The 27th April 2026 is International Crow and Raven Appreciation Day. To mark this, and the 350th anniversary of the publication of Francis Willughby’s Ornithologia, this post will focus on part of the description of the Common Raven in Ornithologia. Willughby gave its common English name as the Raven and also knew it as Corvus. In 1758, Carl Linnaeus gave it the taxonomical binominal name of Corvus corax, by which name it is still known today. The Raven in Francis Willughby

The 21st April 2026 is World Curlew Day. To mark this, and the 350th anniversary of the publication of Francis Willughby’s Ornithologia, this post will focus on part of the description of the Eurasian Curlew from Ornithologia. Willughby gave the common English name of this bird as the Curlew, but noted that the males were often called the Jack Curlew. He also provided an alternative name of Numenius sive Arquata. In 1758, Carl Linnaeus gave it the taxonomical binominal name o

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526 was dated 4th April. It is a repeat of an entry from the previous April and was described as a reward to someone who had brought word of where red deer lay by the side of Maxstoke, Warwickshire. The amount was also 4 pence, which was the equivalent of about £7.35 today. This entry is not in the hunting season for almost all types and sex of deer. The hunting season for does (female deer) was S

This fifth entry in the Middleton household account of Sir Henry Willoughby in 1525 series contains four entries from the accounts. The first was dated as 29th March 1525 and the remainder just as “at the same time”. The first of these four entries was a reward to someone from Walsall, Staffordshire, who had brought the court rolls in order to have the copy for Richard Hill’s land. All that is currently known about this Richard Hill is that he was a tenant of Sir Henry Willo

The last entry for April in the 1525 Middleton household accounts of Sir Henry Willoughby was described as a reward to someone that had brought Sir Henry news of red deer that lay beyond Meriden, Warwickshire. The amount was 4 pence, which was the equivalent of about £7.35 today. It was undated but there are similar entries to this in the accounts in other years, normally dated around the 28th April. Middleton Hall was located in a deer park. The first record of this deer par

This post contains two entries from the Middleton accounts of Sir Henry Willoughby in 1525. The first of these concerned Sir Henry Willoughby’s activity in relation to his commission from King Henry VIII to quell the Lammas Day Rebellion in Coventry. This entry also correlates with the request in the letter by Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset, for them to meet in response to receiving their commissions. However, the entry also provides information as to where and when they

The next entry in the Middleton accounts of Sir Henry Willoughby in 1525 is one of the few remaining ones for this year that specifically refers to the activities of Sir Henry. This entry was dated as 22nd August and was described as being his costs to Feckenham Forest in Worcestershire and rewards to the keepers of the Forest. It added that he had gone there with “my lord prior” of Kenilworth and Sir Edward Ferrers. The amount was 34 shillings 6 pence, which was the equivale

The third entry in December in the Middleton household accounts of Sir Henry Willoughby for 1525 was also undated except for the month. It was described as a payment for Chingleton’s costs to go to Leicester Forest to fetch a doe and staying there for three days at the manor of Thomas Grey, 2nd Lord Marquess of Dorset. The amount was 21 pence, which was the equivalent of about £38.61 today. This is the only known record that mentions the servant Chingleton in the Middleton Ma

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts of Sir Henry Willoughby in 1525 was dated the 12 th October. It was a payment to cover the costs incurred by Mr Swinfen who had, on the commandment of Sir Henry, taken the hawks from Middleton to King Henry VIII in London. The amount was 10 shillings, which was the equivalent of about £220.64 today. In comparative terms, this was the equivalent of about 16 days wages for a skilled tradesman at that time. It is believed that