0. When was William Shakespeare born ? Where ? His birthday is traditionally celebrated on April 23, as the parish register of Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, shows that he was baptized there on April 26, 1564. 1. Write the names of William Shakespeare’s parents . Who were they ? John Shakespeare & Mary Arden . His father, John Shakespeare, was a burgess of the borough, who in 1565 was chosen an alderman and in 1568 bailiff (the position corresponding to mayor, before the grant of a further charter to Stratford in 1664). He was engaged in various kinds of trade and appears to have suffered some fluctuations in prosperity. His wife, Mary Arden, of Wilmcote, Warwickshire, came from an ancient family and was the heiress to some land. (Given the somewhat rigid social distinctions of the 16th century, this marriage must have been a step up the social scale for John Shakespeare.) 2. Write the name of his wife . When did they get married ? Anne Hathaway He married at the age of 18 . Where and exactly when are not known, but the episcopal registry at Worcester preserves a bond dated November 28, 1582. 3. Write the names of his three children. What happened to them ? Susanna was baptized on May 26, 1583 and died in 1649 .On February 2, 1585, the twins Hamnet and Judith were baptized. The boy Hamnet, Shakespeare's only son, died 11 years later in 1596 , while Judith died in 1662. Both his daughters were then married : Judith to Thomas Quiney and Susanna to John Hall, a respected physician of Stratford. Judith and Thomas had three children : Shaksper , Richard and Thomas. Susanna and John Halll had only one daughter, Elizabeth. 4. What was the name of his hometown ? Stratford- upon- Avon 5. Write the names of the buildings in his hometown related to him . His birthplace , King Edward VI Grammar School, Mary Arden's house, Nash House, Hall's Croft, Anne Hathaway's cottage and Holy Trinity Church. 6. Where did he study ? Stratford enjoyed a grammar school of good quality, and the education there was free, the schoolmaster's salary being paid by the borough. No lists of the pupils who were at the school in the 16th century have survived, but it would be absurd to suppose the bailiff of the town did not send his son there. The boy's education would consist mostly of Latin studies--learning to read, write, and speak the language fairly well and studying some of the classical historians, moralists, and poets. 7. Did he go to university ? Shakespeare did not go on to the university, and indeed it is unlikely that the tedious round of logic, rhetoric, and other studies then followed there would have interested him. 8. Why did he leave his family and hometown to go to London ? We don't know for sure . How Shakespeare spent the eight years or so after getting married , until his name begins to appear in London theatre records, is not known. Yet, there are stories--given currency long after his death--of stealing deer and getting into trouble with a local magnate, Sir Thomas Lucy of Charlecote, near Stratford; of earning his living as a schoolmaster in the country; of going to London and gaining entry to the world of theatre by minding the horses of theatregoers. It has also been conjectured that Shakespeare spent some time as a member of a great household and that he was a soldier, perhaps in the Low Countries. 9. How many plays had he written when he arrived in London ? None 10. When can we find the first reference to Shakespeare in the literary world of London ? In 1592, when a fellow dramatist, Robert Greene, wrote about Shakespeare in a pamphlet written on his deathbed. 11. When he was in London , he was an actor and playwritght who belonged to the company called Lord Chamberlain's Men (called the King's Men after the accession of James I in 1603), which had been founded by Lord Chamberlain and whose theatre was called The Globe .They had the bast actor Richard Burbage and the best dramatist , William Shakespeare. 12. When and where did he die ? He died on April 23, 1616 in Stratford-upon- Avon 13. When and where did his wife die ? Anne died in 1623, seven years after Shakespeare. 14. Where is he buried ? In the chancel of the parish church of Stratford-upon-Avon. No name was inscribed on his gravestone . Instead these lines, possibly his own, appeared: Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbear To dig the dust enclosed here. Blest be the man that spares these stones, And curst be he that moves my bones. 15. What did his will state ? Shakespeare's will (made on March 25, 1616) is a long and detailed document. It entailed his quite ample property on the male heirs of his elder daughter, Susanna. As an afterthought, he bequeathed his "second-best bed" to his wife; but no one can be certain what this notorious legacy means. The testator's signatures to the will are apparently in a shaky hand. Perhaps Shakespeare was already ill.