Mary Arden's Farm Mary Arden's Farm Mary Arden's Farm, also known as Mary Arden's House, is the farmhouse of Mary Shakespeare (née Arden), the mother of Elizabethan playwright William Shakespeare. Because of confusion about the actual house inhabited by Mary in the mid-sixteenth century, the term may refer either of two houses. Both are grade I listed and located in the village of Wilmcote, about three miles from Stratford-upon-Avon. A house wrongly identified as Mary Arden's (it actually belonged to a neighbour) was bought by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in 1930 and refurnished in the Tudor style.This timber framed house has been maintained
Mary of Guise Mary gave birth to her first son, Francis, but on 9 June 1537, Louis died at Rouen and left her a widow at the age of 21. For the rest of her life, Mary kept the last letter from her "bon mari et ami" (her good husband and friend) Louis, which mentioned his illness and explained his absence at Rouen. It can still be seen at the National Library of Scotland. On 4 August, Mary gave birth to their second son, who was named Louis after his deceased father. Louis died very young, but Francis wrote letters to his mother