John Thornton (1787-1854) a blacksmith, and Frances Bowler (1789-1872), married in England in 1814. They left England with nine small children on April 17, 1829, arriving in Canada 7 weeks later. The family went to Port Hope, Ontario, first and moved to Clarke township in 1838; three of the 12 children were born in Port Hope. Apparently John Thornton came to Canada alone because his wife was not in favour of moving. However, faced with the prospects of raising a large family alone the local parish raised the funds for her and the children to join John, traveling aboard the William Pitt. Incidentally, they claimed to have heard John Wesley (the founder of Methodism) preach while living in England and this is very likely as many became active Methodist. For a list of their children click
.John Thornton (1787-1854) was the son of John Thornton (1761-) and Sarah Wade who married in 1784. John and Sarah had 9 children: Esther Thornton (1785-), Sarah Thornton (1787-), John James Thornton (1787-1854), William Herbert Thornton (?), Martha Thornton (1790-), Jonathan Thornton (1791-), Jonas Thornton (1794-), William Thornton (1790-) and Mary Thornton (1799-).
[Grave stone in Orono, Ontario]
[Grave stone in Orono, Ontario]