[1] He was the ninth child and third son of John Heminges, the actor and colleague of William Shakespeare, and his wife Rebecca.
His date of death is a mystery; Andrew Pennycuicke and Anthony Turner, the booksellers who issued The Fatal Contract in 1653, refer to him then as deceased.
Among Heminges's non-dramatic literary works, his satirical "Elegy on Randolph's Finger" (c. 1632) has gathered significant attention from scholars and critics.
(John Taylor the Water Poet tries to talk Charon into giving them a free ride...but unsuccessfully.)
Across the river, Randolph's finger is welcomed by Edmund Spenser, Geoffrey Chaucer, Rabelais, Plautus, Terence, and other worthies.
The resulting controversy generated what are often termed the "Sharers's papers," documents that provide significant information of the theatrical conditions of the time.