The Middleton Accounts of 1525: #9

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.

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This William Clifton was a servant of Sir Henry and he appears in a number of other entries in the Middleton accounts:

• In December 1520, he was reimbursed 8 pence, which was the equivalent of about £17.33 today. William had paid this on All Hallows night to the bellringers of Maxstoke, Warwickshire.

• In April 1521, William was reimbursed 4 pence, which was the equivalent of about £8.67 today. This was to cover his costs for the search for the hawks near Sutton after they were stolen.

• On 4th August 1522, he was reimbursed 9 shillings 5 pence, which was the equivalent of about £244.84 today. This was for a bill paid on Sir Henry’s orders to Sir Henry’s almsmen and others.

• In December 1522, William was reimbursed 3 shillings 4 pence, which was the equivalent of about £86.67 today. This was for the cost of a jacket that he had paid for that was for old Glover, Sir Henry’s almsman.

• William also appears on a list of half-year wages paid to Sir Henry’s servants at Midsummer in 1524, which records that he had been paid 26 shillings 8 pence. This is the equivalent of about £693.37 today or, in that time, would have been the equivalent of about 44 days wages for a skilled tradesman. However, compared to the other servants recorded on the list, he was joint third highest paid and was paid more than Sir Henry’s personal chaplain and other high-ranking household gentlemen servants.

• Finally, in September 1526, William was again reimbursed 4 pence, which he had paid as Sir Henry’s offering to St Ann’s Well at Buxton, Derbyshire.

It is unknown what William’s heritage was. The noted Clifton family of Clifton Hall in Nottinghamshire appear frequently in many documents in connection with the Willoughby family and the families are also connected by marriage. However, it has not yet been possible to determine whether William was a descendant of this lineage nor do we know what subsequently happened to William.

Further Reading: W. H. Stevenson, Report on the Manuscripts of Lord Middleton, Historical Manuscripts Commission, 1911. pp. 330, 332, 345, 350, 371, 376, 385.

Author - Debbie Jordan, Middleton Hall Volunteer.

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