DIBDIN, CHARLES, a well-known writer of songs and musical composer, was born at Southampton in 1745, and was the youngest of a family of eighteen. His parents designing him for the church, he was sent to Winchester; but his love of music early diverted his thoughts from the clerical profession. After receiving some instruction from Kent, the organist of Winchester Cathedral, he went to London. His first dramatic pieces appeared on the stage of the Covent Garden Theatre, and in 1778 he became musical manager in that establishment. At this period his success on the stage was far from being commensurate with his ability as a composer. A series of mono-dramatic entertainments which he gave at his Sans Souci, brought his songs, music, and recitations more prominently into notice, and permanently established his fame as a lyric poet. On retiring from public life in 1805, he was rewarded by government with a pension of £200 a-year, of which he was only for a time deprived under the administration of Lord Grenville. Dibdin died of paralysis in 1814. Besides his Musical Tour, his Professional Life, a History of the Stage, and several smaller works, he wrote upwards of 1400 songs and about 30 dramatical pieces.