THORNTON, a village, a township, a chapelry, and a sub-district, in Bradford parish and district, W. R. Yorkshire. The township stands 3½ miles W of Bradford r. station; and has a post-office under Bradford, a mechanics' institute, and a fair on the first Friday of Nov.-The township contains 4 other villages, and 4 hamlets; and comprises 4,390 acres. Real property, £16,949; of which £2,661 are in mines, and £647 in quarries. Pop. in 1851, 8,051; in 1861, 7,627. Houses, 1,630. There are several worsted mills, two stuff manufactories, a wool-combing establishment, two churches, 13 dissenting chapels, an endowed school with £60 a year, several other public schools, and charities £22.—The chapelry includes only part of the township. Pop., 4,811. The living is a p. curacy in the diocese of Ripon. Value, £300.* Patron, the Vicar of Bradford.—The sub-district comprises T. and Clayton townships. Acres, 6,000. Pop., 13,282. Houses, 2,802.

(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))