Centlivre

Centlivre, Susannah (1667-1723), a dramatic writer, born in Ireland, the daughter of a Lincolnshire gentleman named Freeman, who had been a Parliamentarian and so was obliged to quit England at the Restoration. His orphan daughter came to England and married at 17. Her husband dying in about a year, she married an officer who was killed in a duel before they had been married two years. His widow then took to acting and play-writing with much success, and her wit and attractions brought her to the notice and friendship of Farquhar, Rowe, Steele, and other distinguished men. In 1706 she married Queen Anne's head cook, a Mr. Joseph Centlivre. Among her best known works are The Busybody and A Bold Stroke for a Wife.