Editing William Congreve (section)

==Early life==
William Congreve was born in Bardsey Grange, in Bardsey, a village in the West Riding of Yorkshire.<ref>{{NHLE |desc=Bardsey Grange & Congreve Cottage |num=1135656 |access-date=16 October 2019}}</ref> Although [[Samuel Johnson]] disputed this, it has since been confirmed by a baptism entry for "William, sonne of Mr. William Congreve, of Bardsey grange, baptised 10 February 1669" [i.e. 1670 by the modern reckoning of the new year].<ref>{{Cite book | last=Johnson | first=Samuel | author-link=Samuel Johnson | editor-last=Cunningham | editor-first=Peter | editor-link=Peter Cunningham (writer, born 1816) | title=Lives of the most eminent English poets | place=New York | publisher=Derby and Jackson | year=1861 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3O4XAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA15 | page=15 }}</ref> His parents were Colonel William Congreve (1637–1708) and Mary Browning (1636?–1715), who moved to London in 1672, then to the Irish port of [[Youghal]].{{sfn| Scott |1983|p=96}}

Congreve was educated at [[Kilkenny College]], where he met [[Jonathan Swift]], and at [[Trinity College Dublin]].<ref>De Breffny, pg. 67.</ref> He moved to London to study law at the [[Middle Temple]], but preferred literature, drama, and the fashionable life. Congreve used the pseudonym Cleophil, under which he published ''Incognita: or, Love and Duty {{not a typo|reconcil'd}}'' in 1692. This early work, written when he was about 17 years of age, gained him recognition among [[Man of letters|men of letters]] and entry into the literary world. He became a disciple of [[John Dryden]] whom he met through gatherings of literary circles held at Will's Coffeehouse in the [[Covent Garden]] district of London. Dryden supported him throughout his life, often composing complimentary introductions for his publications.

Congreve was distantly related to [[Lady Elizabeth Hastings (1682–1739)|Lady Elizabeth Hastings]], whose family owned Ledston and was part of the London intelligentsia. He wrote a number of articles about her in the ''[[Tatler (1709 journal)|Tatler]]'' magazine.{{sfn|Scott|1983|p=97}}