Edward de Vere biography
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Born in Castle Hedingham, England, on April 12, 1550, Edward de Vere became the 17th Earl of Oxford upon his father's death in 1562. He was then raised as a ward of Queen Elizabeth in the home of William Cecil. Well educated, Oxford was one of the few noblemen to keep his own troupe of actors. A 1920 book promoted the theory that it was really Oxford who wrote Shakespeare's plays, although he had died before many of them were produced. De Vere died in Hackney, England, on June 24, 1604.