Hampshire, Place House (Titchfield), 1537/8

Note of Anthony Roke to Thomas Wriothesley

TNA: SP 7/1, no. 31

f [1] (1 February)

After my moost bounden duetie remembred vnto your good Maistership pleasithe it the same to be aduertised that I haue receyved by lambard the Caryour a barell of Salt Samon a barell of white heringes a Cade of Sprottes iij Tapenettes of ffigges a pece of Reasons lx li. prunes. iij loves of Suger/ ij lib. peper 10 lib. gynger oon quarter Cynammon. quarter Saffron Corans xx li. nutmigges quarter Cloves quarter maces quarter xxv smale long barres of Iron. xij pairs of large henges for Dores a Drye fatt with an Awntyke a banke with sytann Skochons of glasse and lokes and boltes whiche Maister Doctor hathe bestowed and at my commyng to micheldeuor I shall send the Skochons ther in likewise to Tytchefeld/ My moost singuler good Maistres ys in good helthe thanked be god and soo vsethe bothe Mistres Russhe and me that ther can noo creature be more bounde then I: also she handelithe the gentilmen of the Contrey your ffermours & their wiefes to your grete wourships/. and euery night mery as can be with Cristmas pleys and maskes with Anthony gedges and other your seruantes thanked be god who euer preserue you my moost especiall good Maister and send me longer lief ~~then my~~ then my hert & Carkesse shalbe redy to be hooly truly faithfully and dailly redy to serue you/ scribbled this first day of ffebruary by your moost bounden seruant

(signed) Anthony Roke

Glossed Terms
- caryour n carrier
- cade n in phr cade of sprottes a cask of smelt
- tapenette n tapnet, a basket made of rushes in which figs are imported; also used as a measure of quantity [OEDO tapnet | topnet n A.a]
- pece n piece, used here to indicate a quantity of fruit(?)[OEDO piece n etymology]
- awntyke n antic, fantastic tracery or sculpture(?) [OEDO antic adj and n B.n.1.a], or possibly antique, a relic of ancient art, or of bygone days(?) [OEDO antique adj and n B.n.2]
- banke n bank; possibly a bench, or a set or array of similar items [OEDO bank n.2 1, 6.a]
- sytann n satin(?)
- scuttchin n scutcheon; skochon
- fermour n farmer
Endnote

The Wriothesley family was resident at Place House (Titchfield).

'micheldeuor' is Micheldever, Hampshire, six miles north of Winchester, where the Wriothesley family had a house.
Document Description

Record title: Note of Anthony Roke to Thomas Wriothesley
Repository: TNA
Shelfmark: SP 7/1, no. 31
Repository location: Kew

Thomas Wriothesley (1505–50), 1st Baron Wriothesley of Titchfield, rose to prominence in the 1520s and 1530s through his services to Stephen Gardiner, Thomas Cromwell, and King Henry VIII, particularly in matters concerning Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon. The king granted Wriothesley the dissolved Premonstratensian abbey of Titchfield in 1537 and he immediately began converting the abbey buildings into his main Hampshire residence, Place House (VCH: Hampshire, vol 3, pp 220–33, British History Online, http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/hants/vol3/pp220-233, accessed 30 May 2018). Wriotheseley himself continued to be needed in London, so it was his wife, Jane, and his steward, Anthony Roke, who supervised the work at Titchfield. In this letter Roke informs Wriothesley of the efforts Jane Wriothesley had made to ingratiate herself with the local gentry through providing entertainments in the Christmas season.

No year date is given in the document, which is endorsed: 'To the right worshipfull and moost especiall good Maister Mr Wriothesley be this yeuen.' Surrounding letters in Letters and Papers, vol 1, pt 2, pp 445–6, concern movements of Wriothesley's wife's household and these are datable from other sources.

1 February 1537/8; English; paper; bifolium; 325mm x 215mm (130mm x 180mm); unfoliated, modern pencil item numbering followed; endorsed: 'To the right worshipfull and moost especiall good Maister Mr Wriothesley be this yeuen' and bound in volume with other letters to and from Thomas Wriotheseley, cover of red leather-covered boards, title stamped on spine: 'WRIOTHESLEY PAPERS.'

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