Frances Sheridan (1724 - 1766)

Frances Sheridan (née Chamberlaine) (1724 – 26 September 1766) was an Anglo-Irish novelist and playwright. Her most successful novel, Memoirs of Miss Sidney Bidulph (1761), in diary format, was influenced by Samuel Richardson's Pamela. She then turned to drama, and two of her plays were produced at London's Drury Lane theatre by David Garrick's company in the 1760s. Frances Sheridan was the mother of the more famous playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan, and the son's early successful plays were much influenced by the mother's plays.