Yesterday was Shakespeare's 460th birthday and in honor of that, the New York Times ran an article discussing his birthplace which is a well known tourist destination in England. The point was no one knows where Shakespeare was born. In fact, there's only two records of his early life: his baptism in 1564 and his marriage in 1582. No one knows anything about his youth.
Just think of all the Shakespeare scholars who have mulled over every record in Stratford and found nothing. Think of how famous Shakespeare is and still we have little to go on. It should make you feel less worried that your ancestor didn't leave many records.
This is where all the conspiracy theories start. How could someone with little education and illiterate parents become the foremost writer in English? We'll never know.
In a series of postings I will note all the original records associated with my brick wall ancestors.
BTW: my tie to Shakespeare is through my ancestor John Drake c. 1590-1659 of Windsor, Conn. He married in 1616 Lettice Shakespeare, William Shakespeare's first cousin. I descend from John Drake's second marriage to Elizabeth Rogers.
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