There is no evidence that he was related to his namesake Richard Hathaway, the father of Shakespeare's wife, Anne Hathaway, though Richard's theatrical troupe "the Admiral's Men" was sponsored by Admiral Charles Howard, the son in law of Sir Henry Carey, Lord Chamberlain of England, the sponsor of William Shakespeare's theatrical troupe the Lord Chamberlain's Men.
Hathwaye is not heard of after 1603 and died in 1604 and is buried at St Botolph's Aldgate, London.
Information on Hathwaye's dramatic career is derived mostly from the papers of Philip Henslowe.
He had likely already been writing for the stage for some time, however, since Francis Meres refers to him as if he was a veteran dramatist in 1598, including him among those "best for comedy."
Hathwaye also wrote commendatory verses for John Bodenham's Belvedere, published in 1600.