# Shakespeare buys 107 acres in Old Stratford from John and William Combe for £320

Date: 1602

## The fact

In May 1602 John Combe and William Combe conveyed 107 acres in Old Stratford to [William Shakespeare](/people/william-shakespeare) for £320. The deed was taken by Gilbert Shakespeare 'to the use of' his brother. Tenants Thomas and Lewis Hiccocks are named. This is a completed conveyance, not a rumour of wealth.

## Context

£320 is a very large cash sum for a player. The land carried common grazing rights. Later Welcombe enclosure politics sit on this freehold. Buying land is not automatically a welfare crime; treating it as inequality is a distributional reading of a documented concentration of acreage and commons, not a claim of eviction on the face of the deed.

## Evidence and sources

The original conveyance is published on Shakespeare Documented (doi 10.37078/517). Birthplace Trust holds the local archive. The deed establishes parties, acreage, price, and tenants. It does not establish that the Hiccocks were expelled. Wikipedia is not used as a causal source.

## Significance

Inequality here is asset concentration. The later enclosure fight makes this purchase a precondition, not the enclosure itself.

## What is established and what is not

Established: 1602 purchase of 107 acres for £320. Not established: eviction; that the money was 'usury'. Confidence high on the deed, medium on the inequality coefficient.

The event remains dated 1602-05-01. Shakespeare's documented role is: He purchased four yardlands with common rights; tenants named in the conveyance became his tenants. A large cash land purchase concentrates agrarian income and common rights in one London-based townsman. Responsibility is not transferred to later editors, later theatres, or later national myth.

The event remains dated 1602-05-01. Shakespeare's documented role is: He purchased four yardlands with common rights; tenants named in the conveyance became his tenants. A large cash land purchase concentrates agrarian income and common rights in one London-based townsman. Responsibility is not transferred to later editors, later theatres, or later national myth.

The event remains dated 1602-05-01. Shakespeare's documented role is: He purchased four yardlands with common rights; tenants named in the conveyance became his tenants. A large cash land purchase concentrates agrarian income and common rights in one London-based townsman. Responsibility is not transferred to later editors, later theatres, or later national myth.

The event remains dated 1602-05-01. Shakespeare's documented role is: He purchased four yardlands with common rights; tenants named in the conveyance became his tenants. A large cash land purchase concentrates agrarian income and common rights in one London-based townsman. Responsibility is not transferred to later editors, later theatres, or later national myth.

The event remains dated 1602-05-01. Shakespeare's documented role is: He purchased four yardlands with common rights; tenants named in the conveyance became his tenants. A large cash land purchase concentrates agrarian income and common rights in one London-based townsman. Responsibility is not transferred to later editors, later theatres, or later national myth.

The event remains dated 1602-05-01. Shakespeare's documented role is: He purchased four yardlands with common rights; tenants named in the conveyance became his tenants. A large cash land purchase concentrates agrarian income and common rights in one London-based townsman. Responsibility is not transferred to later editors, later theatres, or later national myth.

## People

- William Shakespeare: https://factrail.ai/people/william-shakespeare

## Drivers

- Income Inequality: https://factrail.ai/drivers/income-inequality

## Sources

- https://shakespearedocumented.folger.edu/resource/document/conveyance-john-and-william-combe-william-shakespeare-107-acres-old-stratford
- https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/shakespedia/william-shakespeare/

## Methodology

https://factrail.ai/methodology

Canonical: https://factrail.ai/facts/shakespeare-combe-land-1602