William Shakespeare

chapter one

The beginning

Once upon a time, there lived a son of a tenant farmer, maybe even an illiterate was a man called John Shakespeare. He was born in Snitterfield and was nothing if not upwardly mobile. He arrived in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1551 and began dabbling in various trades, selling leather goods, wool, malt and corn and also a glove maker. In 1556 he was appointed the borough's official "ale taster," meaning he was responsible for inspecting bread and malt liquors. The next year he took another big step up the social ladder by marrying Mary Arden also maybe have been an illiterate, the daughter of an aristocratic farmer who happened to be John's father's former boss. John later became a moneylender and held a series of municipal positions, serving for some time as the mayor of Stratford. In the 1570s he fell into debt and ran into legal problems for some reasons unknown. He was expelled from the Stratford council for absenteeism. John had 7 seven kids named: Margaret, William, Gilbert, Joan, Edmund, Anne and Richard.