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Richard Brinsley Sheridan
(1751-1816)

Active: 1773-1799 in England, Britain, Europe

By Frank Donoghue (Ohio State University)

Indexing Data:

  • Active In: England, Britain, Europe
  • Born In: Ireland, Britain, Europe
  • Activity: Playwright, Politician

Life, Works and Times

Reader Actions

Richard Brinsley Sheridan was born in Dublin in September 1751, and was baptized on November 4th. His parents were Thomas and Frances Sheridan, and grew up in what would soon become a celebrated literary family. His grandfather, Dr Thomas Sheridan (1687-1738) had been a school teacher and close friend of Jonathan Swift, twenty years his senior, so the family already considered themselves well connected in Irish letters. Richard’s father, Thomas Sheridan (1719-1788), was the author of a controversial but influential Lectures on Elocution which he presented around Britain during a tour in 1762. Richard’s mother Frances wrote several popular novels, among them The Memoirs of Sidney Buddulph (1761). Following the S

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First published 09 September 2004

Citation: Donoghue, Frank. "Richard Brinsley Sheridan". The Literary Encyclopedia. 9 September 2004.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4055, accessed 20 November 2009.]