Biography

William Shakespeare was baptized 26th April 1564 in Holy Trinity Church in Stratford. There is no record of his date of birth but, at the time, it was tradition to be baptized three days after birth. Therefore, it is believed that he was born 23rd April 1564 (St. George's Day).

The next record in Shakespeare's life was 28th November 1592 when, at the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, who was eight years his senior. On the 26th May 1583, six months later, their first child was baptized: 'Susanna Shakespeare' in Holy Trinity Church. They also baptized their twins: 'Judith and Hamnet Shakespeare', in the same church on 2nd February 1585.



William Shakespeare's Family Tree

Shakespeare's father, John Shakespeare, was raised in a village called Smitterfield. In 1550, at the age of roughly 20, he moved to Stratford and started a glove-making business. In 1556, he bought a house on Henley Street; a house where Shakespeare was born. The next year, John married the daughter of a wealthy local landowner, Mary Arden and had eight kids. William's older two siblings died when they were babies but his other siblings survived: three brothers and two sisters. In 1557, John Shakespeare joined the town council and rose to the position of High Bailiff in 1568.

1585 to 1592 are known as the 'lost years' in William Shakespeare's life as there is no documented record of his late teens. It was also a mystery as to what Shakespeare did in the few years before. He could have been fighting the Spanish population of the Low Countries like many other young men to working as a lawyer clerk. There is, however, a legend that he was caught stealing a wealthy squire's deer and fleeing the town.

Some biographers have argued that, although the country was under Protestant power, John Shakespeare was secretly catholic as were a few of the grammar school teachers. It is suggested that William Shakespeare was sent to the home of Alexander Hoghton as a tutor since Hoghton's will dated 3rd April 1581, asked Sir Thomas Hesketh, his neighbour to be friendly to a 'William Shakeshafte'.

There are hints of Shakespeare's childhood in his plays and writings. For example, in 1571, a pageant event was hosted by the Earl of Leicester at Kenilworth Castle, near Stratford, celebrating the Queen's birthday. The three week event included a water pageant in the castle lake where Arion rode on the back of a dolphin. A line in 'Twelfth Night' suggested that Shakespeare was present at the celebration: 'like Arion on the dolphin's back'.


Shakespeare was first documented in London in 1592. It showed that he was clearly making his success as a playwright. This implies that he had been working as an actor recently before or during his 'lost years'. By 1592 it was thought that he had completed his series of four dramas of the Wars of the Roses as well as 'The Two Gentlemen of Verona'. During the early 1590's, Shakespeare's early plays were presented at 'The Rose', London's most popular theatre at the time. The summer of 1592 met the plaque outbreak and many theatre companies fled the city to tour other districts and get away from the plague. Shockingly, Shakespeare didn't follow and he tried his hand at poetry. He seemingly found his talent in poetry as his two poems 'Venus and Adonis' and 'The Rape of Lucrece' were quickly published soon after they were written. For the next few years Shakespeare worked as an actor and playwright for the 'Queen's Men' (it changed to the 'King's Men' when James I of England succeeded Elizabeth I). Seeing as Shakespeare wasn't an amazing actor, he decided for the best that he focused on his playwriting career.


Shakespeare dedicated himself to writing histories and comedies but not much is known about his private life. He apparently returned to Stratford when his son, Hamnet, died in 1596.

Shakespeare, the greatest playwright of Literature, died ten weeks after his sister's wedding. He was said to have drank too much and it eventually caught up with him and he died 23rd April 1616 (on his birthday). He was buried under Holy Trinity Church's stone floor where he was baptized 52 years earlier.