Fonds 1843 - A.P. Thornton fonds

A.P. Thornton (1921- 2004) was former Chair of the Department of History at the University of Toronto and an internationally recognized scholar of imperial and Commonwealth history.

Prof. Thornton was born in Glasgow, Scotland and attended the University of Glasgow where he received his M.A. in 1947. During the Second World War and prior to his graduate work, he served in the British Army as a captain in the East Riding Imperial Yorkshire Yeomanry. Thornton participated in the Normandy landings and the North West Europe Campaign. At Trinity College at Oxford University he worked as a lecturer from 1948 to 1950 and following this, completed his D. Phil (1952) at the university. He went on to teach at the University of Aberdeen (1950 – 1957), and then at the University College of the West Indies he served as Professor and Chairman of History and Dean of Arts (1957-1960). It was during this period that Thornton published the influential text, "The Imperial idea and its enemies: a study in British power" (1959) that explored the impact of changing British attitudes towards the state’s colonial interests.

Beginning in 1960, Prof. Thornton began teaching in the Department of History at the University of Toronto. He served as Chairman of the department from 1967 to 1972 and retired from the University in 1987. At various points through his career Thornton accepted visiting positions and fellowships, including as the Smuts Fellow at Cambridge University (1965-1966) and visiting fellow at the Sackler Institute at Tel Aviv University (1987).

Thornton published six books during his career, in addition to numerous articles. In 1986, a volume of essays were written in his honour and compiled for Studies in British Imperial History: Essays in honour of A.P. Thornton. He was elected to the Royal Society of Canada in 1977. Outside of his academic work, Thornton contributed editorials and reviews to the Globe and Mail, as well as authoring various creative works and operettas.