Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Irish-British politician, playwright and writer (1751-1816) · Politicians · Died at 64
Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan was an Anglo-Irish playwright, writer and Whig politician who sat in the British House of Commons from 1780 to 1812, representing the constituencies of Stafford, Westminster and Ilchester.
Richard Brinsley Sheridan is read about 202 times a day, in 37 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 16 September 2026
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Portrait of a Gentleman, traditionally identified as Richard Brinsley Sheridan, by John Hoppner
Mrs. Richard Brinsley Sheridan, aged 31, by Gainsborough (National Gallery of Art)
In Uncorking Old Sherry (1805), James Gillray caricatured Sheridan as a bottle of sherry, uncorked by Pitt and bursting out with puns, invective, and fibs.
Mrs Sheridan (Miss Linley)
Physical Aid, - or - Britannia recover'd from a Trance; - also, the Patriotic Courage of Sherry Andrew; & a peep thro' the Fog (1803) by James Gillray, showing Sheridan as a Silenus-like and ragged Harlequin defending Henry Addington and Lord Hawkesbury on the Dover coast from the advancing French rowboats filled with French soldiers, led by Napoleon. Sheridan says: "Let 'em come! damn'me!!! - Where are the French Buggabo's? Single handed I'd beat forty of 'em!!! dam'me I'd pay 'em like Renter Shares, sconce off their half Crowns!!! - mulct them out of their Benefits, &c, come Drury Lane Slang over em!."About this person
The owner of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, in London, he wrote several prominent plays such as The Rivals (1775), The Duenna (1775), The School for Scandal (1777) and A Trip to Scarborough (1777). He served as Treasurer of the Navy from 1806 to 1807. Sheridan died in 1816 and was buried at Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey. His plays remain a central part of the Western canon and are frequently performed around the world.
