Edward Thornton

Edward Thornton (1766–1852), the son of a London innkeeper, was orphaned young and educated at Christ’s Hospital and Pembroke College, Cambridge. Tutoring the children of Foreign Office official James Bland Burges brought him into diplomatic service. He accompanied George Hammond to America as private secretary in 1791, became vice-consul in Maryland, and then secretary of legation. He headed the mission after Robert Liston’s departure, before Anthony Merry arrived. ¹

He described Thomas Jefferson walking to his 1801 inauguration in everyday clothes. By January 1804, after Merry had assumed charge, he was warning Hammond that the Louisiana Purchase had encouraged a more assertive American policy. He believed Jefferson expected further concessions from a Britain occupied by European war and urged resistance to demands unsupported by reciprocal concessions. ^{2, 3}

Later missions took Thornton to Hamburg and Sweden. His first attempt at a Swedish alliance against Napoleon failed, but he returned in 1811 and negotiated with Sweden and Russia as the northern coalition developed. He accompanied Bernadotte’s forces during the campaigns against Napoleon. He subsequently represented Britain at the Portuguese court in Brazil and in Lisbon, where he assisted the king during the 1824 insurrection. Retiring that year, he lived until 1852. His son, also Sir Edward Thornton, became the much later British ambassador in Washington. ¹