The Middleton Accounts of 1525: #24

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts of Sir Henry Willoughby in 1525 was dated as the 16^th October. It was a payment for fur to use on Sir Henry's gown. The entry added that the fur was purchased at Birmingham and the costs also included John Lewissay’s expenses for undertaking this task on behalf of his master. The amount was 10 shillings and thruppence, which was the equivalent of about £226.15 today or, at that time, at least one stone of wool.

By the 1520s, Birmingham had grown from a very small market town to be the third largest town in Warwickshire with a population of about 1,000. Its primary economy had been based on the leather and textile trades. However, within a decade from this entry, these trades were eclipsed by ironworking, which was to significantly fuel the subsequent rapid population, industrial and economic growth of the town.

John Lewissay was the person who compiled Sir Henry Willoughby’s household accounts from 4^th December 1520 until Sir Henry’s death on 11^th May 1528. Information on the accounts reveal that John took over this role from James Leche who described himself as a gentleman servant and steward of Sir Henry. In these household accounts, John Lewissay always described himself only as “servant of Sir Henry Willoughby, knight”. An additional aspect that has been gleaned about John is that he must have been from Wales and was a Welsh speaker. This is because, in the accounts, when he described items, activities or even names, he often used words that have been identified as the old Welsh terms.

John Ray Room at Middleton Hall, 2025. Photograph taken by Steve Davies.

There are further records of a John Lewissay in the Middleton accounts after Sir Henry’s death. These latter reports date from the early 1540s and John was described as a bailiff and collector for the Willoughby manors and the accountant for the Willoughby coal pits. It is known that John died in 1545 because in that year his widow, as his executor, submitted the financial accounts for the manors on his behalf.

Further Reading: W. H. Stevenson, Report on the Manuscripts of Lord Middleton, Historical Manuscripts Commission, 1911. p378.

Author - Debbie Jordan, Middleton Hall Volunteer.

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