"The Shakespears claim to be descended from the same family as the poet
though whether from his brother Gilbert, or from his uncle Thomas must
remain uncertain until the missing Pedigree be found.
This Pedigree was sent by John Shakespear of Brookwood to the Heralds
Office when his son Arthur was appointed A.D.C to Lord Combermere it being
necessary in those days that you should prove yourself of gentle birth
before such an appointment could be confirmed. John of Brookwood, a man
devoted to horses & dogs, & carless of such things as documents, never
asked for the return of the pedigree, thinking as he said 'it was safer
there than in his keeping', & to this day it has never been seen again
neither can the Herald's Office give any account of it.
There are however grounds for the belief that the Shakespears are not
mistaken in claiming descent from the Poet's family. These are as follows:
1st. The arms & crest are the same as those on the Poet's tomb at
Stratford.
2nd. The Poet's family are said by most of his biographers to have been
Puritans, & the writings still esclant of some of our ancestors, together
with their choice of Biblical names, would indicate a distinct puritanical
tendency.
3rd. John Shakespeare of Brookwood was heard by some of his still living
GdChildren to declare that the missing pedigree traced the family to the
Poets' Gdfather.
Failing the recovery of the lost pedigree the family of Shakespear must be
content to trace their genealogy to John Shakespear of Stebonheath
(Stepney) b. 1612.
That this John was a son of Gilbert the Poet's brother is what we would
fain believe though we are unable to proove it: supposing it to be true,
Gilbert would have been 46 years of age when John was born. Oldeys
mentions that one of the Poet's younger brothers was much in London in his
youth to visit his famous brother. also that he lived on to be an extreme
old age & was held in the highest veneration on account of his connection
with the Poet, we would claim it as highly probable that besides the above
attractions Gilbert was led to come much to London by the presence there
of a wealthy & prosperous son, that son being none other than our ancestor
John of Stepney. It is at any rate clear that only 2 brothers of the poet
are mentioned (see Halliday). One of these Edmund is known by the
Registers of St. Saviours in London to have been buried there in 1607, &
this would show that the brother mentioned by Oldeys must have been
Gilbert, of whom except fact of his birth in 1566 & the death of a son of
his in 1611 the Stratford Registers are absolutely silent.
Leaving however our remoter ancestry as it must be left we find, from the
Registers of Shadwell, that:
John Shakespear
was b. 1612. m. 1654 Martha Seely & d. 1689. aged 77. In the Register of
Shadwell then a hamlet of Stepney is found the following entry.
1654. John Shakespear of Radcliffe Highway, Ropemaker aged 35. and Martha
Seely of Wapping Wall, Mayde, 19 years. Published on ye one twentieth &
eight & twentieth days of May & on the 4th of June, and married before
John Waterloo Esq. on ye 14th June. Richard Matthews, Robert Condey. etc
witnesses.
It would appear that John Shakespear was anxious to conceal his true age
on the occasion of his marriage with so young a bride for he was in
reality 42 years of age, as is proved by the register of his birth, and
also by the statement of his son Jonathan that his father was in his 77th
year when he died. Of the early life & antecedents of John of Stepney we
have no details he was evidently a man of some substance, and his name is
on a Bank token of the period. He was succeeded in the ropemaking business
in 1690 by his only surviving son:-
Jonathan Shakespear, b. Feb 6, 1670, m. April 26 1698 Elizabeth Shallott &
died 1735. We have in the hand writing of Jonathan a lengthy document now
in the possession of a descendant Mr. Oliver Massey, written in a
puritanical style & detailing at length the dates on which his many
children were born, several of whom died in infancy. After saying that it
pleased God to call him - thro' the death of his father & his elder
brother Benjamin - to be master of my trade in ye 20th year of my age" he
adds " and then it pleased God of his Providence to 'direct me to Clapham
where I took a wife out of Mr. Arthur Shallott's family & was married at
Clapham Church ye 26th April 1698 my wife Elizabeth being 19 years of age
which God grant her & I long to live in his fear" with further pious
remarks. The ropemaking business would seem to have prospered under
Jonathan's management, at his house No.1 Stepney Causeway he was not
unfrequently visited by George II & here he once entertained his Majesty
at luncheon when his Fleet under Admiral Boscowan was lying in the River;
this must have been in the later years of Jonathan's life. Ropemaking has
been for 3 centuries & still remains an industry of that particular
neighbourhood, & 'Shakespears Walk' is still known for such, though the
site of what was long a source of wealth to our family, is now absorbed
into the outskirts of the London Docks.
The offspring of the marriage of Jonathan Shakespear & Elizabeth Shallott
was 13 children of whom 3 died in infancy: Of the sons 5 at least survived
their father. Mrs. Elizabeth Shakespear died in 1745 aged 66. her will is
dated 1736 and in it she leaves to her various surviving children many
beautiful silver castors, tankards, & salvers. One wonders what became of
them all!
Arthur Shakespear, b. Nov 3, 1699, d un-married May 9 1749 & is buried in
the tomb at Stepney. He was appointed Ropemaker to the Board of Ordinance
on hsi father's (Jonathan) death in 1735, possibly thro' the friendships
of George II for his father. Arthur Shakespear is spoken of in this deed
as '"as of Loyalty & Integrity & both faithful & diligent". It is this
Arthur whose Hatchment is still hanging in Stepney Church (see note
below). On his death he left all his considerable property, as well as his
share in the ropemaking business to his younger brother John (the
Alderman) though why he should have overlooked the claims of the
intervening brothers it is impossible to say.
Note: The old Parish Church of St. Dunstains, Stepney, so intimately
connected with events in our family history is commonplace enough as far
as its exterior is concerned, but boasts of a striking interior: it has a
Nave & 2 Aisles & a large Chancel. The Shakespear Pew is still known as
..., is in one of the galleries. Here also may be seen Arthur Shakespear's
hatchment in good presentation & wateched over with care by the Clerk,
whose family has held the office for 3 generations. On this hatchment the
arms are identical with those on the Poet's tomb.
The XIII (13th) son of Jonathan was John Shakespear, b. Mar 16th 1719
known as 'The Alderman' to distinguish him from succeeding John's. m. in
1747 at St. John's Aldersgate Street, Elizabeth Currie; he died May 19th
1775 & is buried in the tomb at Stepney. Mrs. Elizabeth Shakespear was a
daughter of Colin Currie of Gold Square, Crutched Friers (son of 8th Earl
of Eglington) and Anne Campbell, grand-daughter of Col. Claybourne and
Hon. Lady Campbell (d of the Earl of Argyle).. One who saw Mrs. Elizabeth
Shakespear at the beginning of this cent: in her her beautiful old age -
for she lived to be 80 - described her as a most stately old lady, whose
beauty in her youth could be imagined from the remains of it still to be
admired in her old age: she died Feb 15th 1807 & is buried in the tomb at
Stepney.
John Shakespear (the Alderman) as stated beforehand, succeeded his eldest
brother Arthur in the ropemaking business & was appointed Ropemaker to the
Board of Ordinance by deed 12th May 1749. We find him appointed Ranger of
the Waltham Forest with permission to hunt & shoot with dogs in 1754. He
was also appointed Trustee of Middsex & Essex turnpikes Mar 25, 1757. &
was Deputy Lieutenant for Middsex 16 June 1763. On Mar 3, 1767 he was
elected Alderman of Aldgate Ward City of London & was transferred to the
Ironmongers Co. Sep 20, 1768. ........etc etc |
