Place Name
Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan (October 30, 1751 – July 7, 1816) was the author of The Rivals, The School for Scandal, The Duenna, and A Trip to Scarborough who lived at Downe House, Richmond Hill, from 1806. It was the same year that as a Whig MP he changed constituency from Stratford to Westminster. History of Parliament Online writes: “No political party could comfortably accommodate in its ranks a figure like Sheridan, ‘perhaps the first genius of the age’, who lived on applause.” He was heavily involved in the intrigues of the Regency era and as the ally of Charles James Fox was on the side of the American Colonials in the political debate of 1780 and later supported the French Revolution. But when he lost his seat in 1812 his creditors moved against him and he died in poverty. He was buried in Poets’ Corner, in Westminster Abbey.
