and in 1672 he designed for himself an imposing coffin ‘of carved Mansfield stone.’
In 1678 Thoroton died, and in November of that year was buried in the coffin in which his remains rested undisturbed until 1842, when the level of a portion of the churchyard of St. Mary's, Car Colston, was reduced. The coffin, ‘after reburial of its contents,’ was then removed into the church, where it now lies in the vestry.
Thoroton married Anne, daughter of Gilbert Boun, and had issue three daughters.
John Throsby [q. v.] published in 1797 a reprint of Thoroton's ‘Antiquities,’ with some additional facts and illustrations, under the title of ‘A History of Nottinghamshire.’ But Thoroton's original work remains the chief authority on its subject (cf. Nichols, Illustrations of Literary History, v. 400).
An engraving from a portrait at Screveton Hall, Nottinghamshire, was executed for Throsby's ‘History of Nottinghamshire’ (frontispiece).
[Thoroton's Antiquities of Nottinghamshire; Throsby's History of Nottinghamshire; Godfrey's Robert Thoroton, Physician and Antiquary, 1890; Tollinton's Old Nottinghamshire; Brown's Nottinghamshire Worthies; Nichols's Illustr. of Lit. Hist.; MSS. of S. H. Fleming (Hist. MSS. Comm. 12th Rep. Ap. pt. vii.).]
THOROTON, THOMAS (1723–1784), politician, born in 1723, descended from Thomas, younger brother of Robert Thoroton [q. v.], who on Robert's death without male issue succeeded to the family estates. Thomas was the son of Robert Thoroton of Screveton, by his wife, Mary Blackborne. For a long period he was intimately connected with John Manners, third duke of Rutland, acting as his agent in all his political and private business, and resided at the duke's seat, Belvoir Castle. The Duke of Rutland was politically friendly to Thomas Pelham Holles, first duke of Newcastle [q. v.], and Thoroton was returned to parliament on 4 July 1757 for the Duke of Newcastle's borough of Boroughbridge, and on 27 March 1761 for the town of Newark.
During the seven years' war he maintained a constant correspondence with the duke's son, John Manners, marquis of Granby [q. v.], the great cavalry general. On the appointment of Granby as master-general of the ordnance on 1 July 1763, he made Thoroton official secretary to the board. In 1763 the Duke of Rutland having severed his relations with Newcastle, owing to differences on the question of the peace of Paris, Thoroton withdrew from Newark, and was returned for Bramber in Sussex, as Granby's nominee. He retained his seat until 1782. His connection with the board of ordnance ceased on Granby's death in 1770.
After the death of the third duke of Rutland Thoroton returned to his own residence, Screveton Hall. He had, however, a large share in the management of the English affairs of the fourth duke [see Manners, Charles, fourth Duke of Rutland] while he was lord-lieutenant of Ireland from 1784 to 1787. He displayed great activity during the Gordon riots in 1780, and rescued several victims from the mob. He died at Screveton Hall on 9 May 1794, and was buried in the neighbouring church of St. Wilfred's. Of Thoroton's eight sons, John became rector of Bottesford and chaplain of Belvoir Castle, and was knighted in 1814; and Robert was appointed private secretary to the fourth Duke of Rutland during his viceroyalty of Ireland, and clerk to the Irish parliament. Thoroton's daughter Mary was married to Charles Manners-Sutton (1755–1828) [q. v.], archbishop of Canterbury.
[Part of Thoroton's correspondence with Granby is preserved among the Rutland MSS. at Belvoir Castle (Hist. MSS. Comm. 12th Rep. App. pt. v.) See also Manners's Life of John, Marquis of Granby, 1898; Barrington's Personal Sketches; Leslie and Taylor's Life and Times of Sir Joshua Reynolds; Crabbe's Works, Biographical Introduction.]
THORP, CHARLES (1783–1862), first warden of Durham University, born at Gateshead rectory in Durham on 13 Oct. 1783, was the fifth son of Robert Thorp, by his wife Grace (d. 1814), daughter of William Alder of Horncliffe.
Robert Thorp (1736–1812), archdeacon of Durham, baptised in Chillingham church on 25 Jan. 1736–7, was the second son of Thomas Thorp (1699–1767), vicar of Chillingham. He was educated at Durham school, and Peterhouse, Cambridge, graduating B.A. in 1758 as senior wrangler and M.A. in 1761. In 1768 he succeeded his father as rector of Chillingham; in 1775 he was appointed perpetual curate of Doddington, in 1781 he became rector of Gateshead, and in 1792 was created archdeacon of Northumberland. In 1795 he was presented to the rectory of Ryton, and, dying at Durham on 20 April 1812, was buried in the vault of Ryton church. Besides several published sermons and charges, he was author of ‘Excerpta quædam e Newtoni Principiis Philosophiæ Naturalis,’ Cambridge, 1765, 4to, and of a translation of Newton's ‘Principia,’ entitled ‘Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy,’ London, 1777, 4to; 2nd edit. 1802, 4to (Gent. Mag. 1812,
