Richard Shakespeare (1490 – before 10 February 1561) was a husbandman of

Snitterfield Snitterfield is a village and civil parish in the Stratford on Avon district of Warwickshire, England, less than to the north of the A46 road, from Stratford upon Avon, from Warwick and from Coventry. The population of the civil parish at ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avo ...

, four miles (6.5 km) north-northeast of

Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon (), commonly known as just Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-we ...

, the father of

John Shakespeare John Shakespeare (c. 1531 – 7 September 1601) was an English businessman in Stratford-upon-Avon and the father of William Shakespeare. He was a glover and whittawer ( leather worker) by trade. Shakespeare was elected to several municipal ...

and the grandfather of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

Life

Shakespeare was born in the Wroxall area, about to the north in Warwickshire. At some time before 1529, he removed to Snitterfield, where he was a

tenant farmer A tenant farmer is a person (farmer or farmworker) who resides on land owned by a landlord. Tenant farming is an agricultural production system in which landowners contribute their land and often a measure of operating capital and management, ...

until his death on land owned by Robert Arden, the father of Mary Arden, who married John, the poet's father. Richard Shakespeare is mentioned in the court and manorial records as a prosperous farmer with livestock. Thomas Atwood ''alias'' Taylor, a prosperous

vintner A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes: *Cooperating with viticulturists *Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to dete ...

and clothier who was a member of the Stratford

Guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometim ...

, bequeathed him a team of four oxen he was keeping. He was fined two pence for not attending the manor court in 1529, and he was charged with overburdening the

commons The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable Earth. These resources are held in common even when owned privately or publicly. Commons c ...

with his cattle and fined for letting them run loose in the meadows and neglecting to ring or

yoke A yoke is a wooden beam sometimes used between a pair of oxen or other animals to enable them to pull together on a load when working in pairs, as oxen usually do; some yokes are fitted to individual animals. There are several types of yoke, u ...

his swine. At the time of his death, Richard leased 80 acres of farm land on which his house stood, situated from the corner of High Street (now Bell Lane) down to the ford over the stream that flowed through the village into the Avon. His estate was valued at £38 17s (equivalent to £ in ).Honan, Park (1998). ''Shakespeare: A Life'', Oxford: Oxford University Press, , p. 28.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shakespeare, Richard 1490 births 1561 deaths People from Stratford-on-Avon District Shakespeare family 15th-century English people 16th-century English people

Life

See also

References