John Shakespeare, a tanner and glove-maker and moreover William's father, was one of the wealthiest citizens of Stratford-on-Avon. He married Mary Arden, member of an ancient and distinguished Catholic family. Since John Shakespeare probably was a catholic too we might presume that William received a catholic upbringing. William was their oldest son. He was baptised on 26 April 1564. His date of birth is unknown but it has long been celebrated on April 23. William Shakespeare most probably went to the grammar school of Stratford. No proof of this has been left however, for the early school records have perished. A bond dated 27 November 1582 shows us that William Shakespeare (spelled Shagspere), aged 18, married Ann Hathaway, who was 26 and from a very well-to-do family. The fact that their first child, Susanna, was baptised five months after their marriage date indicates what the reason might have been for this marriage. The last fact known of Shakespeare's early life is the birth of the twins Hamnet and Judith.
There is nothing known of what happened in Shakespeare's life between 1583 and 1592. He may have taught school, worked in a lawyer's office, served a rich man's estate, or travelled with a company of actors. One of the stories has it that he had to leave town because he was caught poaching on the estate of Sir Thomas Lucy of Carlecote, the great man in those parts. From 1592 onward there are many records of Shakespeare's name. He is definitely in London at that time and recognised both as actor and playwright. Between 1592 and 1594 the London theatres are kept closed because of the plague. In that period he writes his earliest sonnets and the poems "Venus and Adonis" and "The Rape of Lucrece". They are considered the breakthrough in his career.
Would Shakespeare have lived today, he most probably would have been one of the main victims of the tabloid papers and gossip magazines for we might conclude from the above mentioned facts that Shakespeare was quite a rascal. He had to marry because he gets an older, richer woman pregnant. Then he has to leave his home, most probably because of poaching. He ends up in London, the big city where he starts a career as playwright. This is a not all to highly estimated career in those days, only considered slightly better than that of criminal and vagrant. All this puts the famous bard in a somewhat different light. But he must also have been very clever for he does very well for someone with such a lowly esteemed job. He had already bought New Place, the largest house in Stratford, in 1597, and could afford himself to buy other property in Stratford and London. In 1598 James Burbage and his son, the latter being Shakespeare's friend, built the Globe Theatre. Shakespeare was associated with the Globe Theatre from then on. He even owned shares in it, which gained him a considerable amount of money. Moreover, his father was granted a coat of arms baring the motto "Non sanz droict", meaning "not without right". From then on Shakespeare could call himself officially "Gentleman", which was not bad for a man whose profession, as I mentioned earlier in this chapter, in those days was classed legally with criminals and vagrants. Yet not all is roses in his life, for Hamnet, Shakespeare’s only son, dies in 1596 In 1597 "The Tragedy of Richard the Second is printed. The second and third edition, printed in 1598, have "By William Shake-speare" added to the rest of the text on the title pages. In that same year Francis Meres praises him as a poet and a dramatist. But people of higher rank must have liked Shakespeare and his theatrical company too, for King James I, who followed Elizabeth I after her death in 1603, took them under his patronage. They were then called the King's Company. Shakespeare and the other actors were made officers of the royal household.
In 1610 Shakespeare retires from his theatre work and returns to Stratford. There he is buried on 25 April 1616. The inscription on the memorial on Stratford church shows us that he died on 23 April of that same year. His daughter Susanna inherits most of his property. By law his wife was entitled to one third of his goods and real estate and to the use of their home for life. In Shakespeare's will however, she is only mentioned once, leaving her his "second best bed" with its furnishings.
What I have told of Shakespeare's life is an oversight, not a meticulous account of it. The latter option would, however, consist of a lot of guesswork, for not much factual information on Shakespeare has been left. We know he was born in 1564 and that he died in 1616. That he married Anne Hathaway who bore him 3 children of which only his two daughters outlived him. We know furthermore that he was quite wealthy and that he was appreciated by his contemporaries, and finally we know what he left his family and friends. But to us, the readers, he left his most beautiful possession, his plays and sonnets.