Not just Shakespeare’s daughter… New study to bring Susanna out from her famous father’s shadow

“Witty above her sex, but that’s not all,
Wise to salvation was good Mistris Hall”
(Susanna’s epitaph, 1649)

We may meet Susanna peeping out from behind her famous father as a sulky teenage daughter in the BBC TV comedy Upstart Crow or the grieving sister of Maggie O’Farrell’s acclaimed novel Hamnet. But who was she – and what can she help us to remember?

Working in close collaboration with the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, and fully funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (part of UK Research and Innovation), this innovative study – Susanna Hall and Hall's Croft: Gender, Cultural Memory, Heritage – will use Susanna's life story as a lens through which to explore how fiction, cultural history and the heritage industry has presented Susanna and other early modern women. The project will run to summer 2023.

Hall's Croft, Stratford-Upon-Avon

Shakespeare's first-born child, Susanna, along with her husband, John, were not only chosen as executors of her legendary playwright father's will but were also left the bulk of his estate. It is also believed that Shakespeare left his papers to Susanna, making it highly likely she was closely involved in the compilation of the famous First Folio of plays, which is approaching its 400th anniversary in 2023.

Dr Ailsa Grant Ferguson, Principal Lecturer in Literature at the University of Brighton, said: “It’s time to invite Susanna to come out from her father and husband’s shadows, so we can hear her story and those of her fellow early modern women. Susanna fought against a scandalous libel. She helped to take care of the people of Stratford. From how to speak out against misogyny to how to find wellbeing sustainably, Susanna can teach us lessons not only of the past but for the future.”

In addition to shedding light on Susanna's life, Dr Ferguson's project will also be used to transform the experience of people visiting the Shakespeare family homes in Stratford-upon-Avon. Plans include adding new sensory elements to its garden, providing a soundscape for visitors, both online and onsite, featuring leading Shakespearean actor Lucy Phelps, and creating a new digital reconstruction of Hall’s Croft for a new spatial archive.

International Women's Day on Tuesday, 8 March – with its theme #BreakTheBias – is a moment to stop and think of the forgotten women on whose shoulders we stand. The story of Susanna's life provides resonant insights into inclusive histories and gender equality in heritage.

Dr Grant Ferguson's study is being funded by a £300,000 Arts and Humanities Research Council Research, Development and Engagement Fellowship.