Shakespeare's family
Vintner, 5^li, and to John Shackspire, of Newnam, 5^li."[286] This John
may be father of Leonard, and may be the John referred to in the note.
"John Shakespeare, of Nuneham Courtney, co. Oxford, an old feeble man,
had been drinking in his house, 25th Nov., 1633."[287] A Leonard is
mentioned in the register of Sunningwell, Berks, as being married to
Alyce Parkes of Abingdon, September 12, 1614. This is probably the
Leonard of Isleworth, Middlesex, vintner, who at an advanced age made
his will,[288] March 26, 1664. He left his wife Elizabeth two tenements
in Isleworth for life, then to his son John and his heirs; to his son
William, 12d.; to his son Ralph, 12d.; to his daughter, Elizabeth King,
L20 after his wife's death; to his son William's son William, 2s. 6d.;
to his daughter Elizabeth, a feather bed; to his daughter Sara, 12d.; to
his daughter Robina, 12d.; if John died without heirs, the tenements to
go to his sons Ralph and William. His wife Elizabeth executrix; his
friend, Mr. William Dance, and his son-in-law, Robert Parsons,
overseers. Was it a stepmother's influence that made him cut off his two
sons with a shilling?[289]
Working for another purpose at a later date, I found Shakespeares in the
little village of South Stoke in Oxfordshire. Among the baptisms are:
"John, April 8th, 1751; Mary, Oct. 22nd, 1752; Hannah, Sept. 29, 1754;
Elizabeth, Aug. 24th, 1756; Ann, July 6th, 1760, all children of Robert
and Mary Shakespeare." "Susanna, base-born daughter of Catharine
Shakespeare, Dec. 24th, 1784." "Elizabeth, daughter of John Shakespeare,
and Eleanor his wife, Nov. 12, 1786." Among the marriages are "John Birt
and Mary Shakespeare, 7th December, 1773." Among the burials are
"William, March 13th, 1768," and "Robert, July 20th, 1786." In the same
volume are Richard and Thomas, sons of Richard Burbage, 1577 and 1579,
who both died in infancy, and there are many other Shakespearean names.
In counties still further from Warwickshire the name is also found, as
we may note in Hertfordshire, Derbyshire,[290] Hampshire, Surrey,
Bedfordshire. There was administration granted to Lucy Shakespear,
widow, of the goods of her deceased husband Thomas, of the town of
Hertford, October 10, 1626; and Luke Shakespear, of Layston, co. Herts,
fishmonger, made his will[291] May 7, 1707. His wife was Joyce, and he
had a sister and two brothers not named.
In Layston[292] Churchyard there are the tombs of "Mr. John Shakespeare,
late citizen and founder of London," 1732, and of "Henry Mond
Shakespear, Citizen and Loriner of London," 1784.
In Portsmouth, 1662, William Shakespeare was contractor for the old Gun
Wharf. A public-house, called Shakespeare's Head, is supposed to have
been the place where he paid his men.[293] On April 25, 1747, in St.
Gregory's by St. Paul's, were married "John Shakespeare of Portsea, and
Mary Higginson of St. James', Westminster." Joseph Champ and Martha Ham,
married at Portsmouth April 22, 1736, had John Shakespeare, of
Portsmouth, as one of their bondsmen; and George Poate and Anne Loch,
October 6, 1802, had Samuel Shakespeare one of their bondsmen.[294] The
London Shakespeares seem to have had a residence in Hampshire also, for
"Mrs. Shakespeare, widow of Alderman Shakespeare, of London, died at
Bramdean, co. Hants, aged 80, in March, 1807."[295]
Aubrey speaks of the wife of John Shakespeare, of Worplesdowne, in
Surrey, who made as good butter there as she ever did at Wroxall or
Bitteston. She was a North Wiltshire woman.[296] At Walton-upon-Thames,
Surrey, tombstones remind us of Matthew Shakespeare and George
Shakespeare, who died August 8, 1775; also of John Shakespeare, of
Weybridge, January 13, 1775; of William Shakespeare of this parish,
1783; and of George Shakespeare, architect, Oxford Street, London,
1797.[297]
On March 13, 1663, "William Shakespeare of Faucat was buried, and on
July 23, 1668, Ann Shackspere, daughter to Will Shackspear, was buried
in Toddington, co. Beds."[298]
There were Shakespeares also in Essex. Mr. Veley collects a few
particulars regarding them from the unregistered wills of the
Archdeaconry of Essex.[299] The oldest is that of Thomas Shakespeare,
priest, August 26, 1557. He leaves legacies to "8 priests of Jesus
Commons, wherein I now dwell," to sing masses, and something to the
maintenance of Jesus Commons, and to poor people, to the sisters of
Sion, the fathers of Sheen, the observant friars of Greenwich, the
Black-Friars of St. Bartholomew, Smithfield, the nuns of King's Langley,
and "to the parryshe church of Seynt Mildryd in Bred Streete in London,
towards the byeing of a pyxt or monstrat to carry the blyssyd Sacrament,
v^li. To my brother, Robert Shakespeare; my brother, Harry Wyllson; my
brother, John Cooke; my sister, Grace Starke; my sister, Jone
Shackspere: my sister, Cicely Richardson; to John Cooke, of Jesus
Commons; to Mother Agnes, of the Commons, and Goodwyfe Blower." The
strange thing about this will is that it seems to have been made by the
same Sir Thomas Shakespeare, clerk, whom I enter among the
pre-Shakespearean London Shakespeares in August 22, 1559.[300] His will
is preserved at Somerset House.[301]
The two years that intervened between the drafting of the two wills were
years of great import. Mary had died, Philip had vanished, and Elizabeth
was seated on the throne. Therefore it is not surprising that there are
fewer priestly legacies in the later will, that it mentions also fewer
relatives, and no brother Robert. But there are still sisters, Thomasine
Cook, Grace Storeton, Jone Shackspere, and a relative, Anne Wilson; and
the legacy to the Church of St. Mildred's, Bread Street, London.[302]
Mr. Veley does not know of this later will, which is the one that was
proved. He takes it for granted Thomas was an Essex man, though he lived
in London. He probably was so.
Mr. Veley also mentions a Joseph Shakespeare of Havering, who made his
will 1640. He had a brother Samuel, of Hornchurch, whose widow Susan
made her will in 1678; a Samuel, of Romford, her son, who married
Judith, had a daughter Ann, and died in 1707; a Thomas, of Hornchurch,
also son of Susan, who made his will in 1702; and a William, probably a
third brother, who married Susannah, was father to John of Rawreth, and
made his will March 2, 1723. John of Rawreth's goods were administered
by his daughter Judith, wife of Asser Vassall, 1731. Mr. Veley also
finds a John and Elizabeth mentioned, but unfortunately does not print
the contents of these other wills.
It may be noted that there is a considerable gap between the date of the
priest and his brother Robert and these later Shakespeares. I was glad
to find among the administrations at Somerset House[303] the name of
"Alice Shakespeare, Widow, of Ginge Margretting, Essex, 1581." She might
have been the widow of this Robert, and might also have been, at an
advanced age, the sister Alice Shakespeare mentioned in the will of
Francis Griffin, of Braybrook, 37 Henry VIII., who, Mr. Yeatman insists,
must have been the poet's grandmother. Francis Griffin remembers another
sister, _Agnes Crosmore_. The goods of this Alice Shakespeare were
administered by her sister, _Agnes Williams_, of Barking. I have made a
prolonged search among the Subsidy Rolls of Essex to locate this family.
Nowhere have I found the spelling of the name so varied, from
Shakesphere to Shakespurr, Saxper, and even Shaksby and Shucksby.
Cross-references prove these to be intended for the same name.[304] In 3
Jac. I., in Foulness, Essex, a Nicholas Saxper; in Rochford,[305] 21
Jac. I., John Shuxbye, and in Stambridge Magna, 4 Car. I., both Shakesby
and Shukesby. The Hearth Tax,[306] Essex, Car. II., mentions Samuel
Shexpere, and the Subsidy Rolls of 14 Car. II., Samuel Shaksper, of
Harold's Wood Ward. In 1666[307] there appear in the Hundred of Witham
Thomas Shakesby and Edward Shakesby, a Samuel Shakespeare of the North
End of Hornchurch, and a Samuel Shakespeare of Harold's Wood Ward.
In the Hundred of Chafford, William Shakespeare, gent., of Langdon
Hills, appears among the collectors of the subsidies. It is possible
there may have been many more of the name assessed; but some of the
Rolls are lost and many are decayed in various ways. I have searched
several of the outlying registers without success, but others have found
the name in Romford, Barking, Hornchurch, Rawreth, and Rochester.
In the county where we find an early notice of the family the name
occasionally appears. Mr. J. M. Cowper, Canterbury, tells us that
"Judith filia Leonardi Shakespeare was baptized Feb. 27, 1596-7, at
Warehorne, Kent."[308] The name does not occur again. In Rucking, Kent,
February 24, 1599, John, son of Reginald Shakespear, was baptized, and
on May 30, 1600, Reginald Shakespeare was buried.[309]
Mr. W. J. Lightfoot, the transcriber, says that he is acquainted with
several other neighbouring parishes, and that the name does _not_ occur
in their registers--a statement which, curiously enough, Mr. French
reproduces without the "not."
George Austin and Margaret Shakespeare, of Biddenden, Kent, widow, were
married July 26, 1639.[310]
In the North, where the early Shakespeares were attached to land, they
seem to have survived and spread, as may be seen from the directories of
Northern towns to-day.[311] Ireland, too, owns Shakespeares, possibly
descended from the Thomas of Youghal.
FOOTNOTES:
[266] _Notes and Queries_, Second Series, vi. 285; Third Series, viii.
33. "George, descendant of Humphrey," etc. Mr. Dickenson tells me there
are many of the name in the parish of Bredon.
[267] By fine levied Hil. 1655, Shakespere conveyed tenements in
Inckbarrow, Worcestershire, _Notes and Queries_, Second Series, vii.
336.
[268] There is the will of John Shakespeare, of Newington Bagpath, Cook,
among the Gloucester Wills, Index Library, and in "The Shakespeares of
Dursley," by John Henry Blount, we find James Shakespeare buried at
Bisley, March 13, 1570; Edward, son of John and Margery Shakespeare,
bapt. at Beverston, September 19, 1619. Thomas Shakespeare, weaver, was
married to Joan Turner at Dursley Church, March 3, 1677-78, and of their
children, Edward was bapt. July 1, 1681; Mary, 1682; Thomas, 1685; and
Mary, 1691. John Shakespeare was a mason in Dursley from 1704 to 1739;
and Thomas Shakespeare had a seat-place allotted him in 1739. Betty
Shakespeare received poor money from 1747 till 1754. Some still exist in
the adjoining parish of Newington Bagpath, and claim kindred with the
poet.
[269] Edward Shakespeare of Syresham, 1626-30; Thomas Shakespeare of
Litchborough, 1610-41 (Northamptonshire and Rutland Wills, Index
Library).
[270] _Notes and Queries_, First Series, vii. 405 and 546.
[271] A John Shakespeare of Finchhampstead, Berkshire, made his will in
1644. See Berkshire Wills.
[272] _Notes and Queries_, First Series, vii. 405 and 546.
[273] State Papers, Domestic Series, Jac. I., ix. 72.
[274] Lay Subsidies, Leicester, Goodlaxton, 39 Elizabeth, Wigston Parva,
134/235 and 134/254.
[275] Hist. Man. Com., vol. iii., Report 1872, p. 190.
[276] Ancient Records of Leicester, Trans. Lit. and Phil. Society, 1855,
and _Notes and Queries_, Third Series, v. 383.
[277] Admission Books, Staple Inn, vol. i., f. 58, and French,
"Shakespeareana Genealogica," 542.
[278] From the Register of St. Gregory by St. Paul's, London.
[279] "Dict. Nat. Biography."
[280] _Notes and Queries_, Fifth Series, viii. 386.
[281] See p. 15.
[282] Proved November 4, 1643, by his relict Elizabeth.
[283] _Notes and Queries_, Third Series, viii. 124.
[284] "Catalogue of Oxford Graduates," Clarendon Press.
[285] _Notes and Queries_, Second Series, xii. 469.
[286] French, "Shakspeareana Genealogica."