William Thornber, Famous historian of Blackpool and the Fylde. 1837.
The orange heritage plaque at 5–7 Breck Road marks the site of the former home of the Thornber family, one of Poulton-le-Fylde’s notable local families. Although the building has undergone considerable change and has served a number of commercial purposes over the years, its historical significance reaches back to the beginning of the 19th century and the birth of the Rev. William Thornber in 1803, who became one of the earliest important historians of Blackpool and the Fylde.
The house was the residence of Giles Thornber and his wife Elizabeth, née Harrison, who raised their five children there. Giles became a county magistrate in 1834 and was a prominent figure in Poulton. Their son William Thornber was born at the Breck Road home on 5 December 1803.
William was initially educated locally at Baines’ Free School before attending Giggleswick Grammar School in Yorkshire. His education continued at Trinity College, Oxford, where he graduated with a BA. His interests increasingly turned towards history and antiquarian research, subjects through which he would establish a lasting connection with the history of the Fylde Coast.
Thornber became particularly important for his study of Blackpool at a time when the settlement was undergoing the transformation from a small coastal community into a developing seaside resort. His historical writings preserved accounts of the area’s earlier buildings, families, customs and development that might otherwise have been lost. His work consequently became an important source for later generations researching the early history of Blackpool and the surrounding Fylde. The Breck Road site therefore provides an interesting connection between Poulton and the historical record of neighbouring Blackpool. Long before Blackpool developed into the major resort familiar today, a man born in this Poulton house was documenting its origins and helping to preserve knowledge of the communities from which the modern Fylde Coast developed.
In more recent times the Breck Road premises became familiar to generations of local residents for very different reasons. It was formerly occupied by Amanda’s Posy Bowl, a florist remembered as part of Poulton’s more recent commercial history. The premises later became Cinco’s Mexican Restaurant, which currently occupies 5–7 Breck Road. The orange plaque installed on the building by the Blackpool and Poulton-le-Fylde historical societies records both generations of the family. It identifies the site as the former residence of Giles Thornber, magistrate of Poulton, and as the birthplace of his son, the Rev. William Thornber BA, historian of Blackpool, 1803–1885.
Despite the considerable changes to Breck Road since William Thornber’s birth, the plaque preserves the connection between the modern commercial premises and a family home that stood here more than two centuries ago. It also commemorates a Poulton-born historian whose work helped ensure that much of the early history of Blackpool and the Fylde was recorded for future generations.
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