Shakespeare's Children

How many children did Shakespeare have?

William Shakespeare and his wife Anne had three children. The eldest, Susanna, was baptised on 26 May 1583. They also had twins, Judith and Hamnet, baptised on 2 February 1585. 

Shakespeare had four grandchildren who all died without heirs, so there are no direct descendants of his line today. 

Susanna married John Hall in 1607, and had one child, Elizabeth, in 1608. Elizabeth was married twice, to Thomas Nash in 1626, and to John Barnard in 1649. She had no children by either husband.

Hamnet died at the age of 11 and was buried in Stratford-upon-Avon on 11 August 1596. The cause of his death is unknown.

Judith married Thomas Quiney in 1616, and the couple had three sons: Shakespeare Quiney, who died in infancy, and Richard and Thomas, who both died in 1639 within a month of each other. Neither of them married or had children before they died.

It is possible to claim a relationship to Shakespeare through his sister, Joan. There are many descendants of Joan and William Hart alive today, in both the male and female lines.