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Hamnet was the only son of William Shakespeare.
Hamnet and his twin Judith were born in 1585 to William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway. He had an older sister named Susanna. At the age of 11, (PROSE: A History of Humankind) he died of the Black Death while his father was away.
Hamnet's passing caused his father to question the futility of his own existence. In 1599, Shakespeare decided to write a play about fathers and sons in his memory. Martha Jones questioned the name, as Shakespeare later wrote a play called Hamlet. (TV: The Shakespeare Code)
Hamnet died in 1596. Upon their arrival in 1601 Shoreditch, the First Doctor, Barbara Wright, Susan and Ian Chesterton came across a gravestone marked with the intials "H.S.", a quote from Shakespeare's King Lear, and 1596 as the date of death. Ian and Barbara suspected it might be Hamnet's. (AUDIO: The Hollow Crown)