Anthony Wilson Thorold

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Caricature by Sir Leslie Ward, published in 1885 in Vanity Fair.

Anthony Wilson Thorold as Lord Bishop of Winchester in a portrait now at Marston Hall, Lincolnshire.

Anthony Wilson Thorold (1825–1895) was an Anglican bishop in England in the 19th century. He was Bishop of Rochester from 1877 to 1891, and Bishop of Winchester from 1891 to 1895. He began his career as vicar of St Giles-in-the-Fields, Curzon Chapel, and St Pancras.

Thorold was the second son of the Reverend Edward Thorold and his wife Mary (nee Wilson), and grandson of Sir John Thorold, 9th Baronet (1734-1815) (see Thorold Baronets). He was married twice, firstly to Henrietta Greene (d. 1859) and secondly to Emily Labouchere (d. 1877), sister of the MP Henry Labouchere. They had three children: Algar Labouchere Thorold (1866-1936), Dorothy, and Sybil (later Countess de la Bédoyère).

Thorold was cousin to Edward Trollope, suffragan bishop for Nottingham from 1877. Unlike his cousin, Thorold performed little scholarship, but was devoted to his duties nonetheless. A prayer is attributed to "Bishop A. W. Thorold, D.D., Lord Bishop of Winchester, England":

"Lord of souls, who hast chosen and called me to service in Thy Church, all our trust is in Thee, for in Thee are the springs of my life. Abundantly give me of Thy Blessed Spirit, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is Holy; and use me as it shall please Thee for the glory of Thy name. Make my will patient, my conscience pure, my temper bright. Empty me of self, and fill me with the meekness of wisdom. Increase my faith, mellow my judgment, stir my zeal, enlarge my heart. Let my life enforce what my lips utter. Do Thou choose for me the work I do, and the place in which I do it; the success I win and the harvest I reap. Preserve me from jealousy and impatience; from self-will and depression. Make me faithful unto death and then give me the crown of life. All this I ask for Christ's sake. Amen."

Thorold wrote a number of devotional books, among them "The Yoke of Christ" (Isbister, London 1884), "The Gospel of Christ" (Isbister 1884), and "The Claim of Christ on the Young" (Isbister, London 1891. Shortly after his death C.H. Simpkinson wrote "The Life and Work of Bishop Thorold", published by Isbister in 1896. It contains many quotes from Thorold's correspondence and also accounts of his extensive travels preaching in the United States in the late 1800s, during which time he visited The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at Salt Lake City and even reached Alaska. He recalled that on 1 September 1884 'We went round the new Mormon Tabernacle, of solid granite, very massively built out of the tithes of the people. It is only one-third finished. Then into the tabernacle now in use, tortoise shape, and capable of holding 7000 people ... we passed the great co-operative store ... and Brigham Young's houses', near which was pointed out Mr. Taylor [presumably John Taylor], a very important and able ruler in the body'.

Thorold went on to the Great Salt Lake and noted 'There is a bathing station here, and almost all the company, gentlemen and ladies, bathed in the sea, which, from the quantity of salt, it is quite impossible to sink.'

[edit] References

• Dictionary of National Biography
• C.H.Simpkinson, The Life and Work of Bishop Thorold, Isbister, London, 1896