Richard Bentley (writer)

[2] His father's influence saw him made fellow of Trinity in 1728; but he never settled to a career, endured financial troubles, and spent time in France and Jersey.

[3] During the 1750s Bentley developed significant friendships, with Horace Walpole and Thomas Gray;[3] in Jersey in 1754 he met also Johann Heinrich Müntz.

[10][11] The poem illustrations have been thought connected with the style of Jean Bérain; Bentley's subsequent architectural designs were eclectic.

His comedy The Wishes, or Harlequin's Mouth opened was acted at Drury Lane for three nights (27, 28, 80 July 1761), and at Covent Garden, 3 October 1761.

His tragedy Philodamus (printed 1767), with its scenes of courtship, paternal vigilance, and spousal preparations, is said to have convulsed the house with laughter.

1753 portrait of Bentley by John Giles Eccardt
Richard Bentley, 1753 design for Thomas Gray 's Elegy in a Country Churchyard