Shakespeare's family
chequy or, and az., the crescent would have been the correct difference,
but it had long been borne by the Ardens of Alvanley, in Cheshire, who
branched off from the Warwickshire family early in the thirteenth
century. The heralds therefore differenced the crosslets with a martlet,
usually, but by no means universally, the mark of cadency for a fourth
son at that time.[79] Thus, Glover[80] enumerates among the arms of
Warwickshire and Bedfordshire: "Arden or Arderne gu., three cross
crosslets fitchee or; on a chief of the second a martlet of the first.
Crest, a plume of feathers charged with a martlet or." If heraldry has
anything, therefore, to say to this dispute, it is to support the claim
of Thomas Arden to being a cadet of the Park Hall family, and thereby to
include Mary Arden and her son in the descent from Ailwin, Guy of
Warwick, and the Saxon King Athelstan. Camden and the other heralds were
only seeking correctness in their draft of the restitution of the
Ardens' arms. The hesitation as to exactitude among the varieties of
Arden arms was the cause of the notes. See "The Booke of Differ.," 61;
see "Knights of E.I.," folios 2, 28, etc., on the draft.
It has been considered strange that, after the application and even
after the grant (preserved in MS. "Coll. of Arms," R. 21), no use
thereof can be proved, though the heralds added to the former grant:
"and we have lykewise uppon an other escucheon impaled the same with the
auncient arms of the said Arden of Wellyngcote, signifying thereby that
it maye and shalbe lawfull, for the said John Shakespeare, gent., to
beare and use the same shields of arms, single or impaled, as aforesaid,
during his natural lyfe, and that it shalbe lawful for his children,
issue, and posterity, to beare, use, quarter, and shewe the same with
their dewe difference, in all lawfull warlyke faites and civill use"
(_Ibid._, G. XIII.).
John Shakespeare did not live long after his application, dying in 1601.
Whether or not the grant of the impaled Arden arms was completed before
his death, there is no record of his using them. Whether his son ever
used the impalement we do not now know, but it does not appear on any of
the tombs or seals that have been preserved. But the Shakespeare arms
have been certainly used.
William Shakespeare was mercilessly satirized by his rivals, Ben Jonson
and others,[81] about his coat of arms; but it was the recognition of
his descent that secured him so universally the attribute of "gentle."
As Davies, addressing Shakespeare and Burbage in 1603, says:
"And though the stage doth stain pure gentle blood,
Yet generous ye are in mind and mood."[82]
We must not forget there would be possible ill-feeling among the
families of the Arden sisters, when the youngest, whom they had probably
always pitied and looked down on, because of her comparatively
unfortunate marriage, should have the audacity to think of using the
arms of their father, to which they had never aspired.
FOOTNOTES:
[60] He tried in every way to prove Camden wrong, but his bitterness
only hurt himself. His strictures were confuted before the highest
authority.
[61] August 10, 1895, p. 202.
[62] "Herald and Genealogist," vol. i., p. 510, 1863; and _Notes and
Queries_, Series III., vol. v., p. 493.
[63] Dugdale's "Warwickshire," p. 925.
[64] Preserved at Somerset House, 8 Porch.
[65] Dugdale places the sons in another order.
[66] Pat. Henry VII., second part, mem. 30, February 22.
[67] Same series, mem. 35, September 9.
[68] Pat. 23 Henry VIII., September 24, first part, mem. 12.
[69] "Arden of the court, brother to Sir John Arden of Park Hall."
"Itinerary," vi. 20, about 1536-42.
[70] Sir Warine Trussell held Billesley 15 Edward III. The will of Sir
William Trussell of Cublesdon, 1379, mentions a bequest to his cousin,
"Sir Thomas d'Ardene" ("Testamenta Vetusta," Sir N. H. Nicolas, vol. i.,
p. 107). William Trussell was made a brother of the Guild of Knowle
1469, and there is an entry in 1504 of a donation "for Sir William
Trussell and for his soul": "To Thomas Trussell, farmer of the said
Bishop of Worcester; in Knowle for the Worke-silver 4/4" (37 Henry
VIII., Report. "Register of the Guild of Knowle," Introduction, p.
xxvi., by Mr. W. B. Bickley). Alured Trussell, born 1533, married
Margaret, daughter of Robert Fulwood, and their daughter Dorothy married
Adam Palmer, Robert Arden's friend. French thinks that the wife, either
of Thomas or of Robert, was a Trussell.
[71] His son George succeeded him in 1520. Edward Arden, of Park Hall,
was brought up in his care, and married Mary, his son Robert's daughter.
[72] See p. 184.
[73] Deed of Conveyance of Premises at Snytterfield. (Transcribed from
the Miscellaneous Documents of Stratford-on-Avon), vol. ii., No. 83.
[74] State Papers, Domestic Series, Elizabeth, 1583, clxiii., 21.
[75] In the Subsidy Rolls 15 Henry VII., Thomas Arden was assessed on
L12, and Robert Arden on L8 (192/128). Subsidy, Aston Cantlowe, March
10, 37 Henry VIII., 1546, Robert Arden, assessed on property valued at
L10; Walter Edkyns, L10; John Jenks, L6; John Skarlett, L8; Thomas
Dixson, L8; Roger Knight, L8; Richard Ingram, L6; Thomas Gretwyn, L5;
Margaret Scarlet, L5; Richard Edkyns, L6; Robert Fulwood, L5; Nicholas
Gibbes, L5; Richard Green, L5; William Hill, L5 (Mr. Hunter's
"Prolusions," 37, note). Thomas Arden of Park Hall at the same time was
assessed on L80; but Simon Arden was only assessed on L8 (192/179).
[76] French, "Genealogica Shakespeareana," p. 423; and Nichols' "History
of Leicestershire."
[77] H. Drummond's "Noble British Families," vol. i. (2).
[78] See Fuller's "Worthies of Warwickshire."
[79] "The several marks of cadency which have _of late years_ been made
use of for the distinction of houses ... for the second son a crescent,
the third a mullet, the fourth a martlet" (Glover's "Heraldry," vol. i.,
p. 168, ed. 1780).
[80] _Ibid._, vol. ii., ed. 1780.
[81] In the "Return from Parnassus," 1606, Studiosus says of the
players:
"Vile world that lifts them up to high degree,
And treads us down in grovelling misery,
England affords these glorious vagabonds
That carried erst their fardels on their backs
Coursers to ride on through the gazing streets,
Sweeping it in their glaring satin suits,
And pages to attend their masterships.
With mouthing words that better wits have framed,
They purchase lands and now esquires are made."
ACT V., SC. 1.
The satire in "Ratsey's Ghost" also may refer to Shakespeare, though
Alleyn and others might be intended.
Freeman, in his "Epigrams," 1614, asks:
"Why hath our age such new-found 'gentles' found
To give the 'master' to the farmer's son?"
But his high praise of Shakespeare elsewhere shows he does not refer to
him.
[82] John Davies of Hereford's "Microcosmus, The Civil Warres of Death
and Fortune."
CHAPTER VI
THE ARDENS OF WILMECOTE
It is unfortunate that we know so little about Thomas Arden, Mary
Shakespeare's "antecessor." A quiet country gentleman he seems to have
been, marrying for love, and not for property, or his wife's descent
might have helped us to clear his own. I do not think she was a
Throckmorton, but I think she was very probably a Trussell, which Mr.
French also suggests. Joane was a Trussell name, and Billesley held some
attraction to the family. We are not sure of anything about Thomas
except the purchase of Snitterfield, the year before Sir Walter Arden's
death, and his payment of the subsidies in 1526 and 1546. It is probable
he was the "Thomas Arden, Squier," who witnessed the will of Sir Walter
in 1502; it is _possible_ he was the Thomas Arden who witnessed the will
of John Lench[83] of Birmingham in 1525, though it is more likely that
this latter Thomas was his nephew, the heir of Park Hall. Thomas of
Wilmecote is supposed to have died in 1546, but no will has been
discovered. Probably he had handed over his property to his son in his
lifetime. There is no trace of another child than Robert.
Robert was probably under age when his father purchased Snitterfield,
and hence the need of trustees in association with the purchase. On
December 14 and 21, 1519, Robert Arden purchased another property in
Snitterfield from Richard Rushby and Agnes his wife,[84] and he bought
also a tenement from John Palmer on October 1, 1529.[85] One of his
tenants was Richard Shakespeare. He and his tenant were both presented
for non-suit of court in 30 Henry VIII.
He contributed to the subsidy in Wilmecote in 1526 and 1546. We know no
more of his first wife than we know of his mother. She might have been
either a Trussel or a Palmer. But we know that he had seven[86]
daughters, who all bore Arden family names: _Agnes_, who married first
John Hewyns, and secondly Thomas Stringer, by whom she had two sons,
John and Arden Stringer; _Joan_, who married Edmund Lambert, of
Barton-on-the-Heath, who had a son, John Lambert; _Katharine_, who
married Thomas Edkyns of Wilmecote, who had a son, Thomas Edkyns the
younger; _Margaret_, who married first Alexander Webbe of Bearley (by
whom she had a son Robert), and secondly Edward Cornwall; _Joyce_, of
whom there is no record but in her father's settlement and will;[87]
_Alice_, who was one of the co-executors of her father's will, but of
whom there is no further record; and _Mary_, the other executor, who
married John Shakespeare. The exact dates of their birth are not known.
Robert may be supposed to have been married about 1520, and it is
probable that Mary was born about 1535. It is _likely_ that she was of
age when made executor in 1556, but not at all _necessary_.
Robert Arden married again when his family had grown up--probably in
1550--Agnes Webbe, who had been assessed as the widow of Hill of Bearley
on L7, in 37 Henry VIII., 1546. On July 17, 1550, Robert Arden made two
settlements of the Snitterfield estates, probably upon his marriage.[88]
In the first,[89] he devised estates at Snitterfield in trust to Adam
Palmer and Hugh Porter, for the benefit, after the death of himself and
his wife, of his three married daughters--Agnes, Joan and Katharine. In
the second, a similar deed,[90] in favour of three other
daughters--Margaret (then married to Alexander Webbe of Bearley), Joyce
and Alice. Mary is not mentioned, probably because the Asbies estate was
even then devoted to her.
Robert Arden, sick in body, but good and perfect of remembrance, made
his last will and testament[91] November 23, 1556, and he must have died
shortly after. This will of itself answers the question as to his
worldly position, and as to the meaning of the word "husbandman" in his
case. The wage of a working "husbandman" at the time was from 25s. to
33s. a year.[92] His will discloses property on a level with many
"_gentlemen_" of his time and his county. It gives a strong suggestion
that Mrs. Arden was not on the best of terms with her stepchildren.
Robert bequeathed his soul "to God and the blessed Lady Saint Mary, and
all the holye company of heaven," and his body to be buried in the
churchyard of Saint John the Baptist at Aston Cantlowe. "Also I
bequeathe to my youngest daughter Marye all my land at Willincote
caulide Asbyes, and the crop upon the grownde sown and tythde as hitt is
... and vi^li xiii^s iiii^d of money to be paid her or ere my goodes be
devided. Also I gyve and bequeathe to my daughter Ales, the thyrde parte
of all my goodes moveable and unmoveable in fylde and towne after my
dettes and leggessese performyde, besydes that goode she hath of her