After the death in 1790 of
John Edwin, Munden was engaged for Covent Garden Theatre. Having sold to
Stephen Kemble his share in the provincial theatres, he came to London with his wife, living first in Portugal Street, Clare Market, and then in Catherine Street, Strand. On 2 December 1790, as Sir Francis Gripe in the
Busy Body (by
Susanna Centlivre) and Jemmy Jumps in the
Farmer (by
John O'Keeffe), the latter being a part created by Edwin two or three years earlier, he made his first appearance in London, and had a warm reception. On 4 February 1791 he was the original Sir Samuel Sheepy in
Thomas Holcroft's
School for Arrogance, an adaptation of
Le glorieux of
Philippe Néricault Destouches. On 14 March he was the first Frank in O'Keeffe's
Modern Antiques, and 16 April the earliest Ephraim Smooth in O'Keeffe's
Wild Oats. In pieces of
George Colman,
Thomas Morton,
Frederick Reynolds, and other dramatists of the day he took principal parts. His Old Dornton in Holcroft's
Road to Ruin, 18 February 1792, was an immediate success, and remained a favourite to the end of his career At the Haymarket, 15 July 1797, he was the first Zekiel Homespun in
George Colman the younger's
The Heir at Law. At Covent Garden he was, 12 January 1799, Oakworth in
Joseph George Holman's
The Votary of Wealth; 8 February 1800 Sir Abel Handy in Morton's
Speed the Plough, and 1 May 1800 Dominique in
James Cobb's
Paul and Virginia. This season saw the dispute between the principal actors of Covent Garden and
Thomas Harris the manager. Munden was one of the signatories of the appeal which
Lord Salisbury the
lord chamberlain, as arbitrator, rejected in every point. Munden at the close of the season visited Dublin, Birmingham, Chester, and elsewhere. In 1802, Munden leased a house on Highgate Road,
Dartmouth Park, close to the present day Croftdown Road, and lived there until he sold the lease in 1819. At the close of the 1811 season Munden quarrelled with the management on financial questions, and did not set his foot in the theatre again, except for a benefit. At the Haymarket he played, 26 July 1811, Casimere in the
Quadrupeds of Quedlinburgh, taken by Colman the younger from
The Rovers (a piece in the
Anti-Jacobin, by
George Canning,
John Hookham Frere, and
George Ellis). He was again at the Haymarket in 1812. During the two years, 1811-3, however, he was mainly in the country, playing in Edinburgh (where he was introduced to
Walter Scott), Newcastle, Rochdale, Chester, Manchester, and elsewhere. He earned large sums of money, but began for the first time to be called tight-fisted. ==Drury Lane==