John Taplin spent the majority of his career in management in the telecommunications industry until 2001 when he joined the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust at Hall's Croft and Nash's House/New Place in Stratford-upon-Avon, until retiring in 2010. An historian, genealogist and biographer, he has published articles on Shakespeare, his contemporaries and associates in and around Stratford, including the families directly associated with New Place, Shakespeare's Stratford home, before and after Shakespeare's lifetime. In 2011 he published his book Shakespeare's Country Families - A Documentary Guide to Shakespeare's Country Society. He was a member of the Advisory Board for the Trust's Dig for Shakespeare project at New Place headed by Dr. Paul Edmondson between 2010-2015, and in 2018 he published a revised and updated edition of his 2011 book. He has a Masters degree in historical studies from the University of Leicester in the UK.
Twenty-first Century Shakespeare Gleanings by John Taplin joins his Shakespeare's Country Families as another exemplary work illuminating Shakespeare's life in Stratford. In this second book, Taplin has given us newly detailed work on the Quiney and Sadler families while adding chapters on the lesser known Smiths, Welles, and Halls (the family of Shakespeare's son-in-law) and the previously neglected Rolt (or Rolte) families. Notably, in Twenty-first Century Shakespeare Gleanings, Taplin honors the work of former Head Archivist at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Robert Bearman and the tireless work of early 20th century researcher Edgar Innes Fripp. Sources for research on Shakespeare's life in Stratford are immeasurably enriched by Taplin's work, as he earns himself a place in the company of the great researchers he lauds.
Kate Emery Pogue, author of Shakespeare's Friends, Shakespeare's Family and Shakespeare's Education
John Taplin's work on Stratford and Midland families with links to the Shakespeare network brings together people and documents which have not hitherto been gathered in one place, and these volumes, together with his earlier Shakespeare's Country Families provide possibly the most comprehensive resource for scholars of Shakespeare, Stratford and Warwickshire in the Elizabethan/Jacobean period.
Not content with just transcribing the relevant material, Taplin brings his formidable questioning mind to the problems which arise, frequently scotching many of the false 'truths' which have been perpetuated over the years, and prompting further inquiry where he has not been able to resolve an issue to his satisfaction.
These volumes are a must for anyone with a serious interest in the topics covered.
Mairi Macdonald, former Head of Local Collections for the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
