Stratford, England of 1564, the year William Shaksper was baptized, was a shabby, squalid town. Most residents were illiterate. No letters by William Shaksper have ever been found. During that period of time members of the Shaxper family used thirty different spellings of the name used in church, marriage, legal documents and other papers. In writing down an illiterate person s name, obviously, the only option is to spell it phonetically, resulting in inconsistent spellings.
Records indicate some business in grain and malt, real estate and several legal actions.
He also supported the idea of fencing off some common pasture land. Not being a terribly ethical proposition, the town opposed it, because of deprivation of rights of some residents. There, a lawsuit deposition was signed by him, and with two others, he signed a deed and mortgage for a house in London in 1612. There was a suit over title two years later and he defaulted on his taxes in 1612 and 1613. In March 1616, he signed his last will in three places, using Shakspere, Shaksper and Shakspeare.