On November 28, 1582 the Bishop of Worcester issued the marriage bond for "William Shagspere" and "Ann Hathwey of Stratford." This was, almost beyond doubt, Anne Hathaway, daughter of Richard Hathaway of Shottery--a gathering of farm houses near Stratford. The Hathaway farm house has become known to the tourist industry as "Anne Hathaway's cottage" and can be seen via the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust web site. Use your browser's BACK button to return to this page after viewing.
Richard Hathaway's will does not specify a daughter Anne, but names her Agnes, a name used interchangeably for Anne in the sixteenth century. He was a substantial, Warwickshire farmer with a spacious house and fields.
The banns were asked only once in church, rather than the customary three times, because the bride was some three months pregnant and there was reason for haste in concluding the marriage. She was eight years older than her new husband William. We can only wonder if Shakespeare was speaking for himself in A Midsummer Night's Dream:
Lysander: The course of true love never did run smooth;
But either it was different in blood...
Or else misgraffed in respect of years--
Hermia: O spite! too old to be engage'd to young.
Or in Twelfth Night:
Duke: Then let thy love be younger than thyself,
Or thy affection cannot hold the bent;
For women are as roses, whose fair flow'r
Being once display'd doth fall that very hour.
The only mention of his wife in Shakespeare's will is the famous bequest of his "second best bed." Whether as a fond remembrance or a bitter slight is not known.
Children. Whatever subsequent feelings, on May 26, 1583 their first daughter Susanna was baptised. Two years later, twins were born to them, Hamnet and Judith, named after Hamnet and Judith Sadler, apparently lifetime friends to Shakespeare. Hamnet Sadler was remembered in Shakespeare's will. See the Shakespeare Genealogy for details. Use your browser's BACK button to return to this page after viewing.
It is usually assumed by scholars that Shakespeare resided in Stratford at the Henley street residence these years, at least through 1585, but his manner of life and activities are not known and have become the subject of many speculations which will be covered in The Lost Years.
©1995-1998 Terry A. Gray
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02/25/09
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