Susanna, a celebrated comic writer, was the daughter of Mr Freeman of Holbeach, in Lincolnshire; and had such an early turn for poetry, that it is said she wrote a song before she was seven years old. Before she was twelve years of age, she could not only read Molière in French, but enter into the spirit of all the characters. Her father dying, left her to the care of a step-mother, whose treatment not being agreeable to her, she determined, though almost destitute of money and every other necessity, to go up to London to seek a better fortune than what she had hitherto experienced. As she was proceeding on her journey on foot, she was met by a young gentleman from the university of Cambridge, the afterwards well-known Anthony Hammond, Esq. who was so extremely struck with her youth and beauty, that he fell instantly in love with her; and inquiring into the particulars of her story, soon prevailed upon her unexperienced innocence to seize on the protection he offered her, and go with him to Cambridge. After some Centner, some months cohabitation, he persuaded her to come to London, where in a short time, she was married to a nephew of Sir Stephen Fox. But that gentleman not living with her above a twelvemonth, her wit and beauty soon procured her a second husband, whose name was Carrol, and who was an officer in the army; but he having the misfortune to be killed in a duel about a year and a half after their marriage, she became a second time a widow. For the sake of support she now applied to her pen, and became a votary of the muses; and it is under this name of Carrol that some of her earlier pieces were published. Her first attempt was in tragedy, in a play called the Perjured Husband; yet natural vivacity leading her afterwards to comedy, we find but one more attempt in the buffoon, among 18 dramatic pieces which she afterwards wrote.

In 1706, she wounded the heart of one Mr Joseph Centlivre, yeoman of the mouth, or in other words principal cook to her majesty, who married her; and, after passing several years happily together, she died at his house in Spring Garden, Charing-Cross, in December 1723.

This lady for many years enjoyed the intimacy and esteem of the most eminent wits of the times, viz. Sir Richard Steele, Mr Rowe, Budgell, Farquhar, Dr Sewell, &c.; and very few authors received more tokens of esteem and patronage from the great. With regard to her merit as a writer, it must be allowed that her plays do not abound with wit, and that the language of them is sometimes even poor, enervate, incorrect, puerile; but then her plots are buoyant and well conducted, and her characters in general natural and well marked.