List of early-modern British women playwrights

This is an alphabetical 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. Nota Bene: Authors of dramatic works are the focus of this list, though many of these writers worked in more than one genre.



A

 * Frances Abington (1737–1815): actor who wrote two plays, only one produced
 * Elizabeth Frances Amherst (c. 1716 – 1779): poet and naturalist who had her Dramatick pastoral produced in 1762
 * Ariadne (fl. 1694-95): pseudonym of unknown author of She Ventures and He Wins
 * Penelope Aubin (c. 1679 – c. 1731): primarily a novelist; one play produced

B

 * Joanna Baillie (1762–1851): prolific playwright
 * Mary E. Balfour (fl. 1789–1810): one play produced, Belfast
 * Maria Barrell née Weylar (died 1803): born in West Indies; poet, playwright, and writer for periodicals
 * Mrs. W [ illiam? ] Barrymore (fl. 1823): one play produced
 * Aphra Behn (1640–1689): usually credited with being the first female professional playwright in English
 * Mary Berry (1763–1852): one play produced, one in manuscript
 * Caroline Boaden (fl. 1821–1839): author of at least six plays; daughter of James Boaden
 * Ursula Agnes Booth (1740–1803): actor who wrote at least one farce
 * Frances Boothby (fl. 1669–1670): author of the first original play by a woman to be produced in London
 * Rachel Bourchier (Countess of Bath, née Fane; 1613–1680): wrote masques
 * Mary Bowes (1749–1800): published one play
 * Elizabeth Boyd (c. 1710 – 1745): one play; wrote primarily in other genres
 * Barbarina Brand (1768–1854): author of four published plays, one produced
 * Hannah Brand (1754–1821): published playwright
 * Charlotte Brooke (1740–1793): one play published but not produced
 * Frances Brooke (1723–1789): primarily a novelist; wrote comic opera
 * Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861): primarily a poet; one closet drama and one translation
 * Mrs. Burgess (fl. 1779–1780): one comedy, produced in Canterbury
 * Miss Burke (fl. 1793): one comic opera/burletta
 * Frances Burney (1752–1840): primarily a novelist; author of several plays, only one produced in her lifetime
 * Frances Burney (1776–1828): published two tragedies, not produced
 * Sophia Burrell (1753–1802): author of two tragedies

C

 * Christian Carstairs (fl. 1763—1786): poet who wrote a short theatrical
 * Elizabeth Cary (née Tanfield) (1585–1639): first woman known to have written and published an original play in English
 * Jane Cavendish (1620/21–1669): co-authored a pastoral masque with her sister, Elizabeth Egerton
 * Margaret Cavendish (1623–1673): author of closet dramas
 * Dorothea Celesia (baptised 1738, d. 1790): translated Voltaire's Tancrède
 * Susannah Centlivre (c. 1667–1723): playwright
 * Marianne Chambers (fl. 1799–1812): English playwright
 * Charlotte Charke (1713–1760): playwright/actor/manager
 * Susannah Cibber (1714–1766): actor who had at least one masque produced
 * Catherine Clive (1711–1785): actor; wrote farces with some success
 * Jane Collier (1714–1755): The Cry (1754), co-authored with Sarah Fielding
 * Elizabeth Cooper (née Price) (1698? – 1761?): actor, playwright, and poet
 * Misses Corbett, sisters Walterina Cunningham (died 1837) and Grace Corbett (c. 1765 – 1843): novelists, playwrights, and anthologists
 * Margaret Cornelys (1723–1797): author of two comedies and a ballad opera, only one produced (Dublin 1781)
 * Hannah Cowley (1743–1809): playwright and poet
 * Elizabeth Craven (1750–1828): writer of farces and pantomimes
 * Catherine Crowe (1800–1876): primarily a fiction writer; two plays, one produced
 * Mrs. Cullum (fl. 1775): one drama, not produced
 * Catherine Cuthbertson (fl. 1793): novelist who wrote one play

D

 * Mary Davys (1674–1732): novelist; produced one play; had another published
 * Charlotte De Humboldt (fl. 1821–1838): poet and author of the tragedy Corinth (1821)
 * Anne de La Roche-Guilhem (1644–1707): wrote Rare on tout (1677), a masque for Charles II
 * Mary Deverell (1731–1805): author of two plays, not performed
 * Dorothea Dubois (1728–1774) wrote musical entertainments

E

 * Maria Edgeworth (1768–1849): novelist who also wrote comic dramas, published but not performed
 * Anna Maria Edwards (fl. 1783–1787): one play, produced in Dublin
 * Christian Edwards (fl. 1776–1787): one play, published but not produced
 * Elizabeth Egerton (1626–1663): co-authored a pastoral masque with her sister, Jane Cavendish
 * Jane Egleton (d. 1734): actor who wrote a ballad opera

F

 * Sarah Fielding (1710–1768): The Cry (1754), co-authored with Jane Collier
 * Anne Finch (1661–1720): primarily a poet; author of verse dramas
 * Elizabeth Forsyth (fl. 1784–1789): author of The Siege of Quebec
 * Ann Francis (1738–1800): poetic dramatization of The Song of Solomon (1781)
 * Susan Fraser (fl. 1809–1816): author of one poetic tragedy, Comala (1809)

G

 * Sarah Gardner (née Cheney) (fl. 1763–1795): comedic actor and playwright
 * Maria Geisweiler (fl. 1799–1800): author of dramas, unproduced
 * Mary Goldsmith (fl. 1800–1804): author of two comic pieces
 * Catherine Gore (1799–1861): eleven plays produced
 * Mrs. Green (fl. 1756): author of one play
 * Elizabeth Griffith (c. 1727 – 1793): playwright
 * Elizabeth Gunning (1769–1823): a tragi-comedy, not produced

H

 * Elizabeth Harlow (fl. 1789): bookseller; author of one comedy
 * Elizabeth Harrison (fl.1724–1756): The Death of Socrates in Miscellanies on moral and religious subjects (1756)
 * Margaret Harvey (1768–1858): English poet, scholar, and playwright
 * Eliza Haywood (1693–1756): playwright; wrote primarily in other genres
 * Elizabeth Helme (1743–1814): educational writer who translated two children's plays
 * Felicia Hemans (1793–1835): primarily a poet; some verse drama
 * Philippina Hill (née Burton) (fl. 1768-87): poet and author of one produced play
 * Barbara Hofland (1770–1844): prolific writer who published one volume of dramas for children
 * Frances Holcroft (1780–1844): poet, novelist, translator of plays
 * Margaret Holford (1757–1834): one play produced
 * Margaret Holford (1778–1852): one play, neither published nor produced
 * Rachael Hoper (fl. 1742–1760): three plays produced
 * Mary Hornby (fl. 1819–1820): two plays, not produced
 * Harriet Horncastle Hook (fl. 1784): author of one comic opera
 * Anne Hughes (fl. 1784–1797): novelist and poet who wrote Moral dramas intended for private representation (1790)
 * Elizabeth Edmead Hull (fl. 1786–1832): The Events of the Day (prod. Norwich, 1795)

I

 * Elizabeth Inchbald (1753–1821): playwright
 * Sarah Isdell (fl. 1805–1825): two plays produced but not printed

K

 * Maria Theresa Kemble (1774–1838): actor, singer, dancer, and comic playwright
 * Grace Kennedy (1782–1825): religious writer who wrote one drama, not performed
 * Anne Killigrew (1660–1685): "A Pastoral Dialogue" published in Poems (1686)

L

 * Mary Latter (1725–1777): one tragedy produced
 * Rose D'Aguilar Lawrence (fl. 1799–1836): poet and author of one play, not performed
 * Mary Leadbeater (1758–1826): Irish Quaker author whose work included dramatic dialogues
 * Mary Leapor (1722–1746): English poet who wrote one tragedy, unproduced
 * Alicia Sheridan Le Fanu (1753–1817): Irish author of one comedy
 * Harriet Lee (1757–1851): playwright
 * Sophia Lee (1750–1824): playwright
 * Charlotte Lennox (née Ramsay) (c. 1730 – 1804): Scottish novelist, playwright, and poet
 * Jane Lumley (1537–1578): first translator of Euripides into English

M

 * Elizabeth Macauley (1785?–1837): actor and author
 * Delarivier Manley (1663 or c. 1670–1724): playwright
 * Jean Marishall (Jane Marshall) (fl. 1765–1788): one play
 * Charlotte McCarthy (fl. 1745-68): Irish novelist and religious writer who wrote one dramatic dialogue
 * Catherine Metcalfe (d. 1790): one tragedy
 * Ann Minton (b. 1785): A Wife to be Lett; or, The Miser Cured (1802)
 * Mary Russell Mitford (1787–1855): playwright
 * Mary Wortley Montagu (1689–1762): prolific writer whose comedy, Simplicity, was not produced
 * Hannah More (1745–1833): playwright; published in many genres
 * Ann Hamilton M'Taggart (1753?–1834): published playwright, none produced

N

 * Charlotte Nooth (fl. 1807–1816): poet who published one play

O

 * Mary O'Brien (fl. 1785–1790): Irish poet and playwright
 * Amelia Opie (1769–1853): English abolitionist and writer, mainly of novels and poetry
 * Olivia Owenson (1785–1845): Irish poet and dramatist
 * Sydney Owenson (1781?–1859): Irish writer known mainly for novels

P

 * Eliza Parsons (1739–1811): prolific Gothic novelist who had one play produced
 * Anne Penny (née Hughes; 1729–1784): Welsh poet and author of one dramatic entertainment
 * Katherine Philips (1631–1664): mainly a poet; author of two plays (one unfinished)
 * Laetitia Pilkington (1709–1750): Anglo-Irish poet who had one play produced
 * Elizabeth Pinchard (née Sibthorpe; fl. 1791–1820): novelist who also wrote dramatic dialogues for young readers
 * Hester Thrale Piozzi (1741–1821): author and patron with two unpublished plays
 * Mary Pix (1666–1709): playwright
 * Francis Plowden (d. 1827): author of one comic opera
 * Annabella Plumptre (1769–1838): collaborated with her sister, Anne Plumptre
 * Anne Plumptre (1760–1818): wrote primarily in other genres; translated dramas
 * Elizabeth Polack (fl. 1830–1838): author of five plays, three surviving
 * Elizabeth Polwheele (c. 1651 – c. 1691): two plays extant
 * Jane Pope (1744–1818): English actor who had one comedy produced in 1767
 * Anna Maria Porter (1778–1832): poet and novelist who se The Fair Fugitives was produced in 1803
 * Jane Porter (1776–1850): two plays
 * Jael Pye (née Mendez) (c. 1737 – 1782): published four works, each in a different genre

R

 * Elizabeth Richardson (d. 1779): author of The double deception; or, lovers perplex'd
 * Sarah Watts Richardson (d. 1824): poet, novelist, playwright
 * Jane Robe (fl. 1723): author of The Fatal Legacy (1723)
 * Rose Roberts (1730–1788): translator, poet, and writer of sermons who wrote at least one drama
 * Fanny Robertson (1765–1855): actor-manager, author of at least two plays
 * Mary Robinson (1757–1800): wrote primarily in other genres; one play produced
 * Anna Ross (b. 1773): performer; wrote comic opera
 * Susanna Rowson (née Haswell) (1762–1824): British-American novelist, poet, playwright
 * Elizabeth Ryves (1750–1797): Irish poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and translator

S

 * Charlotte Elizabeth Sanders (fl. 1787–1803): wrote plays for young readers
 * Elizabeth Satchell (later Kemble; 1763–1841): actor; had one pastoral produced
 * Jane Scott (1779–1839): theatre manager, actor, and prolific playwright
 * Olivia Serres
 * Elizabeth Sheridan (1758–1837): wrote one play, since lost
 * Frances Sheridan (1724–1766): playwright
 * Mrs. C. Short (fl. 1792): Dramas for the Use of Young Ladies (1792)
 * Mary Sidney (1561–1621): translated one play
 * Charlotte Smith (1749–1806): novelist and poet; one comedy attributed to her
 * Mariana Starke (1761/2–1838): author of four plays, not all produced; mainly a travel writer
 * Agnes Stratford (fl. 1794–1795): one tragedy, published but not produced
 * Katherine of Sutton (fl. 1358–1376): abbess who rewrote several mystery plays; considered England's first woman playwright

T

 * Elizabeth Tollet (1694–1754): Susanna; or innocence preserved, in Poems on several occasions (1755; not produced)
 * Sarah Trimmer: prolific educational writer; author of The little hermit; or, the rural adventure (1788; not produced)
 * Catherine Trotter (1679–1749): playwright
 * Margaret Turner (fl. 1790–1810): pastoral

W

 * Eglantine Wallace (née Maxwell; d. 1803): comedies and tragedy
 * Jane West (1758–1852): wrote primarily in other genres
 * Anne Wharton (née Lee; 1659–1685): poet and verse dramatist
 * Elizabeth Whitlock (née Kemble; 1761–1836): known mainly for acting
 * Ann Wilson (fl. 1778–1812): Jephthah's daughter (1783; not produced)
 * Jane Wiseman (fl. c. 1682–1717): author of one produced play
 * Mary Wroth (1587–1652): primarily a poet; one drama extant

Y

 * Ann Yearsley (c. 1753 – 1806): primarily a poet; produced and published one play
 * Elizabeth Yorke (née Lindsay; 1763–1858): playwright