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Judith Quiney

Judith Quiney (baptised 2 February 1585 – 9 February 1662), née Shakespeare, was the younger daughter of William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway and the fraternal twin of their only son Hamnet Shakespeare. 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. Thomas was struck out, while Judith's inheritance was attached with provisions to safeguard it from her husband. The bulk of Shakespeare's estate was left, in an elaborate fee tail, to his elder daughter Susanna and her male heirs.

"Judith Shakespeare" redirects here. For the character by Virginia Woolf, see A Room of One's Own.

Judith Quiney

Judith Shakespeare

c. 1585

9 February 1662 (aged 77)

English

(m. 1616)
  • Shakespeare
  • Richard
  • Thomas

Judith and Thomas Quiney had three children. By the time of Judith Quiney's death, she had outlived her children by many years. She has been depicted in several works of fiction as part of an attempt to piece together unknown portions of her father's life.

Chapel Lane, Atwood's, and The Cage[edit]

Where the Quineys lived after their marriage is unknown. Judith owned her father's cottage on Chapel Lane, Stratford; while Thomas had held, since 1611, the lease on a tavern called "Atwood's" on High Street.[7] The cottage later passed from Judith to her sister as part of the settlement in their father's will. In July 1616 Thomas swapped houses with his brother-in-law, William Chandler, moving his vintner's shop to the upper half of a house at the corner of High Street and Bridge Street.[10] This house was known as "The Cage" and is the house traditionally associated with Judith Quiney. In the 20th century The Cage was for a time a Wimpy Bar before being turned into the Stratford Information Office.[11]


The Cage provides further insight into why Shakespeare would not have trusted Judith's husband. Around 1630 Quiney tried to sell the lease on the house but was prevented by his kinsmen. In 1633, to protect the interests of Judith and the children, the lease was signed over to the trust of John Hall, Susanna's husband, Thomas Nash, the husband of Judith's niece, and Richard Watts, vicar of nearby Harbury, who was Quiney's brother-in-law and who had officiated at Thomas and Judith's wedding. Eventually, in November 1652, the lease to The Cage ended up in the hands of Thomas' eldest brother, Richard Quiney, a grocer in London.[12]

Death[edit]

Judith Quiney was announced dead on 9 February 1662, a week after her 77th birthday. She outlived her last surviving child by 23 years.[6][18] She was buried in the grounds of Holy Trinity Church, but the exact location of her grave is unknown.[6] Of her husband, the records show some of his later years. It has been speculated that he may have died in 1662 or 1663, when the parish burial records are incomplete, or that he may have left Stratford-upon-Avon.[6][18] He is known to have had a nephew, living in London, who by this time was holding the lease to The Cage.

(1930). William Shakespeare: A Study of Facts and Problems. Oxford: Clarendon Press. OCLC 353406.

Chambers, Edmund Kerchever

Chambers, Edmund Kerchever (1970). Sources for a Biography of Shakespeare. Oxford: Clarendon Press.  59179182.

OCLC

(1882). Outlines of the life of Shakespeare. London: Longmans. OCLC 5190346.

Halliwell-Phillipps, James Orchard

(1991). Shakespeare's Lives. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-818618-5.

Schoenbaum, Samuel

Schoenbaum, Samuel (1977). William Shakespeare: A Compact Documentary Life. Oxford: Clarendon Press.  0-19-505161-0.

ISBN

Complete text of William Black's novel

Edwin Austin Abbey's portrayal of Judith (created after her death)