Background
Forrest was the son of Ebenezer Forrest, a solicitor, born in London.
Forrest was the son of Ebenezer Forrest, a solicitor, born in London.
He studied drawing under George Lambert, and until a year or two before his death exhibited at the Royal Academy annually from 1762 to 1781.
He entered his father"s business. And became a steady solicitor, though with a passion for music As solicitor to Covent Garden Theatre, Forrest was thrown in with the dramatic profession, and he composed a musical entertainment, The Weathercock, produced at Covent Garden 17 October 1775.
lieutenant was said by John Genest to be "poor stuff".
As a writer of songs, however, Forrest was more successful. He earned a reputation for the rendering of his own ballads.
Towards the close of his life Forrest was afflicted with a painful nervous disorder, attended with a black jaundice. He was thrown into a condition of deep melancholy, and on 5 November 1784 killed himself at his chambers in George Street, York Buildings, London.
He was a member of the Beefsteak Club, and associated with David Garrick and George Colman.