Thrale history

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Cell Barnes, Saint Peters, St Albans, Hertfordshire, England

Tree: UK Thrale family

Notes:

1. Richard Thrale (1617–1690), the first Thrale to farm here, leased the land in 1688 for £60 p.a.
2. sons John Thrale (d.1736), William Thrale and Thomas Thrale (1666-1738).



3. niece Anne Smith née Thrale (d.1770)

In 1688, Sir Samuel Grimston of Gorhambury leased to William Thrale the messuage of Cellbarnes and land of about 120 acres for 21 years at £60 a year, a condition of the lease being that timber trees were excepted, and that the usual course of husbandry should be followed.

Upon Sir Samuel's death, the estate passed to Viscount Grimston and William's lease with Grimston's consent was passed to brother John Thrale. For two years this was a happy arrangement, but in 1717 the other brother Thomas Thrale said that he would like to take over the lease. John did not wish to agree unless Thomas undertook to provide for William. Thomas agreed at a cost of 2/6 (12½ new pence!) per week.

Upon the lease being transferred to Thomas, the latter kept William for three months only and upon John's demands to restore the lease, he refused. John further complained that Thomas Thrale, William Thrale and Thomas's son Richard Thrale had ruined the land by bad husbandry and ignored the covenants, making John Thrale liable to a penalty of £800 to Viscount Crimston.

The cropping clauses of the lease were most detailed. The first year should be for fallow or turnips: the second year for wheat, rye or barley: the third year for Lent corn, and the tenant should not soe any barley but upon a fallow or tilth. Also, the Crofty Close and the Pightle should for three years be left for pasture. Should this land be ploughed or cross-cropped, William Thrale could be liable to forty shillings for every acre broken up by ploughing. No substances such as straw, stover, soil, compost or dung should be carried away from the property.

John Thrale accused his brother Thomas Thrale and nephew Richard Thrale of not only breaking these conditions but also of cutting up and ruining the hedges and fences. They had ploughed and sowed every year against all conditions.

During the Napoleonic Wars, leases often imposed rigid and costly rules on cropping, pasture use and land management. The Grimston estate, for example, fined tenants £100 an acre for ploughing pasture. Though technically breaches, the actions of Thomas and Richard Thrale reflected the reality that such burdensome and inflexible covenants were increasingly difficult—and sometimes unreasonable—for working farmers to uphold.

Media

Histories		The Hertfordshire Descent of Henry Thrale J.H. Busby. Notes and Queries, p.495-498. 13 November 1948.
		At least one living or private individual is linked to this item - Details withheld.

Land

Matches 1 to 1 of 1

	Last Name, Given Name(s)	Land	Person ID	Tree
1	AYLVARD, William		I687	UK Thrale family

Property

Matches 1 to 5 of 5

	Last Name, Given Name(s)	Property	Person ID	Tree
1	THRALE, John	1699	I285	UK Thrale family
2	THRALE, Richard	1688	I125	UK Thrale family
3	THRALE, Richard	1699	I50	UK Thrale family
4	THRALE, Thomas	1717	I67	UK Thrale family
5	THRALE, William	1699	I286	UK Thrale family

Will

Matches 1 to 1 of 1

	Last Name, Given Name(s)	Will	Person ID	Tree
1	THRALE, John	17 Apr 1732	I285	UK Thrale family