Joan Shakespeare

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Joan Shakespeare (1569 - 1646) was the sister of William Shakespeare and the mother of the actor William Hart.

Joan was Shakespeare's younger sister. She was named after her parents' deceased first-born child. She is known to have been illiterate, like most women of her social background. She married a hatter called William Hart with whom she had four children, of which two boys, William and Michael, survived to adulthood.^[1]

Joan's husband, William, died in April 1616, only a few days before her brother William. Her brother left her a legacy of £30, according to his will. He also granted her the right to live, for a nominal rent, in one of his two houses on Henley Street, Stratford. She continued to reside there for the remainder of her life, dying at the age of 77.^[1]

Though her son William never married, he may have fathered an illegitimate son, Charles Hart, who was also a leading actor. Joan's other descendants via Michael lived in Stratford until 1806.^[1]