Parish register entry recording Anne Shakespeare's burial

Anne, John and Mary Shakespeare’s sixth child, was buried on April 4, 1579 according to the Holy Trinity Church parish register. She was seven and a half years old. Next to the entry, an “X” added by a later hand highlights its significance. Her cause of death is unknown, although it is possibly linked to the epidemic which had broken out in October 1578.

The register records a high level of mortality into the following summer but with curious breaks in March and May. Indeed, Anne’s burial in April was the first recorded after March 7, and none at all were entered for May, despite the fact that February had witnessed 11 burials and April and June seven apiece. Perhaps, as in 1558–60, high levels of mortality led to inefficient recordkeeping, which would not be immediately obvious today as the register that survives is a copy made in 1600.