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VENN (as SHIRLEY): Matric. pens. from ST CATHARINE'S, Easter, 1615. Previously adm. at St John's College, Oxford. Probably s. of James (;Sharlie;), of London. Bapt. Sept. 7, 1596, at St Mary Woolchurch. School, Merchant Taylors'. B.A. 1617. Ord. deacon and priest (London) Sept. 19, 1619, age 24. Master of St Albans School, 1623-5. Afterwards a Romanist. Moved to London, where (according to Wood) ;he lived in Gray's Inn and set up for a play-maker.; Suffered during the Great Fire of London, privations in escaping which are said to have caused the death of his wife and himself. They were buried Oct. 29, 1666, at St Giles-in-the-Fields. ;The last of the Elizabethan dramatists.; For an account of his works see D.N.B. (Al. Oxon.; D.N.B.)
SEE OXFORD DNB: Shirley, James (bap. 1596, d. 1666), playwright and poet