Killigrew, THOMAS, born in 1612, served as a page in the household of Charles I., and was afterwards a dissolute companion of Charles II. in exile and his groom of the bedchamber after the Restoration. He published in 1664 nine indifferent plays, which he tells us were written in nine different cities. He was some time manager of the king's company, and in his patent obtained permission to give the female parts to women. He died in 1683. Sir John Denham's lines form his best epitaph:
Had Cowley ne'er spoke, Killigrew ne'er writ,
Combined in one, they'd made a matchless wit.
—KILLIGREW, SIR WILLIAM, his brother, was born in 1606, fought in the Civil War, and died in 1695. His works include a comedy, Pandora, and three tragi-comedies, Selindra, Ormasdes, and The Siege of Urbin.