Parish register entry recording Anne Hathaway Shakespeare's burial

Anne, William Shakespeare’s wife, was buried on August 8, 1623, according to the Holy Trinity Church parish register. Next to the entry, an “X” added by a later hand highlights its significance. Her superior social status is indicated by the term ‘”M^rs,” for “Mistress” instead of the term “widow” which was used in most other cases, including that of Shakespeare’s mother’s burial. She died two days earlier on August 6 “of the age of 67 yeares,” as a brass inscription placed on a stone in the Holy Trinity Church chancel indicates.

The clerk making the entry bracketed her name with that of Ann James, buried on the same day, which was a departure from his customary practice of marking “eodem” (for eodem die, on the same day). However, several batches of baptisms which took place on the same day, between March 9, 1622 and January 25, 1624, are similarly bracketed, confirming a temporary change in the clerk’s methodology.

The page, ending with a burial on March 26, 1624, was certified by Simon Trapp, curate, on April 19, although the entries for the burials on that page are not in his hand. His predecessor as curate, George Quiney, maintained the register until March 26, but he died shortly afterwards (he was buried on April 11) and must have been quickly replaced.

Under 1598 regulations, parish incumbents were required to send annual transcripts of baptism, marriage and burial entries in their registers to their diocesan registry. Stratford was part of the bishop of Worcester’s diocese. For the early years many of Stratford’s transcripts are damaged or missing, but they do record, under the date August 8, 1623, a fuller entry for Anne’s burial: “M^rs Ann Shakespeare.”