Middleton Drive was named in honour of Frederick Dobson Middleton.
Sir Frederick Dobson Middleton was born in 1825 in Ireland. He attended Sandhurst and commissioned in 1842. He was stationed with his regiment in Australia, New Zealand and India where he was recommended for the Victoria Cross. In 1866, he attended Staff College at Camberley.
Middleton first came to Canada in 1868, accepting a series of staff appointments before returning to England in 1870 and later appointed Commandant at Sandhurst. In 1884, Middleton returned to Canada as a Major-General, officer commanding the Canadian militia. On March 23, 1885, a crisis arose when unrest in the North-West Territories led to the defeat of a North-West Mounted Police and militia Force at Duck Lake. The government responded by sending Middleton to Winnipeg to raise a North-West Field Force to quell the unrest.
On April 6, Middleton led a column towards Batoche, where Louis Riel had established a provisional government. When reinforcements arrived two weeks later, Middleton led his force of 900 men to Batoche, where a battle between the militia and Riel’s forces ensued. Riel surrendered on May 15, ending the resistance. Middleton and his family returned to England in 1890. He died suddenly in his quarters in 1898.
