Heritage Open Days: Everyday Histories #3: John Trussell, Bailiff of Wollaton Hall
This post will focus on John Trussell who was bailiff of Wollaton Hall in the mid-16th century. The previous blog focused on his fellow steward of Middleton Hall, John Hall. Together, these posts provide an example of two very different lives in a similar occupation for the same family at the same time.
John Trussell was, like John Hall, a gentleman servant. He was a younger son of minor nobility but, due to his situation, he needed an occupation. John Trussell descended from the Trussell family of Billesley in Warwickshire. Specifically, he was the second son of William Trussell and Cicely Curzon. For generations, the Trussell family were servants at Middleton and Wollaton and there are, albeit complicated, familial associations. The closest relationship between the families was that Cicely Curzon was the granddaughter of Richard Curzon and Alice Willoughby and Alice was the sister of Sir Henry Willoughby. This made John Trussell and the Willoughbys of Middleton Hall, whom he served, cousins. It is believed that John was born about 1515 and that his father died in about 1517. This means that John may have been taken into an informal wardship, which would provide a reason and an explanation for the path of his occupation. The Billesley manor was confiscated from the family in the 1580s due to the highway-robbing habit of John’s great nephew Thomas.
John Trussell first appeared as a servant in the Middleton documents in 1542. At that time, he was described as a gentleman serviens domino (servant of the lord). This was during the time of Sir John Willoughby. He kept the household accounts book detailing the expenses and charges incurred by Sir John as he travelled around the country as well as those of his household. John’s household accounts are noted because they include the first documented specific mention of the Goose Fair in Nottingham at the end of September 1542 at which was purchased a pair of trousers.
By 1544, John Trussell was responsible for the management of the Willoughby family’s coal pits at Wollaton. This was a significant responsibility because the coal mining operations of the Willoughby family were their most lucrative resource at that time. In 1546, John was bailiff of Wollaton and Sutton Passeys, a role he continued in until at least 1562. He was also described as a collector, which meant that he collected the rent and other sundries from certain Willoughby manors and interests.
A bailiff was slightly different to a steward. A steward could wield the full power of the lord of the manor in his absence and oversee multiple manors just as his master did. However, a bailiff was responsible only for a single manor. He was the lord of the manor’s representative at just that manor, responsible for the day-to-day operations and answerable to the steward.
During the period of wardship after the death of Henry Willoughby in August 1549, as bailiff, John Trussell was responsible for the maintenance and continued running of the manor of Wollaton. There is a letter dated 1552, which instructed Trussell to make the provisions available, baking and brewing etc, for a visit to Wollaton Hall by John Grey. However, there is another letter from George Medley, a brother-in-law and executor of Henry Willoughby, which is described as angry. In this letter Medley stated that Trussell had neglected his duty to keep Wollaton in good repair and had allowed the tenants’ houses on the manor to fall down. Medley told John that Middleton had been kept perfectly and that Trussell should be completely ashamed of himself. Medley then instructed him to cut the timber necessary to repair the houses on the manor and to do so immediately. Nevertheless, when Sir Francis I Willoughby eventually inherited his lands, he found Wollaton to still be decayed, as were some of his other manors but not Middleton. This required Sir Francis to immediately start a massive very expensive programme of repairs.
John Trussell is known to have married Bridget Marmion, the daughter of another Middleton gentleman servant, Henry Marmion. They had numerous children, many of whom were also servants in the Willoughby households and married other Willoughby servants. John is believed to have died about 1571.
John’s son Henry is known to have become a servant and an attorney for the Willoughby family. However, Henry is more renowned for having been dismissed by Sir Francis I Willoughby for espionage. It was discovered that Henry had handed sensitive material, including legal and financial information, about the Willoughby family and specifically about their coal operations to the Strelley family.
Henry was also accused of plotting to cause distrust between Sir Francis and his wife Elizabeth. To make the situation worse, Henry was then re-hired by Elizabeth, who considered him her trusted servant, further infuriating Sir Francis and deepening the marital difficulties. Nevertheless, Henry remained in Elizabeth’s service and when Sir Francis and Elizabeth’s son died in 1580, it was Henry that wrote to Sir Francis to tell him.
Henry’s eldest son (and John’s grandson) became more noteworthy for better reasons. This son was John Trussell, 1575-1648, who was a poet, historian and mayor of Winchester in Hampshire.
Further Reading: W. H. Stevenson, Report on the Manuscripts of Lord Middleton, Historical Manuscripts Commission, 1911. pp. 315-6, 388-94, 396, 474, 524, 553.
Author - Debbie Jordan, Middleton Hall Volunteer.
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