DIBDIN, CHARLES (1745-1814), British musician, dram atist, novelist, actor and songwriter, the son of a parish clerk, was born in Southampton on or before March 4, 1745, and was chorister at Winchester from 1756 to 1759. At the age of 15, he was engaged to sing at Covent Garden. His first work, an operetta entitled The Shepherd's Artifice, with words and music by himself, was produced there on May 21, 1762. Dibdin was connected with Drury Lane, both as composer and as actor for some years, and produced during this period two of his best known works, The Waterman (1774) and The Quaker A quarrel with Garrick led to the termination of his engage ment. In The Comic Mirror he ridiculed prominent contem porary figures through the medium of a puppet show. In 1782 he became joint manager of the Royal circus, afterwards known as the Surrey theatre. In three years he lost this position owing to a quarrel with his partner. His opera Liberty Hall, con taining the successful songs "Jock Ratlin," "The High-mettled Racer," and "The Bells of Aberdovey," was produced at Drury Lane theatre on Feb. 8, 1785. In 1788 he sailed for the East Indies, but the vessel having put in to Torbay in stress of weather, he changed his mind and returned to London. In a musical variety entertainment called The Oddities, he introduced the popular songs: " 'Twas in the good ship `Rover,' " "Saturday Night at Sea," "I Sailed from the Downs in the `Nancy' " and the immortal "Tom Bowling," written on the death of his eldest brother, Capt. Thomas Dibdin, at whose invitation he had planned to visit India. In a series of monodramatic entertain ments which he gave at his theatre, Sans Souci, he first introduced many of those sea-songs which stimulated the spirit of the navy during the war with France. Dibdin died of paralysis in London on July 25, 1814. Besides his Musical Tour through England (1788), his Professional Life, an autobiography published in 1803, a History of the Stage (1795), and several smaller works, he wrote upwards of 1,40o songs and about 3o dramatic pieces. His sons, Charles and Thomas John Dibdin (q.v.), were also popular dramatists in their day.