William Shakespeares Family

Anne Hathaway
Shakespeares wife, Anne Hathaway, was born in
1556. Shakespeare was
eight years younger than her. When they married
in 1582 he was eighteen and she
was twenty-six. She was pregnant at the time;
Shakespeare had no alternative
other than to marry her because it was socially
unacceptable for a woman of her
standing to have a child without being married.
Anne Hathaway was the eldest the eight children of a
farmer, Richard Hathaway.
They lived in a big farmhouse, called Hewland Farm in
the village of Shottery, one mile from Stratford. When Richard died in 1581
she continued to live with her siblings and step-mother in the farmhouse,
which is now known as Anne Hathaways cottage one of the most visited
tourist buildings in England. When she married she went to live with her
husband in his parents house in Henley Street, Stratford.
After Shakespeares death in 1616 Anne continued to live in New Place as
a wealthy widow, until her death in 1623, aged sixty-seven. She was buried
beside her husband in the chancel of Holy Trinity Church in Stratford.

Susanna Hall
Susanna was the oldest child of William Shakespeare and Anne
Hathaway. When
she was 24 years old she announced her betrothal to Dr. John Hall. Hall had
settled in
Stratford around 1600. The wedding took place on June 5th 1607.
Susanna's marriage
to the noted physician must have pleased Anne and William enormously.
Susanna gave
birth to a baby girl eight months after her wedding to Dr. John Hall. Anne
and William's granddaughter, Elizabeth, was baptized February 21, 1608 at
Holy Trinity Church in Stratford. William and Dr. Hall also had mutual
business interests as they were known to have travelled to London on
business concerning Stratford tithes.

Hamnet Shakespeare
Hamnet was the only son of William
Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway, and the fraternal twin
of Judith Shakespeare He was raised in his grandfather's
house predominantly by his mother
Anne as his father's work in Theatre was based in London.
There are no records that show that
Hamnet Shakespeare ever attended a school although it was
customary for a boy from Hamnet's

background to have had an education. Neither of Hamnet's

sisters had an education and neither of
them were able to read or write. There were constant
outbreaks of the Bubonic Plague, otherwise known as the Black Death or
the Black Plague, during Elizabethan times and in 1596 Hamnet contracted
the deadly disease and died at the age of eleven. Shakespeare's
son Hamnet was buried in Stratford on August 11, 1596.

Judith Quiney
Judith was the younger daughter of William Shakespeare and Anne
Hathaway and
the fraternal twin of Hamnet Shakespeare. She married Thomas Quiney,
a vintner of
Stratford-upon-Avon. Anne and William would have initially approved of
the betrothal
of Judith and Thomas as Quiney came from a good family. Judith was 31
and Thomas
Quiney was 27 years of age. The initial approval of the marriage quickly
changed with
the scandalous news that Thomas Quiney had made another girl
pregnant.The scandal would
have spread through Stratford. It then appeared that Quiney did not
receive the special licence necessary for a wedding during lent before his
marriage. The situation was really serious and on March 12th Judith and
Thomas

were excommunicated. William must have been mortified with the turn of
events. He summoned his lawyer and promptly modifies and signs his will
on March 25th 1616. The modification of the will was to ensure that Judith
would receive a sum of money (300) inherited in her own name.
Shakespeare leaves the bulk of his fortune to his daughter, Susanna. On
March 26th Quiney was prosecuted for 'carnal copulation' with a woman
named Margaret Wheeler, who had died in childbirth that month along with
her baby by Quiney. He confessed and was sentenced to perform public
penance. His penalty, however, was commuted to a small fine of five
shillings and private penance.