Category:Francis Henslowe

Francis Henslowe was the nephew of Philip Henslowe. Early records of Francis attest to his indebtedness to his uncle, both in freeing him from prison for monetary complications and for financing his employment. By 1594 that employment was as a player. Francis borrowed £15 on 8 May for a share in the Queen's men; he bought a half-share with his uncle's money on 1 June 1595. In 1605, the former Queen's company became the Duke of Lennox's men, and Francis was among their number. His playhouse associations included George Attewell, William Smyght, Abraham Savery, John Garland, John Cowper, and a man named Symcockes.

Born in 1566, Francis came to London from Sussex and experienced various misadventures, including the sale of inherited real estate. Eccles recounts a particularly sordid event in which Francis had his "gold hatband and other apparel … stolen from him at Westminster by Elizabethan Arnold, who was sentenced to hang for this and other thefts at Turnmill Street, St. Katherine's, and Limehouse" (Eccles, 459). Francis lived in Southwark in 1594, 1597, and possibly longer. He was married in the 1590s; by October 1606 he was buried.

Works Cited