Robert Thoroton

Dr. Robert Thoroton (4 October 1623 – c. 21 November 1678) was an English antiquary, mainly remembered for his county history, The Antiquities of Nottinghamshire (1677).

He belonged to an old Nottinghamshire family, which took its name from Thoroton, near Newark. He resided mainly at another village in the same neighborhood, Car Colston, where he practised as a physician and where he lived the life of a country gentleman. He took very little part in the Civil War, although his sympathies were with the royalists, but as a magistrate he was very active in taking proceedings against the Quakers.

In 1667 Thoroton, aided by a band of helpers, began to work upon his great county history, The Antiquities of Nottinghamshire. This was published in London in 1677; it was dedicated to the eminent antiquarian William Dugdale and was illustrated by engravings by W. Hollar. It was Dugdale who had urged Thoroton to complete the work of history begun by Thoroton's father-in-law.

Preparing for his death, Dr. Robert Thoroton had ordered made, some six years before his death, an elaborate carved stone coffin with the various heraldic shields of his ancestors incised upon it. He was buried in the coffin, but during restoration work on the chancel of St. Mary's Church in Car Colston in 1845, Thoroton's stone coffin was unearthed. The coffin, made of red Mansfield stone, was opened and Dr. Thoroton's skull was removed and placed in a shop in the village as a 'curiosity.' The vandalism was subsequently discovered, and the local vicar ordered the remains to be collected, replaced within the coffin and reinterred.

In 1797 a new edition of the Antiquities was published by John Throsby (1740–1803), who added an additional volume.

In 1897 the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire was founded in honour of the antiquarian, its object being to promote the study of the history and antiquities of Nottinghamshire. Under its auspices annual volumes of Transactions and several volumes of Records have been published, and much valuable work has been done.

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