When Henry Nye Chart, proprietor of the Theatre Royal in Brighton, died unexpectedly in 1876, he left the business to his widow.

It was highly unusual in those days for a woman to run a theatre and few expected much of Ellen Nye Chart who was only 35 years old.

But in the next 15 years she made the Royal a leading provincial theatre and put its finances in good order.

As an actress she had a good idea of what would attract audiences and leading actors of the day, such as Sir Henry Irvine, came to Brighton.

She put on current Gilbert and Sullivan light operas, sure fire successes, and also staged more substantial operas such as Carmen and Faust.

A touring company presented plays by Shakespeare most years and this continued well into the next century.

Ellen Nye Chart introduced matinees which proved popular. She also made the annual pantomime a great climax to the year’s entertainment.

She did not forget the poor people of Brighton in her programming and each year invited all the inmates of the workhouse to a free performance of the panto. There were 1,100 of them, so this was a substantial undertaking.

An illuminated address in 1888 thanks her for her kindness and said how much the audiences had appreciated it.

At the pantomime, Ellen Nye Chart always made a speech from the stage which was greeted with acclaim She was known throughout Brighton and well beyond.

But in 1891 she was taken ill and although she recovered she had a relapse early the following year and died. She was just 51.

Historian Antony Dale said: “Her funeral was one of the grandest ever held n Brighton.”

Wreaths were sent by famous people such as Ellen Terry and also from less expected quarters such as the staff of Brighton Station whom she had helped.

During her tenure she converted a debt of £6,000 into a profit of £38,000, no mean feat. Dale added: “But what was more remarkable was that while doing so, she retained a heart of gold.”

Henry Nye Chart had started to manage the Royal in the days before theatres were fully respectable and when they often had severe financial problems.

Dale said: “His achievement was to give stability to the Brighton theatre and to make it a respected institution. Mrs Nye Chart was able to build on those foundations.”

By inviting touring companies to the Royal, she raised the standard of shows there and gave it a large regular audience.

Dale said: “It also made Mrs Nye Chart’s name known throughout the country and at other theatres.

“Her achievement was to make the Royal one of the best known provincial theatres in England and to get national as well as local status.”

The theatre, funded n 1806, had experienced rocky days during its first 70 years and it saw dark periods again. But its reputation, forged by Ellen Nye Chart, was enough to see it through tough times.