Shakespeare of Stratford/The Biographical Facts/Fact 2
II. SHAKESPEARE’S MARRIAGE (1582).
(A) Record of issue of marriage license, Episcopal Register, Diocese of Worcester, November 27, 1582:
Anno Domini 1582 . . . Novembris . . . 27 die eiusdem mensis. Item eodem die supradicto emanavit Licentia inter Wm Shaxpere et Annam Whateley de Temple Grafton.[1]
(B) Marriage Bond from Worcester Episcopal Registry, November 28, 1582:
Noverint universi per praesentes nos Fulconem Sandells de Stratford in comitatu Warwici agricolam et Johannem Rychardson ibidem agricolam, teneri et firmiter obligari Ricardo Cosin generoso et Roberto Warmstry notario publico in quadraginta libris bonae et legalis monetae Angliae solvend. eisdem Ricardo et Roberto haered. execut. et assignat. suis ad quam quidem solucionem bene et fideliter faciend. obligamus nos et utrumque nostrum per se pro toto et in solid. haered. executor. et administrator, nostros firmiter per praesentes sigillis nostris sigillat. Dat. 28 die Novem. Anno regni dominae nostrae Eliz. Dei gratia Angliae Franc. et Hiberniae Reginae fidei defensor &c. 25°.[2]
The condition of this obligation is such that if hereafter there shall not appear any lawful let or impediment by reason of any precontract, consanguinity, affinity or by any other lawful means whatsoever, but that Willm Shagspere on the one party and Anne Hathwey of Stratford in the diocese of Worcester, maiden, may lawfully solemnize matrimony together, and in the same afterwards remain and continue like man and wife according unto the laws in that behalf provided; and moreover if there be not at this present time any action, suit, quarrel, or demand moved or depending before any judge ecclesiastical or temporal for and concerning any such lawful let or impediment; and moreover if the said Willm do not proceed to solemnization of marriage with the said Anne Hathwey without the consent of her friends; and also if the said Willm do upon his own proper costs and expenses defend and save harmless the right reverend Father in God, Lord John Bishop of Worcester and his officers for licensing them the said Willm and Anne to be married together with once asking of the bans of matrimony between them and for all other causes which may ensue by reason or occasion thereof: that then the said obligation to be void and of none effect or else to stand and abide in full force and virtue.
Note One. Anne Whateley of Temple Grafton.
It is probable, but not certain, that the Anne Whateley mentioned in document A as the intended wife of Wm. Shaxpere is the same as the Anne Hathwey of document B, and that both records therefore refer to the poet. Sir Sidney Lee (Life of Shakespeare, 1922, pp. 30 f.) argues against the identity of the two; Mrs. Stopes (Shakespeare’s Family, p. 63), J. W. Gray (Shakespeare’s Marriage, p. 28), and Professor J. Q. Adams (Life of Shakespeare, p. 76), cite good reasons for accepting it. Whateley was a name of not infrequent occurrence in the Worcester neighborhood and might be misread or otherwise inadvertently substituted by the clerk for Hathwey. Temple Grafton is a village five miles from Stratford and may have been the place selected for the wedding—presumably because the Stratford rector declined to perform it or because the couple desired to avoid publicity. The Temple Grafton marriage register for the period is lost, and no record of the actual marriage of Shakespeare and Anne Hathway has been found elsewhere.
Note Two. Anne Hathway.
Anne Hathway, or Hathaway, was probably the eldest daughter, and one of the seven children, of Richard Hathway of Shottery in the parish of Old Stratford, whose will was dated Sept. 1, 1581, and proved July 9, 1582. She was buried as ‘Mrs. Shakspeare’ at Stratford, August 8, 1628, having died at New Place two days before, and was interred beside her husband in the chancel of the church with the following inscription: ‘Here lieth interred the body of Anne, wife of Mr. William Shakespeare, who departed this life the 6th day of August, 1628, being of the age of 67 years.’ The note of her age indicates that she was seven or eight years older than the poet. There exists no other evidence for the date of her birth.
Note Three. The Marriage Bond (Document B).
The two signers of the bond were friends of the Hathway family, evidently acting in the interests of Anne. Richard Hathway’s will names Fulke Sandells as one of his two ‘trusty friends and neighbors’ whom he appoints as supervisors of the testament; and John Richardson appears as one of the witnesses to it. The absence of any reference to Shakespeare’s family has been cited as a striking irregularity in the document, particularly as the poet was a minor. On the other hand it is argued that John Shakespeare’s embarrassed financial condition in 1582 would have rendered him unacceptable as surety for so large a bond as forty pounds, and that the license would not have been issued at all unless the Bishop’s representatives had received satisfactory assurance that he would not make serious complaint about the marriage.
The purpose of the bond and Bishop’s license was to save time. Normal procedure in the case of marriages was by thrice reading the bans on successive weeks; but December 1, 1582, began a prohibited period in the church year, the effect of which would have been to postpone for about two months the performance of the ceremony by the ordinary method.
- ↑ ‘Likewise on the same day aforesaid there went out a license [for marriage] between Wm. Shaxpere and Anne Whateley of Temple Grafton.’ (Latin abbreviations have been expanded.)
- ↑ ‘Let all know by these presents that we, Fulke Sandells of Stratford in the county of Warwick yeoman and John Richardson of the same place yeoman, are held and firmly bound to Richard Cosin gentleman and Robert Warmstry notary public in the sum of forty pounds of good and legal English money to be paid to the same Richard and Robert, their heirs, executors, and assigns, for the good and faithful performance of which payment we firmly bind ourselves and each of us individually for the whole, our heirs, executors, and administrators, by this paper sealed with our seals. Given the 28th day of November in the twenty-fifth year of the reign of our lady Elizabeth, by the grace of God Queen of England, France, and Ireland, defender of the faith, etc.’