First Thornton Revolution

Denzel Pepper

Tim Crescent

Salamander Stevens

James Booth

Connie Cartwright

Frank Sheridan

The first Thornton Revolution was a movement in Cragglethorne Stationery Company which occurred due to the employees of the company being dissatisfied with the way the company was being run by CEO William Tansworth. The Revolution ended with the formation of the Cragglethorne Consulate (Now the Thornton Consulate.)

## The Rise of Thornton Weaponry

During 1992, in preparation for all of these events, Jebidiah Thornton hired 27 men, all of about 6'4, bald, with rosy red cheeks, and no eyebrows, to act as a secret police for him. These men would go around the company and battered anyone who disagreed with Jebidiah. These were the Thorntoniers. They were originally inspired by the Salford Branch of Thornton Stationery Company when Jebidiah mobilised them during the Cragglethorne Stationery Coke Island Bust.

Jebidiah then established a new company called Thornton Weaponry he began manufacturing weapons for his Thorntoniers and a new weapon was formed. The Thornton Assassin. This Assassin wore white, plastic armour with black, dead eyes. Jebidiah began forming a small army of Thorntoniers and Thornton Assassins. The Thorntoniers acting as his personal bodyguards and police force whilst the Assassins acted as his private hit-men.

The assassins were responsible for the deaths of many of rival company bosses like Reginald Stationery Inc. and Jerusalem Pens and Pencils that had begun cropping up as Thornton Stationery began to lose a grip on the stationery business.

## Cragglethorne Financial Crisis

On the 7th of April 1993, Cragglethorne Stationery held it's 98th annual company conference. By late 1992, tensions had been rising with employees, and issues with Tansworth's leadership began arising. Namely his lack of financial concern. The company had been rapidly losing money since Tansworth came to power as CEO in April 1991. Tansworth was reckless with his spending of money. He spent thousands of pounds worth of company money on lavish balls, massive dinners, expensive clothes and paintings. The company was predicted to go into financial ruin by early 1994.

However, Jebidiah Thornton, an accountant at the Notting Hill branch, was set on changing it. Not with bureaucracy, but with action. Jebidiah was seen as a theatrical joke who shouldn't be taken seriously. In the June 1993 edition of Cragglethorne Magazine, the following was written about Thornton:

''Jebidiah Thornton, accountant at Notting Hill Branch is an overly theatrical imbecile with delusions of grandeur.''

Thornton was set on provoking a revolution - a civil war of sorts. At the time, no one else in the company wanted this. The company at this time was ruled by 140 different authorities which operated in different regions of the company. For example the New England Regional Authority and the Yorkshire and the Humber Regional Authority. These authoritative forces were set up in 1992, by Tansworth, who appointed friends of his to the Authoritative councils. These councils would let branches do anything they wanted. Jebidiah thought that instead of 140 separate councils, there should be one unified Consulate, who merely approved actions from Branches. Jebidiah claimed he supported turning Cragglethorne in to a co-operative company.

At the company meeting on the 7th of April, Jebidiah was due to give a speech praising Tansworth on his efforts. Instead, Jebidiah wrote a fiery speech which mobilised hundreds of employees against Tansworth.

The Cragglethorne Diet - the Company's decision making body - met in Frankfurt, Germany on the 24th of April 1993. The motion on the agenda was Tansworth's request to fire Jebidiah Thornton and press legal charges of slander against him, on the grounds that Jebidiah's speech was illegal. All eyes at the meeting was the delegate from the Authoritative Councilate of London and the South-East - Jamie Strode. Strode gave an unexpected speech.

''In the name of the Authoritative Council for London and the South-East, I vehemently oppose this vote, which is undoubtable in violation of free speech.'' Strode was isolated. The council which was full of Tansworth's friends did not want to put an end to their luxurious lifestyles. With 132 votes to 7, Tansworth's request was accepted. Strode said the following:

''In the name of the Authoritative Council for London and the South-East, I inform you that our branches see this vote as a declaration of war.'' There are shouts of outrage from the hall. ''And secondly, for branches in my region, this declaration annuls our involvement in any company operations.''

## Build-Up

Strode was in fact good friends with Jebidiah Thornton, and had been working with him for the past few years. However, in all truth, Strode and Jebidiah had no plans on how to convince people to join his revolution. Thornton had put all of his hopes on Denzel Pepper, a salesman at his branch. Pepper had connections with many employees, and had spread the word of the revolution. By December 1993, a total of about 1,800 employees had agreed to help with Thornton's revolution. What Thornton had not told them however, was that he planned to put himself in charge of the company.

Thornton was a largely disliked employee. He was considered as cold and unpleasant, however for the greater good, his fellow co-workers decided to work with him. The branch manager of the Notting Hill Branch, Dr. David Wilson had gone missing, and the Council for London and the South-East had decided to put Jebidiah Thornton as temporary Branch Manager.

On the 2nd of December 1993, it was revealed that Tansworth had invested into an island with the help of an old friend, Jaoquin Ward. It had been dubbed TIGHR (or the Tansworth Island Getaway Holiday Retreat). This sparked even more outrage and Jebidiah decided to call an emergency meeting a few days later.

The meeting was called on the 4th, and during it, Denzel Pepper and his sales team gave a surprise speech about overthrowing Tansworth. Pepper was an extravagant man of diligence, who along with Fred Wentsworth, planned an extravaganza of a show. They had put up set decoration - Fake trees spray-painted white, coloured sheets of translucent paper, elaborate lighting, a large bubble machine, and a hired disco band playing an instrumental of the song ''La Dolce Vita'' in the background. Pepper had also hired one of his old university friends - Cecil Longstaff - to act as security in case any Cragglethorne loyalists act up. Pepper performed a speech that lasted two hours and a half. Images of this speech can be seen in the Gallery.

On the 5th of February, Pepper and his sales team were all fired for this, however this only caused outrage, and 436 branches stopped all operations. This had officially begun Thornton's plan. The company gave them their jobs back, however, it was too late. Almost every single employee in the company was against Tansworth and his leadership.

## Coronation of Jebidiah Thornton

Thornton was crowned CEO and 'God Emperor' of Cragglethorne Industries Limited Unlimited (Parent Company of Cragglethorne Stationery'' on Thursday, 23rd of March, 1995, at Alexandra Palace in London. It marked "the instantiation of modern empire" and was a "transparently masterminded piece of modern propaganda".

Thornton wanted to establish the legitimacy of his reign, with its new leadership and new values. To this end, he designed a coronation ceremony unlike anything Thornton had ever seen before. Thornton's coronation was a sacred ceremony held in the great Alexandra Palace in the presence of Pope John Paul II. Note: Thornton was not a Catholic, but he did greatly admire Pope John Paul II.

## Gallery

Jebidiah Thornton giving his speech on the 7th of April 1993Denzel arriving on stage for his speech in December 1993Denzel telling people to shut it during his speechDenzel with Julia and an unnamed intern in the backgroundDenzel getting hyper during his speechDenzel about to crowd surfDenzel signing autographsDenzel closing upJebidiah Thornton in a meeting in July 1994