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David Garrick’s father had planned a legal career for his son, and when the school which the young man attended in Lichfield failed, the influence of a family friend was used to procure him a place at the Free Mathematical school at Rochester whose head was Rev. John Coulson. Here Garrick spent most of the spring and summer of 1737 studying mathematics and philosophy. His studies completed, it was not to the law that he turned, however, but to a partnership in the wine trade with his brother in London. A few years later he had embarked on a new career as an actor, playwright and theatre manager which would lead to his domination of the mid-eighteenth century English stage. His literary output encompassed lively farces such as ‘The Lying Valet’(1741) and ‘High Life Above Stairs’ (1775) as well as adaptations of Shakespeare. After 260 years the mathematical school moved into a new site in Maidstone road and the eighteenth century building in the High Street was subsequently demolished.
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Place | Extract |
| Rochester | His literary output encompassed lively farces such as ‘The Lying Valet’(1741) and ‘High Life Above Stairs’ (1775) as well as adaptations of Shakespeare... |
