Chronology of early-modern British women playwrights

This is a chronological list of women playwrights who were active in England and Wales, and the Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland before approximately 1800, with a brief indication of productivity.



Playwrights
Nota Bene: In cases where an author's date of birth is unknown, their period of professional activity has been used.
 * Katherine of Sutton (abbess 1358–1376): rewrote several mystery plays
 * Jane Lumley (1537–1578): first translator of Euripides into English
 * Mary Sidney Herbert (1561–1621): translated one play
 * Elizabeth Cary (1585–1639): wrote first original play in English by a woman
 * Mary Wroth (1587–1652): primarily a poet; one drama extant
 * Rachel Bourchier (Countess of Bath, née Fane; 1613–1680): wrote masques
 * Jane Cavendish (1620/21–1669): co-authored a pastoral masque with her sister, Elizabeth Egerton
 * Margaret Cavendish (1623–1673): author of closet dramas
 * Elizabeth Egerton (1626–1663): co-authored a pastoral masque with her sister, Jane Cavendish
 * Katherine Philips (1631–1664): mainly a poet; author of two plays (one unfinished)
 * Aphra Behn (1640–1689): usually credited with being the first female professional playwright in English
 * Elizabeth Polwheele (c. 1651 – c. 1691): two plays extant
 * Anne Wharton (née Lee; 1659-1685): poet and verse dramatist
 * Anne Finch (1661–1720): primarily a poet; author of verse dramas
 * Delarivier Manley (1663 or c. 1670–1724): playwright
 * Mary Pix (1666–1709): playwright
 * Susannah Centlivre (c. 1667–1723): playwright
 * Frances Boothby (fl. 1669–1670): author of the first original play by a woman to be produced in London
 * Mary Davys (1674–1732): novelist; produced one play; had another published
 * Penelope Aubin (c. 1679 – c. 1731): primarily a novelist; had one play produced
 * Catherine Trotter (1679–1749): playwright
 * Jane Wiseman (fl. c. 1682–1717): author of one produced play
 * Mary Wortley Montagu (c. 1689–1762): wrote primarily in other genres
 * Eliza Haywood (1693–1756): playwright; wrote primarily in other genres
 * Ariadne (fl. 1694-95): pseudonym of unknown author of She Ventures and He Wins
 * Elizabeth Cooper (née Price) (1698? – 1761?): actress, playwright, and poet
 * Elizabeth Boyd (c. 1710 – 1745): wrote one play; wrote primarily in other genres
 * Catherine Clive (1711–1785): actress; wrote farces with some success
 * Charlotte Charke (1713–1760): playwright/actress/manager
 * Eglantine Wallace (née Maxwell; died 1803): comedies and tragedy
 * Charlotte Lennox (1720–1804): wrote primarily in other genres; two plays (one an adaptation)
 * Frances Brooke (1723–1789): primarily a novelist; wrote comic opera
 * Frances Sheridan (1724–1766): playwright
 * Mary Latter (1725–1777): one tragedy produced
 * Elizabeth Griffith (c. 1727 – 1793): playwright
 * Charlotte Lennox (c. 1727 – 1804): playwright; primarily a novelist
 * Jael Pye (née Mendez) (c. 1737 – 1782): published four works, each in a different genre
 * Dorothea Celesia (baptised 1738, d. 1790): translated Voltaire's Tancrède
 * Hannah Cowley (1743–1809): playwright and poet
 * Hannah More (1745–1833): playwright; published in many genres
 * Mary Bowes (1749–1800): published one play
 * Charlotte Smith (1749–1806): novelist and poet; one comedy attributed to her
 * Elizabeth Craven (1750–1828): writer of farces and pantomimes
 * Sophia Lee (1750–1824): playwright
 * Frances Burney (1752–1840): primarily a novelist; author of several plays, only one produced in her lifetime
 * Sophia Burrell (1753–1802): author of two tragedies
 * Elizabeth Inchbald (1753–1821): playwright
 * Ann Yearsley (c. 1753 – 1806): primarily a poet; produced and published one play
 * Hannah Brand (1754–1821): published playwright
 * Margaret Holford(1757–1834): one play produced
 * Harriet Lee (1757–1851): playwright
 * Mary Robinson (1757–1800): wrote primarily in other genres; one play produced
 * Jane West (1758–1852): wrote primarily in other genres
 * Anne Plumptre (1760–1818): wrote primarily in other genres; translated dramas
 * Elizabeth Kemble (1761–1836): known for acting
 * Mariana Starke (1761/2–1838): author of four plays, not all produced; mainly a travel writer
 * Joanna Baillie (1762–1851): prolific playwright
 * Susanna Rowson (née Haswell) (1762–1824): British-American novelist, poet, playwright
 * Jean Marishall (Jane Marshall) (fl. 1765–1788): one play
 * Fanny Robertson (1765-1855): actor-manager, author of at least two plays
 * Barbarina Brand (1768–1854): author of four published plays, one produced
 * Anna Ross (b. 1773): performer; wrote comic opera
 * Frances Burney (1776–1828): published two unproduced tragedies
 * Jane Porter (1776–1850): two plays
 * Margaret Holford (1778–1852): one play, neither published nor produced
 * Jane Scott (1779–1839): theatre manager, actor, and playwright
 * Mary Russell Mitford (1787–1855): playwright
 * Felicia Hemans (1793–1835): primarily a poet; some verse drama
 * Catherine Gore (1799–1861): eleven plays produced
 * Catherine Crowe (1800–1876): primarily a fiction writer; two plays, one produced
 * Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861): primarily a poet; one closet drama and one translation
 * Elizabeth Polack (fl. 1830–1838): author of five plays, three surviving