Shakespeare (William).- Underhill (Hercules, of Idlicote, Warwickshire, son of William Underhill who sold New Place to William Shakespeare in 1597).- Final Concord between Henry Gough and Hercules Underhill of pasture in Wolverhampton, manuscript in Latin, in chancery hand, on vellum, 9 lines, folds, 120 x375mm., 7th October 1636; and another Final Concord relating to the Leveson family (2)

*** Shakespeare Connection. Shakespeare purchased New Place in May 1597 from William Underhill, described as 'a subtle, covetous, and crafty man'. "Two months later Underhill died at Fillongley, near Coventry, after orally bequeathing 'all his lands to his first-born Fulke. In 1599 Fulke, still a minor, was hanged at Warwick for poisoning his father. The law took the forfeit of the of the Underhill estate for felony, but it was regranted to Fulke's younger brother Hercules [knighted in 1617] when he came of age in 1602. In Michaelmas term of that year, Hercules Underhill confirmed the sale of New Place to Shakespeare, who paid the prescribed fee, equal to one quarter of the yearly value of the property, to clear the title." - S. Schoenbaum. William Shakespeare: A Compact Documentary Life, OUP, 1980.