Shakespeare's Family Part 30

in 1593, and "The Rape of Lucrece" in 1594. In both of these poems, probably corrected by himself, his name is spelt _Shakespeare_. In 1594 the Countess married Sir Thomas Henneage, the Vice-Chamberlain of the Household, and that same year Shakespeare was invited to act at Court.

Sir Thomas died the following year, after a lingering illness, and his widow had to superintend the making up of his official books, and check the bills. And thus it happened that it was she who introduced the _first official record of Shakespeare's name_, and probably spelt it correctly, according to the contemporary usage.

Page 5.--Mr. Nanson, the town clerk of Carlisle, has in his possession the deed which concerns the Shakesperes of Penrith, 21 Richard II.

Page 22.--Shakespeare's s.h.i.+eld bore an ordinary _canting_ pattern, or one that was based upon the supposed meaning of the name. But the use of the falcon in the crest requires explanation. French says: "The falcon was one of the badges of Edward IV., father of Henry VII.'s Queen Elizabeth. No person would venture to adopt this without special favour"

("Shakespeareana Genealogica," p. 523). There is something keenly suggestive of expected objections in the motto, "Non sanz droict." Some day, perhaps, it may be discovered why this crest and motto were a.s.sumed.

Page 27.--Aston Cantlow, with the castle of Abergavenny, was settled on Sir William de Beauchamp, second son of Thomas, Earl of Warwick, 12 Henry IV. It descended to his son, Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Worcester, whose daughter Elizabeth married Sir Edmund Neville, and brought it to him (Dugdale's "Warwicks.h.i.+re").

Page 27.--Another opinion of the derivation of Thomas Arden has been discussed. It has been supposed possible that he might have been descended from Thomas Arden of Leicesters.h.i.+re, son of Ralph Arden of Alvanley, by his wife Catharine, daughter of Sir William Stanley, of Hooton. This would account for the grant of the Ches.h.i.+re arms, and would not thrust him out of the Arden pedigree; but the theory is not satisfactory on other grounds. One main objection is that there was no known Thomas of suitable date in that family. But in the Park Hall family there was a Thomas known to be alive during the period between 1502 and 1526, who has _never been traced_, if he did not go to Aston Cantlow. Members of the Arden family accept him as the missing brother of Sir John, and believe that it was through a careless mistake of the heralds that the fesse chequy was struck out, and that the Shakespeares resented the subst.i.tution of another in place of the arms to which they had a right, and never accepted the grant. During the discussion John Shakespeare died.

Page 27.--The pedigrees of those a.s.sociated with the Ardens are worth noting, and their wills might suggest connections.

Page 32.--It would be interesting to find and group the Warwicks.h.i.+re Ardens who bore the three cross-crosslets and the chief or, for it has never been done.

Page 35.--Thomas Arden was presented for owing suit of Court in 1526, 1529, 1531. (See Portfolio 207, Court Rolls, No. 88.)

Page 36.--Thomas and Robert Arden's purchase at Snitterfield had been witnessed by John Wagstaff,[581] Richard Rushby, of Snitterfield, Richard Atkins, of Wilmecote, John Alc.o.kkes, of Newenham. The overseers of Robert Arden's will were Adam Palmer,[582] of Wilmecote, Hugh Porter,[583] of Snitterfield, and John Skerlett, of Wilmecote; the witnesses, Sir William Bouton Curett, Adam Palmer, John Scarlet, Thomas Jenkes, William Pitt. Adam Palmer was overseer of Mrs. Agnes Arden's will, in conjunction with George Gibbes, who had, later, the lease of Asbies from the Shakespeares at the time of its mortgage to Lambert.

Page 45.--A Thomas Mayo had a seat in the Church of St. Nicholas, Warwick, 1595; an Elizabeth Mayo was buried there in 1596; and Henry Maio in 1601. (See Churchwarden's Accounts of St. Nicholas, Warwick, edited by Mr. Richard Savage.) The Webbes of Snitterfield appear among the gentry of the country in 1580 (State Papers, Domestic Series, Eliz., c. x.x.xvii. 68).

Page 51.--It is difficult to imagine John Shakespeare making up the bills for the other Chamberlains, or conducting so many financial responsibilities, if he was unable to read and write, as well as reckon well--as Halliwell-Phillipps says he was.

Page 52.--The goods of Richard Shakespeare were prised at 35 17s., and the bond for their just administration entered into by John Shakespeare and Thomas Nicols, of 100, seems disproportionably large, unless there were some unusually heavy responsibilities attached. John Shakespeare may very well have been termed a farmer if he had been brought up as one, and if he had been superintending his father's farm at the time of his death. In the description of a neighbouring farm, Ingon is mentioned as "now or late in the occupation of John Shaxspere or his a.s.signes." It is quite possible that he was the responsible farmer, and that Henry his brother was his "a.s.signe." Ingon, though in the parish of Hampton-on-Avon, was very near Snitterfield.

Page 56.--Henry Shakespeare probably quarrelled with Mr. Cornwall, the second husband of Margaret Arden, about the resettlement of Snitterfield farm, and went to reside at Ingon, though taken in his brother's name.

The Court Rolls show that he was "contumaceous" in not paying t.i.thes, May 22, 1582, and was "excommunicated." "Of Henry Shaxper, for not labouring with teems for the amending of the Queen's Highway, 2/6." "Of Henry Shaxper for having a dich between Redd Hill and Burmans in decay for want of repair, Oct. 22nd, 1596." Probably the man was ill and dying then. He was buried two months later.

Page 58.--The pet.i.tion of the burgesses of Stratford-on-Avon for relief of burdens shows that the borough had fallen into decay through the decline in the wool trade. From this general depression John Shakespeare probably suffered.

Page 61.--"The Book of John Fisher of Warwick" shows that the master of the Grammar School there had a salary of 10 a year. Seeing that the master of Stratford-on-Avon Grammar School had 20 a year, it is probable that the burgesses had a better selection of scholars as candidates.

Page 62.--It is too often forgotten that Anne Hathaway lost her father in the summer of 1582. It is probable that the betrothal would therefore be a quiet one. It is also more than likely that she went to reside with a friend or relative after her father's death, and that this caused the confusion in the address in the marriage bond. The bridegroom in general only required one guarantee for a bond of the kind; but Shakespeare being under age, the one became his representative, and the other guarantor for that representative.

Page 67.--"The Comedy of Errors" was doubtless one of the plays performed before the Queen at Christmas, 1594, seeing that it was ready to be put upon the boards at the Gray's Inn Revels on the spur of the moment. I have discussed this at full in my paper, "The Earliest Official Record of Shakespeare's Name," Berlin (a copy at the British Museum); also in a long letter to the _Times_, January, 1895.

Page 70.--James Burbage bought the part of a house in Blackfriars from Sir William More, February 4, 1596, which he afterwards converted into a theatre. Regarding the quarrel with Allen and "the Theatre" lease, see the depositions in the case of Burbage _v._ Allen taken at Kelvedon, in Ess.e.x, August, 1600, reproduced in Halliwell-Phillips's "Outlines," i.

350. Further ill.u.s.tration of the earning proportions of players and proprietors may be learned from the article by Mr. James Greenstreet, "The Whitefriars Theatre at the Time of Shakespeare" (The New Shakespearean Society's Transactions, 1888).

Page 77.--In John Combe's will there is mentioned a field in Ingon Lane, called Parson's Close, or Shakespeare's Close. This may have been one of the poet's minor purchases, or merely a name come down from Henry's time.

Page 78.--A pet.i.tion was sent up to the Lord Chief Justice from the Corporation of Stratford-on-Avon, to restrain William Combe, Esq., son and heir of John Combe, March 27, 1616. He overthrew the Aldermen who came peaceably to hinder his digging, whereof great tumult arose. In spite of orders to the contrary, he continued his enclosures, and another pet.i.tion was addressed to the Privy Council, describing "Mr.

Combe of so unbridled a disposition," etc. On February 14, 1618, a reply came signed, "Francis Verulam," "Pembroke," "Naunton," "Fulke Greville"

(Wheler Collection, Stratford-on-Avon).

Page 82.--From the town clerk's account of what took place at the Halls during Shakespeare's lifetime, we are sure that his position must have been anomalous.

"The Halle, 17 Dec., 45 Eliz. Plays. At this Halle yt ys ordered that there shalbe no plays or enterludes played in the Chamber, the Guild Halle, nor in any parte of the House or Courte, from hensforward, upon payne that whosoever of the Baylif, Aldermen, and burgisses of this boroughe shall give leave or licence thereunto shall forfeit for everie offence 10s.

"7 Feb., 1611-12, 45 Eliz."

"... The inconvenience of plaies being verie seriouslie considered of, with their unlawfulness, and how contrarie the sufferance of them is against the orders heretofore made, and against the examples of other well-governed cities and burrowes the Compaine here are contented, and they conclude that the penaltie of 10s. imposed in Mr. Baker's year, for breaking of the order shall from henceforth be 10 upon breakers of that order, and this to holde until the next common council, and from henceforth for ever, excepted that be then finally revoked and made void." This was the period of Shakespeare's retirement to Stratford-on-Avon.

Page 84.--It may be noted as a coincidence that the plays were published in folio the year of Mrs. Shakespeare's death. Some change among the leases, or the termination of the connection with his family through the death of his widow, may have suggested this.

Page 93.--A Robert Hall rented the old School House in Stratford-on-Avon, and paved the Guild Hall, 1568. A Richard Hall was churchwarden of St. Nicholas, Warwick, in 1552, who died in 1558, and among the churchwarden's accounts are notices of Richard Hall the younger, Nicholas Hall, John, Alice, Simon and "Eme Hall." "Received of Ric. Hawle the younger for the benevolence that Richard Hawle gave unto the poor out of his lands in Church Street, World without end," 1566-67.

Richard Hall was churchwarden in 1600 and in 1606 (Churchwarden's Accounts, St. Nicholas, Warwick, Mr. Richard Savage).

Page 99.--Michael Drayton frequently visited Sir Henry Rainsford at the Manor House, Clifford Chambers. This gentleman had married Anne Goodyere of Polesworth, whose parents were Drayton's patrons. She was the "Idea"

of his sonnets. (See introduction to "Michael Drayton," by Oliver Elton, 1895.)

Page 103.--Susanna Hall's signature appears on the settlements of 1639, and on that of 1647, in which her daughter joined.

Page 104.--"15th Dec., 1648. t.i.thes: Mrs. Elizabeth Nashe for Shottery Corne t.i.thes, being of the yearly value of one hundred pounds, 5."

"28th June, 1650. Mrs. Elizabeth Barnard for Shotterie Corn tythes of the yearly value of one hundred and twentie pounds, 6." (Wheler's Notes, Stratford-on-Avon.)

Page 107.--There are many Bagleys in the parish registers of St.

Martin's-in-the-Fields, and also Hathaways. It _may_ be they were connections.

Page 110.--Halliwell-Phillipps states that in the "Coram Rege Roll of 1597, Gilbert Shakespeare is named as one of those standing bail for a clockmaker of Stratford"; and adds that he is described as "Haberdasher of St. Bridget's Parish, London." Through the kind permission of the Wors.h.i.+pful Company of Haberdashers, I have been allowed to go through their books at leisure, and find that there is no trace of a Shakespeare anywhere, and in the sixteenth century, no trace even of a _Gilbert_, except "Gilbert Shepherd," who took up his freedom in 1579. Neither is there any trace of him in the registers of St. Bridget's or St. Bride's, nor in the Subsidy Rolls, but in both places appear Gilbert Shepherd. I am, therefore, forced to the conclusion that Halliwell-Phillipps misread "Shepherd" as "Shakespeare." See my article in the _Athenaeum_, Dec. 22, 1900, "John Shakespeare, of Ingon, and Gilbert of St. Bride's."

Page 112.--William Hart, the hatter, died a week before his brother-in-law, probably of the same epidemic. Joan Hart, his widow, survived till November 4, 1646. Their eldest son William was an actor.

(See Royal Warrant, May 17, 1636; Halliwell-Phillipps, i. 129.) In William Hewitt's "Visits to Remarkable Places," 1839, he mentions Stratford and a boy whom he had noticed from his likeness to the poet.

He turned out to be a descendant of his sister Joan Hart, and was called William Shakespeare Smith (_Notes and Queries_, 5th Series, VIII. 475).

Probably the same referred to on page 109.

Page 116.--Thomas Shakespeare seemed to have been somewhat like Henry in character. He was entered on the Court Roll at a rental of 4 in 1563.

"At the Court 31st March, 23 Eliz., he incurred a penalty of 4d. for not having and exercising bows; for not wearing cappes 4d.; for leaving his swine unringed in the fields 12d." He appears also as a juror several times in court.

Page 121.--Mr. Rylands' "Records of Rowington" supply many details, as, for instance:

"In 1576, a lease by feoffees, among whom was Thomas Shakespeare, was granted Richard Shakespeare of Rowington, weaver of the 'Tyinges.'"

In the same year a lease of "the Harveys" was granted to "Elenor Shakespeare, widow, of Rowington," 20 Feb., 18 Eliz.

The customary rent of Rowington, 1605, mentions "Thomas Shakespeare, one close, 2/; one tofte and 16 acres, 13/4; one messuage, etc., 10/4."

"George Shakespeare, one cottage and 2 acres, 2/."

"Richard Shakespere, one messuage, half a yd land (14 acres), 14/."

"John Shakespeare, one cottage and one quarter yd land (9 acres), 6/8."

The Court Rolls, 1633, give:

"Imprimis of Jane Shaxper for default of sute of court fined, 4d."

"Thomas Shaxper, vitler, for breaking a.s.size of ale and beer, 4d."