Hi Annamae,
At this point in time, we have only obtained reliable research on William Smith-2055 back as far as his parents, Christopher and Alice Gibbes Smith. We have matching yDNA for multiple descendants of their sons William, Simon, Joseph, Benjamin and Edward (R1b-NE18 Rhode Island Christopher Smith (WikiTree.com breakthrough discovery 4/29/2015)
Last April, Sheri Havens discovered the marriage record for Christopher and Alice (Stratford Upon Avon, 1616) and I found the baptism records every couple of years for nine of their 10 children in the Holy Trinity Church at Stratford Upon Avon.
This combination of Holy Trinity Church records and matching yDNA tests is a huge break-through for this family research. At this point in time, anything before the 1616 marriage record is speculation and supporting documentation would be most appreciated.
Please contact me if you would like to discuss this line further. An article about this family discovery will be coming out in the next issue of the American Ancestors magazine in early February. It will be entitled, "William Shakespeare and the Christopher Smith Family".
