The Thornley family are of more recent times, a landed gentry family (Yeoman) descending from the Claytons, Lord of Old Crooke and Fulwood; the Blundells, Lords of Ince; the Eaves, Lords of Fishwick; the Molyneuxs, Lords of Mellynge; the Radcliffes, Lords of Ordsall; the Talbots, Lords of Bashall; the Athertons, Sheriffs of Lancashire.
A History – Lordship of Thornley (Thorenteleg) in the Duchy of Lancaster
My family were the original Lords of Thorenteleg (1202) (Thornley) in the Forest of Bowland and the river Ribble area of Lancashire. It was known as Thorenteleg, 1202; Thorndeley, 1258; Thornedelegh, 1262. The ‘d’ in the middle occurs to 1350 and later, Thornley.
It is now a small village called Thornley-with-Wheatley and there is a Manor House called Thornley Hall.
The Lordship was taken by Earl of Derby yet the descendants of the Lords of ‘Thornley’ remained. My direct line continued to live in that one area for the next 700 years before moving to Australia in the early 1900’s.
The historical home of the Thornley family of Mellor is in the Ribble river district of Lancashire. The photos below are of the Thornley-with-Wheatley area of Preston, Lancashire and the hills and moors pictured are the ‘Forest of Bowland’. It is said that this area was an inspiration for author J.R.R. Tolkien and the Hobbit/ Lord of the Rings books. ( My forebears, the Parker family, were appointed the Bowbearers of the Forest of Bowland)
Through Y DNA verification, the Thornley’s of Mellor, Lancashire descend in the male line from the Beauchamp family of Elmey Castle, the Earls of Warwick.
Our foremothers also descend from a number of English noble families that include the Curzons, Townsends, Calverts, Burgoynes, Beaumonts, Conyers, Judde- Smythe, St.Omer (England). Ayala (Spain) Bransvaal; Stalnacke; Trolle, Lords of Bergkvara; Hard, Lords of Segerstad; Kagge, Lords of Fjallskafte (Sweden) These Houses in turn descend from the Royal Houses of Plantagenet (England) , Bonde (Sweden) Capet (France), Castille, Aragon, Portugal, Hungary.
My 9th great grandfather
High Sheriff of Kent
My 11th Great Grandfather
Lord Mayor of London
My 12th great-grandfather
Admitted to the ‘Middle Temple’ of barristers in London.
My 13th great grandfather
1st Baron WENTWORTH (1501 – 1551)
My 13th great grandfather
(1410 – 1459)
17th great grandfather
(1408–1470)
My 18th great-grandfather
English 