A brief biography of William Shakespeare

The principal facts about his life, briefly set forth, are as follows: About April 23, 1564, William Shakespeare was born. He was baptized on the 26th of the same month in the parish church of his birthplace: Stratford upon Avon, in the county of Warwickshire, England.

His father, John Shakespeare, was a prosperous glove maker, a burgess of the corporation of Stratford, the owner of a farm. He sent William, it is thought, to the free grammar school in Stratford, but withdrew him at the age of thirteen because he had lost most of his fortune.

William Shakespeare married in 1582 (being then eighteen) Anne Hathaway, eight years his senior. His first child, Susanna, was baptized May 26, 1583, and twins, Hamnet and Judith, were baptized Feb 2, 1585.

He left Stratford in 1584. The tradition is that he went away to escape punishment for poaching on Sir Thomas Lucy's estate. What he did for the next eight years no-one has discovered. But in 1592 he was known as an actor and playwright and was satirized by Robert Greene in "A Groatsworth of Wit".

"Venus and Adonis" was published in April, 1593; "Lucrece" in May 1594. In 1598 it is thought that Shakespeare visited northern Italy. In the summer of 1604 he was a leading member of the Chamberlain's company of actors. He played at the Rose on Bankside, the Cross Keys and later at the Globe.

In 1601 he was rich enough to buy a beautiful house and garden in New Place, Chapel Street, Stratford. He was well liked by Queen Elizabeth I, and his plays had royal patronage.

Two of his sonnets were printed in 1599 in a volume of miscellaneous verse called "The Passionate Pilgrim." This book was, on the title page, ascribed to Shakespeare. But most authorities hold that he was not its author. A book called "Shakespeare's Sonnets, Never Before Imprinted." was published in 1609.

In 1610 he left London to live at New Place, Stratford. It was in 1613 that he purchased for Ј140 a freehold house in Blackfriars, London near The Wardrobe. He died at Stratford April 23, 1616.

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