Ireland, William Henry

William Henry (1777-1835), an English writer of little merit. Ireland's father was an engraver and publisher. Among other works he issued a volume of Graphic Illustrations of Hogarth. He apprenticed his son to a conveyancer and took him on a trip to Stratford-upon-Avon to visit the birthplace of Shakespeare. The young man forged a lease, purporting to be signed by Shakespeare, which he claimed to have found in a lot of old papers. He afterward wrote a play called Vortigern, palming it off as a recently discovered play by Shakespeare. The renowned actor, Kemble, put it on the stage before the fraud was detected. This play and a Henry II, another forgery, were published in 1799. See Shakespeare