ofEarly life
William Shakespeare was the son of John Shakespeare, an alderman and a successful glover originally from Snitterfield, and Mary Arden, the daughter of an affluent landowning farmer.[9] He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon and baptised there on 26 April 1564. His actual date of birth remains unknown, but is traditionally observed on 23 April, Saint George's Day.[10] This date, which can be traced back to an 18th-century scholar's mistake, has proved appealing to biographers, since Shakespeare died 23 April 1616.[11] He was the third child of eight and the eldest surviving son.[12]
Although no attendance records for the period survive, most biographers agree that Shakespeare was probably educated at the King's New School in Stratford,[13] a free school chartered in 1553,[14] about a quarter-mile from his home. Grammar schools varied in quality during the Elizabethan era, but grammar school curricula were largely similar, the basic Latin text was standardised by royal decree,[15] and the school would have provided an intensive education in grammar based upon Latin classical authors.[16]

John Shakespeare's house, believed to be Shakespeare's birthplace, in Stratford-upon-Avon.
At the age of 18, Shakespeare married the 26-year-old Anne Hathaway. The consistory court of the Diocese of Worcester issued a marriage licence on 27 November 1582. The next day, two of Hathaway's neighbours posted bonds guaranteeing that no lawful claims impeded the marriage.[17] The ceremony may have been arranged in some haste, since the Worcester chancellor allowed the marriage banns to be read once instead of the usual three times,[18] and six months after the marriage Anne gave birth to a daughter, Susanna, baptised 26 May 1583.[19] Twins, son Hamnet and daughter Judith, followed almost two years later and were baptised 2 February 1585.[20] Hamnet died of unknown causes at