Mary Arden
An artist's conception of Mary Arden
Born	Mary Arden c. 1536–1538[1] Wilmcote, England
Died	September 1608 (1609) (aged c. 70) Stratford-upon-Avon, England
Burial place	Church of the Holy Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon
Spouse	John Shakespeare (m. 1557–1601; his death)
Children	8, includingWilliam,Gilbert,Joan andEdmund
Father	Robert Arden

Mary Shakespeare (néeArden;c. 1537 — September 1608)[a] was the mother ofWilliam Shakespeare.

Mary was born about 1536 inWilmcote, the daughter of Robert Arden, a gentleman farmer and junior descendant of theArden family,^[4][5] who were prominent inWarwickshire. She was the youngest of eight daughters, and when her father died in 1556 she inherited land atSnitterfield and Wilmcote from him as adowry. The house was left to her stepmother Agnes Hill.Richard Shakespeare, the father ofJohn Shakespeare, was a tenant farmer on land owned by her father in Snitterfield. As the daughter of Richard's landlord, she may have known John since childhood.^[6] Mary married John Shakespeare in 1557, when she was 20 years old and her spouse was approximately 26 years old.^[6] She bore eight children: Joan (1558), Margaret (1562–1563),William (1564–1616),Gilbert (1566–1612),Joan (1569–1646), Anne (1571–1579), Richard (1574–1613), andEdmund (1580–1607).^[7] Though Mary gave birth to many children, several of them died young. Their first daughter, Joan, born 1558 died; the name being used again for their third daughter. Their second daughter, Margaret, also died in infancy.^[6] Some members of the wider Arden family were of the Catholic faith.^[6] John died in 1601 and Mary died in September 1608.^[3]

Mary was born into a family of status and her ancestors were well connected in society, including Thomas Arden, who fought in theSecond Barons' War (1264–67) on the side ofSimon de Montfort; Robert Arden who fought in the Wars of the Roses, and John Arden who served at the court ofHenry VII.^[6]

Mary Arden's House in Wilmcote was maintained in good condition as a working farmhouse, until it was bought by theShakespeare Birthplace Trust in 1930 and refurnished in theTudor period style.^[8] In 2000 it was discovered that the building preserved as Mary Arden's house had belonged to a friend and neighbour, Adam Palmer, and the house was accordingly renamed Palmer's Farm. The house that had belonged to the Arden family – which was near to Palmer's Farm – had been acquired by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in 1968 for preservation as part of a farmyard, without knowing its true provenance.^[9] The house and farm are open as a historic museum displaying 16th-century life.

• 1530s births
• 1608 deaths
• Shakespeare family
• People from Stratford-upon-Avon
• 16th-century English women

• Webarchive template wayback links
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from April 2022
• Articles with hCards