Francis Twiss (bapt. 1759 – 1827) was an English drama critic, known as the compiler of a

concordance Concordance may refer to: * Agreement (linguistics), a form of cross-reference between different parts of a sentence or phrase * Bible concordance, an alphabetical listing of terms in the Bible * Concordant coastline, in geology, where beds, or la ...

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

Life

He was the son of Francis Twiss, a merchant from

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

, and was baptised in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

on 5 April 1759; Richard Twiss was his elder brother. He was admitted to Pembroke College, Cambridge in 1776, where he studied for a year. In London during the early 1780s, Twiss took an interest in the stage, and wrote some criticism. He met

John Philip Kemble John Philip Kemble (1 February 1757 – 26 February 1823) was a British actor. He was born into a theatrical family as the eldest son of Roger Kemble, actor-manager of a touring troupe. His elder sister Sarah Siddons achieved fame with him o ...

, and took an interest in his sisters, marrying in the end Fanny. He also encountered

Elizabeth Inchbald Elizabeth Inchbald (née Simpson, 15 October 1753 – 1 August 1821) was an English novelist, actress, dramatist, and translator. Her two novels, '' A Simple Story'' and '' Nature and Art'', have received particular critical attention. Life Bo ...

, giving her constructive help with her dramatic writing. Twiss died at Cheltenham on 28 April 1827, aged 68.

Works

Twiss published in two volumes in 1805, ''A complete verbal Index to the Plays of Shakspeare, adapted to all the editions'', with a dedication to John Philip Kemble. It gives the word only not the longer passage in which it occurs, as later concordances did. Of 750 copies printed of it, 542 were destroyed by fire in 1807. Praised by

James Boaden James Boaden (23 May 1762 – 16 February 1839) was an English biographer, dramatist, and journalist. Biographer He was the son of William Boaden, a merchant in the Russia trade. He was born at Whitehaven, Cumberland, on 23 May 1762, and at ...

two decades later, it was in its time more convenient than the comparable work of

Samuel Ayscough Samuel Ayscough (1745–1804) was a librarian and indexer, who was described as the "Prince of Index Makers". Family and early life Samuel Ayscough was the grandson of William Ayscough, a stationer and printer of Nottingham, where he introduced ...

Family

Twiss married on 1 May 1786 Frances Kemble (1759–1822), known as Fanny. She was the second daughter of Roger Kemble, the sister of

Sarah Siddons Sarah Siddons (''née'' Kemble; 5 July 1755 – 8 June 1831) was a Welsh actress, the best-known tragedienne of the 18th century. Contemporaneous critic William Hazlitt dubbed Siddons as "tragedy personified". She was the elder sister of Joh ...

, and had been courted unsuccessfully by

George Steevens George Steevens (10 May 1736 – 22 January 1800) was an English Shakespearean commentator. Biography Early life He was born at Poplar, the son of a captain and later director of the East India Company. He was educated at Eton College and at ...

. An actor though not very successful, on marriage she retired from the stage, which gladdened her sister. Later, from 1807 she kept a fashionable girls' school at 24 Camden Place, Bath, Somerset. Fanny Twiss predeceased her husband, dying at Bath on 1 October 1822. Their eldest son was

Horace Twiss Horace Twiss KC (28 February 1787 – 4 May 1849) was an English writer and politician. Life Twiss was born at Bath, Somerset, the son of Francis Twiss (1760–1827) and his wife Frances née Kemble (sister of Sarah Siddons née Kemble). He wa ...

; another son, John Twiss, became a major-general in the army in 1864, and was governor of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. There were four daughters of the marriage, one of whom died young.

Notes

External links

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Twiss, Francis 1827 deaths British theatre critics English writers 1759 births