John Shakespeare

John Shakespeare (c. 1531 – 7 September 1601) was the father of William Shakespeare. He was the son of Richard Shakespeare of the Warwickshire village of Snitterfield, a farmer. He moved to Stratford-upon-Avon and married Mary Arden, with whom he had eight children, five of whom survived into adulthood. A well-to-do glover and whittawer (leather worker) by trade, Shakespeare was a dealer in hides and wool, and was elected to several municipal offices, serving as an alderman and culminating in a term as bailiff, the chief magistrate of the town council, before he fell on hard times for reasons unknown. His fortunes later revived after the success of his son, and he was granted a coat of arms five years before his death, probably at the instigation and expense of his playwright son.

John Shakespeare moved to Stratford-upon-Avon in 1551, where he became a successful businessman involved in several related occupations. From 1556 to 1592, several official records identify him as a glovemaker, which was probably his primary trade, as tradition remembers him as following that trade even into his old age, but the records of his real estate purchases and legal expenses indicate an income much higher than that of a small-town tradesman. The administration of his father's estate in 1561 names him as a farmer. He inherited and leased agricultural lands and is on record as selling timber and barley. Court records also document him as a "brogger", an unlicensed—and therefore illegal—wool dealer. In addition, he bought and leased out houses. He was twice taken to court for violating the usury laws that prohibited charging interest higher than the legal limit of 10 per cent.

By 1552 he was residing in a house on Henley Street. On 2 October 1556, he purchased a house on the same street now known as the eastern wing of what is traditionally referred to as the birthplace of William (now called Shakespeare's Birthplace). Whether it was the same house he was living in in 1552 is unknown. In 1576 he bought two houses to the west and joined the three together.

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