William Shakespeare`s father, John Shakespeare was a locally prominent leather merchant, a glover and a whittawer. As a highly successful distinguished man, John held many public positions: mayor, town council man, justice of peace. He wasn`t able to write. In 1576 John`s business went down. He stopped attending meetings and social events and wanted his son to take over his occupation. But William preferred to be a schoolmaster.
John`s wife and William's mother was Mary Arden, the daughter of a Roman Catholic member of the landed gentry. Her family was wealthy and paid a generous dowry to marry her off.
John and Mary had eight children - three of them died in childhood.
Not much about William Shakespeare´s life is really proved.
William Shakespeare was probably born in Stratford-on- Avon on April 23, 1564. He was the third of eight children - the oldest son of John Shakespeare and Mary Arden. Church records indicate that he was christened in Stratford on April 26, 1564. It is conjectured that William was educated at the local grammar school in Stratford. There he studied classics: written Latin and Greek. His teachers were two Oxford graduates, Simon Hunt and Thomas Jenkins. It´s not sure how long William went to school, but a look at the quality of his works points out that William enjoyed a solid education. But it is proved that he never proceeded to university schooling.
After finishing school his father wanted him to work in his shop to learn and maybe take over business, but according to one account he was apprenticed to a butcher because of deficiencies in his father´s financial situation. According to another account William became a schoolmaster.
On November 28, 1582, at the age of eighteen, William married Anne Hathaway, a twenty-six year old daughter of a farmer. On May 26, 1583 Anne gave birth to their first daughter - Susanna. Three years later, on February 2, 1583, a set of twins was born - Judith and Hamnet. Hamnet died at the age of eleven, in August 1596.
One cannot find any evidence of Shakespeare's life between the years of 1585 - 1592. This time of Shakespeare´s life is called "The Hidden Years". During these years, lots of people thought that William ran away from the law. And this is not the only rumour. But it is known that he went to London in 1587 (check also HIS CAREER ).
In 1611, William left London and retired to his birthplace. There he wrote his last will, bequeathing his ownership to his daughter Susanna (who was married in 1607 to Dr John Hall ). To his second daughter he left 300 pounds and to his wife Anne he left "his second best bed".
William Shakespeare allegedly died on his birthday, April 23, 1623. The cause of his death is unknown. It is speculated that he died of a fever after an evening of entertaining fellow writers, Ben Jonson and Michael Drayton, in his home, at the age of 59.
In Shakespeare´s time, after his graveyard was full, they would dig one´s bones up and burn them in a huge fireplace. William hated this kind of treatment after death, and he wrote his own epitaph.
" Good Friends, for Jesus´ sake forbear,
To dig the bones enclosed here!
Blest be the man that spares these stones,
And curst be he that moves my bones."
A while ago, some people wanted to dig him up and check his bones to be sure that the person buried there really was Shakespeare. But the government didn´t allow it.
