A blog by Special Collections Information Assistant Anne Marie McHarg.
Memoirs of the life of the Right Honourable Richard Brinsley Sheridan by Thomas Moore Frontispiece [Ref. PR3683 MOO Vol. 1]
Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan was born 30 October 1751 in Dublin where his father was a thespian and theatre manager, and his mother wrote novels and plays. This is where he learnt his trade at his mothers’ feet.
By the age of seven the family moved to London, where his father worked alongside David Garrick at Drury Lane Theatre. Once settled in London Sheridan was dispatched to Harrow, where it was said of the boy “he was very clever but rather lazy”.
In 1772, at the age of 22, he fell in love with Elizabeth Linley, a singer, and secretly ran off to France to marry her, having previously fought two duels over her with a rival suitor. This course of events inspired him to write The Rivals.
The play was first performed at Covent Garden in 1775 but the audience found it too long, so Sheridan altered the play, and eleven days later it was performed again and was well received. After the success of The Rivals, he continued to write.
By 1776 he had made his fortune and he bought David Garrick’s share of the Drury Lane theatre patent and two years later in 1778 the remaining shares. All Sheridan’s plays were performed here including The School for Scandals, The Scheming Lieutenant, and The Critic.
In 1780 Sheridan entered politics and became a member of Parliament for the Stafford constituency. He was an ally of Charles James Fox, who was on the side of the American Colonials, and arch-rival of the Tory politician, William Pitt the younger.
Sheridan progressed to Under Secretary for foreign affairs two years later in Rockingham’s ministry. He quickly moved to the treasury in the Duke of Portland’s coalition ministry in 1783. By 1806 he took office again as treasurer of the navy with the rank of Privy Councilor in Lord Grenville's so-called 'Ministry of All the Talents'. For the remainder of his political career, he sat in opposition.
One of his strengths was that he had a good command of the English language, giving him the ability to be a good orator. This was noted at the impeachment of Warren Hastings, when Sheridan gave one of the best speeches as the Manager of Impeachment.
Despite this success, he never fully acquired the political influence many thought he should have had. There were some in the inner circle who regarded him as an unreliable schemer.
This view of his behavior came to light during the Regency Crisis of 1788-1789 when he acted as adviser for the Prince of Wales, while the King was suffering with ill health, which included the party in-fighting 1791-93 with Edmund Burke.
Towards the end of his life, Sheridan had mounting financial difficulties that beset him to the end of his life. This was thought to have been caused by his life of overindulgence and putting things off instead of sorting them out.
The first set back was a fire in February 1809 at Drury Lane Theatre which had only been rebuilt in 1791-1794. The next misfortune was the loss of his parliamentary seat, and with no income from theatre or parliament he fell prey to his creditors. The worry about his finances brought about circulatory complaints and he suffered from cancer which afflicted his second marriage to Hester Jane Ogle, daughter of the Dean of Winchester. He had married her three years after the death of his first wife in April 1795.
In the last month of 1815 Sheridan’s health deteriorated and he was confined to his bed. He died in poverty with the bailiffs knocking on his door 7 July 1816. Despite this Dukes, Lords and the Lord Mayor of London attended his funeral. He was buried in Poet’s Corner in Westminster Abbey.
Sheridan had made a very strong impression on the poet Lord Bryon, who wrote A Monody on the Death of the Right Honorable R.B. Sheridan in 1816, to be recited at the rebuilding of Drury Lane Theatre.
In 1825 Thomas Moore, the Irish writer, wrote and published a two-volume biography Memoirs of the Life of the Right Honourable Richard Brinsley Sheridan which became a major influence in literature.
We also hold Sir Thomas Overbury: tragedy. Altered from the late Mr. Richard Savage. As now performing at the Theatre-Royal in Covent-Garden, which contains a prologue by Sheridan.
Sheridan will be always remembered for his two outstanding plays, The Rivals and The School of Scandals; plays on the comedy of manners. Readers may not have realised that he also played a significant role in British politics and as an orator. His gift as a playwright and politician, often put to use in speeches in the House of Commons, was in his ability to size up situations and relate them. He could be moody and at times indiscreet but when in the right frame of mind, he exuded great charm and powers of persuasion and entertainment.
A blog by Special Collections' librarian Anne-Marie Mcharg.