 Paul Ranger describes these makeshift theatres as "comfortless", with boxes constructed from bales of hay and wagons "slung from the rafters" as galleries.Thornton's permanent company was made up of a core of family members—his wife and her brother and sisters, his two sons and two sons-in-law—but was also regularly augmented by London-based performers employed for short seasons ranging from a few days to several months.One of these was the Anglo-Irish actress Dorothea Jordan (1761–1816), who became the mistress and companion of the future King William IV.