Richard Barham Middleton (October 28 1882 - December 1 1911) was a British poet, who is remembered mostly for his short stories, in particular The Ghost Ship.

He worked for a London the Royal Exchange Assurance Corporation bank, as a clerk, from 1901 to 1907. Unhappy in this, he affected a Bohemian life at night; he is mentioned, in disguised terms, in Arthur Ransome's Bohemia in London. He committed suicide, in Brussels. His reputation was kept alive, by Edgar Jepson and then later John Gawsworth. His stories have appeared in many anthologies.

An encounter with the young Raymond Chandler is said to have influenced the latter into postponing his career as writer.

Works

• Poems and Songs (1912)
• Poems and Songs Second Series (1912)
• The Day Before Yesterday (1912) essays
• The Ghost Ship: And Other Stories (1912)
• Monologues (1913)
• Queen Melanie And the Woodboy (1931) novel
• The Pantomime Man (1933) stories
• Richard Middleton (1937, Richards Press) poems

Reference

• Richard Middleton's Letters to Henry Savage (1929, Mandrake Press) edited by Henry Savage