INCHBALD, Mrs Elizabeth (1753-1821), an English actress, dramatic author, and novelist, was born 15th October 1753. She was the daughter of a farmer at Standingfield, near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, her maiden name being Simpson. On account of the death of her father in her eighth year, she and her sisters never enjoyed the advantages of school training or of any regular supervision in their studies, but they nevertheless seem to have acquired at an early period refined and literary tastes. A favourite amusement of the family was readings, chiefly of a dramatic kind, and Elizabeth, notwithstanding that she was afflicted with an impediment of speech, which drove her into solitude, soon conceived a strong desire, not only to see the great world, but to become an actress. After making an attempt with little success to secure an engagement in a Norwich theatre, she in April 1772 left secretly for London, where she made the acquaintance of several managers and actors, but with no better fortune. In June she, however, married Mr Inchbald, a comedian in Drury Lane Theatre, and in September following she made her debut as an actress in the character of Cordelia, her husband taking the part of Lear. For several years she acted along with her husband in the provinces, but notwithstanding her great beauty and her good mental aptitude for acting, the impediment in her speech, by rendering rapidity and ease of utterance impossible, prevented her from attaining to more than very moderate excellence. After the death of her husband in 1778 she continued for some time on the stage, but her success as a dramatic author led her to retire in 1789. She died at Kensington, August 1, 1821....