John Shakespeare 1531 - 1601.

John Shakespeare the father of William was a self made man who become the mayor of Stratford-upon-Avon and in the fullness of time went bankrupt. In doing so his son was taken out of the local grammar school and he never went onto university. He made is way to London aged 28 and the Globe Theatre in Southwick. What was it that stirred the fire of his imagination? His mother Mary (Alden) was the youngest of many sisters and had been left the equivalent in today's money of £30,000 by her father. She took this into her marriage with John. Mary was a good housekeeper and made a success of the family. Nevertheless after the death of two daughters she gave birth to a much loved son William in 1564. She was by all accounts a good story teller and one can imagine that this was the genesis of his thirst and love of stories from an early age, coupled with his very considerable intelligence. At that time England was in the grip of religious turmoil and revolution was in the air. When Elizabeth came to the throne in (1558-1603) she was determined to put an end to Catholicism and have the Protestant faith centre stage. This was told in an excellent programme introduced by Michael Wood on BBC Four in Shakespeare's Mother: The Secret Life of a Tudor Women.