The Middleton Accounts of 1526: #12

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526 was undated except for being in March. It was described as money paid to the wives of Slade and Robert James to cover their costs for watching with a prisoner that was hanged at “Basset Cross”. The amount was 3 shillings 10 pence, which was the equivalent of about £84.58 today.

Both Slade and Robert James are known to have been servants and tenants of Sir Henry Willoughby at Middleton. The place of Basset Cross is stated by W. Stevenson in the Middleton Manuscripts to be Basset in the parish of Peckleton, Leicestershire. However, many history volunteers at Middleton Hall have commented that they would have assumed that it referred to the nearby Bassetts Pole instead. This is because of the proximity of Bassetts Pole to Middleton, the fact that the women were from Middleton and that Bassett’s Pole is a crossroads. We do not know what evidence Stevenson had for stating that it was Basset in Leicestershire.

In Tudor times, justice was harsh. It is known that Middleton had a court leet and that it also had been permitted gallows. The gallows were constructed on the northern edge of the manor, between Middleton and Drayton Bassett.

Stocks at Middleton Hall, 2013. Photograph taken by Richard Jordan.

It is thought that the two women were watchers. Watchers were paid to stay with a condemned prisoner and serve as what was called the death watch. For commoners, ordinary people were hired to be the watcher. Women were always hired when the prisoner was a woman.

The role of watcher served multiple purposes. The first and most important was that the watchers were to ensure that the prisoner did not commit suicide before execution. Suicide was considered detrimental in three ways: that in itself suicide was a sin and would prevent the prisoner from having a “proper” Christian death; that it prevented the prisoner from having a final chance to confess in public; and that it would prevent the public spectacle of justice, especially that of an execution, which was a major aspect of Tudor justice.

One of the main roles of watchers was also to witness and report on the prisoner’s final state of mind and their last words. In Tudor times, when the prisoner repented and accepted their fate, this was known as “a good death”.

The third purpose was to preserve decorum. In particular, by having women present to watch female prisoners, it ensured that a condemned woman was never left alone with male gaolers in her final hours.

Finally, the watchers often provided a role of basic companionship in order to keep the prisoner calm so that the prisoner would not struggle or cause a scene during the public spectacle of the execution. They would also help the prisoner dress for the gallows.

Next entry: 25th March

Further Reading: W. H. Stevenson, Report on the Manuscripts of Lord Middleton, Historical Manuscripts Commission, 1911. p.382.

Author - Debbie Jordan, Middleton Hall Volunteer.

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