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alderman, a post which he retained till September 30 the following year. In 1573 Alexander Webbe, the husband of his wife's sister Margaret, made him overseer of his will; in 1575 he bought two houses in Stratford, one of them doubtless the alleged birthplace in Henley Street; in 1576 he contributed twelvepence to the beadle's salary. But after Michaelmas 1572 he took a less active part in municipal affairs; he grew irregular in his attendance at the council meetings, and signs were soon apparent that his luck had turned. In 1578 he was unable to pay, with his colleagues, either the sum of fourpence for the relief of the poor or his contribution towards the furniture of three pikemen, two bellmen, and one archer' who were sent by the corporation to attend a muster of the trained bands of the county.
Meanwhile his family was increasing. Four children besides the poet—three sons, Gilbert (baptised October 13, 1566), Brothers and sisters.Richard (baptised March 11, 1574), and Edmund (baptised May 3, 1580), with a daughter Joan (baptised April 15, 1569)—reached maturity. A daughter Ann was baptised September 28, 1571, and was buried on April 4, 1579. To meet his growing liabilities, the father borrowed money from his wife's kinsfolk, and he and his wife
be sold (1571). These were mere acts of conformity with the new ecclesiastical law. John Shakespeare's encouragement of actors is conclusive proof that he was no puritan. The Elizabethan puritans, too, according to Guillim's Display of Heraldrie (1610), regarded coat-armour with abhorrence, yet John Shakespeare with his son made persistent application to the College of Arms for a grant of arms. (Cf. infra, pp. 195 seq.)