William Shakespeare was born on April 26, 1564. The date isn’t positively correct, but in his birth town, Stratford-upon-Avon, there is a baptismal register at the Holy Trinity parish church that shows the following entry for April 26, 1564: Gulielmus filius Johannes Shakespeare. In those days babies were baptized three days after birth. The date of Shakespeare’s birth isn’t known but is now accepted as April 26, 1564. William was into a powerful and important Catholic family. The Shakespeare family, in their society, were well looked upon. Shakespeare grew up in a good family.
William’s parents were important people. John was a wealthy business man while Mary, his mother, was from a wealthy family. John was elected head of various offices such as Chamberlain of Stratford in 1561, Alderman in 1565 and Mayor in 1568. Mary just lived a happy life in their home on Henley Street. Prior to having Shakespeare they did have two little girls, Joan and Margaret. They died of the fatal Bubonic Plague. Post to having William they had Gilbert Shakespeare, William’s little brother.
William Shakespeare started his education at the early age of six seven. “He likely attended King Edward IV Grammar School in Stratford-upon-Avon from the age of 7 in 1571 and left school and formal education when he was fourteen in 1578.(1)’ It was here that he first learned some of his, now famous, English and writing skills. William had some lessons in English, but the main language of his time was Latin. William Shakespeare was withdrawn from education in 1577 at the age of fourteen due to his father's financial problems. He never received a higher form of education. He had seven years of formal school under his belt and he stepped out into the world. He likely helped learned how to be a Glover and Wittawer. He probably also worked some in money lending. Shakespeare worked a lot. As he grew older he began to travel and visit playhouses.
Shakespeare did see a lot of plays, but his life slowed down after he married Anne Hathaway in November of 1582.. He was eighteen and she was twenty-six. William. Shakespeares' first child was a girl named Susanna and she was born on May 26th, 1583,. His set of twins, Judith and Hamnet arrived three years later. Soon after, William Shakespeare left his family, wife and, children to go and work in London. Some say that he left Stratford-upon-Avon to start a career.
In 1592 Shakespeare left his home, wife and family to persue a career in London. Some say that he was fleeing to avoid prosecution. William knew acting troops and went to London to perform. It is probable that Shakespeare played the title role in Edward I (a play by Edward Peele) in 1593. He performed in various and numerous plays. He soon became known as Shakespeare the actor. William even starred in Henry VI, The Comedy of Errors, and Titus Andronicus. The company that staged most of the early productions of these plays was Pembroke's Men. William became famous performing with them.
In 1952 Shakespeare also started work as a playwright. He wrote Poems until 1601. He also wrote Sonnet. Shakespeare became famous after his death in on April 23rd 1616 at the age of 52. He was died on the day he was born. There is a memorial called The Memorial to William Shakespeare at Holy Trinity (1)! |
