George Colman the Elder

The friendship he formed with David Garrick did not advance his career as a barrister, but he continued to practise until the death of Lord Bath, out of respect for his wishes.

In 1765, his metrical translation of the plays of Terence appeared and, in 1766, he produced The Clandestine Marriage jointly with Garrick, whose refusal to take the part of Lord Ogleby led to a quarrel between the two authors.

In the next year he purchased a fourth share in the Covent Garden Theatre, which- allegedly- induced General Pulteney to revoke a will by which he had left Colman large estates.

In 1774 he sold his share in the playhouse to James Leake, which had involved him in much litigation with his partners, and purchased the little theatre in the Haymarket from Samuel Foote three years later, broken in health and spirits by then.

[4] Besides the works already cited, Colman was author of adaptations of Beaumont and Fletcher's Bonduca, Ben Jonson's Epicoene and Volpone, Milton's Comus, and of other plays.