The Merry Wives of Windsor in 1597, after which controversy over the original naming of Falstaff (he was originally the historic Sir John Oldcastle, which presumably did not please Oldcastle's descendants) forced Shakespeare to rename the character. It appears that the joke in V,v,85–90 is that Oldcastle/Falstaff incriminates himself by calling out the first letter of his name, "O, O, O!," when his fingertips are singed with candles—which of course works for "Oldcastle" but not "Falstaff." There is also the "castle" reference in IV,v,6. 18 January 1602 was the date the play was entered into the Register of the Stationers Company. The first quarto was
Sir John Pakington, 4th Baronet Sir John Pakington, 4th Baronet Sir John Pakington, 4th Baronet (1671–1727) of Westwood, near Droitwich, Worcestershire was a British politician. He was the only son of Sir John Pakington, 3rd Baronet and educated at St John’s College, Oxford. He succeeded his father to the baronetcy and Westwood House in 1688. He represented Aylesbury and Worcestershire in Parliament, where he was known for his Tory and High Church views. In the latter part of the eighteenth century he was said to be the model for Roger de Coverley, the mildly satirical figure of the Tory gentry guyed in "The Spectator", though