When and Where Was Shakespeare Born?

2026-07-23

No document records the day William Shakespeare was born. What survives is his baptism: 26 April 1564, at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon. The birthday everyone celebrates, 23 April, is a good inference rather than a fact on paper.

When was Shakespeare born?

The parish register at Holy Trinity Church records his baptism on Wednesday 26 April 1564. That is the hard evidence. His actual birth date was never written down.

So why 23 April? Baptisms usually happened within a few days of a birth, and the Book of Common Prayer told parents to baptise no later than the first Sunday after a child arrived. Counting back a short interval from 26 April lands on or around 23 April. The date stuck, and it is now marked around the world as his birthday.

One neat coincidence helped fix it there. 23 April is also the day Shakespeare died, in 1616, and it is St George's Day in England. That is memorable, but it is worth being honest: the birth date is tradition, not record.

Where was Shakespeare born?

Henley Street, in Stratford-upon-Avon, in the county of Warwickshire. His father John owned a house on that street, and property records from the period tie it to the building now called Shakespeare's Birthplace.

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust bought the house in 1847 and runs it today. Visitors can walk through the rooms where the family lived.

What was Shakespeare's full name?

It was just William Shakespeare. He had no middle name, which was normal in England in the 1560s.

The spelling was not even fixed in his own lifetime. His six surviving signatures spell the surname more than one way, and "Shakespeare" only became the standard version later.

Who were Shakespeare's parents?

His father, John Shakespeare, was a glover, meaning he made and sold gloves and other soft-leather goods. John did well in Stratford. He traded wool, lent money, and in 1568 became high bailiff, the town's version of mayor.

His mother was Mary Arden, daughter of a farmer from the nearby village of Wilmcote. She married John around 1557 and moved into the Henley Street house. William was their eldest son, and the couple had eight children in total.

Birth and death dates at a glance

Baptised: 26 April 1564, Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon
Birthday, by tradition: 23 April 1564
Died: 23 April 1616, aged 52
Buried: 25 April 1616, Holy Trinity Church

Common questions

What year was Shakespeare born? 1564.

Where was Shakespeare born? Henley Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, in Warwickshire, England.

What was Shakespeare's date of birth? Not known for certain. He was baptised on 26 April 1564 and is traditionally said to have been born on 23 April.

How old was Shakespeare when he died? 52. He died on 23 April 1616.