'As flies to the wanton boys, are we to the gods;
They kill us for their sport'. (30)
He kept against all orders, a most evocative war diary. Those who have read the book or viewed the film 'All Quiet on the Western Front' will know immediately of its contents. Ralph's name is inscribed with the other tragic hundreds on the war memorial in St. Peters Street, St. Albans. He had married Ellen Taylor and his daughter Mildred married into the Walker family of St. Albans.
Norman's seven daughters made their various marriages, except for one mystery. Clara Thrale just disappeared. In 1902, in order that the estate of her father be settled, she had to be declared missing. In spite of every effort to trace her, her fate has never been ascertained. Did she elope with a lover, was she murdered, did she emigrate? One supposes the truth will never be known. Lizzie, to whom the earlier letter had been written, had married a gamekeeper at Elstree, and it was with this family that Norman's grandson William spent many happy days as a youngster; indeed he was baptised at St. Nicholas Church, Elstree. The youngest daughter May survived the longest and was an exceptional character. She loved a good story and was fascinated by her family's past, and much of the early hearsay information and anecdote stems from May Goodman. She married Andrew Goodman, a Metropolitan policeman in 1928, he dying a few years later, there being no children of the marriage.
The eldest of the two sons (Ernest) Norman started young adult life at Enfield, and upon his marriage at Beckenham in 1896, he was described as a gun maker, working at the Enfield Small Arms Factory. He had been lodging nearby with a family who thought at one time that he was Jack-the-Ripper! This fear was obviously soon overcome however, for he married the daughter of the house, one Hannah Green. A year later he returned to St. Albans and set himself up as 'Norman Thrale, a practical naturalist and taxidermist' at 80 (later 136) London Road, St. Albans. It would seem that his skill was of the highest order, and the fashion of the day created a large demand. There can also be no doubt that much of his skill and knowledge stemmed from his old uncles at No Mans Land Museum, which he used to visit as a youngster.
Life in St. Albans at the turn of the century belonged to a different world. Sights which were then common-place, are today no longer seen. The roads were always full of hay carts taking their loads to London, of mail coaches, and of cattle being driven to St. Albans Market or Barnet Fair. So much noise did the wheels of the waggons make, that if a person
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Owner of original
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Richard William Thrale
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File name
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histories/tree01-book-new-thraliana/new-thraliana-110.html
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File Size
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2.58 KB
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Media ID
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962
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Dimensions
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n/a
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Folio version
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v13.0.0.33 (B240424-085038)
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Linked to
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Richard Thrale/Dorothy Fuller; John Thrale/Sarah Jaques; Richard Grunwyn/Mary Thrale; Onslow Teddar/Mary Thrale; Richard Thrale/Martha Aylward; Robert Penn/Sarah Thrale; male Penn/; John Thrale/Margaret Chaplin; Richard Palmer/Sarah Thrale; Ralph Thrale/Elizabeth Grunwyn; William Thrale/Margaret Smyth; John Grindon/Abigail Thrale; male White/female Pemberton; male White/female Grindon; male Gale/female White; Charles Gale/female Wood; male Wood/female ?; James White/Jeanie Joubert; male Joubert/Bothia Collins; male Sergeant/female Joubert; male Andrews/; Thomas Thrale/Elizabeth Andrews; Ralph Thrale/Mary Crouch; Richard William Thrale; Hester Lynch Salusbury; Hannah Maria Green; Ernest Norman Thrale; Richard Thrale; Richard Thrale; John Thrale; John Thrale; Margaret Thrale; John Thrale; Richard Thrale; Robert Thrale; Robert Thrale; Thomas Thrale; Alban Thrale; Alice ; Jane ; Nicholas Thrale; Francis Thrale; Petronell Thrale; Francis Thrale; Edward Thrale; Alice Thrale; John Thrale; William Thrale; John Thrale; Helen ; Elizabeth Smith; Thomas Thrale; Alban Thrale; Thomas Thrale; John Thrale; Thomas Thrale; Thomas Thrale; Alban Thrale; Elizabeth Jaques; Ralph Thrale; Sarah Thrale; Martha Thrale; Thomas Thrale; Ralph Thrale; William Thrale; Alice Dixon; Robert Thrale; Abby Rebecca Thrale; John Thrale; William Thrale; Ralph Thrale; Ralph Thrale; female Grindon; male White; Elizabeth Pemberton White; female White; Charles Gale; James White; William Thrale; Thomas Thrale; Ralph Thrale; Sandridge, Hertfordshire, England; Sandridgebury, Sandridge, Hertfordshire, England; Clophill, Bedfordshire, England; Luton, Bedfordshire, England; West Hyde, Bedfordshire, England; Thrales End, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, England; Harpenden, Hertfordshire, England; St Albans, Hertfordshire, England; Napsbury, St Albans, Hertfordshire, England; New Mill End, Bedfordshire, England; East Hyde, Bedfordshire, England; Kingsbury, St Albans, Hertfordshire, England; Childwickbury, Sandridge, Hertfordshire, England; Hundreds of Flitt, Bedfordshire, England; Aspley Guise, Bedfordshire, England; Gifford, Sandy, Bedfordshire, England; Holborn, Middlesex, England; Nomansland, Sandridge, Hertfordshire, England; Astwick, Bedfordshire, England; Flamstead, Hertfordshire, England; Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England; Saint Pauls, Walden, Hertfordshire, England; Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire, England; Saint Michaels, St Albans, Hertfordshire, England; Codicote, Hertfordshire, England; Hammonds, Sandridge, Hertfordshire, England; Saint Nicholas Cole Abbey, Middlesex, England; Batchwood, St Michaels, St Albans, Hertfordshire, England
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Thrale/Thrall history
