Exclusive: John Shakespeare’s muckhill fine in 1552 was a waste disposal toll rather than a punishment, researcher says
The earliest record of William Shakespeare’s father in Stratford-upon-Avon famously notes his fine in 1552 for making a “muckhill” on a street.
Now the long-held assumption that John Shakespeare was a 16th-century fly-tipper has been overturned as a myth. Far from being punished, he was simply paying a waste disposal toll for detritus relating to his trade as a glover and tanner of leather.
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