Humphrey Shakespeare

of Feckenham, Worcestershire, and Ipsley, Warwickshire

Humphrey and his descendants are the only Shakespeares to be listed in Burkes Peerage, one of them, The Rt. Hon. Sir Geoffrey Hithersay Shakespeare, being created a Baronet in 1942.

Humphrey married Eleanor Seale at Feckenham, 28 March 1649:

Eleanor was born in Feckenham in 1630, so his marriage is probably the reason for Humphrey's move to the area. The name of Eleanor's father is not clear from the Feckenham parish register, but as two children of a Humphrey Seale were baptised in the four years prior to Eleanor's baptism, with no other Seales recorded for a considerable period either side of these dates we can deduce that her father was also Humphrey, who was himself baptised at Ipsley in 1602.

The 'Family Tree' below is a combination of information from that publication, information from the Feckenham Parish Register of baptisms, marriages and burials, and information from other researchers descended from this family. Further information regarding later descendants is available - please contact the site author.

The occurrence of the unusual names, Humphrey and Ursula may be a clue to this families possible descent from John Shakespeare, Shoemaker, of Stratford, two of his three children bore these names  - John was a possible older sibling of the Poet.

Later descendants are detailed separately.