James Townley
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Rev. James Townley (6 May 1714 – 15 July 1778) was an English dramatist, the second son of Charles Townley, a merchant.[1]
Early life, education and marriage
Townley was born in 1714 probably at
He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School, London, and at St John's College, Oxford.
Around 1740, James married Jane, the daughter of Peter Bonnin of Lisbon,
Career
He took
He was a friend [5] and collaborator of William Hogarth and verses by him accompanied the artist's prints Beer Street and Gin Lane and The Four Stages of Cruelty. He assisted in Hogarth in his The Analysis of Beauty and was depicted in Paul Sandby's satirical prints - 'Puggs Graces etched from his original daubing' [6] and 'The Analyst Besh-n in his own Taste'.[7]
He had taken a keen interest in the theatre, and it has been asserted that many of David Garrick's best productions and revivals owed much to his assistance. He was the author, although the fact was long concealed, of High Life Below Stairs, a two-act farce presented at Drury Lane on 31 October 1759; also of False Concord (Covent Garden, 20 March 1764) and The Tutor (Drury Lane, 4 February 1765).[4]
Notes
- ^ John Parker (1967). Who's who in the Theatre. Pitman. p. 1698.
- ^ Townley page at giesing.org (ref 445) Archived 12 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 2010
- ^ Bonnin family history Accessed 2010
- ^ a b Chisholm 1911.
- ^ Character of Hogarth, by the Rev. James Townley Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 January 2015
- ^ British Museum museum number Y,4.153
- ^ British Museum museum number 1868,0808.3947
References
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Townley, James". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 111.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Townley, James (1714–1778)". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
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