William Dunlap thus records his impression of Anne Brunton's Covent Garden debut as Horatia in The Roman Father, October 17, 1785. Until less than a year before her London debut this young woman had never stepped before an audience. Her mercurial rise from the Theatre Royal, Bath, to London did not prepare her to displace or challenge Mrs. Sarah Siddons, reigning queen of the London stage. It did, however, launch Anne Brunton on a successful Covent Garden engagement, preparing her for a career in the United States between 1796 and 1808.