William Harold Nelson Shakespeare William Harold Nelson Shakespeare Wing Commander William Harold Nelson Shakespeare (24 August 1893 – 10 July 1976) was an English aviator who flew for the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Air Force in World War I. He was awarded both the Air Force Cross and the Military Cross during his time in the military. Shakespeare later worked as a civilian pilot for Handley Page, captaining the first passenger flight from London to Athens, and eventually became president of the Royal Air Forces Association (RAFA). He also served as president of Worcestershire County Cricket Club, for whom he had earlier
Religious views of William Shakespeare However, critics of the former point say that Church attendance cannot be taken as a conclusive proof because attendance at Protestant churches was mandatory in the epoch. Hence, Callaghan concludes that "we may not know decisively if Shakespeare was a Catholic, but crucially, neither do we know that he was a stalwart Protestant." Shakespeare’s Christianity is not universally accepted. William Birch of Oxford University was, in 1848, probably the first to suggest that Shakespeare could be an atheist, based on his interpretation of sentiments expressed in the works. His theory wasn't accepted by other scholars, however, and his contemporary H.