When William
Shakespeare left Stratford-upon-Avon he would have known
some people who lived there!
Actors who had
played with travelling acting troupes in Stratford
Business
acquaintances of his father, John Shakespeare
Richard Field -
a boyhood friend and neighbour who moved to Blackfriars in
London on September 29, 1579 was apprenticed to George
Bishop a prominent Printer / Publisher
WHERE DID SHAKESPEARE LIVE IN
LONDON?
Given his
friendship with Richard Field it would seem reasonable that
Shakespeare would have taken lodgings near his friend, in
Blackfriars, when he first moved to London
Richard Field
became very successful and would have been acquainted with
the notable Poets and Authors in London through his Printing
and Publishing business - and no doubt would have introduced
Shakespeare to some of them! His brother, Jasper Field,
joined Richard as an apprentice in 1592
In 1593
Shakespeare lived in Bishopsgate ( we know this because
there are court records dated 1597 saying that he owed taxes
here)
In 1596 he was
living in the parish of
St
Helen's in Bishopsgate
1599 he had
moved across the river to Bankside on property owned by the
of the Bishop of Winchester's estate, the Liberty of the
Clink, where the Globe Theatre was also built
1604 Shakespeare
is known to have moved back to the city and rented lodgings
at the house of Christopher and Mary Mountjoy in on the
corner of Monkwell and Silver Street in Cripplegate, not far
from St Paul's. Mountjoy was a refugee, a French Huguenot
and a tire-maker (manufacturer of ladies' ornamental
headresses)
In 1613 William
Shakespeare was rich enough to purchase his own property. He
invested £140 in a gate-house near the Blackfriars theater.
It was located in Ireland Yard which joins Blackfriars Lane
via, would you believe, Playhouse Yard!
the former
gatehouse had been the main entrance to the vast monastery
of the Black Friars which had been seized and sold off
during the Dissolution of the Monasteries
In 1615
litigation over legal title to the gatehouse shows he has
made improvements to the property
WHAT WAS SHAKESPEARE'S LONDON
LIKE?
We know exactly
what London was like from this excerpt from a pamphlet,
entitled "The Seven Deadly Sins of London" by Thomas
Dekkar!
"Carts and
coaches make such a thundering din as if the world ran on
wheels; at every corner men, women, and children meet in
such shoals that posts are set up to strengthen the houses
lest with jostling with one another they should shoulder
them down. Besides, hammers are beating in one place, tubs
hooping in another [the noise made by coopers or barrel
makes], pots clinking in a third, water-tankards running at
tilt in a fourth. . . . Tradesmen, as if they were dancing
galliards are lusty at legs and never stand still"
It was noisy,
crowded, bawdy, bustling and busy. Trades of every kind and
description! Churches, inns, houses, workshops, stalls,
stables and theatres! Animals - cats, dogs, pigs, horses and
sheep! Bull baiting, bear baiting and cock-fighting! Inns,
taverns and bawdy houses! Actors, courtiers, churchmen,
merchants, shoppers, apprentices, money lenders, bawds,
beggars and thieves!
