Shakespeare's Marriage Bond

Date: November 28, 1582 • Location: Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdom

In Stratford-upon-Avon, William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway pay a £40 (equivalent to £13,818 in 2025) bond in lieu of posting wedding banns, which enables them to marry immediately.

Stratford-upon-Avon, also known simply as Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon District, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, 91 miles (146 km) north-west of London, 22 miles (35 km) south-east of Birmingham and 8 miles (13 km) south-west of Warwick. The town is the southernmost point of the Arden area at the northern extremity of the Cotswolds. At the 2021 census Stratford had a population of 30,495.