The William Thornton is named for a distinguished Tortolan planter, and amateur architect.

William Thornton was born on May 20, 1759, on Jost Van Dyke, in the British Virgin Islands, and died on March 28, 1828, Washington, D.C. He was educated in Scotland as a physician, but rarely practiced his profession. As an architect, Thornton was self-taught. He also was a painter, and an inventor. William Thornton's plantation on Tortola was located in the Pleasant Valley area near Nanny Cay

Other than our floating restaurant, William Thornton's greatest claim to fame is the design for the United States Capitol Building! His design (pictured at right) was submitted after the competition of 1792 had closed, and was approved by President Washington, who praised it for its "grandeur, simplicity and convenience." A prize of $500 and a city lot was awarded to Thornton on April 5, 1793; he is thus recognized as the first "Architect of the Capitol". President Washington later appointed Thornton one of the three Commissioners of the Federal District (later the District of Columbia) in charge of laying out the new federal city and overseeing construction of the first government buildings, including the Capitol building of his own design.

William Thornton, the floating restaurant, began life a fair number of years ago as a Baltic trading vessel. Mick and Annie Gardner launched the restaurant in 1989, mooring their original wooden William Thornton in the Bight of Norman Island, as uninhabited then as it is today, but still a popular overnight anchorage for the yachting community. many charterers will recall dining aboard the Willy T, sitting at the large common table, with their feet dangling into the holds below.

Nearly 6 years ago, the wooden Baltic trader was replaced with the William Thornton we all know today, a steel 100 ft. schooner with substantially more room both in the galley and restaurant, but also the bar area. The "new" William Thornton also features a very large aft bridge deck. This is where you will find all sorts of shenanigans going on, and its especially noted as the launching site for the daring few that jump from the safety rails into the water below Willy T's stern.

When you visit the William Thornton on your next trip to the British Virgin Islands, you'll see and experience all this for yourselves.