“ About 1724 he drew up a proposal for the establishment of a royal academy of the arts, and his scheme had the support of the lord treasurer Halifax, but government declined to furnish the needful funds. Thornhill then opened a drawing-school in his own house in James Street, Covent Garden, where instruction continued to be given till the time of his death. He acquired a considerable fortune by his art, and was enabled to repurchase his family estate of Thornhill, Dorsetshire. ”

“ THORNHILL, SIR JAMES (1676–1734) , English historical painter, was born at Melcombe Regis, Dorset, in 1676, of an ancient but impoverished county family. His father died while he was young, but he was befriended by his maternal uncle, the celebrated Dr Sydenham, and apprenticed to Thomas Highmore, serjeant-painter to King William III., a connexion of the Thornhill family. Little is known regarding his early career. ”

“ He also designed and decorated the saloon and hall of Moor Park, Herts, and painted the great hall at Blenheim, the princesses' apartments at Hampton Court, the hall and staircase of the South Sea Company, the chapel at Wimpole, the staircase at Easton-Neston, Northamptonshire, and the hall at Greenwich Hospital, usually considered his most important and successful work, upon which he was engaged from 1708 to 1727. ”