Meeting of the Stratford-upon-Avon Corporation at which officers for the following year were elected, including John Shakespeare's election as chief alderman

Under Stratford’s 1553 charter of incorporation, the Corporation elected annually a chief alderman to serve as a justice of the peace. He assisted the bailiff in the execution of his office, particularly at sessions of the court of record. By the late 1560s, it had become common practice to appoint as chief alderman the man who had served as bailiff two or three years earlier. Thus in September, 1571, John Shakespeare, who had served as bailiff in 1568–69, was chosen to be chief alderman for the year 1571–72.

The bailiff for that year, elected at the same meeting, was Adrian Quiney. During Quiney's term of office, the proceedings of the Corporation appear to have been put on a sounder footing. For instance, in previous years Stratford had suffered from a shortage of capital burgesses. At this September meeting four new capital burgesses were elected, bringing their total up to twelve, only two short of the number specified in the 1553 charter. 

The left-hand column records the aldermen in attendance, including John Shakespeare. His position, fourth from bottom, indicates his seniority. The aldermen listed beneath him (William Tyler, Robert Salisbury and Thomas Barber) had been recruited after John Shakespeare’s election in 1565.