Author: Downing, George
Biography:
DOWNING, George (1729-80: ancestry.co.uk)
There are two printed sources of biographical information on George Downing, playwright and actor: Downing’s own sketch of a year in his life printed in his The Temple of Taste (1763), and Highfill. These can now be amplified with information from public records. Although he used Downing professionally and for his publications, his family name was Dunning. He was a son of Joseph Dunning, a prosperous peruke maker with premises in St. James’s Street, Westminster, and his wife Mary Warwick. They had married in 1724 and George was born on 13 Mar. 1729 and baptised in St. James’s church on 2 Apr. The Temple of Taste states that he was educated to believe he would be well provided for by his father. On 24 Dec. 1747 he secretly married Sarah Randalph (b 1725), a daughter of Captain Edward Randalph, in St. George’s chapel in Albemarle Street. The marriage met with disapproval from both families and the couple was left with no financial provision. They had a son and two daughters. His first connection with the theatre is believed to have been in Norwich in the 1750s and he joined the strolling players of a Mr. Herbert. In 1761 Downing returned to London and sought to make his way in the theatres there. He also attempted to contact his father but discovered that the family had fallen on hard times and left the city. By Downing’s own account he was very unlucky in his search for employment and the most he could get was a few day’s work at Borough fair. By 1764 he had returned to acting in Norwich and other provincial centres but he later moved to Birmingham where, according to Highfill, he worked as a teacher. Downing died in Dec. 1780 and was buried (as George Dunning) on 30 Dec. at St. Philip’s, Birmingham. The fate of his wife and children is not known. His other plays include Newmarket, or, the Humours of the Turf (1774) and The Volunteers; or Taylors to Arms (1780). (Highfill; George Downing, The Temple of Taste [1763]; findmypast.co.uk 1 Aug. 2024; ancestry.co.uk 1 Aug. 2024) SR
Other Names:
- G. Downing