Editing David Garrick (section)

==Early life==
Garrick was born at the Angel Inn, Widemarsh Street, [[Hereford]]<ref>Text of plaque on site of Garrick Theatre, Hereford.</ref> in 1717 into a family with [[French Huguenot]] roots in [[Languedoc]], [[Southern France]]. His grandfather, David Garric, was in [[Bordeaux]] in 1685 when the [[Edict of Nantes]] was abolished, revoking the rights of [[Protestant]]s in France. Grandfather Garric fled to London and his son, Peter, who was an infant at the time, was smuggled out by a nurse when he was deemed old enough to make the journey. David Garrick became a British subject upon his arrival in Britain, and later Anglicised his name to Garrick.{{sfn|Kendall|1985|p=12}}{{Clarify|date=March 2025|reason=Baby Peter was smuggled to England; then text says Peter's son David arrived in Britain??}} Some time after David Garrick's birth the family moved to [[Lichfield]], home to his mother. His father, a captain in the army, was a recruiting officer stationed in [[Gibraltar]]{{sfn|Carruthers|Ward|1911|pp=475–77}} through most of young Garrick's childhood.

Garrick was the third of seven children and his younger brother, George (1723–1779), served as an aide to David for the remainder of his life. The playwright and actor [[Charles Dibdin]] writes that George, when on occasion discovering his brother's absence, would often inquire "Did David want me?" Upon Garrick's death in 1779, it was noted that George died 48 hours later, leading some to speculate that David did indeed want him.{{sfn|Kendall|1985|p=13}}

His nephew, Nathan Garrick, married Martha Leigh, daughter of [[Sir Egerton Leigh, 1st Baronet|Sir Egerton Leigh]], and sister of Sir Samuel Egerton Leigh, author of ''Munster Abbey; a Romance: Interspersed with Reflections on Virtue and Morality'' (Edinburgh 1797).{{sfn|Bellot|1956|p=187}}

[[File:William Hogarth - David Garrick as Richard III - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|300px|right|''Have mercy, Jesu! Soft! I did but dream.''<br/>''O coward conscience, how dost thou afflict me!'' – Shakespeare's ''Richard III'' Act V, Sc. 3.<br/>David Garrick in 1745 as Richard III just before the battle of [[Bosworth Field]], his sleep having been haunted by the ghosts of those he has murdered, wakes to the realization that he is alone in the world and death is imminent. Painting by the English painter [[William Hogarth]] (which is on display at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool).]]
At the age of 19, Garrick, who had been educated at [[Lichfield Grammar School]], enrolled in [[Samuel Johnson]]'s [[Edial Hall School]]. Garrick showed an enthusiasm for the theatre very early on and he appeared in a school production around this time in the role of Sergeant Kite in [[George Farquhar]]'s ''[[The Recruiting Officer]]''. After Johnson's school was closed, he and Garrick, now friends, traveled to London together to seek their fortunes. Upon his arrival in 1737, Garrick and his brother became partners in a wine business with operations in London and Lichfield, with David taking the London operation.<ref name="Hartnoll 1983, p. 315">{{harvnb|Hartnoll|1983|p=315}}.</ref>

The business did not flourish, possibly due to Garrick's distraction by amateur theatricals. Playwright [[Samuel Foote]] remarked that he had known Garrick to have only three quarts of [[vinegar]] in his cellar and still called himself a wine merchant.{{sfn|Carruthers|Ward|1911|pp=475–77}} He was supposedly a pupil at [[Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School]].<ref name="Williamson's">{{cite book |last1=Dodd |first1=George |title=Chambers's Handy Guide to the Kent & Sussex Coast in six routes or districts ... Illustrated with a clue map and numerous wood-engravings. [The preface signed: G. D., i.e. George Dodd.] |date=1863 |publisher=W. & R. Chambers |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2ZtYAAAAcAAJ |access-date=12 July 2022 |language=en}}</ref>

In 1740, four years after Garrick arrived in London, and with his wine business failing, he saw his first play, a [[satire]], ''Lethe: or Aesop in the Shade'', produced at the [[Theatre Royal, Drury Lane]].{{sfn|Kendall|1985|p= 17}} Within a year he was appearing professionally, playing small parts at the [[Goodman's Fields Theatre]] under the management of [[Henry Giffard]]. The Goodman's Fields Theatre had been closed by the [[Licensing Act 1737]], which closed all theatres that did not hold the [[Patent theatre|letters patent]] and required all plays to be approved by the [[Lord Chamberlain]] before the performance. Garrick's performances at the theatre were a result of Giffard's help with Garrick's wine business. Giffard had helped Garrick win the business of the [[Bedford Coffee-house]], an establishment patronised by many theatrical and literary people and a location Garrick frequented.{{sfn|Kendall|1985|p=19}}