Thomas Meriton (born 1638) was an English dramatist who published two plays in 1658.
Life
He was the second son of Thomas Meriton of
Castle Leavington, Yorkshire, and Grace, daughter of Francis Wright of Bolton-on-Swale. He was grandson of
George Meriton, dean of York, and younger brother of George Meriton, a legal writer. He was educated at a private school at
Danby Wiske
Danby Wiske is a village in the district of Hambleton in North Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement in the civil parish of Danby Wiske with Lazenby. The village lies north north-west of the county town of Northallerton.
History
Dan ...
, and admitted at the unusual age of 24 a
sizar
At Trinity College, Dublin and the University of Cambridge, a sizar is an undergraduate who receives some form of assistance such as meals, lower fees or lodging during his or her period of study, in some cases in return for doing a defined jo ...
of
St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...
in 1662. He obtained a BA in 1665 and an MA in 1669.
He was ordained in 1669, and became rector of
Normanton, Lincolnshire. His year of death is not known.
Publications
Meriton published two plays in 1658, ''Love and War, a Tragedy'', dedicated to his brother George, and ''The Wandering Lover, a Tragy-Comedie'', which, according to the title-page, had been "acted severall times privately at sundry places by the Author and his friends, with great applause." In the dedication to Francis Wright he mentions that he had also written ''The Severall Affairs, a Comedy'', and ''The Chast Virgin, a Romance'', but that they were only shown to some private friends.
"Happy certainly", said the contemporary drama critic
Gerard Langbaine
Gerard Langbaine (15 July 1656 – 23 June 1692) was an English dramatic biographer and critic, best known for his ''An Account of the English Dramatic Poets'' (1691), the earliest work to give biographical and critical information on the playwrig ...
, "were those men who were not reckoned in the number of his friends." Langbaine described him as "certainly the meanest Dramatick writer that ever England produc'd".
References
Attribution
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meriton, Thomas
1638 births
People from the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees
17th-century English dramatists and playwrights
17th-century English male writers
Year of death unknown
Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge