People like William Wycherley

William Wycherley (baptised 8 April 1641 – 1 January 1716) was an English dramatist of the Restoration period, best known for the plays The Country Wife and The Plain Dealer.

Wycherley was born at Clive near Shrewsbury, Shropshire, although his birthplace has been said to be Trench Farm to the north near Wem later the birthplace of another writer, John Ireland, who was said to have been adopted by Wycherley's widow following the death of Ireland's parents. He was baptised on 8 April 1641 at Whitchurch, Hampshire, son of Daniel Wycherley (1617–1697) and his wife Bethia, daughter of William Shrimpton. His family was settled on a moderate estate of about £600 a year and his father was in the business service of the Marquess of Winchester. Wycherley lived during much of his childhood at Trench Farm, one his paternal family's properties, then spent some three years of his adolescence in France, where he was sent, at fifteen, to be educated on the banks of the Charente.