The Websters lived at the corner of Hosier Lane and Smithfield Street (then called Cow Lane), right next to what is now the Central Smithfield Meat Markets, and was in Webster's day the location of the famous St. Bartholomew's Fair, as well as a great horse fair, and center for other dealings in livestock. Webster's father married in 1577, and it is a reasonable inference that the baby who was to become the dramatist was born shortly afterward. (Webster had a brother, Edward, who was presumably younger.) Unfortunately, the parish records of St. Sepulchre, Holborn, were destroyed in the Great Fire of London, so it is not possible to obtain precise dates of birth, marriage, and death for Webster's family. Even so, a number of documentary items survive, and it is possible to draw some reasonable inferences.
It seems very probable that Webster was sent to the Merchant Taylors' School, probably in about 1587. Certainly his father had the right to send him there, and as a prosperous man, was in a position to do so.
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