are remembered at the very beginning of Agnes' will; and where we find John Hill, the son or grandson of this testator, living till near the close of the century. Agnes Hill also, then a widow, is found assessed at Bearley on 77., in the 37th of Henry VIII. 1546, so that it must have been after that date that she became the wife of Robert Arden; which concurs with the strong presumption raised by the terms of the will, to the proof that she could not have been the mother of Mary Shakespeare. One thing will arrest the attention of the reader of this will; that though there can be no doubt that it is the will of the widow left by Robert Arden, Shakespeare's grandfather, yet there is not the slightest notice of Mary Shakespeare, or of her sister Alice, another co-heir, whose marriage is not yet known. It is natural that the step-mother should leave what little she had to bequeath to her own son and daughter and their children, especially as she seems to have received nothing but her jointure from Arden; but it would have been satisfactory to have found that, when she was disposing of small remembrances to friends and connections, she had spoken of Mary Shakespeare and her children, especially William, then fifteen years of age; and that she does not name any of the Shakespeares leads to the suspicion, which I should rejoice to see proved to be unfounded, that there was no cordiality between this old lady and her husband's posterity. Persons of the surname of Hill are found in great number in and about Stratford; and one or two of them were rather remarkable men. But there is nothing more than mere identity of surname, which in such a case as this is nothing, from which to infer a relationship to the Hills thus brought into connection with the family of Shakespeare. Of the Fulwoods, thanks to the labours of the heralds, we know much more; and if the received account were true, we should have in these Fulwoods many very near relations of the poet. John Fulwood, who married Mary Hill, was the great-grandson of a Robert Fulwood, who resided at Clayhall, in the parish of Tamworth. This Robert founded three families, all of some distinction; Richard his eldest son, continued the line at Clay-hall; John, the second, was ancestor of the Fulwoods of Ford-hall, in the parish of Wotton Wawen (from whom Sir John Bernard descended); and Robert, the third, was settled at Little Alne. John Fulwood and Mary Hill, daughter of Agnes wife of Robert Arden, had a numerous family, namely, five sons and three daughters. 1. Robert, who was living at Little Alne in 1619 when he was married, and had issue; 2. John; 3. Avery, of Wilmecote, who was married, and had issue; 4. Richard, of Alcester, who had issue; and 5. Adam. Eleanor, the eldest daughter, was the wife of William Green, of Alne ;* Alice, first of Theophilus Williams, and second of George Wilkinson, of Green's Norton, in Northamptonshire; and Catherine, of Henry Hanbury, of Hanbury, in Worcestershire. There * This William Green appears to have been son of Thomas Green, of Little Alne, yeoman, whose will, dated March 24, in the 22d of Elizabeth, was proved at Warwick, on March 31, 1581. It notices so many persons of the name, and there has been so much suspicion afloat of a connection between the families of Shakespeare and Green, that the following abstract of this will may not be unacceptable or irrelevant. He desires to be buried in the church or church-yard of Aston Cantlow; his wife Anne is to have the house in which he dwelt at Little Alne; he names his sons William, Robert, Thomas, and George; to each of the three last he gives £20 when they are twenty-three. He names Elizabeth and Margaret Gibbes, his wife's daughters; his sister Emlyn Jenks, who was then dead, leaving Edward, her eldest son; and his brother Richard Green. He makes his wife and son William Green joint executors, and his brother Richard Green, and his dear friends Mr. George Skinner, Mr. Baylee, and Adam Palmer, overseers. Among his creditors we find the names of Thomas Green, of Preston-upon-Stowre; Stephen Burman, of Shottery; his cousin Richard Green, and his brother Booth. is nothing in any act of Shakespeare's to shew that there was any acquaintanceship or friendship between him and the Fulwoods. There was a numerous young family of the name growing up at Little Alne, as late as 1682, descendants of the Agnes Arden whose will we have given; whose names may be found in MS. K. 3, f. 78, in the College of Arms. I annex a small table, which will exhibit at one view the true connection among the Shakespeares, Ardens, Webbs, Hills, and Fulwoods. 1 w. Robert Arden of Wilme--Agnes, sister of Alexander cote, gentleman. Will Webb, 2nd wife. Made her Hill of Bearley, 1st husband. John Full-Mary wood of Hill. Alne Parva. WILLIAM. Robert. John. Avery. Richard. Adam. THE SHAKESPEARES (resumed). The children of John Shakespeare and Mary Arden, so far as they are known, were the following: 1. Joan, baptized at Stratford, September 15, 1558. As there was a second daughter to whom the name of Joan was given, it is presumed that this Joan died in her infancy, but no register of her burial is found. 2. Margaret, baptized December 2, 1562; buried April 30, 1563. 3. WILLIAM, baptized April 26, 1564. 4. Gilbert, baptized October 13, 1566. His name is found in a document in possession of Mr. Wheler, the antiquary of Stratford, as receiving seisin of certain lands in the name of his brother. In the Register of Burials, at Stratford, we have "Gilbertus Shakspeare, adolescens," buried Feb. 3, 1611; who, bearing this unusual name, may be supposed to be son to the former Gilbert. 5. Joan, baptized April 15, 1569, who married William Hart, of Stratford, and had children, whose baptisms appear in the Stratford register. 6. Anne, baptized September 28, 1571; buried April 4, 1579. 7. Richard, baptized March 11, 1573, of whom nothing is known; but it may be conjectured that he is the Richard Shakespeare who was buried at Stratford Feb. 4, 1612. 8. Edmund, baptized May 3, 1580. He is believed to have been an actor, and to have died in London, unmarried, in THE HARTS. It thus appears that the only descendants of John and Mary Shakespeare who have been ascertained are those who have proceeded from the poet or from his sister Joan, the wife of William Hart; and since, as we shall see, the issue of the poet became extinct in the third generation, the only persons derived from the marriage of John Shakespeare with Mary Arden are the posterity of William Hart and Joan Shakespeare. If any of the brothers of Shakespeare had left issue they would beyond doubt have appeared in his will, or in the wills of Mr. Nash or Lady Bernard. In them therefore only do we recognize persons who have the blood of that part of the family of Shakespeare to which the poet belonged; and pity it is that their path in life has lain in the dark and lowly vale, that neither has personal talent of any kind brought any of them into notice, nor national or private munificence done much for those who are the nearest blood representatives of him who has gladdened so many hearts, and whose remains are among those works of man on which the glory of England may in a great degree be said to rest. Yet has this line been the object of genealogical curiosity. The research of Mr. Wheler, it is believed, to whom the admirers of Shakespeare are on many accounts so much indebted, has traced out the descendants of Joan Hart in their obscure retreats. The results of his inquiries have been communicated to the world; * they bear the marks of his usual care and accuracy: but as the table is unenlivened * See the Gentleman's Magazine, vol. lxxxvi. ii. 204, &c. |