Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway together in London - new research
- London On The Ground
- 3 hours ago
- 6 min read
The Bard, his wife and a new London address in Trinity Lane?
New research, by Professor Matthew Steggle of the University of Bristol, examines a 17th century letter to a woman addressed as “Good Mrs Shakspaire”.
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The letter asks her to pay money held in trust by her husband to a “poor fatherless” apprentice named John Butte or Butts. It also mentions a Mr Sharrowe.
The letter says that Mrs Shakspaire and her husband had at some point previously “dwelt in Trinitie Lane”.
The implications of the research for our knowledge of William Shakespeare’s life in London are significant.
It would add one more domestic location in the capital to the four already associated with him (see the end of this post for details).
Moreover, it would overturn the commonly held view among historians that Shakespeare left his wife (and children) in Stratford-on-Avon throughout his London career. It suggests that Anne Hathaway lived in London with her husband - for at least some of the time - and that she was significantly involved in his financial and social activities.
The letter was first discovered in 1978 in the collection of Hereford Cathedral Library.
It is incomplete and undated and does not include the name or address of its writer. Since the date, names and places mentioned could not be identified with certainty, it received little further attention.
However, the extensive new research into the names and places in the letter changes that.
The handwriting and spelling suggest a likely date range for the letter of 1590-1620. Professor Steggle cautiously widened the possible range to 1580-1650 and searched a number of databases for references to a married couple called Shakspaire, a fatherless apprentice called John Butt(s) and a man called Sharowe in a town that offered apprenticeships and where there was a Trinity Lane.
Note that variations in spelling, which were very common, were also factored into his research.
In addition he looked for possible connections between William Shakespeare and a John Butt(s) in their social circles.
An important clue in the research is that the letter was discovered in the binding of a book printed by a known associate of Shakespeare, William Field, quite possibly in 1608.
Waste paper was commonly used in book binding and might reasonably be expected to have originated within a close circle of contacts of the printer not very long before the printing.
Professor Steggle’s intriguing conclusion is that London is the most likely location for the Trinity Lane in question and that William and Anne Hathaway Shakespeare are the most likely couple.
He suggests a story and possible time line, outlined below.
John Butt(s) was most probably born in the 1580s, the son of a grocer named Thomas Butt(s). After his father died, his mother asked William Shakespeare to be a trustee of John’s money until he came of age. John began an eight year apprenticeship with a merchant Tailor named Thomas Hughes in Warwick Lane in 1599.
At some point in the next few years, the Shakespeares, Mr Sharowe and the letter writer had a meeting in connection with the trust money, referred to in the letter. Later still, when William and Anne were living in Trinity Lane, the letter writer repaid an “overplus” (surplus) owed to the “others”.
According to Professor Steggle the most likely period when the Shakespeares were living in Trinity Lane was at some point between 1599 and 1603 or, possibly, in 1605.
Towards the end of the Butt(s) apprenticeship - possibly between May and November 1607 - the letter writer approached Shakespeare and then his wife to ask them to pay money to the young man.
Professor Steggle has identified a man named John Butts, a victualler in Norton Folgate, an area between Bishopsgate and Shoreditch, from documents dated 1614-1616.
Shakespeare worked very near to this area with the Chamberlain’s Men at the Theatre and the Curtain Theatre in 1594-1599 (see my post on Shakespeare in Shoreditch). His close associates the Burbages continued to live in the area throughout Shakespeare’s life (which ended in 1616). This at least makes it plausible that Shakespeare’s social network could have included a John Butts.
Trinity Lane survives today as Little Trinity Lane, which now consists mainly of modern office buildings. It is also the site of Painters’ Hall, just as it was when Shakespeare was in London and has been since at least 1375 (although today’s Painters' Hall dates from 1961).
If the Shakespeares did live in Trinity Lane, it would have been a convenient location for the actor/playwright.
It is located in the ward of Queenhithe, named after a dock on the Thames opposite the Globe theatre and an easy walk to the Blackfriars Theatre. It was also down the road and around the corner from the Mermaid Tavern, purportedly the site of a drinking club of literary figures such as Ben Jonson, John Donne, John Fletcher, Francis Beaumont and (in legend, but probably not in fact) Shakespeare himself.
Professor Steggle’s research is based on extensive investigations and strong evidence, but it is circumstantial and not hard and fast proof. Nevertheless, he sets out a compelling case in a paper published on 24 April 2025 in Shakespeare, the journal of the British Shakespeare Association (which can be read here).
In 1597, Shakespeare bought a large house in Stratford-upon-Avon called New Place. It seems very likely that this was the main home for Anne and their two surviving children Susanna and Judith (their son Hamnet died in 1596 aged 11), especially when the children were young.
However, it is now fascinating to consider the possibility that Anne also shared at least some of her husband's time in London, and that she played an important part in his life in the capital. It raises serious questions about the widely held view - perpetuated by imagined portrayals such as the film Shakespeare in Love and by the fact that William left Anne his “second best bed” - that the marriage was unhappy.
Known residential locations for William Shakespeare in London
The residential locations in London known to be associated with William Shakespeare are listed below. The gaps in the record certainly allow for the possibility that he may have lived in Trinity Lane at some point between the Liberty of the Clink and Silver Street, or after Silver Street.
Parish of St Helen’s Bishopsgate, c1596-1598
Tax records assess Shakespeare’s wealth at £5, locating him in the Parish of St Helen’s Bishopsgate.
The church today still looks very much as it would have done when Shakespeare was a parishioner and would have attended services there.
He did not pay 5s he owed in tax.
Southwark, likely Liberty of the Clink, c1599
The tax records show that Shakespeare’s case was referred to the Southwark authorities, suggesting that he had moved south of the river. It is thought that he most probably lived in the area known as the Liberty of the Clink. This coincided with the opening of the Globe in that area.
Silver Street (corner of Muggle Street), Cripplegate ward c1603-1605
The playwright lodged in a house opposite the church of St Olave Silver Street on the corner with Muggle Street.
The house was owned by Christophe and Marie Mountjoy and their daughter Mary, a French Huguenot family. When Mary became engaged to the Mountjoys’ apprentice Stephen Belott, the couple were 'made sure' by Shakespeare 'giving each other's hand to the hand'. Belott later sued his in-laws for not providing the promised £60 dowry and Shakespeare appeared as a witness in the court case (which is how we know that he lived there).
Silver Street, Muggle Street and St Olave’s have all disappeared. The Barbican’s Shakespeare Tower overlooks the site today.
Blackfriars Gatehouse, 1613
Shakespeare did not live here, but bought the former gatehouse of the Blackfriars priory as a ‘buy to let’ investment. The deed of conveyance contains one of only six surviving examples of his signature. Each one is spelt differently (this one reads “William Shaksper”).
Some of the locations mentioned in this post can be seen in my walking tour Shakespeare in the City of London, which will next take place at 2.30pm on Saturday 17 May 2025.
For more on Shakespeare’s London, please click here to see a YouTube video of my presentation on this topic at the Guildhall Library in December 2023.
Walks available for booking
For a schedule of forthcoming London On The Ground guided walks, please click here.
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