His father, John Shakespeare, moved to Stratford in about 1552 and rapidly became a prominent figure in the town's business and politics. His business activities were based on making and selling gloves, but included trading in wool, moneylending, and other enterprises. He rose to be bailiff, the highest official in the town, but then in about 1575-1576 his prosperity declined markedly and he withdrew from public life. In 1596, thanks to his son's success and persistence, he was granted a coat of arms by the College of Arms, and the family moved into New Place, the grandest house in Stratford.
Speculation that William Shakespeare traveled, worked as a schoolmaster in the country, was a soldier and a law clerk, or embraced or left the Roman Catholic Church continues to fill the gaps left in the sparse records of the so-called lost years. It is conventionally assumed (though attendance registers do not survive) that Shakespeare attended the King's New School in Stratford, along with others of his social class. At the age of eighteen, in November 1582, he married Anne Hathaway, daughter of a local farmer. She was pregnant with Susanna Shakespeare, who was baptized on 26 May 1583.
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