Frances Sheridan (''née'' Chamberlaine) (1724 – 26 September 1766) was an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...

novelist and playwright.

Life

Frances Chamberlaine was born in Dublin, Ireland. Her father, Dr. Phillip Chamberlaine, was an Anglican minister. In 1747 she married

Thomas Sheridan Thomas Sheridan may refer to: *Thomas Sheridan (divine) (1687–1738), Anglican divine *Thomas Sheridan (actor) (1719–1788), Irish actor and teacher of elocution *Thomas Sheridan (soldier) (1775–1817/18) *Thomas B. Sheridan (born 1931), America ...

, who was then an actor and theatre director, and at the same time she began work on her first novel, ''Eugenia and Adelaide''. The couple moved to London permanently in 1758 for business reasons (after an earlier sortie to London in 1754). In London Frances was introduced to

Samuel Richardson Samuel Richardson (baptised 19 August 1689 – 4 July 1761) was an English writer and printer known for three epistolary novels: ''Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded'' (1740), '' Clarissa: Or the History of a Young Lady'' (1748) and ''The History of ...

, who encouraged her in her writing. Her most successful novel, ''Memoirs of Miss Sidney Bidulph'' (1761), in

diary A diary is a written or audiovisual record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have traditionally been handwritten but are now also often digital. A personal ...

format, was influenced by Samuel Richardson's ''

Pamela Pamela may refer to: *''Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded'', a novel written by Samuel Richardson in 1740 *Pamela (name), a given name and, rarely, a surname * Pamela Spence, a Turkish pop-rock singer. Known as her stage name "Pamela" * MSC ''Pamela'', ...

''. She then turned to drama, and two of her plays were produced at London's

Drury Lane Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster. Notable landmarks ...

theatre by

David Garrick David Garrick (19 February 1717 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil and friend of Sa ...

's company in the 1760s. Frances Sheridan was the mother of the famous playwright

Richard Brinsley Sheridan Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan (30 October 17517 July 1816) was an Irish satirist, a politician, a playwright, poet, and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. He is known for his plays such as ''The Rivals'', ''The Sc ...

, and her son's early successful plays were much influenced by his mother's plays. Frances and Thomas Sheridan also had another son, Sackville Sheridan, who only lived two months after his birth in 1754. Frances Sheridan's daughter, Alicia Sheridan Lefanu (1753–1817), wrote a play, ''Sons of Erin'', which was produced in London in 1812. Sheridan's second daughter, Anne Elizabeth Sheridan Lefanu (1756–1837) wrote as well, and some of her journals were published in 1960 as ''

Betsy Sheridan Ann Elizabeth "Betsy" Sheridan Le Fanu (1758–1837) was an Anglo-Irish diarist and novelist. She was a daughter of Irish stage actor Thomas Sheridan and the sister of satirist Richard Brinsley Sheridan and playwright Alicia Sheridan Le Fanu. S ...

's Journal, Letters from Sheridan's sister, 1784–1786 and 1788–1790''. Frances Sheridan died at age 42 in Blois, France. Her oriental tale, ''The History of Nourjahad'', and her sequel to ''The Memoirs of Miss Sidney Biddulph'', were published posthumously. A book-length biography of Frances Sheridan, ''Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Mrs. Frances Sheridan,'' was published in 1824, written by her granddaughter, Alicia LeFanu.

Works

Plays

*'' The Discovery'' (1763) *''The Dupe'' (1764) *''A Trip to Bath'' (1765)

Novels

*''Memoirs of Miss Sidney Bidulph'' (1761) *''The History of Nourjahad'' (1767) *''Conclusion of the Memoirs'' (1767) *''Eugenia and Adelaide'' (unpublished until 1791)

References

External links

* * *
Frances Sheridan (Chamberlaine)
at James Boswell – a Guide

''The History of Nourjahad'',

The Norton Anthology of English Literature ''The Norton Anthology of English Literature'' is an anthology of English literature published by W. W. Norton & Company, one of several such compendiums. First published in 1962, it has gone through ten editions; as of 2006 there are over eigh ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheridan, Frances 1724 births 1766 deaths Writers from Dublin (city) British women novelists British women dramatists and playwrights 18th-century British women writers 18th-century British writers Irish Anglicans