Lydia Thompson in 'The Forty Thieves'

A carte-de-visite portrait of Lydia Thompson (1838-1908), seen here dressed as 'The Captain' in The Forty Thieves in which she appeared at the Lyceum in 1860.

The production was reviewed in The Times on 10 April 1860. 'Miss Lydia Thompson was last night the bewitching captain of the Forty Thieves, and her dance in the cavern before the assembled brigands, and a burlesque sword dance with her rebel lieutenant...excited a furore, not only among the lawless band, but also among the audience...... A good deal of the verbal wit with which the burlesque abounds was lost upon an Easter audience, but there are jokes for all comprehensions. The puns are plentiful indeed as plums in a Christmas pudding, and they take a wide range from the felicitous to the excruciating.'

Photographed by Camille Silvy of London in the Spring of 1860.