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.

Sarah Thorne made her stage debut aged 12 on 26 December 1848 in a pantomime produced by her father at the Pavilion Theatre, Whitechapel.

Sarah Thorne declared that, under her management, she intended to offer the "newest pieces approved in the metropolis as occasion permits" but also would not forget to produce "old and legitimate productions".

When the Theatre Royal burnt down in November 1877 Thorne founded a touring company which included the veteran actor Charles James Mathews.

Open to both men and women, her apprentices included Harley Granville-Barker, Louis Calvert, Gertrude Kingston, Julia Stewart, Evelyn Millard, Janet Achurch, Adelaide Neilson, her brother George Thorne and Irene and Violet Vanbrugh.

[1] In 1894 Thorne leased the Chatham Lecture Hall, renaming it the Opera House; it became an alternative venue for her theatrical company.

After her death her son and business manager, Edmund Macknight, took over the leases of the Opera House at Chatham and the Theatre Royal in Margate.