Initial Bibliography (of the 'Duxbury to Shakespeare' story)

N.B. 1. This includes all authors and titles mentioned in 'Helen's story: Duxbury to Shakespeare' so far, and a few more, with a brief comment on their relevance and interest for my research and on many occasions biographical details of authors. Some titles might be of interest to some Duxbury 'cousins' as useful sources in exploring the background to your own Duxbury history, Lancashire history in general or 'Catholic Shakespeare in Lancashire'. Not knowing how many of you are experts or novices in any area, I have provided a very personal initial list of what I found most valuable, interesting or intriguing, and why. The bibliographies in many of these titles lead, of course, to deeper and wider-ranging reading and the original documentary sources. I hope that this list is helpful. All authors named in the text are underlined when this refers to a title in the bibliography.

N.B. 2. I have underlined all names of authors, Elizabethan luminaries and historic halls or events where I know there is a web site or a biography in a standard work of reference, and Peter will gradually produce links to some of these. Some are home pages, some complete sites, some entries in the Encyclopaedia Britannica or other reference sources on the Internet, some reviews of the book. Just type in the relevant name and any search machine should find most of these fairly easily. The only name not underlined is Shakespeare - he's everywhere! Once you get into this system, you might never get out of it.

Abram, W. A. A History of Blackburn Town and Parish (Blackburn, 1877, facsimile reprint, limited edition of 200 copies, Blackburn, 1990s). I became the proud possessor of copy 168 several years ago, so this is probably only now available in local libraries. However, it is now available on CD ROM. Encylopaedic in its detail and has never been surpassed for the early history, including many details about neighbouring ancient parishes (therefore including many details relevant to the Duxburys). Abram also transcribed and edited the Preston Guild Rolls MSS, and was the first in the late 19th century to bring attention to Myles Standish's Lancashire ancestry via newspaper articles in the 1880s. This interest was largely because of his access to the library of his friend the Rev. A. G. Grosart, vicar in Blackburn, who was an avid scholar of early modern history, including the history of the Pilgrim Fathers. Grosart published so many Renaissance texts that his name appears all over the place in references in the Dictionary of National Biography.

- Preston Guild Rolls. Full title: The Rolls of Burgesses at the Guilds Merchant of the Borough of Preston 1397-1682 (Record Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, vol. ix, 1884). Abram's dedication in transcribing these MSS lists has provided local historians with a wealth of details about the structure of Preston society from medieval to Restoration times. Most recently, they allowed me to reconstruct the genealogy of the main Preston Shakeshafte families, several of whom were glovers. Were these the family of John Shakespeare, glover, of Stratford, father of the Bard?

Aubrey, John Brief Lives (ed.) Richard Barber (Boydell, Suffolk, 1982, 1997).

A rollicking romp through the biographies of eminent personalities, mainly of the 16th and 17th centuries, and including Shakespeare. Aubrey (1626-97) is the sole source (although via a highly reliable personal source from the London theatre world) of the report that Shakespeare in his younger years had been 'a schoolmaster in the country', this phrase meaning somewhere away from London. Aubrey was from Wiltshire and his mental map of England north of Stratford was rather wonky, to say the least, but his details remain fascinating. Could 'in the country' have been Lancashire? Could young Shakespeare have been a schoolmaster there 'in his younger years'?

Bagley, J. J. Maps: Full title: J. J. Bagley and A. G. Hodgkiss Lancashire: a history of the County Palatine in early maps (Neil Richardson, Manchester, 1985). The title tells all, this is a fascinating read and provides many maps referred to here, there and everywhere in many histories of Lancashire. For my research, the most fascinating details were from the county maps by Christopher Saxton, surveyed and published in the 1570s and John Speed, published in the 1610s (many different dates, depending on which county and which reprint - the maps of both were runaway hits of the day). Christopher Saxton was also invited to Manchester to produce a map of the town, no copy of which has survived. His host was Dr John Dee, who turned out to be vital in the Stanley part of the story.

- The Earls of Derby 1485-1985 (Sidgwick and Jackson, London, 1985).

Written to coincide with the quincentenary of Bosworth, this is, in Bagley's own words, more a 'coffee table' version than his otherwise scholarly publications. An excellent introduction to anyone interested in the Earls of Derby, and includes portraits of all early Earls involved in the 'Duxbury to Shakespeare' story.

- Lancashire Diarists: Three centuries of Lancashire lives (Phillimore, London and Chichester, 1975). This presents a unique history of Lancashire from the early 1600s onwards from diaries and autobiographies. It starts with the diary of Nicholas Assheton of Downham, which presents the story of a huntin', shootin' and fishin' Squire, and goes on from there. Assheton is our main witness of James I's visit to Hoghton Tower in 1617, a year too late for Shakespeare's participation in any way, but including many of his friends. I found every detail fascinating, but the most interesting details for the Duxbury to Shakespeare story are the proof that local squires constantly travelled on horseback over wide areas, kept in touch with all their relatives, had many 'merry meetings' and rode to London as and when necesssary or desired. Lancashire was not so remote from London as has so often been suggested.

Baines, Edward A History of the County Palatine and Duchy of Lancashire (revised and edited by J. Croston, 5 vols, London and Manchester, 1883-93). Baines (1774-1848) published the first fairly authoritative history of Lancashire in four volumes in the 1830s, with several subsequent revisions, the one above being the most recent, most widely available and most quoted. His biography is in the DNB, which reveals many other achievements. The pedigree charts included in the later editions still remain as the first place to go when starting research on any early Lancashire gentry family. Baines and later editors might have got a few things wrong (e.g. the Standish of Duxbury descent), but they got an impressive number of details right. Along with Farrer, this is still the first place to visit.

Baldwin, T. W. William Shakspere's Small Latine and Lesse Greeke (2 vols., University of Urbana, Illinois Press, 1944). Baldwin was the first to spot Lancashire schoolmasters at Stratford Grammar School, which led to the proposal of John Cottam as one potential main link between young Shakespeare at Stratford Grammar School and young Shakespeare in the Hoghton household (Keen, 1954; Milward, 1973; Honigmann, 1985).

Bennett, Michael The Battle of Bosworth (Sutton, Stroud, 1985, 2nd ed. 2000).

Quite simply the most authoritative recent scholarly exploration and account of the Battle and relevant events before and after. He includes in an Appendix extracts from Lancashire ballads about Bosworth.

Bennett, W. The History of Burnley, (2 vols, Burnley, 1946, 1947, reprinted in one vol., Burnley, 1980, 1988).

Encyclopaedic in its detail and has never been surpassed for the early history. It includes a history of Burnley Grammar School, with its many Catholic teachers and pupils who became priests and martyrs. It also includes many details about Alexander Nowell of Read near Burnley, Dean of St Paul's, writer of the Catechism read by all Elizabethan schoolboys, founder of a scholarship that helped Edmund Spenser, poet, on his way, and closely associated with Brazenose College, Oxford, which produced most of the Lancashire schoolmasters at Stratford Grammar School. Bennett also gives many interesting details about the Towneleys of Towneley Hall.

Blackwood, B. G. The Lancashire gentry and the Great Rebellion, 1640-60.(Chetham Society, 3rd series, vol. 25, 1978).

An account of the Civil War in Lancashire, with some details queried in the meantime, but a good introduction.

Bowles, H. (ed.) Recusant Rolls, 2, 1593/4 (Catholic Record Society, 1965).

One of many Catholic reference publications, many of which appear in bibliographies in Enos, Fraser, Hammerschmidt-Hummel and Hilton. I have included just this title here because it provides the names of many Lancashire recusants involved in the 'Shakespeare in Lancashire' story, but this volume provides only the tip of a Catholic iceberg.

Brazendale, David, Lancashire's Historic Halls (Carnegie, Preston, 1994).

For anyone interested in Lancashire history, this is a 'must'. He selected ten halls, placed them in chronological order of their builders or later eminent owners, and produced a history of Lancashire from a completely new angle. Several of his characters are among those who appear in the 'Catholic Shakespeare in Lancashire' story (particularly Sir Richard Shireburne of Stonyhurst and the Towneleys of Towneley Hall).

Broxap, Ernest The Great Civil War in Lancashire 1642-51 (Manchester U.P., 1973).

The title reveals all. Some details have been superseded by Blackwood (1978) and some have since been challenged by others, but it remains as an excellent introduction.

Chambers, E. K. The Elizabethan Stage (4 vols, Oxford, 1923).

The main significance for the 'Shakespeare in Lancashire' theory is that Chambers was the first in the Shakespeare world to note Alexander Hoghton's 1581 will naming William Shakeshafte. This had been partially transcribed by Piccope (1860), but was not fully transcribed until by Honigmann (1985).

Chetham Society, The has published hundreds of volumes of Lancashire records and histories, including several in this list. It was named after Humphrey Chetham, who founded the first public library in the 17th century. (His biography is in Brazendale under Turton Tower.) The indexes of many volumes will reveal the names of many of your ancestors. This also applies to the hundreds of volumes published by the Lancashire and Cheshire Record Society.

Conlan, Thomas, S.J. 'Notes on young Shakespeare' (1975, unpublished).

Conlan was inspired partly by Keen's discovery during the 1940s and 1950s of several genealogical trails leading from the Shakespeares and Ardernes through Staffordshire, Shropshire and Cheshire to Lancashire; and partly by the publication in 1973 of seminal research from internal evidence of Shakespeare's Catholicism from his plays by Peter Milward, a fellow Jesuit priest and a Professor of English in Tokyo for many years - and still very active there. Conlan, with a thorough knowledge of Elizabethan Catholic and Jesuit literature and history unknown to Keen or any previous researchers into the 'Shakespeare in Lancashire' theory, uncovered another Catholic trail via Yorkshire to Lancashire, taking in other Renaissance texts and Gunpowder Plotters on the way and realising that the Cheshire Ardernes were involved somehow. A typed transcription of late 2000 of this letter by Carol Enos plopped into my postbox in late 2001, and my eyes popped all the way as I read it. Father Thomas's genealogical and historical research back in the 1970s met my research in the late 1990s at so many points. Of most interest to Duxbury 'cousins' will be a Duxbury-Arderne marriage in Lower Darwen in the late 14th century, which I had known about for many years, with full documentation in Abram, Blackburn, but never quite known how significant this might have been for the 'early Duxburys of Duxbury' story. It turned out to be vital for the whole Duxbury-Shakespeare story via Father Thomas's letter of 1975. This has therefore produced the longest entry in this bibliography, and produces an even longer potential future story, mainly because of the sad reason that Father Thomas Conlan is (in late January 2001) very deaf, almost blind and has recently moved from the main Jesuit Church and Centre in London to a nursing home. His carers and I hope we have managed to convey the information that his letter of 1975 has finally arrived in the hands of someone who realised the full significance of his findings and knew what to do with it, i.e. publish it. An annotated version is in course of preparation and will be linked from here as soon as possible.

Coward, Barry The Stanleys, Lords Stanley and Earls of Derby 1385-1672 (Chetham Society, 3rd Series, vol. XXX, Manchester U.P., 1983). The (almost) ultimate scholarly account of the rise and fall in national influence of the Earls of Derby by another Lancashire lad, from Rochdale Grammar School. The book was a revised version of his PhD thesis, and he has since progressed to become Professor at Birkbeck, a postgraduate College of the University of London. The 'almost' above is included tongue in cheek. Coward's scholarly account is in itself definitive within his terms of research and the 'almost' merely includes a very natural reluctance on his part to pursue the Derbyite notion that William Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby, might have been William Shakespeare. He wasn't, of course, but Coward was interested enough to give all the Derbyite references. Meanwhile, this book will remain for all time as essential reading on the early Earls of Derby.

Crosby, Alan A History of Lancashire (Phillimore, Chichester, 1998).

A popular and scholarly history at the same time, from the end of the last Ice Age to the late 1990s. Wonderful illustrations and a jolly good read. His Introduction presents a suspicion that English history has often been written with a southern English bias, but the body of the text sets this straight.

Cunliffe Shaw, R. The Records of a Lancashire Family from the XIIth to the XXth century (Preston, 1940).

The story of the Shaw/ Asshaw family of Heath Charnock, neighbours of the Duxburys and Standishes. I have dipped into this on several occasions. This is first on my reading list on my next visit to Lancashire, particularly because I have realised fairly recently that they shared a similar coat of arms with the Ardernes of Cheshire and Enos picked up various Shaws in the Shakespeare world. Let us see what emerges from anyone reading and researching more about this family.

Dean, Richard Rufford Old Hall (The National Trust, 1991, 1997).

The latest official guide book, with an excellent Hesketh pedigree chart and many illustrations of a house much as it must have been when Shakespeare was there. One intriguing detail is that there is a portrait of Sir Kenelm Digby there. His father was a Gunpowder plotter and he married a Stanley, daughter of one for whom Shakespeare wrote an epitaph. I wonder how he got there?

Dictionary of National Biography.

The repository a century ago of biographical details known at the time about anyone considered to be of national relevance. Further volumes updating this were published regularly, but a few years ago it was decided that a totally new revision was due. Oxford U.P. will publish this in 2004, on paper and electronically, and details are available on their web site. It will be interesting to see what appears on Shakespeare and Myles Standish a hundred years on. One brand new biography will be that of William Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby by Leo Daugherty.

Earwaker, J. P. East Cheshire Past and Present: a history of the hundred of Macclesfield (2 vols, 1877).

The chapter on the Ardernes appears at the end of Volume 1, and includes a very impressive Pedigree Chart, which contains my 'smoking gun' of Thomas Arderne Esquire, founder of the branch in Leicestershire, '1566 VP'. All is very dry and scholarly, and based on an impressive array of documents, but unfortunately includes a few muddles. The '1566 VP' reference turned out to be on the 1580 VP of a different family (vital, as it turned out). And Earwaker had a naughty little habit of reinterpreting names and dates detected by previous researchers to suit his own theories (pace Earwaker fans, but I had already met some of his little muddles during Standish research, and was thus forewarned and forearmed). Meanwhile, he is still very reliable on other local Cheshire families (but check all against Ormerod).

Eccles, Mark Shakespeare in Warwickshire (Wisconsin, 1961).

The latest of many who undertook a thorough scholarly examination in Warwickshire records of all Shakespeares/ Shakeshaftes, etc. and all Arde(r)n(e)s. Unfortunately, he stayed in the Midands and so did not detect all the Shakeshaftes and Ardernes in the North West. Perhaps amongst the documents he examined some Midlands enthusiast will detect the father of John Shakespeare or his great-grandfather who was awarded 'lands and tenements' in Warwickshire.

Encyclopaedia Britannica.

The edition of 1984 on my shelves proved worth its wealth in gold again and again. The latest version on the Internet now has splendid links to early editions, which allow one to trace the development of knowledge on, e.g. Shakespeare's biography.

Enos, Carol Curt Shakespeare and the Catholic Religion (Dorrance, Pittsburgh, 2000).

The first book by a non-Catholic (with a Methodist background) to attempt to bring together all Shakespeare Catholic biographical details, dispassionately and neutrally. This led to her inevitable conclusion that he was Catholic, and that the Lancashire episode was crucial. Most interestingly (for me), she perceived that the Cheshire Ardernes might well be a key to unlocking a few Shakespeare mysteries. How right she was. She also revived the idea that (future Cardinal in Rome) William Allen (from Lancashire) might have played an important role in John Shakespeare's biography, when he was a teacher at Stratford in 1562-4 and sent the first priests back from Douai in the late 1570s. She also sees the purchase of the Blackfriars Gatehouse as part of his Catholic activity. And another whole host of details and ever more connections between Shakespeare and Lancashire and Catholics. Two favourable reviews have already appeared in U.S. and G.B. journals (albeit journals with Catholic interests). Whatever conclusions other readers and reviewers might (have or will) come to, one vital fact for me was that Enos came to almost exactly the same conclusions in some areas as those published by Hammerschmidt-Hummel a few months later. Neither author knew anything of each other's research and publications (or my findings) until I contacted both. Having read both books from cover to cover several times, I still have major doubts and minor quibbles about various claims by both authors, but basically many of our completely independent findings fit together, and will serve to produce materials for a rather different interim biography of the Shakespeares from the 'conventional' one. Ultimately, one hopes, 'the truth will out', whatever this might turn out to be. Meanwhile, this book is another 'must' for anyone interested in 'Catholic Shakespeare in Lancashire'.

Espinasse, Francis, Lancashire Worthies, (2 vols, 1877).

These two volumes, in many Lancashire libraries, provide biographies of the 1st and 7th Earls of Derby (and a certain amount about the 6th), plus many other Lancashire notables.

Farrer, William and Brownbill, J. (eds) The Victoria History of the County of Lancashire, (8 vols).

Duxbury and Standish are in Vol. 6 (1911). Still a classic standard source of Lancashire history and gentry families, but with no pedigree charts. Farrer is one of my antiquarian heroes, and his dense text, with even denser footnotes, are a marvel in themselves and a mine of information. Along with Baines's pedigree charts, this is still the first place to begin hunting for details of early families.

Fraser, Antonia The Gunpowder Plot: terror and faith in 1605 (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1996, many paperback editions, up to and inc. Arrow books, 1999). A fascinating story, told many times before and here most recently. The accolades speak for themselves but my main appreciation was her 'neutral' approach between 'Pro-Plotters' and 'No-Plotters', including so many Catholic sources, which presented the story of what it must have been like to be an English Catholic in the 1590s and early 1600s. Shakespeare is mentioned on several occasions, but only peripherally, which made this book even more valuable as presenting a neutral background to the story into which he might well have to be slotted as a player in a more active role. My main puzzlement during previous reading of the Gunpowder Plot story had always been that Lancashire - the most Catholic county of all during this period - featured so rarely. Had many claims of 'southern bias' been at work here over the centuries? Lady Fraser redresses this neglect in part by her recognition that some of the main characters were from Lancashire (above all Jesuit John Gerard), with three other references to Lancashire and emphasising the Yorkshire origin of others. The main events were certainly in the Midlands and London, but I have a sneaky suspicion that the next version is still waiting to be told, including a perspective emanating from Lancashire Catholics. One reason for this is that Lord Mo(u)nteagle's origin in Lancashire has been much neglected; another reason is 'Catholic Shakespeare' findings. See Conlan.

French, George Russell Shakepeareana Genealogica (London, 1869).

The most thorough search in documents until this time into the Shakespeare and Arde(r)n(e) ancestries. He failed to find the missing links but his chapter on the Ardens of Park Hall proved to be seminal in my research by providing many references to documents in the College of Arms not previously spotted by the Shakespeare world, most of all to Glover's Ordinary of Arms.

Glover, Robert An Ordinary of Arms (1580s).

Glover (1544-88) was Somerset Herald and Clarenceux King of Arms. His Cheshire Visitation Pedigrees and depiction of hundreds of coats of arms in his Ordinary made him one of the leading experts of the day on Arde(r)n(e) genealogy. His knowledge was crucial in sorting out the Ardernes and Ardens.

Gough Nichols, John The Herald and Genealogist , (2 vols, London, 1863).

This provided the first full transcription of several Shakespeare coat of arms documents (vol. 1, p. 510 ff) and the general opinion on Shakespeare's ancestry at this time. He was the first to recognise that Mary's arms were those of the Cheshire family, but could not bring himself to believe that this was true. He read some of Ormerod's work on the Cheshire Ardernes and came to the rather strange conclusion (certainly not Ormerod's) that the Cheshire arms were the 'ancient' arms of the Midlands Arden family, which sent an awful lot of people down the wrong path.

Halliwell-Phillipps, J. O. Outlines of the Life of Shakespeare (2 vols, London, 1st ed. 1871, 7th ed. 1877).

The edition of 1877 was the crowning glory and the one most readily available in libraries today. Halliwell, James Orchard (1820-89), later Halliwell-Phillipps after his marriage to the daughter of a knight, published an amazing number of works (559, to be precise), since catalogued by Martin Spevack, James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps: A Classified Bibliography (1997). The most fascinating details for me were that he was born in Chorley (Heyes, p. 2), became a leading light in Shakespeare studies, published many highly relevant early Lancashire ballads (including the Bosworth ballads in Bennett, Bosworth ) and yet never picked up the connections between Shakespeare and Lancashire that had been emerging since 1853 (Heywood, Raines). There has since been a regular trickle of re-discovered documents, most of which are referred to by Schoenbaum (1975, 1977, 1987). Some add a little more flesh to John and William's bare biographical bones but Halliwell-Phillipps remains the most comprehensive listing of abstracts and transcriptions of any document he thought might possibly be relevant. All Shakespeare biographical researchers since have stood on his shoulders.

Hammerschmidt-Hummel, Hildegard Die verborgene Existenz des William Shakespeare (Herder-Verlag, Freiburg, 2001).

The second book (after Enos) to attempt to bring together all 'Catholic Shakespeare' biographical details, with impressive research in contemporary Catholic and Jesuit literature (the book was worth buying [for me] for its bibliography and extensive quotes alone). She takes it for granted that William Shakeshafte in the 1581 Hoghton will was William Shakespeare, and therefore Catholic, and makes many dramatic claims, which are intriguing to say the least. She is certain that some erasures in the Douai diaries are of young Shakespeare's name, that John Shakespeare's fine in 1580 was as a parent with a child at Douai, that William led Edmund Campion to Lancashire, that the trust fund in the Hoghton will was to aid Catholic priests, that Shakespeare visited Rome under several pseudnyms, that he worked for the Catholic underground all his life, that the arrangements for the purchase of the Blackfriars Gatehouse were similar to the trust fund in the Hoghton will, that she has identified the Benedictine priest who administered the last rites, and that the later raid on Shakespeare's library and demolition of his house in Stratford were connected to his Catholicism. Heady stuff! These claims will be subjected to much scrutiny. The schools and the English College in Rome were certainly attended by many in Shakespeare and 'Catholic plotter' circles, whether or not by the Bard himself. Time will tell how many conclusions are accepted - or not. Only available in German. As mentioned under Enos, the most important fact for me is that the two authors came to the same conclusions in many places, totally independently.

Heyes, Jim A History of Chorley (Lancashire County Books, Preston, 1994).

Quite simply a jolly good read and the most authoritative recent history, including a few details about the history of Duxbury. There are rather naturally not many, as Duxbury only became a part of Chorley in 1932. An essential read for Duxbury 'cousins'.

Heywood, Thomas The Earls of Derby and the Verse Writers and Poets of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (Chetham Society Old Series, vol. 29, The Stanley Papers, Part 1, 1853). Heywood's flowery Victorian prose provides an excruciating read on occasion, but the main details and early literary texts are there in one of the first 19th century publications to associate Shakespeare with the Earls of Derby.

Hilton, J. A. Catholic Lancashire (Phillimore, Chichester, 1994).

An excellent summary and introduction to a part of Lancashire history that was neglected for so long by early (non-Catholic) antiquarians.

Holden, Anthony William Shakespeare (Little, Brown, London, 1999).

The first full biography of the life and works to accept the youthful 'Shakespeare in Lancashire' episode completely, partly because (as he reveals in his Preface) he was a Lancashire lad and had early Hoghton and Hesketh knowledge and connections. It received generally favourable to enthusiastic reviews in the National Press. He was brave enough to stick his neck out on this and other biographical anomalies, rather than sitting on the fence. In conjunction with Honan's it presents (for me) the best account of 'the state of Shakespeare biography' at the end of the 1990s, before the recent explosion of 'Catholic Shakespeare' literature.

Honan, Park Shakespeare: A life (Oxford U.P., 1999).

The first full biography of the life and works to seriously accept the possibility of the Lancashire episode (preceding Holden by a few months). Professor Honan includes an excellent narrative bibliography of biographical sources, which provided him with a rich background tapestry. Reviews have been largely favourable to enthusiastic. Any reader of both Honan's and Holden's biographies will find many similarities but enough differences in interpretation and conclusions to appreciate that consensus of opinion in some areas still awaits.

Honigmann, E. A. J. Shakespeare: the 'lost years', (Manchester U.P., 1985, 2nd ed. 1998, with new preface).

This is the seminal scholarly book on 'Catholic Shakespeare in Lancashire', which reawakened interest in the matter, but is not the beginning or end of the published story. The beginning goes back to Shakespeare's life-time and the end still lies in the future. However this remains essential reading for any interested in this area. Anyone who has not read and fully digested this book has inevitably missed essential details and arguments. Its most valuable new contribution was providing the text of several relevant wills and the discovery of many new details about John Cottam, Catholic schoolmaster at Stratford Grammar School, whom Honigmann proposed as the potential main link between Stratford and the Hoghtons. Anyone who has read this book but not Keen (1954) has missed many other vital connections.

- John Weever: A biography of a literary associate of Shakespeare and Jonson, together with a photographic facsimile of Weever's Epigrammes (1599) (Manchester U.P., 1987). The dedicatees include many Lancashire and Cheshire luminaries and Shakespeare, Spenser and the actor Edward Alleyn.

Howard, Joseph Jackson Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica, (2nd Series, London, 1886).

This contains facsimiles of the main Shakespeare coat of arms documents, already transcribed and printed by Gough Nichols in 1863, which proved the accuracy of the transcription and at the same time revealed a few vital details about John Shakespeare's constant refinements concerning his ancestry and living relatives.

Hudson, Phil (ed.) The Lancashire History Quarterly (Hudson History, Settle).

Any 'Duxbury cousin' or others interested in the history of Lancashire will find many gems here. Do subscribe and help to guarantee its continuing existence.

Hunt, David The History of Leyland (Carnegie, Preston, 1990).

- A History of Preston (Carnegie, Preston, 1992).

- A History of Walton-le-Dale and Bamber Bridge (Carnegie, Preston, 1997).

This trio provides histories of many of the places and families in the 'Shakespeare in Lancashire' story.

Kay, Margaret M. The History of Rivington and Blackrod Grammar School, (Manchester U.P. 1931, reprinted with an additional chapter, Manchester U.P., 1966). This provides not only the history of the schools in the title but also gives the complete texts of the school statutes and other details of local education in Elizabethan times. Dr Kay also provides the first list of pupils and their subsequent careers, including, most importantly for my research, Alexander Standish of Duxbury, who was at Rivington Grammar School as a four-year-old in 1575 (poor lad, one might think, but he seems to have survived the strict regime and thrived on it). Rivington School was founded in 1566 by James Pilkington, the first Protestant Bishop of Durham, one of a triumvirate of clerics who fled into exile during Mary's reign, imbibed the teachings of Calvin and others, returned to find favour under Elizabeth and founded Grammar Schools in Lancashire. The other two were Matthew Parker, founder of Rochdale Grammar School in 1564 and Elizabeth's first Archbishop of Canterbury (who is popularly remembered today as 'Nosey Parker') and Edwin Sandys, founder of Hawkshead Grammar School in 1585 and Archbishop of York, whose sons (contemporaries of Shakespeare) were to achieve celebrity as poets and travellers. These Protestant foundations present an interesting contrast to older local schools, where the schoolmasters were often Catholic.

Keen, Alan and Roger Lubbock The Annotator (London, 1954).

For me, this is the most important book in 'Shakespeare in Lancashire' literature, along with Honigmann (1985). Keen's discoveries (genealogical and others) were trail-blazing, aroused much interest in the middle of the 20th century, but have been sorely neglected ever since. He was the first 'outsider' to spot the Hesketh tradition and the first in 'Shakespeare in Lancashire' literature to suggest that he might have attended Douai. An esssential read for anyone interested in this area.

Lee, Sidney A Life of William Shakespeare (1st ed. London, 1898), with many later ever larger editions until the last posthumous version in the 1920s. His 1898 version was reissued as a facsimile reprint by Oracle Publishing in 1996, and any details and page references in my texts refer to this. His main relevance in the 'Duxbury to Shakespeare' story is that he was the first to produce a monumental biography of Shakespeare, which has dominated Shakespeare biographical studies for the last century. I fully agree with Honan's assessment of Lee: 'I find the book full, specific and readable. Yet its commentary is literal or philistine in quality, and, worse, Lee offers suppositions as facts. Guesses become truths,' etc. (Honan, p. 418).

Lewis, B. Roland The Shakespeare Documents (Stanford, 1940).

An updating of Halliwell-Phillipps, still very much following the 'conventional' story.

Lofthouse, Jessica Lancashire's Old Families (Robert Hale, London, 1972, 1979).

She gives no references and very few dates in this book of 'popular history', so it is sometimes difficult to know which century she is writing about, but otherwise a rattling good read and summary of many of the most notable Lancashire characters and events in local and national history (including the Hoghton and Hesketh Shakespeare traditions). She was a popular local history luminary in the 1960s and 1970s, with many publications and lectures. One of her missions was to make locals in national history better known, and often complained that English history had been written with a southern bias. She was also a talented artist, and her line drawings of many halls that have since disappeared are reproduced in many of her books.

Lumby, J. H. A Calendar of the Deeds and Papers in the possession of Sir James de Hoghton, Bart. (1926).

The title reveals all, and is essential for anyone researching the Hoghtons.

Metcalfe, W. C. Book of Knights (London, 1885).

As the title indicates, a list of knights, where and when knighted and by whom. Most of the Lancashire and Cheshire knights in Myles's ancestry and the 'Shakespeare in Lancashire' story appear here.

Michell, John Who Wrote Shakespeare? (Thames and Hudson, London, 1996, 1998).

The latest account and summary of who proposed whom and why as alternative candidates for the authors of some or all of Shakespeare's works. Michell tried to remain neutral, and largely succeeded, but (I suspected at the time of reading and so it transpired) was secretly rooting for William Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby, and was delighted to hear recently that he did indeed play an important role. The book received several enthusiastic reviews and one negative Stratfordian one. I can only report that I, along with many others, found it highly entertaining and supremely informative about various anomalies, as well as being wonderfully illustrated. Das Buch ist inzwischen in Deutsch erschienen, which proves yet again, if this were required, how popular Shakespeare is in Germany.

Miller, George C. Hoghton Tower: The History of the Manor, the Hereditary Lords and the ancient Manor-house of Hoghton in Lancashire (Preston, 1948). Negotiations are currently underway for an annotated reprint. Meanwhile, this remains the most detailed account.

Milward, Peter, S.J. Shakespeare's Religious Background (Bloomington, Indiana, 1973).

This was the first book in the late 20th century to argue for Shakespeare's Catholicism from internal evidence. It received a certain resonance at the time and provided inspiration for later publications suggesting or claiming 'Catholic Shakespeare' (e.g. Enos, Hammerschmidt-Hummel, Ian Wilson Shakespeare, the Evidence [1993]), but has been all too often dismissed as the work of a Jesuit and committed Catholic, who was therefore grinding his own Catholic axe.

- Shakespeare's Apocalypse (Renaissance Monographs 26 (Renaissance Institute, Sophia University, Tokyo, The Saint Austin Press, 2000).

Milward has written many books and esays on Shakespeare between these two publications and anything by him is a good read.

Ormerod, George The History of Cheshire (1819).

The first attempt at an authoritative history of the county from documents; revised later by Thomas Helsby. - 'On the connexion of Arderne, or Arden, of Cheshire, with the Ardens of Warwickshire', The Topographer and Genealogist (1843), vol. i, p. 208 ff.. Ormerod's interest in the Ardernes seems to have been at least partially because his wife was of Arderne descent. He entered into correspondence with others investigating the Midlands Ardens and by this date had solved their origins, which were later reprinted in the following two publications.

- Parentalia (1851);

- Miscellanea Palatina (1857).

- Ormerod's The History of Cheshire, revised by Thomas Helsby (3 vols, London, c. 1880). This is available on CD ROM from the Cheshire Record Office and remains the first to consult on Cheshire gentry families. The main value for my research was that Helsby double-checked all Ormerod's Arderne references, making minor corrections or expansions where necessary but otherwise confirming Ormerod's work (and thus revealing Earwaker's little peccadillos).

Piccope, G. J. Lancashire and Cheshire Wills and Inventories from the Ecclesiastical Court, Chester (Chetham Society, Old Series, vol. li, 1860). This contains, among many others, abstracts of the wills of Alexander Hoghton in 1581 and Captain Ralphe Standish in 1637, both important in the Duxbury to Shakespeare story. Other volumes from the Chetham Society contain more wills of great interest. Most Standish of Duxbury wills remain unpublished and are in the L.R.O.'s wills collection (W.C.W.) or in the Standish of Duxbury MSS (DP397). Good will hunting.

Porteus, T. C. 'Some recent investigations concerning the ancestry of Capt. Myles Standish', New England Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. 69 (Boston, 1914). This was the first presentation of Myles's possible ancestry in the Standish family of Ormskirk and the Isle of Man, followed up by:

- Captain Myles Standish: His lost lands and Lancashire Connections (Manchester U.P., 1920). This presented many additional valuable details, including the identification of books in Myles's inventory.

- A History of the Parish of Standish, Lancashire (Wigan, 1927). A must for anyone interested in the Standishes of Standish. He intended to follow it up with histories of other townships in the parish (including Duxbury), but alas, never published these. Some materials for these are presumably in the dozens of boxes of unpublished and uncatalogued notes in the L.R.O.

- Calendar of the Standish Deeds (Wigan, 1933). Full title: Calendar of the Standish Deeds, 1230-1575, preserved in the Wigan Public Library, together with abstracts made by the Rev. Thomas West in 1770 of 228 deeds not now in the collection. These Standish of Standish MSS are now in Wigan archives, housed in Leigh Town Hall. Porteus's transcriptions are meticulous and include one of vital relevance for the later solving of Shakespeare's ancestry: the grant of an annuity after Bosworth to Sir Alexander Standish of Standish. Here also are the original documents concerning the sale by Thomas Duxbury of all his lands in and around Duxbury Hall in 1522-24.

Raines, F. R. (ed.) The Stanley Papers, Part II. The Derby Household Books; comprising an account of the Household Regulations and Expenses of Edward and Henry, Third and Fourth Earls of Derby; and a diary of names and guests; by William Farington (Chetham Society Old Series, vol. XXXI, 1853). This is exactly what the title says, and as such, is hardly riveting reading. Its main value for the history of Lancashire comes from the insights it provides into the running of a great household in the 16th century; also from the presentation of so many names of 'servants' and an accurate account of many who visited the Earls of Derby on which day 1587-90; also which troupes of players gave performances on precise dates. We can be thankful that the MSS survived among the Farington of Worden collection, as most contemporary family papers of the Derbys disappeared with the destruction of Lathom House in the Civil War. Unfortunately, not a single Duxbury appears, but many of their kinsmen are there. The Faringtons also preserved portraits of some of the early Earls of Derby, which resulted in interesting line drawings appearing in this publication.

Rowe, Nicholas (ed.) Shakespeare, Works (1709), with an introduction 'Some account of the life, &c. of Mr. William Shakespear' (vol. 1, p. xxxvi). This was the first attempt at a seamless narrative biography. Rowe (1674-1718) was a dramatist and Poet Laureate and the first to undertake a radically new edition of Shakespeare's works. He despatched the actor Betterton to Stratford to investigate stories among John Shakespeare's descendants and whatever records he could find. Rowe missed out on Aubrey's report of 'a schoolmaster in the country', concluded a solid life and ancestry in Warwickshire, and so the 'conventional' biography was born. Interestingly (for me) he reported that John had a large family, 'ten in all', but reported no details about William's mother - Mary Arderne's addition to the story came later.

Rylands, John Paul (ed.) The Visitation of Cheshire 1580 (Harleian Society, vol. 18, London, 1882).

Full title: The Visitation of Cheshire in the year 1580 made by Robert Glover, Somerset Herald, for William Flower, Norroy King of Arms, with numerous additions and continuations, including those from the Visitation of Cheshire made in the year 1566 by the same herald, with an Appendix containing the Visitation of part of Cheshire in the year 1533 made by William Fellows, Lancaster Herald, for Thomas Benolte, Clarenceux King of Arms, and a fragment of the Visitation of the City of Chester in the year 1591, made by Thomas Chaloner, Deputy to the Office of Arms. The title tells all, but conceals that Rylands's best intentions to include 'everything' actually included a few little muddles, particularly by fusing the two Arderne Visitation Pedigrees of 1566 and 1580. A separation of these revealed a rather different set of family reports and the solution to Mary's ancestry. Glover's knowledge was the key.

Saxton, Christopher Atlas of England and Wales, (London, c. 1579).

The main significance of this was the inclusion of Hoghton Tower sitting on its little hill, surveyed by Saxton a year or so previously (Bagley, Maps). Together with a reference on the Hoghton 1567 Visitation Pedigree to a paper at 'ye towr' and a reference to Thomas Hoghton 'The Exile' as 'late of Hoghton' in 1576 (Honigmann [1985], p. 11), there seems little doubt that some Hoghtons were already living at Hoghton Tower by 1576. The significance of this in turn is that although Alexander Hoghton wrote his will in 1581 as 'of Lea' (the older family hall), Hoghton Tower was almost certainly their main residence by then and, as the larger and modern one, would presumably have been the home of Williams Shakeshafte and Shakespeare. Saxton's survey of the position of 'Ye Pele', long-time home of the Standishes of Duxbury, also turned out to be all revealing.

Schoenbaum, Samuel William Shakespeare: A Compact Documentary Life (Oxford U.P., 1977, rep. 1987 with new preface and postscript). This was the successor to William Shakespeare: A Documentary Life (Oxford, 1975). I found the later Compact Life far more useful as it included more and up-to-date information. This is usually regarded as the most authoritative recent presentation of the 'conventional' biography and his wry sense of humour makes it an entertaining read. His main value for me was that he at least presented most previous controversial suggestions, even if he rejected most of them as part of the 'mythos'. Essential reading for the 'Stratfordian' story.

Scott-Giles, C. W. Shakespeare's Heraldry (London, 1950).

Useful in providing facsimiles of various Shakespeare and Arderne coats of arms and interesting in repeating the idea that John's ancestor might well have fought at Bosworth.

Speed, John History of Great Britain (London, 1611).

As well as providing the latest account of history by an esteemed antiquarian and genealogist, he connected Shakespeare to Jesuit Robert Parsons as 'this papist and his poet'. He also produced the next detailed map of Lancashire, repeating most of Saxton's details, but showing detailed knowledge by including, e.g. the Earl of Derby's 'New Park', built since Saxton's map (Bagley, Maps).

Standish of Duxbury Manuscripts.

A collection of several hundred original documents, the family papers, which revealed the story of all the early Standish families in Duxbury, including Myles Standish's ancestry. They disappeared from Lancashire some time in the 19th century and only resurfaced in 1965 in the Portobello Bookshop in London. Happily they were bought by the Lancashire Record Office and calendared under DP 397.

Stopes, Charlotte Shakespeare's Family (London, 1901).

Stopes was significant not only because she was one of the first women to research Shakespeare documentation (and produced an even more famous daughter, Marie), but because she uncovered much (since disputed) that turns out to have been correct. This includes some Shakespeare/ Shakeshafte conclusions and that Mary almost certainly had something to do with the Cheshire Ardernes. She never found the missing link.

Taylor, Henry Old Halls in Lancashire and Cheshire (Manchester, 1884).

Some very attractive prints of many halls which have since disappeared, including the homes of many in the 'Shakespeare in Lancashire' story.

Thomas, D. L. (ed.) Shakespeare in the Public Records (London, 1985).

Documents rediscovered in the 1980s reveal that John Shakespeare was very much solvent and perhaps even rich during the 1570s and 1580s. These details were picked up by some, but have still not been generally accepted. For me it was obvious, from Thomas's documentary findings and other details in the coat of arms documents (Gough Nichols), that John Shakespeare had become rich by the early 1570s and stayed rich until his death in 1601. What he and son William did with this money still remains a matter of speculation. The most recent 'Catholic Shakespeare' theory sees them using some of it to support Catholic priests.

Thoms, William J. 'Shakespeare in Germany I. Three Notelets on Shakespeare' (London, 1865).

This included the first intimation for me that two Arde(r)n(e)s had accompanied Leicester to Holland in 1585. Was Shakespeare with them? Thoms and others since have thought he might well have been.

Walker, William Duxbury in Decline, 1756-1932: a story of the decline of a Lancashire landed estate and the families associated with it (Palatine, Preston, 1995). The title tells all. Essential reading for anyone interested in Duxbury. Some details in the first chapter on early Duxbury have since been updated by my findings in the Standish of Duxbury MSS. Details given here were, however, seminal in my research; and from 1756 onwards, you can believe every word.

Whitaker, T. D. History of the Original Parish of Whalley (various editions 1780s onwards).

Dr Thomas Dunham Whitaker, D. D., L.L.D., F.S.A. (1758-1821) was and is still revered as an early researcher on the history of Lancashire. He printed his transcription of Nicholas Assheton's diary in this book (Bagley, Diarists). His renown was such that he attracted Turner (J. W.) to visit the county and produce his landscape illustrations, several of which adorn the walls of halls and museums in Lancashire.

Wilson, Ian Dark Lady (HarperCollins, 1992).

This might appear a strange inclusion here, as the only novel, and because my findings have nothing to do with Dark Ladies, Rival Poets or anyone else in the Sonnets. Or have they, by providing considerable support for some previous candidates? Dr Wilson's research for his book was thorough and impressive and - completely independently - met mine and Father Conlan's in several places and some individuals obviously closely involved in Shakespeare's biography. Intriguingly, his New England research on early families also overlapped with my Myles Standish research. Whether Penelope Rich really was the Dark Lady will probably never be known, but Mary Arderne's connections in high places now definitely allow an aristocratic candidate. My view, for what it is worth, is that Penelope certainly fulfils all the requirements and her dates fit in with my findings better than other candidates. The complete novel is on his web site, as is his 'new' portrait of Shakespeare. Judge for yourself about Penelope and enjoy receiving a novel for free. By the way, he is not to be confused with the other Ian Wilson, author of Shakespeare: the Evidence (1993), a book which, I confess, I have still not read although intend to rectify this omission asap, not least because (I heard recently) the latter was inspired to write his Shakespeare book partly after reading Milward (1973). (You might have guessed that behind the last few lines lies a 'Comedy of Errors', and you would be right, but 'All's well that ends well'.)

Winsor, Justin A History of Duxbury, Massachusetts (1849).

An early masterpiece of detection among New England documents (before many of them had been published) and an intimate knowledge of families that had played a role in the development of the town, including, of course, Myles Standish and his descendants. It is being uploaded at the time of writing this.

Woodcock, Thomas (Somerset Herald) and John Morton Robinson (Maltravers Herald Extraordinary) The Oxford Guide to Heraldry (Oxford U.P., 1988, 1990). An excellent guide to the history and laws of heraldry. It presents a refreshingly new set of illustrations (many published here for the first time), with many from Northern families. This is perhaps no coincidence, as the history of Haslingden was written by the grandfather of the first author, who is now Norroy and Ulster King of Arms at the College of Arms.

ãHelen Moorwood, Sauerlach, Germany, March 2002

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