The Middleton Accounts of 1526: #1

Happy New Year to everyone! Welcome to another year of snapshots into the life of Sir Henry Willoughby and those at Middleton Hall through his household accounts. The 1526 accounts that have survived are more extensive than those of 1525 because not only have parts of the general household book survived but also extracts from the books covering food purchases and other Estate activities too. This is the last complete year of accounts from the lifetime of Sir Henry Willoughby as he died in 1528.

The first two entries in the Middleton household accounts for 1526 were dated as the 3rd January. The first of these was described as a payment for 2,000 pins and the amount was 10 pence, which was the equivalent of about £18.39 today. The second entry was described as money to Sir Henry Willoughby for him to play cards and the amount was 12 pence, which was the equivalent of about £22.06 today.

In the Tudor era, pins were an essential and valuable item for everyday use. This was an era long before zips and even before the widespread use of buttons as fasteners. Buttonholes first appeared in Europe in the 1400s. However, in Tudor England their use was generally limited to wealthy men and, even then, buttons were frequently used purely as a status symbol and were non-functioning as a fastener. Therefore, pins remained a primary method used to hold garments, and all of their different pieces, together. At this time, a single outfit for a wealthy woman could require the use of between 50-100 pins.

Pins were also used for sewing and mending clothes. Furthermore, beyond the fashion industry, in an era long before the invention of paperclips and staples, they were even used to fasten documents together. The most common material used to make pins in Tudor England was brass or bronze. However, they could be made from the much cheaper materials of bone or wood, or much more expensive materials such as gold or silver.

Medieval Re-enactment, Stone Building, Middleton Hall, 2025. Photograph taken by Steve Davies.

The second entry in the accounts is not the first, nor the last, entry in all of the accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby playing cards. In Tudor England card playing was an extremely common and popular activity for all ages and classes of society. Card games are believed to have originated in China in the 9th century. They then spread to India, Persia and Egypt and finally reached Europe in the 14th century. It is believed that card playing only reached England in the 15th century.

England subsequently adopted the French or Rouen design style of playing cards. This had a deck with the suits of spades, hearts, clubs and diamonds and the court cards of the King, Queen and Knave (renamed as “Jack” in the 19th century). The main differences between a Tudor deck of cards and modern cards were that the cards had: plain backs; no jokers; no corner indices; a plainly designed ace of spades; and the court cards were single-headed. Moreover, in Sir Henry Willoughby’s time, all decks of cards were imported from Europe because card manufacture in England did not begin until the end of the 16th century.

Next entry: 4th January.

Further Reading: W. H. Stevenson, Report on the Manuscripts of Lord Middleton, Historical Manuscripts Commission, 1911. p.379.

Author - Debbie Jordan, Middleton Hall Volunteer.

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