Robert Munford
Robert Munford was a notable figure in colonial America, known for his contributions as a landowner, politician, and playwright. Born into a well-connected but financially struggling family, Munford received an education in England before returning to the United States. He married Anna Beverley in the early 1760s, and through the expansion of his family’s tobacco plantation, he became one of the wealthiest landowners in Virginia. Politically active, he served in the Virginia House of Burgesses and was involved in significant events leading up to the American Revolutionary War, including signing anti-Stamp Act resolutions and participating in a boycott of British tea.
As a playwright, Munford is recognized as America’s first comic dramatist, with works such as "The Candidates" and "The Patriots" that reflect the political landscape of the time and the social attitudes of 18th-century Virginia. His writings often explored themes of moderation and the responsibilities of the patrician class in a changing political environment. Despite facing challenges, such as societal pressures regarding loyalty during the revolution, Munford's literary contributions have been preserved and are accessible in various historical libraries. His life and works provide insight into the complexities of colonial society and its evolving political dynamics.
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Robert Munford
Playwright
- Born: c.1737
- Died: 1784
Biography
Robert Munford came from a well-connected but poor colonial American family. He received an education in England at the Beverley School and Wakefield Grammar School from 1750 to 1756. His education was paid for by William Beverley, his uncle and future father-in-law. After he returned to the United States, Munford received legal training in the offices of his cousin Peyton Randolph. In 1760 or early 1761, he married Anna Beverley, the daughter of his benefactor. The extension of his family’s tobacco plantation made Munford one of the wealthiest colonial landowners.
In 1765 he became the county lieutenant for Mecklenburg County, Virginia. From 1765 to the beginning of the Revolutionary War, he was a political moderate serving in the Virginia House of Burgesses and General Assembly. He later signed the anti-Stamp Act resolutions with Patrick Henry and participated in the 1774 Williamsburg Association’s boycott of tea imported from England. When the war broke out, he actively recruited soldiers and rose to the rank of major.
Munford wrote poems, two plays, and an unfinished translation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. His literary effects were edited by his son and published posthumously in 1798. His plays establish Munford as America’s first comic dramatist. The Candidates depicts a Virginia election taking place in the early 1770’s. The aristocrat currently in office has decided not to seek reelection. Three socially inferior opportunists decide to run for office. Although Munford shows the yeomanry rejecting the unworthy office-seekers and reelecting the worthy aristocrats, his play reveals his patrician fears of what electoral politics could become. His comedy illustrates the class attitudes in eighteenth century Virginia.
The Patriots, written in the late 1770’s, integrates farce and romance to present the uneasiness of a society on the brink of war. The play seems to caricature local figures, and that may explain why it was never produced. Munford also reveals his resentment of the hostile treatment of his family and friends, many of them Scots, who were regarded as insufficiently patriotic. Much in the manner of George Farquhar and other Restoration dramatists, Munford is suspicious of excessive zeal, even if it is expressed as patriotism. He celebrates moderation in all things From the perspective of social history, Munford’s comedies seem to illustrate the shift toward party politics. He is interested in exploring the political responsibilities of the patrician class and the electoral abuses to which a democratic society is susceptible. Munford’s papers have been collected at the Perkins Library at Duke University, the Henry E. Huntington Library, and the Virginia Historical Society.