Thorpe

Mr Thorpe was a member of the Learned Society of York Magicians.

Described as a tall, sensible man, Mr Thorpe encouraged John Segundus to seek the answer to the question he had put to the Society at one of its meetings in the autumn of 1806, that being "Why is no more magic done in England?" [1]. However, he was surprised — as were the rest of the members of the Society — when Mr Segundus returned with his answer at the February 1807 meeting, that magic was being done in England, and there was in fact a practising magician in the person of Mr Norrell of Hurtfew Abbey, a scant 14 miles distant from the city.

Excited by this prospect, it was Mr Thorpe that put forth the proposal that the Society invite Mr Norrell to provide a demonstration of his skill: "...we will ask him to do some magic for us in proof of his claims."[2] It is plain then that — by his perfectly reasonable proposition — Mr Thorpe was the unwitting cause of the Society's dissolution, and prohibition of its former members from the study of that art. Initially intending to write the letter to Mr Norrell himself, Thorpe was forestalled by the desire of the majority of the membership to discipline what they saw as Norrell's impudence with that most dire of punishments, an insulting letter. For this task they appointed Dr Foxcastle, who they felt — rightly — was the most qualified of their number to do so.

However, it is unlikely that any letter except one containing the most obsequious and unctuous language would have prevented Mr Norrell from drawing tight the snare which the society had so foolishly entered, and perhaps not even that, for Norrell had spent much time and effort in the destruction of societies and men such as themselves — likely with the cunning counsel of his servant. Following the magic at the York Cathedral, the society was obliged to disband and its members disclaim the title of 'magician' due to having signed a binding agreement presented by Mr Norrell's attorney as a condition of the demonstration [2,3].

It is unclear if Mr Thorpe joined in the reconstitution of the society occasioned by Childermass following Mr Norrell's departure from the earthly realm [69]. Similarly, Mr Thorpe's relation, if any, to the fifteenth-century magician and author William Thorpe is unknown.