This officer entered the Navy, in Feb. 1806, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Kent 74, Capt. Henry Garrett, bearing the flag of his father, with whom he continued employed on the Home and Mediterranean stations in the Prince of Wales 98, Ville de Paris 110, and Royal Sovereign 100 (the latter part of the time in the capacity of Midshipman), until transferred, in Nov. 1809, to the Apollo 38, Capt. Bridges Watkinson Taylor. In that ship he assisted, 13 April, 1812, at the capture, under the batteries of Corsica, of the French frigate-built 850-ton store-ship Mérinos of 20 guns (pierced for 36) and 126 men, 6 of whom were killed and 20 wounded; and on 20 of the following month, of the national xebec Ulysse of 6 guns and 56 men. He was also, either in the Apollo or her boats, present at the destruction, 21 Dec. 1812, of St. Cataldo, the strongest tower between Brindisi and Otranto; at the taking, 29 Jan. and 3 Feb. 1813, of the well-protected islands of Augusta and Curzola; at the capture, in April and May following, of the island of Malero, of a felucca at St. Cataldo, of a convoy under Turkish colours bound with supplies to Corfu, and of a vessel mounting 2 guns; and at the reduction, in the early part of 1814, of the islands of Paxo and Anti-Paxo. On his arrival home in May, 1814, Mr. Thornbrough was received as a Supernumerary on board the Salvador del Mundo, Capt. Robt. Hall, lying at Plymouth; he obtained his first commission 12 Dec. in the same year; and he was next, 9 Jan. and 15 May, 1815, appointed to the Phoebe 36, Capt. Jas. Hillyar, and Queen Charlotte 100; in the latter of which ships he officiated as Flag-Lieutenant to his father at Portsmouth, until promoted to the rank of Commander 25 May, 1818. He served in the Ringdove 18, on the Halifax station, from 31 Aug. 1826 until advanced to Post-rank 17 April, 1827; and has since been on half-pay.
Capt. Thornbrough married, 30 Nov. 1820, Emily Raikes, second daughter of the late Daniel Garrett, Esq., of Colt House, near Honiton, Devon, and grand-daughter of Robt. Raikes, Esq., of Gloucester, the founder of Sunday-schools.
THORNDIKE. (Lieutenant, 1826.)
Charles Alexander Thorndike died 19 May, 1845, at Littlehampton, co. Sussex.
This officer entered the Navy 10 April, 1810; passed his examination in 1816; and was made Lieutenant, 27 June, 1826, into the Revenge 76, Capt. Sir Chas. Burrard, on the Mediterranean station. He returned home a few months afterwards, and was subsequently employed – from 22 Nov. 1830 until the close of 1832, in the Alligator 28, Capts. Chas. Philip Yorke and Geo. Robt. Lambert, in the Mediterranean and East Indies – and, from 23 Oct. 1833 until the early part of 1835, and again from 13 March, 1843, until the period of his death, in the Coast Guard.
THORNE. (Captain, 1829. f-p., 17; h-p., 22.)
James Thorne entered the Navy, 14 April, 1808, as Midshipman, on board the Invincible 74, Capt. Ross Donnelly, employed at first in the Downs and next in the Mediterranean. While on the latter station he served, on the night of 31 Oct. 1809, with the boats of a squadron under Lieut. John Tailour at the capture and destruction, after a desperate struggle and a loss to the British of 15 killed and 55 wounded, of the French store-ship Lamproie of 16 guns and 116 men, bombards Victoire and Grondeur, and armed xebec Normande, with a convoy of seven merchant-vessels, defended by numerous strong batteries, in the Bay of Rosas. In the following month he removed to the Hind 28, Capt. John Rich. Lumley, also in the Mediterranean; he next, in Aug. 1810, joined the Rebuff gun-brig, Lieut.-Commander Chas. Jones, engaged in the defence of Cadiz; and from July, 1812, until Aug. 1815, he was employed under the present Sir Geo. Cockburn, as Midshipman and Master’s Mate, in the Grampus 50 and Marlborough and Sceptre 74’s, and, for upwards of 18 months, as Second-Master, in the Albion and Northumberland 74’s. In the Sceptre and Albion he took part, in 1813-14, in the operations against Crany Island, Hampton, Washington, and Baltimore, and in others of minor note; and in the Northumberland he escorted Napoleon Buonaparte to St. Helena, where he was nominated, 21 Aug. 1815, Acting-Lieutenant of the Peruvian sloop, Capt. Jas. Kearney White. In March, 1816, he was placed in charge, under Capt. Wm. Roberts, of the island of Ascension. He was officially promoted 5 Aug. following; was transferred, 14 May, 1817, to the command of the Hydra, a vessel in which he visited the coast of Brazil; and after he had again served for about five months at Ascension under Capt. Jas. Caimes, was appointed – 25 Jan. 1818, for a short period, to the Leveret 10, Capt. John Theed, on the St. Helena station – 20 March, 1823, to the Genoa 74, Capt. Sir Thos. Livingstone, employed at Sheerness, Plymouth, and Lisbon – in May, 1824, to the command, in the Mediterranean, of a small vessel whose name we have not – and, 5 Nov. following and 16 Aug. 1826, as First, to the Harlequin 18 and Scylla 18, Capts. Jas. Scott and Wm. Hobson, on the Cork and Jamaica stations. While serving in the vessel last named he was ordered, 8. Feb. 1828, to act as Commander in the Barham 50, flag-ship of Hon. Chas. Elphinstone Fleeming. He was confirmed 29 March following; and was advanced to Post-rank 30 March, 1829. He has since been on half-pay.
Capt. Thorne married, 1 Dec. 1831, Margaret Breakenrig, niece of the late Capt. Jas. Aberdour, R.N. (1812). Agents – Hallett and Robinson.
THORNTON. (Lieut., 1815. h-p., 10; h-p., 32.)
Henry Alexander Daniel Thornton, born 6 June, 1790, at Kingston-on-Thames, is son of Henry Ford Thornton, Esq., of Clare, co. Suffolk.
This officer entered the Navy, 2 April, 1805, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Namur 74, Capt. Lawrence Wm. Halsted, in which ship, bearing the flag at first of Rear-Admiral Thos. Macnamara Russell, he served in the North Sea, Channel, West Indies, and Downs (the last 13 months in the capacity of Midshipman), until transferred, in July, 1807, to the Royalist 18, Capts. John Maxwell and Geo. Downie. That sloop, while he was in her, took so many privateers that her commanders were both promoted to Post-rank. Among them were La Princesse of 16 guns and 50 men, Le Grand Napoléon of 18 guns and 75 men, L’Heureuse Etoile of 28 guns and 15 men, Le Beau Marseille of 14 guns and 60 men, Le François of 14 guns and 60 men, Le Prince Eugène of 14 guns and 55 men, Le Roi de Naples of 14 guns and 48 men, and L’Aventurier of 14 guns and 50 men. By Capt. Maxwell, whom he accompanied in the expedition of 1809 to the Walcheren, Mr. Thornton was on one occasion publicly thanked and complimented for the intrepidity he had manifested in jumping overboard and saving the life of a brother officer. On leaving the Royalist, in which vessel, we may add, he had been chiefly employed on the French, Swedish, and Dutch coasts, he was received on board the Bellerophon 74, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral John Ferrier in the North Sea, where he continued to serve with that officer, in the Scarborough 74, until March, 1814 – nearly all that time as Master’s Mate. In the following April he joined the Puissant 74, Capt. Benj. Wm. Page, lying at
wards to take command of the squadron employed off the Texel; and in March, 1805, he became First-Captain of the Channel fleet under Lord Gardner. In the course of the same year he was advanced to the rank of Vice-Admiral. In 1806 he was sent, in the Prince of Wales 98, with five ships of the line under his orders, to watch the port of Rochefort. He afterwards held a command in the Mediterranean, with his flag in the Royal Sovereign 100; and from Aug. 1810 until Nov. 1813, and from April, 1815, until May, 1818, he commanded in chief on the Irish station and at Portsmouth. He was created a full Admiral 4 Dec. 1813, a K.C.B. 2 Jan. 1815, a G.C.B. 11 Jan. 1825. and Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom 30 Jan. 1833. He died an Admiral of the Red 3 April, 1834.
