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SHAKESPEARE'S FAMILY
[Illustration]
[Illustration: William Shakespeare from the Drocshout painting now in
the Shakespeare Memorial Gallery at Stratford-on-Avon.]
SHAKESPEARE'S FAMILY
BEING
A Record of the Ancestors and Descendants
of William Shakespeare
WITH
_SOME ACCOUNT OF THE ARDENS_
BY
MRS. C. C. STOPES
AUTHOR OF
"THE BACON-SHAKESPEARE QUESTION ANSWERED," "SHAKESPEARE'S WARWICKSHIRE
CONTEMPORARIES," "BRITISH FREEWOMEN," ETC.
LONDON
ELLIOT STOCK, 62, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C.
NEW YORK
JAMES POTT & COMPANY
1901
Transcriber's note: Minor typos have been corrected. Footnotes have been
moved to the end of the chapter. Letters that are preceeded by a caret
(^) are superscripted in the text.
PREFACE
When I was invited to reprint in book-form the articles which had
appeared in the _Genealogical Magazine_ under the titles of
"Shakespeare's Family" and the "Warwickshire Ardens," I carefully
corrected them, and expanded them where expansion could be made
interesting. Thus to the bald entries of Shakespeare's birth and burial
I added a short life. Perhaps never before has anyone attempted to write
a life of the poet with so little allusion to his plays and poems. My
reason is clear; it is only the genealogical details of certain
Warwickshire families of which I now treat, and it is only as an
interesting Warwickshire gentleman that the poet is here included.
Much of the chaotic nonsense that has of late years been written to
disparage his character and contest his claims to our reverence and
respect are based on the assumption that he was a man of low origin and
of mean occupation. I deny any relevance to arguments based on such an
assumption, for genius is restricted to no class, and we have a Burns as
well as a Chaucer, a Keats as well as a Gower, yet I am glad that the
result of my studies tends to prove that it is but an unfounded
assumption. By the Spear-side his family was at least respectable, and
by the Spindle-side his pedigree can be traced straight back to Guy of
Warwick and the good King Alfred. There is something in fallen fortune
that lends a subtler romance to the consciousness of a noble ancestry,
and we may be sure this played no small part in the making of the poet.
All that bear his name gain a certain interest through him, and
therefore I have collected every notice I can find of the Shakespeares,
though we are all aware none can be his descendants, and that the family
of his sister can alone now enter into the poet's pedigree with any
degree of certainty.
The time for romancing has gone by, and nothing more can be done
concerning the poet's life except through careful study and through
patient research. All students must regret that their labours have such
comparatively meagre results. Though sharing in this regret, I have been
able, besides adding minor details, to find at last a definite link of
association between the Park Hall and the Wilmcote Ardens; and I have
located a John Shakespeare in St. Clement's Danes, Strand, London, who
is probably the poet's cousin. I have also somewhat cleared the ground
by checking errors, such as those made by Halliwell-Phillipps,
concerning John Shakespeare, of Ingon, and Gilbert Shakespeare,
Haberdasher, of London (see page 226). I hope that every contribution to
our store of real knowledge may bring forward new suggestions and
additional facts.
In regard to his mother's family, I thought it important to clear the
earlier connections. But it must not be forgotten that until modern
times no Shakespeare but himself was connected with the Ardens. Yet,
having commenced with the family, I may be pardoned for adding to their
history before the sixteenth century the few notes I have gleaned
concerning the later branches.
The order I have preferred has been chronological, limited by the
advisability of completing the notices of a family in special
localities.
Disputed questions I have placed in chapters apart, as they would bulk
too largely in a short biography to be proportionate. Hence the Coat of
Arms and the Arden Connections are treated as family matters, apart from
John Shakespeare's special biography. I have done what I could to avoid
mistakes, and neither time nor trouble has been spared. I owe thanks to
many who have helped me in my long-continued and careful researches, to
the officials of the British Museum and the Public Record Office, to the
Town Council of Stratford-on-Avon and Mr. Savage, Secretary of the
Shakespeare Trust, to the Worshipful Company of the Haberdashers, for
allowing me to study their records; to the late Earl of Warwick, for
admission to his Shakespeare Library, and to many clergymen who have
permitted me to search their registers.
CHARLOTTE CARMICHAEL STOPES.
CONTENTS
PART I
CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE NAME OF SHAKESPEARE 1
II. THE LOCALITIES OF EARLY SHAKESPEARES 4
III. LATER SHAKESPEARES BEFORE THE POET'S TIME 10
IV. THE SHAKESPEARE COAT OF ARMS 17
V. THE IMPALEMENT OF THE ARDEN ARMS 24
VI. THE ARDENS OF WILMECOTE 35
VII. JOHN SHAKESPEARE 50
VIII. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE 61
IX. SHAKESPEARE'S DESCENDANTS 87
X. COLLATERALS 110
XI. COUSINS AND CONNECTIONS 113
XII. CONTEMPORARY WARWICKSHIRE SHAKESPEARES 118
XIII. SHAKESPEARES IN OTHER COUNTIES 132
XIV. LONDON SHAKESPEARES 142
PART II
I. THE PARK HALL ARDENS 162
II. THE ARDENS OF LONGCROFT 183
III. OTHER WARWICKSHIRE ARDENS 188
IV. THE ARDENS OF CHESHIRE 196
V. BRANCHES IN OTHER COUNTIES 213
TERMINAL NOTES 222
INDEX 239
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
PORTRAIT OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE _Frontispiece_
SHAKESPEARE'S ARMS 17
OLD HOUSE AT WILMECOTE, BY SOME SUPPOSED TO BE
ROBERT ARDEN'S _To face_ 35
PRESENT VIEW OF SHAKESPEARE'S BIRTHPLACE " 55
THE GUILD CHAPEL, FROM THE SITE OF NEW PLACE " 67
THE CHANCEL, TRINITY CHURCH " 83
SHAKESPEARE'S EPITAPH 84
ANNE HATHAWAY'S COTTAGE _To face_ 88
ANNE SHAKESPEARE'S EPITAPH 90
SNITTERFIELD CHURCH _To face_ 113
NORDEN'S MAP OF LONDON, 1593 " 142
WARWICK CASTLE " 162
SWAN THEATRE (BY DR. GAIDERTY) " 214
THE BEAR GARDEN AND HOPE THEATRE " 216
SWAN THEATRE " 216
When, from the midst of a people, there riseth a man
Who voices the life of its life, the dreams of its soul,
The Nation's Ideal takes shape, on Nature's old plan,
Expressing, informing, impelling, the fashioning force of the whole.
The Spirit of England, thus Shakespeare our Poet arose;
For England made Shakespeare, as Shakespeare makes England anew.
His people's ideals should clearly their kinship disclose,
To England, themselves, the more true, in that they to their
Shakespeare are true.
Shakespeare's Family
_PART I_
CHAPTER I
THE NAME OF SHAKESPEARE
The origin of the name of "Shakespeare" is hidden in the mists of
antiquity. Writers in _Notes and Queries_ have formed it from Sigisbert,
or from Jacques Pierre,[1] or from "Haste-vibrans." Whatever it was at
its initiation, it may safely be held to have been an intentionally
significant appellation in later years. That it referred to feats of
arms may be argued from analogy. Italian heraldry[2] illustrates a name
with an exactly similar meaning and use in the Italian language, that of
Crollalanza.
English authors use it as an example of their theories. Verstegan
says[3]: "Breakspear, Shakespeare, and the like, have bin surnames
imposed upon the first bearers of them for valour and feates of armes;"
and Camden[4] also notes: "Some are named from that they carried, as
Palmer ... Long-sword, Broadspear, and in some respects Shakespear."
In "The Polydoron"[5] it is stated that "Names were first questionlesse
given for distinction, facultie, consanguinity, desert, quality ... as
Armestrong, Shakespeare, of high quality."
That it was so understood by his contemporaries we may learn from
Spenser's allusion, evidently intended for him, seeing no other poet of
his time had an "heroic name"[6]:
"And there, though last, not least is Aëtión;
A gentler shepherd[7] may nowhere be found,
Whose Muse, full of high thought's invention,
Doth like himself heroically sound."
If the parts of the name be significant, I take it that the correct
spelling at any period is that of the contemporary spelling of the
parts. Therefore, when spear was spelt "spere," the cognomen should be
spelt "Shakespere"; when spear was spelt "speare," as it was in the
sixteenth century, the name should be spelt "Shakespeare." Other methods
of spelling depended upon the taste or education of the writers, during
transition periods, when they seemed actually to _prefer_ varieties, as
one sometimes finds a proper name spelt in three different ways by the
same writer on the same page. "Shakespeare" was the contemporary form of
the name that the author himself passed in correcting the proofs of the
"first heirs of his invention" in 1593 and 1594; and "Shakespeare" was
the Court spelling of the period, as may be seen by the first official
record of the name. When Mary, Countess of Southampton, made out the
accounts of the Treasurer of the Chamber after the death of her second
husband, Sir Thomas Heneage, in 1594, she wrote: "To William Kempe,
William Shakespeare,[8] and Richard Burbage," etc.
I know that Dr. Furnivall[9] wrote anathemas against those who dared to
spell the name thus, while the poet wrote it otherwise. But a man's
spelling of his own name counted very little then. He might have held
romantically to the quainter spelling of the olden time as many others
did, such as "Duddeley," "Crumwell," "Elmer."
[Illustration]
FOOTNOTES:
[1] _Notes and Queries_, 2nd Series, ix. 459, x. 15, 86, 122; 7th
Series, iv. 66; 8th Series, vii. 295; 5th Series, ii. 2.
[2] See Works of Goffredo di Crollalanza, Segretario-Archivista dell'
Accademia Araldica Italiana, which were brought to my notice by Dr.
Richard Garnett.
[3] Verstegan's "Restitution of Decayed Intelligence," ed. 1605, p. 254.
[4] Camden's "Remains," ed. 1605, p. 111.
[5] Undated, but contemporary. _Notes and Queries_, 3rd Series, i. 266.
[6] Spenser's "Colin Clout's Come Home Again," 1595.
[7] It was a fashion of the day to call all poets "shepherds."
[8] "Declared Accounts of the Treasurer of the Chamber," Pipe Office,
542 (1594). See my English article, "The Earliest Official Record of
Shakespeare's Name."--"Shakespeare Jahrbuch," Berlin, 1896, reprinted in
pamphlet form.
[9] "On Shakespere's Signatures," by Dr. F.J. Furnivall, in the _Journal
of the Society of Archivists and Autograph Collectors_, No. I., June,
1895.
CHAPTER II
THE LOCALITIES OF EARLY SHAKESPEARES
We find the name occurs in widely scattered localities from very early
times. Perhaps a resembling name ought to be noted "in the hamlet of
Pruslbury, Gloucestershire,[10] where there were four tenants. This was
at one time an escheat of the King, who gave it to his valet, Simon
_Shakespeye_, who afterwards gave it to Constantia de Legh, who gave it
to William Solar, the defendant." If this represents a 1260
"Shakespere," as there is every reason to believe it does, this is the
earliest record of the name yet found. This belief is strengthened by
the discovery that a _Simon Sakesper_ was in the service of the Crown in
1278, as herderer of the Forest of Essex,[11] in the Hundred of
Wauthorn, 7 Edward I. Between these two dates Mr. J. W. Rylands[12] has
found a Geoffrey Shakespeare on the jury in the Hundred of Brixton, co.
Surrey, in 1268.[13]
The next[14] I have noted occurs in Kent in the thirteenth century,
where a John Shakespeare appears in a judicial case, 1278-79, at
Freyndon.
The fifth notice is in the north.[15] The Hospital of St. Nicholas,
Carlisle, had from its foundation been endowed with a thrave of corn
from every ploughland in Cumberland. These were withheld by the
landowners in the reign of Edward III., for some reason, and an inquiry
was instituted in 1357. The jury decided that the corn was due. It had
been withheld for eight years by various persons, among whom was "Henry
Shakespere, of the Parish of Kirkland," east of Penrith. This gives,
therefore, really an entry of this Shakespere's existence at that place
as early as 1349, and an examination of Court Records may prove an
earlier settlement of the family.
There was a transfer of lands in Penrith described as "next the land of
Allan Shakespeare," and amongst the witnesses was William
Shakespeare,[16] April, 21 Richard II., 1398.
In the "Records of the Borough of Nottingham,"[17] we find a John
Shakespere plaintiff against Richard de Cotgrave, spicer, for deceit in
sale of dye-wood on November 8, 31 Edward III. (1357); Richard, the
servant of Robert le Spondon, plaintiff against John Shakespere for
assault. John proves himself in the right, and receives damages, October
21, 1360.
The first appearance yet found of the name in Warwickshire is in 1359,
when Thomas Sheppey and Henry Dilcock, Bailiffs of Coventry, account for
the property of Thomas Shakespere,[18] felon, who had left his goods and
fled.
Halliwell-Phillipps[19] notes as his earliest entry of the name a Thomas
Shakespere, of Youghal, 49 Edward III. (1375). A writer in _Notes and
Queries_[20] gives a date two years later when "Thomas Shakespere and
Richard Portingale" were appointed Comptrollers of the Customs in
Youghal, 51 Edward III. (1377). This would imply that he was a highly
trustworthy man. Yet, by some turn of fortune's wheel, he may have been
the same man as the felon.
In Controlment Rolls, 2 Richard II. (June, 1377, to June, 1379), there
is an entry of "Walter Shakespere, formerly in gaol in Colchester
Castle."[21] John Shakespeare was imprisoned in Colchester gaol as a
perturbator of the King's peace, March 3rd, 4 Richard II., 1381.[22] At
Pontefract, Robert Schaksper, Couper, and Emma his wife are mentioned as
paying poll-tax, 2 Rich. II.[23]
The Rev. Mr. Norris,[24] working from original documents, notes that on
November 24 (13 Richard II.), 1389, Adam Shakespere, who is described as
son and heir of Adam of Oldediche, held lands within the manor of
Baddesley Clinton by military service, and probably had only just then
obtained them. Oldediche, or Woldich, now commonly called Old Ditch
Lane, lies within the parish of Temple Balsall, not far from the manor
of Baddesley.
This closes the notices of the family that I have collected during the
fourteenth century. The above-noted Adam Shakespere, the younger, died
in 1414, leaving a widow, Alice, and a son and heir, John, then under
age, who held lands until 20 Henry VI., 1441. It is not clear who
succeeded him, but probably two brothers, Ralph and Richard, who held
lands in Baddesley, called Great Chedwyns, adjoining Wroxall. Mr. Norris
says that no further mention of the name appears in Baddesley, but one
notice of the property is given later. Ralph and Joanna, his wife, had
two daughters--Elizabeth, married to Robert Huddespit, and Isolda,
married to Robert Kakley. Elizabeth Huddespit, a widow, in 1506 held the
lands which Adam Shakespeare held in 1389.
The family of Shakespeare appears in the "Register of the Guild of
Knowle,"[1] a semi-religious society to which the best in the county
belonged:
1457. Pro anima Ricardi Shakespere et Alicia uxor
ejus de Woldiche.[25]
1464. Johanna Shakespere.
Radulphus Shakespere et Isabella uxor ejus et
pro anima Johannæ uxoris primæ.
Ricardus Schakespeire de Wroxhale et Margeria
uxor ejus.
1476. Thomas Chacsper et Christian cons. sue de
Rowneton.
Johannis Shakespeyre de Rowington et Alicia
uxor ejus.
1486. 1 Hen. VII. Thomæ Schakspere, p aiaei.
Thomas Shakspere et Alicia uxor ejus de
Balsale.
Mr. Yeatman has studied the Court Rolls of this period. It is to be
wished he had published his book in two volumes, one of facts and one of
opinions. He says that the earliest record of the Court Rolls of
Wroxall[26] is one dated 5 Henry V. (1418). It is a grant by one
Elizabeth Shakspere to John Lone and William Prins of a messuage with
three crofts. (The same Rolls tell us that in 22 Henry VIII. Alice Love
surrendered to William Shakespeare and Agnes his wife a property
apparently the same.)
In 1485 John Hill, John Shakespeare and others, were enfeoffed in land
called "Harveys" in Rowington, and John appears as witness in 1492 and
1496.[27]
There were Shakesperes at Coventry and Meriden in the fifteenth century.
John Dwale, merchant of Coventry, left legacies by will to Annes Lane
and to Richard Shakespere, March 15, 1499.[28]
Among the "foreign fines" of the borough of Nottingham,[29] Robert
Shakespeyr paid eightpence for license to buy and sell in the borough in
1414-15. The same Robert complains of John Fawkenor for non-payment of
the price of wood for making arrows. And French[30] tells us there was a
Thomas Shakespere, a man at arms, going to Ireland on August 27, 18
Edward IV., 1479, with Lord Grey against the king's enemies.
John Shakespere, a chapman in Doncaster,[31] paid on each order 12d.
Among the York wills, John Shakespere of Doncaster mentions his wife,
Joan, 1458. In the same year Sir Thomas Chaworth leaves Margery
Shakesper six marks for her marriage.[32]
In 1448, William Shakspere, labourer, and Agnes, his wife, were legatees
under the will of Alice Langham, of Snailswell, Suffolk.[33]
A family also belonged to London. Mr. Gollancz told me of a certain
"William Schakesper" who was "to be buried within the Hospital of St.
John of Jerusalem, in England," in 1413.[34] On reference to the
original, I found there was no allusion to profession, locality or
family. He left to an unnamed father and mother twenty shillings each,
and six shillings and eightpence to the hospital. The residue to William
Byrdsale and John Barbor, to dispose of for the good of his soul; proved
August 3, 1413. There was also a Peter Shakespeare who witnessed the
deed of transfer of the "Hospicium Vocatum le Greyhounde, Shoe Alley,
Bankside, Southwark, February 16, 1483."[35]
FOOTNOTES:
[10] Coram Rege Roll, St. Barthol., 45 Henry III., Memb. 13, No. 117.
_Notes and Queries_, 5th Series, ii. 146.
[11] Fisher's "Forest of Essex," p. 374. _Notes and Queries_, 9th
Series, ii. 167.
[12] Records of Rowington.
[13] Coram Rege Roll, 139, M. 1, 52-53 Hen. III.
[14] Roll of 7 Edward I.: "Placita Corone coram Johanne de Reygate et
sociis suis, justiciariis itinerantibus in Oct. St. Hil. 7 Edward I.,
_apud_ Cantuar." See also _Notes and Queries_, 1st Series, vol. xi., p.
122. Mr. William Henry Hart, F.S.A., contributes a note on the subject
and gives the entry.
[15] _Notes and Queries_, 2nd Series, vol. x., p. 122.
[16] _Notes and Queries_, 6th Series, iv. 126.
[17] "Records of the Borough of Nottingham," by Mr. W. Stevenson.
[18] See Dr. Joseph Hunter's MSS., Addit. MSS., Brit. Mus. 24,484, art.
246.
[19] In Shakespeare's "Life," prefixed to the folio edition.
[20] _Notes and Queries_, J. F. F., 2nd Series, x. 122; see "Rot. Pat.
Claus. Cancellariæ Hiberniæ Calendarium," vol. i., part i., p. 996.
[21] _Notes and Queries_, 5th Series, i. 25.
[22] Close Rolls, 4 Richard II.; _Notes and Queries_, 7th Series, ii.
318.
[23] _Yorksh. Archæological Journal_, vol. vi., p. 3. Lay-Subsidies,
206/49, Osgodcrosse, West Riding.
[24] _Notes and Queries_, 8th Series, vol. viii., December 28, 1895;
"Shakespeare's Ancestry," by the Rev. Henry Norris, F.S.A.
[25] Mr. W. B. Bickley's "The Register of the Guild of St. Anne at
Knowle," 1894. Mr. Bickley, in the _Stratford-on-Avon Herald_, November
9, 1895, shows that "Woldiche," "Oldyche" and "Oldwich" are the same,
being a farm in the hamlet of Balsall, in the parish of Hampton in
Arden, and about three miles from Knowle.
[26] Mr. Yeatman's "Gentle Shakespeare," p. 135.
[27] Mr. J. W. Ryland's "Records of Rowington."
[28] Proved May 26, 1500, Somerset House; Moone, f. 2.
[29] Stevenson's "Transcript of Records of the Borough of Nottingham."
[30] French's "Shakespeareana Genealogica," p. 350, and 39/48 "Ancient
Miscellanea Exchequer," Treasury of Receipt, Muster Roll of Men at Arms
going with Lord Grey. At Conway, 18 Edward IV., August 24.
[31] Records of the House of Grayfriars. _Yorksh. Archæological
Journal_, vol. xii., p. 482.
[32] _Notes and Queries_,6th Series, iv. 158.
[33] "Camden Soc. Publ.," 1851, _Notes and Queries_, 6th Series, vi.
368.
[34] Commissary Court of London Wills, Reg. II., 1413, f. 12.
[35] The deed is preserved at Cordwainers' Hall.
CHAPTER III
LATER SHAKESPEARES BEFORE THE POET'S TIME
In the sixteenth century there were Shakespeares all over the country,
in Essex, Staffordshire, Worcestershire, Nottingham,[36] but chiefly in
Warwick.
There the family had spread rapidly. But it is only the first half of
the century that concerns us at present. There have been Shakespeares
noted in Warwick, Alcester, Berkswell, Snitterfield, Lapworth, Haseley,
Ascote, Rowington, Packwood, Beausal, Temple Grafton, Salford, Tamworth,
Barston, Tachbrook, Haselor, Rugby, Budbrook, Wroxall, Norton-Lindsey,
Wolverton, Hampton-in-Arden, Hampton Lucy, and Knowle.[37]
Most students, recognising Warwickshire as the ancestral home of the
poet's family, exclude the town of Warwick from the field of their
consideration, and select the Shakespeares of Wroxall, partly because
more is known about them, and partly because what is known of them
suggests a higher social status than is granted the other branches. From
the "Guild of Knowle Records" we learn that in 1504 the fraternity was
asked to "pray for the soul of Isabella Shakespeare, formerly Prioress
of Wroxall,"[38] that the name of Alice Shakespere was entered, and
prayers requested for the soul of Thomas Shakespere, of Ballishalle, in
1511; and in the same year Christopher Shakespere and Isabella, his
wife, of Packwood, Meriden, are mentioned. The name of "Domina Jane
Shakspere" appears late in 1526. She is often spoken of as another
Prioress. Now, it is important to notice that Dugdale mentions neither
of these ladies. He records that D. Isabella Asteley was appointed July
30, 1431, and that D. Jocosa Brome, daughter of John Brome,[39]
succeeded her. She resigned in 1524, and died on June 21, 1528.
Agnes Little was confirmed Prioress November 20, 1525, and at the
dissolution of the house a pension of £7 10s. was granted her for life.
The rest of her fellow nuns were exposed to the wide world to seek their
fortunes. Now Dugdale, with all his perfections, occasionally makes
mistakes. He either mistook Asteley for Shakespeare, or another
Shakespeare prioress intervened between the two that he mentions. The
"Guild of Knowle Records" give unimpeachable testimony as to the
existence and date of the Prioress, Isabella Shakespeare. In the edition
of Dugdale's "Warwickshire" by Dr. W. Thomas, 1730, and the edition of
his "Monasticon," published 1823, there is mentioned in a note that a
license for electing to the office was granted Johanna Shakespere,
Sub-Prioress, September 5, 1525. So she might have had the empty title
of Domina, without the usual pension allowed to the Prioress on
dissolution.[40]
After the name of Domina Johanna Shakspere in the Knowle Records occur
those of Richard Shakspere and Alice, his wife; William Shakespere and
Agnes his wife; Johannes Shakespere and Johanna his wife, 1526; Richard
Woodham and Agnes his wife, who was the sister of Richard. This Richard
Shakespere was probably the Bailiff[41] of the Priory, who shortly
before the Dissolution collected the rents and held lands from the
Priory. He, however, was replaced in his office by John Hall, who
received a patent for it on January 4, 26 Henry VIII. Among the tenants
of the dissolved Priory were mentioned[42] "Richard Shakespeare,"
"William Shakespeare," and "land in the tenure of John Shakespeare,
demised to Alice Taylor, of Hanwell, in the county of Oxford."
Mr. Yeatman[43] transcribes a grant of land in Wroxall by the Prioress
Isabella Shakespere to John Shakespere and Elene, his wife, in 23 Henry
VII. (Richard Shakespere on the jury).[44] But there seems to be some
error in the date, as the "Guild of Knowle Records" distinctly state
that Isabella the Prioress was either dead in 19 Henry VII. or had
retired from office.
Elena Cockes, widow, late wife of John Shakespere, and Antony, her son,
appear about this land in a court held by Agnes Little, Prioress of
Wroxhall, April 21, 25 Henry VIII. William Shakespeare and Agnes were
concerned in it, Alice Lone, and many other connected names. A Richard
Shakespere was on the jury, and a Richard Shakespere was appointed
Ale-taster. The Subsidy Rolls do not give a John resident in Wroxall at
any date, but in 14, 15, and 16 Henry VIII. John, senior, and John,
junior, were resident in the adjoining village of Rowington, and in 34
and 37 Henry VIII. there was one John Shakespeare there. In 16 Henry
VIII.[45] there was a Richard Shakespere in Hampton Corley. The name
also occurs at Wroxall in that year and in Rowington in 34-5 Henry VIII.
There were also a Thomas and a Lawrence (mentioned as a cousin in a will
of a John Shakespere, 1574), at Rowington at that time, and the name of
William appears repeatedly in Wroxall. A Robert Shakespere was presented
for non-suit. Rev. Joseph Hunter[46] gives a rental of Rowington 2
Edward VI. Among the free tenants of Lowston End was John Shakespere; at
Mowsley End, Johanna Shakespere, a widow, who seems to have died 1557,
as her will, though lost, is mentioned in the index at Worcester; a
William Shakespere and a Richard Shakespere are also mentioned. In 3
Elizabeth Thomas Shakespere held a messuage in Lowston. In Rowington End
John Shakespere held a cottage called "The Twycroft," and Richard
Shakespere a messuage in Church End at the same time. In the reign of
Edward VI. a Richard Shakespere was on the jury for Hatton, a Court in
the Manor of Wroxall. The Wroxall Parish Registers begin too late to be
of any use (1586). The Wroxall Court Rolls mention in 1523, Richard of
Haseley; 1530-36, Richard and William; 1547, Ralph of Barston.
Ralph[47] Shakespere was on the jury for Berkswell November 11, 4 Edward
VI. and 5 Edward VI. In 1560 Laurence was presented, because he
overburdened the commons with his cattle. John is mentioned in a
transfer of property. Mr. J. W. Ryland gives us invaluable help in his
publication of "The Records of Rowington." John Shakespeer and Robert
Fulwood, gent., are mentioned as feoffees in the will of John Hill of
Rowington, September 23, 1502. John Shakespeare elder and younger are
frequently mentioned in the Charters of Rowington as feoffees or as
witnesses, and a John had a lease of the Harveys for twenty-one years in
1554. A Joan Shakespeare, widow, and her son Thomas, lived at Lyannce in
Hatton in 1547. In the Rental of Rowington, 1560-1, there are mentioned
Thomas, William, John and Richard. Mr. Hunter mentions a Richard
Shakespeyre, at Mansfield, co. Notts, about 1509; a Peter, in 1545; and
a John at Derby, 36 Henry VIII. A Richard Shakespere was assessed at
Hampton Carlew 16 Henry VIII.; Richard Woodham and Richard Shakspere had
a farm at Haseley. The Haseley Registers begin in 1538, and are
interesting for the fact that they record on October 21, 1571, the death
and burial of "Domina Jane," formerly a nun of Wroxall, who would seem
to have been the last sub-prioress, probably connected with Richard
Shakespere, the Bailiff. In 1558 a Roger Shakespere was buried--by some
supposed to be the old monk of Bordesley[48]--who received 100s.
annuity.
The earliest Shakespeare will at Worcester, proved at _Stratford_, was
that of Thomas Shakespere, of Alcester, 1539, who left 20s. each to his
father and mother, Richard and Margaret. He had a wife Margaret and a
son William.[49] Among other Worcester wills is that of Thomas
Shakespere of Warwick, shoemaker, May 20, 1557, who left his wife Agnes
lands in Balsall for life; his daughter Jone, wife to Francis Ley, £4;
to his sons Thomas and John 4 nobles each; and his son William was to be
his heir. Richard Shakysspere of Rowington, weaver, June 15, 1560, left
his property to his sons Richard and William. His brothers-in law John
and William Reve were executors and Richard Shakespeare was a witness.
In 1561 this William Reve in his will left a sheep to Margaret
Shakspere, and in 1565 Robert Shakespeere of Rowington made his will.
But among all these Shakesperes we cannot certainly fix upon any one
that is directly connected with our Shakespeare. It seems _almost_
certain that John Shakespeare was son of Richard Shakespeare, of
Snitterfield. And yet many doubt it on grounds worthy of consideration,
which are treated later in the notice of John Shakespeare. Mr. Yeatman
found that an Alice Griffin, daughter of Edward, and sister of Francis
Griffin of Braybrook, married a Shakespeare. He takes it for granted
that she married Richard of Wroxall, and that it was he who came to
Snitterfield. We must beware of drawing definite conclusions, of making
over-hasty generalizations. We only collect the bricks to help future
investigators to build the edifice.
The Sir Thomas Schakespeir, Curate, of Essex, Bristol and London, who
died 1559, is treated later among the Essex Shakespeares.
There is one curious mention of the name which no student seems to have
worked out. A certain Hugh Saunders, _alias Shakespere_,[50] of Merton
College, Oxford, became Principal of St. Albans Hall in 1501. He was
Vicar of Meopham, in Kent, Rector of Mixbury, Canon of St. Paul's, and
Prebendary of Ealdstreet, in 1508; and Rector of St. Mary's,
Whitechapel, in 1512. He died 1537. Now, such an alias was common at the
time, when a man's mother was of higher social station than his father.
We may therefore, seeing he was somehow connected with Shakespeare,
imagine Hugh Saunders' mother to have been a Shakespeare. He is styled
"vir literis et virtute percelebris."
FOOTNOTES:
[36] "George Shaksper complains against Agnes Marshall that she detains
two rosaries," June 18, 1533.--"Common Trained Soldiers in Nottingham,"
Peter Shakespear, etc., 1596-97. Stevenson's "Nottingham Records."
[37] Halliwell-Phillipps' "Outlines," vol. ii., p. 252.
[38] Guild of Knowle Register.
[39] John Brome was Lord of the Manor of Baddesley Clinton, but was
murdered in the porch of the Church of the White Friars, London,
November 9, 1468, leaving a wife, Beatrice, three sons and two
daughters, one of whom was Jocosa. His son Thomas succeeded, and died
without heirs, and his second son Nicholas then inherited the property.
Eight of his children are registered in the guild of Knowle. His
son-in-law was Sir Edward Ferrers, who married Constance, to whom the
property afterwards came. Their son was Henry Ferrers, the great
Warwickshire antiquary, who succeeded at sixteen, and was Lord of the
Manor for sixty-nine years ("Baddesley Clinton," Rev. H. Norris, p.
234).
[40] Nam Licentia concessa fuit Johanne Shakespere Sub priorisse ad.
eligend., 5 Sept., 1525; et 20 Nov., 1525, Agnes Little confirmata fuit
Priorissa de Wroxall. Vac. per resign. Joc. Brome. Dugdale's
"Monasticon," ed. 1823, vol. iv., p. 89, and "Warwickshire," ed. 1730,
p. 649.
[41] "Valor Ecclesiasticus," 26 Henry VIII. (1535).
[42] Ministers' Accounts, April 24, 28 Henry VIII., and Augmentation
Books, Public Record Office.
[43] Yeatman's "Gentle Shakespeare," pp. 138-142.
[44] Court Rolls, General Series, Portfolio 207, No. 99.
[45] Addit. MSS., Brit. Mus. (24,500).
[46] Mr. Yeatman's "Gentle Shakespeare," p. 142.
[47] Court Roll, No. 10, p. 207.
[48] Nash's "Worcestershire," vol. ii., account of Tardebigg. See
Augmentation Books, October 14, 1539, 233, f. 8.
[49] Hunter's "Prolusions," p. 9.
[50] Wood's Colleges. Fasti Oxoniensis, Bliss, 1815. Wood, Antiq. Oxon.,
L. 2, 341. Boase, Reg. Univ. Oxon. Newcourt's "Repertorium."
CHAPTER IV
THE SHAKESPEARE COAT OF ARMS
[Illustration: NON SANZ DROICT.]
None of the family seem to have risen above the heraldic horizon till
John Shakespeare applied for his coat of arms. Into the contest over
that application it is well to plunge at once, and thence work backwards
and forwards. Four classes of writers wage war over the facts: the
Baconians, like the late Mr. Donnelly, who deny everything; the
Romanticists, who accept what is pleasant, and occasionally believe
manufactured tradition to suit their inclinations; the agnostic
Shakespeareans, like Halliwell-Phillipps, who really work, but believe
only what they can see and touch, if it accords with their opinions; and
the ingenuous workers who seek saving truth like the agnostics, but
bring human influences and natural inferences to bear on dusty records.
Now, Halliwell-Phillipps does not scruple to affirm that three
heralds,[51] the worthy ex-bailiff of Stratford, and the noblest poet
the world has ever produced, were practically liars in this matter,
because they make statements that do not harmonize with the limits of
his knowledge and the colour of his opinions. From his grave the poet
protests--
"Good name in man or woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls.
Who steals my purse steals trash....
But he who filches from me my good name
Robs me of that, which not enriches him,
But leaves me poor indeed."
_Othello_, Act III., Scene 3.
We must therefore at least start inquiry with the supposition that these
men thought they spoke truth. There was no reason they should not have
done so. Sir John Ferne[52] writes: "If any person be advanced into an
office or dignity of publique administration, be it eyther
Ecclesiasticall, Martiall or Civill ... the Herealde must not refuse to
devise to such a publique person, upon his instant request, and
willingness to bear the same without reproche, a Coate of Armes, and
thenceforth to matriculate him with his intermarriages and issues
descending in the Register of the gentle and noble.... In the Civil or
Political State divers Offices of dignitie and worship doe merite Coates
of Armes to the possessours of the same offices, as ... Bailiffs of
Cities and ancient Boroughs or incorporated townes." John Shakespeare
had certainly been Bailiff of Stratford-on-Avon in 1568-9; the draft
states that he then applied for arms, and that the herald, Cooke, had
sent him a "pattern." Probably he did not conclude the negotiations
then, thinking the fees too heavy, or he might have delayed until he
found his opportunity lost, or he might have asked them for his year of
office alone. No doubt John Shakespeare was deeply impressed with the
dignity of his wife's relatives, and wished, even then, to make himself
and his family more worthy for her sake. The tradition of this draft, or
the sight of it, may have stimulated the heart of the good son to honour
his parents by having them enrolled among the _Armigeri_ of the county.
John had appeared among the "gentlemen" of Warwickshire in a government
list of 1580.[53]
The Warwickshire Visitations occur in 1619, after the death of the poet,
without male heirs, and are no help to us here. In the first 1596 draft
the claims are based on John's public office, on a grant to his
antecessors by Henry VII. for special services on marriage with the
daughter and heir of a gentleman of worship (_i.e._, entitled to
armorial bearings). Then a fuller draft was drawn out, also in 1596,
correcting "antecessors" into "grandfather." Halliwell-Phillipps only
mentions one at that date, but Mr. Stephen Tucker,[54] Somerset Herald,
gives facsimiles of both. Halliwell-Phillipps calls these ridiculous
assertions, and asserts that both parties were descended from obscure
country yeomen. The heralds state they were "solicited," and "on
credible report" informed of the facts. We must not forget that all the
friends intimately associated either with the Ardens or the Shakespeares
(with the exception of the Harts) were armigeri.
Nobody now knows anything of that earlier pattern, nor of the patents of
the gifts "to the antecessors." But seeing, as I have seen, that sacks
full of old parchment deeds and bonds, reaching back to the fifteenth
century, get cleared out of lawyers' offices, and sold for small sums to
make drumheads or book-bindings, and seeing that this process has been
going on for 400 years, it does not seem to me surprising that some
deeds do get lost. Generally, it is those we most wish to have that
disappear. Lawyers do not, as a rule, concern themselves with historical
fragments, but with the soundness of the present titles of their clients
and their own modern duties. (I do think that historical and antiquarian
societies should bestir themselves to have old deeds included among the
"ancient monuments of the country" and entitled to some degree of
protection.)
We must also consider how illiterate the inhabitants of the country were
in the reign of Henry VII., how the nation was bestrid by officials of
the Empson and Dudley type, and we have reason to believe that various
accidents, intentional or otherwise, caused many an old grant to
disappear at that period.
It has struck me as possible that John Shakespeare may have intended
ancestors through the female line. The names of his mother and
grandmother are as yet unknown, and the supposition has never been
discussed. But in support of John Shakespeare's claim, and in opposition
to Halliwell-Phillipps's contradiction, we can prove there _were_
Shakespeares in direct service of the Crown, not merely as common
soldiers, though in 28 Henry VIII. (1537), Thomas, Richard, William and
another Richard were mentioned as among the King's forces.[55]
But one Roger Shakespeare was Yeoman of the Chamber to the King, and on
June 9, 1552, shared with his fellows, Abraham Longwel and Thomas Best,
a forfeit of £36 10s.[56] This post of Yeoman of the Chamber was one of
great trust and dignity; it was the same as that held earlier by Robert
Arden, of Yoxall, the younger brother of Sir John Arden, and the
election to it suggested either inherited favour, Court interest, or
signal personal services. His ancestors might have been also the missing
ancestors of John Shakespeare. He himself may be the Roger who was
buried in Haseley in 1558, supposed by some to have been the monk of
Bordesley. He may also have been the father of Thomas Shakespeare, the
Royal Messenger of 1575, noticed later.
This record proves nothing beyond the inexactitude of
Halliwell-Phillipps's sweeping statements, but it gives us a hope that
something else may somewhere else be found to fit into it and make a
fact complete. One of the facts brought forward as a reason for the
grant of arms to John Shakespeare was "that he hath maryed Mary daughter
and one of the heires of Robert Arden in the same countie, Esquire."
"Gent" was originally written, and was altered to "Esquire."[57]
Some have doubted that the grant ever really took place, but Gwillim, in
his "Display of Heraldrie," 1660, notes, "Or, on a bend Sable, a tilting
Spear of the field, borne by the name of Shakespeare, granted by William
Dethick, Garter, to William Shakespear the renowned poet." Shakespeare's
crest, or cognizance, was a "Falcon, his wings displayed, Argent,
standing on a wreath of his colours, supporting a speare, gold." His
motto was, "Non Sans Droict."
It is said there were objections made to this pattern on the ground that
it was too like the old Lord Mauley's.[58] Probably they were only notes
of a discussion among the heralds, when it was decided that the spear
made a "patible difference," and a résumé of the qualifications was
added.
This was answered on May 10, 1602, before Henry Lord Howard, Sir Robert
Sidney, and Sir Edward Dier, Chancellor of the Order of the Garter: "The
answere of Garter and Clarencieux Kings of arms, to a libellous scrowle
against certen arms supposed to be wrongfully given. Right Honorable,
the exceptions taken in the Scrowle of Arms exhibited, doo concerne
these armes granted, or the persons to whom they have been granted. In
both, right honourable, we hope to satisfy your Lordships." (They
mention twenty-three cases.) "Shakespere.--It may as well be said that
Hareley, who beareth gould, a bend between two cotizes sables, and all
other that (bear) or and argent a bend sables, usurpe the coat of the
Lo. Mauley. As for the speare in bend, is a patible difference; and the
person to whom it was granted hath borne magestracy, and was justice of
peace at Stratford-upon-Avon. He married the daughter and heire of
Arderne, and was able to maintaine that estate" ("MS. Off. Arm.," W. Z.,
p. 276; from Malone).
It has struck me that the attempt to win arms for his father was in
order to _continue_ them to his mother.
In the Record Office I found the other day a note that explains what I
mean: "At a Chapitre holden by the Office of Armes at the Embroyderers
Hall in London Anno 4^o Reginæ Elizabethæ it was agreed, that no
inhiritrix eyther mayde wife or widdow should bear or cause to be borne
any Creast or Cognizaunce of her Ancestors otherwise than as followeth.
If she be unmaried to beare in her ringe, cognizaunce or otherwise, the
first coate of her Ancestors in a Lozenge. And during her Widdowhood to
Set the first coate of her husbande in pale with the first coate of her
Auncestor. And if she mary one who is noe gentleman, then she to be
clearly exempted from the former conclusion."[59]
FOOTNOTES:
[51] Cooke, Dethicke and Camden.
In the description of England prefixed to Holinshed's Chronicles it is
stated:
"A gentleman of blood is defined to descend of three descents of
nobleness, that is to saie, of name and of armes both by father and
mother" (p. 161). "Moreover as the King doth dubbe Knights and createth
the barons and higher degrees, so gentlemen whose ancestors are not
knowen to come in with William Duke of Normandie (for of the Saxon races
yet remaining wee now make none accompt, much lesse of the British
issue), doe take their beginning in England, after this manner in our
times. Whosoever studieth the lawes of the realme, whoso abideth in the
Universitie giving his mind to his booke, or professeth physicke and the
liberall sciences, or beside his service in the roome of a captaine in
the warres, or good counsell given at home, whereby his commonwealth is
benefited, can live without manuall labour, and thereto is able and will
beare the port, charge, and countenance of a gentleman, he shall for
monie have a cote and armes bestowed upon him by heralds (who in the
charter of the same doo of custome pretend antiquitie and service, and
manie gaie things) and thereunto being made in good cheape be called
master, which is the title men give to esquires and gentlemen, and
reputed for a gentleman ever after" (Ed. 1586, pp. 161-2).
The same is repeated in "The Commonwealth of England and Maner of
Government thereof," by Sir Thomas Smith, London, 1589-1594, Chap. XX.
In a contemporary play, quoted by John Payne Collier, the herald is made
to say:
"We now are faine to wait who grows in wealth,
And comes to beare some office in a towne,
And we for money help them unto armes,
For what can not the golden tempter doe?"
ROBERT WILSON: _The Cobbler's Prophecy_.
[52] Sir John Ferne in "The Glory of Generositie," 1586.
[53] State Papers, Dom. Ser., Eliz., cxxxvii. 68. The gentlemen and
freeholders in the countye of Warwick. Among the freeholders of
Barlichway, John Shakespeare, father of William and Thomas Shakespeare,
69. In Stratford-on-Avon John Shaxspere, and at Rowington Thomas
Shaxpere, April, 1580.
[54] "Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica," 2nd Series, 1886, vol. i.,
p. 109, since published in a volume.
[55] The Musters. Archers of Rowington and Wroxall, S.P.D.S.
[56] State Papers, Domestic Series, Edward VI., vol. xiv., Docquet.
[57] Nichols's "Herald and Genealogist," vol. i., p. 510, 1863; and
"Miscel. Gen. et Herald.," Series II., vol. i., p. 109.
[58] See the papers in the Bodleian Library, Ashmol. MS. 846, art. ix.,
f. 50 _a_, _b_. "The answers of Garter and Clarencieux Kings of Arms, to
the Scrowle of Arms, exhibited by Raffe Brookesmouth, caled York
Herald," wherein they state that there is "a patible difference."
[59] State Papers, Domestic Series, Eliz., xxvi. 31, 1561.
CHAPTER V
THE IMPALEMENT OF THE ARDEN ARMS
In the later application to impale the Ardens' arms in 1599, the 1596
draft is repeated in only slightly altered terms. "Antecessors" is
changed to "great-grandfather," and the dignity of Mary Arden's family
further elucidated. Some writers consider that, following a custom of
the day, John Shakespeare treated as _his_ antecessors his wife's
ancestors. The word "_great-grandfather_" tends to exclude this notion,
as may be seen later, but the word "grandfather" would imply, if this
had been intended, that Thomas Arden himself had had the grants. It has
always been supposed that Brooke, York Herald, had exhibited some
complaint against this grant also, as he very possibly did.[60] He was
severely critical of the heraldic and genealogic matter in Camden's
"Britannia," and very bitter at the slighting way the author speaks of
heralds. He wrote a book called "The Discoveries of Certaine Errours in
the edition of 1594," which he seems to have begun at once, as on page
14 he states, "If the making of gentlemen heretofore hath been greatly
misliked by her Majestie in the Kinges of Armes; much more displeasing,
I think, it will be to her, that you, _being no Officer of Armes_,
should erect, make and put down Earles and Barons at your pleasure." It
must have been peculiarly galling to him that by the influence of Sir
Fulke Greville, afterwards Lord Brooke, Camden was advanced over his
head to the dignity he himself desired. After being appointed, for
form's sake, Richmond Herald for one day, Camden was made Clarenceux,
October 23, 1597, between the first and second Shakespeare drafts. This
probably decided Brooke to publish his "Pamphlet of Errors," which, as
he dedicated it to the Earl of Essex, "Lord General of the Royal Forces
in Ireland," must have appeared in 1599. He wrote another book against
Camden, which was forbidden to be published.
The draft for the impalement is also heavily corrected, probably in
comparison and discussion. Of the Shakespeare shield a note adds: "The
person to _whom it was granted_ hath borne magistracy in
Stratford-on-Avon, was Justice of the Peace, married the daughter and
heir of Arderne, and was able to maintain that estate." The Heralds
first tricked the arms of the Ardens of Park Hall, Ermine a fesse chequy
or and az., but scratched them out, and substituted a shield bearing
three cross crosslets fitchée and a chief or, with a martlet for
difference.
I put forward several suggestions concerning this question in an article
in the _Athenæum_.[61]
The critical strictures against the Shakespeare-Arden claim are best
summed up by Mr. Nichols:[62]
1. That the relation of Mary Arden to the Ardens of Park Hall was
imaginary and impossible, and those who assert it in error. 2. That the
Ardens were connected with nobility, while Robert Arden was a mere
"husbandman." 3. That the Heralds knew the claim was unfounded when they
scratched out the arms of Arden of Park Hall, and replaced them by the
arms of the Ardens of Alvanley, of Cheshire. This was equally
unjustifiable, but as the family lived further off, there was less
likelihood of complaint.
Now we must work out the case step by step on the other side.
Robert Arden, of Park Hall, spent his substance during the Wars of the
Roses, and was finally brought to the block (30 Henry VI.,[63] 1452).
His son Walter was restored by Edward IV., but he would probably be
encumbered by debts and "waste"; at least, he had but small portions to
leave to his family when he made his will[64] (31 July, 17 Henry VII.,
1502). Besides his heir, Sir John, Esquire of the Body to Henry VII., he
had a second son,[65] Thomas, to whom he leaves _ten_ marks annually; a
third son, Martin, who was to have the manor of Natford; if not, then
Martin and his other sons--Robert, Henry, William--should each of them
have _five_ marks annually. This is an income too small even for younger
sons to live on in those days, so it is to be supposed the father had
already either placed them, married them well, or otherwise provided for
them during his life. Among the witnesses to the will are "Thomas Arden
and John Charnells, Squires." Thomas, being the second son, might have
had something from his mother Eleanor, daughter and coheir of John
Hampden, of Great Hampden, county Bucks. This Thomas was alive in 1526,
because Sir John Arden then willed that his brothers--Thomas, Martin,
and Robert--should have their fees for life. Henry, and probably also
William, had meanwhile died, though a William seems to have been
established at Hawnes, in Bedfordshire. Seeing that Sir John was the
Esquire of the Body to Henry VII., it seems very probable that his
brother Robert was the Robert Arden, Yeoman of the Chamber, to whom
Henry VII. granted three patents: First, on February 22, 17 Henry VII.,
as Keeper of the Park at Altcar,[66] Lancashire; and second, as Bailiff
of Codmore, Derby,[67] and Keeper of the Royal Park there; the third[68]
gave him Yoxall for life, at a rental of £42--afterwards confirmed.
Indeed, Leland in his "Itinerary" mentions the relationship,[69] and the
administration of Robert's goods proves it.
Martin's family became connected with the Easts and the Gibbons, and his
name and arms appear in the "Visitations of Oxfordshire." Where
meanwhile was Thomas? There is no record of any Thomas Arden in
Warwickshire or elsewhere, ever supposed to be the son of Walter Arden,
save the Thomas who, the year before Walter Arden's death, was living at
Wilmecote, in the parish of Aston Cantlowe, on soil formerly owned by
the Beauchamps. On May 16, 16 Henry VII., Mayowe transferred certain
lands at Snitterfield to "Robert Throckmorton, Armiger, Thomas Trussell
of Billesley, Roger Reynolds of Henley-in-Arden, William Wood of
Woodhouse, Thomas Arden of Wilmecote, and Robert Arden, the son of this
Thomas Arden." This list is worth noting. Thomas Trussell, of an old
family, is identified by his residence.[70] He was Sheriff of the county
in 23 Henry VII. No Throckmorton could take precedence of him save the
Robert Throckmorton of Coughton, who was knighted six months later.[71]
These men were evidently acting as trustees for the young Robert Arden.
Just in the same way this same Robert Throckmorton was appointed by
Thomas's elder brother, Sir John Arden of Park Hall, as trustee for his
children, in association with John Kingsmel, Sergeant-at-Law, Sir
Richard Empson, and Sir Richard Knightley.[72] That a man of the same
name, at the same time, in the same county, retaining the same family
friends, in circumstances in every way suitable to the second son of
Walter Arden, should be accepted for that man seems just and natural,
especially _when no other claimant has ever been brought forward_.
But we _know_ this Thomas Arden was Mary Arden's grandfather; this
Robert was her father; this property, that tenanted afterwards by the
Shakespeares, and left by Robert's will to his family.
As the deed of conveyance of the premises at Snitterfield from Mayowe to
Arden has been often referred to, occasionally quoted, but never, so far
as I know, printed _in extenso_, I should like to preserve the copy. It
may save trouble to future investigators, and help to clear up the
connection between the Shakespeares and the Ardens. It certainly
strengthens very much Mary Arden's claim to connection with the Ardens
of Park Hall, and her descent from "a gentleman of worship," a claim the
heralds allowed.
"Sciant presentes et futuri quod ego Johannes Mayowe de Snytterfeld
dedi, concessi, et hac presenti carta mea confirmavi, Roberto
Throkmerton Armigero, Thome Trussell de Billesley, Rogero Reynoldes de
Henley in Arden, Willelmo Wodde de Wodhouse, Thome Arderne de Wylmecote,
et Roberto Arderne filio eiusdem Thome Arderne, unum mesuagium cum suis
pertinenciis in Snytterfeld predicta, una cum omnibus et singulis terris
toftis, croftis, pratis, pascuis et pasturis eidem mesuagio spectantibus
sive pertinentibus in villa et in campis de Snytterfeld predicta cum
omnibus suis pertinenciis; quod quidem mesuagium predictum quondam fuit
Willelmi Mayowe et postea Johannis Mayowe et situatum est inter terram
Johannis Palmer ex parte una et quandam venellam ibidem vocatam
Merellane ex parte altera in latitudine et extendit se in longitudine a
via Regia ibidem usque ad quendam Rivulum, secundum metas et divisas
ibidem factas. Habendum et tenendum predictum mesuagium cum omnibus et
singulis terris Toftis, Croftis, pratis, pascuis, et pasturis predictis,
ac omnibus suis pertinenciis prefatis Roberto Throkmerton, Thome
Trussell, Rogero Reynoldes, Willelmo Wodde, Thome Arderne et Roberto
Ardern heredibus et assignatis suis de capitalibus dominis feodi illius
per servicia inde debita et de jure consueta imperpetuum. Et ego vero
predictus Johannes Mayowe et heredes mei mesuagium predictum cum omnibus
et singulis terris Toftis Croftis, pratis, pascuis et pasturis
supradictis ac omnibus suis pertinenciis prefatis Roberto Throckmerton,
Thome Trussell, Rogero Reynoldes, Willelmo Wodde, Thome Arderne et
Roberto Arderne heredibus et assignatis suis contra omnes gentes
Warrantizabimus et defendemus imperpetuum.
"Et insuper sciatis me prefatum Johannem Mayowe assignasse, constituisse
et in loco meo posuisse dilectos michi in Christo Thomam Clopton de
Snytterfeld predicta gentilman et Johannem Porter de eadem meos veros et
legitimos Attornatos conjunctim et divisim ad intrandum vice et nomine
meo in predictum mesuagium cum omnibus et singulis premissis et
pertinenciis suis quibuscunque et ad plenam et pacificam seisinam pro me
ac vice et nomine meo inde capiendam et postquam hujusmodi seisina dicta
capta fuerit ad deliberandam pro me ac vice et nomine meo prefatis
Roberto Throkmerton, Thome Trussell, Rogero Reynoldes, Willelmo Wodde,
Thome Arderne et Roberto Arderne plenam et pacificam possessionem et
seisinam de et in eodem mesuagio ac omnibus et singulis premissis,
secundum vim, formam et effectum huius presentis carte mee. Ratum et
gratum habens et habiturus totum et quicquid dicti attornati mei vice et
nomine meo fecerint seu eorum alter fecerit in premisses. In cuius rei
testimonium huic presenti carte mee et scripto meo sigillum meum
apposui. Hiis testibus Johanne Wagstaffe de Aston Cauntelowe Roberto
Porter de Snytterfield predicta Ricardo Russheby de eadem, Ricardo
Atkyns de Wylmecote predicta, Johanne Alcokkes de Newenham et aliis.
Datum apud Snytterfield predictam die lune proximo post festum
invencionis Sancte Crucis Anno Regni Regis Henrici Septimi post
conquestum Sexto decimo."[73]
Mr. Nichols' second objection was that in records he is styled
"husbandman"; but the word is an old English equivalent for a farmer, in
which sense it is often used in old wills and records. And in the
examination of John Somerville,[74] Edward Arden's son-in-law (also of
high descent), he stated "that he had received no visitors of late, but
certain 'husbandmen,' near neighbours." The Arden "husbandman" of
Wilmecote in 1523 and 1546[75] paid the same amount to the subsidy as
the Arden Esquire of Yoxall[76] in 1590, when money was of less value.
Mr. Nichols' third assertion, that the heralds scratched out the arms of
the Ardens of Park Hall, because they _dared_ not quarter them with
those of the Shakespeares, shows that he omitted certain considerations.
That family was under attainder then.
Drummond[77] exemplifies many arms of Arden, and traces them back to
their derivation. He notices that the "elder branch of the Ardens took
the arms of the old Earls of Warwick; the younger branches took the arms
of the Beauchamps, with a difference. In this they followed the custom
of the Earls of Warwick." The Ardens of Park Hall therefore bore ermine,
a fesse chequy, or, and az., arms derived from the old Earls of Warwick;
and this was the pattern scratched out in John Shakespeare's quartering.
But the reason lay in no breach of connection, but in the fact that Mary
Arden was an heiress, not in the eldest line, but through a _second
son_. A possible pattern for a younger son was three cross crosslets
fitchée and a chief or. As such they were borne by the Ardens of
Alvanley, with a crescent for difference. They were borne without the
crescent by Simon Arden of Longcroft,[78] the second son of the next
generation, and full cousin of Mary Arden's father. It is true that
among the tombs at Yoxall the fesse chequy appeared, but there is
evident confusion in their use. Martin Arden of Euston was probably in
the wrong to assume when he did the arms of his elder brother; William
Arden of Hawnes, if the sixth son, county Bedford, bore the same arms as
those proposed for Mary Arden, and it is implied that Thomas, her
father, had borne them. In the Heralds' College is the draft:
"Shakespere impaled with the Aunceyent armes of the said Arden of
Willingcote" (volume marked R. 21 outside and G. XIII. inside).
If the three cross crosslets fitchée were the correct arms for Thomas
Arden as the second son of an Arden, who might bear ermine, a fesse
chequy or, and az., the crescent would have been the correct difference,
but it had long been borne by the Ardens of Alvanley, in Cheshire, who
branched off from the Warwickshire family early in the thirteenth
century. The heralds therefore differenced the crosslets with a martlet,
usually, but by no means universally, the mark of cadency for a fourth
son at that time.[79] Thus, Glover[80] enumerates among the arms of
Warwickshire and Bedfordshire: "Arden or Arderne gu., three cross
crosslets fitchée or; on a chief of the second a martlet of the first.
Crest, a plume of feathers charged with a martlet or." If heraldry has
anything, therefore, to say to this dispute, it is to support the claim
of Thomas Arden to being a cadet of the Park Hall family, and thereby to
include Mary Arden and her son in the descent from Ailwin, Guy of
Warwick, and the Saxon King Athelstan. Camden and the other heralds were
only seeking correctness in their draft of the restitution of the
Ardens' arms. The hesitation as to exactitude among the varieties of
Arden arms was the cause of the notes. See "The Booke of Differ.," 61;
see "Knights of E.I.," folios 2, 28, etc., on the draft.
It has been considered strange that, after the application and even
after the grant (preserved in MS. "Coll. of Arms," R. 21), no use
thereof can be proved, though the heralds added to the former grant:
"and we have lykewise uppon an other escucheon impaled the same with the
auncient arms of the said Arden of Wellyngcote, signifying thereby that
it maye and shalbe lawfull, for the said John Shakespeare, gent., to
beare and use the same shields of arms, single or impaled, as aforesaid,
during his natural lyfe, and that it shalbe lawful for his children,
issue, and posterity, to beare, use, quarter, and shewe the same with
their dewe difference, in all lawfull warlyke faites and civill use"
(_Ibid._, G. XIII.).
John Shakespeare did not live long after his application, dying in 1601.
Whether or not the grant of the impaled Arden arms was completed before
his death, there is no record of his using them. Whether his son ever
used the impalement we do not now know, but it does not appear on any of
the tombs or seals that have been preserved. But the Shakespeare arms
have been certainly used.
William Shakespeare was mercilessly satirized by his rivals, Ben Jonson
and others,[81] about his coat of arms; but it was the recognition of
his descent that secured him so universally the attribute of "gentle."
As Davies, addressing Shakespeare and Burbage in 1603, says:
"And though the stage doth stain pure gentle blood,
Yet generous ye are in mind and mood."[82]
We must not forget there would be possible ill-feeling among the
families of the Arden sisters, when the youngest, whom they had probably
always pitied and looked down on, because of her comparatively
unfortunate marriage, should have the audacity to think of using the
arms of their father, to which they had never aspired.
[Illustration: OLD HOUSE AT WILMECOTE, BY SOME SUPPOSED TO BE ROBERT
ARDEN'S.
_To face p. 35._]
FOOTNOTES:
[60] He tried in every way to prove Camden wrong, but his bitterness
only hurt himself. His strictures were confuted before the highest
authority.
[61] August 10, 1895, p. 202.
[62] "Herald and Genealogist," vol. i., p. 510, 1863; and _Notes and
Queries_, Series III., vol. v., p. 493.
[63] Dugdale's "Warwickshire," p. 925.
[64] Preserved at Somerset House, 8 Porch.
[65] Dugdale places the sons in another order.
[66] Pat. Henry VII., second part, mem. 30, February 22.
[67] Same series, mem. 35, September 9.
[68] Pat. 23 Henry VIII., September 24, first part, mem. 12.
[69] "Arden of the court, brother to Sir John Arden of Park Hall."
"Itinerary," vi. 20, about 1536-42.
[70] Sir Warine Trussell held Billesley 15 Edward III. The will of Sir
William Trussell of Cublesdon, 1379, mentions a bequest to his cousin,
"Sir Thomas d'Ardene" ("Testamenta Vetusta," Sir N. H. Nicolas, vol. i.,
p. 107). William Trussell was made a brother of the Guild of Knowle
1469, and there is an entry in 1504 of a donation "for Sir William
Trussell and for his soul": "To Thomas Trussell, farmer of the said
Bishop of Worcester; in Knowle for the Worke-silver 4/4" (37 Henry
VIII., Report. "Register of the Guild of Knowle," Introduction, p.
xxvi., by Mr. W. B. Bickley). Alured Trussell, born 1533, married
Margaret, daughter of Robert Fulwood, and their daughter Dorothy married
Adam Palmer, Robert Arden's friend. French thinks that the wife, either
of Thomas or of Robert, was a Trussell.
[71] His son George succeeded him in 1520. Edward Arden, of Park Hall,
was brought up in his care, and married Mary, his son Robert's daughter.
[72] See p. 184.
[73] Deed of Conveyance of Premises at Snytterfield. (Transcribed from
the Miscellaneous Documents of Stratford-on-Avon), vol. ii., No. 83.
[74] State Papers, Domestic Series, Elizabeth, 1583, clxiii., 21.
[75] In the Subsidy Rolls 15 Henry VII., Thomas Arden was assessed on
£12, and Robert Arden on £8 (192/128). Subsidy, Aston Cantlowe, March
10, 37 Henry VIII., 1546, Robert Arden, assessed on property valued at
£10; Walter Edkyns, £10; John Jenks, £6; John Skarlett, £8; Thomas
Dixson, £8; Roger Knight, £8; Richard Ingram, £6; Thomas Gretwyn, £5;
Margaret Scarlet, £5; Richard Edkyns, £6; Robert Fulwood, £5; Nicholas
Gibbes, £5; Richard Green, £5; William Hill, £5 (Mr. Hunter's
"Prolusions," 37, note). Thomas Arden of Park Hall at the same time was
assessed on £80; but Simon Arden was only assessed on £8 (192/179).
[76] French, "Genealogica Shakespeareana," p. 423; and Nichols' "History
of Leicestershire."
[77] H. Drummond's "Noble British Families," vol. i. (2).
[78] See Fuller's "Worthies of Warwickshire."
[79] "The several marks of cadency which have _of late years_ been made
use of for the distinction of houses ... for the second son a crescent,
the third a mullet, the fourth a martlet" (Glover's "Heraldry," vol. i.,
p. 168, ed. 1780).
[80] _Ibid._, vol. ii., ed. 1780.
[81] In the "Return from Parnassus," 1606, Studiosus says of the
players:
"Vile world that lifts them up to high degree,
And treads us down in grovelling misery,
England affords these glorious vagabonds
That carried erst their fardels on their backs
Coursers to ride on through the gazing streets,
Sweeping it in their glaring satin suits,
And pages to attend their masterships.
With mouthing words that better wits have framed,
They purchase lands and now esquires are made."
ACT V., SC. 1.
The satire in "Ratsey's Ghost" also may refer to Shakespeare, though
Alleyn and others might be intended.
Freeman, in his "Epigrams," 1614, asks:
"Why hath our age such new-found 'gentles' found
To give the 'master' to the farmer's son?"
But his high praise of Shakespeare elsewhere shows he does not refer to
him.
[82] John Davies of Hereford's "Microcosmus, The Civil Warres of Death
and Fortune."