William Duncombe (19 January 1690 – 26 February 1769) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

author and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

Life

Duncombe worked in the Navy Office from 1706 until 1725. That year, he and Elizabeth Hughes won a very large

lottery A lottery (or lotto) is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find som ...

sum on a joint ticket. He married Elizabeth in 1726 and "retired into literary leisure". The nature of their match is unknown, but the two did have a son together,

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

, later a clergyman, writer and antiquary. Elizabeth died in 1736, leaving Duncombe a widower for 33 years.

Works

Duncombe's literary work was generally in translation from

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

. He translated

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). Th ...

in 1721 and translated

Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ; ; 22 December 1639 – 21 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille, as well as an important literary figure in the Western tra ...

's ''Athalie'' as ''Athaliah'' in 1722. His sole successful play was ''Junius Brutus'' in 1734, which ran for six nights at

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and listed building, Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) an ...

. His competition was

Farinelli Farinelli (; 24 January 1705 – 16 September 1782) was the stage name of Carlo Maria Michelangelo Nicola Broschi (), a celebrated Italian castrato singer of the 18th century and one of the greatest singers in the history of opera. Farinelli ...

singing at the Little Theatre, Haymarket, and Duncombe said that the "quivering Italian eunuch" was too much for the stiff Roman statesman. All the same, six nights was a respectable run, and the play went to a second edition in the first year it was in print, 1735. The play makes frequent appeals to "liberty," in keeping with the

Patriot A patriot is a person with the quality of patriotism. Patriot(s) or The Patriot(s) may also refer to: Political and military groups United States * Patriot (American Revolution), those who supported the cause of independence in the American R ...

plays of disaffected Whigs. Duncombe, however, had apparently intended a more traditional Whig play, along the lines of Addison's ''Cato,'' for he was aligned squarely against the "Tory"

Scriblerians The Scriblerus Club was an informal association of authors, based in London, that came together in the early 18th century. They were prominent figures in the Augustan Age of English letters. The nucleus of the club included the satirists Jonathan ...

. Duncombe published in both the '' Whitehall Evening Post'' and the ''London Journal.''

Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early ...

satirized the ''London Journal'' by name in ''

The Dunciad ''The Dunciad'' () is a landmark, mock-heroic, narrative poem by Alexander Pope published in three different versions at different times from 1728 to 1743. The poem celebrates a goddess, Dulness, and the progress of her chosen agents as they ...

,'' and Duncombe had written a letter to it criticizing

John Gay John Gay (30 June 1685 – 4 December 1732) was an English poet and dramatist and member of the Scriblerus Club. He is best remembered for ''The Beggar's Opera'' (1728), a ballad opera. The characters, including Captain Macheath and Polly Peach ...

's ''

The Beggar's Opera ''The Beggar's Opera'' is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of sati ...

'' for its vitiating effects on public morals. He had, in the letter, counterposed the sermons of

Thomas Herring Thomas Herring (baptised 10 October 169323 March 1757) was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1747 to 1757. Early life and education He was the son of John Herring, rector of Walsoken in Norfolk, who had previously been vicar of Foxton, near Camb ...

Jonathan Wild Jonathan Wild, also spelled Wilde (1682 or 1683 – 24 May 1725), was an English thief-taker and a major figure in London's criminal underworld, notable for operating on both sides of the law, posing as a public-spirited vigilante entitled th ...

and thievery. Herring, who would later become the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

under the

Hanoverians The House of Hanover ( ) is a European royal house with roots tracing back to the 17th century. Its members, known as Hanoverians, ruled Hanover, Great Britain, Ireland, and the British Empire at various times during the 17th to 20th centurie ...

, became a friend of Duncombe's. Duncombe wrote on education in 1744, and his ''The Choice of Hercules'' was included in

Robert Dodsley Robert Dodsley (13 February 1703 – 23 September 1764) was an English bookseller, publisher, poet, playwright, and miscellaneous writer. Life Dodsley was born near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, where his father was master of the free school. H ...

's ''Miscellanies'' of 1748. Between 1757 and 1759, he and his son, John Duncombe (who married the daughter of

Joseph Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...

and Susanna Highmore), published ''The Works of Horace in English Verse.'' His likeness was painted by Joseph Highmore.

References

*Inglesfield, Robert. "William Duncombe" In Matthew, H.C.G. and Brian Harrison, eds. ''

The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography ''The'' is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the ...

.'' vol. 17, 263-4. London:

OUP Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2004. {{DEFAULTSORT:Duncombe, William 1690 births 1769 deaths 1730s 18th-century British translators