Knowles,[james] Sheridan (1784–1862), actor and playwright. The Irish performer failed to impress Americans when he arrived in 1834, but that in no way diminished the opinion of many of his contemporaries that he was the greatest dramatist of his day. Such plays as William Tell and The Wife were in the American repertory for many years, but it was another pair of dramas that capped his reputation: Virginius (1820) and The Hunchback (1832), both of which held the stage for the rest of the century and served as vehicles for many of the greatest American actors and actresses.

(1806–84)

English architect. He designed a great number of competently composed houses, including the handsome Italianate palazzo at 15 Kensington Palace Gardens, London (1854). Together with his son, (Sir) James Thomas Knowles (1831–1908), he was responsible for the Grosvenor Hotel, Victoria Station, London (1860–2). Knowles jun. laid out the Cedars Estate, Clapham, London (1860), the Park Town Estate, Battersea, London (1863–6), and other developments. He also edited the Contemporary Review and founded The Nineteenth Century.

Bibliography

• Dixon & Muthesius (1985)
• Metcalf (1978, 1980)
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004)
• Sheppard (ed.) (1973)

The full bibliography for this book is available to download as a pdf file.
Download the bibliography for A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (PDF: 1.2MB)

Knowles, J[ames] S[heridan] (1784-1862), playwright. Born in Cork, second cousin to R. B. Sheridan, he studied medicine but joined Andrew Cherry's touring company and played in Waterford, where his Poems on Various Subjects and an early dramatic piece, Leo or the Gypsy, were printed in 1810. In the next few years his plays Brian Boroimhe (1811) and Caius Gracchus (1815) were staged in Belfast, and Virginius (1820) in Glasgow. In 1825 he premièred in London with The Fatal Dowry, an adaptation from Philip Massinger. William Tell (1825) established him as the most popular dramatist of the period, offering patriotic passions in blank verse. The Hunchback (1832) and The Love Chase (1837) were successful pieces. In 1844 he abandoned theatre and became a Baptist preacher. He wrote two novels, Fortescue (1846) and George Lovell (1847). His son Richard Brinsley Knowles (1820-1882), a journalist who converted to Catholicism in 1849, wrote a comedy, some Irish fiction, and a privately printed biography of his father.

(nōlz) , 1784–1862, Anglo-Irish dramatist; cousin of Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Although he was one of the leading playwrights of his time, his works are seldom produced today. His chief plays, which are noted for their professional, workmanlike construction, include the tragedies Virginius (1820) and William Tell (1825) and the comedies The Hunchback (1832) and The Beggar of Bethnal Green (1834). In 1845, Knowles became a Baptist minister.