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Facts and Speculations regarding

Edward Shakespeare

Rowley Regis

Until recently the earliest Shakespeare to appear in the 'Black Country' was thought to be Edward Shakespeare who first appeared in the Parish of Rowley Regis, Staffordshire in February 1604 when the baptism of his son William was recorded. This son died for another William is recorded in September 1605. It is from this William that all of the present day 'Black Country Shakespeares' descend. The only other child of Edward's recorded at Rowley Regis was a daughter, Mary, born in October 1612. There is one other Shakespeare record in the Rowley Regis parish registers - this is for Ann the daughter of John Shakespeare, born in 1609. Presumably this John was a close relative of Edward. These are all the entries for Rowley Regis until about four decades later.

Dudley

The next record we have of the family is in the neighbouring parish of Dudley, Worcestershire, where William Shakespeare married Joyce Price in 1625.

However, in February 2003 a discovery on the IGI revealed a marriage in 1581 at Sedgley, Staffs., of Thomas Shakespeare and Ann Gibbons - the original register entry reveals no further clues as to origin.

A Summary of the Facts

Here are the facts regarding the early Shakespeares in the area:

1580 marriage of Thomas Shakespeare & Anne Gibbons at Sedgley
3 children of Edward bapt at Rowley Regis
1 daughter (Ann) of John Shakespeare bapt at Rowley Regis in 1609
James Shakespeare married Alice Griffin at Halesowen 1629 - two of his children bapt at Halesowen

This is all until William married Joyce Price at Dudley, and then:

burials at Dudley 'Old Edward Shakespeare' (1634) and 'Old Ann Shakespeare' (1636)

It reasonable to assume that Thomas (see later), Edward, John, and James are all related......but how? - any attempt at clarifying their genealogy must take into account the existence of all of these few early records.

It is quite likely that Edward had children born prior to his appearance (from elsewhere) in Rowley Regis - as he, and his wife, lived until the 1630's we know they did not die so this was not the reason for no other children being recorded, and three children was a small number for this period. Could we assume earlier children? This is possibly where James and John fit in......are they both children of Edward, born before William?

A large number of researchers have assumed Edward to be in his early twenties when his first (assumed) child (ie William) was born, giving him a birthdate around 1580. This has always seemed to be incongruous with the 'old' reference in the burial entries for him and Ann (who, if these assumptions are to be believed, would have been around 50 years of age). If he had earlier children, as seems likely (?James and John) then this would push his date of birth back further.

Now, here is an interesting speculation. What if the the recording of 'Thomas' in the 1581 Sedgley marriage was a clerical error? (This happened quite often - proven cases are easy enough to find: as an extreme example look at the debate regarding the Willliam Shakespeare/ Ann Whateley marriage document at Worcester).

Two easily demonstrated Shakespeare examples of this type of clerical error:

There is a record of the burial of Jane Shakespeare, daughter of William, in 1609, but this 'William' is almost certainly an error for John Shakespeare (of whom there is extensive record), a royal bitmaker who had a daughter Jane baptised at St Clemet Danes, Westminster, 10 July 1608 of whom there is no more record after 1609.
The baptism 5 August 1571, of Humfery, son of Hugh Shakespeare at Clerkenwell - there is a burial just 25 days later on 30 Aug 1571 for Humfrey s of Matthew Shakespeare.

What if ......the vicar mistakenly wrote Thomas, when it should have been Edward? Then everything seems to fit: Edwards wife was named Ann, and now assuming them both to be about 20 years older than anyone has supposed then this is also consistent with the 'old' description in the burial entries. It would also be consistent with them being the parents of the John in the 1609 Rowley Regis baptism. Suddenly this all fits........or does it?

Allowing for the possible clerical error, and the greater suspected age for Edward, these facts seem to be consistent with the dates for Edward, son of John Shakespeare, of Wroxall (see below).

How many Edwards were there?

At this point in history the name Edward was very rare among the Shakespeares (who were themselves 'quite thin on the ground'). Several decades of searching by a number of researchers has revealed only three:

First and foremost (if you are a descendant!) is Edward of Rowley Regis and Dudley. This is the only Shakespeare family that also consistently used the name in later generations. In fact, he is the only Edward of this early period known to have left descendants
An Edward Shakespeare (who was his nephew) mentioned in the will of John Shakespeare of Lapworth
An Edward (who was his son) mentioned in the will of John Shakespeare, of Wroxall. The ages of this Edward and his father are not clear at this time.

Who was John Shakespeare of Wroxall?

Little is known about this John at present. What is known is detailed elsewhere.

Notes

It is interesting to note that the Rowington Shakespeare family held land at Rowley Regis as late as the mid 1700's. It is not unusual that a landowning family would still own the same land 150 years and 4-5 generations later. The Rowington Shakespeares also seem to be linked with the family at Lapworth [or vice versa], which is where one of the other references to an Edward Shakespeare at this period occurs (although this reference seems slightly later, and the facts do not quite fit the known details for Edward of Rowley Regis/ Dudley).

July 2004