Anne Hathaway (1556 - 1623) - 2010 painting based on a 1708 drawing of Hathaway
William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Anne Hathaway's Cottage, Stratford-upon-Avon (taken by the author of this blog on July 17th 2015)
August 6th 1623: Anne Hathaway dies
On this day in 1623, Anne Hathaway, the widow of William Shakespeare, died in Stratford-upon-Avon aged 67. Very little is known about Hathaway’s life, but she was born in 1556 in a small hamlet called Shottery, not far from Stratford, where she lived in her family cottage, which is now a major tourist attraction. The 26 year old Hathaway met the 18 year old Shakespeare, who was the son of a glove maker from Stratford, in the 1580s. Anne became pregnant, and the couple hastily married in November 1582, with a special bond from the bishop allowing for a quicker marriage. After her marriage, Anne moved to Shakespeare’s family home in Stratford, and six months later the couple welcomed a child named Susanna. The Shakespeares had two more children, twins Hamnet and Judith, born in 1583. Hamnet died aged just 11 years old, but Susanna married a prominent doctor named John Hall, and Judith married Thomas Quiney. Anne spent a lot of time without her husband, as after he turned 21, Shakespeare frequently stayed in London, making a name for himself as a famous playwright. Scholars have long speculated about the nature of Anne and William’s marriage, with many asserting that it was an unhappy one, with Shakespeare resenting his wife. However, there is little evidence for this, and other work stresses that he returned to live with her in Stratford after retiring in 1613. Additionally, while he seemingly insulted Anne by bequeathing her his “second best bed” in his will, this was customary at the time as beds were highly valuable status symbols. Shakespeare died in 1616, and upon her death in 1623, Anne requested to be buried beside him in the Church of the Holy Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon.
“Come quickly, Christ, that my mother, though shut within this tomb may rise again and reach the stars”
- Inscription, from her daughter, on Anne’s tombstone
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