1856, when he was presented by Sir Frederick Knight to the perpetual Curacy of Exmoor, and thus became the first Vicar of Simonsbath, where his energies were most remarkable, he treating lightly a fifty mile ride, or a twenty or even thirty mile walk across moor, hill and fen.
Here he remained until 1861 when he was appointed Vicar of Dunsford, holding that living until 1866, when, owing to the climate not suiting him or his wife, he exchanged livings with the Rev. G. Arden, Rector of North Bovey, where he remained for fifty years, beloved and esteemed by his moorland parishioners, to whom he was not only a parish priest and faithful pastor, but also a kind and generous friend, ever ready to help the sick and the needy and anyone requiring his aid or advice.
In 1871 he was elected Rural Dean of the Deanery of Moretonhampstead, an office which he held for eight years. At that time the Clerical Association—a society for the study of the Greek Testament—claimed the Rural Dean as its ex-officio Chairman. When he ceased to be Rural Dean, his successor in the office was not a member of the Association, and therefore the Chairmanship became elective, and after nine years, i.e. in 1888, Mr. Thornton was elected President, and so continued for twenty-five more years. He used to regard the task as one of his most important duties—preparing for it by study, writing papers sometimes on special subjects, and driving long distances to attend the meetings. When it was his turn to be host no trouble was too much to satisfy his hospitable instincts. The members who came by train were met with carriages and white horses, and his genial welcome will long be remembered. He was fond of leading the discussion into large questions, and he may, perhaps, have preferred the expression of opinions to the study of the Greek Text. He has, in former days, been criticised as President for his exuberant store of anecdotes, which, people said, interrupted the real purpose of the meetings. But whatever criticism he provoked in this respect, his anecdotes were always appreciated by his hearers; and by the papers which he read he was able to command the attention and elicit the opinions of other men. The Association was much indebted to him for his guidance in any difficulty which
