Richard Thornton, British geologist and explorer, was the son of Richard Thornton and Elizabeth Hastwell. He studied geology at the Royal School of Mines in London for two years from October 1855 and then served as the geologist of the early stages of Dr David Livingstone's* Zambezi expedition (1858-1864). Before setting out he received instructions about his duties from the British geologist Sir R.I. Murchison (of the Geological Survey), botanist J.D. Hooker* (Kew Gardens), and palaeontologist Richard Owen* (British Museum, Natural History). In September 1858 he reported to Livingstone on the coal found at Tete, on the Zambezi River in western Mozambique. His report was later published in the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London (1859). However, in June 1859 Livingstone dismissed him for laziness, but Thornton subsequently refuted the charges against him (NAAIRS, summary of documents).

Two years later Thornton joined Baron Klaus von der Decken on an expedition to Kilimanjaro (1861-1862). He described this journey in "Expedition to Kilimanjaro in company with the Baron von der Decken" (Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society, 1862) and in "Notes on a journey to Kilimanjaro in 1861" ( Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, 1865). He also visited Zanzibar at this time and wrote "On the geology of Zanzibar" for the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London (1862). Documents relating to his travels, including several maps and sketches, are housed in Brenthurst Library, Johannesburg.

During a visit to Natal, presumably shortly after his expedition to Kilimanjaro, he found some stone artefacts on raised beaches at Inanda (just north of Durban) and in Mozambique at the mouth of the Zambezi River. These were mentioned by C.L. Griesbach* in 1871, in a paper on the geology of Natal that contained the first account of prehistoric implements from that territory. Meanwhile Thornton decided to ascend the Zambezi River and explore Lake Nyassa (now Lake Malawi). He wrote to Sir R.I. Murchison about his plans, but contracted malaria and died of dysentery before he could set out. His "Notes on the Zambezi and the Shiré" were published in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society in 1864. The paper included an account of the severe drought and famine of 1862-1863, and of the great hurricane which struck Tete on 16 November 1862.

List of sources:

FamilySearch: Richard Thornton. https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/details/MTWL-BMP AND https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV2Y-BDY9?lang=en

Goodwin, A.J.H. A commentary upon South African prehistory... Bantu Studies, 1935, Vol. 9, pp. 291-333; bibliography pp.387-413.

Hall, A.L. A bibliography of South African geology to the end of 1920. Pretoria: Geological Survey, Memoir No.18, 1922.

Mendelssohn, S. South African bibliography. London, 1910.

National Automated Archival Information Retrieval System (NAAIRS). http://national.archives.gov.za/naairs.htm Documents relating to Thornton, Richard.

Richard Thornton. Retrieved on 27 January 2021 from https://peoplepill.com/people/richard-thornton-1

Royal Society of London. Catalogue of scientific papers [1800-1900]. London: Royal Society, 1867-1925.

Venter, R.J. Bibliography of regional meteorological literature. Vol. 1. Southern Africa, 1486-1948. Pretoria: Weather Bureau, 1949.

Compiled by: C. Plug

Last updated: 2026-01-16 12:37:37