of the Quiney family, and the draft of 

 Shakespeare's will made about a fort- 

 night before the marriage proves that 

 he then regarded young Quiney as a 

 prospective son-in-law. The pair had 

 three children: 'Shakespeare, baptized 

 November 23, 1616, who died early in 

 the following May; Richard, baptized 

 Februry 9, 1618, who died in February, 

 1639; Thomas, baptized January 23, I 

 1620, who died in January, 1639. Neith- 

 er Richard nor Thomas was married. 



Thomas Quiney was well educated, be- 

 ing -acquainted with French, and evi- 

 dently proud of his skill in penmanship. 

 He spelled his name in every possible 

 form with a Q, — from Quiny to Quy- 

 meye,— and once as "Conoy," with el- 

 aborate flourishes. He was a vintner, 

 patronized by the corporation and the 

 leading townsmen. He was elected a 

 burgess in 1617, and acted as chamter- 

 ilain from 1621 to 1623. 



HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN 

 About 1652 be removed to London, 

 where he is supposed to have died a 

 few years later. His wife survived 

 until 1662, having attained the ripe 

 age of seventy-seven. 



William Black in his novel, "Judith 

 Shakespeare," a noteworthy study of 

 the life of the period, assumes that the 

 lady could not write, and she made he ' 

 mark in signing two documents in 1611; 

 but autographs of her sister, Mrs. Hall, 

 are extant. John Shakespeare was 

 an expert accountant, but whether he 

 could write is a disputed question. 

 Like his wife and many of his fellow 

 officers in the town, he usually made 

 his mark but Sidney Lee, in his "Life of 

 Shakespeare," asserts (without citing 

 it) that there is good evidence in the 

 records of his ability to> write. 



That few women in common life 

 learned to write is certain. The^e were 

 no free schools for girls, and writing 

 was not generally taught in tke gram- 

 mar schools. Ink, parchment, and the 

 thick paper sometimes used instead 

 were too costly for ordinary use. Pos- 

 tal facilities were in their infancy and 

 very expensive. The greater part of 

 legal and official writing was done by 

 professional scriveners. 



Doctor John Hall, wlho has been 

 treated very slightly, if not slightingly, 

 by the biographers, was one of the most 

 eminent physcians of is day. 



He was a master of arts, had trav- 

 elled on the Continent and had becom? 

 proficient in the French language. Af- 

 ter bis death his medical case-book, 

 written in Latin, was translated and 

 published in London (1657), and re- 

 printed in 1670 and 1683. 



Elizabeth* the only child of the Halls, 

 baptized on February 21, 1608, was 

 married in 1626 to Thomas Nash, a well- 

 to-do resident of Stratford. He died 

 in 1647, and two years later she mar- 

 ried Sir John Barnard, of Abington 

 Manor, near Northampton. She had 

 no children by either husband, and 

 was therefore the last lineal descend- 

 ant of the poet. She died and was 

 buried at Abington, in February, 1670; 

 but no monument was erected to her 

 memory until 1902, when a tablet was 

 placed in Abington Church by Mr. 

 Stanley Cooper, of Oxford. 



It is absolutely certain that William 

 Shakespeare's own family line thus 

 came to an end in the third generation; 

 and none of his brothers or sisters are 



known to have had any children, with 

 the single exception of Joan (baptized 

 April 15, 1569), who married William 

 Hart and survived iher famous brother 

 thirty years, dying in 1646. She had 

 three sons, who lived to be remembered 

 in the poet's will and a daughter who 

 died in 1607, when foun years old. 

 Descendants of Joan's sons have teen 

 traced by careful genealogists down 

 to the present time, but none of them 

 has been a person of any special note. 

 The birthplace remained in the posses- 

 sion of .the Hart' family until 1806; 

 and im 1848 it was purchased under; a 

 public trust, as a national memorial 

 of the poet. ! 



