DR243/1: Baptismal register, folio 20 verso
Reproduced by permission of Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
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The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust has graciously contributed images under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommerical ShareAlike 4.0 International license. Visitors may download, link to and cite the images for personal research only. Any further use, including, but not limited to, unauthorized downloading or distribution of the images, commercial or third party use, is strictly prohibited. Visitors must contact the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust to request additional use, at: images.scla@shakespeare.org.uk
Document-specific information
Creator: Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon
Title: Parish Register of Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon
Date: 1558-1776
Repository: The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Stratford-upon-Avon, UK
Call number and opening: DR243/1: Baptismal register, fol. 20v
View online bibliographic record
DR243/1: Baptismal register, folio 20 verso, entry detail
Reproduced by permission of Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
Terms of use
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust has graciously contributed images under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommerical ShareAlike 4.0 International license. Visitors may download, link to and cite the images for personal research only. Any further use, including, but not limited to, unauthorized downloading or distribution of the images, commercial or third party use, is strictly prohibited. Visitors must contact the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust to request additional use, at: images.scla@shakespeare.org.uk
Document-specific information
Creator: Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon
Title: Parish Register of Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon
Date: 1558-1776
Repository: The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Stratford-upon-Avon, UK
Call number and opening: DR243/1: Baptismal register, fol. 20v
View online bibliographic record
Reproduced by permission of Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
Terms of use
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust has graciously contributed images under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommerical ShareAlike 4.0 International license. Visitors may download, link to and cite the images for personal research only. Any further use, including, but not limited to, unauthorized downloading or distribution of the images, commercial or third party use, is strictly prohibited. Visitors must contact the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust to request additional use, at: images.scla@shakespeare.org.uk
Document-specific information
Creator: Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon
Title: Parish Register of Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon
Date: 1558-1776
Repository: The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Stratford-upon-Avon, UK
Call number and opening: DR243/1: Baptismal register, fol. 20v
View online bibliographic record
Robert Bearman, "Parish register entry recording Susanna Shakespeare's baptism," Shakespeare Documented, https://doi.org/10.37078/514.
Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, DR243/1: Baptismal register, folio 20 verso. See Shakespeare Documented, https://doi.org/10.37078/514.
Susanna, William and Anne Shakespeare’s first child, was baptized on May 26, 1583, according to the Holy Trinity Church parish register. Next to the entry, a “X” added by a later hand highlights its significance. William and Anne married in late November 1582 by which time Anne must already have been pregnant.
Scholars have frequently debated whether Susanna’s birth, so close to her parents’ marriage, would then have been a matter of concern on moral grounds. However, what was more likely to have been seen as unfortunate was that William, then only eighteen, did not have a home of his own to raise his family in, or an income to support them. He and his dependents must therefore have lived in his parents’ Henley Street home, at a time when his father was in financial difficulty.
Written by Robert Bearman
Last updated May 22, 2020
