Mary Shakespeare

• Name — Mary Arden • Birth Name — Mary Arden • Born — c. 1536–1538 • Birthplace — Wilmcote, England • Died — September 1608 (aged c. 70) • Place of death — Stratford-upon-Avon, England • Burial Place — Church of the Holy Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon • Spouse — John Shakespeare (m. 1557–1601; his death) • Children — 8, including William, Gilbert, Joan and Edmund • Father — Robert Arden

Mary was born about 1536 in Wilmcote, the daughter of Robert Arden, a gentleman farmer and junior descendant of the Arden family, who were prominent in Warwickshire. She was the youngest of eight daughters, and when her father died in 1556 she inherited land at Snitterfield and Wilmcote from him as a dowry. The house was left to her stepmother Agnes Hill. The Arden family was one of status and Mary's ancestors were well connected in society, including Thomas Arden, who fought in the Second Barons' War (1264–67) on the side of Simon de Montfort; Robert Arden who fought in the Wars of the Roses, and John Arden who served at the court of Henry VII. The wider Arden family was known to be of the Catholic faith and was influential in the Recusant community.

Mary married John Shakespeare in 1557, when she was 20 years old and he was approximately 26 years old. His father, Richard Shakespeare, was a tenant farmer on land owned by her father in Snitterfield. As the daughter of Richard's landlord, she may have known John since childhood. Mary bore eight children: Joan (1558), Margaret (1562–1563), William (1564–1616), Gilbert (1566–1612), Joan (1569–1646), Anne (1571–1579), Richard (1574–1613), and Edmund (1580–1607). Several of them died young. Their first daughter, Joan, died; the name was used again for their third daughter. Their second daughter, Margaret, also died in infancy.