by James Robinson

Created on: February 16, 2009

His plays survive to bear witness to the genius of England's greatest poet and playwright but official documents concerning the life of William Shakespeare are very few indeed in spite of exhaustive searches for them over the last several hundred years. There are some entries in church registers or other church records, some court documents of litigation actions, some details of property purchases, a reference to unpaid taxes, some mentions of payments from the royal treasury to him and his fellow actors, and his final will and testament, that is about all that has been found.

We know that William Shakespeare was born in 1564 and grew up in the heart of the English countryside in the town of Stratford-Upon-Avon in the county of Warwickshire in central England. His father was engaged in the trade of glove-making and also held public office in several capacities, eventually rising to be the High Bailiff of Stratford in1568, a position similar today to being the mayor of a small country town. His mother, Mary Arden, was the youngest daughter of Richard Arden, the Ardens were a prominent and respected family of long standing in the county. The Stratford town's records seem to indicate that John Shakespeare may have suffered financial setbacks by the time William was about fourteen years old, however, he seems to have remained a respected member of the community until his death in 1601, by which time, in 1596, he had been granted a coat of arms, a symbol of honor and standing as a member of the English gentry, permitting the addition of the word "Gentleman" to the male Shakespeare name.

Existing records of Stratford's Holy Trinity Church, translated from the Latin language then in use, show that William, son of John Shakespeare was baptized on April 26th, 1564. While there is no record of his actual day of birth, it is assumed that in keeping with the custom of the times, his birthday was probably a few days before the baptism giving the date of April 23rd, a date that coincides nicely with that of England's patron saint, St. George's Day. It is also the date of Shakespeare's death fifty-two years later in 1616.

There is no evidence of William Shakespeare's schooling but it is assumed he attended the local grammar school but did not go to university.

Not until eighteen years after the baptism entries is there another official reference to William Shakespeare when, on 27th
November 1582, after the posting of a significant monetary bond of indemnity, the Bishop of Worcester

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