Ambrose Eccles (c. 1736–1809), full name Isaac-Ambrose Eccles, was an Anglo-Irish Shakespearean scholar.[1] [2]
He was the son of Hugh Eccles, of Cronroe, County Wicklow, and his wife Elizabeth Ambrose.[2] He was the grandson of Sir John Eccles. He was educated at Trinity College Dublin, and then travelled in France and Italy, but returned home through illness.[1]
Eccles was in London in 1763, and was a guest of James Boswell at the Mitre tavern.[3] He died in 1809, at his seat at Cronroe.[1]
Eccles was a dramatic critic, and published editions of several of Shakespeare's plays, in which he transposed scenes that appeared to him to be wrongly placed. These plays were Cymbeline, 1793; King Lear, 1793; and Merchant of Venice, 1805. They contained notes and illustrations, with critical and historical essays.[1]
Eccles married Grace Ball, eldest daughter of Thomas Ball of Urker, County Armagh. They had three sons and three daughters.[4] Among the sons was Major Hugh Eccles, whose daughter Elizabeth Eccles married Henry Ward, 5th Viscount Bangor.[5]