Parish register entry recording Richard Shakespeare's baptism

Richard, John and Mary Shakespeare’s seventh child, was baptized on March 11, 1574, according to the Holy Trinity Church parish register. Next to the entry, an “X” added by a later hand highlights its significance. The interval between Richard's baptism and Anne's on September 28, 1571, at around two and half years, was very close to the pattern set on the previous two occasions. Richard was the fourth Shakespeare child to survive to adulthood.

From August 12, 1573 and for many years afterwards register entries were written in English, as opposed to Latin which had generally been used from 1561 after John Bretchgirdle’s appointment as vicar. Although Bretchgirdle was still vicar in 1573, the change in recordkeeping may have been linked to the appointment, after a period of uncertainty, of William Gilbert (alias Higges) as curate.