TIMELINE – POSSIBLE ANCESTORS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
1279 John Shakes-peare living at ‘Freyndon,’ perhaps Frittendon, Kent
1284 William Sakspere of Clopton, Gloucestershire, was hanged for theft.
1385 William Shakespeare served on a coroner’s jury in Balsall.
1457 Isabella Shakespeare is mentioned in the Register of the Guild of St Anne at Knowle as the
prioress of the Benedictine convent of Wroxall
1457 Jane Shakepeare is also mentioned in the Register of the Guild of St Anne at Knowle as a nun of
the same convent.
1487 Hugh Shakspere of Merton College, Oxford, changed his name to Sawndare, because his former
name was of ‘vile reputatum’
TIMELINE – PROBABLE ANCESTORS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Adam Shakespeare, a tenant by military service of land at Baddesley Clinton was great-grandfather
of one Richard Shake-speare.
1535 an entry regarding Richard Shakespeare, a yeoman of Snitterfield, who was Shakespeare’s paternal
grandfather. No other records are available regarding Richard’s wife but he had two sons, John and
Henry. John, the younger son of Richard, was the father of William Shakespeare
1556 Robert Arden dies (Shakespeare’s maternal grandfather.) Robert Arden belonged to the
aristocratic family of the Ardens of Park Hall. One of his daughters, Mary was the mother of
William Shakespeare
1561 Richard Shakespeare dies (Shakespeare’s paternal grandfather)
TIMELINE – JOHN AND MARY SHAKESPEARE – MOTHER & FATHER OF SHAKESPEARE
1531 Probable year of birth of Shakespeare’s father, John Shake-speare
1540 Probable year of birth of Shakespeare’s mother, Mary Arden
1556 Robert Arden dies (Shakespeare’s maternal grandfather.)
1556 Mary Arden was named as one of the Executers of her father’s will
1557 Marriage at the age of 26 to Mary Arden, aged 17 years
1557 John Shake-speare was elected as ale-taster of the Borough of Stratford
1561 Richard Shake-speare dies (Shakespeare’s paternal grandfather)
1558 Joan, the first child of John and Mary was born but only survived two months
1561 John Shakespeare was elected as Chamberlain of the Borough of Stratford
1562 Margaret Shakespear was born – she died one year later
1564 William Shakespeare was born
1565 John Shake-speare became Alderman
1566 Gilbert Shakespeare was born
1568 John Shakespeare became Bailiff of Stratford (equivalent to Mayor)
1569 Another daughter, also called Joan was born
1570 John Shakespear became Chief Alderman
1570 John Shakespeare was accused in the Exchequer Court of Usury for lending money at the rate of
20% and 25% Interest
1570 John Shakespeare’s application to bear a Coat-of-Arms and for the title of Gentleman fails
1571 Anne Shake-speare was born
1574 Richard Shakepeare was born
1578 John became behind with his taxes
1579 He was forced to mortgage Mary’s estate, Asbies
1579 Anne Shakespeare died
1580 Fined £40 for missing a court date
1580 Edmund Shake-speare was born
1582 William marries Anne Hathaway and six months later John and Mary become grandparents to
Susanna Shake-speare
1585 William’s twins, Hamnet and Judith Shakespeare, were born
1586 John Shakespeare was removed from the Board of Aldermen
1590 John Shakespeare’s only possession was a house on Henley Street
1592 Fined for not attending church
1596 John’s brother Henry died
1596 On October 20 an application was made to the College of Heralds for a Coat-of-Arms and this time
it was granted
1599 John Shake-speare was reinstated on the Town Council
1601 Shakespeare’s father, John Shakespeare dies
1608 Shakespeare’s mother Mary Shakespeare nee Arden dies
TIMELINE – THE BROTHERS & SISTERS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
1558 September 15 Joan, the first child of John and Mary was baptised (only survived two months)
1562 December 2 Margaret Shake-speare was baptised – she died one year later
1564 April 26 William Shakespeare was baptised (died 1616 aged 52 )
1566 October 13 Gilbert Shakespear was baptised (died 1612 aged 46)
1569 Another daughter, also called Joan was born (died 1646 aged 77)
1571 September 28 Anne Shakespeare was baptised (1579 died aged 7)
1574 March 11 Richard Shake-speare was baptised (died 1613 aged 39)
1579 April 4, Anne Shakespeare dies
1580 May 3 Edmund Shake-speare was baptised (died 1607 aged 27)
1607 December 31, Edmund Shakespeare was buried
1612 February 3 Gilbert Shake-speare was buried
1613 February 4, Richard Shakespeare was buried
1616 April 23 William Shakespeare was buried
1646 Joan Shakespear dies
TIMELINE – ANNE HATHAWAY
1556 Birth of Anne Hathaway
1564 Birth of William Shakespeare, he was baptised April 26 1564
1582 November 27, A marriage licence was granted by John Whitgift, the Bishop of Worcester,
Episcopal register, to Wm Shaxpere and Anne Whateley of Temple Grafton, Warwickshire.
1582 November 28, A Marriage Bond on the episcopal register records issued to William Shagspeare
and Anne Hathwey of Shottery, Stratford
1583 May 26, The baptism of Susanna Shakespeare in Stratford Parish Church Susanna was Anne and
William’s first child, born six months after the wedding of her parents.
1585 Anne and William’s twins, Hamnet and Judith Shake-speare, were born
1585 February 2, The baptism of Hamnet and Judith in Stratford Parish Church
1589 Shake-speare & his parents named in a legal action against a neighbour called John Lambert.
1592 September 3, Death of Robert Greene author of Groatsworth of Wit in which he complains about
Shakespeare as an “upstart crow”
1596 August 11, Hamnet Shakespeare died, possibly from the plague, at the age of eleven. He was
buried in Stratford
1596 October 20, John Shake-speare, Anne’s father-in-law, Granted Coat of Arms
1597 May 4, William Shakespeare purchased New Place, the second largest house in Stratford for £60.
1598 William Shakespeare is mentioned as “a principal comedian.”
1598 William Shakespeare is mentioned as among the chief holders of corn and malt in Stratford.
1598 Shakespeare and other members of the company financed the building of the Globe Theatre
1602 May 1, Shakespeare buys land in Stratford for £320
1602 November, Shakespeare purchased a cottage across from New Place, his private residence in
Stratford.
1607 June 5, Marriage of Anne and William’s daughter Susanna to Dr. John Hall
1608 February 21, The baptism of Elizabeth Hall Anne and William’s granddaughter
1616 January 25th – Shakespeare drafts his will
1616 February 10th – Marriage of Anne and William’s daughter Judith to Thomas Quiney
1616 March 12th Judith and Thomas are excommunicated
1616 March 25, revises his will William Shakespeare’s will
1616 March 26th Quiney was prosecuted for ‘carnal copulation’ with a local woman named Margaret
Wheeler
1616 April 23, William Shakespeare dies
1616 April 25, Burial of William Shakespeare in the chancel of Holy Trinity Church in Stratford.
1616 The will of William, his bequests to Anne. The only mention that Shakespeare specifically makes of
Anne was to leave her his “second best bed.” It is, however, understood that it would have been
Anne’s right, through English Common Law, to one-third of his estate as well as residence for life at
New Place
1616 November – Shakespeare Quiney, Judith Quiney’s son ( Anne and William Shakespeare’s
grandson) was born
1617 May – Shakespeare Quiney dies just six months old
1617 October – Richard Quiney was born
1619 January – Thomas Quiney was born
1623 August 6, Anne Hathaway dies at the age of sixty-seven and is buried next to William in the chancel
of Holy Trinity Church in Stratford
TIMELINE – CHILDREN & GRANDCHILDREN OF ANNE & WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
1583 May 26, The baptism of Susanna Shakespeare in Stratford Parish Church Susanna was Anne and
William’s first child, born six months after the wedding of her parents.
1585 Anne and William’s twins, Hamnet and Judith, were born
1585 February 2, The baptism of Hamnet and Judith Shakespeare in Stratford Parish Church
1596 August 11, Hamnet died, possibly from the plague, at the age of eleven. He was
buried in Stratford
1607 June 5, Marriage of Anne and William’s daughter Susanna to Dr. John Hall
1608 February 21, The baptism of Elizabeth Hall Anne and William’s granddaughter
1616 February 10th – Marriage of Anne and William’s daughter Judith to Thomas Quiney
1616 March 12th Judith and Thomas are excommunicated
1616 November – Shakespeare Quiney, Judith Quiney’s son ( Anne and William Shakespeare’s
grandson) was born
1617 May – Shakespeare Quiney dies just six months old
1617 October – Richard Quiney was born
1619 January – Thomas Quiney was born
1629 Elizabeth Hall marries Thomas Nashe (1575 -1635)
1635 Thomas Nashe, husband of Elizabeth Hall, dies and is buried in the chancel of Holy Trinity Church
1639 January Richard Quiney dies, possibly of the plague
1639 January Thomas Quiney dies ,possibly of the plague
1649 Dr. John Hall, husband of Susanna, dies and is buried in the chancel of Holy Trinity Church1649 Elizabeth Hall marries Sir John Bernard (1604 – 1674)
1649 Susanna (Shakespeare) Hall dies and is buried next to her mother and father in the chancel of Holy
Trinity Church, Stratford
1670 Lady Elizabeth Hall Bernard dies leaving no heirs
So ends the direct line from William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway
