death_place death_date religion birth_place children nationality parents birth_date article_title name occupation
brighton 3 july 1838 anglican clapham sophia of leven thornton who married john leslie-melville , 9th earl british john thornton 6 november 1754 samuel thornton -lrb- mp -rrb-
 samuel thornton politician england , abolitionist and governor of the bank of
samuel thornton -lrb- mp -rrb-

samuel thornton -lrb- 6 november 1754 -- 3 july 1838 -rrb- was one of the sons of john thornton , a leading merchant in the russian and baltic trade , and was a director of the bank of england for 53 years and governor -lrb- 1799 -- 1801 -rrb- .
he had earlier served as its deputy governor .
he was member of parliament -lrb- mp -rrb- for kingston upon hull -lrb- with william wilberforce in 1784 -rrb- from 1784 to 1806 and for surrey from 1807 to 1812 .
he and was a member of the committee for the repeal of the test and corporation acts .
as mp for kingston he was painted by karl anton hickel in the group portrait `` william pitt addressing the house of commons on the french declaration of war , 1793 '' which still hangs at the national portrait gallery .
he bought albury manor , albury , surrey in 1800 , and lived there until 1811 .
he employed the architect sir john soane to improve the property .
during the early 19th century thornton built housing in the hamlet of weston street , a mile to the west of albury , for the resettlement of villagers removed from cottages in albury park , as part of the agricultural improvements .
his brothers henry thornton and robert thornton were also notable men of their time and mps .
all three were members of the clapham sect and lived in adjoining houses in clapham .
