The next entry for the Middleton household accounts of Sir Henry Willoughby in 1525 was for the 10th February. This was described as a reward paid to a minstrel of the Lord of Derby. The minstrel was paid 12 pence. This was the equivalent of about £22.06 today and at that time was the equivalent, at that time, of a day’s wage for a skilled tradesman. The Lord of Derby referenced in this entry would have been Edward Stanley, 3rd Earl of Derby. For centuries, the Earls of Derby

For this entry in the Middleton household accounts of Sir Henry Willoughby from 1525, we get to wish everyone a Happy Valentine’s Day a day early! This entry was described as a reward to my Master’s valentine for Saint Valentine’s Day and was dated 13th February. His gift to his valentine was 4 pence, which is the equivalent of about £7.35 today. Sir Henry Willoughby was married four times. His first wife was Margaret, the daughter of Sir Robert Markham, and she died about 1

On 23rd March 1375, Sir Baldwin II de Freville died. To mark the 650th anniversary of his passing, we thought it was an opportune time to tell a brief history of this former owner of Middleton Hall. Baldwin II was born on 15th August 1317 at Tamworth Castle and was the son of Sir Baldwin I de Freville and Elizabeth de Montfort. After his father’s death in 1343, Baldwin II inherited a third of Middleton. This was during the long and very complicated period of Middleton’s owner

The fourth entry in the Middleton household accounts of Sir Henry Willoughby in 1525 was only dated as March although, due to a date given for the next entry, we know that it must have been before the 29th March. This entry was the payment of a reward by Sir Henry Willoughby at the christening of Robert Jelliff’s child. The amount was 20 pence, which is the equivalent of about £36.77 today. Records indicate that Sir Henry often gave money at the christenings of family members

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

This post contains two entries from the 1525 accounts that were simply dated as April. The first entry was a reward to Henry Pilkington, who was described as Sir Henry Willoughby’s godson. The amount was 4 pence, which was the equivalent of about £7.35 today. Henry Pilkington’s name appears once more in the Middleton Manuscripts but it was after Sir Henry had died and his son, Sir John Willoughby, had inherited. In an accounts entry, dated 24th March 1542, a number of Sir Joh

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

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts of Sir Henry Willoughby in 1525 was dated the 3rd May. It was a payment to Lady Alice Willoughby in order for her to buy “gear” (clothes) for Mistress Jane. The amount was 20 shillings, which was the equivalent of about £441.28 today or, in terms of equivalence at that time, would have been the cost of about three stones of wool or 33 days wages for a skilled tradesman. Mistress Jane was one of Sir Henry’s daughters by his

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts of Sir Henry Willoughby in 1525 was described as a “token” sent to Mrs Fitton. It was entered only under the heading of June with no specific date given. The amount was 4 pence, which was the equivalent of about £7.35 today. Mrs Fitton was Mary Harbottle. She was the daughter of Jane Willoughby and Sir Guiscard Harbottle and the granddaughter and ward of Sir Henry Willoughby. This entry is only one of many entries for Mary in

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts of Sir Henry Willoughby in 1525 was described as payment for the costs of Sir Henry Willoughby’s servants and for Sir Henry Willoughby dining at Lord Cardinal Thomas Wolsey’s residence on 6th July. The amount was 18 pence, which was the equivalent of about £33.10 today. This was at the time when Cardinal Wolsey was Lord Chancellor of England and Archbishop of York and was at the height of his power. There is another document

The next two entries in the Middleton accounts of Sir Henry Willoughby in 1525 were described as wine and ale at the Clock House and cherries and pears. These were all entered on the same day, which appears to have been the 7th July. The cost of the wine and ale was 13 pence, which was the equivalent of about £23.90 today, and the cost for the cherries and pears was 2 pence, which was the equivalent of about £3.68 today. At this time Sir Henry Willoughby was staying in London

The next eight entries in the Middleton household accounts of sir Henry Willoughby in 1525 are dated as the 8th July. On this day, Sir Henry left London and started making his way north. The first payment was for eight kilderkins of ale. A kilderkin is a cask that was an old English liquid measure and was the equivalent of half a barrel, about 83 litres or 18 English beer gallons. The cost of the ale was 21 shillings 4 pence, which was the equivalent of about £470.70 today. T

The next two entries in the Middleton household accounts of Sir Henry Willoughby in in 1525 were dated the 9th July. In these entries, Sir Henry Willoughby was continuing on his journey north from London that began on the 8th July. The first entry records that Sir Henry arrived at Stowe Nine Churches in Northamptonshire and lay there for the night of the 8th/9th July. On the 9th July he paid for bread, ale, wine, kitchen, fire, candle and horsemeat at the place he stayed at.

The next three entries in the Middleton household accounts of Sir Henry Willoughby in 1525 were dated the 10th July. Sir Henry Willoughby had left London on the 8th July and, travelling along Watling Street, he reached Tamworth on the 9th July. However, the accounts show that rather than continue the short distance to Middleton Hall, he actually spent the night of the 9th/10th July at Tamworth Castle. On the 10th July he paid 3 shillings, which was the equivalent of about £66

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts of Sir Henry Willoughby in 1525 was undated except for being under the heading of July. It was described as a payment for gold for Mistress Alice to use to work in the stole. The cost was 2 shillings, which was the equivalent of about £44.13 today. “Mistress Alice” was the youngest child of Sir Henry Willoughby and her name appears many times in the Middleton accounts. Her mother was Sir Henry’s third wife Ellen Egerton. Alth

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts of Sir Henry Willoughby in 1525 was the final entry under the heading of July but again did not have a specific date. It was described as the costs of Sir Henry Willoughby at Nottingham, staying there one night and a day with 16 persons. The amount was 13 shillings 3 pence, which was the equivalent of about £292.35 today. It is known that Sir Henry was in possession of a property in Nottingham. This explains why there are no

In every year of Queen Elizabeth I’s reign, primarily over the summer, the Queen and her court went on a progress. During these progresses the Queen would visit various towns throughout England and she would stay in the homes of members of the aristocracy. At the end of July 1575, her progress took her to Middleton Hall, where she stayed for two days and a night. In this post, we are considering what the preparations for her visit would have involved. It is thought that Queen

The next entry in the Middleton accounts of Sir Henry Willoughby in 1525 again concerned Sir Henry’s activities in relation to his commission from the King to quell the Lammas Day Rebellion in Coventry. This is the last reference to this event in our papers. The entry was dated the 14th August 1525 and it was described as Sir Henry’s costs for going to Coventry on that day with Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset, and for 140 of Sir Henry’s men that had accompanied him. It ad

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 second document in the Middleton Manuscripts that concerns the Lammas Day Rebellion of 1525 in Coventry was a letter sent by Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset, to Sir Henry Willoughby. Unfortunately, this letter is undated. However, its contents and later entries in the Middleton accounts and official documents mean that it was probably sent about the 8th August 1525. Thomas addresses the letter to his “loving cousin, Sir Henry Willoughby”. In the letter he informed Sir