 Likewise, in 1613, a Joccossa Sanders married John Heminges's cousin Thomas Heminges.An oral tradition, documented in Stephanie Nolen's "Shakespeare's Face" (2002), holds that for 400 years the portrait was passed down in the family while knowledge of its existence remained private.Its ownership can be verified back as far as 1909 when M. H. Spielmann studied the painting – at which time it was in the possession of T. Hale Sanders, who had taken ownership of it from his uncle through his father.