William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare is known around the world as a playwright and is consider one of the greatest Britons.  Ben Johnson, his friend and fellow playwright described Shakespeare as “He was not of an age, but for all time!”.  Despite his fame he came from modest origins.

His father was a glove maker, born in the village of Snitterfield, but moved into the nearby town of Stratford-upon-Avon, living and working in a house on Henley Street.  We know he was living there in 1552 for on 29 April he was fined one shilling for creating a ‘midden heap’ (muck heap) in Henley Street.  That same house today draws visitors from all over the world; the house in which William Shakespeare was born in 1564.  Traditionally April 23 is assumed to be his birthday, though we don’t know this for sure.  We do know he was baptised in the local parish local parish church of Holy Trinity on 26 April.  In Elizabethan England, baptism took place within three days of the birth.  In Holy Trinity Church there is a facsimile on display recording his baptism, along with one for his burial on 25 April 1616.  His baptism is recorded in Latin; his burial is in English.

William’s father became an Alderman and member of Stratford Corporation.  In 1568, he became the town’s High Bailiff, equivalent to today’s Mayor. The Corporation held meetings in the Guildhall, the building which still stands today, has an upper floor containing the schoolroom where a young William Shakespeare was educated.  Undoubtedly the Guildhall and Schoolroom influenced and shaped William’s life.  Here he read Roman poet Ovid, and almost certainly will have seen travelling theatre companies such as Leicester’s Men and Worcester’s Men performing plays to the members of the Corporation.  Today, you can visit Stratford’s Guildhall and Shakespeare’s Schoolroom and sit on one of the eight forms (benches from where today we get the term school form) and experience an Elizabethan lesson with a master in role play.  And what makes this building special, it’s not just a museum and visitor attraction, but until 11am each morning it is still used as a schoolroom by pupils of King Edward VI’s School!

April 2025