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 16th December 2025 is the 250th anniversary of the birth of the novelist Jane Austen, who was born on that day in 1775. Jane Austen had a connection to the Willoughby family of Middleton Hall and her knowledge of this connection is recognised as being evident in her novels. Memorial to Jane Austen in Poets Corner, Westminster Abbey, 2022. Photograph by Maggie Jones, PD, via Wikimedia Commons . Emma Barnard was the wife of Francis Willughby FRS. Her sister Elizabeth marrie

The next entry in the Middleton accounts of Sir Henry Willoughby in 1525 was described as a reward to my Lady Abbess of Polesworth’s maids when Mistress Alice was fetched home from Polesworth. This entry was dated as the 18th August and the amount was 16 pence, which was the equivalent of about £29.42 today. Mistress Alice was Sir Henry Willoughby’s youngest daughter. Polesworth Abbey often appears in our records. It had a long connection with Middleton, from the 12th century

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts of Sir Henry Willoughby in 1525 was the sole entry in September and only dated as such. It was another payment to Lady Alice Willoughby in order for her to buy clothes for Mistress Jane. Mistress Jane was Sir Henry Willoughby’s widowed daughter. The amount was 6 shillings 8 pence, which was the equivalent of about £147.09 today or, in terms of equivalence at that time, would have been the cost of about one stone of wool or 11

The 16 th  October 2025 is the 300 th anniversary of the death of Emma Barnard who was an owner of Middleton Hall. She was the wife of Francis Willughby F.R.S. and she died on the 16 th October 1725.  Portrait of Emma Willoughby née Barnard. Courtesy of Lord Middleton. Emma was born about 1646 and was the younger daughter of Sir Henry Barnard, a Turkey merchant, and Emma Charlton. Francis Willughby, rather notoriously, could not be encouraged into marriage until his brother