Witter v. Heminges and Condell: Shareholdings in the Globe: Witness book

In 1606 John Witter of Mortlake, Surrey, married Anne Phillips, widow of Augustine Phillips, a member of the King’s Men who had died in 1605. Though Anne was both a beneficiary and the executrix of her deceased husband’s estate, a clause in Phillips’s will stipulated that, should she re-marry, the executorship of the estate, including the Phillips share in the Globe, would pass to his overseers John Heminges, Richard Burbage, and William Slye, who were principal actors with the King’s Men, and to Timothy Whitehorn. Accordingly, in 1607, a year after Anne’s remarriage, the executorship passed to John Heminges (Playhouse Wills, p. 74). Following Anne’s death in January 1618, Witter sued Heminges and Henry Condell for her share in the Globe. The resulting lawsuit, from which eight documents survive, provides useful information on the Globe site and the Globe playhouse. One document, the Answer of Heminges and Condell specifically names William Shakespeare.

This entry from the contemporary Witness Book from 1620 indicates that Thomas Woodford, gent, and James Knasborough, gent, were called to depose in this case, which was opened on April 20, 1619 with Witter’s Complaint. Though the Final Decree (1619-20) confirms that “certen witnesses” were examined, no depositions have been found.

Of the two named witnesses, Woodford may be identified as a citizen of London and “Salter” who survived until 1639 (TNA PROB 11/181/380). Knasborough, then a resident of nearby Richmond, was buried in the church of St. Dunstan in the West, London, June 16, 1629 (Ancestry.com). Two years before the start of Witter’s suit, under 1615-16, the Middlesex Sessions Records report that John Witter of Surrey was charged “for wounding James Knavesberry of Mortlake aforesaid, gentleman” (Ancestry.com). Given this charge, Knasborough/Knavesberry must surely have served as a witness for the defendants Heminges and Condell.