r was in financial straits. As early as January,
1586, John Shakespeare had no property on which a creditor could place
a lien. In September of the same year, he was deprived of his
alderman's gown for lack of attention to town business. During the
next year he was sued for debt, and had to produce a writ of _habeas
corpus_ to keep himself out of jail. In 1899 he tried to recover his
wife's mortgaged property of Ashbies from the mortgagee's heir, John
Lambert, but the suit was not tried till eight years later. Soon after
this the son must have begun to send to Stratford substantial support.
In 1592 John Shakespeare was made an appraiser of the property of Henry
Field, a fellow-townsman. Henry Field's son Richard published _Venus
and Adonis_ for Shakespeare in 1593, from his shop in St. Paul's
Churchyard. From this time John Shakespeare seems to have lived in
comfort. His ambition to secure the grant of a coat of arms was almost
successful at his first application for one in October, 1596; three
years later the grant was made, and his son and he were now "Gentlemen."

In May, 1597, William Shakespeare bought New Place, a handsome house in
the heart of Stratford, and at once became an influential citizen.
From that time to his death he is continually mentioned in the town
records. His purchases included 107 acres in {17} Old Stratford (May
1, 1602), for L320; the right to farm the Stratford tithes (July 24,
1605), for L440; an estate of the Combe family (April 13, 1610), and
minor properties. In all his dealings, so far as we can tell, he seems
to have been shrewd and business-like.

Little is known of Shakespeare's children during these years. Hamnet,
his only son, was buried August 11, 1596. Susanna, the eldest
daughter, married a physician, Dr. John Hall, of Stratford, June 5,
1607; Judith married Thomas Quiney, son of an old Stratford friend of
Shakespeare's, February 10, 1616, two months before her father's death.
Shakespeare's father had died long before this, in September, 1601.

Shakespeare's retirement from London to his native town is thought to
have taken place about 1611, though there is no real evidence for this
belief, except that his play writing probably ceased about this date.
In 1614 a Puritan preacher stopped at New Place and was entertained
there by the poet's family. It is certain that Shakespeare visited
London from time to time after 1611. One such visit is recorded in the
diary of h