Colonel Thomas Thornton

The famously ostentatious Georgian sportsman may have died penniless but he left a priceless legacy: the revival of falconry in Britain.

- Sir Johny Scott

COLONEL Thomas Thornton, of Thornville Royal and Falconers Hall in Yorkshire, was one of the more outrageously eccentric sportsmen of the Georgian era. Born in 1751 as the son of William Thornton, MP for York, and the heiress Mary Myster, he was educated at Charterhouse and the University of Glasgow. Passionate about fieldsports from childhood, he was particularly fascinated by the ancient art of falconry, which had virtually died out by the 18th century. On reaching his majority, Thornton came into an enormous fortune and an estate near Harrogate. There he formed a sporting establishment at Old Thornville, with no expense spared on creating the finest stables and kennels in the county. He put together his own pack of foxhounds, established a racing yard and soon earned the reputation of being a hard rider and knowledgeable breeder of horses and hounds. Thornton joined and largely funded his father's old yeomanry regiment, the 2nd West Yorkshire Militia, becoming their colonel through purchase.

In 1772, at the age of 21, he revived British falconry by founding the Confederate Hawks of Great Britain (the Falconers’ Club) with the help of his friend Lord Orford. Thornton was also a founding member of Lord Orford’s Swaffham Coursing Club and responsible, with him, for developing the modern greyhound. He was a considerable athlete, whose achievements ranged from winning a walking match of four miles in 32 minutes and jumping his own height (5ft 9in) to leaping over six five-bar gates in six minutes and then performing the same feat on a horse. At Newmarket Heath, in front of a considerable crowd, he rode down a running hare on horseback, picking it up in full flight from the saddle.