William Thornton
| William Thornton | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Architect of the Capitol | |
|
In office 1793–1802 |
|
| Preceded by | Position Established |
| Succeeded by | Benjamin Henry Latrobe |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
May 20, 1759 Jost van Dyke, British Virgin Islands |
| Died | March 28, 1828 (aged 68) |
| Nationality |
British; American (1788 - 1828) |
| Alma mater |
University of Edinburgh; University of Aberdeen |
| Profession | Civil Engineer |
| Known for | United States Capitol |
| Awards | Magellanic Premium (1792) |
Dr. William Thornton (May 20, 1759 – March 28, 1828) was a British-American physician, inventor, painter and architect who designed the United States Capitol, an authentic polymath. He also served as the first Architect of the Capitol and first Superintendent of the United States Patent Office.
From an early age William Thornton displayed interest and discernible talent in "the arts of design," to employ an 18th-century term that is particularly useful in assessing his career. Thornton was born on Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands, West Indies, in a Quaker community. where he was heir to sugar plantations. He was sent to England at age five to be educated. Frary Thornton was brought up strictly by his father's relations, Quakers and merchants, in and near the ancient castle town of Lancaster, in northern Lancashire, England. There was never any question of his pursuing the fine arts professionally—he was to be trained for a useful life, according to the Quaker ways. Thus, despite the fact that he had a sizeable income, young Thornton was apprenticed for a term of four years (1777–1781), to a practical physician and apothecary in Ulverston, Lancashire (now Cumbria).
The earliest of Thornton's known writings, a journal he began during his apprenticeship, records almost as many entries for drawing and sketching as notes on medical treatments and nostrums. His subjects were most often flora and fauna, but he also did portraits, landscapes, historical scenes, and studies of machinery, such as the Franklin stove, and managed to construct a camera obscura. This pattern continued when he enrolled as a medical student in the University of Edinburgh in 1781. He interned at St. Bartholomew Hospital. The architecture of Edinburgh, especially that of the New Town that was being built, surely exerted considerable influence. More direct evidence of his interest in architecture is found in the landscapes and sketches of castles he drew while travelling about Scotland, notably in the Highlands, during these years.
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