Since John Shakespeare had suffered financial reverses prior to this date, William must have achieved success for himself.Ĭourt records show that in 1601-1602, William Shakespeare began rooming in the household of Christopher Mountjoy in London. In May of 1597, Shakespeare purchased New Place, the outstanding residential property in Stratford at that time. Entitled to her father's coat of arms, Mary had lost this privilege when she married John Shakespeare before he held the official status of gentleman. Although positive proof is lacking, there is reason to believe that the Heralds granted this request, for in 1599 Shakespeare again made application for the right to quarter his coat of arms with that of his mother. The parents named them for the poet's friends, Hamnet and Judith Sadler.Įarly in 1596, William Shakespeare, in his father's name, applied to the College of Heralds for a coat of arms. One year and nine months later their twins, Hamnet and Judith, were christened in the same church. The baptism of their eldest child, Susanna, took place in Stratford in May, 1583. Under a bond dated November 28, 1582, William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway entered into a marriage contract.
His father was John Shakespeare, tanner, glover, dealer in grain, and town official of Stratford his mother, Mary, was the daughter of Robert Arden, a prosperous gentleman-farmer.
His baptism occurred on Wednesday, April 26, 1564. No one knows the exact date of William Shakespeare's birth. The concise review that follows will concern itself with some of these records. Sparse and scattered as these facts of his life are, they are sufficient to prove that a man from Stratford by the name of William Shakespeare wrote the major portion of the thirty-seven plays that scholars ascribe to him. From another point of view, they know surprisingly little about the writer who has continued to influence the English language and its drama and poetry for more than three hundred years. It is important, however, that persons interested in Shakespeare should distinguish between facts and beliefs about his life.įrom one point of view, modern scholars are fortunate to know as much as they do about a man of middle-class origin who left a small country town and embarked on a professional career in sixteenth-century London. Tradition and sober supposition are not necessarily false because they lack proven bases for their existence. Taken as a whole, these materials give a rather comprehensive picture of England's foremost dramatic poet. Many books have assembled facts, reasonable suppositions, traditions, and speculations concerning the life and career of William Shakespeare.
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