This post contains the next two entries in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526. The first entry was dated 8th January and was described as money to Mrs Mary Fitton, on the commandment of Sir Henry Willoughby. The amount was 6 shillings 8 pence, which was the equivalent of about £147.09 today. Mary Fitton was the daughter of Jane Harbottle née Willoughby and the granddaughter of Sir Henry Willoughby. The second entry was undated. It was described

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526 was dated as the 4th January. It was again described as money to Sir Henry Willoughby for him to play cards. The amount was 19 pence, which was the equivalent of about £34.93 today. In the previous post, we explained the origins of card playing and the nature of the deck in Tudor times. However, what type of games were played? It is known that popular card games played in the Tudor era include

Happy New Year to everyone! Welcome to another year of snapshots into the life of Sir Henry Willoughby and those at Middleton Hall through his household accounts. The 1526 accounts that have survived are more extensive than those of 1525 because not only have parts of the general household book survived but also extracts from the books covering food purchases and other Estate activities too. This is the last complete year of accounts from the lifetime of Sir Henry Willoughby

The next three entries in the Middleton household accounts of Sir Henry Willoughby for 1525 were dated as the 31st December. All three relate to the festivities held at Middleton Hall on New Year’s Eve. The first entry was described as a reward to the players of Upper Broughton, Nottinghamshire. They received 2 shillings, which was the equivalent of about £44.13 today. The second entry was described as a reward to a player that had come from Lichfield. It was for 16 pence, wh

The next two entries in the Middleton household accounts of Sir Henry Willoughby for 1525 were both dated as the 28th December. The first was described as a reward to the child bishop of Lichfield. It was for 6 shillings 8 pence, which was the equivalent of about £147.09 today. The second entry was described as a reward to the bishop’s servants and the amount for this was 20 pence, which was the equivalent of about £36.77 today. These entries refer to a popular English mediev

500 years ago … 1525. King Henry VIII is on the throne and his wife is still Queen Catherine of Aragon. Middleton Hall is owned by Sir Henry Willoughby and it was his principal residence. Sir Henry had been a highly skilled soldier and had been a Knight of the Body to not only King Henry VII but also King Henry VIII. However, Sir Henry was now about 74 years old. In 1911, the Manuscripts Commission published a report providing information on a number of the personal papers be

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

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 Sir Henry Willoughby’s offering at the Clifton wedding on 14th May. The amount was 4 pence, which was the equivalent of about £7.35 today. The Middleton Manuscripts state that this wedding was for William Clifton, but it is unknown who he married. Wedding at Middleton Hall, Victorian Parlour Room, 2025. For enquiries about booking Middleton Hall for your special day, click here

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