John Heritage

John Heritage was an English farmer and dealer in wool who left behind an account book which reveals much about the business of the woolmongers in England at that time.

John was born around 1470 in the south-east Warwickshire village of Burton Dasset, as the son of Roger Heritage, an owner of the respectable estate of around 30 acres in the village. Following his father’s death in 1495, John took tenancy of the family lands and leased holdings in neighboring villages. Around 1500 he moved to the small town of Moreton-in-Marsh where his wife inherited a house and began his business of a farmer and a wool merchant.

His main business occupation was the collection, sorting and winding of local wool from his farm and that of many small farmers and peasants which was then transported to the capital. At London he sold the wool to a variety of staplers and brought back with him the Hanseatic goods such as fish, tar and gunpowder for sale in the local area.

Although Heritage did not become a gentleman or rich export merchant, he succeeded to amass a modest wealth during his lifetime.