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Wednesday, June 08, 2011

The Tudor coroners' reports sound fascinating

(but that may just be me, the history major)

Tudor coroners' records give clue to 'real Ophelia' for Shakespeare
An Oxford historian has found evidence of a story that could be the real-life inspiration for Shakespeare's tragic character, Ophelia.

Dr Steven Gunn has found a coroner's report into the drowning of a Jane Shaxspere in 1569.

The girl, possibly a young cousin of William Shakespeare, had been picking flowers when she fell into a millpond near Stratford upon Avon.

Dr Gunn says there are "tantalising" links to Ophelia's drowning in Hamlet.

A four-year research project, carried out by Oxford University academics, has been searching through 16th century coroners' reports.

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