James Kenney (1780 – 25 July 1849), an English

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

, was the son of James Kenney, a founder of Boodles' Club in London. He produced more than 40 plays and opera

libretti 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. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major l ...

Career

His first play, a farce called ''Raising the Wind'' (1803), gained success through the popularity of the character of " Jeremy Diddler". Kenney produced more than 40 plays and opera libretti between 1803 and 1845. Many, in which Mrs Siddons, Madame Vestris, Foote,

Lewis Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...

, Liston and other leading players appeared from time to time, enjoyed a considerable vogue. Kenney's most popular play was ''Sweethearts and Wives'', produced at the Haymarket Theatre in 1823 and revived several times. Among his other successful works were ''False Alarms'' (1807), a comic opera with music by Braham, ''Love, Law and Physic'' (1812), ''Spring and Autumn'' (1827), ''The Illustrious Stranger, or Married and Buried'' (1827), ''Masaniello'' (1829) and ''The Sicilian Vespers'', a tragedy (1840). Kenney numbered

Charles Lamb Charles Lamb (10 February 1775 – 27 December 1834) was an English essayist, poet, and antiquarian, best known for his '' Essays of Elia'' and for the children's book '' Tales from Shakespeare'', co-authored with his sister, Mary Lamb (1764� ...

and

Samuel Rogers Samuel Rogers (30 July 1763 – 18 December 1855) was an English poet, during his lifetime one of the most celebrated, although his fame has long since been eclipsed by his Romantic colleagues and friends Wordsworth, Coleridge and Byron. ...

among his friends. He married the widow of the dramatist

Thomas Holcroft Thomas Holcroft (10 December 174523 March 1809) was an English dramatist, miscellanist, poet and translator. He was sympathetic to the early ideas of the French Revolution and helped Thomas Paine to publish the first part of ''The Rights of Ma ...

, by whom he had two sons and two daughters. He died in London in 1849.

Charles Lamb Kenney

James Kenney's second son, Charles Lamb Kenney (1823 – 25 August 1881), made a name as a

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

, dramatist and miscellaneous writer. Beginning as a clerk in the General Post Office in London, he joined the staff of ''The Times'', as a drama critic. Having been called to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

, he became in 1849 secretary to

Ferdinand de Lesseps Ferdinand Marie, Comte de Lesseps (; 19 November 1805 – 7 December 1894) was a French diplomat and later developer of the Suez Canal, which in 1869 joined the Mediterranean and Red Seas, substantially reducing sailing distances and times ...

, and in 1857 published ''The Gates of the East'', in support of the proposed construction of the Suez Canal. Kenney wrote the words for a number of light operas and for several popular songs, the best known being ''Soft and Low'' (1865) and ''The Vagabond'' (1871). He also published a ''Memoir of M. W. Balfe'' (1875) and translated the ''Correspondence of Balzac''.

Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel ''Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and th ...

and

Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...

were among his friends in a literary coterie where he gained a reputation as a wit and a writer of society verse. He died in London in 1881.

References

Additional resources

*Terry F. Robinson, "James Kenney." ''Dictionary of Literary Biography'', Vol. 344: Nineteenth-Century British Dramatists. Detroit: Gale, 2008, pp. 206-224 *Terry F. Robinson, "James Kenney's Comedic Genius: Early Nineteenth-Century Character, Commerce, and the Arts" in ''Raising the Wind'', ''The World!'', and ''Debtor and Creditor''," ''Literature Compass'' 3.5 (August 2006) pp. 1082–1106 {{DEFAULTSORT:Kenney, James 1780 births 1849 deaths English dramatists and playwrights English male dramatists and playwrights