Sarah Thorne

Sarah Thorne (10 May 1836 – 27 February 1899) was a British actress and actress-manager of the 19th century who managed the Theatre Royal at Margate for many years. She ran a school for acting there which is widely regarded as Britain's first formal drama school. The Sarah Thorne Theatre Club in Broadstairs is named in her memory.

Sarah Thorne was born in London in 1836, the eldest of ten children born to Richard Samuel Thorne (1813–1875), an actor and theatre manager who managed the Surrey Theatre, and his wife, Sarah née Rogers (1812–1896). Two of her younger brothers were Thomas Thorne, one of the founding managers of London's Vaudeville Theatre, and George Thorne, the singer and actor, best known for his performances in the comic baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. Sarah Thorne made her stage debut aged 12 on 26 December 1848 in a pantomime produced by her father at the Pavilion Theatre, Whitechapel. Over the next few years she went on to appear in stock companies all over Great Britain. On 6 August 1855 she joined her father's company for the summer season at Margate.

Thorne then moved to Ireland where she stayed for three seasons, appearing as the leading lady at the Theatre Royal, Dublin as Desdemona in Othello opposite Charles Kean, and playing Lady Macbeth to Gustavus Vaughan Brooke's Macbeth. Thorne then toured Ireland and Scotland. She married the Irish political author and biographer Thomas Macknight. They had two children during their three years together, Edmund (b. 1860) and Elizabeth (b. 1862), but due to incompatibility the couple separated soon after the birth of their daughter.

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