held the seat for the Liberals with a majority of 359 over his Unionist opponent Reginald Neville, with Labour's Albert Fox in third place. Middlebrook held his seat until the 1922 general election when he was defeated in a straight fight by Labour's Henry Charleton. He did not stand for Parliament again. Honours and appointments Middlebrook was knighted in 1916 and created a baronet in 1930. He served on a number of Parliamentary committees. In 1918 he was appointed to a Select Committee to look into gas prices and dividends in the wake of damage to the industry during the First World War. In 1922 he was nominated as Chairman of an Inquiry set up by the International Labour Office of the League of Nations into the problem of disinfection of wool and hair infected with anthrax spores, especially relating to keeping flocks of sheep and related animal products free from contamination. Middlebrook acted as Chairman of the Local Legislation Committee of the House of Commons from 1913 to 1922 and it was in recognition for this work that he was knighted. With this background and his local government experience it was no surprise that he was appointed to sit on the Royal Commission on Local Government set up in 1928. He was sometime member of the Consultative Council on Local Heath Administration and also served as a Justice of the Peace. After the death of Lord Oxford and Asquith in 1928, a memorial to the former Liberal leader and prime minister was erected in his birthplace of Morley. Middlebrook as a Freeman of the Borough offered to have a bronze bust and tablets of Lord Oxford's history erected in the Town Hall. The memorial was formally presented to the town of Morley by Middlebrook on 29 October 1928. Death and heir After he retired Middlebrook moved from Morley to Scarborough where he died after a long illness on 30 June 1936 aged 85 years. He was succeeded to the Middlebrook Baronetcy by his son Harold (1887–1971). References External links 1851 births 1936 deaths People educated at Huddersfield New College People from Birstall, West Yorkshire English solicitors English Methodists Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 UK MPs 1918–1922 Councillors in Leeds Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Knights Bachelor Politicians from Leeds Lord Mayors of Leeds English justices