Thomas Workman – a Tudor merchant

Teachers’ Notes

Who was Thomas Workman? Thomas Workman was a Gloucester merchant who died in July 1587. He was a mercer by trade, selling good-quality cloth – much of it imported.

How do we know about him? Thomas Workman left a will which had to be proved before its terms could be carried out. This process (obtaining a grant of probate) involved the executors of the will appearing at the bishop’s court to swear that the will was genuine. They also had to produce a list of the dead person’s possessions (a probate inventory), partly to forestall arguments about what the deceased had left and partly because the fees charged for a grant of probate depended on the value of the possessions. Unfortunately, very few Tudor inventories have survived for Gloucestershire. Thomas Workman’s inventory is one of a batch of just sixty – all dating from 1587.

How was the inventory made? Before his death, Thomas Workman had asked John Maddock and Richard Barnes, fellow cloth-merchants, to be his friends of trust to help carry out his wishes. On 10th July 1587, shortly after his death, they visited his house, together with another mercer called Thomas Sergeant, to value the contents. These valuers, or appraisers, started in the shop and then went round the house from room to room listing the items and placing a value on them.

What can we learn from these documents? Using Thomas Workman’s inventory is like walking round the house with the appraisers. Not only can children learn about the shop and the house, they can also make deductions about the people who lived there, their work and about mid-Tudor life in general. Thomas Workman’s will helps to fill in some of the background about his family. How do we read the writing? This pack contains facsimile copies of Thomas Workman’s will and inventory. Each document has been transcribed twice – once as it is in the original and a second time with spellings modernised, Arabic numerals rather than Roman, and some additional punctuation. There is also a shortened and modernised version of the will. In addition there is a Glossary of the more unusual words, as well as a plan of Tudor Gloucester and drawing of the Westgate area much as it would have looked in Thomas Workman’s day.

How can these documents be used in the classroom? One way of starting to use a probate inventory, before even talking about wills, is to ask the children to bring in a list of the items in their bedrooms (no values). This gives them a concept of the process involved. They quickly learn it is not worth listing very small items, but use instead more general categories (eg ‘my clothes’). They will, however, list specific items which they consider important or valuable – just as Tudor appraisers did. If you collect their lists and read out one or two anonymously, you will find they quickly identify whose it is from clues in the list - they know Emma plays the guitar and Craig is a passionate Arsenal fan! In the process they are learning that is possible to make deductions about people from the things they own. This is the time to explain about wills and inventories and how similar deductions can be made about Thomas Workman. As the inventory is quite long, it is probably sensible to divide the class into groups, each group looking in detail at one part: the Shop, the Hall & Buttery, the Chambers, the Clothes, the Kitchen. Alternatively, since the Shop has a lot of complicated words, you might prefer to look at that section as a whole- class activity. Groups can be briefed to find out as much as they can about the contents of their room(s). The glossary in this pack will help them, as will any library material on life in Tudor times. Unfortunately, the documentary evidence about Thomas Workman is all written so any opportunity to see pictures of the sort of items mentioned, or such items themselves, will be very helpful for children. The Blacksmith’s House by Joy James (A& C Black) is a very useful source of illustrations of Tudor domestic life in a house which was not too grand! Cheltenham Museum has examples of Tudor domestic artefacts – if it is possible for you to arrange a museum visit then that is ideal. One useful exercise is for children to label items in an illustration as they identify them. Another useful technique is to ask them what they know for sure about the Workman family, what they can guess about them and also what they would like to know. Thomas Workman’s will may provide some of the answers, but for many questions it will not be possible to find an answer – always an important element of real Historical research.

Can I copy these documents? Copyright in this work belongs to Gloucestershire County Council. You are free to reproduce the material contained in it for classroom use only. Any questions about this pack should be made to Gloucestershire Archives, Alvin Street, Gloucester GL1 3DW tel. 01452 425295, email [email protected]. Thomas Workman’s Inventory

The House We do not know exactly where Thomas Workman’s house was. People did not have exact addresses in Tudor times. Gloucester was not a big city and anyone wanting Thomas Workman would have asked a passer-by until they found someone who knew him. We know that he rented a stable in Gore Lane (later called Bull Lane) which ran between Westgate Street and Longsmith Street, so that it is likely his house was nearby – probably on the north side of Upper Westgate Street in what was known as Mercer’s Row (see plan). It was not a particularly big house. Downstairs, there was the Shop which fronted on to the street, with the Hall and Buttery behind it and Kitchen at the back. Upstairs there were just two Chambers (bedrooms). There may have been a privy at the back.

The Shop Since no chamber is mentioned over the shop, it is probable that the shop was a single-storey lean-to on the front of the house. As a mercer, Thomas Workman dealt in good-quality cloth. The term ‘mercer’ was short for ‘- mercer’ (literally ‘silk-dealer’) but by Thomas Workman’s day mercers dealt in a variety of fabrics, many of them imported, including and . Many of the strange-sounding names of fabrics (ozenbriks, bewpers, dowlas) were corruptions of the places from which they came (Osnabruck, Beauprais, Daoulas). As was common with mercers, Thomas Workman stocked ‘haberdasher ware’ – buttons, silk thread, belts, gloves and combs – the sort of accessories that might appeal to a customer buying cloth to be made into a gown. He also stocked a more surprising range of luxury items – sugar, spices, saffron, raisins, aniseed etc. These items were generally both expensive and imported. Presumably mercers, who were used to dealing with imported cloth, had the opportunity to buy these items at the same time and found them a profitable sideline. Even so, it is surprising to find Thomas Workman selling gunpowder! The mortars, pestles, weights and balances were needed for these items rather than the cloth, which was sold by length. Since an expert opinion was needed to value the stock in the shop, it was essential to have at least one fellow-mercer as an appraiser.

The Hall The hall was the main living-room of the house. The table was listed in two parts: the table board and the frame on which it rested. This was a reflection of an earlier time when tables were inevitably trestle-tables (see The Kitchen). Round the table were seven joined stools – wooden stools made with proper joints – but only one chair with arms, which presumably Thomas Workman sat in. We still use the expression ‘chairman’ reflecting the days when homes like this had only one chair at the table. The basin and ewer were there to allow the family to wash their hands before eating. Away from the table there was a high-backed wooden settle. For technical legal reasons, an inventory did not value houses or land but concentrated on goods and chattels (literally ‘moveable property’). It is therefore something of a surprise to find the wainscot and a glass window listed, as we would consider such items to be fixtures. However, as becomes clear at the end of the inventory, Thomas Workman rented his house and so he would have expected to take these expensive improvements away with him if he left. A leaded-pane glass window, which let the light in but kept the cold out, was an enormous improvement on the alternatives: having the window either shuttered or open, or having a translucent oiled-cloth covering which let only a dim light through.

The Buttery This room, next to the Hall, was more of a store-room than a living-room. The name has nothing to do with ‘butter’, but derives from ‘bouteille’ (bottle) and originally referred to where drink was stored. In Thomas Workman’s house, this room was where the table-ware was stored - plates (platters, trenchers), bowls (pottingers), and dishes as well as the candle-sticks.

The Chamber over the Hall The stairs would have risen from the Hall straight into the bedroom (chamber) above. As is common in Tudor and Stuart inventories, the bed is described in some detail. The bedstead consisted of a wooden frame with holes in the side to allow a cord to be laced across. A rush mat was laid on the cord and one or two mattresses (beds) laid on top of that. This bed had two mattresses, one stuffed with odds and ends of wool (flock) and the other stuffed with feathers. In time the bed-cord would slacken and need tightening – which is where “sleep tight” comes from. This bed has long, round bolsters rather than oblong pillows, two coverlets and a pair of blankets. The covering and the carpet were for the bed rather than the floor. As heavy wool covers they would not actually been on the bed when this inventory was taken in mid-summer. In addition to the bed, table and bench (form), the room contained three chests and a wardrobe (press) for the storage of clothes and bedding. As a house like this did not have corridors, a door would have led from this room direct into the other bedroom. A bedroom like this, at the top of the stairs, was often called the lower chamber while the inner room was called the upper chamber although they were both on the same level.

The Chamber over the Kitchen This room contained two beds – a standing bedstead with posts and curtains round it which afforded Thomas and Alice Workman some privacy, and a low bedstead which may have been pushed out of the way under the standing bedstead during the day. It would appear Thomas and Alice shared this room with one of their children while the other slept in the chamber over the hall. In addition to the beds and a cradle, the family linen was stored in this room. The stained cloth was a cloth wall-hanging with a painted pattern on it – a cheaper option than tapestry.

Thomas Workman’s Clothes We are very lucky to have an itemised list of Thomas Workman’s clothes. Normally, appraisers simply wrote down wearing apparel together with a value. The bands were collars or ruffs. Thomas wore a shirt next to his skin, with a doublet or jerkin on top, and hose which fitted closely from waist downwards. In cold weather, or on formal occasions, he wore a gown over his other clothes and a cloak outdoors. By modern standards, it seems rather a modest wardrobe for a prosperous merchant.

The Kitchen The most important feature of the Kitchen was the fireplace. A fire, even if only a small one, would have burned in the grate all the year round as it was the only means of cooking. Logs were rested on the fire-dogs (andirons and cobirons). A cooking pot (kettle) was suspended over the fire on a chain (link) using an S-shaped pothanger. Because the fire could not be turned up or down like a modern cooker, the pot was hung close above the fire or further up the chain according to whether Alice Workman wanted it to boil or simmer. Alternatively, a three-legged pot (posnet) could be set to stand at the front of the fireplace with a shovel-full of hot charcoal underneath it. Meat, if not boiled or stewed, could be grilled on the gridiron, fried in the frying pan or roasted on the spit (broche). The spit was always placed in front of the fire, not over it, so that the dripping could be caught in the dripping pan. In addition to the fire-place and the cooking implements, there was a trestle table and chair and two spinning-wheels (tourns). There was another glass window and a lead sink. Financial Matters Although houses and land were not included in inventories, leases (which could be transferred from one person to another) counted as chattels and were listed. Thomas Workman rented his house and also a stable in Gore Lane. Like any other merchant, Thomas Workman kept his money in a locked chest in his shop. He was also owed quite a lot of money, though it is not clear whether this arose from business debts owed by customers or from loans he had made. Since there were no banks to deposit money in, successful merchants often lent money as a sideline. As is typical of a merchant’s inventory, most of the value arises from the business. The value of the personal and household items is comparatively modest. All values were expressed in £ s d. £1 (pound) was divided into 20s (shillings) each of which contained 12d (pence). Originally £1 had meant a pound-weight of silver and had been made up of 240 silver pennies each weighing 1/15th of an ounce. By Thomas Workman’s day this standard had slipped. Often the sums recorded in an inventory look rather arbitrary. Why was an item valued at 6s 8d and not 6s 9d or 6s 7d? The answer is that, whereas our modern currency is decimal, old money was divided by fractions. Thus 6s 8d (80d) is 1/3rd of £1, 13s 4d is 2/3rd, 5s is ¼, 2s 6d is 1/8th etc. The biggest problem with Tudor money, however, is to say how much it was worth. Making an estimate from the value of the Tudor items against their modern equivalents is difficult when a modern interior-sprung bed, for example, is so different from a Tudor one. Even items which may not have changed so much, like shirts or sheets, yield very different answers. The only real way forward is to try and assess how wealthy Thomas Workman was by the standards of his day. A farm-labourer in 1587 paid a basic wage of 8d per day would earn £10-12 in a year. In comparison, an estate worth nearly £400 made Thomas Workman a man of substance – if not exactly rich then certainly prosperous. Thomas Workman’s Will Thomas Workman’s will is fairly straightforward. He left £20 to his son John and £40 to his daughter Joan to be paid when they reached fifteen. Everything else was left to his wife Alice whom he also made his executor. To help her carry out his wishes he appointed my brother Richard Barnes (not a relative but a brother-mercer) and John Maddock my overseers, leaving them each a token sum for their trouble. The will begins and ends with the usual religious sentiments which were none the less sincere for being conventional. Unlike his inventory, Thomas Workman’s will gives us a glimpse of his family. We know that he was married and that he had two children, a son and a daughter both aged under 15. Unfortunately, the Workman family is not to be found in those parish registers which survive from Gloucester parishes for this period so we do not know how old Thomas was, nor when his children were baptised. The greater sum left to his daughter Joan represents what would have been needed either to maintain her as an adult or to provide a dowry. The expectation is that Alice would have left what she inherited, including the business, to John. Thomas Workman: Glossary The Shop Annize aniseed Bewpers linen used for flags (from Beauprais, France) Bone lashes bone ; patterned made with bone bobbins linen or cloth stiffened with size fine white linen or cotton cloth (from Cambrais, France) fine linen with a diamond pattern in the weave Dowles Dowlas: coarse cotton cloth (from Daoulas, Brittany) Duranes durance: hard-wearing Duranes ? Enderlings small remnants of cloth Flaxen cloth linen cloth hard-wearing cotton/woollen mixture Glewe glue Herfords linen cloth from Herford, Westphalia Holland linen cloth Hurdes coarse linen cloth licorishe liquorice Mercer dealer in fine cloth Mockadoe inferior woollen cloth Neldes cotton cloth, originally from Bengal, used for shifts Ozenbriks fine linen cloth from Osnabruck Rashe ?smooth fabric, probably silk or wool Reasons raisins Saforne saffron Skottishe clothe Scottish cloth, probably Span ?stomacher, a type of ornamental belt worn by women Stearch starch Stodes studs (decorative buttons) Velleur : cloth with a velvet finish The House Andirons large fire-dogs Apparell apparel: clothes Bands neck-bands: collars or ruffs Beares [pillow]beres: pillow cases Bed mattress Bedsteede bedstead: wooden bedframe Boulster bolster: long, sausage-shaped pillow Brandiron a grid-iron (see below) or a trivet: a metal pot-stand Broch broche: a spit Carpett a counterpane (when listed with bedding) Chafindishe chafing-dish: a metal serving-dish to keep food warm, Cobirons small fire-dogs Counterfeite metalwork, possibly resembling gold or silver Dublett doublet: a close-fitting jacket or jerkin Featherbed mattress filled with feathers Flockbed mattress filled with odds and ends of wool Grediron gridiron: iron grill for grilling meat over a fire Joyned joined or jointed [furniture]: made with mortise & tenon joints Linke chain, for hanging a cooking-pot over a fire Matt straw or rush mat lying under a mattress Posnett cooking-pot with three small legs (also called a skillet) Pottinger bowl with handles Press wardrobe Quishion cushion Settle high-backed wooden settee Skimer spoon with holes, for straining items as they came out of the pot Stained cloth painted wall-hanging Tableboard table-top, resting on a frame or trestles Tongues fire tongs Torne turn: spinning-wheel Trencher wooden plate Waynescott wainscot: wooden panelling covering the walls Yewer ewer: water jug