Richard Myddleton

Family/Spouse: Jane Dryhurst. Jane (daughter of Hugh Drihurst) was born in 1515; died in 1565. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Property: Chirk Castle, Chirk, Denbighshire, Wales
• Occupation: 1613, London, England; Lord Mayor of London

Family/Spouse: Elizabeth Davers. Elizabeth (daughter of James Davers and Elizabeth Hatton) and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: He became famous for the New River project (begun in 1609), designed to improve the water supply in London. A canal 38 miles in length, from a reservoir in Hertfordshire called New River Head, was completed in 1613. In 1617, Myddleton obtained large profits from lead and silver mines in Cardiganshire in Wales.
• Occupation: Royal jeweller to King James

Notes:

Name:
He was created a baronet in 1622.

Hester married Sir Lleweni, 1st baronet Henry Salusbury in 1608. Henry (son of Sir John Salusbury and Ursula Stanley) died on 2 Jul 1632. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Mary Napier. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Hester Tyrrel. Hester and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Hester had nineteen children

Family/Spouse: Baronet Robert Cotton. Robert (son of Thomas Cotton and Elizabeth Calvely) was born in 1631 in Combermere Abbey, Combermere, Acton, Cheshire, England; died on 17 Dec 1712. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Thomas married Philadelphia Lynch on 2 Nov 1689. Philadelphia (daughter of Sir Thomas Lynch) died in 1758 in Finchley, Middlesex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Note: Hester Maria's brother (Sir Robert Salusbury Cotton) sought to protect his sister Hester Maria from her husband John Salusbury. John Salusbury had squandered his own money and was starting to dip into his sister's money. Sir Robert Salusbury Cotton offered his sister Hester Maria and daughter Hester Lynch the use of his London home in Albermarle Street if they would make a break from him. Sir Robert also intended to change his will leaving his estate to Hester Lynch, but he died before his Will was changed. Hester later wrote …

  "at which period we left Wales and came to my uncle's house in Albemarle Street, where he told my mother he should follow in less than 2 months; make a new will, and leave poor Fiddle 10,000. ... I fancy some rough words passed concerning this by my uncle certainly but ill-brooked my father's pride, and he still less willingly endured being informed that, if his quality friends would provide him some distant establishment, my mother and myself should share the old baronet's fortune."

Family/Spouse: Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Buried:
Sophia's memorial is at Weston near Bath, England and was Erected by her sister Sidney Arabella Cotton

"Here the Remains of Sophia Cotton are deposited by her Sister; whose Regret for the Loss of her personal Friendship, can only be alleviated by the Recollection of her Virtues; And by the performance of her own Duty in thus recording them."

Other Events and Attributes:

• Property: Brynbella, Tremeirchion, Flintshire, Wales; Address:
  Lleweney Hall
• Godparent / sponsor: 17 Apr 1768; Godparent to Anna Maria Thrale.
• Note: Bef. 1773; Hester Maria's brother (Sir Robert Salusbury Cotton) sought to protect his sister Hester Maria from her husband John Salusbury. John Salusbury had squandered his own money and was starting to dip into his sister's money. Sir Robert Salusbury Cotton offered his sister Hester Maria and daughter Hester Lynch the use of his London home in Albermarle Street if they would make a break from him. Sir Robert also intended to change his will leaving his estate to Hester Lynch, but he died before his Will was changed. Hester later wrote …

  At which period we left Wales and came to my uncle's house in Albemarle Street, where he told my mother he should follow in less than 2 months; make a new will, and leave poor Fiddle 10,000. ... I fancy some rough words passed concerning this by my uncle certainly but ill-brooked my father's pride, and he still less willingly endured being informed that, if his quality friends would provide him some distant establishment, my mother and myself should share the old baronet's fortune.

• Note: 1774; Her daughter, Hester Lynch Thrale née Salusbury wrote …

  The epitaph engraved on my mother’s monument shows how deserving she was of general applause. I asked Johnson why he named her person before her mind. He said it was because everybody could judge of the one, and but few of the other.

• Physical Description: Oct 1776; Hester Lynch Thrale née Salusbury wrote of her mother in Thraliana…

  She was for all personal and mental Excellence the most accomplished female that ever my Eyes beheld. Her shape so accurate, her Carriage so graceful, her Eyes so brilliant, her Knowledge so extensive, & her manners so pleasing that it was no wonder She had such Choice of Lovers in her Youth, & admirers in her advanced Age: She died aged 66. leaving behind her no equal for Powers of delighting her Friends and Companions.

• Note: 14 Jan 1779; Hester Lynch Thrale née Salusbury wrote in Thraliana …

  Murphy has been very kind to me, he has translated the Epitaph Johnson wrote upon my Mothers Monument; his kindness is more acceptable to me than his Verses—but the Verses are well enough too:
  
  Near this place Are deposited the remains of Hester Maria. The daughter of Sir Thomas Cotton of Combermere, in the County of Cheshire, Bart., the wife of John Salusbury Esqr of the county of Flint. She was born in the year 1707. Married 1739. died in 1773.
  
  A pleasing form, where every grace combined, With genius blest, a pure enlightened mind; Benevolence on all that smiles bestowed, A heart that for her friends with love o’erflowed: In language skilled, by science formed to please, Her mirth was wit, her gravity was ease.
  
  Graceful in all, the happy mien she knew, Which even to virtue gives the limits due; Whate’er employed her, that she seemed to choose, Her house, her friends, her business, or the muse. Admired and loved, the theme of general praise, All to such virtue wished a length of days.
  
  But sad reverse! with slow-consuming pains, Th’ envenomed cancer revelled in her veins; Preyed on her spirits—stole each power away; Gradual she sank, yet smiling in decay; She smiled in hope, by sore affliction tried, And in that hope the pious Christian died.

• Note: 1786; Hester Lynch Thrale née Salusbury wrote of her mother …

  Mr. Murphy, who admired her talents and delighted in her company, did me the favour to paraphrase this elegant inscription in verses which I fancy have never yet been published. His fame has long been out of my power to increase as a poet: as a man of sensibility perhaps these lines may set him higher than he now stands. I remember with gratitude the friendly tears which prevented him from speaking as he put them into my hand.

Notes:

Died:
On her death bed, Dr. Samuel Johnson kissed her and said …

God bless you dearest Madam! for Jesus Christ's sake, and receive your Soul to Salvation!".

Hester married John Salusbury in 1738. John (son of Thomas Salusbury and Lucy Salusbury) was born on 1 May 1707 in Lleweni Hall, Denbigh, Denbighshire, Wales; died on 2 Nov 1762 in Lleweni Hall, Denbigh, Denbighshire, Wales; was buried in St Beuno’s Church, Clynnog Fawr, Caernarvonshire, Wales. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Name:
Niece Frances Thrale named in her honour.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Note: Her mother's brother Sir Robert Salusbury Cotton sought to protect her from her husband John Salusbury, who had squandered his own money and was starting to dip into her money too. Sir Robert Salusbury Cotton offered his sister Hester Maria and daughter Hester Lynch the use of his London home in Albermarle Street if they would make a break from him. Sir Robert also intended to change his will leaving his estate to Hester Lynch, but he died before his Will was changed. Hester later wrote …

  … at which period we left Wales and came to my uncle's house in Albemarle Street, where he told my mother he should follow in less than 2 months; make a new will, and leave poor Fiddle 10,000 ... I fancy some rough words passed concerning this by my uncle certainly but ill-brooked my father's pride, and he still less willingly endured being informed that, if his quality friends would provide him some distant establishment, my mother and myself should share the old baronet's fortune.

• Property: Brynbella, Tremeirchion, Flintshire, Wales
• Publication: London, England; Thraliana - The diary of Mrs Hester Lynch Thrale (later Mrs Piozzi)
• Birth: 16 Jan 1741; Hester was the 8th great-granddaughter of King Henry VII (1457-1509) on both sides of her family line.
• Christening: 10 Feb 1741, Llanere Church, Llannor, Caernarvonshire, Wales
• Note: From 1747; Aged six, Hester Lynch Salusbury became a favourite of the Duke and Duchess of Leeds after being introduced to them by her Uncle, Sir Thomas Salusbury Kt. 1708-1773.
• School: Between 1754 to 1756, Queens Square, Middlesex, England; Mrs Stevens' School. She was skilled in language reading:
  
  
  • Latin
  • French;
  • Italian; and
  • Spanish.
  
  Edward Mangin also attributes her as knowing Greek.
  
  At the age of just fifteen, she had written papers in the St James’s Chronicle. She read literature, could quote aptly, and put knowledge as well as playful life into her conversation. She is best known for her letters but also wrote prose, verse and books. After 1752 she celebrated her birthday on 27 January, to reflect the addition of eleven days to the calendar following the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar.
• Physical Description: 1759; She was clever, vivacious, independent, with a sensitive - if not tender - nature. he was a good horsewoman. She was only 4 feet, 11 inches tall. She had an animated face, touched with rouge, which she continued to use when she found that it had spoilt her complexion.; : 18
• Note: 10 Jan 1765
• Physical Description: 1771; : 30
• Note: 2 Jul 1771; Samuel Johnson said …

  Her colloquial wit was a fountain of perpetual flow.

• Note: 16 Apr 1773; George Augustus Selwyn (1719-1791) was a Whig politician and wit who served as a Member of Parliament for several constituencies between 1741 and 1796. He was also known for his gambling, extravagant lifestyle and alleged homosexuality. He was also a close friend of Hester Thrale. He proposed marriage on 16 April 1773. Hester refused his proposal. She knew him to be a gambler and a spendthrift, and declined his proposal, but they remained friends. She wrote in Thraliana on 17 April 1773…

  Selwyn proposed to me yesterday, which I refused. I am not surprised at his proposal, for he has long been attentive, but I do not love him, and I do not want to marry him.

  In her letter to Fanny Burney on 20 April 1773 she wrote…

  I must tell you that I have had a proposal, and from a very silly man, George Augustus Selwyn. I am not at all flattered by his proposal, and I have refused him.

• Land: 18 Jun 1773, Bodvel, Caernarvonshire, Wales; Estate inherited on the death of her mother.
• Land: 18 Jun 1773, Bach-y-Craig, Denbighshire, Wales; Inherited on the death of her mother.
• Land: 18 Jun 1773, Bachymbyd Hall, Denbighshire, Wales; Inherited on the death of her mother.
• Land: 18 Jun 1773, Lleweni Hall, Denbigh, Denbighshire, Wales; Inherited on the death of her mother. After Hester's death in 1821, the estate was sold to Robert Lloyd in 1824 for £24,000.
• Note: 6 Sep 1775
• Land: 1776, Bronwylfa, Denbighshire, Wales; Estate purchased for £6,000.
• Note: 16 Jan 1776
• Physical Description: 1777 - 1778; : 36/37
• Note: 26 Nov 1778; Fanny (Frances) Burney first met the Thrales at a dinner party at her father’s house on 26 November 1778, aged 26. She became a close friend of the Thrale family.
• Physical Description: 1781; : 40
• Property: 1781, 78 West Street, Brighton, Sussex, England; Inherited from her late husband henry Thrale.
• Property: 31 May 1781, Anchor Brewery, Southwark, Surrey, England; Sale of brewery inherited from husband
• Residence: 4 Jan 1782, Harley Street, Middlesex, England; After Henry Thrale’s death, Hester Lynch Thrale née Salusbury rented a house in Harley Street between January and March 1782, where she lived with her daughters. The house was too small to accommodate Samuel Johnson. On 4 January 1782, Hester Thrale wrote in Thraliana …

  I have taken a house in harley street for these three months next ensuing, & hope to have some society–not company tho’; crouds are out of the question, but people will not come hither on short days, & ‘tis too dull to live all alone so. the world will watch me at first, & think i come o’ husband hunting for myself or my fair daughter: but when i have behaved prettily for a while, they will change their mind.

• Note: 15-23 July 1782
• Note: 11 Jul 1782; Samuel Whitbread was an English politician, brewer and philanthropist, born in Southill, Bedfordshire, England, in 1758. Educated at Eton College and Cambridge University, he became a partner in the Whitbread brewery in 1780 and entered Parliament in 1790. He was a Whig and served as a Lord of the Admiralty in 1795–1800 and as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in 1806–1807. He was a strong supporter of the abolition of the slave trade and of parliamentary reform. He unsuccessfully proposed to Hester Thrale on 11 July 1782. the next day she wrote in Thraliana on 12 July 1782 …

  Whitbread made me a long and most serious proposal yesterday, which I refused with a steadiness that surprised myself. I am not in love with him, I do not believe I should ever be happy with him, and I do not want to leave London and give up my independence.

• Note: Nov 1782; Baronet Sir Richard Musgrave of Tourin, Irish MP for Lismore (1757-1818) proposed and Hester declined.
• Note: 1783, Smith Square Westminster, Middlesex, England; The school located in St. Stephen’s parish was founded in 1769 by a group of women who wanted to provide education for poor London girls. The school offered a basic education in reading, writing, and arithmetic. It also taught needlework and other skills that would help the girls find employment. The school was free to attend and was open to girls of all ages. Hester Thrale was was on the management committee, a strong supporter and fundraiser too. She also visited the school regularly and took an interest in the girls’ progress.
• Note: 11 Jan 1784; Mr. Swale unsuccessfully proposed. He was a gentleman from a good family and fortune in Suffolk, England. She wrote in Thraliana on 11 January 1782 …

  Nothing happens that one expects, & every thing happens that one does not expect: here’s a proposal of Marriage to me from a Man I scarcely know—a Mr Swale of good Family & Fortune in Suffolk—very odd tho’ of the Man to want to marry me of all People—I sent him an immediate & steady Refusal. Seward & Selwin being both disposed to offer their Persons and Fortunes is less odd, tho’ not less silly.

  She wrote to Swale on 21 February 1784 …

  My Acquaintance with you was always the slightest possible, & it is now two Years since I have seen your Face; yet in these two Years I have received two Letters from you, the first, a very strange one, the second stranger still; I beg I may never have a Third: as I am surely of Age to act without a Monitor, and when I chuse one—it shall not be Mr. Swale.

• Note: 30 Jun 1784
• Note: 28 Nov 1784; Fanny Burney asked Samuel Johnson, shortly before his death on 13 December 1784, if he ever heard from Hester. Johnson replied …

  No, nor write to her. I drive her quite out of my mind. If I meet with one of her letters, I burn it instantly. I have burnt all I can find. I never speak of her and I desire never to hear of her anymore. I drive her, as I said, wholly from my mind.

• Physical Description: 1785; : 44
• Note: Feb 1786, Naples, Italy; Hester Lynch Thrale and Gabriel Piozzi witnessed an eruption from Mount Vesuvius.
• Publication: 26 Mar 1786; Anecdotes of the Late Samuel Johnson, LL.D. During the Last Twenty Years of His Life by Hester Thrale, was first published 26 March 1786
• Education: Abt 1788
• Note: 28 Apr 1789
• Note: 27 Jan 1791; Hester Lynch Thrale wrote in Thraliana …

  Here’s my Birthday returned; the first I have spent at Streatham for many Years, and quite the happiest I ever did spend there: Our daughter who lives in the house with us—Cecilia—much improved, & growing handsome as well as tall & rich; good as her Neighbours too, for ought I see; though without much Love of Study, or Regard for me, all goes well between us; and her Papa as She calls him, has a very solid kindness & true Goodwill towards her. I find he is of Opinion that Cator is no honest Guardian to those Girls, but I suppose they would rather be robbed by him, than saved by us.

• Physical Description: 1793; : 52
• Physical Description: 1794; : 53
• Godparent / sponsor: Aug 1794; Hester Lynch Thrale née Salusbury became Godmother to Cecilia Siddons, daughter of Sarah Siddons. Cecilia Siddons was named after Cecilia Margaretta Thrale.
• Publication: 1801; Retrospection or A review of the most striking and important events, characters, situations and their consequences which the last eighteen hundred years have presented to the view of mankind by Hester Lynch Piozzi
• Note: 17 Sep 1803; Hester Lynch Thrale wrote in Thraliana …

  A new vault has been constructed under the Altar at Dymerchion for his and my last cold Residence, & narrow Apartment—Poor dear old Lucy Salusbury my admirable Progenetrix & Mother to my Father Was found crumbling in Dust; her Skull only whole, & the Black Ribbon pinned round it, that I suppose bound her head in its last Agony —There was no Act then extant for burying in Woollen. My Father being wrapt in Lead was easily discerned from his Brothers, & dear Mama—as he called her to the Last—They had never found Money to make themselves a Vault, so their poor Bones have been gathered up now by Mr Piozzi, and placed decently in our new Repository, where ours will shortly accompany them no doubt: to the great Joy of all my Daughters who really have now waited my Death so long—They are justified in their Impatience. New Pulpit Cloths—new Reading Desk Bible & Surplices—& a new Brass Chandelier—in Lieu of a Wooden one—are among my present Master’s Donations—beside Slating & Glazing & painting & Whitewashing: & what our Curate Mr Roberts prefers to all—Enlarging his little Church in the Gallery-Part—& we will put up the old curious Cross wch some fools pulled away 40 Years ago— & make all smart and handsome.

• Note: 27 Jan 1804, Brynbella, Tremeirchion, Flintshire, Wales; On her 63rd birthday she wrote in Thraliana …

  My Birthday—Grand Climacteric,—kept very I chearfully: thank God; & all the little Children of the Village & Cottages in our Parish to the amount of 60 as I remember, came & eat Plumb Pudden, 40 very good Girls & Boys, had 6d each for singing & saying their Catechism so well. & Mr Roberts made some affecting Verses celebrating their Benefactress’s Birthday &c—all very comfortable, very happy indeed.

• Physical Description: 1810; : 69
• Physical Description: 21 Dec 1811; : 70
• Physical Description: 1818; : 77
• Note: 1820; William Augustus Conway - who was 48 years her junior - is reported to have won the affections of Hester, who it is alleged - but not confirmed - had proposed to marry him.
• Note: 27 Jan 1820; 80^th Birthday Ball
• Residence: Aug 1820, Regent Terrace, Penzance, Cornwall, England; Hester Lynch Piozzi née Salusbury rented a house at Regent Terrace, Penzance. She went to Penzance to try to improve her health, which had been declining. She also wanted to be closer to her friend, the writer Maria Edgeworth, who lived in nearby Chagford, Devon. She enjoyed her time in Penzance. She went for walks along the coast, visited the local market, and attended social gatherings. She also continued to write her diary and letters. She found the weather to be too windy and the cost of living to be high. She also missed her friends and family in Bath. She wrote of her time in Penzance …

  Penzance is a pretty town, with a great deal of company, and the sea all round it. The walks are delightful, and the views enchanting. I am very much pleased with the place.

• Will: aft. 2 May 1821; Hester Lynch Piozzi née Salusbury's will, dated 29 March 1816, was read by Sir James Fellowes in the presence of three of her four adult daughters Lady Keith, Sophia Hoare and Susannah Arabella. Her other daughter, Cecilia Mostyn was absent. Almost everything was left to Sir John Salusbury Piozzi Salusbury.
• Obituary: Aft 16 May 1821

Notes:

Birth:
After 1752 she celebrated her birthday on 27 January, to reflect the addition of eleven days to the calendar following the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar.

Died:
In 1820, Hester stayed in Penzance whist, her house in Bath was being repaired. However, her home in bath was not ready by the time she had to leave Penzance and she temporarily moved to 20 Sion Hill, Clifton, Bristol. In April 1821, whilst in Exeter, she fell and hurt her leg. She was ill for ten days. At her side were her daughters:

• Lady Keith (Queeney);
• Sophia Thrale; and
• Susannah Arabella Thrale.

On hearing of her daughters arrival, Hester said …

Ah! now I can die in state!

When her doctor, Sir George Gibbs, arrived she was too weak to speak and traced the shape of a coffin with her fingers in the air.

Hester married Henry Thrale, M.P. on 11 Oct 1763 in Saint Anne's Church, Soho, Middlesex, England. Henry (son of Ralph Thrale, M.P. and Mary Dabbins) was born between 1724 and 1730 in Harrow Corner, Southwark, Surrey, England; died on 4 Apr 1781 in Grosvenor Square, Middlesex, England; was buried on 11 Apr 1781 in Saint Leonards Church, Streatham, Surrey, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Hester married Gabriel Mario Piozzi on 23 Jul 1784 (Catholic ceremony). Gabriel (son of Domenico Piozzi and Giancoma) was born before 8 Jun 1740; died on 26 Mar 1809 in Brynbella, Tremeirchion, Flintshire, Wales; was buried in Bach-y-Craig, Denbighshire, Wales. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Note: Fanny Burney described Hester Maria Cotton as …

  Smart and proud, but cold and proud.

• Note: 9 Apr 1771; Dr. Samuel Johnson was devoted to Queeney and referred to as…

  Sweet, dear, pretty, little Miss.

• Note: 8 Dec 1774; She produced a mock-solemn covenant …

  Streatham December the 8th at night, 1774;,
  I promise to work for two full hours at her Italian every day as Mr. Barretti shall instruct me. And I promise further, that, whether I am in good humour or out of humour, I will be in earnest and very attentive to my lesson, as if I were in the very best humour, nor will I look about me with a vacant and weary countenance, so that the said Mr. Barretti (alias Taskmaster) shall have no reason, no, not the least shadow of a reason to complain of my disattention, unwillin(gn)ness, and reluctance.
  
  signed by Hester with her full name and her seal, and witnessed by:
  

  • Sam. Johnson, LL.D;, and
  • Hester Lynch Thrale;

  Tutor Barretti left Streatham a month later.
• Note: 14 Sep 1775, Paris, Île-de-France, France
• Physical Description: 1777 - 1778
• Note: 26 Nov 1778; Fanny Burney first met the Thrales at a dinner party at her father’s house on 26 November 1778, aged 26. She became a close friend of the Thrale family. Burney wrote …

  Miss Thrale is a very fine girl, about fourteen years of age, but cold and reserved, though full of knowledge and intelligence.

• Note: 20 Jan 1779; Her mother wrote of her in Thraliana …

  My second Daughter Susanna Arabella who will not yet be nine Years old till next May, can at this moment read a French Comedy to divert herself, and these very holy days her Amusement has been to make Sophy & sometimes Hester help her to act the two or three 1 st Scenes of Moliere)'s Bourgeouis Gentilhomme: add to this that She has a real Taste for English Poetry, and when Mr Johnson repeated some of Dryden's Musick Ode the other day, She said She had got the whole poem & Pope's too upon the same Subject by Heart for her own Amusement.—
  
  Her Knowledge of Arithmetick goes no farther than the four Rules, but She has worked a Map of Europe, and has a Comprehensive Knowledge of Geography that would amaze one.

• Note: Jul 1779; Aged 9, her mother wrote in Thraliana …

  Susan & Sophy are fine Girls, and promise to be a Credit & Comfort to their Parents, neither do I yet see any Disposition in the Eldest that need give one pain.

• Note: Jul 1780; Hester Lynch Piozzi wrote in Thraliana whilst in Brighton …

  I have picked up Piozzi here, the great Italian singer. He is amazingly like my father. He shall teach Hester.

• Note: 17 Sep 1780; On her 16th birthday, her mother wrote in Thraliana …

  It is this day given me by God to see my first born offspring, my dear Hester,—sixteen Years old— virtuous in Heart, prudent in Behaviour, pleasing in Person, & accomplished in Knowledge.
  
  What more would I have! & yet I often catch myself complaining.—Oh God forgive my foolish repining Spirit; and give me Grace to be thankful for, & to enjoy the Blessings I do not deserve.
  
  We always have a Dance on her Birthday for the Servants, and they shall have it this Year too—in spite of past Sorrows. Mr. Johnson's Birthday is the next day to hers, & we keep them together, &. fill the Summer House with Food, Fiddles &c, today being Sunday, the Balls must be tomorrow & Tuesday.
  
  Sure nothing will ever happen that will keep me from rejoycing on the 17: & 18: of September, the Birthdays of my Daughter & my Friend.,—.

• Note: 26 Jul 1781; Her mother wrote in Thraliana …

  Doctor Johnson has undertaken to teach my eldest Daughter Latin and has actually undertaken & begun his Work. Fanny Burney, Author of Evelina is to learn with her of the same Master — Mr Thrale says it is better to teach each of them than a Thousand pounds added to their Fortune. Dear Creatures! How earnestly do I wish them Success! they love one another and will improve by studying together—what a Master they have too! Happy Rogues!—

• Note: 17 Sep 1781; On her 17th birthday, her mother wrote in Thraliana …

  Oh Lord accept my grateful and Heartfelt Thanks for having lived to see her attain this proximity to Womanhood, & permanent Duration. She is however still delicate in her Health I think, & mightily tormanted with Worms.

• Note: 1 Jan 1782; Her mother wrote in Thraliana …

  She is a prudent Child indeed, I would wish to consult her on every occasion: so much sound Judgment, so little Vanity, such proper Notions of this World, & such Aspiration after a better have I yet never seen in a Creature of her Age:
  
  The Marquis of Caermarthen son to the present Duke of Leeds, & elder Brother to. I this Cuckoldly Marquis, appeared to me to be the Person most resembling her for Perfections of Body & Mind:—beautiful, pious, wise and well accomplished was the late Lord Caermarthen.
  
  Hester is however deficient enough in the _petite morale_: not caressing, not even _attentively_polite; never appearing pleased either with herself or Companions, She will not I fancy be a sought-for Character.

• Residence: 4 Jan 1782, Harley Street, Middlesex, England; After Henry Thrale’s death, Hester Lynch Thrale née Salusbury rented a house in Harley Street between January and March 1782, where she lived with her daughters. The house was too small to accommodate Samuel Johnson. On 4 January 1782, Hester Thrale wrote in Thraliana …

  I have taken a house in harley street for these three months next ensuing, & hope to have some society–not company tho’; crouds are out of the question, but people will not come hither on short days, & ‘tis too dull to live all alone so. the world will watch me at first, & think i come o’ husband hunting for myself or my fair daughter: but when i have behaved prettily for a while, they will change their mind.

• Note: Jul 1784
• Note: 28 Apr 1789
• Note: 17 Sep 1803; On her 39th birthday 17 September 1803, her mother wrote in Thraliana …

  Here is Miss Thrale's Birthday come round again, the weather beautiful, & I hope my heart grateful for having lived to see my eldest child 39 years old—& just now not unkind at all— She has written once or twice this year, & in the last Letters some Compassion was exprss'd fo Mr Piozzi's Sufferings—They are indeed very great—Well!
  
  God bless her, & him.

• Education: 21 Jun 1805; She told her mother in a letter that she would never have dared to learn Hebrew if she had not been told that:

  The Illeterate and Itinerant Preachers of Methodism up & down, all study Hebrew, to torment the clergy.

• Physical Description: 1822
• Note: 1832, Thrale Almshouses (1832-1930), Streatham High Road, Streatham, Surrey, England; The four daughters of Henry & Hester Thrale established almshouses for poor single women of Streatham.
• Census: 30 Mar 1851, Bolsover Castle, Bolsover, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England; Overnight(s) visitor to Bolsover Castle.

Notes:

Christened:
by Rev James Evans

Name:
Had a variety of nicknames used less frequently than Queeney, including Nig. Niggy. Tit. Birdey. Hetty. Samuel Johnson affectionately called her Sweeting.

Hester married Admiral George Keith, Elphinstone, GCB, 1st Viscount Keith on 10 Jan 1808 in Saint Marylebone, Middlesex, England. George was born on 7 Jan 1746 in Elphinstone Tower, Stirling, Stirlingshire, Scotland; died on 10 Mar 1823; was buried in Overton Kirkyard, Tulliallan, Fife, Scotland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Christening: 3 Oct 1765, St Saviour's Church (now Southwark Cathedral) Southwark, Sussex, England

Notes:

Name:
Named after maternal aunt Frances Salusbury.

Birth:
During and after the birth Mrs. Thrale was under great stress from rushing around as part of Mr. Thrale's successful parliamentary election campaign, the death of the incumbent MP Alexander Hume. Mr. Thrale announced his running four days before Frances was born.

Buried:
Buried without gravestone or monument.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Physical Description: His mother, in Thraliana described him as …

  Strong made, course and bony: - not handsome at all, but of perfect Proportion; and has a surly look with the honestest and sweetest Temper in the World.

  … and very intelligent for his age, with an attractive personality and was lively, dutiful and loving.
• Christening: 3 Mar 1767, Saint Leonards Church, Streatham, Surrey, England
• Education: 1770; By age three Henry had already memorised many facts about religion and was able to recite:
  
  
  • the different heathen Gods;
  • the muses;
  • his Catechism;
  • grammar;
  • facts, and various other trivia.
• Education: abt. 1772; Attended St Thomas's School as a day student, having refused to board.
• Physical Description: 1775; He was an avid reader and had a forward nature, so much so that his mother had to warn him about age-appropriate conversation topics.
• Obituary: 25 Mar 1776; Dr. Samuel Johnson, learned of his death, in a letter received whilst having breakfast with James Boswell and Miss Porter. Johnson exclaimed …

  Sir! one of the most dreadful things that has happened in my time! Mr. Thrale has lost his only son. It is a total extinction of the family. He'll no more value his daughters than … why sir, he wishes to propagate his name … I would have gone to the extremity of the earth to have preserved this boy.

Notes:

Name:
Named after his father.

Died:
The day before he died he went with a family party to the Tower of London

Jumping in and out of every Mortar till he was black as the ground.

.The next day he breakfasted with his father's clerks, bright as a berry. Later during the day, he suffered intense pain. A physician administered a medicine Daffy's Elixir. As he became desperately ill, his mother rushed to his bedside where he lay in agony. He spoke to his nurse and said:

Don't scream so, I know I must die.

He died between 3 and 4 p.m.

Buried:
His mother slowly recovered from his sudden death, but was disappointed in the behaviour of her friend Herbert Lawrence following her son's death, leading to the ending of their friendship.

In contrast, although his father lived for a further five years after the death of his son, he never really recovered from the shock of his son's unexpected death.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Christening: 17 Apr 1768, Saint Leonards Church, Streatham, Surrey, England; Rector: James Tattersall officiated.
  Godparents:
  • Hester Maria Salusbury née Cotton (maternal grandmother);
  • Anna Thrale (paternal great aunt - widow of Richard Smith, who had come with her nephew on his courting visit to Offley Place nearly six years before); and
  • Jeremiah (Joseph) Crutchley.
• Godparent / sponsor: 17 Apr 1768; Jeremiah Crutchley was Godfather to Anna Maria Thrale.
• Physical Description: 11 Jul 1776; Her mother described her as:

  Remarkably small bon'd & delicately framed, but not pretty, as she has no plumpness … her spirit uncommonly high, wonderfully passionate from the very first & backward in her Tongue tho' forward in general Intelligence: She could kiss her hand at 9 months old, & understand all one said to her: could walk to perfection, & even with an Air at a year old, & seems to intend being Queen of us all if she lives which I do not expect she is so very lean.

• Physical Description: Jul 1780; Her mother described her as:

  Very thin, not very pretty, but wonderfully passionate and intelligent.

Notes:

Name:
Named after Lady Anna Maria Salusbury (née Penrice) 1718-1759.

Died:
On the day of her death, her mother's Children's Book described Anna as having died from "a dropsy of the brain". Since she suffered for a while, the sickness may have originated in tuberculosis. She also may have lacked sweat glands, a rare congenital condition.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Physical Description: Described as a sickly child but abundant in softness and kindness. Very pretty and wonderfully active with her feet, but not very talented in English and grammar.

Notes:

Name:
Named after Samuel Johnson's late wife Elizabeth (known as ?Tetty).

Other Events and Attributes:

• Education: Kensington, Middlesex, England; : Mrs Cumyns's boarding school
• Education: London, England; She was knowledgeable and had a talent for reading elegantly. She was able to speak French and English by age five.; : Mrs Stevenson's school; Address:
  Queens Square
• Medical: She had crooked legs and an umbilical rupture which made her irritable. Because of this she was called Little Crab by the other children and Gilly by her father from a Gilhouter, the Cheshire word signifying an owl.
• Note: Dr Samuel Johnson said of her…

  I was always a Suzy, when nobody else was a Suzy.

• Physical Description: 30 Mar 1777; Her mother described Susannah in Thraliana as …

  Small, ugly & lean as ever; her Colour is like that of an ill painted Wall grown dirty.

  Dr. Samuel Johnson defended her as being strong and beautiful, against the opinion of her mother.
• Note: 26 Nov 1778; Fanny (Frances) Burney first met the Thrales at a dinner party at her father’s house on 26 November 1778, aged 26. She became a close friend of the Thrale family.
• Note: 20 Jan 1779; Her mother wrote of her in Thraliana …

  My second Daughter Susanna Arabella who will not yet be nine Years old till next May, can at this moment read a French Comedy to divert herself, and these very holy days her Amusement has been to make Sophy & sometimes Hester help her to act the two or three 1 st Scenes of Moliere)'s Bourgeouis Gentilhomme: add to this that She has a real Taste for English Poetry, and when Mr Johnson repeated some of Dryden's Musick Ode the other day, She said She had got the whole poem & Pope's too upon the same Subject by Heart for her own Amusement.—
  
  Her Knowledge of Arithmetick goes no farther than the four Rules, but She has worked a Map of Europe, and has a Comprehensive Knowledge of Geography that would amaze one.

• Note: Jul 1779; Aged 9, her mother wrote in Thraliana …

  Susan & Sophy are fine Girls, and promise to be a Credit & Comfort to their Parents, neither do I yet see any Disposition in the Eldest that need give one pain.

• Note: 14 Jul 1780; Her mother wrote of her in Thraliana …

  Susan is three parts a Beauty, & quite a Scholar for ten Years old: few passages in History or poetry,—I mean English Poetry—are new to her, & She is a Critick in Geography & French.

• Note: Jan 1781; When Susannah was eleven - her mother wrote of her in Thraliana …

  Susan has a surprising turn for Letter writing; her compositions are relly elegant, & She delights—odd enough—in reading Voiture & Sevigné. They both [Susannah and sister Sophia] have obtained the French Accent very completely, considering they have never been out of England. I should like to treat them to with a run to the Continent.

• Physical Description: 17 Dec 1781; Her mother wrote of her in Thraliana …

  Susan is already taller than me, & three parts a Beauty.

• Residence: 4 Jan 1782, Harley Street, Middlesex, England; After Henry Thrale’s death, Hester Lynch Thrale née Salusbury rented a house in Harley Street between January and March 1782, where she lived with her daughters. The house was too small to accommodate Samuel Johnson. On 4 January 1782, Hester Thrale wrote in Thraliana …

  I have taken a house in harley street for these three months next ensuing, & hope to have some society–not company tho’; crouds are out of the question, but people will not come hither on short days, & ‘tis too dull to live all alone so. the world will watch me at first, & think i come o’ husband hunting for myself or my fair daughter: but when i have behaved prettily for a while, they will change their mind.

• Note: 1790; John Fuller, better known as "Mad Jack" Fuller, proposed marriage but was rebuffed.
• Note: 1832, Thrale Almshouses (1832-1930), Streatham High Road, Streatham, Surrey, England; The four daughters of Henry & Hester Thrale established almshouses for poor single women of Streatham.
• Residence: June 1807 - Nov 1858, Ash Cottage, Knockholt, Kent, England

Notes:

Susannah Arabella was aged:

• 11 when her father died; and
• 14 when her mother remarried.

Susannah Arabella remained unmarried.

Buried:
Has a monument inside Knockholt Church and St Leonards Church, Streatham.

Susannah married William Frederick Wells in 1796 (Unmarried & living together), and was divorced in 1816. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Education: Winchester, Hampshire, England; : Winchester College
• Education: Oxford, Oxfordshire, England; : Christ Church College
• Adopted: 1777; Adopted by Henry & Hester Thrale after the death of his mother (Henry's sister) in 1781. His father having already died in 1777.
• Residence: 1777, Streatham Park, Streatham, Surrey, England; After becoming orphaned.
• Ordained: 1793
• Employment: 1821-abt.1845, Bishopstone, Wiltshire, England; Rector

Notes:

George Salusbury was a close friend of Henry Thrale Jr, having been close in age and grown up in the same household.

George Salusbury was a kind and generous man. He was also a scholar and a writer. He published several books on religious and historical subjects.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Physical Description: 1771; Dr. Samuel Johnson said of Hester's pregnancy with Sophia …

  This naughty baby stays so long that I am afraid it will be a giant, like King Richard.

• Christening: 11 Aug 1771, Saint Leonards Church, Streatham, Surrey, England
• Education: 1775, Queens Square, Middlesex, England; Attending Mrs Stevensons school and was memorising hymns, multiplication tables and Psalms, at the aged of four.
• Physical Description: 20 Dec 1776; She was a favourite of Dr. Samuel Johnson who described her as:

  Dear, sweet, pretty, lovely, delicious Miss Sophy.

• Note: 20 Jan 1779; Her mother wrote in Thraliana …

  My second Daughter Susanna Arabella who will not yet be nine Years old till next May, can at this moment read a French Comedy to divert herself, and these very holy days her Amusement has been to make Sophy & sometimes Hester help her to act the two or three 1 st Scenes of Moliere's Bourgeouis Gentilhomme: add to this that She has a real Taste for English Poetry, and when Mr Johnson repeated some of Dryden's Musick Ode the other day, She said She had got the whole poem & Pope's too upon the same Subject by Heart for her own Amusement.—
  
  Her Knowledge of Arithmetick goes no farther than the four Rules, but She has worked a Map of Europe, and has a Comprehensive Knowledge of Geography that would amaze one.

• Note: 30 May 1779, Streatham Park, Streatham, Surrey, England
• Note: Jul 1779; Aged 9, her mother wrote in Thraliana …

  Susan & Sophy are fine Girls, and promise to be a Credit & Comfort to their Parents, neither do I yet see any Disposition in the Eldest that need give one pain.

• Note: 6 Aug 1780; Her mother wrote in Thraliana

  Sophy has a Turn for making Verses, bad enough to be sure, yet such a Turn shews Genius in a Girl who was nine Years old only a fortnight ago.

• Note: Jan 1781; When Susannah was eleven - her mother wrote of her in Thraliana …

  Susan has a surprising turn for Letter writing; her compositions are relly elegant, & She delights—odd enough—in reading Voiture & Sevigné. They both {Susannah and sister Sophia} have obtained the French Accent very completely, considering they have never been out of England. I should like to treat them to with a run to the Continent.

• Note: 17 Dec 1781; Her mother wrote in Thraliana …

  My Sophy Thrale has begun to study Musik in good earnest; She will learn to play & sing very well I fancy, Piozzi has great hopes of her. Sophy is an Epitome of all the Cotton family—'tis odd that none of my children should resemble my Father.

• Education: Abt 1782, Kensington, Middlesex, England; Mrs Cumyns' boarding school
• Residence: 4 Jan 1782, Harley Street, Middlesex, England; After Henry Thrale’s death, Hester Lynch Thrale née Salusbury rented a house in Harley Street between January and March 1782, where she lived with her daughters. The house was too small to accommodate Samuel Johnson. On 4 January 1782, Hester Thrale wrote in Thraliana …

  I have taken a house in harley street for these three months next ensuing, & hope to have some society–not company tho’; crouds are out of the question, but people will not come hither on short days, & ‘tis too dull to live all alone so. the world will watch me at first, & think i come o’ husband hunting for myself or my fair daughter: but when i have behaved prettily for a while, they will change their mind.

• Physical Description: 11 Mar 1782; Her mother wrote in Thraliana …

  Handsome enough, though not eminant for beauty.

• Medical: 19 Nov 1783, Bath, Somerset, England; When Sophia was 12, her mother wrote in Thraliana …

  Heavens! a new Distress! my Child, my Sophia will dye: arrested by the hand of God—apparently so: She will die without a Disease—Fits, sudden, unaccountable, unprovoked; Apoplectic, lethargic like her Father. Woodward and Dobson are called: they say her Disorder should be termed Allonitus. 'tis an instant Cessation of all Nature's Pow'rs at once. I saved her in the first Attack, bya Dram of fine Old Usquebough given at the proper Moment—it reviv'd her, but She only lives I see to expire with fresh Struggles.
  
  Oh spare my Sophia, my Darling, oh spare her gracious heaven—& take in Exchange the life of her wretched Mother!
  
  She lives, I have been permitted to save her again; I rubbed her while just expiring, so as to keep the heart in Motion: She knew me instantly, & said you warm me but you are killing yourself—I actually was in a burning Fever from exertion, & fainted soon as I had saved my Child.
  
  Hester has behaved inimitably too, all our Tenderness was called out on this Occasion: dear Creatures! they see I love them, that I would willingly die for them; that I am actually dying to gratifie their Humour at the Expence of my own Happiness: they can but have my Life-let them take it!”;

• Medical: 27 Nov 1783; Johnson's letters show that he, and perhaps the physicians, regarded this attack of Sophia's as hysterical. He wrote…

  I had to-day another trifling letter from the physicians. Do not let them fill your mind with terrours which perhaps they have not in their own; neither suffer yourself to sit forming comparisons between Sophy and her dear father; between; whom there can be no other resemblance, than that of sickness to sickness. Hystericks and apoplexies have no relation.

• Medical: Mar 1784; Samuel Johnson wrote about his concerns of her recurring illness …

  Poor Sophy has been very ill again. I am afraid she makes no progress.

• Physical Description: 1795
• Note: 1832, Thrale Almshouses (1832-1930), Streatham High Road, Streatham, Surrey, England; The four daughters of Henry & Hester Thrale established almshouses for poor single women of Streatham.

Notes:

She was aged:

• 10 when her father died; and
• 13 when her mother remarried.

Sir Joshua Reynolds portrait of Sophy is now at believed to be at Bowood House.

Buried:
A mourning tablet in her memory is located inside St Leonards Church, Streatham.

Sophia married Henry Merrick Hoare on 13 Aug 1807 in Saint Marylebone, Middlesex, England. Henry (son of Baronet Sir Richard Hoare) was born in 1770; died in 1856 in Barnes, Surrey, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Birth:
Born at 1pm

Died:
It was said that Mrs Thrale had driven herself to total exhaustion during her previous pregnancy and had not recovered by the time Penelope was born.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Godparent / sponsor:
  • Lord William Henry Lyttleton Westcote 1724-1808. Lawyer, MP, Governor of South Carolina and of Jamaica. Ambassador to Portugal;
  • Lord Edwin Sandys: 1726-1797). MP, Lord of the Admiralty.
• Medical: His mothers' Children's Book records that she had suspected that Ralph was imbecile since 31 December 1773 and that Dr Pott the surgeon confirmed this in April 1775, suggesting that the cause was congenital. Ralph was said by Hester to have suffered from confluent smallpox.

Notes:

Died:
Ralph died of a brain disorder that caused his head to enlarge. Doctors now think that the cause of death was either congenital hydrocephalus, where there is an increase in the fluid in the ventricles of the brain or hydranencephaly where a bag of clear fluid between the brain and skull distort the shape of the head.

During the last few months of his life, Ralph's state overshadowed the life of the Thrales taking everybody's mind off the fact that Frances Anna Thrale was born two months earlier.

Notes:

Name:
Named after paternal cousin Frances Plumbe Rice.

Died:
At the time, most of the Thrale family had come down with influenza but all recovered except:

• Frances; and
• her wet nurse who also died a few days later.

Mrs. Thrale took death as being normal as then infant mortality was high and death was always half-expected soo after birth.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Christening: 1777; Godparents:
  • Miss Owen,
  • Mrs Hester D'Avenent 1748-1822,
  • William Seward 1747 -1799.
• Note: Jul 1779; Aged two, her mother wrote in Thraliana …

  Cæcilia improves daily and is a lovely girl of the fair delicate kind … their is not a fault to find with either of them person or Mind; and I thank God who gave them me, their health is excellent.

• Residence: 4 Jan 1782, Harley Street, Middlesex, England; After Henry Thrale’s death, Hester Lynch Thrale née Salusbury rented a house in Harley Street between January and March 1782, where she lived with her daughters. The house was too small to accommodate Samuel Johnson. On 4 January 1782, Hester Thrale wrote in Thraliana …

  I have taken a house in harley street for these three months next ensuing, & hope to have some society–not company tho’; crouds are out of the question, but people will not come hither on short days, & ‘tis too dull to live all alone so. the world will watch me at first, & think i come o’ husband hunting for myself or my fair daughter: but when i have behaved prettily for a while, they will change their mind.

• Medical: 28 Mar 1783; Her mother wrote in Thraliana…

  Poor Cæcilia has got the Hooping Cough.

• Medical: 14 Apr 1783; Her mother wrote in Thraliana after contracting measles …

  Poor Cæcilia and Harriett; I fear those poor babies will dye, notwithstanding the efforts of Jebb & Pepys to relieve them:—Thank Heav’n they are with Dear Mrs Ray.

  Sir Richard Jebb physician to the King 1742-1830. Pepys physician to the King 1729-87. Mrs Ray Proprietor of Russell House School opposite St. Leonard's Church Streatham.
• Education: 1784; When her mother left England, Cecilia was left with tutor Miss Nicholson.
• School: Summer 1786; She moved to Mrs Stevenson’s school in Queens Square, London.
• Note: 29 Apr 1787; Aged 12, her mother wrote in Thraliana of her second husband Gabriel Piozzi’s relationship with Cecilia …

  The little Cecllia is his Darling, & while She is at School will honour us with her Visits no doubt, but her Tenderness will end there I trust, as her Spirit is the same to that of her Sisters. Well! never mind, my heart is vastly more impenetrable to their unmerited Cruelty than it was when last in England. Let them look to their Affairs, & I shall look to mine: the World is wide enough I’ll warrant it for Miss Thrales and Mrs Piozzi.

• Physical Description: 30 Dec 1789; Aged 12 her mother wrote in Thraliana …

  Cæcilia grows more amiable, She has some fondness, & much flexibility:Amica di ognuno, Amica di nessuno should be Cæcilia’s Motto. We teize her, & say She is like her own favourite Spaniel, who fawns upon everybody, & upon ev’ry body alike—but She says Phillis has her Distinctions.

  'Amica di ognuno, Amica di nessuno' translates as 'Friend of everyone, friend of no-one'.
• Physical Description: 3 Jan 1791; Aged fourteen, her mother wrote in Thraliana …

  Every body tells me that Cæcilia Thrale improves, & so I think She does; tho’ not because they say so: were She less altered for the better, no less would be said about her perfections I suppose. but She has lost much of the savage Manners She brought from School: is tamer, & handsomer, and grows very like what her Sisters were when they lived with me.—
  
  The Exterior is best tho’ with Cecilia; her Mind recovers more slowly than her Person, from a severe Shock certainly given to Both in the Year 1783 by the Hooping Cough & Measles together, when her younger Sister lost that Life which was preserved to this Girl only by Sir Lucas Pepys’s extreme Skill & Care.
  
  She will however be a fine Woman, with Accomplishments & Beauty & Virtue enough to accompany forty or fifty Thousand Pounds—although her Memory is far from strong, and her Spirit of Application to any Study much too weak ever to attain at Eminence I think.
  
  Her Temper when unthwarted is sweet, but She arms against opposition even instinctively; and will do nothing because She is commanded, but the contrary, while the same surly Independent Soul inhabits her Bosom with equal Rapacity to obtain, and Rage to appropriate, as in the hearts of any of her Family.
  
  Cecilia seems however to love Mr Piozzi—in her way of loving—but no one accuses her of partiality towards me I believe, whose Company She studiously avoids; & I therefore say nothing, but provide Refuges for her to recur to, that are no less improving Companions than myself—while She has Miss Weston, Miss Williams, Miss Lees, or Dear Siddons only for Confidents—She can hear of nothing but Literature, so I care not.
  
  The Greatheeds too, so much her favourites! with whom can She be better? We keep no Company but that by which something must be obtained to a Young Mind, of Knowledge or of Virtue.—

• Note: 27 Jan 1791; Hester Lynch Thrale wrote in Thraliana …

  Here’s my Birthday returned; the first I have spent at Streatham for many Years, and quite the happiest I ever did spend there: Our daughter who lives in the house with us—Cecilia—much improved, & growing handsome as well as tall & rich; good as her Neighbours too, for ought I see; though without much Love of Study, or Regard for me, all goes well between us; and her Papa as She calls him, has a very solid kindness & true Goodwill towards her. I find he is of Opinion that Cator is no honest Guardian to those Girls, but I suppose they would rather be robbed by him, than saved by us.

• Godparent / sponsor: Aug 1794; Hester Lynch Thrale née Salusbury became Godmother to Cecilia Siddons, daughter of Sarah Siddons. Cecilia Siddons was named after Cecilia Margaretta Thrale.
• Note: 1 Sep 1794; Aged 17, mother wrote in Thraliana …

  Cecilia does not indeed trouble herself to disguise her Sentiments, She has, and She shews She has, an ineffable Contempt for us both; but why do I say of us? She despises every body, I know, except her own Sisters & her Father’s Family (I suppose‚ twas they taught her to hate us so, She was only indifferent to us till She knew them—but’twas an easy Lesson to any of the Family), Cecilia is however a very charitable Girl, and loves the poor: which will produce her many Blessings I humbly hope, and certainly will cover a Multitude of Faults—for the rest, one can only say with Andromache—

  Youth and Prosperity have made her vain.

• Property: 1821, 78 West Street, Brighton, Sussex, England; Inherited from her mother Hester
• Note: 1832, Thrale Almshouses (1832-1930), Streatham High Road, Streatham, Surrey, England; The four daughters of Henry & Hester Thrale established almshouses for poor single women of Streatham.
• Census: 6 Jun 1841, Sillwood Place, Brighton, Brighthelmstone, Sussex, England; : 60
• Probate: Autumn 1857; Her collection of curiosities and relics of her father's and Dr. Samuel Johnsonwas sold at Silwood Lodge, Brighton.

Notes:

Cecilia Margaretta was 4 years old. when her father died and 7 years old. seven when her mother remarried.

Cecilia married John Meredith Mostyn on 8 Jun 1795 in Gretna Green, Dumfriesshire, Scotland. John (son of John Mostyn and Anna Maria Meredydd) was born in 1775 in Segrwyd, Denbighshire, Wales; died on 19 May 1807 in Bath, Somerset, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Godparent / sponsor: Mrs Elizabeth Montagu; Address:
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Montagu
• Physical Description: Jul 1779; When Henrietta was one year old - Hester wrote in Thraliana …

  Harriett is brown, rosy, fat and stout--their is not a fault to find with either of them person or Mind; and I thank God who gave them me, their health is excellent;.

• Physical Description: 17 Dec 1781; Hester wrote in Thraliana …

  She is a pretty creature! Harriet much resembles the young Rices I think--She is a pretty creature!

• Medical: 14 Apr 1783; Her mother wrote in Thralianaafter contracting measles …

  Poor Cæcilia and Harriett; I fear those poor babies will dye, notwithstanding the efforts of Jebb & Pepys to relieve them:—Thank Heav’n they are with Dear Mrs Ray.

  Jebb & Pepys were doctors & Mrs. Ray was her school teacher.

Notes:

Died:
She was ill before 22 March 1783, as that day Dr. Samuel Johnson wrote …

I hope, Harriet is well;.

On 28 March 1783 - four weeks before Henrietta died - Hester wrote in Thraliana …

My youngest child Henrietta is ill;.

On 14 April 1783, Hester again wrote in Thraliana, after Henrietta contracted measles …

Poor Cæcilia and Harriett; I fear those poor babies will dye, notwithstanding the efforts of Jebb & Pepys to relieve them:—Thank Heav'n they are with Dear Mrs Ray {Proprietor of Russell House School opposite St. Leonard's Church Streatham}.

On 31 March 1783, Dr. Samuel Johnson wrote …

I hope to hear again that my dear little girl is out of danger;.

On 14 April 1783, Hester again wrote in Thraliana, after Henrietta contracted measles …

Poor Cæcilia and Harriett; I fear those poor babies will dye, notwithstanding the efforts of Jebb & Pepys to relieve them:—Thank Heav'n they are with Dear Mrs Ray.

Mrs Ray was proprietor of Russell House School opposite St. Leonard's Church Streatham.



On 31 March 1783, Dr. Samuel Johnson wrote …

I hope to hear again that my dear little girl is out of danger;.

Hester wrote in Thraliana …

Henrietta’s Death however was inevitable; She came home with a slight glandular Swelling in her Neck which was succeeded by the Measles & Hooping Cough: these united fell very heavy on an Infant so tender, & falling on her Lungs particularly, produced an Abscess which was the immediate Cause of her Death.;.

Surprisingly - by today's standards - during the period of her illness and death Hester was in Bath whilst Henrietta and Cecilia were in Streatham.

Notes:

Died:
Aged 38, Hester Thrale wrote in the Family Book …

I think I am again pregnant.

Hester had a difficult pregnancy, which she prayed was a son. During most of the pregnancy, she was confined to the house. On 10 August 1779, she was a few days away from being full-term, but problems with the clerks had arisen at the brewery.

In Thraliana, she wrote …

Mr Thrale wished me to go, nay insisted on it, but seemed somewhat concerned too, as he was well apprized of the Risque I should run. I went however, & after doing the Business I went to do, beg’d him to make haste home, as I was apprehensive bad Consequences might very quickly arise from the Joulting &c. – he would not be hurried … no Pain, No Entreaties of mine could make him set out one Moment before the appointed hour – so I lay along in the Coach all the way from London to Streatham in a State not to be described, nor endured; – but by me: –& being carried to my Chamber the Instant I got home, miscarried in the utmost Agony before they could get me into Bed, after fainting five Times.

The stillborn child was a full-term, perfectly formed, boy. Henry’s inaction seemed to have contributed to the loss of his last chance to have a male heir. John Perkins who was present at the scene in the brewery, said that Henry seemed to be…

Planet-struck.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Education: 1798, Streatham, Surrey, England; Mr Davies' "University"
• Adopted: Jan 1798
• Physical Description: 11 Mar 1799; Hester Thrale wrote in Thraliana ...

  Mr Piozzi's baby,—The little Italian Boy is come over; & we have place him with Mr Davies who keeps a University as he calls it for Young Students under 12 years old—This infant was just past 3 —when he touch'd English Ground I Understand;—Seems healthful, Arch & Intelligent: but short of his Age, & rather sturdy than elegant in his Form. He too is named John Salusbury in good Time!

• Education: 1804, Eton College, Berkshire, England
• Education: 1811, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England; Christ Church, Oxford University
• Note: 1813; A letter from step-sisters Hester Maria Thrale to Cecilia Margarita Thrale ...

  The adopted youth is an odd mixture of folly and shrewdness, and treats his Aunt as he always calls her with a degree of saucy familiarity I was astonished to hear of, and which may pass for childishness, but I should think would soon be quite unsuppotable to her.

• Note: 7 Nov 1814; Hester began negotiations for the purchase of a baronetcy from Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, a British politician who served as Prime Minister from 1801 to 1804. He was a friend and confidant of Hesterfrom the 1770s through a shared interest in literature. he was a frequent visitor to Streatham Park. She gave him £6,000 on 16 June 1817. However, he did not complete the purchase as he had spent the money elsewhere. On 29 November 1813, Hester legally applied for him to bear the surname Salusbury. On 7 November 1814, Hester Thrale purchased a baronetcy for her adopted son, Sir John Salusbury Piozzi Salusbury. This was significant as baronetcies were hereditary titles bestowed by the British monarch. It was a rare occurrence for a woman to purchase a baronetcy, and even more so for her to do so for an adopted son. She eventually succeeded in purchasing a baronetcy through the help of a friend, the politician and philanthropist Sir Joseph Mawbey who had contacts in the government and was able to arrange for her to meet with the Prince Regent, who was the acting monarch at the time. He was impressed with Thrale and her story, and he agreed to grant her son a baronetcy. Thrale paid £10,000 for the title, which is equivalent to around £10 million in 2022. He was also made a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Guelphic Order, a British order of chivalry. The purchase and sale of hereditary titles, including baronetcies, was outlawed in the United Kingdom in 1925 by the Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act 1925.
• Property: 7 Nov 1814; On John Salusbury Piozzi Salusbury's wedding day, his stepmother Hester retired to Bath and he inherited Bachymbyd Hall and Estate. He was not a good estate manager as he was more interested in drinking, gambling and horse racing. As a result, the estates fell into disrepair, which led to the sale of some land.
• Property: 7 Nov 1814, Brynbella, Tremeirchion, Flintshire, Wales; On John Salusbury Piozzi Salusbury's wedding day, his stepmother Hester retired to Bath and he inherited Brynbella. He was not a good estate manager as he was more interested in drinking, gambling and horse racing. As a result, the estates fell into disrepair, which led to the sale of some land.
• Military Service: 1815; Commissioned as a cornet in the 16th Light Dragoons. He served with the regiment during the Battle of Waterloo, where he was wounded in the leg.
• Election: 1816; Appointed High Sheriff of Flintshire & served in this role for one year. This is a ceremonial office appointed by the monarch and is responsible for maintaining law and order in their county & undertaking ceremonial duties, such as attending royal visits and opening new courts.
• Employment: Aft 1815; After the war, Salusbury returned to his civil service career, including:
  • Commissioner of Stamps and Taxes;
  • Secretary to the Board of Inland Revenue.
  • Occupation: 1816, Flint, Flintshire, Wales; High Sheriff
  • Will: 29 Mar 1816; Hester Lynch Piozzi née Salusbury's will, dated 29 March 1816, was read by Sir James Fellowes in the presence of three of her four adult daughters Lady Keith, Sophia Hoare and Susannah Arabella. Her other daughter, Cecilia Mostyn was absent. Almost everything was left to Sir John Salusbury Piozzi Salusbury.
  • Note: 1817
  • Land: 2 May 1821, Bachymbyd Hall, Denbighshire, Wales; Inherited on the death of his mother.

  Notes:
  

  Physical Description:
  Hester's note that he was aged 3 on arrival to England, is incorrect, he was five-years old on arrival.
  
  Note:
  The "Aunt" was his step-mother Hester Lynch Thrale nee Salusbury.

  John married Harriet Maria Pemberton on 7 Nov 1814 in St. Mary-in-the-Marsh, Wrexham, Flintshire, Wales. Harriet and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

  Children: 50. John Arthur Salusbury   was born in 1821; died in 1877. 51. Reverend George Augustus Salusbury   was born on 16 Jun 1822 in Flintshire, Wales; died on 24 Dec 1893 in Westbury, Gloucestershire, England. 52. Hester Maria Salusbury   was born in 1823; died in 1874. 53. Harriet Frances Salusbury   was born in 1827; died in 1879. 54. Henry Pemberton Salusbury   was born in 1830; died in 1898.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Note: 7 Jan 1788; Aged 46, Hester miscarried a daughter - her only child with her second husband, Gabriel Piozzi.
  
  On 7 January 1788, she wrote …

  Now I have miscarried of a Daughter at Mrs Lewis’s House at Reading in my Road hither—She is Witenss, but not thinking even that sufficient, would have every possible examination made in order to satisfy me that bringing children is still possible.

  She was deeply affected by the loss of her child. She wrote in her diary that she felt…

  Like a blasted oak and was afraid to go to bed, for fear of dying in the night.

  The miscarriage also put a strain on her marriage. He was less upset by the loss than she was, and he was eager to move on and have more children.
• Note: 4 Apr 1788; She wrote in a letter Dr. Samuel Johnson, that she had …

  Just lost a daughter.

Notes:

Hester Piozzi wrote of a miscarried Daughter "Now I have miscarried of a Daughter at Mrs Lewis’s House at Reading in my Road hither. She is Witenss, "but not thinking even that sufficient, would have every possible examination made in order to satisfy me that bringing children is still possible.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Godparent / sponsor: Duke of Clarence, Later King William IV (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_IV_of_the_United_Kingdom)
• Godparent / sponsor: Prince of Wales, later King George IV (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_IV_of_the_United_Kingdom)
• Census: 30 Mar 1851, Bolsover Castle, Bolsover, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England; Widdow Of The Late Augustus Villiers. Visitor to the household with mother.; : 38

Notes:

Georgina was the last direct descendant of Henry Thrale as she died childless.

Family/Spouse: Lord William Godolphin Osborne. William was born in 1804; died on 28 Dec 1888. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Georgina married Honorable Augustus John Child Villiers in 1831 in St George, Hanover Square, Middlesex, England. Augustus died on 24 May 1847 in St George, Hanover Square, Middlesex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Had a distinguished career in the Royal Navy.

Family/Spouse: Susan Townshend. Susan and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Census: 6 Jun 1841, Sillwood Place, Brighton, Brighthelmstone, Sussex, England; : 35

Notes:

Bertie was a man of science interested in the latest inventions; and a writer. He wrote a play called "The Regent" in which he persuaded Mrs Siddons to take the leading part, but she miscarried on stage and the play was withdrawn. Bertie was 17th in a direct descent from King Edward 1.

Name:
Named after Bertie Greatheed, second son of Samuel Greatheed, Whig Member of Parliament for Coventry and Lady Mary Greatheed.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Land: Bachymbyd Hall, Denbighshire, Wales; Inherited on the death of his parents and sold in the 1860s.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Education: Oxford, Oxfordshire, England; : Christ Church College
• Ordained: 1846; Ordained as a priest in the Church of England
• Employment: 1852-1893, Westbury, Gloucestershire, England; Vicar

Family/Spouse: Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Coleman. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]