54 THE WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY MAGAZINE 
Wyllyam Adlam the younger the 14th day in 
February 1534. Resaved the 3rd day in Marche 
1534, 1 whitte as is above rehersed’, and a similar 
entry was made in December 1536 for Harry James 
to dry, fold and tack &c 2 whites of Richard Batte’s. 
From Thomas Wasshington’s account for the 
Sinxten mart of 1536 can be learned the gross profit 
that Kytson reaped from his sales. Wasshington 
recorded the sale of 859 cloths for £4,300 13s. 
Flemish. At the exchange rate of 25 schellingen 6 
groten for each pound sterling (the rate at which 
Wasshington had had to borrow money in 
Antwerp) the price of those 859 cloths, that had cost 
Thomas Kytson £2,588 5s. 6d. sterling, was 
equivalent to £3,235 6s. Sg. Flemish. The gross 
profit that Wasshington gained for his master was 
therefore £1,065 6s. 7g. Flemish or 32.9% 
Typical of Wasshington’s entries that relate to 
Wiltshire clothmen (names underlined) are: 
Sold to Ullryght factor for the Pymmels &c 
Item 152 whittes of John Clyyflodes fynest makyng of 
£32 sterlyng the packe 
Item 2 whittes of John Clyfflodes second makyng of 
£3 14s the pece 
Item 40 whittes of Wylliam Blackedonnes of £34 10s 
sterlyng the packe 
Item 10 whittes of Geffrey Whitacher of £34 the packe. 
Total sum 204 whittes at £52 10s g the packe 
£1071 Os 0g 
To pay in redy monney £534 2s lg 
To pay in the Colde Martt next commyng 1536 
Sum £536 17s llg 
Sold to Wylliam van Inmersell of Andwerppe &c 
Item one fyne whitte of Thomas Bayles of £4 13s 4d 
the pece at£7 Sum £7 0s 0g 
Resaved be me Thomas Wasshyngton in silver & quit 
Sold to Frans Gyles and George Kesselor of 
Andwerppe &c 
Item 90 whittes of John Lawrens of £30 sterlyng the 
packe 
Item 8 whittes of Thomas Joes of £3 10d sterlyng the 
pece 
Item one whitte of John Clyfflodes second makyng of 
£3 16s sterlyng 
Item one whitte of John Norrynton best makyng of 
£3 the pece 
Total sum 100 whittes at one with another £47 g the 
pack Sum £470 Os Og 
To pay in the Bawius Martt next commyng 
Sum £235 0s 0g 
To pay in the Colde Martt next commyng 
Sum £235 0s Og 
Each entry gave the sterling purchase price in 
code (here in italics) and the sale price in Flemish 
currency. — ponds groot, schellingen and groten. 
Usually the buyers were not expected to pay for 
their purchases until the next Bamis mart or the 
Cold mart, some four or six months after the Sinxten 
mart. However in the second example the single 
fine white cloth of Thomas Bayley was paid for 
when Wasshington sold it to van Inmersell. The 
purchase price of this single cloth had been £4 13s. 
4d. sterling, equivalent to £5 19s. Og. Flemish. In 
this case the sale price of £7 Os. 0g. gave a profit of £1 
ls. Og. or 17.6%. In the first example the purchase 
price of all 204 whites was £665 16s. 0d. sterling, or 
£848 17s. 11g. Flemish, which gave a profit of £222 
2s. lg. or 26.2%. In the third example a gross 
purchase price of £301 2s. 8d. sterling equivalent to 
£383 18s. 11g. Flemish gave a profit of £86 ls. 1g. or 
22.4%. These figures pose the question, why did 
these cloths not reap the average profit obtained 
from all the cloths at the Sinxten mart in 1536? 
Thomas Kytson’s ‘Boke of Remembraunce’ 
records his dealings with his clothmen and others 
for the decade before his death, and the export of 
the cloths to the four seasonal markets in Flanders. 
In totality Wiltshire clothmen came second to their 
Somerset neighbours in supplying Kytson with the 
broadcloths or ‘whites’ that contributed to 
England’s main export in the Tudor period. Nearly 
seventy Wiltshire ‘clothmen’ appear in Thomas 
Kytson’s ‘Boke’ as producers of cloth. These men 
and women, together with some of the carriers, 
Kytson’s apprentices and factors, the London 
shearmen, the masters of the little ships and the 
purchasers in the annual marts are the named 
people in the chain of commerce taking Wiltshire 
cloths to the Continent. The names of the sheep 
farmers, spinners and weavers, upon whose labour 
all the cloth trade was based, remain unknown. 
References and Notes 
' Brett C.J., Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeological and 
Natural History (PSANH). Vol. 143, pp29-56. Some 
of the details of Thomas Kytson’s trading are 
common to both Wiltshire and Somerset and are 
repeated in this article. 
? Dictionary of National Biography. 
* Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of 
Henry VII, Vol. 3 Part 1, p.503. 
