Mary Shakespeare, née Mary Arden, (c. 1537–1608) was the mother of William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

. She was the daughter of Robert Arden and his first wife Mary Arden née Mary Webb (second daughter of Sir John Alexander Webb). The Arden family

Arden family

The Arden family is, according to an article by James Lees-Milne in the 18th edition of Burke's Peerage/Burke's Landed Gentry, volume 1, one of only three families in England that can trace its lineage in the male line back to Anglo-Saxon times...

 had been prominent in Warwickshire

Warwickshire

Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...

 since before the Norman Conquest

Norman conquest of England

The Norman conquest of England began on 28 September 1066 with the invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy. William became known as William the Conqueror after his victory at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, defeating King Harold II of England...

. She was the youngest of eight daughters, and she inherited her father's farm, now called Mary Arden's House, in Wilmcote

Wilmcote

Wilmcote is a village and since 2004 a separate civil parish in the English county of Warwickshire, about north of Stratford-upon-Avon. Prior to 2004, it was part of the same parish as Aston Cantlow and the 2001 population for the whole being 1,674....

, Warwickshire when he died in December 1556.

Richard Shakespeare

Richard Shakespeare

Richard Shakespeare was a husbandman of Snitterfield, Warwickshire, north-northeast of Stratford-upon-Avon, and the father of John Shakespeare and thus the grandfather of William Shakespeare....

, the father of John Shakespeare

John Shakespeare

John Shakespeare was the father of William Shakespeare. He was the son of Richard Shakespeare of Snitterfield, a farmer. He moved to Stratford-upon-Avon and married Mary Arden, with whom he had eight children, five of whom survived into adulthood...

, Mary's husband, was a tenant farmer on land owned by her father in Snitterfield. As the daughter of Richard's landlord; she may have known John since childhood. Mary married John Shakespeare in 1577, when she was in her late teens or early twenties. She bore eight children: Joan (1558), Margaret (1562–63), William (1564–1616), Gilbert

Gilbert Shakespeare

Gilbert Shakespeare was a younger brother of William Shakespeare. His name is found in local records of Stratford-upon-Avon and London....

 (1566–1612), Joan

Joan Shakespeare

Joan Shakespeare was the sister of William Shakespeare.Joan was Shakespeare's younger sister, named after her parents' deceased first-born child...

 (1569–1646), Anne (1571–79), Richard (1574–1613), and Edmund

Edmund Shakespeare

Edmund Shakespeare was a 16th and 17th century English actor.-Life:He was the son of John Shakespeare and Mary Arden and thus the younger brother of the playwright William Shakespeare. He followed William to London to become an actor. While an actor, he had an affair with an unknown woman around...

 (1580–1607). Though they had many children, the couple did not have good luck. Their first daughter, Joan, born 1558 died, the name was used again for their third daughter. Their second daughter, Margaret, also died in infancy. The family is thought to have been highly old-fashioned and traditional in their Catholic faith.

Mary was from a family of status and her ancestors had connections in society, such as Thomas Arden, who fought in the thirteenth century civil war for the Barons and Simon de Montfort; Robert Arden who fought in the War of Roses; John Arden who served on the court of King Henry VII. Upon her Father's death, Mary inherited land in Snitterfield and Wilmcote.

Mary Arden's House in Wilmcote has been maintained in good condition because it had been a working farmhouse over the centuries. It was bought by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust

Shakespeare Birthplace Trust

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust is an independent registered educational charity based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England, that came into existence in 1847 following the purchase of William Shakespeare's birthplace for preservation as a national memorial. It can also lay claim to be...

 in 1930 and refurnished in the Tudor style.
In 2000 it was discovered that the building preserved as Mary Arden's house had belonged to a friend and neighbour Adam Palmer and the house was renamed Palmer's Farm. The house that had belonged to the Arden family which was near to Palmer's Farm had been acquired by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust

Shakespeare Birthplace Trust

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust is an independent registered educational charity based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England, that came into existence in 1847 following the purchase of William Shakespeare's birthplace for preservation as a national memorial. It can also lay claim to be...

in 1968 for preservation as part of a farmyard without knowing its true provenance. The house and farm are open as historic museum displaying 16th century life.