A THEATRE producer bringing the Elizabethan era to Blenheim Palace and York discovered he is related to the man who published Shakespeare's First Folio during a chance meeting.

James Cundall, the founder of the new Shakespeare's Rose Theatre is staging four of the poet's plays in the grounds of the Oxfordshire country home and near the 13th Century Clifford's Tower, York this summer.

But until he bumped into a distant relative in America, the Yorkshireman had no idea that he had an even stronger link to Shakespeare.

Mr Cundall, 62, learned he was a direct descendant of the actor Henry Condell, one of two men responsible for publishing the first ever collection of Shakespeare's work in 1623.

The chief executive of Lunchbox Productions and founder of Shakespeare's Rose Theatre said: "In 1623 my ancestor was instrumental in preparing and editing the first ever collection of Shakespeare plays.

"He was also an actor in the King's Men, the company Shakespeare wrote for.

"I discovered this by accident when I got talking to a man who shares my surname at the Bohemian Club in California, where I was a guest.

"He explained that the Cundalls in all probability have a very important ancestor in common, one of two men who published the First Folio.

"I did some research of my own and it all seemed to add up.

"It really is a wonderful thing to be able to lay claim to, and a fantastic anecdote.

"What's so exciting is that Henry would totally recognise this Rose Theatre as one of his own."

James explained that there are several different spellings of his surname, but all variations can be traced back to the same family.