394 
JOHN THORNTON. 
The hand of death has of late fallen heavily on the Society’s 
Members, and no loss will be felt more keenly by the Agri- 
cultural world — Shorthorn breeders in particular — than that 
caused by the death of Mr. John Thornton, at Algiers, on the 28th 
November, 1908, while on a cruise in the Mediterranean. 
Born in 1840, he began in 1857 as an assistant to the late 
Henry Strafford, who was at that time the principal auctioneer 
of shorthorns, and the proprietor of Coates’s Herd Book. 
Mr. Thornton commenced business on his own account in 
1808, and from that time he conducted sales in all parts of the 
United Kingdom. He figured prominently in the formation of 
the Shorthorn Society, and was instrumental in establishing the 
English Jersey Herd Book. As a mark of the esteem in which 
he was held, both at home and abroad, a public testimonial 
was presented to him in the year 1905, the subscribers to which 
numbered over 900. The testimonial took the form of his 
portrait, painted by Mr. A. S. Cope, A.R.A. Mr. Thornton 
joined the Society in 1869, and was elected in 1905 as one of 
the Members of the Council for the London division. He 
officiated as auctioneer of cattle in the “ Royal ” Showyard 
each year since the Park Royal Show of 1903, when the sales 
were commenced. 
GEORGE HENRY SANDAY. 
ANOTHER old supporter of the Society, and one who for many 
years took an active part in the administration of the Annual 
Shows was Mr. George Henry Sanday,who died in December last. 
His association with the Society commenced in 1868 as a 
Member, and in 1874 he was elected to the Council, becoming 
a Governor and Vice-President in 1902. Mr. Sanday did duty 
as a Steward at the Kilburn Show of 1879, on which occasion 
he was connected with the Implement section, and in the year 
1883 he again acted as a Steward (of Butter and Cheese). From 
that year until .1905, with only one break — in 1896 — he acted 
as a Steward of the Showyard, the departments with which 
he was at various times connected including Finance, Stock, 
Implements and Forage. He was a regular attendant at the 
Council meetings, and served on the Finance, Veterinary, 
Implement, Showyard Works, and Stock Prizes Committees, 
acting as Chairman of the latter from 1890 until 1905, wlien, 
owing to ill-health, he was compelled to resign his seat upon 
the Council. No one worked harder to make the Park Royal 
venture a success, and in the opinion of some of his old 
colleagues on the Council, these efforts accelerated the break- 
down of his health, and hastened his end. 
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