Thrale history
Crowmarsh Battle Farm, Oxfordshire, England
Tree: UK Thrale family
Notes:
The estate lay in South Oxfordshire, south of Benson village, and comprised approximately 650 acres of land and buildings. It was known as The Manor or Lordship of Preston Crowmarsh, also called Crowmarsh Battle. The suffix “Battle” derives from the manor’s inclusion among the lands granted by William the Conqueror to Battle Abbey, Hastings, as part of its original endowment.1
After passing to the Crown under Henry VIII, a succession of tenants farmed the estate. In the later seventeenth century, it came into the hands of London speculators and in 1696 was sold to Thomas Cowslad of Mewbury for £5,300, who held the estate until selling to Ralph Thrale MP.
In 1742, following the bankruptcy of Cowslad’s son, the estate was sold to Ralph Thrale MP, who acquired Crowmarsh Battle for £1,997 to establish a substantial country estate.
Thrale ownership and descent (168 years)
- Ralph Thrale MP, purchased for £1,997, 1742 – 9 Apr 1758;
- his son and heir, Henry Thrale MP, 9 Apr 1758 – 4 Apr 1781;
- his eldest daughter, Hester Maria Thrale, who succeeded in her own right, 4 Apr 1781 – 31 Mar 1857;
- her nephew, Thomas Arthur Bertie Mostyn (known as Bertie), who inherited under the terms of Henry Thrale’s will, which directed that, after his eldest child, the estate should descend to his eldest surviving grandson or granddaughter. Bertie managed the estate closely, making frequent visits of inspection. 31 Mar 1857 – 3 Oct 1876 2;
- his younger cousin, The Honourable Georgina Augusta Henrietta Keith, 3 Oct 1876 – 21 Sep 1892.
- her niece, Emily Jane Mercer Elphinstone Petty-Fitzmaurice, Marchioness of Lansdowne and 8th Lady Nairne, 21 Sep 1892 – 26 Jun 1895;
- her son, Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, 26 Jun 1895 – 1910 (17 years before he died).
During Henry Thrale’s ownership, the estate was tenanted by Robert Lovegrove. Hester Thrale recorded that Lovegrove kept the property “neat and bright”, despite, in her words, having “a drunkard for a wife”.
In 1910, the estate was sold out of the family to F. P. Chamberlain. Following his death, the property passed to his son, P. C. Chamberlain, who continued to farm it until at least 1975.
Footnotes
- Mary Hyde, The Thrales of Streatham Park, Harvard Press, 1977, p. 102 fn. 16. ↩︎
- Mary Hyde, The Thrales of Streatham Park, Harvard Press, 1977, p. 336. ↩︎
Location : Latitude: 51.604467276275, Longitude: -1.103808333547| Documents |  | Henry THRALE 1781 will Written 18 days before his death, the will was read to the four male trustees on 5 April 1781. His wife, Hester, was later informed of its provisions by Samuel Johnson. |
| Histories |  | Thrale v. Hester Maria Thrale, 28 April 1789. A dispute about recipient of income from Henry Thrale's estate at Crowmarsh Battle between Hester Lynch Thrale née Salusbury and her daughter Hester Maria (Queeney) Thrale. Thrale v. Hester Maria Thrale (1789), 1 Ves. Jun. 215. Court of Chancery. |
Matches 1 to 7 of 7
Last Name, Given Name(s)  |
Land  |
Person ID | Tree | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  DE FLAHAUT, Marchioness of Lansdowne and 8th Lady Nairne Emily Jane Mercer Elphinstone | 21 Sep 1892 to 26 Jun 1895 | I2333 | UK Thrale family |
| 2 | KEITH, The Honourable Georgina Augusta Henrietta | 3 Oct 1876 to 21 Sep 1892 | I98 | UK Thrale family |
| 3 | MOSTYN, Thomas Arthur Bertie | 31 Mar 1857 to 3 Oct 1876 | I429 | UK Thrale family |
| 4 | PETTY-FITZMAURICE, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne Henry | 26 Jun 1895 to 1910 | I2335 | UK Thrale family |
| 5 | THRALE, Henry M.P. | 9 Apr 1758 to 4 Apr 1781 | I83 | UK Thrale family |
| 6 | THRALE, Hester Maria | 4 Apr 1781 to 31 Mar 1857 | I94 | UK Thrale family |
| 7 | THRALE, Ralph M.P. | From 1742 to 9 Apr 1758 | I69 | UK Thrale family |