Susanna Hall
Encyclopedia
Susanna Hall née
Shakespeare, was the eldest child of William Shakespeare
and Anne Hathaway
, and the older sister of Judith Quiney
and Hamnet Shakespeare
. She married John Hall
, a local physician
, in 1607 and they had one daughter, Elizabeth, in 1608.
, a church feast—in the Church of the Holy Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon.
The name derives from the Apocrypha
and suggests "purity and spotlessness", and had associations that appealed to the Puritans. It first appeared in Stratford parish registers in 1574, so the name was still rather novel, but it was shared by two other children born that spring. As such it may have been an assertion of virtue
for a child born "perilously close to the wrong side of marriage" as the historian Peter Ackroyd
put it.
She was raised in Stratford-upon-Avon
along with her brother Hamnet
and younger sister Judith. Stratford school records of the time are lost, so no record of her education exists, but she was able to sign her name.
Susanna married John Hall
, a respected physician, on 5 June 1607 in Holy Trinity Church. She was 24; he was about 32. Some slight evidence indicates that Shakespeare settled a substantial dowry on Susanna of 105 acres of his land in Old Stratford he had bought in 1602, probably retaining a life interest in it. His Select Observations, cases studies of his patients, was published in 1657, 22 years after his death. The earliest case, a local one, dates from 1611, making it almost certain that he lived and worked in Stratford from at least the time of his marriage.
Their one child, Elizabeth was baptised on 21 February 1608 in Holy Trinity Church. The couple had no other children, and Elizabeth was the only grandchild Shakespeare knew, as Judith's children were born after his death.
, to Susanna and her male heirs, which included his main house, New Place
, his two houses on Henley Street, and various lands in and around Stratford, and all his “goodes Chattels, Leases, plate, jewles and Household stuffe whatsoever after my dettes and Legasies paied and my funerall expences discharged” to her and her husband. In the case of Susanna’s death, the estate was bequeathed, in descending order of choice, "to the first sonne of her bodie lawfullie yssueing & to the heires Males of the bodie of the saied first Sonne lawfullie yssueing"; and in default of such issue, to her second son and his male heirs and to the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh sons and their male heirs. In case no sons were born or they died, the estate would then go to her daughter Elizabeth Hall and her male heirs; to Judith and her male heirs; or to whatever lawful heirs survived. He also named the Halls as executors of the will, and John Hall proved the will in London 22 June 1616 at the archbishop's prerogative court
at Canterbury.
Here lyeth the body of Susanna, wife of John Hall, gent., the daughter of William Shakespeare, gent. She deceased the 11 day of July, Anno 1649, aged 66.
NEE
NEE is a political protest group whose goal was to provide an alternative for voters who are unhappy with all political parties at hand in Belgium, where voting is compulsory.The NEE party was founded in 2005 in Antwerp...
Shakespeare, was the eldest child 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"...
and Anne Hathaway
Anne Hathaway (Shakespeare)
Anne Hathaway was the wife of William Shakespeare. They were married in 1582. She outlived her husband by seven years...
, and the older sister of Judith Quiney
Judith Quiney
Judith Quiney , née Shakespeare, was the youngest daughter of William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway. She married Thomas Quiney, a vintner of Stratford-upon-Avon. The circumstances of the marriage, including Quiney's misconduct, may have prompted the rewriting of Shakespeare's will...
and Hamnet Shakespeare
Hamnet Shakespeare
Hamnet Shakespeare was the only son of William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway, and the fraternal twin of Judith Shakespeare. He died at age 11 of unknown causes. There are several theories on the relationship, if any, between Hamnet and his father's later play Hamlet...
. She married John Hall
John Hall (physician)
John Hall was a physician and son-in-law of William Shakespeare.-Life:He was born at Carlton, Bedfordshire and studied at Queens' College, Cambridge from 1589, receiving a B.A. in 1593 and a M.A. in 1597...
, a local physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
, in 1607 and they had one daughter, Elizabeth, in 1608.
Birth and early life
Susanna was baptised on 26 May 1583—which that year fell on Trinity SundayTrinity Sunday
Trinity Sunday is the first Sunday after Pentecost in the Western Christian liturgical calendar, and the Sunday of Pentecost in Eastern Christianity...
, a church feast—in the Church of the Holy Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon.
The name derives from the Apocrypha
Apocrypha
The term apocrypha is used with various meanings, including "hidden", "esoteric", "spurious", "of questionable authenticity", ancient Chinese "revealed texts and objects" and "Christian texts that are not canonical"....
and suggests "purity and spotlessness", and had associations that appealed to the Puritans. It first appeared in Stratford parish registers in 1574, so the name was still rather novel, but it was shared by two other children born that spring. As such it may have been an assertion of virtue
Virtue
Virtue is moral excellence. A virtue is a positive trait or quality subjectively deemed to be morally excellent and thus is valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being....
for a child born "perilously close to the wrong side of marriage" as the historian Peter Ackroyd
Peter Ackroyd
Peter Ackroyd CBE is an English biographer, novelist and critic with a particular interest in the history and culture of London. For his novels about English history and culture and his biographies of, among others, Charles Dickens, T. S. Eliot and Sir Thomas More he won the Somerset Maugham Award...
put it.
She was raised in Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of Warwick. It is the largest and most populous town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers...
along with her brother Hamnet
Hamnet Shakespeare
Hamnet Shakespeare was the only son of William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway, and the fraternal twin of Judith Shakespeare. He died at age 11 of unknown causes. There are several theories on the relationship, if any, between Hamnet and his father's later play Hamlet...
and younger sister Judith. Stratford school records of the time are lost, so no record of her education exists, but she was able to sign her name.
Marriage to John Hall
John Hall (physician)
John Hall was a physician and son-in-law of William Shakespeare.-Life:He was born at Carlton, Bedfordshire and studied at Queens' College, Cambridge from 1589, receiving a B.A. in 1593 and a M.A. in 1597...
, a respected physician, on 5 June 1607 in Holy Trinity Church. She was 24; he was about 32. Some slight evidence indicates that Shakespeare settled a substantial dowry on Susanna of 105 acres of his land in Old Stratford he had bought in 1602, probably retaining a life interest in it. His Select Observations, cases studies of his patients, was published in 1657, 22 years after his death. The earliest case, a local one, dates from 1611, making it almost certain that he lived and worked in Stratford from at least the time of his marriage.
Their one child, Elizabeth was baptised on 21 February 1608 in Holy Trinity Church. The couple had no other children, and Elizabeth was the only grandchild Shakespeare knew, as Judith's children were born after his death.
Suit for slander
In June 1613, a man named John Lane, Jr., 23, a leader of the anti-Puritan cause in Stratford, accused Susanna of adultery with a Rafe or Ralph Smith, a 35-year-old haberdasher, and claimed she’d caught a venereal disease from Smith. As a notable Puritan of the community, Hall had supported the Puritan vicar, Thomas Wilson, against whom Lane had organised a riot, and it is thought that Lane's charges had political motives in defaming Susanna. On 15 July the Halls brought suit for slander against Lane in the Consistory Court at Worcester. Robert Whatcott, who three years later witnessed Shakespeare's will, testified for the Halls, but Lane failed to appear. Lane was found guilty of libel and excommunicated.Inheritance
When Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616, he left the bulk of his estate, in an elaborate fee tailFee tail
At common law, fee tail or entail is an estate of inheritance in real property which cannot be sold, devised by will, or otherwise alienated by the owner, but which passes by operation of law to the owner's heirs upon his death...
, to Susanna and her male heirs, which included his main house, New Place
New Place
New Place is the name of William Shakespeare's final place of residence in Stratford-upon-Avon. He died there in 1616. Though the house no longer exists, the land is owned by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust....
, his two houses on Henley Street, and various lands in and around Stratford, and all his “goodes Chattels, Leases, plate, jewles and Household stuffe whatsoever after my dettes and Legasies paied and my funerall expences discharged” to her and her husband. In the case of Susanna’s death, the estate was bequeathed, in descending order of choice, "to the first sonne of her bodie lawfullie yssueing & to the heires Males of the bodie of the saied first Sonne lawfullie yssueing"; and in default of such issue, to her second son and his male heirs and to the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh sons and their male heirs. In case no sons were born or they died, the estate would then go to her daughter Elizabeth Hall and her male heirs; to Judith and her male heirs; or to whatever lawful heirs survived. He also named the Halls as executors of the will, and John Hall proved the will in London 22 June 1616 at the archbishop's prerogative court
Prerogative court
A prerogative court is a court through which the discretionary powers, privileges, and legal immunities reserved to the sovereign were exercised. In England in the 17th century a clash developed between these courts, representing the crown's authority, and common law courts. Prerogative courts...
at Canterbury.
Death and burial
Susanna died when she was 66 years old. She was buried in Holy Trinity Church in Stratford next to her parents. Her tombstone epitaph reads:Here lyeth the body of Susanna, wife of John Hall, gent., the daughter of William Shakespeare, gent. She deceased the 11 day of July, Anno 1649, aged 66.
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- Witty above her sex, but that's not all,
- Wise to Salvation was good Mistress Hall,
- Something of Shakespeare was in that, but this
- Wholly of him with whom she's now in blisse.
- Then, passenger, hast nere a tear
- To weep with her that wept with all
- That wept, yet set herself to chere
- Them up with comforts cordiall?
- Her love shall live, her mercy spread
- When thou hast nere a tear to shed.
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