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John Shakespeare
of Wood End, Rowington
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Of all of the Shakespeares in Rowington during this
early period it is only John Shakespeare, 'of Wood End', who presents
problems of identification, as all of the others can be placed with a fair
degree of certainty as regards to their parentage (see
'The Descendants of John & Joanna Shakespeare'
and 'Richard Shakespeare, Weaver'). We can be certain that he was not the son of either John & Joanna, or Christopher, who both had sons of this name, but they can be accounted for: in the case of the former in Rowington itself, and in the case of Christopher in Lapworth, where his son John can be shown to have lived and died. This leaves us with the logical assumption that John Shakespeare, of Wood End, was the grandson of one of the Shakespeares of the preceeding generation. These are relatively few in number, but each had a number of known children who could be this John's father - additionally it must be considered that there may be other children whose names are simply not recorded on the pages of history - so there, for the time being, we must leave the consideration of John's parentage, due to lack of more precise evidence. John is recorded as holding his land in Wood End, Rowington, between1548 - 1561. He was succeeded on this property by his son Richard, who was a 'Turner'. Richard was still holding the same land in 1590 and died the following year, when he is described as 'the elder' to distinguish from a younger Richard, who was in fact the son of Richard Shakespeare, 'Weaver', of Rowington. One other child of John, 'of Wood End' is known: a daughter whose married name was Turner. Richard's wife, Joan, made her will in 1599. Richard & Joan's children include:
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