CHAPTER XIV

LONDON SHAKESPEARES

By far the most interesting search can be made in London, that great

centre where congregate representatives of all the families and counties

of the kingdom.

It is strange that a William was one of the earliest recorded burials in

the registers of St. Margaret's, Westminster. "William Shakespeare was

buried April 30, 1539." A comparatively modern hand has written against

this the foolish scribble, "Query if this be the poet or not?" He may

have been in the service of the Court, but there are no signs that he

was a man of wealth. In the churchwardens' account[312] he was only

charged 2d. for the candles at his funeral, a common charge, but not for

great people. He may have been the son of the fifteenth-century William,

or of Peter of Southwark, and father or brother of Roger the royal

yeoman.

The discovery that _Shakespeare_ lived in St. Helen's Parish,

Bishopsgate, has been claimed for an American, though Hunter mentioned

in his "Life of Shakespeare," 1845, that in the Subsidy Rolls of London

a William Shakespeare was assessed in 1597 in that district.[313]

[Illustration: NORDEN'S MAP OF LONDON, 1593.

_Between pp. 142, 143._]

The entry is: "Affid. William Shakespeare on v^li goods,[314] assessed

xiii iiii^d." The "affid." affixed to it shows that the Shakespeare

named tried to avoid payment on some grounds. It has surprised many, and

satisfied others as suitable, that the poet should have lived in this

neighbourhood, near so many of his theatrical friends. But I do not

think it is certainly proved that it was our Shakespeare at all. Two

references of Collier seem to locate him in Southwark in 1596, and in

1609, near the site of the Globe Theatre. Several of the name lived near

Bishopsgate before and after his death.

John Scatcliffe, of St. Botolph's, Aldersgate, cook, bachelor,

twenty-four, and Mary Shakespeare, of the same, spinster, twenty-four,

at St. Botolph's, December 20, 1637;[315] in later years, Nathaniel[316]

Shaxspere and Elizabeth ----, widow, married August 18, 1663, in St.

Botolph's, Bishopsgate; Henry Shakespeare, of St. Botolph's,

Bishopsgate, bachelor (twenty-five), and Elizabeth Hartwell, of same,

spinster (twenty), her parents dead, with consent of her grandmother,

Elizabeth Gaye, of same, at St. Botolph's, March 26, 1663; William[317]

Winch and Abigail Shaxpere, married September 30, 1680; Francis Hill and

Saray Saxspere, September 28, 1682; John Shakespeare and Edith Murry,

married at St. Botolph's, Bishopsgate, January 2, 1699; William

Shakespear and Anna Maria Carter, both of this parish, July 9, 1733.

There was a Matthew Shakespere who, on February 5, 1566-67, married

Isabel Peele in Christ Church,[318] Newgate Street. She was probably

daughter of James Peele, Clerk of Christ's Hospital from 1562 to 1585,

and sister of George Peele,[319] the dramatist, educated in the Grammar

School there. They seem to have had a large family.[320] On January 18,

1569, Johanne, daughter of Matthew Shakespere, was baptized, and buried

on February 11. On March --, 1574, Francis, son of Matthew Shakespere,

baptized; on August 27, 1578, Jane; on April 7, 1583, Thomas. There was

also a Humphrey entered as son of _Hugh_ Shakespeare, August 5, 1571.

But as among the burials there appears "Humphrey, son of Matthew

Shackspere, Aug. 30, 1571," it would seem to be an error. Johanne,

daughter of Matthew Shackespere, was buried December 26, 1572, the

second of the name; Jayne, on September 5, 1577, the first of the name.

Robert, son of Matthew Shackspeare, was buried May 5, 1580. Besides

these were buried Francis Shakespeare, October 7, 1571, and Robert

Shakespeare, May 24, 1577. These might be grandfather and uncle of the

family, which might have reckoned a William among its members.

There was a Thomas Shakespeare, royal messenger, in 1572, payments to

whom I have found in the State Papers.[321] And in "Archæologia" there

is printed his request for payment, in 1577, for carrying letters from

the Privy Council to the Bishop of London at Fulham, the Bishop of York

at Tower Hill, the Bishop of Chichester at Westminster, the Bishop of

Durham in Aldersgate Street, and to the Bishop of Worcester in St.

Paul's Churchyard.[322]

Mr. Hunter and many others supposed that at the time of the poet there

was only _one_ other of the name in London--John of St.

Martin's-in-the-Fields.

In the churchwardens' accounts there were found notices of a John

Shakespeare about 1605. Mr. French thinks that he might be the John, son

of Thomas, of Snitterfield.[323] I have worked through these books and

the registers, and have gleaned a good many scraps about him. He appears

there too early. John of Snitterfield was born in 1581-82. John of St.

Martin's, on January 22, 1589, was married[324] to Dorothea Dodde,

daughter of the Vestry Clerk (her sister Jane had, the year before,

married a Christopher Wren) of that parish; and on December 23, 1593, it

is to be supposed he had a daughter, "Maria Shakespeare," christened,

mentioned there, as is customary in that register, without the name of

her father.

In 1594 Mrs. Shakespeare's sister was staying with her, as among the

burials is entered, "Elizabeth Dod, from Shakespeares."

John[325] Shakespeare, "on the land side of the parish," in 1603,

contributed to the new casting of the bells five shillings, and in 1605

was one of the sidesmen. "Paid to John Shakespeare, one of the sidesmen,

that he laid out at the registers office for putting in the Recusants

Bills 3s. 4d." In 1609 "Dorithie Shakespeare" was buried, and her

expenses brought in to the churchwardens 32s. 2d., relatively a large

sum, as Sir Thomas Windebanck's funeral cost only 16s. In that same year

John contributed also ten shillings to the repair of the church. On June

20, 1613, the churchwardens "received from John Shakespeare, by the

hands of Edward Thickness, the sum of £10, given as a legacy by Mrs.

Dimbleby, deceased" (which suggests that he was her executor), and in

1617 they "gave to John Shakespeare's daughter 7s. 6d."--a curious

entry, which I cannot explain. She may have done some work for the

churchwardens, as they often employed women; it may have been a debt due

her father, a present on her marriage, or an aid in sudden poverty. The

death of a "John Shakespeare, a man," is noted in 1646, in apparent

poverty, as the funeral cost only 1s.--a different cost from that of

Mrs. Dorothy Shakespeare in 1608. I had thought it possible that this

sum represented only a fee for a burial in another parish, but I find

that theory is untenable. Whether the John of 1646 was the same as the

sidesman of 1605 or not, he was certainly buried in the parish. From the

vestry books I found many notices of John Shakespeare as contributing to

the expenses of the poor, first on the "waterside" of the parish, and

then on the "landside"; and I believed, reasoning from a State Paper

Bill, that he was referred to in the entry, "received for a pewe, from

the Princes' Bitmaker 30s., 1639-40." His name disappeared from the

books long before 1646; and I fancied he had gone farther east to the

parish of St. Clement's Danes, which joined that of St. Martin's at

several points. "Paid to William Wright for a stone engraved with

letters on it, which is sett in the wall of the Earl of Salisbury at his

house at Ivie Bridge to devide the two parishes of St. Martin's in the

Fields and St. Clement's Danes in that place." I gave up theorizing

until I could see the registers of St. Clement's Danes, and from various

causes three years passed before I had an opportunity of clearing up the

puzzle. These registers prove that in London, as in Stratford-on-Avon, I

had been confused by double entries, and that there was _another John

Shakespeare_. The St. Martin's John lost his wife Dorothy in 1608; the

St. Clement's John married his wife Mary in 1605. "3rd Feb. 1604-5,

Johne Shakspear and Mary Godtheridg." _He_ was the wealthy bitmaker to

the King, of whom I had discovered notices in the State Papers and wills

that turned my attention to St. Clement's Danes, a hitherto unsuspected

locality for Shakespeare finds. I thought at first that he might have

been John the shoemaker who vanished from Stratford. But it was hardly

likely that he should have changed his trade from shoemaking to

bitmaking, or that he would have been successful in it. The St.

Clement's John might have been a son of the St. Martin's John, but there

is no christening of a John in that parish, or in any other London

parish that I know. So here I thought I might justly theorize, and state

my opinion that he really was the John, son of Thomas, of Snitterfield,

born 1581-82, of whom is no record of further life or burial in his own

neighbourhood. He would be of a suitable age, and there was in his case

a _reason_ for Court success.

William Shakespeare the poet had by this time made his mark, not only in

literature and the drama, but in Court influence and financial

possibilities. His patron, the Earl of Southampton, was in favour with

the King. Supposing this John was Shakespeare's first cousin, as I

believe he was, what more likely than that the poet, who had lost his

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 (£1,612 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 £80.

"Warrant to pay to the Earl of Denbigh Master of the Wardrobe £1612, 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 £1692, 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 £80.

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, £60; money to her grandchildren Milburne;

£50 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 £550 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

occasion on which he returned to England. His cousin, Thackeray, in the

'Roundabout Papers' (Letts's Diary), paid a tribute to his chivalry and

liberality. He married Marian Sophia Thompson in 1844, and died at

Indore, October 28, 1861, leaving a family of three sons and six

daughters."[354] A memorial-stone is raised in memory of him in the

cloister walls of Charterhouse Chapel.[355] Thackeray drew the portrait

of Colonel Newcome from his elder brother, Colonel John Dowdeswell

Shakespeare. His eldest son, Richmond Shakespear, Captain H.M. 36th

Regiment N.I., died in India, August 12, 1865. His daughter, Selina,

married, in 1868, Lieutenant Ninian Lowis, Bengal Staff Corps.

Mr. John Talbot Shakespear had also four daughters--Emily, Augusta,

Charlotte, Marianne.

2. The second son of John Shakespear and Mary Davenport, William Oliver

Shakespear, was Judge of the Provincial Court of Appeal in the Madras

Presidency. He married Charlotte Maxton, and had five sons and two

daughters, (1_b_) William, who died young; (2_b_) Henry, a Lieutenant in

the Royal Navy, who was shipwrecked in a frigate in the Indian Seas,

1833; (3_b_) Charles Maxton Shakespear, Lieutenant-Colonel in the Madras

Army; (4_b_) Arthur Robert, who died in 1844; (5_b_) George Frederick

Shakespear, Lieutenant-Colonel Madras Staff Corps, who was married, and

had a son born in 1865.[356]

3. The third son, Henry Davenport Shakespear, was member of the Supreme

Court of India. He married Louisa Muerson, and had three sons and seven

daughters. (1_c_) Henry John Childe Shakespear, Commandant of the

Nagpore Irregular Horse; (2_c_) Alexander Shakespear, a Judge in India;

(3_c_) William Ross Shakespear, Madras Cavalry, who married Fanny

Isabella, daughter of Sir Robert North Collie Hamilton, of Alveston, co.

Warwick, 1854, and had two sons, William and Robert; he died in 1862.

The daughters of Henry Davenport Shakespear were Louisa, Harriet,

Augusta, Jane, Agnes, Mary, Henrietta. He died in 1838.

4. The fourth son of John Shakespear and Mary Davenport, Arthur

Shakespear, was Captain in the 10th Hussars, served as aide-de-camp to

Lord Combermore during the Peninsular War, and was Brigade-Major of the

Hussars at Waterloo. He married, April 19, 1818, Harriet Sophia,

daughter of Thomas Skip Dyott Bucknall, of Hampton Court. He died in

1845, leaving six sons and two daughters, (1_d_) George Bucknall

Shakespear, Colonel Royal Artillery, who married Henrietta Panet. His

eldest son was Arthur Bucknall Shakespear. (2_d_) William Powlett

Shakespear[357] was a Lieutenant in the 2nd Bombay Fusiliers, and lost

his life at Samanghur in trying to save a wounded sepoy. (3_d_) Colonel

John Talbot Shakespear, who married Emma Waterfield, and had a son,

Leslie, born 1865. (4_d_) Lieutenant-Colonel John Davenport Shakespear,

served in the Crimean War. He married, in 1855, Louisa Caroline,

daughter of Robert Sayer, of Sibton Park, co. Suffolk, and had a son,

Arthur Franklin Charles Shakespear, 1864, and a daughter, Ida Nea. He

claimed descent from the poet's family in 1864.[358] (5_d_) Rev. Wyndham

Arthur Shakespear, fifth son of Arthur Shakespear, of Boxwell, co.

Gloucester, Arm. Exeter College, matriculated May 29, 1855, aged

nineteen, B.A. from Litton Hall, 1860, and M.A. He has held various

curacies.[359] (6_d_) Robert Henry Shakespear, who married, in 1858,

Octavia, daughter of Charles Fenwick, Consul-General for Denmark. He has

a son, Lionel Fairfax Shakespear. His elder daughter, Harriet Blanche,

married, 1868, Lieutenant-Colonel James Edward Mayne, Deputy-Judge,

Madras; the younger, Rosaline, married William Sim Murray, M.D.,

surgeon, 66th Foot, 1867.

II. John Shakespeare's first wife, Mary Davenport, died in 1793; and he

married, secondly, Charlotte, the daughter of ---- Fletcher, Esq., by

whom he had a son--

5. Owen, who died unmarried, and two daughters, Georgiana and Henrietta

Matilda. His second wife, Charlotte, died in 1815, and he died January

16, 1825, and was buried at Lacock Abbey.

III. The alderman's third son, David, settled in Jamaica, and left a

family, whose descendants still exist there. In 1867 the Hon. John

Shakespear, grandson of David, was a member of the Legislature and

proprietor of Hodges-Penn, St. Elizabeth's parish.

IV. I have been unable to find particulars of Samuel, the fourth son.

V. Colin, the fifth son of the alderman, was in the East India Company's

Civil Service, as collector at Saharapore. He married Harriet Dawson,

and his daughter Harriet married William Woodcock, Esq.

The alderman's eldest daughter Sarah married Joseph Sage; his second

daughter, Anne, John Blagrove, of Cardiff Hall, Jamaica; his third,

Martha, the Rev. John William Lloyd, of Aston Hall, co. Salop; his

fourth, Mary, Laver Oliver, Esq., to whose children the rope-factory

descended.

Whatever may have been the fortunes of the other branches, it is very

clear that the chief modern Shakespeares have descended from the

Shadwell stock. John Shakespear, the second son of the Alderman, left a

memorandum declaring his belief that the family was derived from the

poet's grandfather. There has as yet, however, been found no proof of

any such connection, though it is perfectly possible that it existed. If

Richard, of Snitterfield, was the father of John, Henry, and Thomas,

there were two possible lines of descent. Henry may have had children

christened at other places than Snitterfield, whose descent no one has

traced. Thomas had a son John, born in 1581-82, clearly too old to have

been the first John of Shadwell. He _may_ have had a son of the proper

age; but, as I have stated above, I have found no John of the right age,

except John, son of Thomas.

A Hannah[360] Shakespeare, born 1777, is mentioned in the pedigree of

Esterby and Sootheran.

Henry Shakespear, of London, was a broker Loriner, 1775, connected with

Hertford (see p. 137).

On June 29, 1794, was baptized Joshua,[361] son of Thomas and Ann

Shakespeare.

A warm eulogy of the charity and virtues of William Shakespeare, Esq.,

of Hart Street, Bloomsbury, who died in January, 1799, aged

seventy-three, is given in the _Gentleman's Magazine_[362] of that date;

and in May of the same year the death is noticed, in Paddington, of

George Shakespeare, Esq., son of the late George Shakespeare, Esq., of

Walton-upon-Thames, and Pimlico, Middlesex.[363]

M. L. Jeny, in _L'Intermédiaire_, March 25, 1889, states that "he had

read in _L'Abeille du Cher_ of Friday, November 18, 1836, that a poor

old man of seventy-seven, named George Shakspeare, was found dying with

cold and hunger in the middle of the frightful night of Wednesday

preceding, in Clarence Street, London, and was taken to the Hospital,

and died there. He was one of the poet's descendants."[364]

So late as November, 1880, there was a Mrs. Anne Shakespeare who died at

Brighton, aged 102.[365]

There are several American branches of Shakespeares, some of them

literary, and two of the name are settled in Vancouver's Island.[366]

Among the list of authors[367] we find the names of Alexander

Shakespear, on the "North-West Provinces of India," 1848; Edward

Shakespear, "A Book of Divinity," 1740; and Sophia Shakespear, 1753, a

biography; Henry Shakespear, "Province of Bengal," 1824, and "Wild

Sports of India," 1860; H. W. Shakespear's "Refutation of Mr. Tryon,"

1847; John Shakespear's Hindustani books; Emily Shakespeare's "Tennyson

Birthday Book," 1877; and Mrs. O. Shakespear, a novel, in 1895. Edward

O. Shakespeare, of Washington, U.S.A., has a medical work on

"Inflammation."

Mr. Russell French, from whose pages I have gleaned the bulk of the

facts concerning these modern Shakespeares, expatiates on the glories of

the later Shakespeare marriages. By the Currie alliance he traces back

descent to the royal Scottish families of the Bruces and the Stewarts;

by the Talbot alliance he traces back their pedigree to Edward I.; by

the Davenport alliance he again connects them with the Ardens, through

Sir Thomas Leighton and the eighth Lord Zouch, who married Joan,

daughter of Sir John Denham, by his wife Joan, daughter and heir of Sir

Richard Archer, who married Joan, the second daughter and coheir of

Giles de Arden, grandson of Sir Robert de Arden, the descendant of

Turchil; but these rather tend to glorify the modern branches than the

poet's name.

It were to be desired that there were more concerted study of registers

and other records concerning the name. Much more might thus be found,

and much of the energy now dissipated in futile searches might be

utilized in connecting the scattered links, because the study of

genealogy is the ancient form of the very modern inquiries into heredity

which interest so many followers of Mr. Francis Galton. It is after all

worth knowing who were the ancestors of William Shakespeare, what

heroic, chivalric, poetic, philosophic strains went to form the nature

of the perfect poet; and it is of mildly sentimental interest to us that

we should know whether any of his line is left on the earth. Of

sentimental interest, I say, for rarely, if ever, does genius repeat

itself, nor do different environing circumstances weld and mould genius

in the same way. Its nature is very easy to kill, or dwarf, or distort,

but it is our excuse for being concerned with those who bear the

honoured name.

In the unsatisfactory inquiries relating to Shakespeare's ancestors I

have exhausted all that I can find concerning his father's family; but

so much remains to be said concerning his mother's family, that in

consideration of the old proverb, "like mother, like son," it has seemed

to me worth incorporating into this volume some account of the Ardens.

FOOTNOTES:

[312] Churchwardens' Accounts of Thurston Amere and William Combes, from

June 8, 1538, to May 8, 1540, 48th week, 1st year.

[313] _Notes and Queries_, Seventh Series, vii. 483, June 22, 1889.

Compare Third Series, iii. 318; Third Series, viii. 418; Savage's

"Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers in New England," ii. 528;

John Timbs' "Curiosities of London," ed. 1855, p. 238, and ed. 1867, p.

297; "Annals of St. Helen's, Bishopsgate," 221, 322.

[314] Subsidy Rolls, London, Ward of Billingsgate and others, 39 Eliz.,

146/369, P.R.O.

[315] Marriage Licenses, Faculty Office, Harl. Publ.

[316] Bishop of London's Marriage Licenses, Harl. Publ.

[317] Register, St. James's, Clerkenwell.

[318] Registers of Christ Church, Newgate Street, Harl. Soc. Publ.

[319] He died 1598, and was at one time connected with the Theatre as

shareholder. _Notes and Queries_, Seventh Series, vii. 188.

[320] Registers of St. James's, Clerkenwell, Harl. Publ.

[321] Account of the Treasurer of the Chamber, 1572, _et seq._

[322] "Archæologia," vol. xiii., appendix, p. 403.

[323] _Notes and Queries_, Seventh Series, ii. 247.

[324] Registers of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields.

[325] Churchwarden's Accounts, St. Martin's-in-the-Fields.

[326] Bishop of London's Licenses, Harl. Soc. Publ.

[327] Registers of the Church of St. Bride's.

[328] Registers of the Church of St. Bride's.

[329] Among the expenses of the Royal Household are entered: 1621--"To

John Shakespeare for one gilt bit for the sadle aforesayd £3 13s.

6d. To John Shakespeare for fourteen bittes, guilt silvered and

chased, at £5 10s. a peice. For one payre of bosses, richly enamelled,

52s. 6d_, £73 12s. 6d. For 7 bittes for the sadles aforesayd at

52s. 6d. each, £18 7s. 6d."--"Early Illustrations of

Shakespeare," published by the Shakespeare Society.

[330] State Papers, Dom. Ser., Car. I., ccclxxiv. 20, Docquet.

[331] State Papers, Irish, Dublin Castle, Vol. M., p. 338. _Notes and

Queries_, First Series, vi. 289, 495.

[332] Somerset House, 268, Aylett.

[333] The Registers of St. Thomas Apostle, London.

[334] State Papers, Dom. Ser., Car. I., lxxvi. 41.

[335] Somerset House, 249, Aston.

[336] Lic. Fac. Office, Harl. Publ.

[337] Reg. of St. George's, Hanover Square.

[338] Marriage Licenses, Bishop of London, Harl. Publ.

[339] Bishop of London's Licenses, Harl. Publ.

[340] Foster's "Alumni Oxonienses."

[341] Bishop of London's Mar. Lic., Harl. Publ.

[342] Somerset House, 248, Aston.

[343] _Notes and Queries_, Third Series, vii. 175.

[344] "Book of Apprentices," 1666-1736, f. 756

[345] His son stated that he was seventy-seven at the time of his death,

in 1689, but his marriage certificate makes him younger. "Publications

and Marriages, 1654: John Shakespear, of Ratcliffe Highway, ropemaker,

aged thirty-five, and Martha Seeley, of Wapping Wall, mayde, nineteen

years. Married before John Waterton, Esquire, on ye 14th June. Richard

Mathews, Robert Connolly, witnesses" (French, 547). He might have been a

son of John, son of Thomas of Snitterfield, b. 1582.

[346] _Notes and Queries_ Second Series, x. 188, 402; Third Series, vii.

498.

[347] State Papers, Dom. Ser., 1656-57, Commonwealth, cliii., Nos. 55,

56.

[348] "Misc. Gen. et Herald.," Second Series, v., 371, and Merchant

Tailors' "Book of Apprentices."

[349] Bishop of London's Marriage Licenses, Harl. Publ.

[350] Herbert's "Twelve Livery Companies."

[351] _Gentleman's Magazine_, 1805.

[352] _Ibid._, 1818.

[353] French, 551, and _Times_, April, 1867.

[354] "Dict. Nat. Biog."

[355] Register of Charterhouse Chapel.

[356] French, p. 556.

[357] A writer in _Notes and Queries_, Sixth Series, i. 494, speaks of a

"large silver salver bearing a lion passant and a leopard's head

crowned. In the centre are the arms and crest of Shakespeare, and on an

escutcheon of pretence three stags' heads caboshed. It bears the

inscription, 'William Powlett Powlett, Esq., D.D. William Powlett

Shakspear, 1821.' There is a legend this was made from plate owned by

the poet. What is the date of the salver?"

[358] _Times_, June 13, 1864, and _Notes and Queries_, Third Series,

vii. 498.

[359] Foster's "Alumni Oxonienses."

[360] "Misc. Gen. et Herald.," New Series, i., p. 143.

[361] Register of St. Bartholomew the Less.

[362] _Gentleman's Magazine_, vol. lxix., p. 83.

[363] Manning and Bray's "Surrey," vol. ii., under Walton-upon-Thames,

mentions the tomb of Matthew Shakespear and of George, aged fifteen,

August 8, 1775; John Shakespear, of Weybridge, January 3, 1775, aged

sixty-seven; William, January 23, 1783, aged seventy-seven; also of

George Shakespear of Oxford Street, London, late of this parish,

architect, who died March 29, 1797, in the seventy-fourth year of his

age.

[364] _Notes and Queries_, Seventh Series, viii. 89.

[365] _Ibid._, Sixth Series, ii. 53.

[366] _Ibid._, Third Series, ix. 346, 398.

[367] British Museum Catalogues.

_PART II_