Analysis of letter fragment may reveal new details about William Shakespeare’s marriage

Portrait painting in oil of Anne Hathaway by Roger Brien Dunn BA. It is a copy of a pen drawing done in 1708 by Sir Nathaniel Curzon inside a copy of the Third Folio (1663). Curzon’s drawing is the only surviving image thought to show Anne Hathaway. Curzon called the sketch ‘Shakespeare’s Consort’, it is thought to have been traced from a lost Elizabethan original although no evidence of the original survives. Image Courtesy of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust

Press release issued: 23 April 2025

Fresh analysis and interpretation of a letter fragment from the early 17th century by an academic from the University of Bristol has revealed possible intriguing new details about the marriage of William Shakespeare and his wife Anne Hathaway.

For more than 200 years it has been assumed that Shakespeare left his wife Anne in Stratford-upon-Avon so he could spend all his time in London without her. This has led scholars to believe that their marriage could have been an unhappy one with the couple living apart – William in London, Anne in Warwickshire, that she was probably illiterate and uncultured and an apparent bitterness towards her is reflected in his refusal to give her anything in his will apart from the second-best bed.

Now Professor Matthew Steggle from the University of Bristol’s Department of English, has examined a fragment of letter, preserved by accident in the binding of a book in Hereford, which is addressed to “good Mrs Shakespeare” and appears to show both of the Shakespeares living together in central London at some point in the decade 1600-1610. Prior to this discovery there is no written evidence that ever puts Anne in the capital with her husband. The findings are published in the journal Shakespeare.

In the letter, Shakespeare is, allegedly, withholding money from an orphan boy named John Butts; someone writes to Mrs Shakespeare asking her for money for the boy; and she stands by her husband, telling the letter-writer that it's their problem to find the money!

Professor Steggle said: “First discovered in 1978, the letter’s been known for a while, but no-one could identify the names or places involved or see any reason to think that the Mr Shakespeare in the letter was necessarily William rather than anyone else of the same name in the general period.

“So, it’s a story about the Shakespeares’ marriage, really, as well as about Shakespeare’s London contacts. And if the writing of the back of the letter is a reply, then it’s also a story about the first ever bit of writing which can be attributed to Anne Hathaway.”

The letter details a dispute over the money promised to a boy named John Butt or Butts, who is a fatherless apprentice. Moreover, the boy in the letter is also living in a settlement which contains at that date a Trinity Lane, at least one “Mr Shakspaire”, and at least one “Mr Sharowe”.

Professor Steggle realized that that meant the apprentice had to be in London and searched for records of a fatherless apprentice of that name across the whole period, identifying only one viable candidate: a boy who finished his apprenticeship around 1607.

Professor Steggle then made a list of known married couples called “Shakspaire” recorded in London in the 30 years leading up to 1607.

In centuries of looking, scholars have only turned up four married couples of that surname in the city in this date range. None of the other three look at all likely to have lived in Trinity Lane, a moderately prosperous part of the city near Queenhithe (a small and ancient ward situated by the River Thames and to the south of St Paul's Cathedral) at the right date.

Another interesting fact uncovered as part of this research relates to the book in which the fragment was discovered. At that time, it was common practice to use waste paper to bind the book – this could be personal correspondence or pages taken from other books. The most likely source of the book was the printing shop of Richard Field, who was in fact friends with Shakespeare, and whose premises could be found close to Trinity Lane in the Norton Folgate area of London. This raises questions about the waste in other books printed by Field and what might be in original bindings.

Professor Steggle added: “In short - it's two steps. You identify the boy involved and given that it's him and that fixes the date, then Shakespeare is much the best recorded candidate to be the London-based “Mr Shakspaire”.

“It at least doubles the number of letters known to be addressed to or sent from Shakespeare and his family. Currently, there's only one known. It also shows a side of Shakespeare's London life that's not been known before, giving him a new address in Trinity Lane and a whole new sphere of activity for him.

“Since this letter is the first reference of any sort to Anne Shakespeare in London, and since the absence hitherto of any such references is the mainstay of the argument that she was entirely based in Stratford, it opens the door to considering the possibility that she did indeed spend significant time with her husband in London.

“And it seems to show her being involved with her husband's money affairs and social networks. So, it's a game-changer in terms of thinking about the Shakespeares' marriage. And, if the material on the back is (as it may well be) a fragment of a reply from Mrs Shakspaire, then these would be the first recorded words ever to have come from Shakespeare's wife.”

Paper:

'The Shakspaires of Trinity Lane: A Possible Shakespeare Life-Record' by M.Steggle in Shakespeare