Like is father, Theo. Cibber was a talented comic actor, theater manager, and playwright. In his personal life, he continually displayed a pattern of sexual wantoness and financial irresponsibility. He brought an (unsuccessful) lawsuit against William Sloper, accusing him of adultery with Cibber's wife, Susannah; evidently, Cibber was becoming "increasingly dependent upon financial assistance cozened from Sloper" (DNB). Cibber often took Susannah's theater earnings to help finance his own extravagant lifestyle. He was incarcerated in debtor's prison numerous times.
Cibber was a renowned actor, playing many roles, most notably that of a fop. He was also a theater manager and playwright. The DNB summarizes his varied body of work as a playwright: "In all, Cibber wrote twenty-five theatre pieces of various sorts—twelve comedies, seven tragedies, two farces and four operas: of the twenty-five, ten were adaptations (with varying amounts of added original material) from Dryden, Corneille, Fletcher, Shakespeare, and Molière." In 1730, he was named Poet Laureate to the King as a result of his staunch Whig loyalties.
Chute was primarily a lawyer, working his way through the professional ranks. He wrote some poetry in his youth, writing under the pseudonym 'Joseph Gay.' Because J.D. Breval also wrote under this pseudonym, it makes the attribution of works difficult.
Chicken was a weaver, parish clerk, and he also opened a school. Through these various professions, he became a prominent, well-respected local figure. Two poems of his are extant. The Collier's Wedding has been praised widely for its exceptional quality.
In addition to working at various theaters, Chetwood was a bookseller, novelist, and playwright. His many plays, however, were not very lucrative or acclaimed; his prose fiction was more successful. Throughout the '30s, he declined in prosperity, and the first of a series of dire financial problems arose in 1741, when he became imprisoned in the King's Bench and a performance of William Congreve's The Old Bachelor was advertised as for his benefit. His collection Five New Novels, a piece of hack writing, probably helped secure his release.
Chandler never married because of a spinal deformity; she set up and ran a milliner's shop to help support her family. Published at the encouragement of friends in 1733, her poem "Description of Bath" was very popular, reaching eight editions by 1767. The third and subsequent editions appended a number of additional poems.
[married name Anna Grenville-Temple, Countess Temple] At age forty, Chamber "‘discovered in herself a turn for genteel versification’ in the wry anapaestic mode of Matthew Prior (Catalogue of the Royal and Noble Authors, 4.361)" (DNB). In 1764 Walpole's Strawberry Hill Press published (under her maiden name) 100 copies of her "Poems." Her major poem, ‘To the Earl Temple: on Gardening’, reappeared in the 1768 and later editions of "the New Foundling Hospital for Wit" collection. Other verse remains unpublished.
A schoolmaster, Cawthorn displayed literary talent at an early age and wrote verse, especially Latin verse, throughout his life. "Abelard to Eloisa," intended as a companion piece to Pope's ‘Eloisa to Abelard,’ is his best known-work and was reprinted frequently. The DNB explains, "Much of Cawthorn's verse is in Popean couplets and is conventionally sententious." Other extant works were initially composed for recitation by Tonbridge pupils during the annual visitation by representatives of the Skinners' Company.
Cave is best known for beginning the Gentleman's Magazine, the first of its kind, in 1731. It originated as a digest of London newspapers and periodicals for country customers (reflected in Cave's editorial pseudonym, Sylvanus Urban), but proceeded to expand and thrive. "At 6d. and seven octavo half-sheets it truly gave ‘more in quantity, and greater variety, than any Book of the kind and price’ (Bavius)." In 1732, the London Magazine became its primary competitor.
A clergyman, Catcott was very influenced by the theologian John Hutchinson. However, Catcott's pamphlet summary of Hutchinson's theology, Tractatus, was unsuccessful, perhaps because it was overly technical and written entirely in Latin. When not preaching or schoolteaching, he published some well-received verse.