Archaeology & History

New study of historical letter unravels Shakespeare family mystery

By T.K. Randall
February 18, 2026

Image: Statue of William Shakespeare
Credit: Elliott Brown / CC BY 2.0 (adapted) There is perhaps no playwright as well known as William Shakespeare, yet despite his fame and ongoing legacy, very little is actually known about his family.

One of the most compelling clues in this regard is a letter discovered all the way back in 1757 by a builder in the rafters of the Shakespeare House in Stratford-upon-Avon, England.

It was signed "J. Shakespeare", leaving historians to conclude that it was penned by his father, John.

Now, however, a new study has cast doubt on this idea, instead suggesting that the letter was written by Shakespeare's sister, Joan Shakespeare Hart.

One of the clues leading to this new interpretation was the inclusion of references to a 17th-Century Italian religious tract known as The Last Will and Testament of the Soul.The researchers discovered that, due to the publishing date of this work, the letter must have been written after Shakespeare's father's death, leaving his sister as the most likely author.

There is also the fact that the writer of the letter mentions wanting to die a good Catholic death - something that wouldn't make sense for his father to write as he was a Protestant.

Some researchers had believed that this discrepancy had meant that the letter was a forgery, but now due to the new research, it seems more likely that it was written by his sister instead.

Joan Shakespeare Hart lived for 30 years after the death of her famous brother.

Despite this - and her connection to him - very few written records of her have ever been found.

Source: Popular Mechanics

Tags: Shakespeare