Shakespeare's family

by C. C. Stopes

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.