he was a man exceedingly comfortable to live with'. "The master', Henry Thrale, very much deserved his title, and was probably the only man who could silence Johnson. At the parlour door his valet would give Johnson a fresh wig to replace the singed one he was wearing. Although taciturn, Henry liked good conversation and his highly intelligent and vivacious wife adored the idea of being mistress of a salon. It was not too long before mutual friends such as Reynolds, Goldsmith, Garrick, Burney and Burke came often to Streatham making Thrale Place one of the cultured centres of England. Fanny Burney, who adored Hester, gives in her journal an intimate and exact report on actual conversations day to day which took place in the Streatham household. The only uncomfortable factor about her visits to Streatham Park was the travelling on the roads which were 'dreadfully dusty'. The roads were also prey to highwaymen and indeed Henry Thrale on one occasion was stopped and robbed. Fanny also liked the famous summer house in which Johnson used to write so much.
Boswell on returning to England in 1766, was able to observe Johnson within the Thrale family circle. Not only did Johnson have private rooms at Streatham, but also at Henry Thrale's Southwark house, Deadman's Place, and also at the Anchor Brewery itself. There was also a villa at Brighton and later a house in Grosvenor Square. The great coterie of friends often took a supper box at Vauxhall Gardens. Boswell's ability to observe led to the creation of probably the finest biography in the English language, although he was harshly criticized by many at the time for his open reporting. Bishop Percy in writing to Robert Anderson in 1804 accused Boswell of 'abusing the most sacred rules of hospitality: he had blasted the rising prospects of Henry Thrale's daughters and had published that their grandfather was a common drayman which is not less false than malicious'.
The Thrale library at Streatham was extensive, and all new additions were at the sugestion of Johnson. Reynolds painted thirteen portraits for the library. Baretti, Garrick, Goldsmith, Dr. Charles Burney, Fanny's father, Edmund Burke, Lord Lyttleton, Johnson, Henry and Hester were all represented. The collection was dispersed in 1816. One knows the history of Henry's portrait. Reynolds painted his friend in a deep velvet coat and vest, with a white stocking and powdered wig. Hester bequeathed it to her daughter Susan, who gave it to her sister Queeney - Lady Keith. The latter passed it to her daughter Lady William Osborne who succeeded to Tallyallan, Firfarshire, and on her death in 1892 the
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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-075.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
