Author: Fitzgerald, William
Biography:
FITZGERALD, William (b c. 1799)
In the preface to his one verse tragedy, The Siege of Carthage (1819), with the addition of "Jun." to his name on the title-page, Fitzgerald describes it as the "juvenile production" of a young man "in his twentieth year," i.e. born about 1799. His father was presumably also William, but no reliable biographical records have been found. O'Donoghue includes him in his list of Irish authors but offers no evidence. The book was advertised as containing an "interesting prelude, connected with the Theatres Royal"--apparently alluding to the author's acknowledgment that an earlier play had been rejected by J. P. Kemble (q.v.) at Covent Garden, although with encouragement and suggestions for revision. It is just possible that he was a descendant of the William Fitzgerald who, along with his brother Frederick, had been a bassoonist in the Drury Lane band of musicians. Genest lists the play among "plays not acted" in Some Account of the English Stage (1832) 10: 235, but declares that the author should have been "whipt, and sent back to school." It is sometimes erroneously attributed to Preston Fitzgerald (q.v.). (Highfill 5: 291; Scots Magazine 1 Sept. 1819; O'Donoghue)
Other Names:
- William Fitzgerald, Jr.