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Stephen Shakespeare

of Henley In Arden

Stephen Shakespeare and his wife Emma, nee Carter, emigrated to the USA in 1841, and were later to be found in Pennsylvania and New York. Their children were Emma, William, Alice, Lucy, Mary Jane, and Sarah. Stephen's brother, John, also went to Pennsylvania.

Passenger Record:

(Ship Passenger Lists at the National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C., USA): Shakespeare, Stephen B. , age 30, tailor, born England, travelling to US; Wife Emma, age 21, born England and children: Alice age 1; Lucy, age 3; William, age 4; and Emma, age 7, all sailed on US Ship Nicholas Biddle from Liverpool, England and landed in New York City 4Sep1841.

Both brothers are to be found in the 1880 US census:

Household:

Name	Relation	Marital Status	Gender	Race	Age	Birthplace	Occupation	Father's Birthplace	Mother's Birthplace
Stephen SHAKSPEARE	Self	M	Male	W	70	ENG	Tailor	ENG	ENG
Emma SHAKSPEARE	Wife	M	Female	W	60	ENG	Keeping House	ENG	ENG
Sarah SHAKSPEARE	Dau	S	Female	W	28	NY	At Home	ENG	ENG

Source Information:

	Census Place	Campbell, Steuben, New York
	Family History Library Film	1254932
	NA Film Number	T9-0932
	Page Number	485C

Household:

Name	Relation	Marital Status	Gender	Race	Age	Birthplace	Occupation	Father's Birthplace	Mother's Birthplace
John B. SHAKESPEARE	Self	M	Male	W	60	ENG	Tailor	ENG	ENG
Jane SHAKESPEARE	Wife	M	Female	W	37	PA	Keeping House	PA	PA
Mary A. SHAKESPEARE	Dau	S	Female	W	26	NY	Assist Keeping House	ENG	PA
Nelly M. SHAKESPEARE	Dau	S	Female	W	15	PA	At School	ENG	PA
Myrtle SHAKESPEARE	Dau	S	Female	W	10	PA		ENG	PA

Source Information:

	Census Place	Canton, Bradford, Pennsylvania
	Family History Library Film	1255104
	NA Film Number	T9-1104
	Page Number	155C

This gives us their age at the time. A check of the IGI quickly reveals their origin:

Birth: 3 March 1809, Henley In Arden, Stephen Shakespeare, son of Thomas & Elizabeth Shakespeare.

Birth: 31 March 1819, (Baptist) Henley In Arden, John Barker Shakespeare, son of Thomas & Elizabeth Shakespeare.

Stephen Married Emma Carter 22 October 1833, at Leamington Priors.

Thomas Shakespeare and Elizabeth Barker were married 29 July 1805, at Wootton Wawen. This was presumably the bride's place of residence - there was a Shakespeare family resident at Wootton Wawen at this time, but, as they were Catholics, are probably not related.

Their other children (from the IGI) were:

Samuel, born 23 January 1807
Elizabeth, born 15 February 1811
Mary, born 6 December 1813
Maria, born 20 October 1816

Note that these were all births (not christenings) recorded at the Baptist Church in Henley In Arden, and a letter in the possession of his descendants in the USA confirms that Stephen's father was a Baptist Minister. That fact that they were Baptists provides a clue that they descend from Humphrey Shakespeare (as, it seems, do most, if not all, of the Shakespeares in Henley In Arden). One of Humphrey's descendants, Benjamin, born around 1817 in Henley, was a Baptist Minister. A search of the records of Henley In Arden provides only one possible Thomas Shakespeare of the correct date - he was born 1782, son of William Shakespeare and Mary (nee Hancox). Further research is necessary to confirm if this is the correct Thomas. If it is he would have been first cousin of Benjamin, the Baptist Minister.

Notes

August 2004

Information from the 1880 US Census, IGI, and Quentin Smith - descendant