Shakespeare's family
only son, would help, as far as he could, his nearest male relative? I
trust to find further proof of this some day, but I may state what I do
know about this St. Clement's John. He had a large family. The registers
record in the baptizings: "John Shaxbee sonne of John 28th Aug. 1605."
"Susan Shasper daughter of John 19th Feb. 1607." "Jane Shakespeer the
daughter of John 16th July 1608." "Anthony Shaksbye son of John 23rd
June 1610." "Thomas Shackspeer son of John 30th June 1611." "Ellyn
Shakspear the daughter of John 5th May 1614." "Katharine Shakspeare
daughter of John 25th Aug. 1616." Now, to set against these we have the
burials of: "Anthony Shakesby the son of John 26th June 1610." "Thomas
Shakspeer the son of John 1st July 1612." "Susan Shakspere daughter of
John 3rd Aug. 1612." "Katharine Shakespeare d. of John 26th Aug. 1616."
Of two of the remaining children, John and Ellen, we have further
information; concerning the other, I believe we have an interesting
error, bearing on the credibility of parish clerks.
Among the burials appears that of "_Jane Shackspeer, daughter of Willm,
8. Aug. 1609_." Now, this might have been a daughter of the Bishopsgate
William, or of some country William up in London for a holiday. It might
even have been a hitherto unknown daughter of the poet himself. But I
believe that the clerk's mind was wandering when he wrote, and that he
was thinking of "William" when he should have written "John," because
John's family seem to have been delicate and have chiefly died young,
and his daughter "Jane" would have been just about a year old at the
time. No other notice of "William" or of "Jane" appears in the register.
The phonetic varieties of the spelling of the name may have been
noticed, but it is as well I copied all such. Among the Bishop of
London's marriage[326] licenses I find on "May 28, 1631, John
Shackspeare of St. Clement's Danes, Bittmaker, Bachelor, 26, had a
license to marry Margaret Edwards of St. Bride's Spinster, 28, at same
Parish Church."[327] The age of John Shackspear coincides with the age
of John Shaxbee, which is the only resembling entry near the date, and
the trade and the parish are the same. He was duly married in St.
Bride's,[328] and soon afterwards christenings began in St. Clement's
Danes. "12th April 1632, John Shackspeare son of John Shackspeare
Junior, and Margaret, ux." "4th May 1633, Mary Shackespeare, daughter of
John Shackespeare, and Margaret, ux." "17th Aug. 1634, Mary Shackspeare,
daughter of John Shackespeare and Margaret, ux." "3rd March 1635-6 John
Shakespear son of John and Margaret his wife." The reason for the
repeated names lies in the burials: "John Shackspeare son of John 17th
May, 1632." "Mary Shakespeare daughter of John 16th Julie 1633." "Mary
Shakespeare, infant, 1st May 1635." The more important entry of the
burial of their grandfather is fortunately clear--"John Shackespeare,
the King's Bitmaker, 27th Jan. 1633."[329] The name of trade or
profession was but rarely mentioned in this parish, and in this case it
fixes the State Paper entries. A large sum (L1,612 11s.) due to her
husband by the Crown was paid to a widow Mary after the death of her
husband, John Shackespeare,[330] His Majesty's bit-maker, 1638, for
wares delivered to the royal stables, and she had already been paid L80.
"Warrant to pay to the Earl of Denbigh Master of the Wardrobe L1612, 11
0, to be paid to Mary Shackspeare widow & executrix of John
Shackespeare, his Majesty's Bitmaker deceased, in regard of her present
necessities, in full of a debt of L1692, 11 for sundry parcels of wares
by him delivered for his majesty's service in the Stables, as by a
certificate appeareth, whereof there has been already paid unto her L80.
Subscribed by order of the Lord Treasurer procured Dec. 18th, 1637, and
paid Jan. 21, 1637-8."
For some reason her daughter Ellen was made her heiress. Among the State
Papers at Dublin Castle relating to settlements and explanations after
the Restoration there is a reference to this lady, and there was some
dispute about what she was entitled to receive. "It appears by an order
of the Revenue side of the Exchequer[331] that Ellen, daughter and
heiress of Mary Shakespeare, of ye Strand, widow, was married to John
Milburne." In Mary Shakespeare's will, December 24, 1553, she left to
her daughter, Ellen Milburne, L60; money to her grandchildren Milburne;
L50 to her grandson, John Shakespeare, son of her son John; 10s. to her
sister, Anne Brewer; 5s. to her daughter-in-law, Margaret Shakespeare;
2s. 6d. to Sarah Richardson, her brother's daughter; and the same to
Mary Shakespeare, wife of Thomas Allon (proved March 2, 1654).[332]
The Mary Shakespeare of St. Martin's parish does not seem to have died
there. She may have been the Mary Shakespeare, wife of Thomas Allon, of
the above will, or the Mary Shakespeare who was buried in the Church of
St. Thomas Apostle,[333] November 14, 1644. There was a John
Shakespeare, who might have been one of those three now mentioned, or
who might have been a fourth of the name, not very far off, mentioned as
one of the defaulters by the Collectors of the Loan in the Hundred of
Edmonton, and part of the Hundred of Ossulton, County Middlesex, in
1627.[334]
There were Shakespeares further west and further east than the Strand.
Adrian Shakespeare, of St. James's, within the liberty of Westminster,
left L550 on trust with his brothers-in-law, William Gregory and William
Farron, for his daughter Elizabeth and an unborn child; his father,
Thomas Shakespeare, and all his brothers and sisters to have a guinea
apiece, residue to his wife Christian, November 26, 1714.[335] Perhaps
he descended from the William of 1539.
At St. George's, Hanover Square, William Fellows, widower, and Margaret
Shakespear, spinster, were married May 28, 1730;[336] at St. George's,
Hanover Square, William Guy and Rebekah Shakespeare, of St.
Mary-le-Bone, March 29, 1758;[337] at St. George's Chapel, Hyde Park
Corner, William Shakespeare and Mary Waight, of St. Giles, Cripplegate,
July 29, 1751;[338] James Barnet, of St. James's, Westminster, and
Elizabeth Shakespear, February 9, 1760.[339] A George Shakespeare, of
Westminster, Arm., matriculated at Wadham College, June 10, 1785, aged
twenty-seven.[340]
Manasses Shakespeare, of St. Andrew's, Holborn, widower, and Mary
Goodwin, spinster, of same, married at St. James's, Duke's Place, April
27, 1710.[341]
Benjamin Shakespear, of the parish of St. Christopher, painter, made his
will 1707, and bequeathed to his father, Benjamin Shakespear, of
Tamworth, in Warwickshire, his wearing apparel, and left a legacy to his
mother Joyce, his wife Judith being sole executrix[342] (proved December
4, 1714).
In the records of the Leather Sellers' Company is preserved the
apprenticeship of George, son of Thomas Shakespeare, of Arley, county
Warwick,[343] October 12, 1693. George, son of William Shakespeare, also
of Arley, was apprenticed 1732. Thomas Shakespeare, son of George,
citizen and leather-seller of London, was apprenticed to William
Jephson, vintner.[344]
An important branch of the family settled in the east. John Shackspeer,
of Rope Walk, Upper Shadwell, appears in 1654. His father has still to
be found, but his posterity believe he descended from the poet's
grandfather. I had hoped to satisfy them through the St. Clement's Danes
registers. But his age at his marriage precludes this, for it gives the
year of his birth as 1619. The only John that I know to be born in that
year was John, son of Thomas Shakespeare, gent., baptized July 18, 1619,
in St. Gregory by St. Paul's. I had taken him to be the son of Thomas,
the Staple Inn student and lawyer of Leicester, but I cannot prove it.
On June 14, 1654, John married Martha Seeley,[345] and had four sons and
four daughters, of whom survived Martha, Samuel, Benjamin, Mary, John
and Jonathan. A trade token of his still exists.[346] Ropemaker
Shakespeare was summoned, with others, to appear before the Admiralty
regarding a breach of contract for ropes, January 26, 1656-57.[347] John
Shakespear, son of John of Shadwell, ropemaker, was apprenticed to John
Grange, of Upper Shadwell, chafer, 1663-64.[348] Jonathan, the youngest
son, born February 6, 1670, succeeded his father, who died 1689. He
married,[349] April 26, 1698, Elizabeth Shallet, of Clapham, aged
nineteen, and had thirteen children. Samuel Wilton was apprenticed to
Jonathan Shakespeare, citizen and _broiderer_ of London, April 7, 1725.
He died 1735. The business of ropemaking was carried on by the eldest
son, Arthur, born 1699, who died 1749, leaving the property and business
to his youngest brother John, on condition he brought up his heir to
ropemaking. This John, twelfth child of Jonathan, born 1718, married,
1745, Elizabeth, daughter of Colin Currie, and Anne, daughter of the
Honourable John Campbell; and had eleven children. He became Ropemaker
to the Board of Ordnance in succession to his brother Arthur, May 12,
1749; Trustee of Middlesex Turnpike Roads 1751; Ranger of Waltham Forest
1761; Deputy-Lieutenant for Middlesex 1763; alderman of the ward of
Aldgate 1767; sheriff 1768. He was originally of the Broiderers'
Company, as was his father, but was translated from that guild to the
Ironmongers', of which he became master 1769.[350] He died 1775. "_The
alderman used the same coat of arms as the poet, there being but the one
known._" It is engraved in Noorthouck's "History of London," ed. 1773.
The Shakespear tomb in Stepney Churchyard records his death, and that of
Bennet Shakespear, son of Jonathan, 1756, and Jonathan, son of Jonathan,
1768, brothers of the alderman; also Mrs. Elizabeth Shakespeare, his
widow, February 15, 1807, aged eighty, at Bramdean, co. Hants; Arthur
Shakespear, eldest son of the alderman, M.P. for Richmond, in Yorkshire,
1818, aged seventy; his wife Jane, 1805, aged fifty-five; Matthew John
Shakespeare, son of Arthur, April 2, 1844; and several children who died
young. The sons of the Alderman John Shakespeare and Elizabeth his wife
were I. Arthur; II. John; III. David; IV. Samuel; V. Colin.
I. Arthur, the M.P. for Richmond, married Jane, daughter of Sir Matthew
Ridley, and had two sons, Matthew John, and Arthur William. His wife
died in Pall Mall in February, 1805,[351] and he died June 12, 1818, in
Albemarle Street,[352] aged seventy. His son, Matthew John Shakespeare,
willed away the Shadwell property to his cousins, the children of Mary
Oliver, 1844. The rope-factory was destroyed by fire in the autumn of
1860, but a street in the neighbourhood is still called Shakespeare's
Walk.
II. John. The second son of Alderman John was born May 6, 1749. He
married, in 1782, Mary, daughter and heir of the Rev. William Davenport,
of Bredon, co. Worcester, and of Lacock Abbey, co. Wilts, by his wife,
Martha Talbot, of the old family famed by Shakespeare the poet.
The sons of John Shakespear and Mary Davenport, his first wife, were:
(1) John Talbot; (2) William Oliver; (3) Henry Davenport; (4) Arthur.
1. John Talbot Shakespear entered the East India Company's service, and
had four sons by Emily, eldest daughter of William Makepeace Thackeray:
(1_a_) John Dowdeswell Shakespear, Lieutenant-Colonel of the Bengal
Artillery, who married Margaret, only daughter of Joseph Hodgson, F.R.S.
He died without issue, April 6, 1867, aged sixty.[353] (2_a_) William
Makepeace Shakespear, (3_a_) George Trant Shakespear, who both died
unmarried. (4_a_) Sir Richmond Campbell Shakespear, 1812-61, "youngest
son of John Talbot Shakespear, of the Bengal Civil Service. He came to
England with his cousin, William Makepeace Thackeray, for his education.
He served with distinction in India, was knighted in 1841, the only