THOROLD, John Henry (1842-1922), of 13 Queen’s Gate, Kensington Gore, London and Syston Park, Grantham, Lincolnshire

Thorold’s ancestors had been resident in Lincolnshire since the mid-sixteenth century. Sir William Thorold (c. 1591-1678) had been knighted by James I in 1607, aged only sixteen, and was created a baronet by Charles I shortly after the outbreak of the civil war.1G.A.J. Hodgett, ‘Thorold family (per. c. 1492-1717)’, Oxf. DNB, www.oxforddnb.com. Thorold’s great-grandfather, the noted bibliophile Sir John Thorold, ninth baronet, had represented the county in Parliament, 1779-96, and his grandfather, Sir John Hayford Thorold, who was ‘highly esteemed in Grantham’, had taken an active interest in the borough’s politics in the pre-reform era, particularly in opposition to local Tories.2HP Commons 1754-1790, iii. 526; HP Commons 1820-32, ii. 634-40. Following a perfunctory career in the army, Thorold was brought forward in the Conservative interest for Grantham at the 1865 general election.

At the nomination Thorold admitted that ‘he had gone away from the principles of his house’ but he did so ‘from sincere conviction’. He objected to the ballot, for he ‘did not believe an Englishman was afraid to give his vote’, and gave his support to the established church, though he ‘did not wish to oppress any man who differed from it’. He appeared to adopt a favourable position on reform of the franchise, insisting that it could be ‘extended slightly so that intelligent working men could come in’. Following a hard-fought campaign, he was returned at the top of the poll.3Lincolnshire Chronicle, 14 July 1865.

Thorold was a silent member, and is not known to have sat on any select committees. He attended frequently, though, and was steadfast in his support for the Conservative party. He voted against church rate abolition, 7 Mar. 1866, and opposed the Russell ministry’s reform bill, 27 Apr. 1866. He followed Disraeli into the division lobby on the major clauses of the representation of the people bill, apart from his vote in favour of cumulative voting, 5 July 1867. He opposed Gladstone’s resolution on the Irish church, 3 Apr. 1868, a policy that he felt was ‘a party move for party purposes’.4Ibid., 6 Nov. 1868.

Thorold came forward to defend his seat at the 1868 general election and attacked Gladstone’s proposal for Irish church disestablishment, asking ‘how it can bring peace and contentment to Ireland I cannot imagine’.5Ibid. However, he withdrew days before the nomination, explaining that the number of promises he had received ‘afforded no prospect of success’.6Standard, 17 Nov. 1868; Lincolnshire Chronicle, 20 Nov. 1867. Thereafter he threw himself into county business, becoming an alderman of Lincolnshire and for many years serving as vice-president of Kesteven (Lincolnshire) county council.7Nottinghamshire Guardian, 27 Feb. 1892. He was also a noted agriculturalist and was president of the South Lincolnshire Agricultural Society.

Thorold died at his Scottish Highland residence in Applecross, where he frequently hunted deer, in October 1922.8The Times, 5 Oct. 1922. He left effects valued at £33,367 9s.9England and Wales, National Probate Calendar, Index of wills and administration, 1861-1941, 20 Dec. 1892. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his eldest son, John George Thorold (1870-1951).