BICKERSTAFFE, ISAAC (c. 1735-c. 1812), British dram atist. He was the author of many plays and burlesque farces interspersed with songs, produced between 176o and 1771. The best-known are Maid of the Mill (founded on Richardson's Pamela), The Padlock, He W ould if he Could, Love in a Village, The Hypocrite, and The Captive. In 1772 Bickerstaffe, suspected of a capital offence, fled to the Continent. The exact date of his death is unknown, but it is recorded that he was living in abject misery in 1812.
A full account of his dramatic productions is given in Biographia Dramatica, ed. Stephen Jones (1812).