George Colman the Elder, after Joshua Reynolds

George Colman (April 1732 – 14 August 1794) was an English dramatist and essayist, usually called "the Elder", and sometimes "George the First", to distinguish him from his son,

George Colman the Younger George Colman (21 October 1762 – 17 October 1836), known as "the Younger", was an English dramatist and miscellaneous writer. He was the son of George Colman the Elder. Life He passed from Westminster School to Christ Church, Oxford, and ...

. He also owned a theatre.

Early life

He was born in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

, where his father was stationed as British

Resident Minister A resident minister, or resident for short, is a government official required to take up permanent residence in another country. A representative of his government, he officially has diplomatic functions which are often seen as a form of indir ...

(diplomatic envoy) at the court of the Grand Duke of

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

. Colman's father died within a year of his son's birth and William Pulteney- afterwards Lord Bath- whose wife was Mrs. Colman's sister, undertook to educate the boy. After he received private education in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and latterly a ...

, George attended

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

. Colman left school in due course for

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

. There he made the acquaintance of the parodist

Bonnell Thornton Bonnell Thornton (1725–1768) was an English poet, essayist, and critic. He was educated at Westminster School, and at Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated B.A. in 1747. In 1752 Thornton founded the ''Drury Lane Journal'', a satirical periodi ...

, with whom he co-founded '' The Connoisseur'' (1754–1756), a periodical which "wanted weight," as

Johnson Johnson is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin meaning "Son of John". It is the second most common in the United States and 154th most common in the world. As a common family name in Scotland, Johnson is occasionally a variation of ''Johnston'', a ...

said, although it reached its 140th number. He left Oxford after taking his degree in 1755 and, having been entered at

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

before his return to London, he was called to the bar in 1757. The friendship he formed with

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 ...

did not advance his career as a barrister, but he continued to practise until the death of Lord Bath, out of respect for his wishes. GeorgeColman 1732 1794

Plays

In 1760, Colman produced his first play, '' Polly Honeycomb'', which met with great success. In 1761, ''

The Jealous Wife ''The Jealous Wife'' is a 1761 British play by George Colman the Elder. A comedy, it was first performed at the Drury Lane Theatre on 12 February 1761 and ran for 19 performances in its first season and 70 by the end of the century. It was trans ...

'', a comedy founded partly on ''

Tom Jones Tom Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer * Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist *''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in ...

'', made Colman famous. The death of Lord Bath in 1764 placed him in possession of independent means. In 1765, his metrical translation of the plays of

Terence Publius Terentius Afer (; – ), better known in English as Terence (), was a Roman African playwright during the Roman Republic. His comedies were performed for the first time around 166–160 BC. Terentius Lucanus, a Roman senator, brought ...

appeared and, in 1766, he produced '' The Clandestine Marriage'' jointly with Garrick, whose refusal to take the part of Lord Ogleby led to a quarrel between the two authors. In the next year he purchased a fourth share in the

Covent Garden Theatre The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Op ...

, which- allegedly- induced General Pulteney to revoke a will by which he had left Colman large estates. The general, who died that year, did, however, leave him a considerable annuity. A riot took place at the third performance of his play ''

The Oxonian in Town ''The Oxonian in Town'' is a 1767 play by George Colman the Elder. It premiered on 7 November 1767 and was later published in 1769. A satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fictio ...

'' on 9 November 1767, which a

claque A claque is an organized body of professional applauders in French theatres and opera houses. Members of a claque are called claqueurs. History Hiring people to applaud dramatic performances was common in classical times. For example, when th ...

of card-sharpers apparently started.

Theatre ownership

Colman was the acting manager of Covent Garden for seven years, during which he produced several "adapted" plays of

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 ...

. He also directed

Mary Bulkley Mary Bulkley, née Wilford (1747/8 – 1792), known professionally as Mrs Bulkley, Miss Bulkley, and later Mrs Barresford, was an English eighteenth-century dancer and comedy stage actress. She performed at various theatres, especially Covent G ...

Ann Catley Ann Catley (1745–1789), also known as Ann Lascelles, was an English singer, actress, and prostitute. Personal life Catley was born near Tower Hill, London, to hackneyed coachman and a washer woman. Mr. Catley spent his earnings only on himsel ...

and others in the première of ''

She Stoops to Conquer ''She Stoops to Conquer'' is a comedy by Oliver Goldsmith, first performed in London in 1773. The play is a favourite for study by English literature and theatre classes in the English-speaking world. It is one of the few plays from the 18th ...

'' there in 1773. In 1768 he was elected to the Literary Club, then nominally consisting of twelve members. In 1771

Thomas Arne Thomas Augustine Arne (; 12 March 17105 March 1778) was an English composer. He is best known for his patriotic song "Rule, Britannia!" and the song "A-Hunting We Will Go", the latter composed for a 1777 production of ''The Beggar's Opera'', whic ...

's masque '' The Fairy Prince'' premièred at Covent Garden, for which Colman wrote the

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

. In 1774 he sold his share in the playhouse to James Leake, which had involved him in much litigation with his partners, and purchased the little theatre in

the Haymarket Haymarket is a street in the St James's area of the City of Westminster, London. It runs from Piccadilly Circus in the north to Pall Mall at the southern end. Located on the street are the Theatre Royal, Her Majesty's Theatre, New Zealand H ...

from

Samuel Foote Samuel Foote (January 1720 – 21 October 1777) was a British dramatist, actor and theatre manager. He was known for his comedic acting and writing, and for turning the loss of a leg in a riding accident in 1766 to comedic opportunity. Early l ...

three years later, broken in health and spirits by then. Colman experienced paralysis in 1785; in 1789 his brain became affected and he died on 14 August 1794. He was buried in

Kensington Church St Mary Abbots is a church located on Kensington High Street and the corner of Kensington Church Street in London W8. The present church structure was built in 1872 to the designs of Sir George Gilbert Scott, who combined neo-Gothic and early- ...

Other works

Besides the works already cited, Colman was author of adaptations of Beaumont and Fletcher's ''

Bonduca ''Bonduca'' is a Jacobean tragi-comedy in the Beaumont and Fletcher canon, generally judged by scholars to be the work of John Fletcher alone. It was acted by the King's Men c. 1613, and published in 1647 in the first Beaumont and Fletcher ...

'',

Ben Jonson Benjamin "Ben" Jonson (c. 11 June 1572 – c. 16 August 1637) was an English playwright and poet. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence upon English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for t ...

's '' Epicoene'' and '' Volpone'',

Milton Milton may refer to: Names * Milton (surname), a surname (and list of people with that surname) ** John Milton (1608–1674), English poet * Milton (given name) ** Milton Friedman (1912–2006), Nobel laureate in Economics, author of '' Free t ...

's ''

Comus In Greek mythology, Comus (; grc, Κῶμος, ''Kōmos'') is the god of festivity, revels and nocturnal dalliances. He is a son and a cup-bearer of the god Dionysus. He was represented as a winged youth or a child-like satyr and represents ana ...

'', and of other plays. He also produced an edition of the works of Beaumont and Fletcher (1778), a version of the '' Ars Poëtica'' of

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ' ...

, an excellent translation from the ''Mercator'' of

Plautus Titus Maccius Plautus (; c. 254 – 184 BC), commonly known as Plautus, was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the gen ...

for

's edition (1769–1772), some thirty plays, and many parodies and occasional pieces. An incomplete edition of his dramatic works was published in 1777 in four volumes.Olive Baldwin and Thelma Wilson, "Colman, George, the elder (baptised 1732, d. 1794)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (Oxford, UK: OUP, 2004
Retrieved 29 January 2017, pay-walled.
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Selected plays

*'' Polly Honeycombe'' (1760) *''

'' (1761) *'' The Clandestine Marriage'' (1766) *''

'' (1767) *'' The Manager in Distress'' (1780) *'' The Genius of Nonsense'' (1780)

References

*Colman, George, ''New Brooms!'', London, 1776. Facsimile ed., with ''The Manager in Distress'' (1780), introduced by J. Terry Frazier, 1980, Scholars' Facsimiles & Reprints, . *

External links

George Colman
at James Boswell – a Guide
Portraits
from the National Portrait Gallery * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Colman, George, the Elder 1732 births 1794 deaths English dramatists and playwrights English male dramatists and playwrights 18th-century theatre managers