William Pole Thornhill

William Pole Thornhill (1807–1876) was a Whig politician who represented the constituency of North Derbyshire.

Thornhill was the last member of the family of Thornhill who had owned estates at Stanton-in-Peak since the end of the 17th century when John Thornhill married the heiress Mary Bache. [ [http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/DBY/Tilley/VolumeI/StantonOldHall.html Joseph Tilley "Old Halls, Manors and Families of Derbyshire Volume I, The High Peak Hundred - Stanton Old Hall"] ] Thornhill and his wife were considerable benefactors to the village, building the parish church in 1833, the reading rooms and "The Stand", originally known as "The Belvedere", a viewing platform giving panoramic views over the Wye Valley. Many of the houses in the village carry the initials "WPT". [ [http://www.derbyshire-peakdistrict.co.uk/stantoninpeak.htm Discover Derbyshire and the Peak District] ]

Thornhill became High Sheriff of Derbyshire in 1836. [ [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=5i0BAAAAQAAJ&pg=PT40&lpg=PT40&dq=%22Pole+Thornhill%22+%22High+Sheriff%22&source=web&ots=ksTHRmjLG3&sig=_IUvpVmjCHeWqA_vVsb0Y1xiheE&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result J. and J. B. Burke "Heraldic illustrations" 1846] ] In 1852 he was elected Member of Parliament for North Derbyshire, and held the seat until 1865. As a politician he was a strong reformist and built the Earl Grey Tower on the eastern edge of Stanton Moor dedicated to the Reform Act 1832. He was briefly, between 1860 and 1863, a lieutenant in the 9th Derbyshire Rifle Volunteers. [Bulletins and other state intelligence] [The United Service Magazine 1863] He died at Brighton at the beginning of 1876.

Thornhill married Isabella Gell at Wirksworth in 1828. Isabella was the heiress of Hopton Hall. They took the name Gell according to the terms of inheritance and lived briefly at Hopton Hall but in due course renounced the inheritance. [ [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/A2A/records.aspx?cat=026-d3287_1&cid=-1&Gsm=2008-06-18 National Archives Papers of the Gell family of Hopton Reference D3287] ]

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