Category:William Bird

William Bird (also Birde, Borne, Bvrde, Burde, and Byrd) is one of the players in Shakespeare's time about which a great deal is known, not only in the business side of two playing companies but also as a player. Furthermore, he appears in non-theatrical records.

Theatrical records:

Player and Sharer

• 1597: Bird and several fellow players sued Francis Langley, owner and builder of the Swan playhouse, where the company of Pembroke's men had been playing for some months; Bird joined the Admiral's men on 10 August, and his name appears frequently in the company accounts recorded by Philip Henslowe in his memorandum book or "diary." Nungezer characterizes Bird's activity in subsequent years as "authorizing payments, borrowing from Henslowe, paying personal debts, selling properties, acknowledging company debts in the capacity of shareholder, and" witnessing various transactions ((Nungezer, p. 48).

• 1603: Bird is recorded as joining (with other Admiral's men) the newly formed company of the Prince's men, where he remained until Prince Henry's death in 1612.

• 1613: The company of players in Prince Henry's men reformed as Palgrave's men in January 1613, where Bird remained until 1622 ("probably," Nungezer, p. 49).

Playwright

• Bird also wrote plays, often in collaboration with Samuel Rowley, for example "Jurgurtha", below.
• Bird also contributed additions to plays, for example Doctor Faustus (1602).

Non-theatrical records:

Domestic Life

• marriage: Bird married Mary sometime before 1600; she died in 1625, and her will survives (Honigmann and Brock, p. 147)
• descendents: 1600, birth of his son, William; 1602, birth of his son Frances; date unknown, birth of his son, Theophilus, unknown but he became a player too and died in 1663 (his will survives); son, Thomas, birthdate unknown.

Other

• 1600: Bird's wife borrowed ￡3 to get her husband out of jail.

Works Cited