We are sad to report the death of our former colleague, Richard Middleton. A native of High Wycombe, Richard was educated at Exeter University, where he completed his PhD on the history of the eighteenth-century British Empire (published as The Bells of Victory: The Pitt-Newcastle Ministry and the Conduct of the Seven Years' War, 1757-1762 (Cambridge University Press, 1985 and 2002).  After being appointed to Queen’s in 1967 as an assistant lecturer, he turned his attention to the history of colonial America, and retired as Reader in American History in 2005. A keen tennis player and a talented violinist, Richard made many friends during his time in Belfast.  In what was then the Department of Modern History he was well known for his dry, self-deprecating, wit and his cheerful acceptance of collegial responsibilities. He is fondly remembered both by his colleagues and by generations of students. Among Richard’s later publications were the highly successful textbook,  Colonial America: A History to 1763 (Blackwell, 1992, 1996, 2002, and 2011 with Anne Lombard),  and, following his retirement, Pontiac's War: Its Causes, Course and Consequences (Routledge, 2007), The War of American Independence 1775-1783 (Blackwell, 2012) and Cornwallis: Soldier and Statesman in a Revolutionary World (Yale, 2022). After leaving Queen's he settled in Middleton Cheney in north Oxfordshire, where he maintained his interests in tennis, bridge, and historical research.  His funeral will take place at the Banbury crematorium at 1.00 pm on Monday, 13 January 2025.