In July 1605, Shakespeare paid 440 pounds for the lease of a large portion of the tithes, or taxes, on certain real estate in and near Stratford. This was an arrangement whereby Shakespeare purchased half the annual tithes on certain agricultural products from parcels of land in and near Stratford. In addition to receiving approximately 10 percent income on his investment, he almost doubled his capital. This was possibly the most important and successful investment of his lifetime, and it paid a steady income for many years.
Shakespeare is next mentioned when John Combe, a resident of Stratford, died on July 12, 1614 and bequeathed 5 pounds to his friend. Such records are important, not for their economic significance but because they prove the existence of a William Shakespeare in Stratford and in London during this period.
On March 25, 1616, William Shakespeare revised his last will and testament. He died on April 23 of the same year. His body lies within the chancel and before the altar of the collegiate church of the Holy Trinity in Stratford. A rather wry inscription is carved upon his tombstone:
Good Friend, for Jesus' sake, forbear
To dig the dust enclosed here;
Blest be the man that spares these stones,
And curst be he who moves my bones.
The last direct descendant of William Shakespeare was his granddaughter, Elizabeth Hall, who died in 1670.
