This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1732.
Margaret Woffington, was an Irish actress and socialite of the Georgian era.
Francis Hutcheson was an Irish violinist, composer, physician and lecturer in chemistry. His surname was often misspelled as "Hutchinson". He published his music under the pseudonym "Francis Ireland".
Anne Oldfield was an English actress and one of the highest paid actresses of her time.
Isaac Bickerstaffe or Bickerstaff was an Irish playwright and librettist.
(William) Denis Johnston was an Irish writer. Born in Dublin, he wrote mostly plays, but also works of literary criticism, a book-length biographical essay of Jonathan Swift, a memoir and an eccentric work on cosmology and philosophy. He also worked as a war correspondent, and as both a radio and television producer for the BBC. His first play, The Old Lady Says "No!", helped establish the worldwide reputation of the Dublin Gate Theatre; his second, The Moon in the Yellow River, has been performed around the globe in numerous productions featuring such storied names as James Mason, Jack Hawkins, Claude Rains, Barry Fitzgerald, James Coco and Errol Flynn. Later plays dealt with the life of Swift, the 1916 Rebellion, the pursuit of justice, and the fear of death. He wrote two opera libretti and a pageant.
John O'Keeffe was an Irish actor and dramatist. He wrote a number of farces, amusing dramatic pieces and librettos for pasticcio operas, many of which had great success. Among these are Tony Lumpkin in Town (1778), Love in a Camp (1786), and Omai (1785), an account of the voyages of the Tahitian explorer Omai, and Wild Oats (1791).
Elizabeth Stanley, Countess of Derby, known as Elizabeth Farren, was an Irish actress of the late 18th century. Born in Cork in 1759, her father, George Farren was a surgeon. His drinking habits brought on early death and his widow returned to Liverpool. Her mother went on the stage to support herself and her children. Elizabeth first appeared on the London stage in 1777 as Miss Hardcastle in She Stoops to Conquer and the following year appeared at Drury Lane which, along with the Haymarket Theatre became her primary venues for the rest of her acting career. She had over 100 characters in her repertoire including Shakespeare and various contemporary comedies and dramas. She was often compared to Frances Abington, who was her only real rival.
Robert Wilks was a British actor and theatrical manager who was one of the leading managers of Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in its heyday of the 1710s. He was, with Colley Cibber and Thomas Doggett, one of the "triumvirate" of actor-managers that was denounced by Alexander Pope and caricatured by William Hogarth as leaders of the decline in theatrical standards and degradation of the stage's literary tradition.
Samuel Derrick (1724–1769) was an Irish author. He became known as a hack writer in London, where he gained wide literary connections.
John Palmer was an actor on the English stage in the eighteenth century. There was also another John Palmer (1728–1768) who was known as Gentleman Palmer. Richard Brinsley Sheridan nicknamed him Plausible Jack.
Matthew Pilkington (1701–1774), Church of Ireland priest, writer, and art historian, was the author of a standard text on painters that became known as Pilkington's Dictionary. His first wife was the poet and memoirist Laetitia Pilkington and their second son was the singer and writer John Carteret Pilkington.
Richard Daly (1758–1813) was an Irish actor and theatrical manager who, between 1786 and 1797, held the Royal patent for staging dramatic productions in Dublin and became such a dominant figure in Irish theatre that he was referred to as "King Daly".
Thomas Elrington (1688–1732), was an English actor.
Samuel Jackson Pratt was a prolific English poet, dramatist and novelist, writing under the pseudonym of "Courtney Melmoth" as well as under his own name. He authored around 40 publications between 1770 and 1810, some of which are still published today, and is probably best remembered as the author of Emma Corbett: or the Miseries of Civil War, (1780) and the poem Sympathy (1788). Although his reputation was tainted by scandal during his lifetime, he is today recognised as an early campaigner for animal welfare and the first English writer to treat the American Revolution as a legitimate subject for literature.
William Thomas Lewis (c.1748–1811), known as "Gentleman" Lewis, due to his refined acting style, was an English actor. Raised in Ireland, he made his name on the Dublin stage before moving to the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London where he spent many years. He was said to be "the most complete fop on the stage". In later life he went into theatrical management.
John Henry Johnstone (1749–1828), also known as 'Jack' Johnstone or 'Irish' Johnstone, was an Irish actor, comedian and singer. He was a notable performer of Stage Irishman roles.
Henrietta Amelia Leeson was an English actress of the 18th-century. Known as Mrs Lewis after her marriage to the actor William Thomas Lewis In 1780, she appeared regularly with him at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. She made over 100 appearances on the London stage between 1775 and 1791.
Capel Street Theatre was an 18th-century theatre located on Capel Street in Dublin, Ireland.
John Hippisley was an English comic actor and playwright. He appeared at Lincoln's Inn Fields and Covent Garden in London, and was the original Peachum in The Beggar's Opera. He opened a theatre in Bristol, the Jacobs Well Theatre, where he and his daughter Elizabeth Hippisley appeared.
