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, 5li, and to John Shackspire, of Newnam, 5li."[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, vli. 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]