Richard Shakespeare

Richard Shakespeare (1490–d. before 10 February 1561) was a husbandman of Snitterfield, Warwickshire, 4 miles (6.4 km) north-northeast of Stratford-upon-Avon, the father of John Shakespeare and the grandfather of William Shakespeare.^[1][2]

He was probably born around the Rowington/Wroxall area, about 7 miles (11 km) to the north in Warwickshire.^[3] Sometime before 1529, he removed to Snitterfield, where he was a tenant farmer until his death on land owned by Robert Arden, the father of Mary Arden, who married John, the poet's father.^[4]

Richard Shakespeare is mentioned in the court and manorial records as a prosperous farmer with livestock. Thomas Atwood alias Taylor, a prosperous vintner and clothier who was a member of the Stratford Guild, bequeathed him a team of four oxen he was keeping. He was fined two pence for not attending the manor court in 1529, and he was charged with overburdening the commons with his cattle and fined for letting them run loose in the meadows and neglecting to ring or yoke his swine.^[5]

At the time of his death, Richard leased 80 acres of farm land on which his house stood, situated from the corner of High Street (now Bell Lane) down to the ford over the stream that flowed through the village into the Avon.^[6] His estate was valued at £38 17s.

References

William Shakespeare's family tree
Direct ascendants and descendants of William Shakespeare are shown with a blue background      Shakespeare's siblings are shown with a red background      Anne Hathaway and ascendants are shown with a yellow background      People related to Shakespeare through marriage are shown with a green background      Relations whose identity is not known are shown with a dashed border	This does not include all of Shakespeare's siblings, only the notable ones. Years given are usually approximate and typically reflect baptismal and burial years, rather than birth and death. For remarriages, the number in parenthesis after the name indicates the order of the marriages..
Richard Shakespeare[n. 1] (1490–1561) (unknown) (unknown) Robert Arden[n. 2] (unknown) John Shakespeare[n. 3] (1531–1601) Mary Arden[n. 4] (1537–1608) (unknown) Richard Hathaway[n. 5] (unknown) Gilbert Shakespeare[n. 6] (1566–1612) Joan Shakespeare[n. 7] (1569–1646) Edmund Shakespeare[n. 8] (1580–1607) (4 other siblings)[n. 9] William Shakespeare[n. 10] (1564–1616) Anne Hathaway[n. 11] (1555–1623) John Hall[n. 12] (1575–1635) Susanna Hall[n. 13] (1583–1649) Judith Quiney[n. 14] (1585–1662) Thomas Quiney[n. 15] (1589–1662) Hamnet Shakespeare[n. 16] (1585–1596) Thomas Nash (1)[n. 17] (1593–1647) Elisabeth Barnard[n. 18] (1608–1670) John Barnard (2)[n. 19] (1604–1674) Shakespeare Quiney[n. 20] (1616–1617) Richard Quiney[n. 21] (1618–1639) Thomas Quiney[n. 22] (1620–1639)
Notes ↑ Chambers 1930, p. I:11 ↑ Chambers 1930, p. I:12 ↑ Chambers 1930, p. I:12 ↑ Chambers 1930, p. I:12 ↑ Chambers 1930, p. I:18 ↑ Chambers 1930, p. I:12 ↑ Chambers 1930, p. I:12 ↑ Chambers 1930, p. I:12 ↑ Chambers 1930, p. I:12 ↑ Chambers 1930, p. I:12 ↑ Chambers 1930, p. I:18 ↑ Chambers 1930, p. II:9 ↑ Chambers 1930, p. I:18 ↑ Chambers 1930, p. I:18 ↑ Schoenbaum 1977, p. 292 ↑ Chambers 1930, p. I:18 ↑ Chambers 1930, p. II:9 ↑ Chambers 1930, p. II:8 ↑ Chambers 1930, p. II:8 ↑ Chambers 1930, p. II:8 ↑ Chambers 1930, p. II:8 ↑ Chambers 1930, p. II:8 Sources Chambers, Edmund Kerchever (1930). William Shakespeare: A Study of Facts and Problems. Oxford: Clarendon Press. OCLC 353406.  Schoenbaum, Samuel (1977). William Shakespeare: A Compact Documentary Life. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0195051610.