Alice Thornton's Books
@thorntonsbooks.bsky.social
We were an AHRC-funded project (Sept. 2021-Feb. 2025), based at the University of Edinburgh. Our main output was a digital edition of the books of Yorkshire gentlewoman, Alice Wandesford Thornton (1626-1707). See http://thornton.kdl.kcl.ac.uk
Pinned
Alice Thornton's Books Wins Award
News article - 26 October 2025
thornton.kdl.kcl.ac.uk
The Thornton's Books team are very pleased that our digital edition has been recognised by the Society for the Study of Early Modern Women and Gender in their annual publication awards. We received a ‘Co-Honourable Mention’ in the Digital Scholarship category.
thornton.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/posts/news/2...
thornton.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/posts/news/2...
16 Nov. 1665 #OTD Alice's husband, William, had a 'fit of the Palsey [paralysis or weakness of part of the body, sometime with a tremor]' (Bk 1), on his way home from York. He was taken to nearby Brandsby Hall, Stearsby. There he endured three days of convulsions and a fever. #EarlyModern 🗃️
November 16, 2025 at 5:26 PM
16 Nov. 1665 #OTD Alice's husband, William, had a 'fit of the Palsey [paralysis or weakness of part of the body, sometime with a tremor]' (Bk 1), on his way home from York. He was taken to nearby Brandsby Hall, Stearsby. There he endured three days of convulsions and a fever. #EarlyModern 🗃️
Reposted by Alice Thornton's Books
A wonderfully elaborate binding for Mrs Elizabeth Colles, from the early seventeenth century. It contains three linguistic works, including Thomas Thomas’s Dictionary (Cambridge, 1610). @theulspeccoll.bsky.social Rel.d.61.2. #herbook
November 14, 2025 at 12:58 PM
A wonderfully elaborate binding for Mrs Elizabeth Colles, from the early seventeenth century. It contains three linguistic works, including Thomas Thomas’s Dictionary (Cambridge, 1610). @theulspeccoll.bsky.social Rel.d.61.2. #herbook
Reposted by Alice Thornton's Books
Do you research early #bookhistory?
Come to our #REBPAFConference : 23-25 June 2026, Royal Irish Academy, Dublin!
📚 Key details:
• Deadline: 15 Dec 2025
[Abstract (max 300 words) + short CV]
• Themes: Selection,Value,Accessibility & Survival in book culture
Follow the link for more info!
#REBPAF
Come to our #REBPAFConference : 23-25 June 2026, Royal Irish Academy, Dublin!
📚 Key details:
• Deadline: 15 Dec 2025
[Abstract (max 300 words) + short CV]
• Themes: Selection,Value,Accessibility & Survival in book culture
Follow the link for more info!
#REBPAF
CFP: Re-Mediating the Early Book: Pasts and Futures
Keynotes: Sarah Werner, independent book historian; Renske Hoff, University of Utrecht; Aditi Nafde, Newcastle University Date & Location: 23-25 June 2026, Royal Irish Academy, Dublin Re-mediat…
rebpaf.wordpress.com
November 13, 2025 at 12:40 PM
Do you research early #bookhistory?
Come to our #REBPAFConference : 23-25 June 2026, Royal Irish Academy, Dublin!
📚 Key details:
• Deadline: 15 Dec 2025
[Abstract (max 300 words) + short CV]
• Themes: Selection,Value,Accessibility & Survival in book culture
Follow the link for more info!
#REBPAF
Come to our #REBPAFConference : 23-25 June 2026, Royal Irish Academy, Dublin!
📚 Key details:
• Deadline: 15 Dec 2025
[Abstract (max 300 words) + short CV]
• Themes: Selection,Value,Accessibility & Survival in book culture
Follow the link for more info!
#REBPAF
12 Nov 1667 #OTD Christopher, Alice Thornton's ninth and final child, was baptised at East Newton Hall, the family home, having been born the previous day: 'His godfathers and godmother were my brother Denton, my brother Portington and Mrs Anne Danby'. (Bk 1). #EarlyModern 🗃️
November 12, 2025 at 4:59 PM
12 Nov 1667 #OTD Christopher, Alice Thornton's ninth and final child, was baptised at East Newton Hall, the family home, having been born the previous day: 'His godfathers and godmother were my brother Denton, my brother Portington and Mrs Anne Danby'. (Bk 1). #EarlyModern 🗃️
11 Nov. 1651 #OTD William Thornton wrote to Alice's mother, Alice Wandesford, about the protracted marriage settlement negotiations. He wanted to include lands which were part of his mother's jointure but his stepfather, Geoffrey Gates, was refusing to give legal consent. #EarlyModern 🗃️
November 11, 2025 at 8:01 PM
11 Nov. 1651 #OTD William Thornton wrote to Alice's mother, Alice Wandesford, about the protracted marriage settlement negotiations. He wanted to include lands which were part of his mother's jointure but his stepfather, Geoffrey Gates, was refusing to give legal consent. #EarlyModern 🗃️
10 Nov. 1668 #OTD Alice Thornton wrote to her cousin Lady Mary Yorke declining her offer to take teenager Nally, Thornton's daughter and Yorke's god-daughter, to be confirmed by the bishop, knowing it was part of a plot to prevent Nally's marriage to Thomas Comber. #EarlyModern 🗃️
November 10, 2025 at 9:22 PM
10 Nov. 1668 #OTD Alice Thornton wrote to her cousin Lady Mary Yorke declining her offer to take teenager Nally, Thornton's daughter and Yorke's god-daughter, to be confirmed by the bishop, knowing it was part of a plot to prevent Nally's marriage to Thomas Comber. #EarlyModern 🗃️
Reposted by Alice Thornton's Books
Great look into the comprehensiveness of EEBO and EEBO-TCP and what that means for using those tools. Highly recommend for all computational bibliographers and early modernists doing large-scale work with EEBO
November 9, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Great look into the comprehensiveness of EEBO and EEBO-TCP and what that means for using those tools. Highly recommend for all computational bibliographers and early modernists doing large-scale work with EEBO
8 Nov. 1668 #OTD Alice Thornton received a letter from her former servant. Daphne Lightfoot had uncovered a plot to prevent the marriage of Thornton's daughter Nally to Thomas Comber. Thornton writes, 'there was a conspiracy between Dr Samways, Mrs Danby and my Lady Yorke' (Bk3). 1/2 #EarlyModern 🗃️
November 8, 2025 at 1:41 PM
8 Nov. 1668 #OTD Alice Thornton received a letter from her former servant. Daphne Lightfoot had uncovered a plot to prevent the marriage of Thornton's daughter Nally to Thomas Comber. Thornton writes, 'there was a conspiracy between Dr Samways, Mrs Danby and my Lady Yorke' (Bk3). 1/2 #EarlyModern 🗃️
Reposted by Alice Thornton's Books
On this day in 1605 a Catholic soldier named Guy Fawkes was arrested in an undercroft below the House of Lords.
Many people know about the infamous gunpowder plot, but here's a blog post about the broader Catholic community at the time.
manyheadedmonster.com/2014/11/03/g...
#EarlyModern 🗃️
Many people know about the infamous gunpowder plot, but here's a blog post about the broader Catholic community at the time.
manyheadedmonster.com/2014/11/03/g...
#EarlyModern 🗃️
November 5, 2025 at 7:39 AM
On this day in 1605 a Catholic soldier named Guy Fawkes was arrested in an undercroft below the House of Lords.
Many people know about the infamous gunpowder plot, but here's a blog post about the broader Catholic community at the time.
manyheadedmonster.com/2014/11/03/g...
#EarlyModern 🗃️
Many people know about the infamous gunpowder plot, but here's a blog post about the broader Catholic community at the time.
manyheadedmonster.com/2014/11/03/g...
#EarlyModern 🗃️
5 Nov. 1668 #OTD Thomas Comber went to York to apply for a licence to marry Alice Thornton's eldest daughter, Nally. They would be married 12 days later. The significance of the date was not lost on Thornton, who was a devout Protestant and royalist. #EarlyModern 🗃️ #GuyFawkes #BonfireNight 1/3
November 5, 2025 at 1:47 PM
5 Nov. 1668 #OTD Thomas Comber went to York to apply for a licence to marry Alice Thornton's eldest daughter, Nally. They would be married 12 days later. The significance of the date was not lost on Thornton, who was a devout Protestant and royalist. #EarlyModern 🗃️ #GuyFawkes #BonfireNight 1/3
4 Nov. 1667 Alice Thornton, aged 41, went into labour with her 9th and final child, Christopher #OTD: 'I fell into pangs of labour about the 4th of November being very ill, and so continued by fits all that week' (BkRem). Christopher was born a week later on 11 Nov. #EarlyModern 🗃️
November 4, 2025 at 8:09 PM
4 Nov. 1667 Alice Thornton, aged 41, went into labour with her 9th and final child, Christopher #OTD: 'I fell into pangs of labour about the 4th of November being very ill, and so continued by fits all that week' (BkRem). Christopher was born a week later on 11 Nov. #EarlyModern 🗃️
Reposted by Alice Thornton's Books
The document pictured is headed 'Alice Thornton wife of William Thornton of east Newton Esqr aged twenty nyne yeares or thereabouts'. Reader, she was 30.
According to Book 2, Alice Thornton #OTD 3 Nov. 1658 gave evidence at Hipswell before a Master of Chancery. She deposed that her father, Christopher Wandesford, had made a will in Ireland in 1640. The will had since gone missing and its contents were disputed. 1/2 #EarlyModern 📜 🗃️
November 3, 2025 at 8:30 PM
The document pictured is headed 'Alice Thornton wife of William Thornton of east Newton Esqr aged twenty nyne yeares or thereabouts'. Reader, she was 30.
According to Book 2, Alice Thornton #OTD 3 Nov. 1658 gave evidence at Hipswell before a Master of Chancery. She deposed that her father, Christopher Wandesford, had made a will in Ireland in 1640. The will had since gone missing and its contents were disputed. 1/2 #EarlyModern 📜 🗃️
November 3, 2025 at 8:26 PM
According to Book 2, Alice Thornton #OTD 3 Nov. 1658 gave evidence at Hipswell before a Master of Chancery. She deposed that her father, Christopher Wandesford, had made a will in Ireland in 1640. The will had since gone missing and its contents were disputed. 1/2 #EarlyModern 📜 🗃️
Reposted by Alice Thornton's Books
Did anyone else feel their heart leap with the news that the British Library are aiming to relaunch their archives and manuscript catalogue in early December? Can't wait to see you old friend 😭
October 31, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Did anyone else feel their heart leap with the news that the British Library are aiming to relaunch their archives and manuscript catalogue in early December? Can't wait to see you old friend 😭
2) Seventeenth-century copy of the St John’s Gospel in an envelop binding!
October 31, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Kirklington Hall, where Alice Wandesford Thornton was born in 1626, has a ghost 👻 associated with it known as the Grey Lady. It is also said that if the enormous old trunk, which once contained all the Wandesford family papers, was moved from the Hall then disaster will follow. Spooky! #Halloween 🗃️
October 31, 2025 at 10:36 AM
Kirklington Hall, where Alice Wandesford Thornton was born in 1626, has a ghost 👻 associated with it known as the Grey Lady. It is also said that if the enormous old trunk, which once contained all the Wandesford family papers, was moved from the Hall then disaster will follow. Spooky! #Halloween 🗃️
Reposted by Alice Thornton's Books
*ANNOUNCEMENT*
We are excited to announce a brand new podcast series: UPRISING: THE CIVIL WARS. A six-part series produced by HistFest Productions for the HistoryExtra podcast.
🎧 Listen wherever you get your podcasts!
We are excited to announce a brand new podcast series: UPRISING: THE CIVIL WARS. A six-part series produced by HistFest Productions for the HistoryExtra podcast.
🎧 Listen wherever you get your podcasts!
October 28, 2025 at 9:20 AM
*ANNOUNCEMENT*
We are excited to announce a brand new podcast series: UPRISING: THE CIVIL WARS. A six-part series produced by HistFest Productions for the HistoryExtra podcast.
🎧 Listen wherever you get your podcasts!
We are excited to announce a brand new podcast series: UPRISING: THE CIVIL WARS. A six-part series produced by HistFest Productions for the HistoryExtra podcast.
🎧 Listen wherever you get your podcasts!
Reposted by Alice Thornton's Books
Today on the blog: a magnificent find by @franceswolfreston.bsky.social of a book that the poet Katherine Philips gave to Mary Jeffreys; a discussion with important scholarly implications for the study of Philips earlymodernfemalebookownership.wordpress.com/2025/10/27/h... #EarlyModern #HerBook
October 27, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Today on the blog: a magnificent find by @franceswolfreston.bsky.social of a book that the poet Katherine Philips gave to Mary Jeffreys; a discussion with important scholarly implications for the study of Philips earlymodernfemalebookownership.wordpress.com/2025/10/27/h... #EarlyModern #HerBook
The Thornton's Books team are very pleased that our digital edition has been recognised by the Society for the Study of Early Modern Women and Gender in their annual publication awards. We received a ‘Co-Honourable Mention’ in the Digital Scholarship category.
thornton.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/posts/news/2...
thornton.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/posts/news/2...
Alice Thornton's Books Wins Award
News article - 26 October 2025
thornton.kdl.kcl.ac.uk
October 27, 2025 at 8:46 PM
The Thornton's Books team are very pleased that our digital edition has been recognised by the Society for the Study of Early Modern Women and Gender in their annual publication awards. We received a ‘Co-Honourable Mention’ in the Digital Scholarship category.
thornton.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/posts/news/2...
thornton.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/posts/news/2...
27 Oct. 1698 #OTD Thornton wrote to her great-nephew, Abstrupus Danby, about her daughter Katherine's proposed 2nd marriage to Robert Danby of Northallerton: 'she has given now promise without the consent of friends and there is more in the case to see her utter ruin'. #EarlyModern 📜 🗃️
October 27, 2025 at 1:35 PM
27 Oct. 1698 #OTD Thornton wrote to her great-nephew, Abstrupus Danby, about her daughter Katherine's proposed 2nd marriage to Robert Danby of Northallerton: 'she has given now promise without the consent of friends and there is more in the case to see her utter ruin'. #EarlyModern 📜 🗃️
Reposted by Alice Thornton's Books
Yorkshire gentlewoman Alice Thornton (1626-1707) mentions a 'first sleep' in her Book 1, pp. 83 and 134. #EarlyModern 🗃️ @thorntonsbooks.bsky.social
For those whose sleep is negatively impacted by the seasonal changes of the clock - might biphasic sleeping be of any assistance? @drpam outlines evidence that suggests this might be a more natural way to sleep.
Getting back to sleep: understanding biphasic normality
Can some previously little-known information about our ancestors’ sleeping patterns help us to better understand modern insomnia?
yorkshirebylines.co.uk
October 26, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Yorkshire gentlewoman Alice Thornton (1626-1707) mentions a 'first sleep' in her Book 1, pp. 83 and 134. #EarlyModern 🗃️ @thorntonsbooks.bsky.social
Reposted by Alice Thornton's Books
Delighted my podcast on Brilliana Harley has been released. She died on 29th October 1643 of a 'defluxion of the lungs ', probably pneumonia @susanwabuda.bsky.social @suwesterman.bsky.social @sdamussen.bsky.social @annlaurahughes.bsky.social @jamesdaybell.bsky.social @englishcivilwar.bsky.social
Brilliana Harley (1598 – 1643) successfully held off a royalist siege of her family home at Brampton Bryan in Herefordshire for three months during 1643. This podcast explores Brilliana’s life and writings:
www.worldturnedupsidedown.co.uk/podcast/bril...
@world-turned.bsky.social #History #Podcast
www.worldturnedupsidedown.co.uk/podcast/bril...
@world-turned.bsky.social #History #Podcast
Brilliana Harley - A woman of faith and substance - The World Turned Upside Down
Brilliana Harley was one of the heroines of the British and Irish civil wars. A deeply religious woman, in her husband’s absence, Brilliana successfully
www.worldturnedupsidedown.co.uk
October 25, 2025 at 6:28 AM
Delighted my podcast on Brilliana Harley has been released. She died on 29th October 1643 of a 'defluxion of the lungs ', probably pneumonia @susanwabuda.bsky.social @suwesterman.bsky.social @sdamussen.bsky.social @annlaurahughes.bsky.social @jamesdaybell.bsky.social @englishcivilwar.bsky.social
Reposted by Alice Thornton's Books
Thornton herself does not write much in her four surviving manuscripts about events beyond 1669 but there is material about her life up until 1682 in a manuscript written by her great-great-grandson, another Thomas Comber, now at the Beinecke Library, Yale. #EarlyModern 📜 📚 🗃️
24 Oct. 1677 #OTD Alice Thornton, with her daughter Alice and son-in-law Thomas Comber, went to Malton 'for the first time since the death of her husband ... to pay her respects to his relations, which she was desirous of doing from the regard she had to his memory'. William had died in Sept. 1668.
October 24, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Thornton herself does not write much in her four surviving manuscripts about events beyond 1669 but there is material about her life up until 1682 in a manuscript written by her great-great-grandson, another Thomas Comber, now at the Beinecke Library, Yale. #EarlyModern 📜 📚 🗃️
24 Oct. 1677 #OTD Alice Thornton, with her daughter Alice and son-in-law Thomas Comber, went to Malton 'for the first time since the death of her husband ... to pay her respects to his relations, which she was desirous of doing from the regard she had to his memory'. William had died in Sept. 1668.
October 24, 2025 at 9:29 AM
24 Oct. 1677 #OTD Alice Thornton, with her daughter Alice and son-in-law Thomas Comber, went to Malton 'for the first time since the death of her husband ... to pay her respects to his relations, which she was desirous of doing from the regard she had to his memory'. William had died in Sept. 1668.
23 Oct. 1641 #OTD Alice Thornton (then Wandesford) was living in Dublin and the Irish Rebellion reached the city: ‘we were forced upon the alarm to leave our house and fly into the castle that night with all my mother's family and what goods she could' (Book 1, 66). #EarlyModern 🗃️
October 23, 2025 at 1:34 PM
23 Oct. 1641 #OTD Alice Thornton (then Wandesford) was living in Dublin and the Irish Rebellion reached the city: ‘we were forced upon the alarm to leave our house and fly into the castle that night with all my mother's family and what goods she could' (Book 1, 66). #EarlyModern 🗃️