CENTLIVRE, MRS. SUSANNA (1667-1723).--Dramatist and actress, was the
_dau._ of a gentleman of the name of either Rawkins or Freeman, who
appears to have belonged either to Lincolnshire or Ireland, or was
perhaps connected with both, and who suffered at the hands of the
Stuarts. She _m._ at 16, lost her husband in a year, then _m._ an
officer, who fell in a duel in 18 months, and finally, in 1706, _m._
Joseph C., cook to Queen Anne, with whom she lived happily for the rest
of her days. She wrote 18 or 19 plays, well constructed and amusing,
among which may be mentioned _The Perjured Husband_ (1700), _The
Busybody_ (1709), _The Warder_ (1714), and _A Bold Stroke for a Wife_
(1717). She was a strong Whig, and sometimes made her plays the medium of
expressing her political opinions.
CHALKHILL, JOHN (_fl._ 1600).--Poet, mentioned by Izaak Walton as having
written a pastoral poem, _Thealma and Clearchus_. As nothing else is
known of him it has been held by some that the name was a _nom-de-plume_
of W. himself. It has been shown, however, that a gentleman of the name
existed during the reign of Elizabeth.
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