William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564. He was baptized on April 24, 1564, in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. He was the third of eight children born to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden, three of whom died in childhood. John was a well-known merchant and Mary was the daughter of a Roman Catholic member of the gentry, or high social position. The house where Shakespeare spent his childhood stood adjacent to he wool shop in which his father plied a successful trade as a glover and dealer in leather goods and other commodities. Before moving to Stratford sometime prior to 1552 John Shakespeare had been a farmer in the neighboring village of Snitterfield. Whether he was able to read and write is uncertain. By marrying Mary Arden, the daughter of his father's landlord, he acquired the benefits of a better social standing and a lucrative inheritance, much of which he invested in property such as houses. And by involving himself in public service, he rose by sure degrees to the highest municipal positions Stratford had to offer such as: chamberlain in 1561, alderman in 1565, and bailiff ,or mayor, and justice of the peace in 1568. Shakespeare was educated at the local grammar school. According to history, because Shakespeare was the eldest son, he should have been the apprentice to his father's shop so that he could be taught everything his father knew and soon take over the business. But instead he was the apprentice to a butcher because of the trouble in his father's financial situation. Just what happened to alter John Shakespeare's financial and social position after the mid 1570s is not clear. Shakespeare was still allowed a lot of free time when he was young. This was suggested by historians that his plays show more ideas of hunting and hawking than do those of other play writers. In 1582 he married Anne Hathaway, the daughter of a farmer. He was thought to have left Stratford after he was caught poaching in the deer park of ...
