Shakespeare was elected to several municipal offices, serving as an alderman and culminating in a term as bailiff, the chief magistrate of the town council, and mayor of Stratford in 1568, before he fell on hard times for reasons unknown.

[1] His fortunes later revived and he was granted a coat of arms five years before his death, probably at the instigation and expense of his son, the actor and playwright.

In that position he was responsible for ensuring that weights and measures and prices were observed by innkeepers and publicans within the borough, and also by butchers, bakers and town traders.

In 1559 he became an affeeror, an officer responsible for assessing fines for offences carrying penalties not explicitly defined by existing statutes.

For his borough the bailiff was almoner, coroner, escheator, and clerk of the market, and served as justice of the peace issuing warrants and negotiating with the lord of the manor on behalf of the corporation.

In 1569, Shakespeare had applied for a coat of arms; the application—subsequently withdrawn—included a vague claim of an ancestor having been honoured by King Henry VII, a draft of which application (with parenthetical additions representing amendments to be made in a successive draft) read: "John Shakespeare ... whose parentes and late antecessors [grandfather] were for there [his] valeant and faithefull service advaunced and rewarded by the most prudent prince king Henry the Seventh of famous memorie, sythence whiche tyme they have continewed ... in good reputation and credit ...".

This application additionally made reference to John Shakespeare having married "the daughter and heir of Arden, a gentleman of worship".

He had been excused levies that he was supposed to pay by supportive townsmen and business associates and they kept his name on the rolls for a decade, perhaps hoping that in that time he would be able to return to public life and recover his financial situation, but he never did so.

Plume records a conversation with Sir John Mennes (1599–1671), who stated that he had once met him in his shop and described him as a "merry cheeked old man" who said of his son that "Will was a good honest fellow, but he durst have cracked a jest with him at any time.

John Shakespeare was elected to several municipal offices, which required being a church member in good standing.

William Shakespeare's baptism and that of his siblings were entered into the parish church register, as were the burials of family members.

[25] A tract, apparently signed by a "J. Shakespeare", in which the author pledged to remain a Catholic in their heart, was found in the 18th century in the rafters of a house on Henley Street.

Anthony Holden writes that Malone's reported wording of the tract is linked to a testament written by Charles Borromeo and circulated in England by Edmund Campion, copies of which still exist in Italian and English.