William Haughton (died 1605) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

in the age of

English Renaissance theatre English Renaissance theatre, also known as Renaissance English theatre and Elizabethan theatre, refers to the theatre of England between 1558 and 1642. This is the style of the plays of William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson ...

.Chisholm, Hugh, ed. "Haughton, William". In ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press, 1911; Vol. 13, p. 66.

Life

Most of what little biographical information there is about him is derived from the papers of Philip Henslowe, proprietor of the Rose Theatre. Henslowe's earliest reference to him refers to him as "young" Haughton. He wrote all his known dramatic work for Henslowe, for production by the Admiral's Men and

Worcester's Men The Earl of Worcester's Men was an acting company in Renaissance England. An early formation of the company, wearing the livery of William Somerset, 3rd Earl of Worcester, is among the companies known to have toured the country in the mid-sixteen ...

. (Henslowe's papers refer to Haughton as Hawton, Hauton, Haughtoun, Haulton, Howghton, Horton, Harton, and Harvghton Chambers, E. K. ''The Elizabethan Stage''. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1923; Vol. 3, p. 334.—a fine example of the famously flexible Elizabethan orthography. His name is spelled Houghton in his 1605 will.) On 10 March 1600 Henslowe lent Haughton ten

shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...

s "to release him out of

The Clink The Clink was a prison in Southwark, England, which operated from the 12th century until 1780. The prison served the Liberty of the Clink, a local manor area owned by the Bishop of Winchester rather than by the reigning monarch. As the Libe ...

". A William Haughton received an M.A. from Oxford in 1604, but Baugh doubts that this was the playwright. Haughton made his will on 6 June 1605, with his sometime dramatic collaborator Wentworth Smith and one Elizabeth Lewes as witnesses. It was proved on 20 July 1605. He was of Allhallows, Stainings, at that time. He left a widow Alice and children.

Career as a playwright

During the years 1597 to 1602 he collaborated in many plays with

Henry Chettle Henry Chettle (c. 1564 – c. 1606) was an English dramatist and miscellaneous writer of the Elizabethan era, best known for his pamphleteering. Early life The son of Robert Chettle, a London dyer, he was apprenticed in 1577 and became a m ...

, Thomas Dekker, John Day,

Richard Hathwaye Richard Hathwaye ( fl. 1597–1603), was an English dramatist. Life Little is known about Hathwaye's life. There is no evidence that he was related to his namesake Richard Hathaway, the father of Shakespeare's wife, Anne Hathaway, though Ri ...

and Wentworth Smith. Haughton's hand has also been sought in several anonymous plays of the period, including ''Wiley Beguiled'', ''The Wit of a Woman'', ''

The Merry Devil of Edmonton ''The Merry Devil of Edmonton'' is an Elizabethan-era stage play; a comedy about a magician, Peter Fabell, nicknamed the Merry Devil. It was at one point attributed to William Shakespeare, but is now considered part of the Shakespeare Apocrypha ...

'', ''Captain Thomas Stukeley'' and ''A Warning For Fair Women''. A merry comedy entitled '' Englishmen for My Money, or A Woman will have her Will'' (1598) is ascribed to his sole authorship, and Fleay credits him with a considerable share in ''

Patient Grissel ''Patient Grissel'' is a play by Thomas Dekker, Henry Chettle, and William Haughton, first printed in 1603. It is mentioned in Henslowe's diary in the entry for December 1599. The plot is a variant of the medieval tale of Patient Griselda, as ...

'' (1599). The latter attribution has been confirmed and refined by W. L. Halstead and by Cyrus Hoy (1980), giving the subplot concerning Sir Owen the Welsh Knight and his wife Gwenthyan, as well as that concerning the Duke's sister Julia and her three foolish suitors to Haughton, leaving the main plot to Dekker and Chettle. ''The Devil and his Dame'', mentioned as a forthcoming play by Henslowe in March 1600, is identified by Fleay as ''

Grim the Collier of Croydon ''Grim the Collier of Croyden; or, The Devil and his Dame: with the Devil and Saint Dunston'' is a seventeenth-century play of uncertain authorship, first published in 1662. The play's title character is an established figure of the popular cultu ...

'', which was printed in 1662. In this play an emissary is sent from the infernal regions to report on the conditions of married life on earth. This attribution has recently been confirmed by William M Baillie (see below). ''Grim'' is reprinted in vol. viii, and ''Englishmen for My Money'' iii, vol. 5, of WC Hazlitt's edition of Dodsley's ''Old Plays''. ''Englishmen for My Money'' was edited in old-spelling by A. C. Baugh in 1917, and appeared as a Tudor Facsimile Text in 1911. ''Grim'' has been edited by William L. Baillie as part of ''A Choice Ternary of English Plays: Gratiae Theatrales'' (1984), and appeared as a Tudor Facsimile Text in 1912. ''Patient Grissell'' appears in Fredson Bowers' edition of Dekker's Dramatic Works. In May 1600 he brokered a play, now lost, to Henslowe called ''The English Fugitives'', possibly based on

Lewes Lewknor Sir Lewes Lewknor (c.1560–1627) was an English courtier, M.P., writer, soldier, and Judge who served as Master of the Ceremonies to King James I of England. M.P. for Midhurst in 1597 and for Bridgnorth 1604–10. His career has been descri ...

's ''The Estate of English Fugitives'' published in 1595.

Known works

Known plays by Haughton, either singly or in conjunction with others, include: # '' Englishmen for My Money, or A Woman Will Have Her Will''.

Stationers' Register The Stationers' Register was a record book maintained by the Stationers' Company of London. The company is a trade guild given a royal charter in 1557 to regulate the various professions associated with the publishing industry, including print ...

entry 3 August 1601. Printed 161, 1626, 1631. # '' The Poor Man's Paradise'', August 1599. Not printed; possibly not finished. # '' Cox of Collumpton'', with Day, November 1599. Not printed, although an eyewitness report of a performance survives in

Simon Forman Simon Forman (31 December 1552 – 5 or 12 September 1611) was an Elizabethan astrologer, occultist and herbalist active in London during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I and James I of England. His reputation, however, was severely tarnishe ...

's casebook. # '' Thomas Merry, or Beech's Tragedy'', with Day, November–December 1599. Not printed. It has been suggested that this survives as part of Yarington's ''Two Lamentable Tragedies'', though this is more likely to be an analog handling the same murder. # '' The Arcadian Virgin'', with Chettle, December 1599. Not printed; possibly not finished. # ''

'', with Chettle and Dekker, October–December 1599. # '' The Spanish Moor's Tragedy'', with Day and Dekker, February 1600. Not Printed; possibly not finished, though it is now usually identified with ''Lust's Dominion'' from the Dekker canon. # '' The Seven Wise Masters'', with Chettle, Day, and Dekker, March 1600. Not printed. # '' Ferrex and Porrex'', March–April 1600. Not printed. # '' The English Fugitives'', April 1600. Not printed; possibly not finished. # ''The Devil and His Dame'', May 1600. Probably the extant anonymous play ''

''. # '' Strange News Out of Poland'', with "Mr. Pett," possibly

Peter Pett Peter Pett (6 August 1610 – 1672) was an English Master Shipwright and Second Resident Commissioner of Chatham Dockyard. He protected his scale models and drawings of the King's Fleet during the Dutch Raid on the Medway, in Kent in June 1667, d ...

, May 1600. Not printed. # ''

Judas Judas Iscariot (; grc-x-biblical, Ἰούδας Ἰσκαριώτης; syc, ܝܗܘܕܐ ܣܟܪܝܘܛܐ; died AD) was a disciple and one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. According to all four canonical gospels, Judas betr ...

'', May 1600; apparently finished by William Bird and

Samuel Rowley Samuel Rowley was a 17th-century English dramatist and actor. Rowley first appears in the historical record as an associate of Philip Henslowe in the late 1590s. Initially he appears to have been an actor, perhaps a sharer, in the Admiral's Men ...

, December 1601. Not printed. # '' Robin Hood's Pennorths'', December 1600 – January 1601. Not printed; possibly not finished. # '' The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green, Part II'', with John Day, January–July 1601. Not printed. # '' The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green, Part III'', with John Day, January–July 1601. Not printed. # '' The Conquest of the West Indies'', with Day and Smith, April–September 1601. Not printed. # '' The Six Yeomen of the West'', with Day, May–June 1601. Not printed. # '' Friar Rush and the Proud Woman of Antwerp'', with Chettle and Day, July 1601 – January 1602. Not printed. # '' Tom Dough, Part II'', with Day, July–September 1601. Not printed; possibly not finished. # '' The Six Clothiers, Part I'', with Richard Hathwaye and Wentworth Smith, October–November 1601. Not printed. # '' The Six Clothiers, Part II'', with Hathwaye and Smith, October–November 1601. Not printed; possibly not finished. # '' William Cartwright'', September 1602. Not printed; possibly not finished.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Haughton, William 1605 deaths English Renaissance dramatists Year of birth unknown 16th-century English writers 16th-century male writers 17th-century English male writers 16th-century English dramatists and playwrights 17th-century English dramatists and playwrights English male dramatists and playwrights