In 1743, Hannah Cowley was born in Tiverton, Devon. Her father, Phillip Parkhouse, was an educated bookseller, which helped develop Cowley's literary interest and skill. In 1772, she married Thomas Cowley, a bookseller's son. Most female playwrights of the time period were either unmarried or abandoned playwriting shortly after their marriage. However, Thomas's small earnings as a writer allowed her to try her hand at playwriting. Cowley's interest in playwriting was allegedly sparked by a “dull night out at the theatre”; she decided she could write a better play than the one she had just watched, so shortly after, she wrote The Runaway. Cowely's first play The Runaway debuted in February 1776. With the help of David Garrick, The Runaway became a huge success and earned Cowley over 500 pounds. The Runaway was Garrick's last production before he retired, and Cowley had “lost the ‘patron’ to whom her ‘heart [was] devoted’”.[6] Cowley’s next manager, Richard Sheridan, would not be as kind. While he delayed and rejected her ideas, Cowley saw her rival, Hannah More, become popular with plays that strongly resembled Cowley’s works. The two quickly began a very public “paper war” After the Hannah More scandal, Cowley returned her focus to playwriting, and in February 1780 The Belle’s Stratagem, Cowley's most popular play premiered.
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