Born 10 August 1864 at Owen Sound, Ontario, the fourth child and third son of John Middlebrough, miller and contractor, and Margaret Burrow, his wife. He was educated at Old Stone School, now Strathcona Public School, Owen Sound, at the Model School, Collingwood, and at the Medical School of Toronto University. He practised all his life at Owen Sound, where he was surgeon-in-chief at the General and Marine Hospital. He married Margaret Thompson on 26 June 1901, who survived him with three sons and three daughters. He died on 16 July 1935 at Owen Sound, from the results of a motor accident sustained on 25 May 1935.