# data[].attributes.headline
They do not have much info about Shakespeare marriage life. But he married and had 4 children.

# data[].attributes.subject
They do not have much info about Shakespeare marriage life. But he married and had 4 children.

# data[].attributes.body
Shakespeare's father, John, came to Stafford from Chesterfield before 1532 and his mother was a stay of home women taking care of the house and the children

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
ann hathaway shakespeare's wife ann hathaway stratford married aston church robert arden

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Learn everything we know about Shakespeare's wife Anne and their marriage and children.

# data[].attributes.body
Summary

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Shakespeare's family was not large by standards of the time. Shakespeare's sister, Joan, was his only sibling to survive him. She was five years younger than him and much loved by him. He died a rich man and he left her well provided for in his will with both property and money. He also made sure that her sons would be comfortable.

Born in 1569, she was named after John and Mary Shakespeare's first born child, Joan, born in 1558 but dying, sadly, after only two months. The second Joan lived to be seventy-seven, dying in 1646, thirty years after her famous brother. For those times it was a very long life. Her descendents, with the surname, Hart, lived in Stratford until 1806. The Bard and his sister were very close and one of her sons, William Hart, followed in his uncle's footsteps, went to London and became an actor with the renowned King's Men acting company.

There was a third sister, also unknown to Shakespeare. Shakespeare's sister, Margaret, was born in 1562. she lived for one year, probably dying of the Black Death.

The fourth of Shakespeare's sisters was Anne, who was born in 1571 when the Bard was seven years old. What a sorrow it must have been for the teenaged William when she died from the Black Death aged eight. We know that in spite of the family's sever financial problems at that time she was given a very expensive funeral.

Families at that time were large. It was important to have as many children as possible because the child mortality rate was high. The Shakespeare boys all survived. Richard died in 1613, aged 38, and Gilbert in 1612, aged 46, and William in 1616 aged 52.

Joan lived on to see her brother become even more famous than he had been in his lifetime.

Read about Shakespeare biography

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Read about Shakespeare's family >>
Read about Shakespeare's family tree >>
Read about Shakespeare's grandparents >>
Read about Shakespeare's parents >>
Read about Mary Arden, Shakespeare's mother >>
Read about John Shakespeare, Shakespeare's father >>
Read about Anne Hathaway, Shakespeare wife >>
Read about Shakespeare's children >>
Read about Shakespeare's grandchildren >>

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Shakespeare's family was not large by standards of the time. Shakespeare's sister, Joan, was his only sibling to survive him. She was five years younger than him and much loved by him. He died a rich man and he left her well provided for in his will with both property and money.

# data[].attributes.body
William Shakespeare was born on  April 23, 1564. His birthplace was Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdom. His family was struggling because they were poor. He was an important member of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men company of theatrical players. He was baptized on April 26, 1564.

# data[].attributes.body
shakespeare's parents are John shakespeare and Mary shakespeare.
William married Anne Hathaway on November 28, 1582. Anne was from a small village called  shottery. Together William and Anne had three children.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Shakespeare's Parents
Shakespeare's father, John, came to Stratford from Snitterfield before 1532 as an apprentice glover and tanner of leathers. John Shakespeare prospered and began to deal in farm products and wool. It is recorded that he bought a house in 1552 (the date that he first appears in the town records), and bought more property in 1556. Because John Shakespeare owned one house on Greenhill Street and two houses on Henley Street, the exact location of William's birth cannot be known for certain.
Sometime between 1556 and 1558 John Shakespeare married Mary Arden, the daughter of the wealthy Robert Arden of Wilmecote and owner of the sixty-acre farm called Asbies. The wedding would have most likely taken place in Mary Arden's parish church at Aston Cantlow, the burial place of Robert Arden, and, although there is no evidence of strong piety on either side of the family, it would have been a Catholic service, since Queen Mary I was the reigning monarch.

We assume neither John nor Mary could write -- John used a pair of glovers' compasses as his signature while Mary used a running horse -- but it did not prevent them from becoming important members of the community. John Shakespeare was elected to a multitude of civic positions, including ale-taster of the borough (Stratford had a long-reaching reputation for its brewing) in 1557, chamberlain of the borough in 1561, alderman in 1565, (a position which came with free education for his children at the Stratford Grammar School), high bailiff, or mayor, in 1568, and chief alderman in 1571. Due to his important civic duties, he rightfully sought the title of gentleman and applied for his coat-of-arms in 1570 (see picture on left). However, for unspecific reasons the application was abruptly withdrawn, and within the next few years, for reasons just as mystifying, John Shakespeare would go from wealthy business owner and dedicated civil servant to debtor and absentee council member.

By 1578 he was behind in his taxes and stopped paying the statutory aldermanic subscription for poor relief. In 1579, he had to mortgage Mary Shakespeare's estate, Asbies, to pay his creditors. In 1580 he was fined 40 pounds for missing a court date and in 1586 the town removed him from the board of aldermen due to lack of attendance. By 1590, John Shakespeare owned only his house on Henley Street and, in 1592 he was fined for not attending church.

However, near the very end of John Shakespeare's life, it seems that his social and economic standing was again beginning to flourish. He once again applied to the College of Heralds for a coat-of-arms in 1596, and, due likely to the success of William in London, this time his wish was granted. On October 20 of that year, by permission of the Garter King of Arms (the Queen's aid in such matters) "the said John Shakespeare, Gentlemen, and...his children, issue and posterity" were lawfully entitled to display the gold coat-of-arms, with a black banner bearing a silver spear (a visual representation of the family name "Shakespeare"). The coat-of-arms could then be displayed on their door and all their personal items. The motto was Non sanz droict or not without right. The reason cited for granting the coat-of-arms was John Shakespeare's grandfather's faithful service to Henry VII, but no specifics were given as to what service he actually performed. The coat-of-arms appears on Shakespeare's tomb in Stratford.

In 1599 John Shakespeare was reinstated on the town council, but died a short time later, in 1601. He was probably near seventy years old and he had been married for forty-four years. Mary Shakespeare died in 1608 and was buried on September 9.

How to cite this article:
Mabillard, Amanda.Shakespeare of Stratford: Shakespeare's Parents. Shakespeare Online. 18 Sept. 2000. < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/biography/shakespeareparents.html >.

References
Rowse, A.L. Shakespeare the Man. London: Macmillan, 1973.
Speaight, Robert. Shakespeare: The Man and his Achievement. New York: Stein and Day, 1977.
Queen Elizabeth: Shakespeare's Patron
King James I of England: Shakespeare's Patron
The Earl of Southampton: Shakespeare's Patron
Going to a Play in Elizabethan London

The Shakespeare Sisterhood - A Gallery
Worst Diseases in Shakespeare's London
Preface to The First Folio

Shakespeare's Pathos - General Introduction
Shakespeare's Portrayal of Childhood
Shakespeare's Portrayal of Old Age
Shakespeare's Attention to Details
Shakespeare's Portrayals of Sleep

Publishing in Elizabethan England
What did Shakespeare drink?
Ben Jonson and the Decline of the Drama
Publishing in Elizabethan England

Alchemy and Astrology in Shakespeare's Day
Entertainment in Elizabethan England
London's First Public Playhouse
Shakespeare Hits the Big Time

______________

More Resources

More to Explore
Shakespeare's Ancestry
Shakespeare's Birth
Shakespeare's Siblings
Shakespeare's Education

Shakespeare as Actor
Shakespeare's Lost Years
Shakespeare's Marriage

Shakespeare's Children
Shakespeare's Death
Shakespeare's Burial

_____

Did You Know? ... The Elizabethans cared as little for spelling as they did for the Spanish and nowhere is their comical disregard for simple consistency more evident than in their treatment of the surname Shakespeare. The misspellings were most egregious before Shakespeare's birth and during his youth, with colorfully bizarre variations found in registers and other legal documents of the time. Read on...

_____

Was Shakespeare Italian?
How Many Plays Did Shakespeare Write?
What Did Shakespeare Look Like?

Shakespeare's Religion
Shakespeare's Contemporaries: Top Five Greatest
Shakespeare's Audience: The Groundlings
Four Periods of Shakespeare's Life

Shakespeare's Language
Words Shakespeare Invented
Shakespeare's Reputation in Elizabethan England

Shakespeare at the Globe
Shakespeare's Impact on Other Writers
Quotations About William Shakespeare
Shakespeare's Boss: The Master of Revels

Daily Life in Shakespeare's London
Life in Stratford (structures and guilds)
Life in Stratford (trades, laws, furniture, hygiene)
Stratford School Days: What Did Shakespeare Read?

Games in Shakespeare's England [A-L]
Games in Shakespeare's England [M-Z]
An Elizabethan Christmas
Clothing in Elizabethan England

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
richard arden mary arden john shakespeare stratford school shakespeare

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Shakespeare's father, John, came to Stratford from Snitterfield before 1532 as an apprentice glover and tanner of leathers. John Shakespeare prospered and began to deal in farm products and wool. It is recorded that he bought a house in 1552 (the date that he first appears in the town records), and bought more property in 1556.