Excerpt from The Works of William Shakespeare, Vol. 15 of 16: Life and Writings of Shakespeare; An Historical Summary and the Plot and Characters to Each Play

A public document, bearing the date of 1599, affirms, upon credible report of John Shake speare, now of stratford-upon-avon, in the county of Warwick, gentleman, that his parent, great grandfather, and late antecessor, for his faithful and approved service to the late most prudent prince King Henry VII. Of famous memory, was advanced and rewarded with lands and tene ments, given to him in those parts of Warwick shire, where they have continued by some de scents in good reputation and credit. Such is the recital of a grant of arms to John Shake speare, the father of William Shakespeare, which document refers to his ancient coat of arms, heretofore assigned to him, while he was her Majesty's officer and bailiff of Stratford. In those parts of Warwickshire, then, lived and died, we may assume, the faithful and approved servant of the unknown Welshman, as Richard called him, who won for himself the more equiv ocal name of the most prudent prince. He was probably advanced in years when Henry ascended the throne; for in the first year of Queen Elizabeth, 1 558, his great-grandson, John Shakespeare, was a burgess of the corporation of Stratford, and was in all probability born about 1530. The family had continued in those parts, we are assured, by some descents; but how they were occupied in the business of life, or what was their station in society, how they branched out into other lines of Shakespeares, we have no distinct record. The name may be traced by legal documents in many parishes of Warwickshire; but we learn from a deed of trust executed in I 550, by Robert Arden, the maternal grandfather of William Shakespeare, that Richard Shakespeare was the occupier of land in Snitterfield the property of Robert Arden. At this parish of Snitterfield lived a Henry Shakespeare, who, as we learn from a declaration in the Court of Record at Stratford, was the brother of John Shakespeare.' It is conjectured, and very reasonably, that Richard Shakespeare, of Snitterfield, was the paternal grandfather of William Shakespeare. Snitter field is only three miles distant from Stratford. They probably were cultivators of the soil, un ambitious small proprietors.

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