page_title: John Shakespeare
section_title: Career and municipal responsibilities
hierarchical_section_title: John Shakespeare / Career and municipal responsibilities
context_page_description: John Shakespeare was an English businessman in Stratford-upon-Avon and the father of William Shakespeare. He was a glover and whittawer by trade. Shakespeare was elected to several municipal offices, serving as an alderman and culminating in a term as bailiff, the chief magistrate of the town council, and mayor of Stratford in 1568, before he fell on hard times for reasons unknown. His fortunes later revived and he was granted a coat of arms five years before his death, probably at the instigation and expense of his son, the actor and playwright.
  He married Mary Arden, with whom he had eight children, five of whom survived into adulthood.
context_section_description: He was the son of Richard Shakespeare of the Warwickshire village of Snitterfield, a farmer.
  John Shakespeare moved to Stratford-upon-Avon in 1551, where he became a successful businessman involved in several related occupations. At this time, Stratford had a population of 1500 people and only 200 houses. 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, the eastern wing of what is now called Shakespeare's Birthplace. Whether the house he bought in 1556 was the same house he had lived in during 1552 is unknown. In 1576, he bought two houses to the west and joined the three together.
  In 1556 Shakespeare was elected borough ale taster, the first of several key municipal positions he was to hold in Stratford. In that position he was responsible for ensuring that weights and measures and prices were observed by innkeepers and publicans within the borough, and also by butchers, bakers and town traders. In 1558 he was appointed borough constable – a position similar to an early police constable. In 1559 he became an affeeror, an officer responsible for assessing fines for offences carrying penalties not explicitly defined by existing statutes. This role led to his becoming a burgess, then a chamberlain. He would have been known as a 'Goodman', a title that recognised his growing social status within Stratford. By 1564, Shakespeare was an alderman, a member of the Common Hall of Stratford, and it was in this year that William was born.
  In 1568 Shakespeare was appointed High Bailiff, the present-day equivalent of mayor, elected by the common council of burgesses and aldermen, which entitled him to be referred to as Master John Shakespeare. In that capacity he presided at the sessions of the Court of Record and at council meetings. For his borough the bailiff was almoner, coroner, escheator, and clerk of the market, and served as justice of the peace issuing warrants and negotiating with the lord of the manor on behalf of the corporation.
  In 1569 Shakespeare had applied for a coat of arms, the application – subsequently withdrawn – including a vague claim of an ancestor having been honoured by King Henry VII, a draft of which application (with parenthetical additions representing amendments to be made in a successive draft) reading: "John Shakespeare ... whose parentes and late antecessors [grandfather] were for there [his] valeant and faithefull service advaunced and rewarded by the most prudent prince king Henry the Seventh of famous memorie, sythence whiche tyme they have continewed ... in good reputation and credit ...". After a long period of dormancy, arms were granted by William Dethick of the College of Arms on 20 October 1596. Most historians believe that his son, William, re-opened the application following his literary and financial success in London. This application additionally made reference to John Shakespeare having married "the daughter and heir of Arden, a gentleman of worship".
caption: Shakespeare's coat of arms, granted in 1596
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