Knowles, James Sheridan (1784-1862)

Irish dramatist, born in Cork, and second cousin of the dramatist Richard Brinsley Sheridan. His only Irish play was Brian Boroimhe (1811), produced by the company of Andrew Cherry (1762-1812). In London Knowles became part of the literary circle of Charles Dickens, Charles Lamb, and William Hazlitt. His tragedy Caius Gracchus (1815) won much praise. Five years later his Virginius, suggested by his friend the actor Edmund Kean, was performed at Drury Lane. William Tell (1825) was produced by William Macready at Covent Garden, and The Beggar's Daughter of Bethnal Green was produced in 1828.

Among his other plays were Alfred the Great (1831), The Hunchback (1832), and The Love Chase (1837). Knowles later became a Baptist preacher.