Middlemass is originally a Scottish surname with a number of variants. In his reference work "The Surnames of Scotland", George F Black includes the surnames Middlemas, Middlemass and Middlemiss as one and identifies the source of the name as an area around Kelso, Roxburghshire in the Eastern Borders of Scotland and specifically a place Middlemestlands. Further variations Midlemas and Middlemist appear in "A dictionary of English Surnames" by P H Reaney where those authors also indicate the Scottish source of the surname. The indexes of births, deaths and marriages registrations in England and Scotland will show further variations to include Middlemast, Middlemess, Middlemoss, Middlemost and Middlemus. There is a variation in the area of Northumberland, England around the chapelry of Beadnell in the parish of Bamburgh where the local parish registers show a name Middlemarsh . Black does not mention this surname in his publication. Reaney shows it as a separate surname altogether but both Middlemass and Middlemarsh appear in local registers within the same family and for the same person so this may be a result of local usage rather than an indication of the spread of that surname. The 1881 census in the United Kingdom indicated that about 1,800 people had this surname in England, Scotland and Wales out of a population of about 29.8 million or 0.006%. As a percentage of the population of England, Wales and the Channel Islands it equates to 0.004%. The 1911 census in England and Wales is the first opportunity to examine the spelling of these variations of the surname in the handwriting of the families themselves, with one or two schedules completed by other household members. There are about 1,709 entries for Middlemass and these other variations divided as follows:
Middlemas 270,
Middlemass 283,
Middlemast 49,
Middlemis 8,
Middlemiss 995,
Middlemist 72
Middlemost 32.
Further indications of population with the various forms of the surname have been available with the publication of the contents of the National Registration Act 1939. This online extract is restricted to England and Wales and shows the following:
Middlemas 279,
Middlemass 277,
Middlemast 71,
Middlemis 3,
Middlemiss 951,
Middlemist 74,
Middlemost 35.
These will include people who subsequently married into the surname while the register continued to be amended for some decades afterwards but is not intended to show those alive and under 100 years of age at the time of viewing. This is not strictly adhered to but it brings similar proportions to those of 1911 census. Precise numbers will change over time as records are opened for further scrutiny as well as errors in spelling being eradicated. As the website at findmypast explains This record set only contains records of the civilian population for England and Wales, not the whole of the United Kingdom. Neither records for the Isle of Man nor the Channel Islands are included. The 1939 Register was designed to capture the whereabouts of the civilian population on a specific date. Members of the armed services were not included in the register. The Register was not meant to record members of the armed forces and the records do not feature: British Army barracks Royal Navy stations Royal Air Force stations Members of the armed forces billeted in homes, including their own homes People with the surname Middlemass include:
