George Augustus Middleton (1791–1848) was an English-Australian pastor and farmer who spent his time in Australia between Parramatta and the Hunter Valley.
George Middleton was supposedly born on 31 August 1791 in London,[1] however, his age was often misreported throughout his life, including on his grave, and there is a common rumour amongst his descendants that he was an illegitimate son of a lady Middleton and a member of the royal family.
[1] He attended there on scholarship as bishop boy where he studied classics,[3] but failed to graduate.
[3] He travelled along the Paterson and Williams River, Patrick's Plain and Segenhoe in order to visit free settlers.
[1] He moved to Moore Park near Hinton where he set up a travelling ministry separate from the Anglican Church.
[1] From 1828 to 1830 he travelled around Morpeth, Maitland, Branxton and Paterson to visiting patrons and performing baptisms.
He roles as priest was to prepare children for confirmation, perform marriage ceremonies, baptisms and funerals including occasional ones outside his parish.
[3] In 1821 he selected 400 acres of land on the Patersons Plains upstream from the government settlement.
[4] In 1826 was invited to surrender his land at Patersons Plains to the church and school corporation in return for compensation.
[3] On 19 April 1829 Sir George Gipps granted Middleton 2,000 acres of land.
[3] He helped Reverend Lancelot Threlkeld establish a mission for Indigenous people in Belmont.
[5] He joined a vogue with John Blaxland Junior where they discovered an overland route to Newcastle.