d was party to
several small suits, in all of which he was successful. In 1557 he was
elected ale-taster, and curiously enough he was amerced for not keeping
his gutters clean, in company with Francis Harbage, Chief Bailiff,
Adrian Quyney, Mr. Hall, and Mr. Clopton. He is believed to have married
Mary Arden in 1557. The registers of Aston Cantlow, where it is likely
that Mary was married, do not begin so early. She was single at the time
of her father's death in 1556, and on September 15, 1558, "Jone[121]
Shakespeare, daughter to John Shakespeare, was christened at Stratford
by Roger Divos, minister." In 1558 John Shakespeare was elected one of
the four Constables of the town,[122] and, in 1559, one of the affeerors
or officers appointed to determine the imposition of small arbitrary
fines. In 1561 he was elected one of the Chamberlains, as well as one of
the affeerors. He remained Chamberlain for two years, and apparently so
well did he discharge his financial duties in that office that he was
called on to assist later Chamberlains in making up their accounts. It
is generally supposed that he could not write, because in attesting
documents he made his mark. But I am not sure that this habit is a
certain sign of his ignorance of the art. Camden himself chose a _mark_
as a signature based on his horoscope. (See his letter to Ortelius,
Sept. 14, 1577.)

In 1561 Richard Shakespeare of Snitterfield died, and his goods were
administered by his son, "John Shakespeare, _Agricola_, of
Snitterfield," Feb. 10, 1561-62.[123] Many doubt that, even if he had
any interest in Richard's property, such a description would have been
given of the Chamberlain of Stratford-on-Avon. It must not be forgotten
that there had been a John Shakespeare presented and fined twelvepence
on October 1, 1561, in Snitterfield Court, but he may have been the
Stratford John. In the description of a neighbouring property in 1570,
we learn that there was a "John Shakespeare of Ingon," a farm in the
neighbourhood of Snitterfield; and John Shakespeare of Ingon was buried
September 25, 1589, according to Mr. Halliwell-Phillipps.[124] Hence
arose reasonable doubts of the identity of John of Stratford with John,
the heir of Richard Shakespeare of Snitterfield. Still, the evidence is
much stronger in support of his identity than against it.

On December 2, 1562, the Stratford baptismal register records the
christening of "Margaret, daughter of John Shakspere." At