Robert Stirton Thornton was a politician in Manitoba

Manitoba

Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba

Legislative Assembly of Manitoba

The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba and the lieutenant governor form the Legislature of Manitoba, the legislature of the Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected to this assembly in provincial general elections, all in single-member constituencies with first-past-the-post...

 from 1907 to 1910, and again from 1914 to 1922. Thorton was a Liberal

Manitoba Liberal Party

The Manitoba Liberal Party is a political party in Manitoba, Canada. Its roots can be traced to the late nineteenth-century, following the province's creation in 1870.-Origins and early development :...

, and served as a cabinet minister in the government or Tobias C. Norris.

Thornton was born in Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. He was educated at Heriots School and the University of Edinburgh

University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...

, receiving medical certification from the latter institution. He moved to Canada in 1884, and received an LL.D. from Queen's University in Kingston

Kingston, Ontario

Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

. Thornton worked as a physician, serving as president of the Manitoba Medical Council (1896) and the Medical Council of Canada

Medical Council of Canada

Medical Council of Canada ' is an organization that is charged with assessing medical candidates, evaluation of physicians through exams and granting a qualification called Licentiate of the Medical Council of Canada to those who wish to practice medicine in Canada.MCC is governed by a 51-member...

. He was also a horticulturalist and an active freemason, serving as Grand Master from 1900 of 1902.

He was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in the 1907 provincial election

Manitoba general election, 1907

Manitoba's general election of March 7, 1907 was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.The result was a third consecutive majority government for the Conservative Party of Manitoba, led by premier Rodmond Palen Roblin...

, defeating Conservative

Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba

The Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba is the only right wing political party in Manitoba, Canada. It is also the official opposition party in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.-Origins and early years:...

 incumbent Edward Briggs by 41 votes in the constituency of Deloraine. Premier

Premier of Manitoba

The Premier of Manitoba is the first minister for the Canadian province of Manitoba. He or she is the province's head of government and de facto chief executive. Until the early 1970s, the title "Prime Minister of Manitoba" was used frequently. Afterwards, the word Premier, derived from the French...

 Rodmond P. Roblin's Conservatives won the election, and Thornton served as an opposition member for the next three years. He lost to Conservative John C.W. Reid by six votes in the 1910 campaign

Manitoba general election, 1910

Manitoba's general election of July 11, 1910 was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.The result was a fourth consecutive majority government for the Conservative Party of Manitoba, led by premier Rodmond Palen Roblin. Roblin's electoral machine won...

.

Thornton returned to the legislature in the 1914 election

Manitoba general election, 1914

Manitoba's general election of July 10, 1914 was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.The result was a fifth consecutive majority government for the Conservative Party, led by premier Rodmond P. Roblin...

, defeating Reid by 204 votes. The Roblin government was re-elected, but was forced to resign in 1915 after being found responsible for corruption in the tendering of grants for new legislative buildings. The Liberals, though holding a minority of seats, were permitted to form government, and Thornton was appointed as Minister of Education on May 12, 1915. The Liberals were confirmed in government by a further provincial election

Manitoba general election, 1915

Manitoba's general election of August 6, 1915 was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.This election was held only one year after the previous general election of 1914. In that election, the governing Conservatives of premier Rodmond P. Roblin were...

, held on August 6, 1915. Thornton again defeated Reid, this time by 295 votes.

As education minister, Thornton oversaw the removal of funding for Manitoba's francophone denominational schools. This policy decision was popular in most of the province, though extremely unpopular in its francophone regions.

The Liberals were reduced to a minority government

Minority government

A minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament but is sworn into government to break a Hung Parliament election result. It is also known as a...

 in the 1920 provincial election

Manitoba general election, 1920

Manitoba's general election of 29 June 1920 was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.-Background:...

, and were weakened by the rise of organized Farmer and Labour political groups. Thornton was again re-elected over Reid, this time by 315 votes, and was retained as Minister of Education in the Norris administration. He was defeated in the 1922 provincial election

Manitoba general election, 1922

Manitoba's general election of July 18, 1922 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.As in the previous election of 1920, the city of Winnipeg elected ten members by the single transferable ballot...

, finishing third against United Farmers of Manitoba candidate Duncan Stuart McLeod

Duncan Stuart McLeod

Duncan Stuart McLeod was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1922 to 1927....

.