The 17th January is World Waterfowl Day, the purpose of which is to raise public awareness, knowledge and interest in various species of waterfowl such as ducks, swans and geese. Therefore, in this post, we will be raising awareness of one species of waterfowl mentioned in Francis Willughby’s Ornithologia that is known today as the Mute Swan. In Ornithologia, Willughby called the Mute Swan the Tame Swan or Cygnus mansuetus . Furthermore, in his earlier Catalogue of English Birds, Willughby...

The next entry in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526 was dated 11 th  January. It was described as a payment for the carriage of a tope of figs and another tope of raisins and 2 sugar loaves. The amount was 17 pence, which was the equivalent of about £31.26 today.   A tope is an historical unit of measurement in England, which specifically was used to measure a quantity of dried fruit. In this definition a tope was a basket or a measure equivalent to 20lbs...

This post contains the next two entries in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526. The first entry was dated 8th January and was described as money to Mrs Mary Fitton, on the commandment of Sir Henry Willoughby. The amount was 6 shillings 8 pence, which was the equivalent of about £147.09 today. Mary Fitton was the daughter of Jane Harbottle née Willoughby and the granddaughter of Sir Henry Willoughby. The second entry was undated. It was described as a reward to a...