The Middleton Accounts of 1525: #17

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 costs for room and stabling in the entry. In 1588, Sir Francis I Willoughby, Sir Henry’s great-grandson, was in possession of a property in Nottingham known as Thurland House, but, at this time, we are not completely certain that this was the same property in Nottingham that Sir Henry had.

View of Nottingham Castle and Nottingham from the south, from "Memoirs of the life of Colonel Hutchinson, governor of Nottingham castle and town", PD, via Wikimedia Commons.

Unfortunately, the entry gives no further details about the nature of this visit to Nottingham. To date, we have also been unable to associate this visit with any other document that might shed more light on the reason for it. There are a number of theories, such as attending a summer court session as he was a Justice of the Peace for Nottinghamshire, but nothing certain.

Further Reading: W. H. Stevenson, Report on the Manuscripts of Lord Middleton, Historical Manuscripts Commission, 1911. p377.

Author - Debbie Jordan, Middleton Hall Volunteer.

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