Frances Sheridan

Frances Sheridan
Frances Sheridan, from The History of Nourjahad
Born	1724 (1724) Dublin, Ireland
Died	26 September 1766 (1766-09-27) (aged 42)
Occupation	British writer

Frances Sheridan (née Chamberlaine) (1724 – 26 September 1766) was an Anglo-Irish novelist and playwright.

Life

Frances Sheridan was born in Dublin, Ireland. Her father, Dr. Phillip Chamberlaine, was an Anglican minister. In 1747 she married Thomas Sheridan, who was then an actor and theatre director, and at the same time she began work on her first novel, Eugenia and Adelaide. The couple moved to London permanently in 1758 for business reasons (after an earlier sortie to London in 1754).^[1] In London Frances was introduced to Samuel Richardson, who encouraged her in her writing. Her most successful novel, Memoirs of Miss Sidney Bidulph (1761), in diary format, was influenced by Samuel Richardson's Pamela. She then turned to drama, and two of her plays were produced at London's Drury Lane theatre by David Garrick's company in the 1760s. Frances Sheridan was the mother of the more famous playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan, and the son's early successful plays were much influenced by the mother's plays.^[2] She died at age 42 in Blois, France.^[3]

A book-length biography was published in 1824, written by her granddaughter, Alicia LeFanu.^[4]

Works

Plays

• The Discovery (1763)
• The Dupe (1764)
• A Trip to Bath (1765)

Novels

• Memoirs of Miss Sidney Bidulph (1761)
• The History of Nourjahad (1767)
• Conclusion of the Memoirs (1767)
• Eugenia and Adelaide (unpublished until 1791)

References and external links

•  "Sheridan, Frances". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.  Check date values in: |date= (help)
• Frances Sheridan (Chamberlaine) at James Boswell – a Guide
• Frances Sheridan, The History of Nourjahad, The Norton Anthology of English Literature