IX
“MRS. SHAXSPERE” IN THE LAW COURTS
It is well known that William Shakespeare, his family, and his friends were frequently connected with lawsuits in Stratford-on-Avon; but it has not yet been noted that his mother also appeared, in one case at least, under conditions not quite clear.
Among the Miscellaneous Documents, Stratford-on-Avon, Vol. VI, is a narrow strip of paper numbered 168. It begins:
Jurie between Robert Reed, plaintiff, and John Sadler, defendant, in a pley of trespas committed.
List of Jury: Phyllyp Grene; Ralph Lourd; Valentyne Taunt, Jur.; Robert Byddell, Jur.; Rychard Dyxson; William Wyat, Jur.; Rychard Boyse; Hough Piggon, Jur.; Edmund Watt; Rychard Taylor, Jur.; Nycholas James, Jur.; George Perey; Thomas Sharpe, Jur.; Humphrey Wheeler; Thomas Brydges; Jullyan Shawe, Jur.; Robert Wylson; John Knyght; William Tetherton; Rychard Pinck; George Mase, Jur.; Wylliam Slater, Jur.; George Rose, Jur.; Thomas More, Jur.
This seems to be the case described in the same volume of Miscellaneous Documents, VI, No. 176. Robert Reade was a surgeon. John Gibbes was dangerously wounded 10th June 37 Eliz. John Sadler, his intimate friend and neighbour, summoned Robert Reade, and promised him £10 if he should cure Gibbes. This sum Sadler refused to pay after the cure had been effected.
At the foot of the page, apparently unconnected with the above, is another entry:
Capiat Rychard Jumpe at the suit of Johne Coocke in assumpsione for cecurytie for iiiˡⁱ viˢ viiiᵈ to paye at Stratford fayre next.
Endorsed upside down, and hence on the back of the later entry, appears
Now can it be taken that these women were also on the jury, or were they only sworn witnesses? One of these they must have been. Of the three women’s names, one was apparently ruled out, Jone Reade, probably related to Robert Reed, plaintiff. The case is undated, and one gathers no clues from the calendar. I have looked up the dates of all the names mentioned in the Stratford Registers, and find that it cannot have been heard later than 1597, as Robert Bydell was buried 28th December 1597. Of the others, Thomas Sharpe was buried 18th August 1608, and “Marye Shaxspere, Wydowe,” on 9th September: “Jane, daughter of Richard Baker, Shoemaker, 23rd Sept., 1613,” though the entry might really refer to Jone, wife of Daniel Baker, who was buried 16th May 1600.
It seems almost certain that this Maria was the wife of John Shakespeare and the mother of William. There is not another of the name in the Stratford Register; and had she been one of the Rowington Shakespeares, her place of residence would naturally have been mentioned as a distinction. It is therefore possible that the poet learnt some of his knowledge of law terms even from the experience of his mother.
“Athenæum,” 13th May 1909.