Robert THRALE, the elder b. Bef 1509 d. 1538: Thrale & Thrall family history

Thrale history

Bef 1509 - 1538 (29 years)

Name	Robert THRALE
Suffix	the elder
Birth	Bef 1509 [1]
Gender	Male
Occupation	1522	St Albans, Hertfordshire, England [2]
	Victualler to St Albans Abbey. He was owed £7-13-4 during the time of the last abbot and John Killingsworth, administrator for the Lord Cardinal. He is mentioned with about one hundred other people.
Note	1526	St Albans, Hertfordshire, England [3]
	Richard was paid 12 pence to take minutes according to the records of Star Chamber Proceedings. At this time only around one in ten could write.
Probate	25 Feb 1527 [4]
Will	25 Feb 1526-1527	Sandridgebury, Sandridge, Hertfordshire, England [5]
	He left the right to occupy half his Sandridgebury Farm to his wife Alice, and the other half to his son Robert. He desired to be buried in 'the middle aley' of Sandridge Church, following Catholic custom he wished a priest to say Masses for his soul for three-quarters of a year. His will mentions his grandchildren and servant Alice Hall. Reverend Henry Kyrke was the will's executor.
Death	1538 [2]
Property	1542	Sandridgebury, Sandridge, Hertfordshire, England [6, 7]
	His farm was Sandridge Bury which he held of the Abbot of St. Albans, the then Lord of the manor, and this farm he left to be occupied jointly by his wife Alice, should she not remarry, and his only son Robert and after their deaths by his two eldest grandsons. His wife was to have 'my gret chamber within the seyd farm with the movables beynge with in the same chamber' Alice Thrale apparently did remarry, as she is named in her son's will as Alice 'Vyyzth.' Robert Thrale the elder is most likely the same person as held property in St. Albans in 1531. He was probably the same Robert Thrale who held Tuffnalls at Thrales End in 1493. The Rowlatts, Ralph and his son, Sir Ralph, in their conflict with the Thrales, made the case, in Chancery that before the Dissolution of the Monastery of St. Albans the abbot had granted a forty year lease of Sandridgebury, and of Napsbury to Robert Thrale the younger. When Sir Ralph Rowlatt inherited the properties in 1542, he was not able to find the abbot's part of the lease and therefore did not know what covenants Robert Thrale the younger had entered into regarding the farm, nor for certain the length of the lease. Sir Ralph asked the executor of Robert Thrale's will, the Reverend Henry Kyrke, to produce therefore their part of the lease. Then in a further action Sir Ralph claimed that the Reverend Kyrke as executor, and trustee of Sandridgebury Farm until Robert's sons Thomas and Alban had reached the age of 21, had granted all his interests in the property to him. But Alice Fitz, the widow of Robert Thrale the elder, had entered Sandridgebury without any right and would not give it up. Alice in her turn replied that Robert Thrale the younger's widow Jane had died shortly after him, and that the Reverend Kyrke assigned the property to her, Alice, in trust for her grand-children. How the matter turned out is not really known, but the Thrales continued to live at Sandridgebury for a further four generations.
		At least one living or private individual is linked to this item - Details withheld.
Person ID	I343	UK Thrale family
Last Modified	13 May 2025

Family ID F718 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Family Alice d. Aft 1544

Children

+	1. Robert THRALE, the younger, b. Bef 1509 d. Abt 1541 (Age 32 years) m. Jane

Family ID F169 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Last Modified 14 Nov 2004

Event Map

	Occupation - Victualler to St Albans Abbey. He was owed £7-13-4 during the time of the last abbot and John Killingsworth, administrator for the Lord Cardinal. He is mentioned with about one hundred other people. - 1522 - St Albans, Hertfordshire, England
	Note - Richard was paid 12 pence to take minutes according to the records of Star Chamber Proceedings. At this time only around one in ten could write. - 1526 - St Albans, Hertfordshire, England
	Will - He left the right to occupy half his Sandridgebury Farm to his wife Alice, and the other half to his son Robert. He desired to be buried in 'the middle aley' of Sandridge Church, following Catholic custom he wished a priest to say Masses for his soul for three-quarters of a year. His will mentions his grandchildren and servant Alice Hall. Reverend Henry Kyrke was the will's executor. - 25 Feb 1526-1527 - Sandridgebury, Sandridge, Hertfordshire, England
	Property - His farm was Sandridge Bury which he held of the Abbot of St. Albans, the then Lord of the manor, and this farm he left to be occupied jointly by his wife Alice, should she not remarry, and his only son Robert and after their deaths by his two eldest grandsons. His wife was to have 'my gret chamber within the seyd farm with the movables beynge with in the same chamber' Alice Thrale apparently did remarry, as she is named in her son's will as Alice 'Vyyzth.' Robert Thrale the elder is most likely the same person as held property in St. Albans in 1531. He was probably the same Robert Thrale who held Tuffnalls at Thrales End in 1493. The Rowlatts, Ralph and his son, Sir Ralph, in their conflict with the Thrales, made the case, in Chancery that before the Dissolution of the Monastery of St. Albans the abbot had granted a forty year lease of Sandridgebury, and of Napsbury to Robert Thrale the younger. When Sir Ralph Rowlatt inherited the properties in 1542, he was not able to find the abbot's part of the lease and therefore did not know what covenants Robert Thrale the younger had entered into regarding the farm, nor for certain the length of the lease. Sir Ralph asked the executor of Robert Thrale's will, the Reverend Henry Kyrke, to produce therefore their part of the lease. Then in a further action Sir Ralph claimed that the Reverend Kyrke as executor, and trustee of Sandridgebury Farm until Robert's sons Thomas and Alban had reached the age of 21, had granted all his interests in the property to him. But Alice Fitz, the widow of Robert Thrale the elder, had entered Sandridgebury without any right and would not give it up. Alice in her turn replied that Robert Thrale the younger's widow Jane had died shortly after him, and that the Reverend Kyrke assigned the property to her, Alice, in trust for her grand-children. How the matter turned out is not really known, but the Thrales continued to live at Sandridgebury for a further four generations. - 1542 - Sandridgebury, Sandridge, Hertfordshire, England

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Documents

Enthralling tales of Thrale family's colourful past
Tribute to Richard W Thrale in local paper after his death

Histories		The Hertfordshire Descent of Henry Thrale J.H. Busby. Notes and Queries, p.495-498. 13 November 1948.
Histories		Historic Sandridge. The story of a Hertfordshire parish (1952). The first substantial chronicle of Thrale history, written by Richard Thrale (1931-2007) & E. Giles. Reproduced in full with consent of the author.

Sources

[S22] Web, http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATID=-1775350&CATLN=7&Highlight=%2CTHRALE%2CTHRALE&accessmethod=0.
[S2] Richard William Thrale, A New Thraliana, (Falconer Press, St Albans.), 15.
[S2] Richard William Thrale, A New Thraliana, (Falconer Press, St Albans.), 18.
"But Alice Fitz, the widow of Robert Thrale the elder, had entered Sandridgebury without any right and would not give it up. Alice in her turn replied that Robert Thrale the younger's widow Jane had died shortly after him."
So as this text relates to events in 1542and Robert (th younger died in 1538, we can be sure that Jane died between these two dates.
[S56] Will, Chancery Proceedings C.I. 1154 & C.I. 1055.
[S2] Richard William Thrale, A New Thraliana, (Falconer Press, St Albans.), 15.
Chancery Proceedings C.I. 1154 & C.I. 1055
[S2] Richard William Thrale, A New Thraliana, (Falconer Press, St Albans.), 16.
[S56] Will, Arch. St Albans Reg. Kynsbury fol. 18.