Career
He was probably born around the Rowington/Wroxall area, about 7 miles (11 km) to the north in Warwickshire. Sometime before 1529, he removed to Snitterfield, where he was a tenant farmer until his death on land owned by Robert Arden the father of Mary Arden, who married John, the poet"s father. Richard Shakespeare is mentioned in the court and manorial records as a prosperous farmer with livestock.
He was fined two pence for not attending the manor court in 1529, and he was charged with overburdening the commons with his cattle and fined for letting them run loose in the meadows and neglecting to ring or yoke his swine.
At the time of his death, Richard leased 80 acres of farm land on which his house stood, situated from the corner of High Street (now Bell Lane) down to the ford over the stream that flowed through the village into the Avon. His estate was valued at £38 17s.
