Author: Frere, Benjamin
Biography:
FRERE, Benjamin (d 1843: findmypast.com)
He was born in France, perhaps in Chérence near Paris: the title-page of his first fiction identifies him as "B. F. D. Chérensi." At that time (1787) he was living in Paris, but soon after he emigrated to England, going at first to Hereford, where he published a second edition and a translation of that book (The Modern Hero, in the Kingdom of Cathai, 1791) and his first play, The Prejudices, a Comedy (1796). He must have had regular employment of some sort but no record has been found; the most probable is teaching at some level. Thereafter he published mainly in London, intermittently turning out both fiction for the circulating libraries and plays for the London theatres: among the novels The Man of Fortitude (1801), Adventures of a Dramatist (1813, dated from Handsworth; revised 1832), Rank and Fashion! or The Mazes of Life (1819); and among the plays Olympia, a Tragedy (1821) and another comedy, The Hoaxer (1837). An interesting letter of 1828 addressed to the manager of Drury Lane Theatre, published in the 1839 edition of Olympia, contains detailed proposals for a comedy, a tragedy, and a farce--but the letter went unanswered and in a footnote the author is said to have been "compelled to give up, and has not since been heard of." He might be the Benjamin Frere who married Mary Spozzi at Aston, Birmingham, on 6 Aug. 1806, and he is more than likely the one who died at Hereford in Sept. 1843. (findmypast.com 17 Nov. 2021; ESTC; WorldCat; Google Books)
Other Names:
- B. Frere