himself faced by a situation of increasing gravity. England had watched with growing anxiety the rapid advance of Russia on the east of the Caspian Sea towards the northern frontiers of Persia and Afghanistan. In February 1884 Merv was annexed, notwithstanding repeated assurances given in 1881 that Russia had no such intention and without any previous notice of a change of policy. Thereupon Thornton, in accordance with his instructions, arranged for the delimitation of the northern frontier of Afghanistan by a joint commission. Before the boundary commissioners got to work a Russian and an Afghan force found themselves face to face at Penjdeh, a debatable point on the frontier, and on 30 March 1885, notwithstanding the assurances of the Russian foreign minister, General Komaroff drove the Afghan troops off with considerable loss. A period of extreme tension followed. But in the end an agreement was arrived at by the two governments, a protocol as to the general line of the frontier being signed by Lord Salisbury (who had succeeded Lord Granville as foreign secretary) and by the Russian ambassador, M. de Staal, on 10 Sept. 1885. Thornton had been appointed on 1 Dec. 1884 to succeed Lord Dufferin at Constantinople, but he remained at St. Petersburg during the whole of this trying episode, his place at Constantinople being temporarily filled by Sir William White [q. v.].
Thornton's arrival at Constantinople was delayed until February 1886, in order to leave in White's hands the negotiations consequent on the revolution in Eastern Roumelia, which broke out in September 1885 and the subsequent war between Servia and Bulgaria. A settlement was arrived at, but a fresh serious crisis was created by the abduction and abdication of Prince Alexander in August and September 1886. The cabinet were desirous that White, who had a unique knowledge of Balkan questions, should resume charge of the embassy. Thornton, despite some feeling of mortification, procured the Sultan's acceptance of White's appointment, placed his own resignation in the hands of the government, receiving their thanks for his public spirit, and returned to England. As no embassy was vacant to which he could be appointed, he retired on pension in January 1887. He declined the government's offer of a baronetcy. He had been promoted in 1883 to be G.C.B. He received honorary degrees of D.C.L. and LL.D. respectively from the universities of Oxford and Harvard, U.S.A., and was made hon. fellow of Pembroke. He had inherited on the death of his father in 1852 the title of Count de Cassilhas, which had been conferred on his father by King John VI of Portugal for three lives.
On his return to England Thornton took a considerable part in various commercial undertakings, and was also a member of the council of foreign bondholders, where his experience of South America was of much service. He died at his residence in Chelsea on 26 Jan. 1906.
He married on 15 Aug. 1854 Mary, daughter of John Maitland, and widow of Andrew Melville, by whom he had a son and two daughters. His widow died on 6 Jan. 1907. The son, Edward Thornton (1856–1904), a young diplomatist of great promise, graduated B.A. from Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1878, and after serving in Eastern Europe rose to be British minister in Central America, where he succumbed to the climate.
A cartoon portrait of Thornton by 'Ape' appeared in 'Vanity Fair' in 1886.
[The Times, 27 Jan., 6 Feb. 1906; Foreign Office List, 1907, p. 401; Papers laid before Parliament.]
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THRING, GODFREY (1823–1903), hymnologist, born at Alford, Somerset, on 25 March 1823, was third son of John Gale Dalton Thring, rector and squire of Alford, by his wife Sarah, daughter of John Jenkyns, vicar of Evercreech, and sister of Richard Jenkyns [q. v.], Master of Balliol. Henry Thring, Lord Thring [q. v. Suppl. II], and Edward Thring [q. v.], headmaster of Uppingham, were elder brothers. Educated at Shrewsbury school, he matriculated at Balliol College, Oxford, in 1841, graduating B.A. in 1845. After his ordination in 1846 he held successively the curacies of Stratfield-Turgis (1846–50), of Strathfieldsaye (1850–3), of Euston, Norfolk (1856), and of Arborfield, Berkshire (1857), and in 1858 succeeded his father as rector of Alford, becoming in 1876 prebendary of Wells. He resigned his living in 1893, and died at Shamley Green, Surrey, on 13 September 1903. Thring published 'Hymns and other Verses' (1866); 'Hymns, Congregational and Others' (1866); and 'Hymns and Sacred Lyrics' (1874). He also edited in 1880 'A Church of England Hymn Book, adapted to the Daily Services of the Church throughout the Year' (a revised edition appeared in 1882; 3rd edit. 1891).
