A further review of John Gaisford’s ‘Clothiers and merchants in Spanish Cloth’, (our volume 101) has been published in The Textile History Review (John S. Lee 2024 55:1-2, 207-208).
John Gaisford ed., ‘Clothiers and Merchants in Spanish Cloth, 1627-1667: The Ashe family of Somerset, Wiltshire and London and their account books’, Somerset Record Society 101, Taunton, 2023. xvi þ 531 pp. £48.00. ISBN: 9780901732514
The review was written by John S. Lee.
This volume contains the edited texts of five account books: the Cloth Sales account of James Ashe (1627–1643), the Waste Book of James and Grace Ashe (1643–1649), the Cash Book of Edward Ashe (1645–1655), the Journal of Jonathan Ashe (1656–1660) and the Waste Book of Jonathan Ashe (1660– 1665). James Ashe was a clothier of Westcombe near Bruton in Somerset, and his sons Edward and Jonathan became London cloth merchants. Their accounts record trade in a high-value fabric known as ‘Spanish’ broadcloth, created by blending dyed wool of different colours before spinning, and distinguished both by its colours and its comparative lightness. This type of cloth was first produced in England in the late sixteenth century and by the early seventeenth century it was being marketed as ‘Spanish cloth’ in London. Whether the product was always made at least partly from Spanish wool is debatable, but these light and colourful woollens opened new domestic and international markets for English clothiers (see also H. Chevis, ‘Why Early Modern English Clothiers Started Using Spanish Wool’, Textile History, 52 (2021), pp. 122–43).
There is much of interest for textile historians within these accounts which detail purchases of raw materials to supply cloth-makers in Somerset, as well as the delivery of finished cloths in the West Country, London and overseas. Particularly notable are the wide range of colours in the cloths that James Ashe provided to his suppliers in the 1630s, including the ‘animal’ colours of beaver, mussel, pearl and popinjay, and the ‘vegetable’ colours of blackberry, grape, nutmeg, peach and orange. More than 120 different colours are listed, and conveniently tabulated in the introduction to the edition (p. 28). Another table shows some of the seventy cloth marks recorded in James Ashe’s accounts from the late 1620s and early 1630s (p. 26). From this, Gaisford estimates that at least 200–250 looms and perhaps as many as 4,000 people were involved in some way in making cloth for the Ashes. James’ accounts also detail the carriers he engaged, the fairs he visited and the dyestuffs consumed, but are less detailed on the origins and quality of wool used, although some purchases of Spanish wool are recorded. He used his waste book to record transactions informally, like a modern-day notebook. Edward Ashe’s cash book lists payments received from customers and payments made to suppliers but gives fewer details about the cloths themselves. A flow of bills of exchange sent from Paris and drawn on other London merchants are entered in his accounts. Edward paid merchants in London on their behalf and bought wool, oil and soap, together with household items such as sugar, tobacco and wine. Edward and his elder brother John became leading parliamentarians and members of the Committee for Compounding at Goldsmiths’ Hall in London. The ledgers reveal Edward’s connections with financiers, gentlemen and aristocrats, and even note the import of fifty pairs of pistols from Calais in 1642. Jonathan Ashe’s journal, the only calendarised text of the five accounts, records the purchase and sale of cloth and other commodities, and lists at least sixty different ships and their masters. His waste book contains draft statements of account for three merchants in Antwerp and Paris with whom Jonathan was trading. Most accounting material from the cloth trade in this period has been lost, and the Ashe family’s records only survive because they were exhibited in the Court of Chancery in 1681 and are now deposited in The National Archives. They therefore fill an important gap for economic 207 Book Reviews historians between the sixteenth-century account books of merchants Thomas Kytson of London and John Smythe of Bristol (edited by C. J. Brett for the London Records Society in 2020 and J. Vanes for the Bristol Record Society in 1975 respectively) and the eighteenth-century papers of George Wansey of Warminster (edited by J. L. Mann and published by the Wiltshire Record Society in 1963).
As the editor states, ‘accounts do not yield up their greater narrative easily’, but a detailed introduction sets out the context in which each member of the Ashe family operated as well as highlighting key material of interest within the sources. The edition is richly illustrated with fortyfive maps and images, including twelve colour plates, which provide maps of the region, contemporary portraits and coats of arms, as well as photographs from the account books. Appendices include pedigrees of the Ashe and Strode families, wills and inventories, summary trading schedules and details about surviving portraits. There are also brief biographies and a glossary of foreign, technical and obsolete terms. Rarely has the reader of an edited text of accounts been provided with such detailed and comprehensive supporting material, making this edition both a pleasure to consult and a valuable source for anyone interested in textile manufacturing and trade during the seventeenth century.
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