It was his penultimate play, and was inspired by the life of Jane Shore the mistress of Edward IV.

[1] The original cast included Anne Oldfield as Jane Shore, Robert Wilks as Dumont, Colley Cibber as the Duke of Gloucester, Barton Booth as Lord Hastings, Benjamin Husband as Catesby, John Bowman as Sir Richard Radcliff, John Mills as Bellmour and Mary Porter as Alicia.

The play was a major success, and was performed eighteen times by mid-March.

[3] Rowe wrote one further play Lady Jane Grey, another historical work set in England.

In 1715 he was appointed as Poet Laureate by the new monarch George I, having been a strong supporter of the Hanoverian Succession that brought him to the throne.