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
The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse ceilings, and well-stocked storerooms, Mrs. Tittlemouse's dwelling is similar to Potter's own at Hill Top. The author's obvious approval of Mrs. Tittlemouse's fastidious housekeeping has its source in her own pleasure in keeping her farmhouse neat, and (like Mrs. Tittlemouse) in being the mistress of her domain. Mrs. Tittlemouse's abhorrence of insect pests reflects Potter's own, but the artist in Potter preserves their beauty in the illustrations – she does not censor their antennae or their groping limbs. Potter thought girls would like the tale best, and would experience the same sort of reaction to insect pests she did –