Life and works

Thornton was born in Secunderabad

Secunderabad

Secunderabad popularly known as the twin city of Hyderabad is located in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh north of Hyderabad. Named after Sikandar Jah, the third Nizam of the Asaf Jahi dynasty, Secunderabad was founded in 1806 AD as a British cantonment...

, India, the son of James Thornton, a physical drill teacher, and Mary Thornton. The family returned to England soon after, and Thornton was raised in Hornsey

Hornsey

Hornsey is a district in London Borough of Haringey in north London in England. Whilst Hornsey was formerly the name of a parish and later a municipal borough of Middlesex, today, the name refers only to the London district. It is an inner-suburban area located north of Charing Cross.-Locale:The ...

, Middlesex. In 1911 their residence was 8 Summerhill Road, South Tottenham

South Tottenham

-Location:South Tottenham occupies parts of the N15 and N17 postal districts. It is bordered in the south by Stamford Hill, the west by St Ann's and West Green, the north by Tottenham, and the east by the Lee Valley Reservoirs.-Character of the area:...

, London. He married Beatrice M. Bate in December 1915.

He became a well-known journalist after be began writing humorous articles in The Star

The Star (London)

The Star was a London evening newspaper founded in 1788.The first edition was printed on 3 May 1788 under the editorship of Peter Stuart. Founding sponsors of the new paper included publisher John Murray and William Lane of the Minerva Press...

. He later joined the literary staff of the Daily Chronicle

Daily Chronicle

The Daily Chronicle was a British newspaper that was published from 1872 to 1930 when it merged with the Daily News to become the News Chronicle.-History:...

. He won the 1923 Andrew Melrose

Andrew Melrose Publisher

Andrew Melrose was a British publisher. Although he was noted for publishing theological works, he was also active in promoting new fiction, and offered a substantial cash prize for the best first novel submitted to his firm....

 prize for his humorous novel An Astronomer at Large. It tells how a famous astronomer

Astronomer

An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...

, past middle age, discovers that real life bas eluded him in his devotion to his work and sets out to recapture what he has missed. He also wrote John Comes Home and Summer Sowing, both published in 1927. The same year, his short story "The Second Chance" appeared in John O'London's Weekly

John O'London's Weekly

John O'London's Weekly was a weekly literary magazine that was published by George Newnes of London between 1919 and 1954. Regarded as the leading literary magazine in the British Empire, at its height it had a circulation of 80,000, and it was popular among young and older readers alike.Founded in...

(July 30, 1927). In 1960 he published a philosophical-religious work The Ultimate You, in which he countered what he saw as contemporary pessimism by arguing for the centrality of man in the universe.