Samuel Thornton

Infobox Person
name = Samuel Thornton


image_size =
caption =
birth_name =
birth_date = birth date|1754|11|6
birth_place = Clapham
death_date = death date and age|1838|07|3|1754|11|6
death_place = Brighton
death_cause =
resting_place =
resting_place_coordinates =
residence =
nationality = British
other_names =
known_for =
education =
employer =
occupation = Politician, Abolitionist and Governor of the Bank of England
home_town =
title =
salary =
networth =
height =
weight =
term =
predecessor =
successor =
party =
boards =
religion = Anglican
spouse =
partner =
children =
parents = John Thornton
relatives =


website =
footnotes =

Samuel Thornton (6 November 1754 – 3 July 1838) was one of the sons of John Thornton, a leading merchant in the Russian and Baltic trade, and was a director of the Bank of England for 53 yearscite book
last = Macleod
first = Henry Dunning
authorlink =
coauthors =
editor =
others =
title = The Theory and Practice of Banking
origdate =
origyear = 1856
origmonth =
url = http://books.google.com/books?id=9ZUBAAAAQAAJ
format =
accessdate = 18
accessyear = 2008
accessmonth = 02
edition =
series =
date =
year =
month =
publisher = Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer
location = London
language =
isbn =
oclc =
doi =
id =
pages = 194
chapter =
chapterurl =
quote =
ref = ] cite book
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
editor =
others =
title = Gentlemen's Magazine
origdate =
origyear = 1838
origmonth = 09
url = http://books.google.com/books?id=ZeoIAAAAIAAJ
format =
accessdate = 12
accessyear = 2008
accessmonth = 02
edition =
series =
date =
year =
month =
publisher = F. Jefferies
location = London
language =
isbn =
oclc =
doi =
id =
pages = 326
chapter =
chapterurl =
quote =
ref = ] and Governor (1799-1801). He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Kingston upon Hull (with William Wilberforce in 1784) from 1784 to 1806 and for Surrey from 1807 to 1812. He and was a member of the Committee for the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts.

As MP for Kingston he was painted by Karl Anton Hickel in the group portrait "William Pitt addressing the House of Commons on the French Declaration of War, 1793" which still hangs at the National Portrait Gallery [cite web|url=http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/person.asp?LinkID=mp06274|title=Nation Portrait Gallery Information - Samuel Thornton|accessdate=2008-02-18] .

He bought Albury Manor, Albury, Surrey in 1800, and lived there until 1811. He employed the architect Sir John Soane [cite web|url=http://www.soane.org/soanebuildings.html|title=Soane Website|accessdate=2008-02-12] to improve the property.

During the early 1800s Thornton built housing in the hamlet of Weston Street, a mile to the west of Albury, for the resettlement of villagers removed from cottages in Albury Park, as part of the agricultural improvements.

His brothers Henry Thornton and Robert Thornton were also notable men of their time and MPs. all three were members of the Clapham Sect and lived in adjoining houses in Claphamcite web|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/public/themes/42/42140.html |title=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography - Clapham Sect|date=May2007|accessdate=2008-02-12] .

References

*Rayment