The Angel Inn the Anglo-Irish actress Dorothea Jordan (1761–1816), who became the mistress and companion of the future King William IV. Thornton was "a man with flair but with no eye for detail [and] little patience with learning lines, a habit which spread to members of his company." James Winston, in his "The Theatric Tourist" (1805), relates how, just before one performance at Andover, Thornton noticed someone in the audience holding a copy of that evening's play. Winston writes: "With such a potent evidence of their incorrectness, it was impossible to proceed..." Thornton announced that the performance was cancelled, owing to the troupe's
Dorothea Macnee marriage, during which Dorothea often spent extended periods in London, attending the theatre and fashionable parties. In December 1927 Dorothea gave birth to a second son, James, who lived for several years with his father, Oswald “Ozzie” Marmaduke Dalby Bell, who was also a horse trainer in Lambourn. Dorothea frequently visited to see her son. During one of her stays in London, Dorothea met divorcee Mrs Evelyn Spottiswoode, wealthy heiress of the Dewar's whisky company. A lesbian who preferred to dress in man-style tweed jackets and brogues, her Rooksnest House and estate were close to the Macnee home in Lambourn.