Edward Brooke Thornton

Founded in 1841 to educate the sons of gentlemen, Cheltenham College became one of the great public schools of the Victorian era. Its Rifle Corps was enrolled in 1862 but it was not until the following year that Cheltenham made their first appearance at the national rifle meeting held annually at Wimbledon ‘for the promotion of marksmanship in the interests of Defence of the Realm.’

This portrait of Edward Brooke Thornton (1846-1899) comes from an album of carte-de-visite portraits all showing members of the school’s Rifle XI during the mid-1860s. The album was compiled by John Reid (1844-1889), afterwards John James Reid, son of Sir James John Reid, Chief Justice of Corfu. Reid was Captain of the Rifle Corps from November 1863 to June 1864. After finishing his education at Cambridge’s Trinity College and at Edinburgh University, he was called to the Scottish bar; he died in Edinburgh on 10 November 1889, age 45.

Edward Brooke Thornton was born on 16 March 1846, the son of Captain Edward Thornton of Cauldwell Priory, Bedford. In 1864 he was the winner of the Earl Spencer challenge cup at Wimbledon. The following year he joined the 49th Foot as an Ensign, rising to the rank of Lieutenant in 1869 and Captain in 1876. He married Agnes McCartney in India on 12 August 1874 and retired from the Army in 1880. In 1881 the couple were living at Hove in Sussex with their three young sons; Edward gave ‘Retired Captain of the 49th Regiment’ as his profession. He died on 10 September 1899, aged 53, leaving an estate valued at £73,611.

Photographer unidentified.