John Shakespeare identified as a glover

On June 17, 1556, Thomas Such brought a case against John Shakespeare in Stratford’s court of record for the recovery of £8. The entry, originally in Latin, reads: “Thomas Siche [Such] of Arscotte [Armscote], in the county of Worcester, complains against John Shakyspere of Stretforde, in the county of Warwick, glover, in a plea that he return him £8.” Thomas Such was a husbandman (in todays’s parlance, a farmer of a modest landholding) of Armscote, then in Worcestershire, a hamlet about seven miles south of Stratford-upon-Avon. The entry does not explain how John Shakespeare had become indebted in this substantial sum. However, following three subsequent hearings, on July 15, July 29, and August 12, 1556 (all recorded in the same register, BRU 12/1 (i), ff. 6, 7, 8v), the case was dismissed and John awarded expenses on the grounds that Such, in the words of the court, again in Latin, “did not complete the action he embarked on” (quia non protulit accionem que habuit).  

Stratford’s court of record, set up under the town’s 1553 charter of incorporation, sat fortnightly (every two weeks) to hear civil claims to the value of £30. The intention was to stimulate commerce by providing local people with a means of settling business disputes quickly. The main record, as shown here, was a register of its proceedings, in Latin.

John featured in the same register on several subsequent occasions, evidence of his burgeoning business interests. Of particular significance here is his description for the first time as a glover, or a maker of gloves. This has been taken to imply that John had served out a formal apprenticeship in the town of the customary seven years, from at least 1548. John is styled a glover on two further occasions (in 1570 and 1586) but is also styled under various other trades on other occasions. He is called a yeoman four times in 1575, 1579, 1580, and 1597, an agricola (best translated here as “husbandman,” a farmer of modest circumstances) once in 1561, and a whittawer (a worker in white leather) once in 1573. Moreover, evidence from at least 1572 establishes that he was clearly involved in wide-scale wool-dealing, an ancillary but highly profitable activity pursued by many glovers. Later in 1556, he brought a case to the court of record against Henry Field “that he return 18 quarters of barley which he unjustly detains from him” (BRU 12/1 (i), f. 18), indicating that even by then he had other business interests. 

Before the Statute of Artificers of 1563 sought to regulate the engagement of apprentices, there was much irregularity. Until 1568, there is no evidence in Stratford of the existence of craft guilds under the Corporation’s supervision. Before Stratford received its charter of incorporation in 1553 there would have been no body to oversee their operations. John’s apprenticeship therefore may not have been as structured as it would have been if served out later.

Edit: based upon a reevaluation of evidence, the references to John Shakespeare as a glover have been clarified and linked to the related documents