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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 December 2020
John Shakespeare, shoemaker, or corviser, who lived in Stratford-on-Avon in the 1580's and 1590's, and who is sometimes hard to to distinguish from John Shakespeare, the father of the poet, in the borough records, can now be identified as belonging to the Balsall family of the same name, and the genealogy of that family can now be traced in outline for two hundred years. Since this family lived so long in a neighborhood where many Shakespeares lived, and since it is known to have been the parent of the Baddesley Clinton branch, it may prove, when sufficient evidence has accumulated, to be the parent of other branches also. It is therefore of interest to students of Shakespeare.
1 Sir Edmunk K. Chambers William Shakespeare, 2 vols. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1930), ii, 3–4.
2 On September 24, 1578, Thomas Roberts leased from the Corporation a tenement in Bridge Street. The bond attached to the lease was witnessed by a Thomas Shaxper. Halliwell-Phillips, Calendar of Corporation Deeds, p. 123.
3 These Court Rolls have recently become accessible among the Muniments in the library of the Shire Hall in Warwick, England. The minutes are written in abbreviated Latin.
4 The entries are in abbreviated Latin. I give the English equivalent.
5 A blank space in both manuscripts. Note various spellings of Oldiche.
6 W. B. Bickley, The Register of the Gild at Knowle (1894), p. 100. Christopher Shakespere and wife Isabella joined the Gild of Knowle in 1511–12. Christopher died in 1558 and left Isabella still living. Unless they lived to great age, they were young people when they joined.
7 Supra, p. 98.
8 Supra, p. 92.
9 Chambers, op. cit., ii, 355.
10 Sir William Dugdale, The Antiquities of Warwickshire … etc. The Second Edition … revised … by William Thomas, D.D., London, mdccxxx, article on Balsall, p. 967. Also, Patent Rolls 20 Richard II, Part iii, membranes 30 and 29.
11 Elizabeth G. Kimball, “The Shakespeares in Warwickshire.” LTLS, May 9, 1936, p. 400.
12 Notes and Queries, Eighth Series, vol. viii, December 28, 1895, p. 501. This article has been quoted constantly since publication.
13 Chambers, op. cit., ii, 365. The will of this Thomas has been frequently mentioned by other writers.
14 Worcester Wills, v, 281, at Birmingham Probate Registry.
15 Court Roll of the Manor of Balsall at the Public Record Office. S.C. 2, Portfolio 207, no. 9.
16 Chambers, op. cit., ii, 372.
17 Chambers, op. cit., ii, 355.