Samuel Thornton (6 November 1754 – 3 July 1838) was one of the sons of John Thornton, a leading merchant in the

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

and

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...

trade, and was a director of the Bank of England for 53 years and

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

(1799–1801). He had earlier served as its Deputy Governor. He was

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

(MP) for

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from ...

(with

William Wilberforce William Wilberforce (24 August 175929 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually bec ...

in 1784) from 1784 to 1806 and for Surrey from 1807 to 1812. He and was a member of the

Committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

for the repeal of the

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

and

Corporation Act The Corporation Act of 1661 was an Act of the Parliament of England (13 Cha. II. St. 2 c. 1). It belonged to the general category of test acts, designed for the express purpose of restricting public offices in England to members of the Church o ...

s. 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. He bought

Albury Park Albury Park is a country park and Grade II* listed historic country house (Albury Park Mansion) in Surrey, England. It covers over ; within this area is the old village of Albury, which consists of three or four houses and a church. The River T ...

Albury Albury () is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of the Murray River. Albury is the seat of local government for the council area which also bears the city's name – the ...

, Surrey in 1800, and lived there until 1811. He employed the architect Sir

John Soane Sir John Soane (; né Soan; 10 September 1753 – 20 January 1837) was an English architect who specialised in the Neo-Classical style. The son of a bricklayer, he rose to the top of his profession, becoming professor of architecture at the R ...

to improve the property. During the early 19th century 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 The Clapham Sect, or Clapham Saints, were a group of social reformers associated with Clapham in the period from the 1780s to the 1840s. Despite the label "sect", most members remained in the established (and dominant) Church of England, which ...

and lived in adjoining houses in

Clapham Clapham () is a suburb in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (most notably Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Early history T ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thornton, Samuel 1754 births 1838 deaths British bankers Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Kingston upon Hull Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Kingston upon Hull British MPs 1784–1790 British MPs 1790–1796 British MPs 1796–1800 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Surrey UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs 1802–1806 UK MPs 1806–1807 UK MPs 1807–1812 Governors of the Bank of England Deputy Governors of the Bank of England