Marriage certificate

William Shakespeare's marriage certificateMarriage certificate records for the period are held at Worcester Cathedral.

Among them is permission for one William Shaxpeare to marry one Anna Whately, in Temple Grafton, Warwickshire.

The fact that Anne Hathaway was replaced by Anna Whately has given rise to a great deal of speculation and more than a few stories that would be at home on the romantic fiction shelf.

The less exciting but more probable explanation is that it was a simple clerical error made by a tired clerk who had been dealing with the Whately family earlier that day.