His father, John Thurlow (b. c1784), was a builder and stonemason who built 'The White House' (now Holly Lodge) in the High Street.
As a teenager he would turn his hand to anything such as wood and plaster carving, polishing stones, and he even made a violin, succeeding at the second attempt.
After a time employed with the London Marble Works, where he gained experience of stone carving, Thurlow returned to Suffolk first opening a business in Halesworth and then settling back in Saxmundham in 1839.
As well as paid works, he exhibited widely including at the Royal Academy and the Ipswich Fine Art Club.
He was active in the town being appointed the Secretary and manager of the Saxmundham Gas Works (which was in Gas Hill now New Cut), he was an Overseer for the Parish making and collecting the Rates, he was the town Surveyor supervising the building of Gurneys bank in Market Place amongst others, and in 1847 he acquired the Licence for Photography for the County of Suffolk which he practised for a time.