Sarah Lane (theatre manager)

Sarah "Sallie" Lane (22 September 1822 – 16 August 1899) was an English actress, playwright and theatre manager. She was known as "The Queen of Hoxton".

Sarah Lane
Born	Sarah Borrow (1822-09-22)22 September 1822 London, England
Died	16 August 1899(1899-08-16) (aged 76) London, England
Resting place	Kensal Green Cemetery
Occupation	Theatre manager, actress
Nationality	British
Genre	plays
Spouse	Sam Lane

Biography

The daughter of William Borrow and Sarah Fowles, she was born Sarah Borrow in Clerkenwell, London on 22 September 1822. She began performing as a singer and dancer at the age of seventeen under the stage name Sarah Wilton.^[1][2]

In 1843, she married Sam Lane, the manager of the Britannia Theatre. From 1873 to 1881, she wrote or translated from French eight melodramas that were presented at the theatre, including The Faithless Wife and Bad Josephine. Lane presented the works of at least six women playwrights, including Melinda Young. She also took on the role of principal boy in the theatre's productions.^[3][2][4]

Following her husband's death in 1872, Lane managed the theatre until her own death at her home on Finchley Road on 16 August 1899.^[1][5][6] During the 1880s and 1890s, she regularly appeared in the theatre's pantomimes.^[2][4]

She was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery.^[1]

References

1. Holder, Heidi J. "Lane [née Borrow], Sarah". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/59170. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
2. Grantley, Darryll (2013). Historical Dictionary of British Theatre: Early Period. p. 247. ISBN 978-0810880283.
3. Hartley, Lucy (2018). The History of British Women's Writing, 1830-1880. p. 206. ISBN 978-1137584656.
4. Leach, Robert (2018). An Illustrated History of British Theatre and Performance. Vol. Two. pp. 264–65. ISBN 978-0429873331.
5. Hollingshead, John (17 August 1899). "Death of Mrs. Sarah Lane". The Pall Mall Gazette. p. 6. Retrieved 14 October 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "The Late Mrs. Sara Lane". The Sketch. Vol. XXVII, no. 343. 23 August 1899. p. 219. Retrieved 14 October 2023 – via Google Books.