Sir Edward Thornton, 1st Count of Cacilhas, (22 October 1766 – 3 July 1852) was a British diplomat, and father of fellow diplomat, Sir Edward Thornton.

Early life

He was born in London, the third of three sons and two daughters, of William Thornton (1738–1769), and Dorothy (née Thompson) Thornton (d. 1769). His father, who was originally from

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

East Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to the south-west ...

, established himself in London as a prosperous innkeeper and

Freeman of the City of London The Freedom of the City of London started around 1237 as the status of a 'free man' or 'citizen', protected by the charter of the City of London and not under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. In the Middle Ages, this developed into a freedom or ...

. His mother, as later described by Sir Edward, was "a countrywoman... a native of the... East Riding, of a very respectable family". Dorothy died three months after the birth of a daughter, and eight months later, William was suddenly taken ill and died soon after, leaving their children orphaned. Among his siblings was the merchant Thomas Thornton. Being left in the care of a family friend, using his guardian's connections Thornton was educated at

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter, located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. T ...

and at

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 students and fellows. It is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from ...

Career

He became British vice-consul in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

in June 1793 and then served as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the United States from 1800 to 1804. After holding various diplomatic posts in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

and the

Hanse Towns The Hanseatic League was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Growing from a few Northern Germany, North German towns in the ...

, he was then posted to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

as Minister-Plenipotentiary in December 1807 with the objective of forming an alliance against

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

, returning to England in November 1808. In October 1811 he went again to Sweden (until 1817) on a special mission in HMS Victory and he successfully negotiated treaties of alliance with both Sweden and Russia, both called the

Treaty of Örebro A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...

. This was the first stage in the creation of an alliance of Northern European States against Napoleon. He negotiated the

Treaty of Kiel The Treaty of Kiel () or Peace of Kiel ( Swedish and or ') was concluded between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Kingdom of Sweden on one side and the Kingdoms of Denmark and Norway on the other side on 14 January 1814 ...

for the United Kingdom and was present with the prince royal of Sweden (

Jean Baptiste Bernadotte Charles XIV John (; 26 January 1763 – 8 March 1844) was King of Sweden and Norway from 1818 until his death in 1844 and the first monarch of the Bernadotte dynasty. In Norway, he is known as Charles III John () and before he became royalty in ...

) when the allies entered Paris in 1815. He became a member of the Privy council in 1816. He was appointed minister to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

in July 1817 and joined the Portuguese court in Brazil. He was ambassador to Portugal from April 1819 to March 1821, when he returned to England. He returned again to Portugal as an ambassador from August 1823 to August 1824 during which time he invested the King of Portugal with the

Order of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. The most senior order of knighthood in the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British honours system, it is outranked in ...

and assisted the King during the insurrection. The title of Count of

Cacilhas Cacilhas () is a former Freguesia (Portugal), civil parish in the municipality of Almada Municipality, Almada, Lisbon metropolitan area, Portugal. In 2013, the parish merged into the new parish Almada, Cova da Piedade, Pragal e Cacilhas. The popula ...

in the Portuguese nobility was conferred on Thornton and his heirs, for three generations, by the King of Portugal. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in June 1810, appointed GCB in 1822 and retired in August 1824.

Personal life

In 1812, Thornton married Magdalena Wilhelmina Amalia Kohp of Hanover, a daughter of Joannes Michael Kopf and Caecilia ( Roth) Kohp. Together, they had one daughter and six sons, including: *

Edward Thornton, 2nd Count of Cacilhas Sir Edward Thornton, 2nd Count of Cacilhas, (13 July 1817 – 26 January 1906) was a British diplomat who held posts in Latin America, the Ottoman Empire, the Russian Empire, and served for fourteen years as Minister to the United States. Earl ...

(1817–1906), who married Mary Jane Maitland, a daughter of John Maitland. * George Reginald Thornton (–1841), a graduate of

. * Maria Amalia Thornton (1819–1915), who married Signor Giovanni Tassinari of Tuscany in 1844. In retirement he lived in

Wembury Wembury is a village on the south coast of Devon, England, very close to Plymouth Sound. Wembury is located south of Plymouth. Wembury is also the name of the peninsula in which the village is situated. The village lies in the administrative dis ...

House, Plymouth, Devon, where he died in 1852. His wife predeceased him, at Wembury, in January 1832.

Honours and legacy

In 1902, his alma mater,

, named one of its boarding houses after him.

References

External links

Sir Edward Thornton (1766-1852)
at

The National Archives National archives are the archives of a country. The concept evolved in various nations at the dawn of modernity based on the impact of nationalism upon bureaucratic processes of paperwork retention. Conceptual development From the Middle Ages i ...

Thornton, Sir Edward, count of Cassilhas in the Portuguese nobility
at the

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thornton, Edward 1766 births 1852 deaths Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the United States People educated at Christ's Hospital Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Fellows of the Royal Society Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Sweden Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Portugal Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the Russian Empire Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Denmark