Category:Cuthbert Burbage

Cuthbert Burbage was the son of James Burbage and elder brother to Richard, the long-time star player of the Chamberlain's/King's men. Unlike his brother, Cuthbert is not known as a player, yet he was consistently associated with the Burbage family's theatrical business. His most famous pronouncement on the family business came in testimony in a law suit popularly known as the Sharers' Papers (1637). In that testimony, Cuthbert referred to his father as the "first builder of playhouses" (Smith, 557), and he provides a thumbnail description of the company's history, particularly in terms of their locations at the Theater, then Globe, then Blackfriars. He also comments on the sharers' arrangements for the Globe and Blackfriars (Smith, 558)

Cuthbert Burbage lived in St. Leonard's Shoreditch on Halliwell street (as did other members of the Burbage family). He married in the mid-1590s, and the christenings and burials of his children are recorded in St. Leonard's parish register from June 1595 through December 1601. He was buried at St. Leonard's on 17 September 1636, and his widow (Elizabeth) was buried there two weeks later (1 October).

For further information on the Sharers' Papers, see Irwin Smith, Shakespeare's Blackfriars Playhouse (New York: New York University Press, 1964), 553-59, esp. 557-59.