|
shakespear, shakespeare, genealogy, family, history, family history
John Shakespeare, Labourer
of Wroxall
| Little is known about John at the
moment - what is known comes from references to his will, mentioned
by Chambers, in
which he described himself as a labourer. This will mentions:
|
|
The IGI has a number of entries for Nicholas Shakespeare, presumably submitted by American researchers, without giving a source:
There are also references to two baptisms at 'Bussell' (?Basale/ Balsall) of children of a Nicholas Shakespeare
There were several Nicholas Shakespeares, all associated with Wroxall. The earliest two, seem to be fairly conclusively placed in their genealogical context in a pedigree given by Chambers in 'William Shakespeare, a Study of the Facts and Problems', App. E. p 360. Of the later Nicholas's these all seem to be references to a son of Robert Shakespeare, a weaver, and his descendants (some of whom are mentioned above). Chambers suggests that this Robert, the John whose will we are discussing, and a William are all sons of 'the earlier William' - this would not seem possible as the 'earlier William' had no sons: his heir (named in a manorial record) was a daughter, Agnes. Both of the earlier Nicholas's, identified by Chambers, had a brother John who could not be the current John. |
| A clue from John's will suggests that Edward may not have
been 'of age' (ie 21) when his father died in 1574 - 'I geve to Edwarde
my sonne halfe of my goodes both moveable & unmoveable & yf yt please my
londe lorde yet my sonne shalbe taker of the house with his
mother.......but yf my londe lorde wyll not let my sonne be the taker of
ye house with his mother: then I wyll ye halfe of mi goodes to be
delivered to my sonne at ye daye of her mariage yf she do marye.'
Edward also inherited 'all mi towles' [tools]. How old was Edward? There is no way of knowing how old this Edward was, but it is certainly possible that he could have been the man who made his way to the 'Black Country'. The stipulation in his father's will that he live with his mother implies that he had not yet attained his majority, which gives us an age of between one and twenty years. At either extreme this still fits what is known of the 'Black Country' Edward, and, if you accept that the 1580 marriage in Sedgley may be a clerical error, then this marriage may even be that of Edward himself. Note that John was suspicious that his landlord would not allow his family to live on in the house after John's death, hence the provision he made. Is this a reason for the family moving elsewhere? Unlike his richer kinsmen who owned the land they farmed in Warwickshire John obviously did not own the property in which he lived. His description of himself as 'labourer' (unusual for wills of this period) and the mention of his tools implies that he was a tradesman, but what trade is not known. A search of other records for the area reveal no subsequent trace of Edward. He does not appear in the parish registers for Wroxall (which, admittedly, commence a decade after his father's death), so if he did not die in the intervening period then the search for him must look elsewhere, and so far one and one only Edward of similar date is known to exist - the 'Black Country' Edward. |
|
Notes
|
|
See also: |
August 2004
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|