218:, was first published in 1597. Parts of this work are loosely based on Winchcombe's life, but the narrative is expanded by imagination and plagiarism, and it is normally categorised as fiction rather than history. It was Deloney who introduced the "Jack of Newbury" name in print, and the book rapidly went through many editions. Winchcombe became a national celebrity along the lines of Dick Whittington or Robin Hood. The "Jack O'Newbury" form is a later corruption of the name.
226:: both are occasions when England was simultaneously at war with Scotland and France. Deloney's liberties with history have led to Winchcombe being frequently confused with his father of the same name (also known as John Smallwood), who died in 1520 and was also a Newbury clothier. The identification of "Jack" with the father was popularised by influential Newbury historian
105:) in 1536. He was listed to supply men for the army in Flanders in 1543, with 10-foot soldiers specified; and for the Boulogne campaign in 1544. For the latter, contemporary documents show him at the head of 150 named Newbury men, all furnished with new coats. His will of 1557 includes references to 20 sets of armour and two demi-lances.
221:
Deloney described
Winchcombe's premises as containing 200 looms, and also related a visit by Henry VIII and his Queen Katherine which is not supported by direct evidence, although Henry VIII passed through Newbury on several occasions. It was Deloney who transposed the Boulogne campaign for that of
168:
It was here he welcomed the future
Protector Somerset. The premises consisted of timber-framed buildings ranged around courtyards, including a panelled hall and parlour, buttery, kitchen, cheesehouse, bakehouse, bolting house and brewhouse, as well as numerous "chambers" or bedrooms. A small part of
124:
The many different
English cloths produced in the Tudor period were dominated by broadcloths and kersies, and current evidence shows Winchcombe producing kersey cloths on an industrial scale: over 6,000 cloths each year in the 1540s. Each kersey was about a yard (0.9m.) wide, and 17–18 yards long.
46:
He was the son of a clothier, but became a clothier in his own right before his father's death in 1520, and combined the two businesses, taking on property which had been leased to his father. He was already wealthy in the 1520s, and his growing prosperity led to a significant rise in his status.
189:
Winchcombe's last will was written on 2 December 1557. He died soon after, and he was buried in St. Nicolas Church in
Newbury on 8 December. This was the church which was rebuilt in the 1520s and 1530s, and his merchant's mark (a capital 'I’ with a lower-case sigma across the centre) appears
164:
His home was off the east side of
Northbrook Street in Newbury, with a street frontage of 29 m. (96 feet). It filled the area between Jack Street and Marsh Lane (now mostly occupied by Marks & Spencer, and previously by the Jack Hotel), running back towards the Marsh (now Victoria Park).
155:
Although
Winchcombe has in the past been credited with founding England's first factory, no documentary evidence of a weaving workshop has yet been traced. However, the quantity of cloths produced suggests a workshop of perhaps 30–50 looms.
144:
says that
Winchcombe's cloths "came to enjoy an unquestioned superiority, not only in Antwerp, where they were in great demand, but also in markets in Italy, the Levant, Germany, Hungary, and elsewhere, where they had the greatest renown…"
176:
That this was
Winchcombe's home is shown in a contemporary survey, and the association was marked in 2016 by the addition of a local blue plaque. Some parts of the cloth-making process were also carried out here. His acquisition of
704:
His brass in St
Nicolas Church, Newbury shows that he died on 15 February in the contemporary year 1519 (historic year 1520). Will of John Winchcombe (d. 1520) TNA PROB 11/19 ff. 215v-216 (27 Ayloffe).
39:
He was a leading clothier in other ways. Cloth-making was heavily regulated, and in the 1530s and 1540s
Winchcombe led dozens of clothiers in a national campaign to persuade King
557:
Thomas Gresham’s Day Book 1546–1552, held by the Mercers’’ Company, London, lists over 4,300 cloths produced by Winchcombe for one customer between Nov. 1546 and Nov. 1549.
311:
194:'s reign. His will was proved on 23 May 1558. In spite of his importance, no memorial to him has survived in the church, although there is a brass to his father.
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regularly among the roof bosses in the nave. In this church, he and his son took part in hearings which condemned three Protestants to be burnt to death during
36:
in Berkshire. When Tudor cloth-making was booming, and woollen cloth dominated English exports, John Winchcombe was producing for export on an industrial scale.
152:
for 1,000 cloths, and that English merchants overseas would sometimes only sell Winchcombe cloths to those who would purchase inferior cloths at the same time.
415:
TNA C66/686 Patent Roll 31 Henry VIII (1540) Part 1 m. 44. Grant of the manors of Bucklebury and Thatcham, and the borough of Thatcham, to John Winchcombe.
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In addition, he held a large portfolio of other property (much of it leased), mainly in and around Newbury. Some of this had previously been held by
169:
this extensive home survives on the corner of Marsh Lane, complete with external carvings and mouldings. Carved panels from the interior are now at
609:
BRO DA1/8 Register copy of will of John Winchcombe ff. 296v-302v; TNA PROB 11/40 (26 Noodes) Register copy of will of John Winchcombe ff. 207-210v.
510:
Thomas Gresham's Day Book 1546–1552, also known as the "Account Book of Thomas Gresham, unpublished document held by the Mercers'’ Company, London.
489:
BRO DA1/8 Register copy of will of John Winchcombe ff. 297v-298; TNA PROB 11/40 (26 Noodes) Register copy of will of John Winchcombe ff. 207-210v.
755:
197:
He had been married at least three times, and he was survived by his children John, Thomas, Henry and Anne. His eldest son, the third
424:
TNA C66/714 Patent Roll 34 Henry VIII (1542) Part 5 m. 22, licence to alienate Farnborough from Edward Fettiplace to John Winchcombe.
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described Jack of Newbury in the 17th century as "…the most considerable Clothier (without fancy or fiction) England ever beheld."
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The Pleasant Historie of Iohn Winchcombe, in his younger yeares called Iack of Newberie, the famous and worthy Clothier of England
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7 March 1597, it survives only in later 17th-century editions. Reprinted from the edition of 1619 (ESTC 6559) in M. E. Lawlis,
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101:'s armies, beginning when he was listed as one of those to be approached "…for aid against the rebels in the north" (i.e. the
55:
Winchcombe became a wealthy landowner, spending over £4,000 on the purchase of property in the 1540s, including the manors of
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129:
was his most important dye, frequently delivered by the cartload. One order survives for 541 cwt., or over 27 tons of woad.
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In this period a "clothier" co-ordinated the different stages in the production of cloth, which was then sold in his name.
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The National Archives (TNA) E 101/347/17 lists the names of 80 clothiers from four of the six counties involved.
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TNA C66/784 Patent Roll 37 Henry VIII (1546) Part 7 m. 45, grant of Lockinge and Ginge to John Winchcombe.
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All four children are mentioned in his 1557 will: BRO DA1/8 ff. 296v-302v; TNA PROB 11/40 ff. 207-210v.
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Many workers were involved in the various stages of production, which included spinning and weaving.
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in 1547. He may possibly also have served in earlier Parliaments; records for these are incomplete.
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43:
to change the law on the making of woollen cloth – a campaign which proved ultimately successful.
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and the Protector Somerset. He was granted a coat of arms, and had his portrait painted in 1550.
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238:(2013) notes that it "has been plausibly argued" that Deloney's work referred to the son.
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As one of the county gentry, John Winchcombe was asked to provide Newbury men to fight in
8:
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548:
There are several versions all taking the same form, including one in Newbury Town Hall.
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led to the building of a grand Tudor house there, which became home to his eldest son.
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in 1540, Farnborough (on the Berkshire Downs) in 1542, and Lockinge and Ginge in 1546.
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214:, a fictionalised story of Winchcombe’s life written by the silk-weaver and balladist
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140:, where they were recognised in the 1530s and 1540s as the best of their kind. The
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361:
Pollard, A.F.; Kerridge, Eric (2013). "Winchcombe, John (c. 1489–1557), clothier".
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The History of John Winchcomb, usually called Jack of Newbury, the famous clothier
683:(Bloomington 1961), pp. 1–87; from the edition of 1626 (ESTC 6560) in F. O. Mann,
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TNA LR2 187 ff. 112-116v, Survey of the manor of Newbury by Roger Amyce c.1550.
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took place in local mills and the finished kersies were exported via London to
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78:
He was one of the Berkshire gentry while continuing as a clothier, becoming a
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584:
Kerridge (2004); See also F. Edler "Winchcombe Kerseys in Antwerp (1538–44)"
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241:
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The value attached to his cloth is illustrated by evidence of an order from
622:(in the 'Buildings of England' series), Yale University Press, 2010 p. 403.
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689:(Oxford 1912), pp. 1–68; and from the edition of 1633 in J. O. Halliwell,
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Thomas Gresham's Day Book 1546–1552, held by the Mercers' Company, London.
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TNA SP 1/184 'Army against France' (35 Henry VIII); see also Davids (1982)
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See Newbury Town Council's website, www.newbury.gov.uk/blue-plaques.php .
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He was among those present for the reception of Henry VIII's fourth wife
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The scale of his production is also indicated by his purchase of dyes:
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WINCHCOMBE, alias SMALLWOOD, John (1488/89-1557), of Newbury, Berks.
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TNA SP1/143, letter from John Winchcombe to Thomas Cromwell, 1539.
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His portrait of 1550 describes him as aged 61; a version hangs in
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WINCHCOMBE, John (by 1519-74), of Bucklebury and Thatcham, Berks.
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201:, also served as a Member of Parliament in the 1550s and 1570s.
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Royal Berkshire History: John Winchcombe Senior alias Smallwood
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Proceedings and Ordinances of the Privy Council (1386–1542)
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c. 12), "An acte for the trewe making of woollen clothes."
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Rev. Canon J. E. Jackson "Wulfhall and the Seymours" in
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TNA SP 1/180 'Army for Flanders' 1543 (35 Henry VIII).
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Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine
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TNA SP 1/107 'Northern rebels.' 1536 (28 Henry VIII).
234:(1982) associates the name with the father, but the
32:(c. 1489 −1557) was a leading English clothier from
618:Geoffrey Tyack, Simon Bradley and Nikolaus Pevsner
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395:The Manuscripts of St. George's Chapel, Windsor
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230:in 1887, and widely followed afterwards. The
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367:(online ed.). Oxford University Press.
263:Royal Berkshire History: Jack the Moneymaker
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539:vol. ii, Harleian Society vol. lvii, 1908.
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364:Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
333:Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
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236:Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
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453:, ed. S.T. Bindoff (1982)
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327:Sir Harry Nicholas ed.
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160:Jack of Newbury's House
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766:People from Winchcombe
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