author
James Townley
An 18th-century clergyman and playwright, he is best remembered for the lively farce High Life Below Stairs. His career blended church life, teaching, and the stage in a way that still makes him an interesting figure in English literary history.
1 Audiobook
Parturition without Pain or Loss of Consciousness
by James Townley
About the author
Born in London in 1714, James Townley was educated at Merchant Taylors' School and St John's College, Oxford. He was ordained as an Anglican priest in 1738 and later worked both as a schoolmaster and as a clergyman.
Alongside his religious career, he wrote for the theater. He is chiefly known as the author of High Life Below Stairs, a popular two-act farce first performed in 1759, and he also wrote False Concord and The Tutor. For a time, the authorship of High Life Below Stairs was kept hidden, which added a little mystery to his reputation.
Townley died in 1778. Though not among the most famous writers of his century, he remains a notable example of an English writer whose life moved between the pulpit, the classroom, and the playhouse.