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Help: James Thornton

15 Oct 02 - 06:47 AM (#803402)
Subject: James Thornton
From: Orac

Does anyone have a pic of James Thornton who wrote "When you were sweet sixteen" in 1898 (and lots of others). His music used to carry a picture of his wife who sang his songs but never a pic of himself. Although he didn't die till 1939 I can't seem to find a photo of him. Can anyone help?


16 Oct 02 - 02:57 AM (#804181)
Subject: RE: James Thornton
From: Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull


16 Oct 02 - 04:10 AM (#804208)
Subject: RE: James Thornton
From: Brakn

No photo but I can tell you somethings. He was born at 50 Kew Street, Liverpool on the 1st Dec. 1861. His father was John Thornton, a baker and his mother was Catherine Thornton nee Molloy. They were married in Liverpool 13th May 1855.


16 Oct 02 - 04:23 AM (#804212)
Subject: RE: James Thornton
From: Joan from Wigan

Can't find any pics on a quick search, but his date of death is listed as July 27, 1938, not 1939, on various websites.

Joan


16 Oct 02 - 06:18 AM (#804244)
Subject: RE: James Thornton
From: songs2play

I noticed the Sheet Music which may be of interest.


16 Oct 02 - 08:40 AM (#804300)
Subject: RE: James Thornton
From: Orac

Thanks Joan.. I posted the date from memory... which seems to be failing these days :-( Thanks also to Brakn .. You seem to have a different birthday than that in all Biogs which always give his birth date as 5th Dec 1861. Where did you get your info from? Do you have family connections?


16 Oct 02 - 08:56 AM (#804313)
Subject: RE: James Thornton
From: Brakn

Orac I'm no relation, just interested. I do family trees as a hobby. I got the info from a copy of his birth cert. Also I got a copy of his parents marriage cert.
He may have been baptised on the fifth. It was sometimes considered to be a more important date.
I had noticed that a search on the internet would come up with that different date. It's not surprising. If you do a search for John Lennon's family tree, there's not one site that has it correct or even one book printed that's right. These mistakes get handed down.


16 Oct 02 - 09:22 AM (#804333)
Subject: RE: James Thornton
From: Orac

Thanks for the info. I'm into genealogy too. Been tracing my tree since 1978. I've got William Heath-Robinson on my tree which prob accounts for things going wrong. Can I be cheeky and ask for a scan of the certificates.


16 Oct 02 - 03:11 PM (#804692)
Subject: RE: James Thornton
From: Joan from Wigan

The biog. I came across which does give his date of birth as 1st December 1861 is here: A Composer's and Lyricists Database.

Joan


17 Oct 02 - 05:01 AM (#805160)
Subject: RE: James Thornton
From: Brakn

Orac PM me with your email address.


18 Oct 02 - 04:39 AM (#805904)
Subject: RE: James Thornton
From: Orac

Joan, you are quite right. The page I was looking at was called "The big bands data base plus" which lists birthdays of people in the music world. I've sent them an Email re: their error. By the way I've got hold of a 1922 recording of When you were sweet sixteen ... if its any good I'll send you a copy ... when it arrives from the States.