Middleton was born in 1910 in Victoria Gardens in north Belfast, the only child of damask designer Charles Middleton. He attended the nearby Belfast Royal Academy until 1927 and then continued his studies with night classes at Belfast School of Art where he trained in design under the Cornish artist Newton Penprase. However Middleton found the college too traditional in outlook, as his first influence, his Father, had been a follower of European Modernism, particularly the Impressionists.
