Joseph Shakespeare

of Woodside, Dudley

Identifying Joseph's parents has proved difficult as there are two possible baptisms:

• 7 Aug 1803, St Thomas, Dudley, Joseph son of Benjamin Shakespeare and Elizabeth

• 8 Jan 1804, Brierley Hill, Joseph son of Benjamin Shakespeare and Sarah

What this does mean, of course, is that from this we can establish with a fair degree of certainty that his father was named Benjamin - it now remains to establish which one:

The marriages for both sets of possible parents are:

• 21 July 1799, Kingswinford, Benjamin Shakespeare and Elizabeth Matthews

• 24 March 1799, Kingswinford, Benjamin Shakespeare and Sarah Baker

The children of these two couples:

Benjamin & Elizabeth (all bapt at St Thomas, Dudley):

• Mary 1802

• Matthew 1811

• Harriot 1815 (died 1816)

• Harriot 1822

• Elizabeth 1808

• Sarah 1822

• Ann 1802

• Joseph 1803

Benjamin & Sarah:

• Benjamin 1806 (St Thomas, Dudley - rest of children bapt at Brierley Hill)

• Maria 1812

• Elijah 1810

• William 1814

• Thomas 1806

• Benjamin 1802

• Sarah 1818

• Jane 1808

• Joseph 1804

In the census Joseph gives his birthplace as Dudley, but it was not unusual for individuals, as has been seen with other families in the area, for them to give Dudley as their birthplace when it can be established that they were actually born at Brierley Hill (or vice versa) hence the uncertainty over his baptism.

Joseph's entry in the 1851 census gives his birthplace as Dudley:

Unfortunately the source used for the 1861 census does not give the birthplace - a check of the actual entries may give further clues.

This is Joseph's entry in the 1861 census:

The other Joseph also appears, with his family, in the 1861 census - note that he is living in Brierley Hill:

Note that one of his sons was named Elijah, and the Joseph bapt at Brierley Hill (see above) son of Benjamin Shakespeare and Sarah Baker, had a brother Elijah, it is quite likely that the Brierley Hill baptism refers to this individual, which would mean that Joseph Shakespeare of Woodside is the Joseph bapt at Dudley son of Benjamin Shakespeare & Elizabeth Matthews.

This 'name' evidence is further strengthened by looking at the family of Elizabeth Mathews.

Elizabeth Mathews was baptised 19 March 1780, at St Thomas, Dudley, daughter of David Mathews & Mary. The name David, fairly unusual among Shakespeares at this time (although it does, admittedly, occur in a number of other branches of the 'Black Country Shakespeares' these are not closely connected) occurs among Joseph Shakespeare's descendants. Elizabeth's year of birth is of course the same as that of the Joseph Shakespeare baptised at Dudley (see above). This is where things start to get interesting, for the marriage of Elizabeth Mathews' parents records:

• Married 8 April 1776, St Thomas, Dudley, David Mathews and Mary Shakespeare!, meaning that Joseph has a double Shakespeare descent. Exactly who Mary was is not clear, for there are three possible candidates baptised at Dudley within the correct timeframe - this will be the subject of further research.

There seems to be no baptism recorded locally for David Mathews, but seven of the children of him and Mary Shakespeare were baptised at St Thomas, Dudley (from the IGI):

1. Phebe b. 1775 (sic possibly an error on the IGI, as David and Mary did not marry until 1776)

2. William b. 1778

3. Elizabeth b. 1780

4. Joseph b. 1783

5. Ann b. 1785, d. 1787

6. Mary b. 1787

7. Thomas b. 1789, d. 1796

Although not conclusive, the evidence most definitely points to the lines of descent outlined above.

From here the picture is a little clearer, for although there were four, or possibly five, Benjamins born within the correct period, two of these died, and the last one can almost certainly, at the age of14, be discounted. A summary of this information is as follows:

Information Supplied by Sharon Jones