Raphael Holinshed (1529–1580; ) was an English
chronicler, whose work, commonly known as
Holinshed's Chronicles, was one of the major sources used by
William Shakespeare for a number of
his plays. He is thought to have been born in
Sutton Hall, Sutton Lane Ends,
Cheshire, but lived in London where he worked as a
translator for the printer
Reyner Wolfe. Wolfe gave him the project of compiling a world history from
the Flood to the reign of
Queen Elizabeth. This ambitious project was never finished, but one portion was published in 1577 as
The Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Holinshed was only one contributor to this work; others involved in its production included
William Harrison,
Richard Stanyhurst, and
John Hooker.