John Thornton (philanthropist)

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John Thornton (1720–1790) was a British merchant and Christian philanthropist who became wealthy through investment in the North Sea Russia trade. In accordance with his Christian faith, he gave much of his money away to good causes, as one of the major philanthropists of the eighteenth century. It was said that, at the time of his death in 1790, Thornton had become the second richest man in Europe.