Richard Cumberland

Born in Cambridge in 1732 and educated at Bury St Edmunds and Trinity College, Cambridge, he went on to build a varied career as a writer and public servant. He served in government posts connected with the Board of Trade before becoming widely known in literary circles.

He is chiefly remembered for plays such as The West Indian and The Jew, works that helped make him one of the notable comic dramatists of the late eighteenth century. His writing often favored sentiment and moral argument, and he also published novels, essays, criticism, and memoirs.

Later in life he recorded his experiences in Memoirs of Richard Cumberland, a useful window into the theater and society of his time. He died in London in 1811 after a long career that reached across drama, fiction, and public life.