Percy Thornton

Percy Melville Thornton (29 December 1841 – 8 January 1918) was a British Conservative politician and author. Thornton was the oldest surviving son of Rear Admiral Samuel Thornton (c.1797-1859) & his wife Emily Elizabeth née Rice. His grandfather was the abolitionist MP Samuel Thornton and his uncle was Henry Thornton, founder of the Clapham Sect. Thornton attended Harrow School and Jesus College, Cambridge. His interest in athletics led to him becoming secretary of Cambridge University Athletics Club in 1863. He was also a keen cricketer, inspired by his cousin Charles Inglis Thornton. From 1871 to 1899, he was Honorary Secretary of Middlesex County Cricket Club. In 1877, Thornton married his second cousin, Florence Emily Thornton, daughter of the banker Henry Sykes Thornton. In 1880, he took up residence at the family home in Clapham.