Top(19) 1586: Gray's Inn
1586, 1 November. A.S. was recorded as admitted at Gray's Inn, London (see Venn above). As he was only 16, this might seem a little young, and it might have been the other Alexander, aged 19. However, let us assume for the moment, along with Venn, that it was A.S., who was laying down the family tradition of progression from Rivington Grammar School to Cambridge to Gray's Inn, followed by A.S.'s sons Thomas and Alexander. A list of contemporaries at Gray's Inn at relevant times might reveal a few interesting potential acquaintances. It has often been noted that this was the favourite Inn of Court for any Lancashire men studying law. It is also the one that appears most frequently in Shakespeare literature as later staging Shakespeare's plays and was also the Inn attended by many young aristocrats, including Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, Shakespeare's dedicatee of his two major poems in 1593 and 1594. Perhaps we can assume that A.S. stayed here for a couple of years or more, enjoying all the pleasures offered by London, as well as studying law?
As far as I am aware, no one has produced a list of all recorded as attending Gray's Inn in 1586-88, who had arrived there from Queens' College, Cambridge along with A.S., but offer the following snippet for starters, buried deep in a myriad of entries in a much valued book:
Misfortunes of Arthur, The A tragedy by Thomas Hughes, first performed by the Gentlemen of Gray's Inn for Elizabeth at Greenwich in 1588. It was published the previous year. The full title, The Misfortunes of Arthur (Uther Pendragon's Son) Reduced into Tragical Notes , gives a hint of the form. It begins with the begetting of Arthur on Igerna by Uther and traces the story of King Arthur's reign and death in five acts and an epilogue. Thomas Hughes of Gray's Inn had been a fellow of Queens' College, Cambridge.
( The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English , ed. Ian Ousby, 1988, p. 670.)
One might presume that A.S. would have been aware of this publication and production, whether or not he took part. One might also presume that he took an interest in all the legends that associated Arthur with Lancashire.