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Manuscript mention of Shakespeare in his lifetime

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February 15, 1609
Shakespeare sues John Addenbrooke: a writ to require the attendance of jurors, under threat of dispossession of their goods
On August 17, 1608, William Shakespeare (or his family or agents acting on his behalf) began an action in the Stratford court of record to recover a debt of £6 from John Addenbrooke. The case dragged on until at least June 7, 1609.
March 15, 1609
Shakespeare sues John Addenbrooke: the order to produce Addenbrooke at the next court sitting
On August 17, 1608, William Shakespeare (or his family or agents acting on his behalf) began an action in the Stratford court of record to recover a debt of £6 from John Addenbrooke. The case dragged on until at least June 7, 1609.
June 7, 1609
Shakespeare sues John Addenbrooke: writ to bring Addenbrooke’s surety, Thomas Hornby to court, following Addenbrooke’s failure to give satisfaction
On August 17, 1608, William Shakespeare (or his family or agents acting on his behalf) began an action in the Stratford court of record to recover a debt of £6 from John Addenbrooke. The case dragged on until at least June 7, 1609.
ca. 1609
An endorsement, added between 1603 and 1616 to a deed of 1572, defines the eastern boundary of William Shakespeare’s New Place property
A messy note, included on the back of a 1572 lease, informs us of the extent of Shakespeare’s property at New Place. Shakespeare purchased New Place in 1597, which stood on the corner of Chapel Street and Chapel Lane.
July 20, 1609
A deed of conveyance of a house in Henley Street describes William Shakespeare’s house (now the Birthplace) as adjoining it on the west
John Shakespeare’s property in Henley Street, inherited by his son William in 1601, and now known as the Birthplace, had a frontage of about 90 feet. When an urban property changed hands, its boundaries were often defined by reference to neighboring properties.
June 19, 1609
Letter from Thomas Bowker to Edward Alleyn about a dog, with numerous notes on the verso by Alleyn of payments, including for a book of Shakespeare's Sonnets
Edward Alleyn (1566-1626), the famous Elizabethan actor and wealthy Jacobean gentleman, purchased a copy of Shake-speares Sonnets, published in 1609, recording his acquisition under “Howshowld stuff”:
1610
The Combes sell Shakespeare arable land in old Stratford: fine entered into the Court of Common Pleas, Feet of Fines, to confirm Shakespeare's title.
SHAKESPEARE DOCUMENTED IS STILL GROWING! Descriptive content and transcriptions will continue to be added, updated and expanded. Check back for regular updates!
1609- 1610
Sir John Harington's catalogue of plays: ownership of Shakespeare quartos
The poet and courtier Sir John Harington left behind tantalizing lists of plays written by Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Thomas Middleton, Thomas Heywood, and others. Around 1609 he compiled two lists of play quartos almost certainly in his personal collection.
ca. Easter 1610 - Hilary 1611
The Combes sell Shakespeare arable land in old Stratford: Concord recording the confirmation to Shakespeare by William and John Combe of a freehold in Old Stratford, 1 of 2
SHAKESPEARE DOCUMENTED IS STILL GROWING! Descriptive content and transcriptions will continue to be added, updated and expanded. Check back for regular updates!
September 11, 1611
William Shakespeare is listed as a potential subscriber towards the cost of prosecuting a bill in Parliament for the better maintenance of the highways
On September 11, 1611, the Stratford Corporation drafted a list of seventy-two burgesses who could be approached to subscribe “towardes the Charge of prosecutyng the Bill in the parliament for the better Repayre of the highe Waies and amendinge divers defectes in the Statutes alredy made.&r

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