Thomas Sheridan (1719 â€" 14 August 1788) was an Irish stage actor, an
educator, and a major proponent of the elocution movement. He received
his M.A. in 1743 from Trinity College in Dublin, and was the godson of
Jonathan Swift. He also published a "respelled" dictionary of the
English language (1780). He was married (1747) to Frances
Chamberlaine. His son was the better known Richard Brinsley Sheridan,
while his daughters were also writers - Alicia, a playwright, and
Betsy Sheridan a diarist. His work is very noticeable in the writings
of Hugh Blair.Thomas Sheridan was the third son of Dr Thomas Sheridan,
an Anglican divine, noted for his close friendship with Jonathan
Swift, and his wife Elizabeth McFadden He attended Westminster School
in 1732â€"1733 but, because of his father's financial problems, he had
to finish his initial education in Dublin. In 1739, he earned his BA
from Trinity College, Dublin and he went on to earn his MA from
Trinity in the early 1740s. He had his début in acting when he played
the title role in Shakespeare's Richard III in Dublin. Soon after, he
was noted as the most popular actor in Ireland, being compared often
with David Garrick. Not only an actor, he also wrote The Brave
Irishman or Captain O'Blunder which premièred in 1738. He became the
manager of the Dublin theatre sometime in the 1740s.Sheridan left his
acting career, although he continued to manage theatre companies and
occasionally play bit parts, and moved permanently to England with his
family in 1758. There, his time was spent as a teacher and an educator
offering a very successful lecture course. In 1762 Sheridan published
Lectures on Elocution. Following that work, he published A Plan of
Education (1769), Lectures on the Art of Reading (1775), and A General
Dictionary of the English Language (1780). Each of these works was
based on some form of an argument taken in an earlier work British
Education: Or, The source of the Disorders of Great Britain. Being an
Essay towards proving, that the Immorality, Ignorance, and false
Taste, which so generally prevail, are the natural and necessary
Consequences of the present to defective System of Education. With an
attempt to shew, that a revival of the Art of Speaking, and the Study
of Our Own Language, might contribute, in a great measure, to the Cure
of those Evils (1756).He lived in London for a number of years before
moving to Bath where he founded an academy for the regular instruction
of Young Gentlemen in the art of reading and reciting and grammatical
knowledge of the English tongue. This venture apparently proving to be
unsuccessful, he returned to Dublin and the theatre in 1771. Thomas's
son Richard became a partial owner of the Theatre Royal in London in
1776. Two years later Thomas was appointed manager of the theatre, a
position he held until 1781.
educator, and a major proponent of the elocution movement. He received
his M.A. in 1743 from Trinity College in Dublin, and was the godson of
Jonathan Swift. He also published a "respelled" dictionary of the
English language (1780). He was married (1747) to Frances
Chamberlaine. His son was the better known Richard Brinsley Sheridan,
while his daughters were also writers - Alicia, a playwright, and
Betsy Sheridan a diarist. His work is very noticeable in the writings
of Hugh Blair.Thomas Sheridan was the third son of Dr Thomas Sheridan,
an Anglican divine, noted for his close friendship with Jonathan
Swift, and his wife Elizabeth McFadden He attended Westminster School
in 1732â€"1733 but, because of his father's financial problems, he had
to finish his initial education in Dublin. In 1739, he earned his BA
from Trinity College, Dublin and he went on to earn his MA from
Trinity in the early 1740s. He had his début in acting when he played
the title role in Shakespeare's Richard III in Dublin. Soon after, he
was noted as the most popular actor in Ireland, being compared often
with David Garrick. Not only an actor, he also wrote The Brave
Irishman or Captain O'Blunder which premièred in 1738. He became the
manager of the Dublin theatre sometime in the 1740s.Sheridan left his
acting career, although he continued to manage theatre companies and
occasionally play bit parts, and moved permanently to England with his
family in 1758. There, his time was spent as a teacher and an educator
offering a very successful lecture course. In 1762 Sheridan published
Lectures on Elocution. Following that work, he published A Plan of
Education (1769), Lectures on the Art of Reading (1775), and A General
Dictionary of the English Language (1780). Each of these works was
based on some form of an argument taken in an earlier work British
Education: Or, The source of the Disorders of Great Britain. Being an
Essay towards proving, that the Immorality, Ignorance, and false
Taste, which so generally prevail, are the natural and necessary
Consequences of the present to defective System of Education. With an
attempt to shew, that a revival of the Art of Speaking, and the Study
of Our Own Language, might contribute, in a great measure, to the Cure
of those Evils (1756).He lived in London for a number of years before
moving to Bath where he founded an academy for the regular instruction
of Young Gentlemen in the art of reading and reciting and grammatical
knowledge of the English tongue. This venture apparently proving to be
unsuccessful, he returned to Dublin and the theatre in 1771. Thomas's
son Richard became a partial owner of the Theatre Royal in London in
1776. Two years later Thomas was appointed manager of the theatre, a
position he held until 1781.
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