Robert Jephson (1736 – 31 May 1803) was an Irish
dramatist and politician.
Life
He was born in
Ireland, a younger son of John Jephson,
Archdeacon of Cloyne. He entered
Trinity College, Dublin
, name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin
, motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin)
, motto_lang = la
, motto_English = It will last i ...
in 1751, but left without a degree. He then joined the British Army, with a commission in the
73rd Regiment of Foot (1758)
The 73rd Regiment of Foot was a regiment in the British Army from 1758 to 1763. It was formed on 28 April 1758 from the 2nd Battalion of the 34th Regiment of Foot, and served in Ireland until it was disbanded in 1763.
Regimental Colonels
*1758†...
, and served in the Caribbean. He left, for health reasons.
Jephson then lived in
England, at
Hampton Court, with
William Gerard Hamilton
William Gerard Hamilton (28 January 172916 July 1796), was an English statesman and Irish politician, popularly known as "Single Speech Hamilton".
Biography
He was born in London, the son of William Hamilton, a Scottish bencher of Lincoln's I ...
.
There he was the friend of
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 ...
,
Joshua Reynolds
Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depend ...
,
Oliver Goldsmith
Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1728 – 4 April 1774) was an Anglo-Irish novelist, playwright, dramatist and poet, who is best known for his novel ''The Vicar of Wakefield'' (1766), his pastoral poem ''The Deserted Village'' (1770), and his pl ...
,
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...
,
Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke (; 12 January NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS">New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS/nowiki>_1729_–_9_July_1797)_was_an_ NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style"> ...
,
Charles Burney
Charles Burney (7 April 1726 – 12 April 1814) was an English music historian, composer and musician. He was the father of the writers Frances Burney and Sarah Burney, of the explorer James Burney, and of Charles Burney, a classicist a ...
and
Charles Townshend
Charles Townshend (28 August 1725 – 4 September 1767) was a British politician who held various titles in the Parliament of Great Britain. His establishment of the controversial Townshend Acts is considered one of the key causes of the Ame ...
. His appointment as master of the horse to the lord-lieutenant of Ireland took him back to
Dublin.
He published, in the ''Mercury'' newspaper, a series of articles in defence of the lord-lieutenant's administration which were afterwards collected and issued in book form under the title of ''The Bachelor, or Speculations of Jeoffry Wagstaffe''. A pension of £300, later doubled, was granted him, and he held his appointment under twelve succeeding
viceroys.
Jephson entered the
Irish House of Commons in 1773 and sat for
St Johnstown (County Longford) until 1776. Between 1777 and 1783, he served as
Member of Parliament (MP) for
Old Leighlin and subsequently represented
Granard from 1783 to 1790. He died at Blackrock, near Dublin.
Works
From 1775 Jephson took up writing plays. Among others, his
tragedy ''
Braganza'' was successfully performed at
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 ...
in 1775, ''
The Conspiracy'' in 1796, ''
Julia'' in 1797, ''
The Law of Lombardy
''The Law of Lombardy'' is a 1779 tragedy by the Irish writer Robert Jephson.Nicoll p.276
The original Drury Lane cast included William Smith as Paladore, Robert Bensley as King, John Hayman Packer as Rinaldo, Richard Hurst as Asciano, James Wr ...
'' in 1779, and ''
The Count of Narbonne
''The Count of Narbonne'' is a 1781 tragedy by the Irish writer Robert Jephson. It was inspired by Horace Walpole's novel ''The Castle of Otranto''.
It premiered at the Covent Garden Theatre. The original cast featured John Henderson as Austin, ...
'' at
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...
in 1781, adapted from
Horace Walpole
Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician.
He had Strawb ...
's ''
The Castle of Otranto'' and ''
The Campaign'' at the
Smock Alley Theatre in 1784.
In 1794 he published an heroic poem ''Roman Portraits'', and ''The Confessions of Jacques Baptiste Couteau'', a satire on the excesses of the
French Revolution.
References
Further reading
*
External links
Library Ireland bio*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jephson, Robert
1736 births
1803 deaths
18th-century Irish dramatists and playwrights
18th-century Irish male writers
19th-century Irish people
Irish male dramatists and playwrights
Irish MPs 1769–1776
Irish MPs 1776–1783
Irish MPs 1783–1790
Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Carlow constituencies
Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Longford constituencies