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===Early years===
Vanbrugh was born in [[Exeter]], Devon, on 2 December 1872, the youngest daughter and fifth child of six of the Rev Reginald Henry Barnes, [[Prebendary]] of [[Exeter Cathedral]] and Vicar of [[Heavitree]], and his wife, Frances Mary Emily, {{nee}} Nation, daughter of a [[barrister]].<ref name=odnb>Littlewood, S. R. [https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-36623 "Vanbrugh, Dame Irene (1872–1949)"], ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2011 {{ODNBsub}}</ref><ref>Vanbrugh, p. 5</ref> Irene's eldest sister [[Violet Vanbrugh|Violet]] and younger brother [[Kenneth Barnes (director)|Kenneth]]
It was also at Terry's suggestion that Violet, on starting a theatrical career, had adopted the stage name Vanbrugh.<ref name=odnb/> Irene was encouraged by her sister's early success to follow her into the theatrical profession, also with the stage name Vanbrugh. [[John Gielgud|Sir John Gielgud]] described the two:▼
{{blockindent|The Vanbrugh sisters were remarkably alike in appearance. Tall and imposing, beautifully spoken, they moved with grace ... They were elegantly but never ostentatiously dressed, entering and leaving the stage with unerring authority ... Violet never struck me as a natural comedienne, as Irene was.<ref>Gielgud, p. 115</ref>|}}▼
[[File:Vanbrugh-White-Queen-1888.png|As [[Lewis Carroll]]'s White Queen, 1888|thumb|upright=0.7|alt=young white woman in white costume with white hair and white crown]]
▲It was also at Terry's suggestion that Violet, on starting a theatrical career,
As her elder sister had done, Irene joined [[Sarah Thorne]]'s repertory company at the Theatre Royal, [[Margate]], as a student. For a suitable fee Thorne would take pupils into her company, but the Vanbrugh girls showed such promise they were accepted free of charge,<ref name=j58/> and gained a thorough practical grounding.<ref name=odnb/> Violet was playing leading roles by the time Irene arrived at Margate two years after her, in August 1888.<ref name=j58>Johns, p. 58</ref><ref>Vanbrugh, p. 17</ref> Irene recalled, "We played every kind of play there; comedy, farce, and drama of the deepest dye; while at Christmas there came the pantomime, so that the Juliet of a week ago might be the Prince Paragon of the Yule-tide extravaganza."<ref name=ludgate>Bacchus, Reginald, "Miss Irene Vanbrugh: Her Art and Herself," ''The Ludgate'', October 1899, p. 501</ref> As a student her first appearance on stage was in August 1888, as the capricious shepherdess Phoebe in ''[[As You Like It]]'' at the Theatre Royal, in a cast led by Violet as Rosalind.<ref name=odnb/><ref name=times>"Dame Irene Vanbrugh", ''[[The Times]]'', 1 December 1949, p. 7</ref>▼
▲{{blockindent|The Vanbrugh sisters were remarkably alike in appearance. Tall and imposing, beautifully spoken, they moved with grace. ... They were elegantly but never ostentatiously dressed, entering and leaving the stage with unerring authority. ... Violet never struck me as a natural comedienne, as Irene was.<ref>Gielgud, p. 115</ref>|}}
▲As her elder sister had done, Irene joined [[Sarah Thorne]]'s repertory company at the Theatre Royal, [[Margate]], as a student. For a suitable fee Thorne would take pupils into her company, but the Vanbrugh girls showed such promise they were accepted free of charge,<ref name=j58/> and gained a thorough practical grounding.<ref name=odnb/> Violet was playing leading roles by the time Irene arrived at Margate two years after her, in August 1888.<ref name=j58>Johns, p. 58</ref><ref>Vanbrugh, p. 17</ref> Irene recalled, "We played every kind of play there; comedy, farce, and drama of the deepest dye; while at Christmas there came the [[pantomime]], so that the Juliet of a week ago might be the Prince Paragon of the Yule-tide extravaganza."<ref name=ludgate>Bacchus, Reginald, "Miss Irene Vanbrugh: Her Art and Herself
===Early roles===
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