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Following a tense waiting period after organising the event:
Would the day attract enough people to make the event viable?
Would the programme of events provide sufficient interest?
Would everyone turn up?
Could we overcome the catering difficulties?
Would everyone find it?
the 27th March finally arrived, and finding the location surprisingly easily, we set up for the day in the 'Stratford Room' at the Shakespeare Centre, and waited. It was about 9.30 before Michele Whitecross's group arrived then after that everyone else arrived in fairly quick order. The 'award' for travelling the furthest must go to Barry and Laura Sheahan who flew from Canada the day before. Surprise visitors were Clive Shakespeare who arrived partway through the day with his wife, Aldona.
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After introductions it was nice to see that groups were congregating to compare notes - a number of booklets had been prepared using information from the website on various Shakespeare family lines with the hope that these would provide interest and prompt discussion, and these seem to have had the desired effect. |
It was nice to finally meet everyone after corresponding by e-mail and telephone for so long. This seemed to apply to everyone present as some of the descendants of the 'Preston Baggot' family (eg Judith Morgan-Russell) have corresponded with Roy Shakespeare over many years without ever meeting! Many of us were able to meet distant cousins, in some cases sharing common ancestors born nearly four centuries ago!
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The Oldest Living Shakespeare? Also present was George Shakespeare who, at 92, is believed to be the oldest living Shakespeare - can anyone dispute this? George is pictured here with his son John. |
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Record Office Tour
At 11.30, following a quick break for coffee, we had a tour of the Birthplace Trust Record Office led by Robert Bearman and his very knowledgeable staff. The party was split into two groups, in turn having an introduction to the history, workings and holdings of the Record Office led by Robert Bearman, while the other group was granted the rare privilege of descending into the bowels of the building to see the 'stack' (the place where the archival material is stored in a controlled environment). This facility is not normally available to visitors to the record office, and a treat was in store when we got there: the Office holds about half of the surviving documents relating to William Shakespeare and we got to see most of them all collected together in one place! For any researcher, genealogist or otherwise, this must be something which happens once in a lifetime, if ever.
The group gathered in the Record Office
Shakespeare's Birthplace
Following lunch we had been presented with complimentary tickets for a tour of the Birthplace. Before undertaking this tour we assembled in Shakespeare's garden, with his house behind us, for a group photograph. During the tour it was interesting to learn from the guides that they refer people to the Shakespeare Family Website.
Photographs
Photographer for the day was Mike Shakespeare, who brought along not only a digital camera, but also a computer and printer - very often the photographs were in the hands of those present within minutes of being taken!
View the Photo Gallery
New Information
A number of people brought along new information for inclusion on the Website, and this should appear on the site soon.
In addition, Peter Lee has made a stunning discovery relating to his 'pet' project of John Shakespeare, the Stratford Shoemaker. This information has apparently been available in printed form for many years, but has so far eluded, or been ignored by, historians and biographers of William Shakespeare. Many of those present are now aware of this information but it is felt that we should wait for Peter's own writing on the subject before revealing this to the world. We look forward to being able to include this on the website!
Next Time?
Before the day's events were anywhere near over a number of those present were talking of the next gathering! It seems we shall have to repeat the event, and hopefully make it bigger and better. It's time to start planning all over again.
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