Ann Maria Thorne, more widely known as Mrs. French ''('' Mestayer; 1813 Philadelphia – 20 June 1881

Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York Cornwall-on-Hudson is a riverfront village in the town of Cornwall, Orange County, New York, United States. It lies on the west bank of the Hudson River, approximately north of New York City. The population as of the 2010 census was 3,018. It ...

) was an early American concert singer and actress from Philadelphia. As "Mrs. French," she was among the most famous singers in America during the 1820s.

Career

According to an 1896 publication, ''Annals of Music in Philadelphia and History of the Musical Fund Society,'' another singer, Mrs. Burke, had been the most famous American singer until she was outrivaled by Mrs. French. Mrs. French had studied music with Benjamin Carr, an early American composer, music publisher, and music teacher from Philadelphia. She also studied with a Henri-Noel Gilles (1778–1834), a French-born and musically educated guitarist, oboist, and composer of Philadelphia. She first appeared as a child in Philadelphia at the

Chestnut Street Theatre The Chestnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was the first theater in the United States built by entrepreneurs solely as a venue for paying audiences.The Chestnut Street Theatre Project The New Theatre (First Chestnut Street Theatre) ...

. Several early nineteenth century American composers and publishers dedicated works to her. Moreover, her performance of works was used to advertise sheet music. For example, the cover pages of several compositions by

James P. Aykroyd James P. Aykroyd (1810– July 1835 in Nashville, Tennessee) was an early American composer, arranger, and music educator of piano, organ, and voice in New Bern, North Carolina, Raleigh, North Carolina, and Nashville, Tennessee. He also owned a ge ...

—published by

George E. Blake George E. Blake (17 August 1774 in England – 23 February 1871 in Philadelphia) was an American music engraver and publisher. He was born in Yorkshire, England and, according to his obituary in the ''Philadelphia Evening Telegraph'', emigrated ...

—advertise that Mrs. French as a singer of the works.

Family

Thorne was born Ann Maria Mestayer in a family of well-known American actors that included her parents, grandparents, siblings, husband, and children. Her parents, John Mestayer and Maria ''(née'' French; 1786–1860), were well-known Philadelphia stage and circus professionals. She married young, and before marriage, took a stage surname of "Mrs. French", borrowing her mother's maiden name. In December 1830, in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, Mestayer married Charles Robert Thorne (1814–1893), an actor. She and Charles had four sons and a daughter: # Neil Thorne # Thomas Thorne # Charles Robert Thorne, Jr. (1840–1883), actor #

Edwin F. Thorne Edwin Frederick Thorne (1845 or 1849 – May 4, 1897) was a 19th-century American stage actor. Thorne was born in New York City in 1845 or 1849 into a prominent acting family of the time. He was the son of Charles R. Thorne, an actor and theatr ...

(1845–1897) # Emily Thorne (1850–1912), actress A maternal aunt of Thorne, Rosalie Pelby ''(née'' French; 1792–1855) was an actress married to William Pelby (1793–1850), who, in Boston, in 1827, became the manager of the Tremont Theatre, and in 1832, built the Warren Street Theatre, and in 1836, built, founded, and managed the National Theatre.

Selected theatres and stock companies

, Philadelphia * Burton's Theatre, New York City

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thorne, Ann Maria 1813 births 1881 deaths Singers from Philadelphia People from Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York 19th-century American women singers 19th-century American singers