Robert Jephson (1736 – 31 May 1803) was an Irish
dramatist
A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather than just
reading. Ben Jonson coined the term "playwri ...
and politician.
Life
He was born in
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
, a younger son of John Jephson,
Archdeacon of Cloyne
The Archdeacon of Cloyne was a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Bishop of Cloyne, Diocese of Cloyne until 1835; and then within the Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross until 1986 when it merged with the Archdeacon of Cork, Archdeaconry of Co ...
. He entered
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Univ ...
in 1751, but left without a degree. He then joined the British Army, with a commission in the
73rd Regiment of Foot (1758), and served in the Caribbean. He left, for health reasons.
Jephson then lived in
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, at
Hampton Court
Hampton Court Palace is a Listed building, Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. Opened to the public, the palace is managed by Historic Royal ...
, with
William Gerard Hamilton
William Gerard Hamilton (28 January 172916 July 1796), was an English statesman and Irish politician, popularly known as "Single Speech Hamilton".
Biography
He was born in London, the son of William Hamilton, a Scottish bencher of Lincoln's In ...
.
There he was the friend of
David Garrick
David Garrick (19 February 1716 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, Actor-manager, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil a ...
,
Joshua Reynolds
Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter who specialised in portraits. The art critic John Russell (art critic), John Russell called him one of the major European painters of the 18th century, while Lucy P ...
,
Oliver Goldsmith
Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1728 – 4 April 1774) was an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish poet, novelist, playwright, and hack writer. A prolific author of various literature, he is regarded among the most versatile writers of the Georgian e ...
,
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...
,
Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke (; 12 January ew Style, NS1729 – 9 July 1797) was an Anglo-Irish Politician, statesman, journalist, writer, literary critic, philosopher, and parliamentary orator who is regarded as the founder of the Social philosophy, soc ...
,
Charles Burney
Charles Burney (7 April 1726 – 12 April 1814) was an English music historian, composer and musician. He was the father of the writers Frances Burney and Sarah Burney, of the explorer James Burney, and of Charles Burney, a classicis ...
and
Charles Townshend
Charles Townshend (27 August 1725 – 4 September 1767) was a British politician who held various titles in the Parliament of Great Britain. His establishment of the controversial Townshend Acts is considered one of the key causes of the Amer ...
. His appointment as master of the horse to the lord-lieutenant of Ireland took him back to
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
.
He published, in the ''Mercury'' newspaper, a series of articles in defence of the lord-lieutenant's administration which were afterwards collected and issued in book form under the title of ''The Bachelor, or Speculations of Jeoffry Wagstaffe''. A pension of £300, later doubled, was granted him, and he held his appointment under twelve succeeding
viceroy
A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory.
The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the Anglo-Norman ''roy'' (Old Frenc ...
s.
Jephson entered the
Irish House of Commons
The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until the end of 1800. The upper house was the Irish House of Lords, House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, ...
in 1773 and sat for
St Johnstown (County Longford) until 1776. Between 1777 and 1783, he served as
Member of Parliament (MP) for
Old Leighlin
Old Leighlin (), also Oldleighlin, is a village, civil parish and townland in County Carlow, Ireland. The village is west of Leighlinbridge. The site was at one time one of the foremost monastic houses in Leinster, with 1,500 monks in residen ...
and subsequently represented
Granard
Granard () is a town in the north of County Longford, Ireland, and has a traceable history going back to 236 CE. It is situated just south of the boundary between the watersheds of the Shannon and the Erne, at the point where the N55 ...
from 1783 to 1790. He died at Blackrock, near Dublin.
Works
From 1775 Jephson took up writing plays. Among others, his
tragedy
A tragedy is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a tragic hero, main character or cast of characters. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsi ...
''
Braganza'' was successfully performed at
Drury Lane
Drury Lane is a street on the boundary between the Covent Garden and Holborn areas of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of London Borough of Camden, Camden and the southern part in the City o ...
in 1775, ''
The Conspiracy'' in 1796, ''
Julia
Julia may refer to:
People
*Julia (given name), including a list of people with the name
*Julia (surname), including a list of people with the name
*Julia gens, a patrician family of Ancient Rome
*Julia (clairvoyant) (fl. 1689), lady's maid of Qu ...
'' in 1797, ''
The Law of Lombardy'' in 1779, and ''
The Count of Narbonne'' at
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...
in 1781, adapted from
Horace Walpole
Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (; 24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English Whig politician, writer, historian and antiquarian.
He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twickenham, southwest London ...
's ''
The Castle of Otranto
''The Castle of Otranto'' is a novel by Horace Walpole. First published in 1764, it is generally regarded as the first Gothic novel. In the second edition, Walpole applied the word 'Gothic' to the novel in the subtitle – ''A Gothic Story''. Se ...
'' and ''
The Campaign'' at the
Smock Alley Theatre
Since the 17th century, there have been numerous theatres in Dublin with the name Smock Alley.
The current Smock Alley Theatre () is a 21st-century theatre in Dublin, converted from a 19th-century church building, incorporating structural mat ...
in 1784.
In 1794 he published an heroic poem ''Roman Portraits'', and ''The Confessions of Jacques Baptiste Couteau'', a satire on the excesses of the
French Revolution.
References
Further reading
*
External links
Library Ireland bio*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jephson, Robert
1736 births
1803 deaths
18th-century Irish dramatists and playwrights
18th-century Irish male writers
19th-century Irish people
Irish male dramatists and playwrights
Irish MPs 1769–1776
Irish MPs 1776–1783
Irish MPs 1783–1790
Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Carlow constituencies
Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Longford constituencies