Thrale history
SANDRIDGEBURY, SANDRIDGE, HERTFORDSHIRE, ENGLAND
Tree: UK Thrale family
Notes:
- Robert Thrale (the elder d.1538)
- son Robert Thrale (the younger d.1541)
- wife Alice Thrale
- son Thomas Thrale (d.1603)
- brothers Alban Thrale (d.1591) and William Thrale (d.1589)
- nephew Ralph Thrale (1564–1648)
- nephew Richard Thrale (1586–1659)
Earliest record
The 1538 will of Robert Thrale the Elder left Sandridgebury Farm to his eldest son Robert Thrale the younger and wife who were granted a 40-year lease to Sandridgebury and Napsbury sometime before c.1540.
The farm then passed to his son, Thomas Thrale and then jointly to his brothers Alban and William Thrale.
1542
The Rowlatts, Ralph and his son, Sir Ralph, in their conflict with the Thrales, had made the case, in Chancery that before the Dissolution of the Monastery (c.1540) of St. Albans, that the abbot had granted a forty-year lease of Sandridgebury, and of Napsbury to Robert Thrale the younger.
Later, 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 grandchildren.
How the matter turned out is not known, but the Thrales continued to farm and live at Sandridgebury for a further four generations.
c.1600
Sandridgebury passed to nephew Ralph Thrale and then later to nephew Richard Thrale.
1951 Aylesford House School
In 1951 Earl Spencer of Althorp offered the estate for sale by auction which included:
- the house;
- Bury Farm; and
- five enclosures of arable land.
It then became Aylesford House School, which had moved from London Road in St. Albans.
1966-1969 Hardenwick Preparatory School
In 1966, Aylesford House was absorbed by Hardenwick Preparatory School to include the Sandridgebury site.
Hardenwick School closed circa 1969.
1970-1974 Concord School
A private boarding school for American high school students called Concord School moved into the Sandridgebury after Hardenwick School closed. The school was purchased and run by the MacIver family from Boston until 1974.
Freddy Shusuter told Thrale.com on 26 October 2017 …
I attended the Concord School at the house for about 18 months until it closed suddenly in 1974. The school offered a loose, experimental sort of coeducational environment for a cast of a few dozen vagabond students whose parents lived in various places throughout Europe and were paying dearly to keep their kids housed there. I remember a sweet older lady who did the cooking and a gentle soul named George MacIver who acted as headmaster and lived with his family in apartments upstairs. Music rang out constantly; a fellow from New York named Pip played rather good blues piano for hours in the main hall. When everyone could "get it together," classes were held in what were refurbished stables, while students lived in both the main house and the coach house. Some days, students and teachers would walk through the field to Sandridgebury, where there was a village pub and a few small shops. I only lived there for a few months, preferring instead to take the train up a few times a week because I missed London and the city's exciting music scene. In summer 1977, I returned for a day and the house was indeed dilapidated, abandoned and in desperate need of repair. It was rather spooky spending a melancholy afternoon wandering around with not a soul to be seen. If anyone sees this who also attended Concord, please do get in touch.
1978 onwards
In 1978 Richard William Thrale bought the whole of the very dilapidated main building at Sandridgebury and saved it from demolition. Much remedial work was done to convert the mansion into three superb establishments. A complete re-roofing was undertaken even before the completion of the purchase. A dividing wall was built from the cellars to the crutch of the roof, and one unit was sold in November 1979. Richard Thrale continued to refurbish the shell into a beautiful home that became known as Sandridgebury House and took up residence in March 1981.
The Old School House and Coach House were separately divided off, occupied and refurbished. Sandridgebury became home to four families.
See also: http://www.hertfordshire-genealogy.co.uk/data/places/places-s/sandridge_/sandridge-sandridgebury.htm
Location : Latitude: 51.781356783649, Longitude: -0.31482696533203| Photos |  | Village shield Sandridge village shield |
 | Sandridgebury in 1950 | |
 | Sandridgebury, Sandridge Card by H. W. Lane, Photographer, 43 St Peters Street, St Albans Early 20th century | |
| Sandridgebury 2013 Property sold for £1,650,000 | |
 | Entrance gates, Sandridgebury Entrance gate on the lane leading to Sandridgebury Farm, though not the entrance to the farm. |
| Documents |  | Hardenwick School calendar The school was at Sandridgebury from 1966 - 1971 |
 | Enthralling tales of Thrale family's colourful past Tribute to Richard W Thrale in local paper after his death |
| Histories |  | A Newer Thraliana (2005) The most comprehensive & recently updated book on the history of the Thrale family of Hertfordshire by Richard William Thrale (1931-2007) and reproduced in full with his consent. |
 | At least one living or private individual is linked to this item - Details withheld. |
Matches 1 to 11 of 11
Last Name, Given Name(s)  |
Property  |
Person ID | Tree | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Alice | 1542 | I344 | UK Thrale family |
| 2 | Jane | 1542 | I738 | UK Thrale family |
| 3 | THRALE, Alban | 1542 | I345 | UK Thrale family |
| 4 | THRALE, Ralph | I104 | UK Thrale family | |
| 5 | THRALE, Richard | I125 | UK Thrale family | |
| 6 | THRALE, Richard | I328 | UK Thrale family | |
| 7 | THRALE, Richard William | 1978 - 2013 | I197 | UK Thrale family |
| 8 | THRALE, Robert the younger | to 1541 | I334 | UK Thrale family |
| 9 | THRALE, Robert the elder | 1542 | I343 | UK Thrale family |
| 10 | THRALE, Thomas | 1542 to 1603 | I332 | UK Thrale family |
| 11 | THRALE, William | 1542 | I346 | UK Thrale family |
Matches 1 to 1 of 1
| Last Name, Given Name(s) |
Will |
Person ID | Tree | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | THRALE, Robert the elder | 25 Feb 1526-1527 | I343 | UK Thrale family |