Elizabeth Inchbald

Elizabeth Inchbald
by Samuel Freeman, 1807
Born	1753 Stanningfield, Suffolk, England
Died	1821 Kensington, England
Occupation	Novelist, dramatist, critic, actress
Nationality	British
Period	1784–1810

Elizabeth Inchbald (née Simpson) (1753–1821) was an English novelist, actress, and dramatist. Her two novels are still read today.

Born on 15 October 1753 at Stanningfield, near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, Elizabeth was the eighth of the nine children of John Simpson (died 1761), a farmer, and his wife Mary, née Rushbrook. The family, like several others in the neighbourhood was Roman Catholic. Elizabeth was educated with her sisters at home. Elizabeth suffered from a speech impediment.

In April 1772, at the age of 18, she went to London to act. (Her brother George had become an actor in 1770.) Her stammer affected her performance and many audience members did not enjoy watching her on stage because of her speech impediment. Young and alone, she was apparently the victim of sexual harassment. Two months later, in June, she agreed to marry a fellow Catholic, the actor Joseph Inchbald (1735–1779), possibly at least partially for protection. Joseph at the time was not a well-known actor, was twice Elizabeth's age, and had two illegitimate sons. Elizabeth and Joseph did not have children together. The marriage was reported to have had difficulties. Elizabeth and Joseph appeared on the stage together for the first time on September 4, 1772 in Shakepeare's King Lear. In October 1772, the couple toured Scotland with West Digges's theatre company, a demanding life for nearly four years. In 1776, the couple made a move to France, where Joseph went to learn to paint and Elizabeth went to study the French language. In only one month, the couple became penniless. They moved to Liverpool and Inchbald met actors Sarah Siddons and her brother John Philip Kemble, both of whom became important friends after joining Joseph Younger's company. The Inchbalds subsequently moved to Canterbury and Yorkshire. In 1777, the couple was then hired by Tate Wilkinson's company.

After Joseph Inchbald's unexpected death in June 1779, Inchbald continued to act for several years, in Dublin, London, and elsewhere. She quarrelled publicly with Mary Wollstonecraft in 1797, when Wollstonecraft's marriage to William Godwin made it clear that she had not been married to Gilbert Imlay, the father of her elder daughter Fanny. This was deeply resented by Godwin. Her acting career, while only moderately successful, spanned seventeen years and she appeared in many classical roles, as well as in new plays such as Hannah Cowley's The Belle's Stratagem.