Charles Inglis Thornton (20 March 1850 – 10 December 1929), nicknamed "Buns", was an English

cricketer Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

who played more than 200 first-class matches in the later 19th century, for no fewer than 22 different teams. He was also the founder of the

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

Festival.Carlaw D (2020) ''Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part One: 1806–1914'' (revised edition), pp. 522–524.
Available online
at the

Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (ACS) was founded in England in 1973 for the purpose of researching and collating information about the history and statistics of cricket. Originally called the Association of Cricket Stati ...

. Retrieved 2020-12-21.) Thornton was born in

Llanwarne Llanwarne () is a village and civil parish in Herefordshire, England. The population of the civil Parish as taken at the 2011 census was 380. It is about from the Welsh border, is approximately north-west of Ross-on-Wye, and near Harewood En ...

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

, the son of the Rural Dean of Hereford. He was orphaned before the age of five. and adopted, along with his brother, by Archdeacon Harrison of Canterbury. This is where he began to play cricket playing with children in the neighbourhood in informal single wicket competitions. He played his first organised game at Great Mongeham in 1861 making 22 not out. He was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

. His career at Eton was slow to win approval. The master in charge of cricket, Fred Bell, did not like his attacking play. Thornton remarked that it was because he hit all the best balls into the trees. He had success in both Eton v Harrow and Oxford v Cambridge matches, then very much part of the London season. He must have had independent means because on graduation he was able to rent a hunting box in Oxford with his cousin, hunting three days a week and playing cricket the other four. He was considered one of the biggest hitters in cricket, with one shot at

Hove Hove is a seaside resort and one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove, along with Brighton in East Sussex, England. Originally a "small but ancient fishing village" surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th cen ...

in 1876 claimed to have exceeded 160 yards. He hit the ball over the pavilion at Lord's in the 1868 Eton v Harrow match. This, however was over the old pavilion. The only person to have struck a ball over the current pavilion (built 1889–90) is AE Trott. Other claims made by Thornton included a 156-yard hit at Ranelagh, a 152-yard hit at Canterbury and a 136-yard hit at Scarborough, the ball landing in Trafalgar Square (Scarborough). Thornton founded the

Orleans Club The Orleans Club was a London-based cricket club that existed from 1878 to 1888 and took part in four first-class matches. It was founded by C. I. Thornton who had organised occasional teams to play on the Orleans Club Ground at Orleans Road, Tw ...

which was active for ten years from 1878. His own private team — C. I. Thornton's XI — played most of their early games at

Fenner's Fenner's is Cambridge University Cricket Club's ground. History Cambridge University Cricket Club had previously played at two grounds in Cambridge, the University Ground and Parker's Piece. In 1846, Francis Fenner leased a former cherry orchar ...

, but after his retirement from playing in 1897 their home became Scarborough, where they continued to play first-class cricket until 1929, the year of Thornton's death. He died aged 79 in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and latterly a ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Thornton had some interesting ideas about cricket. He wanted bowlers’ run ups limited to 10 yards, and the wearing of leg guards (pads) to be forbidden. The only protection he advocated was football style shin pads.Cricketer ibid

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thornton, Charles Inglis 1850 births 1929 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge English cricketers Kent cricketers Middlesex cricketers Cambridge University cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Sportspeople from Herefordshire Gentlemen of the South cricketers North v South cricketers Orleans Club cricketers North of the Thames v South of the Thames cricketers Gentlemen cricketers Gentlemen of England cricketers C. I. Thornton's XI cricketers A. J. Webbe's XI cricketers Lyric Club cricketers Lord Londesborough's XI cricketers Gentlemen of Kent cricketers