Picture of house in
Henley Street Stratford-upon-Avon
How many Brothers and Sisters did
William Shakespeare have?
THE DATES OF BIRTH OF THE
BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF SHAKESPEARE
The actual dates
of birth of the Shakespeare children cannot be substantiated as at this time in England
births were not formally registered and Birth Certificates
were not produced
Birth dates
can, however, be guessed as due to the high mortality rate of
infants it was the custom of Elizabethan parents to
have their children baptised three days after their birth
THE BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Joan was the
first child of John and Mary was baptised 1558 September 15
(she only survived two months)
Margaret was
baptised 1562 December 2 - she died one year later
William was
baptised 1564 April 26 (died 1616 aged 52 )
Gilbert was
baptised 1566 October 13 (died 1612 aged 46)
Another
daughter, also called Joan, was born in 1569 (died 1646 aged
77)
Anne was
baptised 1571 September 28 (1579 died aged 8)
Richard was
baptised 1574 March 11 (died 1613 aged 39)
Edmund was
baptised 1580 May 3 (died 1607 aged 27)
JOAN SHAKESPEARE - b.1558
d.1558
Joan was the
first born of John and Mary Shakespeare who had eight children between 1558 - 1580
Joan died at the
age of just two months old - the cause of death was believed
to be the Bubonic Plague
MARGARET SHAKESPEARE (1562 -
1563)
Margaret only
lived for one year
The cause of
death has not been documented but was believed to be due to
the Bubonic Plague
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (1564 -
1616)
William was the
first born son of John and Mary Shakespeare and thankfully
survived childhhood unlike the two sisters before him
GILBERT SHAKESPEARE (1566 -
1612)
Two years after
William's birth the Shakespeare’s' fourth child, Gilbert,
was born
It is possible
that he was named after Gilbert Bradley, a Burgess of
Stratford who was also a glover as was John Shakespeare and
lived in Henley Street
It is likely
that Gilbert attended school with William
Gilbert took the
trade of a haberdasher and followed his brother William to
live in London
Gilbert often
returned to Stratford and he appeared in Stratford court in
connection with a lawsuit
Gilbert never
married and remained a bachelor until his death in
Stratford, on February 3, 1612 at the age of 46
JOAN SHAKESPEARE (1569 - 1646)
Joan was the
fifth of John and Mary Shakespeare and named after her
deceased sister which was a common practise during the
Elizabethan era
It was not the
usual custom for girls in this era to attend school so Joan
would have stayed at home and helped her mother with the
household chores
Joan met and
married a hatter called William Hart
She had four
children but only William and Michael survived
Joan's son
William Hart (1600-1639) followed in his Uncle William's
footsteps and became an actor - he never married but he is
believed to have fathered an illegitimate son called Charles
Hart who became a leading actor during the Restoration
period
William gave
permission for Joan to live in the Western of the two houses
on Henley Street where she stayed until her death at the
remarkable age of 77 years old!
ANNE SHAKESPEARE (1571 - 1579)
Anne was the
born in 1571 when William was seven years old
She died when
she was just eight years old - the cause is uncertain but it
is probable that Anne died of the Bubonic Plague
Anne was
provided with an expensive funeral even though the family
were going through a financial crisis
Anne Shakespeare
was buried on April 4, 1579
RICHARD SHAKESPEARE (1574 -
1613)
Richard was
baptised on March 11th 1574
When Richard was
born the Shakespeare family fortunes were in decline and it
is probable that Richard did not receive an education or
read or write
There is little
known about Richard. There are no records of a marriage but
it is believed that he lived out his life in
Stratford-upon-Avon helping with the family business
Richard
Shakespeare was buried on February 4, 1613 - he lived to the
age of 39
EDMUND SHAKESPEARE - b.1581
(1581 - 1607)
At the time of
his birth the Shakespeare fortunes had recovered
Edmund was
sixteen years younger than William
He followed
William to London and worked as an actor
Edmund died in
1607 at the age of 27 and once again it is believed that the
cause was the Bubonic Plague
Edmund was
buried in St. Saviour's Church, in Southwark, in London on
December 31 1607. William paid for his expensive funeral
which was attended by many of the Globe actors
How many Brothers
and Sisters did William Shakespeare have?
