1853, Mary Anne Eliza Athorpe (1831/2–1912), the daughter of John Carver Athorpe of Dinnington Hall, Rotherham, married Sir Edward Walter, (1823–1904), founder of the Corps of Commissionaires, who was born in London on 9 December 1823, the third son of John Walter (1776–1847), proprietor of The Times, and his wife, Mary, the daughter of Henry Smithe of Eastling, Kent. They had three daughters and two sons, one of whom later joined the 7th hussars.

Sarah Carver,daughter of Rev Carver died at Chesterfield on 17th July, 1842 age 77.

Extract ... Amid the lovely scenery of Woodlam Eyam, on an upland, with the Derwent gliding beneath its walls, is Leam Hall. From the possession of the estate we get at one of the wrinkles of who's who among Derbyshire families. The homestead was with the Middletons, whose line (so far as male heirs were concerned) became extinct by the death of Robert in 1736, when the heiress married Jonathan Oxley of Sheffield. This gentleman made Marmaduke Carver his heir, who took out letters patent in 1792, and in 1808 was Sheriff of the county as Marmaduke Middleton Middleton ...
Old Halls, Manors and Families of Derbyshire. by Joseph Tilley

Lead Mines

In 1770, Martha Middleton and Jonathan Oxley conveyted to Rev. J. Carver shares in the Highrake, Never Fear, Old Grove, Old New and Bradshaws and other lead mines

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