Author: Walwyn, B.
Biography:
WALWYN, B. (fl 1781-92)
“B. Walwyn” traded in various kinds of ephemera in London in the 1780s; his identity remains elusive. Most of his literary work was for the stage and most of it belonged to the category of light entertainment (farces, musical numbers, etc.), but his Essay on Comedy of 1782, dedicated to Garrick, shows that he took the theatre seriously. About that time he wrote a prose farce, Chit Chat, making fun of current debates about polygamy aroused by Martin Madan’s (q.v.) Thelyphthora; that farce was probably never performed and was not published until 1792, but Walwyn turned it into a verse “burletta” that was staged at the Royalty Theatre, London, in 1787. He created other musical numbers and at least one farce for Astley’s performance space near Westminster Bridge. He published two novels, in 1783 and 1785. He was also a print-maker: his etching of “George and the Dragon,” from 1784, includes his name and his business address at 2 Pedlars Acr. (sic), Westminster Bridge. BM and one family history on ancestry.com give his birth date as 1750, but no public records have been found to support that date; the genealogy however gives the birth parish as St. Augustine, London, which is consistent with the name of his parish in the later marriage record. No record has yet been found of his date of death, but given the fact that his productivity ended suddenly about 1792, it seems likely that it happened about then. He must have been the Benjamin Walwyn who married Elizabeth Crawford on 2 Feb. 1773 at St. John Horsleydown, Southwark. They had at least three children: Benjamin Crawford Walwyn who was born in London in 1776 and married there in 1795; and two other children baptised at Lambeth, Shakespear Richard in 1783 and Maria in 1785. (findmypast.com 16 Apr. 2024; ancestry.com 16 Apr. 2024; EN1; BM Satirical Prints, britishmuseum.org) HJ