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Frances, daughter of Thomas Hart, was baptized Aug. 8, 1760.

Thomas, fon of Thomas Hart, was baptized Aug. 10, 1764.

Anne, daughter of Thomas Hart, was baptized Jan. 16, 1767.

Sarah, daughter of George Hart, was buried Sept. 10, 1768.

Francis, daughter of Thomas Hart, was buried. O&. 10, 1774.

George Hart' was buried July 8, 1778.

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The following inftrument is copied from the original in the College of Heralds: It is marked G. 13. p. 349.

To

O all and finguler noble and gentlemen of all eflats and degrees, bearing arms, to whom these prefents fhall come, William Dethick, Garter, Principall King of Arms of England, and William Camden, alias Clarencieulx, King of Arms for the fouth, eaft, and weft parts of this realme, fendethe greeting. Know ye, that in all nations and kingdoms the record and remembraunce of the valeant facts and vertuous difpofitions of worthie men have been made knowne and divulged by certeyne fhields of arms and tokens of chevalrie; the grant and teftimonie whereof apperteyneth unto us, by vertu of our offices from the Quenes moft Exc. Majeflie, and her Highenes moft noble and victorious progenitors: whereof being folicited, and by credible report informed, that John Shakfpeare, now of Stratford-upon-Avon, in the counte of Warwick, gent. whofe parent, great grandfather,

6 In the Herald's Office are the first draughts of John Shakfpeare's grant or confirmation of arms, by William Dethick, Garter, Principal King at Arms, 1596. See Vincent's Prefs, Vol. 157, No. 23, and 24. STEEVENS.

In a Manufcriptin the College of Heralds, marked W. 2. p. 276, is the following note: As for the fpeare in bend, it is a patible difference, and the perfon to whom it was granted hath borne magiftracy, and was juftice of peace at Stratford-upon-Avon. He married the daughter and heire of Arderne, and was able to maintain that cflate." MALONE.

and late anteceffor, for his faithefull and approved fervice to the late moft prudent prince, king Henry VII. of famous memorie, was advaunced and rewarded with lands and tenements, geven to him in those parts of Warwickshire, where they have continewed by fome defcents in good reputacion and credit; and for that the faid John Shakspeare having maryed the daughter and one of the heyrs of Robert Arden of Wellingcote, in the faid countie, and also produced this his auncient cote of arms, heretofore affigned to him whileft he was her Majesties officer and baylefe of that towne;' In confideration of the premiffes, and for the encouragement of his pofteritie, unto whom fuche bla zon of arms and achevements of inheritance from theyre faid mother, by the auncyent cuftome and lawes of arms, maye lawfully defcend; We the faid Garter and Clarencieulx have affigned, graunted, and by these prefents exemplefied unto the faid John Shakspeare, and to his pofteritie, that fhield and cote of arms. viz. In a field of gould upon a bend fables a fpeare of the first, the point upward, hedded argent; and for his creft or cognifance, A falcon with his wyngs displayed, standing on a wrethe of his coullers, fupporting a speare armed hedded, or feeled fylver, fyxed uppon a helmet with mantell and taffells, as more playnely maye appeare depected on this margent; and we have likewife uppon on other efcutcheon impaled the fame with the auncyent

7 his auncient cote of arms, heretofore affigned to him while he was her Majefties officer and baylefe of that towne; ] This grant of arms was made by- Cock, Clarencieux, 1569, but is not now extant in the Herald's-Office. MALONE.

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arms of the faid Arden of Wellingcote; fignifi-
eng therby, that it maye and fhalbe lawfull for the
faid John Shakspeare, gent. to beare and use the
fame fhield of arms, fingle or impaled, as aforefaid,
during his naturall lyffe; and that it fhalbe lawfull
for his children, yffue, and pofteryte, (lawfully
begotten,) to beare, use, and quarter, and fhow
forth the fame, with theyre dewe differences, in
all lawfull warlyke facts and civile use or exercises,
according to the laws of arms, and cuftome that
to gentlemen belongethe, without let or interrup-
tion of any perfon or perfons, for ufe or bearing
the fame. In wyttneffe and teftemonye whereof
we have subscrebed our names, and fastened the
feals of our offices, geven at the Office of Arms,
London, the
in the xlii yere
of the reigne of our moft gratious Soveraigne lady
Elizabeth, by the grace of God, quene of Ing-
land, France, and Ireland, defender of the faith, &c.
1599.

day of

-and we have likewife - impaled the fame with the auncyent arms of the faid Arden -] It is faid by Mr. Jacob, the modern editor of Arden of Feverfham (first published in 1592 and republished in 1077) that Shakspeare defcended by the female line from the gentleman whofe unfortunate end is the fubject of this tragedy. But the affertion appears to want fupport, the true name of the perfon who was murdered at Feverfham being Ardern and not Arden. Ardern might be called Arden in the play for the fake of better found, or might be corrupted in the chronicle of Holinfhed: yet it is unlikely that the true fpelling fhould be overlocked among the Heralds, whofe intereft it is to recommend by oftentatious accuracy the trifles in which they deal. STEEVENS.

Ardern was the original name, but in Shakfpeare's time it had been foftened to Arden. See p. 3. n. 2. MALONE.

MORTGAGE

MADE BY SHAKSPEARE,

A. D. 1612-13.

THE following is a tranfcript of a deed executed by our author three years before his death. The original deed, which was found in the year 1768, among the title-deeds of the Rev. Mr. Fetherstonhaugh, of Oxted, in the county of Surry, is now in the poffeffion of Mrs. Garrick, by whom it was obligingly tranfmitted to me through the hands of the Hon. Mr. Horace Walpole. Much has lately been faid in various publications relative to the proper mode of fpelling Shakspeare's name. It is hoped we shall hear no more idle babble upon this fubject. He fpelt his name himself as I have juft now written it, without the middle e. this therefore for ever decide the queftion.

Let

It should be remembered that to all ancient deeds were appended labels of parchment, which were inferted at the bottom of the deed; on the upper part of which labels thus rifing above the rest of the parchment, the executing parties wrote their names. Shakspeare, not finding room for the whole of his name on the label, attempted to write the remaining letters at the top, but having allowed himfelf only room enough to write the letter a, he gave the matter up. His hand-writing, is much neater than many others, which I have feen, of that age.

VOL. I.

H

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