Shakespeare heresy

SIR – My PhD thesis and subsequent book researched the wardship, finances and lawsuits of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (Letters, June 2). I visited 17 local record offices for details of lands that he owned in the relevant counties, plus many records of lawsuits at the National Archives. At no time did I discover anything appertaining to the works of William Shakespeare.

In several talks with Oxfordians (those who believe the Earl was Shakespeare) in America, I attempted to explain my reasoning. As a nonbeliever in the many Oxfordian theories, I was labelled a heretic. Among these theories is the belief that the Earl was not only the son of Queen Elizabeth I but that he was later also her lover.

To my amazement, one Oxfordian even complained to my university that my PhD had been awarded in error as I did not mention de Vere’s authorship.

It would be wonderful if a full contemporary biography of William Shakespeare existed, but as it does not and there is no convincing evidence of an alternative author, most academics support the man from Stratford. Dr Daphne Pearson Redbrook, Gloucestershire