John Thorpe (1715–1792) was an English antiquarian, known for works on

Rochester, Kent Rochester ( ) is a town in the unitary authority of Medway, in Kent, England. It is at the lowest bridging point of the River Medway, about from London. The town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Chatham, Rainham, Strood and Gillin ...

Life

He was the only son of

John Thorpe John Thorpe or Thorp (c.1565–1655?; fl.1570–1618) was an English architect. Life Little is known of his life, and his work is dubiously inferred, rather than accurately known, from a folio of drawings in the Sir John Soane's Museum, to whic ...

of Rochester, by his wife Elizabeth, daughter of John Woodhouse of Shobdon, Herefordshire. He was educated at Ludsdown, Kent, under Samuel Thornton, and matriculated at University College, Oxford, on 22 March 1732, graduating B.A. in 1735 and M.A. in 1738. After some study of medicine he abandoned it, and, like his father, concentrated on antiquarian research. In 1755 he was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London. After residing for many years at High-street House, Bexley, Kent, he moved in 1789, after the death of his first wife, to

Richmond Green Richmond Green is a recreation area near the centre of Richmond, a town of about 20,000 inhabitants situated in south-west London. Owned by the Crown Estate, it is leased to the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. The Green, which has been ...

, Surrey, and then to

Chippenham Chippenham is a market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village ...

in Wiltshire, where he died on 2 August 1792; he was buried in the churchyard of the neighbouring village of Hardenhuish.

Works

In 1769 Thorpe published, with assistance from John Baynard of the Navy Office, his father's ''Registrum Roffense''. In 1788 he supplemented it with the ''Custumale Roffense'' from the original manuscript, with other memorials of Rochester Cathedral. His mention, in ''Custumale Roffense'' of a Roman mosaic pavement, discovered about 1750 in Lullingstone Park by workmen digging post holes, led archaeologists in 1949 to not only locate and uncover the pavement, but also to reveal the extensive Lullingstone Roman Villa to which it belonged.Tester, P. J. and Gray, R. ''Bexley Village''. p.34. London. Bexley Education and Leisure Services Directorate. 1997. 0 902541 005 Thorpe contributed also "Illustrations of several Antiquities in Kent which have hitherto remained undescribed" to the first volume of ''Bibliotheca Topographica Britannica''’ A letter from him to Andrew Coltée Ducarel, maintaining in opposition to

Daines Barrington Daines Barrington, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS, Society of Antiquaries of London, FSA (1727/2814 March 1800) was an English lawyer, antiquary and naturalist. He was one of the correspondents to whom Gilbert White wrote extensively on natur ...

, that the

cherry A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The nam ...

is indigenous to England, was published in ''

Philosophical Transactions ''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society'' is a scientific journal published by the Royal Society. In its earliest days, it was a private venture of the Royal Society's secretary. It was established in 1665, making it the first journa ...

'' during 1771, p. 152). He frequently wrote on antiquarian subjects in the '' Gentleman's Magazine''.

Family

Thorpe was twice married. His first wife, Catharina, whom he married in 1746, was the daughter of Laurence Holker, a physician of

Gravesend Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the Bank (geography), south bank of the River Thames and opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Ro ...

. She died on 10 January 1789, leaving two daughters, Catharine and Ethelinda. On 6 July 1790 he married Mrs. Holland, a widow and his housekeeper.

Notes

Attribution

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thorpe, John 1715 births 1792 deaths English antiquarians Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London People from Rochester, Kent