William ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare is probably one of the greatest influences in English literature. Not much is known about him, but we do know his life from court records, his wills, his marriage records, and his tombstone. William was thought to have been born in 1564. We know this from the earliest records we have. life; his baptism took place on Wednesday, April 26, 1564. We don't actually know his exact date of birth, but from this record we assume that he was born in 1564. William's parents were John and Mary Shakespeare. William was the third of seven siblings (four brothers and three sisters). From baptismal records we know that William's father was one John Shakespeare, said to be a Stratford town official and local businessman. John worked with grain and was sometimes described as a glover by trade. He was also one of the fourteen officials who formed the municipal council. William's mother was Mary Arden who married John Shakespeare in 1557. The youngest daughter in her family, she inherited much of her father's land and farming properties upon his death. Very little is known about Shakespeare's education. We know that the King's New Grammar School taught boys the basics of reading and writing. We assume that William attended this school since it existed to educate the sons of Stratford but we have no definitive proof of this. In 1582, William married. A bond certificate dated November 28, 1582 reveals that eighteen-year-old William married the pregnant twenty-six-year-old Anne Hathaway. Just seven months later, they had their first daughter, Susanna. Anne never left Stratford and lived there all her life. Susanna was baptized in Stratford sometime in May 1583. Baptism records again reveal that twins Hamnet and Judith were born in February 1592. William's only son Hamnet died in 1596, aged just eleven . William's family was unusually small at a time when families had many children to ensure that the parents would be taken care of in later life. William is believed to have left his family for around 20 years while he pursued his passion in London..