CHAPTER XIII
SHAKESPEARES IN OTHER COUNTIES
The Warwickshire Shakespeares overflowed into the surrounding counties.
There were Shakespeares in Stafford,[266] Worcester,[267]
Gloucester,[268] Northampton,[269] Leicester,[270] Berkshire[271] and
Oxford.
The three latter are worth noting. In 1597 there resided at Lutterworth,
only a few miles from Stratford, a Thomas Shakespeare, who was employed
by William Glover, of Hillenden, in Northamptonshire, gent., as his
agent to receive and give an acquittance for a considerable sum of
money.[272] It is not clear whether it was this same person or a son who
was the Thomas Shakespeare, gent., of Staple Inn, Middlesex, who
presented a certificate to some unnamed court, October 12, 1604,
accounting for his non-appearance in a case.[273] John Perkyns was the
plaintiff; Thomas Shakespere, William Perkyns, William Teery and others,
defendants. He had been summoned at the suit of Perkyns to appear, in
the Octaves of Trinity, but he had been required to be seventy miles out
of London on the Saturday of the Octaves of Trinity in a Chancery Case.
He only rested on the Sabbath at home, started on the Monday, and
appeared in court on Wednesday. The other defendants were allowed the
explanation; that it was denied to him seemed to be of malice. I cannot
find the decision. I searched the Lay Subsidies of Leicester,[3] in
Lutterworth and elsewhere, for this Shakespeare in vain; but I find that
in 1594 a William Perkins paid in bond for Richard Perkins in Wigston
Parva.[274] A bond of Thomas Shakespeare, of Lutterworth, November 27,
1606, to James Whitelocke for 26s. 8d., is mentioned in the Historical
MSS. Com.[275] A letter addressed to the Mayor of Leicester by certain
leading inhabitants of Lutterworth about the plague is signed first by
Thomas Shakespeare,[276] and Mr. French found in the Admission Books of
Staple Inn,[277] "Thomas Shakespeare, of Lutterworth, in Com. Leic.,
gent., etc., 15th Feb., 5 Jac. I., 1607." Does the following entry refer
to him or to Thomas Shakespere of Warwick? "John, son of Thomas
Shakespeare, gent., baptized July 18th, 1619."[278]
John Shakespear (1774-1858),[279] Orientalist, was born at Lount, near
Ashby, in Leicestershire, son of a small farmer there. He became
Professor of Hindustani, and gave £2,500 towards preserving the
birthplace at Stratford-on-Avon. He did not marry, and his property came
to his nephew, Charles Bowles, who took the surname of "Shakespeare."
A William Shakespeare was convicted at Leicester Assizes of
night-poaching.[280]
The Oxford Shakespeares deserve fuller attention than they have yet
received. The Saunders _alias_ Shakespeare, already mentioned,[281] was
possibly a native of another county. But we find some in the shire,
contemporary with the poet. Among the "Original Wills at Somerset House
there is one of Thomas Shackspeare, Innkeeper," in the suburbs of
Oxford. He wished to be buried in the Church of St. Giles, Oxford,
bequeathed property to his four children--Robert, Ellen, Mary, and
Elizabeth, £10 each when they came of age--and left his wife Elizabeth
residuary legatee and sole executrix; overseers, Mr. Ralf Shillingworth
and Henry Hedges. A remembrance was left to the preacher of his funeral
sermon, and to his loving friend Mr. Harris, of Yarnton, and he "set his
hand and seale thereto," May 27, 1642;[282] witnesses, Thomas Champe and
Nathaniel Harris. It is curious that the seal used should represent a
winged heart bleeding, surmounted by a ducal coronet.
Curiously enough, a notice of this one family is preserved in _Notes and
Queries_,[283] though it is not mentioned in the index. It was
transcribed from St. Mary Magdalene's, Oxford, by Dr. Macray while he
was yet curate. "Thomas Shakspere, the sonne of Thomas Shaxspere, was
baptised the 19th day of August, 1628;" Marie, April 15, 1630;
Elizabeth, June 29, 1632; "Robert, the sone of Thomas Shaxspere,
Inkeeper, was baptized September the 24th, 1634." Among the burials
appear, "Thomas, the son of Thomas Shaxespere, was buried Nov. 4th,
1642; Thomas Shaxsper, Inkeper, buried Nov. 11th, 1642; Ellinor Shaxsper
was buried May second, 1643." The earlier records of the Church are
lost. It is a pity the other Oxford registers have not been thoroughly
searched for the name, or printed.
A John Shakespeare,[284] of St. Mary's Hall, took the degree of B.A. in
1666. The _Oxford Chronicle_[285] of April 20, 1765, mentions a Richard
Shakespeare as being committed to Coventry Gaol as a forger.
Some of these Shakespeares gravitated towards London. In the will of
Leonard Wilmot, of Clanfield, co. Oxon., gent., 1608, there is a bequest
to "Leonard Shackspire, my godson, servant to John Prince, of Abington,
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,
£20 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."
[287] _Notes and Queries_, Seventh Series, vi. 344. See "Liber Actorum,"
Bodleian Library.
[288] Somerset House, 88 Bruce, proved July 1, 1664.
[289] The Hearth Tax for Isleworth, 1666, 252/32, notes "Ralph
Shakespeare 2 hearths, Widow Shakespeare 1 hearth."
[290] Elizabeth Shakspere, of St. Werbergs, Derby, made her will 1558.
Pegge's "Collection for the History of Derbyshire" contains a sheet of
printed verses "on the death of the Rev. Mr. Shakespear" (Nichols's
"Col. Top. and Gen.," iii. 244).
[291] Wills of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury.
[292] See _Genealogical Magazine_, January, 1898.
[293] _Notes and Queries_, Fourth Series, iv. 275.
[294] Hampshire Marriage Licences.
[295] _Gentleman's Magazine_, vol. lxxvii., p. 280.
[296] Aubrey's "Natural History of Wiltshire," 1680.
[297] Manning and Bray's "Surrey," vol. ii.
[298] "Misc. Gen. et Herald.," Second Series, vol. ii. Register of
Toddington, co. Beds.
[299] See "The Shakespeares of Essex." by Augustus Charles Veley,
Registrar of the Archdeaconry of Essex, _Essex Archæological Society's
Magazine_, vol. iii., p. 70, 1865.
[300] See my article in the _Athenæum_, April 23, 1892, entitled
"Pre-Shakespearean London Shakespeares."
[301] 40 Chayney.
[302] Auditors' Patent Books, vol. vi., 1538-1553. Thomas Shakespeare,
formerly minister of Colebray, in the parish of St. Mildred's, in the
ward of Bread Street, London, on September 1, 2 Ed. VI., received a
patent for 100 shillings per annum. There is no absolute proof, but
every probability, that this is the same Sir Thomas Schaftespeyr
mentioned in the will of Joan Jons of Bristol, and other Bristol Wills.
See the abstract contained in the "Great Orphan Book," and Book of Wills
in Council House at Bristol, 1886, by the Rev. J. P. Wadley, Rector of
Naunton Beauchamp.
[303] Admin. Vicar-General's Books, No. 268, 1574-1583.
[304] Lay Subsidies, Essex, 111/575.
[305] Lay Subsidies, Essex, Rochford, 112/602, 112/634, 112/642.
[306] Subsidy Rolls, Chelmsford, Essex, 112/707, do. 112/708.
[307] Subsidy Rolls of several Hundreds in Essex, a paper book, 246/19.
[308] _Notes and Queries_, Third Series, vi. 324, and French,
"Shakespeareana Genealogica," p. 541.
[309] _Notes and Queries_, Third Series, vi. 324, and French,
"Shakespeareana Genealogica," p. 541. Mr. C. G. Dickenson tells me his
will is at Canterbury, v. 52, f. 36.
[310] Registers of Sutton Valence, Kent, kindly sent by a correspondent.
[311] "Misc. Gen. et Herald," New Series, i. 143.