A History of Lancashire

by Henry Fishwick

Bedding, £4 6s. 8d. (valued at); pans, £2 0s. 10d.; pots, 13s. 4d.; pewter, 3s. 4d.; a tub, 2d.; “in husslements” (odds and ends) belonging to the household, and in iron gear, 10s.

This was no doubt a fair sample of the contents of the house of a labouring farmer in these times; his household furniture was not worth £10. In some of the moorland districts sheep were kept in large quantities, and in some houses websters’ looms were common enough pieces of furniture, as many of the clothes worn were now home–made, which also accounts for the presence of spinning–wheels and wool–cards. In many of the wills of this period, even where no inventory has been preserved, the bequests are often very numerous and defined, and consist of every imaginable kind of household goods, so that from them we are enabled to get a glimpse at the contents of the houses of the testators. Articles of plate, amongst the wealthier classes, were much prized, and often made the subject of special bequests, as was frequently the case with gold rings and other jewellery. There often occur such items as silver goblets, parcel–gilt goblets, salt–cellars with and without covers, silver spoons “with the image of the twelve apostles” and the like; and hanging in the hall were nearly always old swords, old calverts, pistols, cross–bows and quivers with arrows, and not infrequently more or less complete suits of armour.

From the very rare mention of books in either the wills or inventories, it is evident that very few were among the possessions of the sixteenth–century Lancashire householders. In the few instances where books are named, they are referred to in a manner showing that they were considered valuable and rare. The Rev. Richard Jones, Rector of Bury, by his will, dated June 15, 1568, directed that his “four bokes of Crysostum be chened [chained] in the churche, there to remayne for ever.” Another testator, in 1574,[120] left “one litle bible,” which he enjoined his son to see used every Sabbath day when there were no sermons nor sacraments; and during the week–day this precious volume was to be lent to his “poorest kinsfolk.” Pictures were also very uncommon, and those which adorned the walls of the rich were nearly always sacred subjects; one article of furniture appears in nearly every case—the old oak chest; sometimes it is simply called “a chist,” at other times the “carven oak chest,” and it was used invariably as a store place for sheets and linen.

The representation of Lancashire in Parliament was slightly increased in 1559 by the addition of two members—one for Clitheroe and another for Newton–in–the–Willows; the latter was not a borough even by prescriptive right, and the selection of its representative rested almost exclusively with the lord of the manor as late as 1797, when a contested election resulted in a poll of only 66 votes. Except some slight alterations during the Commonwealth, the representation of the county remained unchanged until the passing of the Reform Act in 1832. As illustrating the everyday life in Lancashire in the time of Elizabeth, the following list of prices and wages is interesting. It is taken from the steward’s accounts of the Shuttleworths, of Gawthorp Hall (near Burnley).

Provisions.—A salt salmon, a fresh salmon, a salt fish and two salt eels, 2s.; red herring and a hundred sprats, 1s.; a quart of vinegar, 4d.; a quart of wine, 6d.; a pound of figs, 4d.; a quarter of veal, 12d.; a quarter of mutton, 1s. 6d.; 10¾ gallons of claret wine, 14s. 4d.; for three quarters of sack, 2s.; five chickens, 6d.; a pound of pepper, 4s.; thirty–two snipes, 22d.; four lapwings and two plovers, 8d.; half a fat lamb, 2s. 6d.; three geese, 15d.; half a peck of pears, 6d.; white wine, 2s. a gallon; ten woodcocks, 22d.; fine couple of rabbits, 3s. 9d.; a peck of cockles, 4d.; a pike and a bream, 3s. 8d.; two dozen dace and a perch, 5d.; a peck of apples, 2s. 4d.; a peck of oysters, 6d.; a fat pig, 2s.; five eggs, 1d.; eight gosling, 20d.; a stone of butter, 3s. 4d.

Wages.—A smith, per day, 6d.; a day’s mowing, 6d.; for ditching, 4d. a rood; working in the delph (stone quarry) six days, 15d.; for blending and spinning 5½ stone of wool, 13s. 9d.; for weaving and colouring part of the said wool, 3s. 8d.; for fulling and dressing the said cloth, 4s. 10d.; soleing a pair of shoes, 5d.; spinning wool for blankets, 2s. a stone; weaving pieces of blankets, ¾d. a yard; whitewashing, 2d. to 4d. a day; a stonemason, 4d. a day; weaving 24 yards of canvas, 22d.

Sundries.—A load of wheat, 10s.; a cow, 26s.; twinters (calves two winters old), 22s.; an ox, £2 8s.; 100 bricks, 1s.; two sheepskins for arrow–case, 10d.; a quire of paper, 4d.; six chaldrons (of 36 bushels each) of sea coal[121] at the ship, £4 16s.; for bringing the same to the house, 12s.; and for watching them one night, 1s.; three pairs of shoes for the children, 3s. 10d.

In considering the rate of wages, it must be borne in mind that at this period the labourer often had board as well as wages.

As bearing upon the social condition of the people, it may be noted that at the Herald’s visitation of Lancashire in 1533 only forty–seven families entered their descent, and even these furnished very meagre genealogical particulars. This may in a great measure be accounted for by the fact that the visitation was made at a time when the King was struggling with the Pope for religious supremacy, and that the growing feeling in favour of the Reformers had not yet made much progress in this county, and consequently the Herald, though armed with a royal warrant, was received with coldness, some families point–blank refusing even to speak with him, whilst others, having granted an audience, dismissed him “with the utmost rudeness.”[122] The Herald appears to have taken his revenge in full, and recorded of one well–known knight (Sir Richard Houghton) that he “hath putt away his lady and wife, and kepeth a concobyne in his house”; and he adds, “he gave me nothing nor made me no good chere, but gave me proude woordes”; of another gentleman (Robert Holt of Stubley) he reported “that he married an olde woman, by whom he hedd no yssue, & therefore he wold not have her name entered”; as for Sir John Townley of Townley, near Burnley, he “sogt hym all day rydinge in the wylde countrey, & his reward was ijˢ of wʰ the guyde hedde the most p’te,” and he winds up with, “I hed as evill a jorney as evʳ I hedd”; in addition to all this, Sir John refused to tell him the name of his first wife, and asserted that there were no gentlemen in Lancashire but Lord Derby and Lord Monteagle.