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Author: Pilon, Frederick

Biography:

PILON, Frederick (1750-88: ODNB)

Pilon was an Irish writer of comedies and farces for the London stage. The attribution of Regatta to him is based on a persuasive ms note in the Bodleian copy of the poem—which however spells his name “Frederic Pillion.” Another anonymous poem of the same period, The Drama (1775), has been attributed to him but is generally accepted to have been written by Hugh Downman, q.v. Pilon was born in Cork, Ireland, in 1750; the names of his parents are not known. He was sent to Edinburgh to study medicine but chose the theatre instead and acted both in Edinburgh and with a travelling company. He found his way to London, where he worked for a time on the Morning Post and then began his successful career as a playwright with a farce in two acts, The Invasion, or, A Trip to Brighthelmstone, in 1778. There followed a Prelude, Illumination, and another farce, The Liverpool Prize, in 1779; further farces for Covent Garden in 1780; and then a comic opera, The Fair American, for Drury Lane in 1782. His comedy He Would Be a Soldier did well at Covent Garden in 1786. On 6 Sept. 1787 he married Elizabeth Drury at St. George’s, Hanover Square, but he died in London on 17 Jan. 1788 and was buried at Lambeth. (ODNB 19 Oct. 2023; O’Donoghue; findmypast.com 19 Oct. 2023; Hibernian Chronicle 28 Jan. 1788; Manchester Mercury 11 Mar. 1788; ESTC)  

 

Other Names:

  • Frederic Pillion
 

Books written (1):