This Weeks Great Day Memorable Events in the history of the Empire.

Ellesmere Guardian, Volume XLV, Issue 3081, 19 April 1927, Page 6

This Weeks Great Day Memorable Events in the history of the Empire.

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APRIL 25—DEATH OF SHAKESPEARE

Three hundred and eleven years ago, on the 23rd April, /(616, William Shakespeare, the greatest dramatist in the history of the world, died at the age of 52. . Lc^s is authentically known of Shakespeare's life than any of the other celebrities of his day, and this is possibly owing to the fact that he was regarded more as it line actor than a great writer by his contemporaries, who apparently failed to realise that his plays would live for all time, and thus his many literary friends, including Ben Joason and Michael Drayton, lost the golden opportunity of recording the life and doings of the most illustrious figure in the annals of British literature. His father was one of the leading men in the litlc market town of Strat-ford-on-Avon, where he had established a general store, in which he carried on the combined trades of glover, butcher and dealer in agricultural produce, William was born in 1564 and educated at the local Grammar School, where he remained, until he was 13, when reverses in the family fortunes necessitated the boy being taken from school to assist in his father's business. At the age of 18 he married Anne Hathaway, a woman eight years his senior, .jind four years later he travelled on foot to London, where he seems to have at once turned his attention to the theatre, .and^. having proved a capable actor he was soon a popular member of the leading dramatic company of the day. • Of his thirty-seven plays only fourteen were published during his lifetime^ , (Copyr

i so it is difficult to determine the order in which they were written, but «"Love's Labour Lost" seems to have been the first, and was produced on the stage in 1591, when the author was 27. Thenceforward, he wrote two plays a year, and as they are said to have only brought him from ten to fifteen pounds each, he must have made a considerable income by his acting. A year "before. the production of his first play he purchased an interest in the Globe Theatre at Southwark, and this with other investments subsequently produced him an annual income of six hundred pounds, and lie was in a position to purchase a fine residence at Stratford-on-Avon, to which he retired when he finally left London in 1611. He was the intimate friend, and associate of some of the most brilliant men of his day, including Sir Walter Raleigh, and had many influential patrons. He was well known and popu-. lar at court and was frequently honoured with command performances before Queen Elizabeth, who was so pleased with the character of Falstaff in the play of "Henry IV." that she specially requested Shakespeare to introduce the corpulent knight in another play,< which resulted in the writing of "The Merry Wives of Windsor." The last five years of Shakespeare ;s life were passed in honour and prosperity in his native town, where he took an active interest in local affairs. Early in 1616 his health began to fail, and the festivities with which he eelejbrated a visit from his friends Jonson J and Drayton brought on a fever which {(resulted in his death. ighted).