Shakespeare: His Life, Art, and Characters, Volume I. | Page 2

was added till the time of
Malone, who by a learned and most industrious searching of public and
private records brought to light a considerable number of facts, some of
them very important, touching the Poet and his family. And in our own
day Mr. Collier has followed up the inquiry with very great diligence,
and with no inconsiderable success; though, unfortunately, much of the
matter supplied by him has been discredited as unauthentic, by those
from whom there is in such cases no appeal. Lastly, Mr. Halliwell has
given his intelligent and indefatigable labours to the same task, and
made some valuable additions to our stock.
The lineage of WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, on the paternal side, has
not been traced further back than his grandfather. The name, which in
its composition smacks of brave old knighthood and chivalry, was
frequent in Warwickshire from an early period.
The father of our Poet was JOHN SHAKESPEARE, who is found
living at Stratford-on-Avon in 1552. He was most likely a native of
Snitterfield, a village three miles from Stratford; as we find a Richard
Shakespeare living there in 1550, and occupying a house and land
owned by Robert Arden, the maternal grandfather of our Poet. This
appears from a deed executed July 17, 1550, in which Robert Arden
conveyed certain lands and tenements in Snitterfield, described as
being "now in the tenure of one Richard Shakespeare," to be held in
trust for three daughters "after the death of Robert and Agnes Arden."
An entry in a Court Roll, dated April, 1552, ascertains that John
Shakespeare was living in Stratford at that time. And an entry in the
Bailiff's Court, dated June, 1556, describes him as "John Shakespeare,
of Stratford in the county of Warwick, glover." In 1558, the same John
Shakespeare, and four others, one of whom was Francis Burbadge, then
at the head of the corporation, were fined four pence each "for not
keeping their gutters clean."
There is ample proof that at this period his affairs were in a thriving
condition. In October, 1556, he became the owner of two copyhold

estates, one of them consisting of a house with a garden and a croft
attached to it, the other of a house and garden. As these were estates of
inheritance, the tenure was nearly equal to freehold; so that he must
have been pretty well-to-do in the world at the time. For several years
after, his circumstances continued to improve. Before 1558, he became
the owner, by marriage, of a farm at Wilmecote, consisting of fifty-six
acres, besides two houses and two gardens; moreover, he held, in right
of his wife, a considerable share in a property at Snitterfield. Another
addition to his property was made in 1575,--a freehold estate, bought
for the sum of £40, and described as consisting of "two houses, two
gardens, and two orchards, with their appurtenances."
Several other particulars have been discovered, which go to ascertain
his wealth as compared with that of other Stratford citizens. In 1564,
the year of the Poet's birth, a malignant fever, called the plague,
invaded Stratford. Its hungriest period was from the last of June to the
last of December, during which time it swept off two hundred and
thirty-eight persons out of a population of about fourteen hundred.
None of the Shakespeare family are found among its victims. Large
draughts were made upon the charities of the town on account of this
frightful visitation. In August, the citizens held a meeting in the open
air, from fear of infection, and various sums were contributed for the
relief of the poor. The High-Bailiff gave 3s. 4d., the head-alderman 2s.
8d.; John Shakespeare, being then only a burgess, gave 12d.; and in the
list of burgesses there were but two who gave more. Other donations
were made for the same cause, he bearing a proportionable share in
them.
We have seen that in June, 1556, John Shakespeare was termed a
glover. In November of the same year he is found bringing an action
against one of his neighbours for unjustly detaining a quantity of barley;
which naturally infers him to have been more or less engaged in
agricultural pursuits. It appears that at a later period agriculture was his
main pursuit, if not his only one; for the town records show that in
1564 he was paid three shillings for a piece of timber; and we find him
described in 1575 as a "yeoman." Rowe gives a tradition of his having
been "a considerable dealer in wool." It is nowise unlikely that such
may have been the case. The modern divisions of labour and trade were
then little known and less regarded; several kinds of business being

often carried on together, which are now kept distinct; and we have
special proof that