Cathedral reveals letter from ‘Mrs Shakspaire’

From The Church Times-

AS THE world marks the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, Hereford Cathedral has unearthed its own Shakespearean tale.

Two fragments of a letter, written at about the same period that the playwright was alive, were discovered in the binding of a book in the cathedral library. The letter is addressed to a “Good Mrs Shakspaire”, and asks her to pay a penniless orphan boy, John Butts, money that is owed to him by her late husband. It also mentions a “Mr Sparowe”.

The cathedral librarian, Dr Rosemary Firman, thinks, however, that these Shakspaires are not William and his wife, Anne Hathaway. She said this week: “These Shakspaires are said to have once lived on a Trinity Lane, but William Shakespeare is not known to have lived at such an address, and no connections are known between him and anyone called Butts or Sparowe.”

More here-

https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2016/29-april/news/uk/cathedral-reveals-letter-from-mrs-shakspaire