Mary Shakespeare Mary Shakespeare Mary Shakespeare, née Arden, (c. 1537–1608) was the mother of William Shakespeare. She was the daughter of Wilmcote gentleman farmer Robert Arden, a cadet of the Arden family prominent in Warwickshire since before the Norman Conquest. She was the youngest of eight daughters, and when her father died in 1556 she inherited land at Snitterfield and Wilmcote from her father as a dowry. The house was left to her stepmother Agnes Hill. Richard Shakespeare, the father of John Shakespeare, was a tenant farmer on land owned by her father in Snitterfield. As the daughter of Richard's landlord, she
Tom Arden his Ph.D. thesis on "Clarissa", the epic tale by 18th-century novelist Samuel Richardson. In 1990, he moved to the United Kingdom, living in Northern Ireland and England. He lectured in English at Queen's University of Belfast for seven years. Since 2003, he lectured creative writing at Middlesex University, London. Arden died of cancer on 15 December 2015. Tom Arden David Rain (2 May 1961 – 15 December 2015), known by his pen name Tom Arden, was a British science fiction and fantasy writer. He was born in Australia. His main work is the five volume "Orokon" saga, as well as