James Townley

James Townley (6 May 1714 - 5 July 1778), English dramatist and anonymous playwright, second son of Charles Townley, merchant, was born in London on May 6, 1714.

Educated at Merchant Taylors' School, London and at St. John's College, Oxford, he took holy orders, being ordained priest on May 28, 1738. He was lecturer at St. Dunstan's in the East, chaplain to the lord mayor, then under-master at Merchant Taylors' School until 1753, when he became grammar master at Christ's Hospital. In 1760, he became head master of Merchant Taylors' School, where in 1762 and 1763 he revived the custom of dramatic performances. He retained his head-mastership until his death on July 5, 1778.

He had taken a keen interest in the theatre, and it has been asserted that many of David Garrick's best productions and revivals owed much to his assistance. He was the author, although the fact was long concealed, of "High Life below Stairs", a two-act farce presented at Drury Lane on October 31, 1759; also of "False Concord" (Covent Garden, March 20, 1764) and "The Tutor" (Drury Lane, February 4, 1765).

References

*1911