Susannah Arabella THRALE

1770 - 1858  (88 years)

• Name	Susannah Arabella THRALE
  Nickname	Suzy, Gilly or Little Crab
  Birth	23 May 1770	Anchor Brewery, Southwark, Surrey, England
  Gender	Female
  Physical Description	30 Mar 1777
  	Her mother described Susannah in Thraliana as … Small, ugly & lean as ever; her Colour is like that of an ill painted Wall grown dirty. Dr. Samuel Johnson defended her as being strong and beautiful, against the opinion of her mother.
  Note	26 Nov 1778
  	Fanny (Frances) Burney first met the Thrales at a dinner party at her father’s house on 26 November 1778, aged 26. She became a close friend of the Thrale family.
  		Fanny Burney's relationship with the Thrales Frances (Fanny) Burney (1752-1840) was an English novelist and diarist. She was the second daughter of Dr. Charles Burney, a music historian, and his wife, Esther. She is best known for her novels, including: Evelina (1778); Cecilia (1782); and Camilla (1796). Burney first met the Thrales at a dinner party at her father’s house on 26 November 1778, aged 26. She became a close friend of the Thrales and her diary provides insight into their lives at Streatham Park.
  Note	20 Jan 1779
  	Her mother wrote of her in Thraliana … My second Daughter Susanna Arabella who will not yet be nine Years old till next May, can at this moment read a French Comedy to divert herself, and these very holy days her Amusement has been to make Sophy & sometimes Hester help her to act the two or three 1 st Scenes of Moliere)'s Bourgeouis Gentilhomme: add to this that She has a real Taste for English Poetry, and when Mr Johnson repeated some of Dryden's Musick Ode the other day, She said She had got the whole poem & Pope's too upon the same Subject by Heart for her own Amusement.— Her Knowledge of Arithmetick goes no farther than the four Rules, but She has worked a Map of Europe, and has a Comprehensive Knowledge of Geography that would amaze one.
  Note	Jul 1779
  	Aged 9, her mother wrote in Thraliana … Susan & Sophy are fine Girls, and promise to be a Credit & Comfort to their Parents, neither do I yet see any Disposition in the Eldest that need give one pain.
  Note	14 Jul 1780
  	Her mother wrote of her in Thraliana … Susan is three parts a Beauty, & quite a Scholar for ten Years old: few passages in History or poetry,—I mean English Poetry—are new to her, & She is a Critick in Geography & French.
  Note	Jan 1781
  	When Susannah was eleven - her mother wrote of her in Thraliana … Susan has a surprising turn for Letter writing; her compositions are relly elegant, & She delights—odd enough—in reading Voiture & Sevigné. They both [Susannah and sister Sophia] have obtained the French Accent very completely, considering they have never been out of England. I should like to treat them to with a run to the Continent.
  Physical Description	17 Dec 1781
  	Her mother wrote of her in Thraliana … Susan is already taller than me, & three parts a Beauty.
  Education	Kensington, Middlesex, England
  	Agency: Mrs Cumyns's boarding school
  Education	London, England
  	She was knowledgeable and had a talent for reading elegantly. She was able to speak French and English by age five.
  	Agency: Mrs Stevenson's school
  	Address: Queens Square
  Medical	She had crooked legs and an umbilical rupture which made her irritable. Because of this she was called Little Crab by the other children and Gilly by her father from a Gilhouter, the Cheshire word signifying an owl.
  Note	Dr Samuel Johnson said of her… I was always a Suzy, when nobody else was a Suzy.
  Residence	4 Jan 1782	Harley Street, Middlesex, England
  	After Henry Thrale’s death, Hester Lynch Thrale née Salusbury rented a house in Harley Street between January and March 1782, where she lived with her daughters. The house was too small to accommodate Samuel Johnson. On 4 January 1782, Hester Thrale wrote in Thraliana … I have taken a house in harley street for these three months next ensuing, & hope to have some society–not company tho’; crouds are out of the question, but people will not come hither on short days, & ‘tis too dull to live all alone so. the world will watch me at first, & think i come o’ husband hunting for myself or my fair daughter: but when i have behaved prettily for a while, they will change their mind.
  Note	Abt 1785
  		Susannah Arabella Thrale Wedgwood teaset 1785 A 1785 (estimated date) Wedgwood dinner service with turned wood and carved bone serving pieces in the the original pine shipping box was given to Susannah and her sisters by Dr. Samuel Johnson. Susannah Thrale never married but gave the service to the Misses Marter of Knockholt who then bequeathed it to their nieces in the late 1870s/early 1880s.
  Note	1790
  	John Fuller, better known as "Mad Jack" Fuller, proposed marriage but was rebuffed.
  Note	1832	Thrale Almshouses (1832-1930), Streatham High Road, Streatham, Surrey, England
  	The four daughters of Henry & Hester Thrale established almshouses for poor single women of Streatham.
  Residence	June 1807 - Nov 1858	Ash Cottage, Knockholt, Kent, England   [1]
  Death	5 Nov 1858	Knockholt, Kent, England   [2]
  Burial	Saint Leonards Church, Streatham, Surrey, England   [3]
  	Has a monument inside Knockholt Church and St Leonards Church, Streatham.
  		Memorial to Susannah Arabella Thrale and Thomas Arthur Bertie Mostyn. St Leonards Church, Streatham.
  Notes	Susannah Arabella was aged: 11 when her father died; and 14 when her mother remarried. Susannah Arabella remained unmarried.
  Person ID	I93	UK Thrale family | Fairfolds and Hammonds Thrale branch, Marshalswick Thrale branch
  Last Modified	10 Oct 2024

  
  

  Father	Henry THRALE, M.P.,   b. Between 1724 and 1730, Harrow Corner, Southwark, Surrey, England d. 4 Apr 1781, Grosvenor Square, Middlesex, England (Age 57 years)
  Mother	Hester Lynch SALUSBURY,   b. 16 Jan 1741, Bodvel, Caernarvonshire, Wales d. 2 May 1821, Clifton, Gloucestershire, England (Age 80 years)
  Note	1762	Offley, Hertfordshire, England
  	Henry was invited to Offley Place by Hester’s uncle, Judge Sir Thomas Salusbury and was introduced to Hester Thrale who was aged 20 or 21. Henry was a solid respectable man who was kindly towards Hester and she wrote that Henry was … Nearly the handsomest man in England. However, she did not want to marry him. Hester appealed to her father upon his return. John Salusbury had no intention of marrying his daughter to Henry, as Henry's father and grandfather had lived in the cottage now being used by his brother, Sir Thomas Salusbury as a dog kennel. John Salusbury quarrelled with his brother Sir Thomas and took his wife and daughter to London. Sir Thomas proposed their marriage whilst her father was away in Ireland with George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax, President of the Board of Trade. This was agreed by her mother after uncle Sir Thomas promised to make a settlement in her favour of £5,000 if Hester married Henry.
  Note	18 Dec 1762
  	Hester's father, John Salusbury died suddenly, leaving: the North Wales Bach-y-graig estate to his wife, and £5,000 to his daughter Hester. Hester, later speculated that his death might have been hastened by irritation at her proposed marriage to Henry Thrale; and Sir Thomas’s intention to remarry, as this ultimately resulted in Hester being disinherited from Offley Place.
  Note	28 Jun 1763
  	Letter of request for a proposal meeting Henry wrote to Hester and her mother asking to call on them. ;Mr. Thrale presents His most respectful compliments to Mrs. & Miss Salusbury & wishes to God He could of communicated His Sentiments to them last night, which is absolutely impossible for Him to do to any other person breathing; He therefore most ardently begs to see Them at any Hour this afternoon, & he will at all Events immediately enter upon this very interesting Subject, & when once begun, there is no Danger of His wandering upon any other: in short, see them, He must, for He assures them, with the greatest truth & Sincerity, that They have murder’d Peace & Happiness at Home. Almost two weeks later they were married.
  Note	9 Oct 1763
  	Dowry Henry Thrale met Hester’s maternal grandfather, Sir Thomas Salusbury and agreed upon Hester’s dowry. It included: £10,000 to Hester from Sir Thomas Salusbury; £700 a year for Hester from her father’s estate; legacies from her mother and aunts worth £3,000; £200 a year from Henry’s Crowmarsh Battle estate. The remainder of farm income went to Henry. The farm would in future be administered by two trustees for a period of 99 years On Henry’s death: Hester’s income from Crowmarsh Battle farm would double; she would get a lump sum of £13,400; and provision would be made for trust and inheritances for any children that they may have.
  Marriage	11 Oct 1763	Saint Anne's Church, Soho, Middlesex, England   [4]
  Note	Jul 1774	Wales
  	From July to September 1774, Dr. Samuel Johnson and the Thrales toured North Wales. For Hester Thrale, the journey was personally significant, revealing cultural tensions with Johnson and influencing her writing. Johnson kept a diary which has since been published.
  Note	14 Sept 1775	Paris, Île-de-France, France
  		The Thrales tour of France, 14 September to 14 November 1775. Henry Thrale, MP, was invited to Paris by his friend Hugh Percy, 1st Duke of Northumberland, who was serving as the British ambassador to France. From September to November 1775, a group embarked on a tour of France, visiting Paris, Versailles, and various monasteries and convents. The traveling party consisted of: Henry Thrale, the wealthy brewer and Member of Parliament; Hester Thrale, Henry's wife and a notable diarist; Queeney Thrale, their eldest child; Dr. Samuel Johnson, the renowned lexicographer and writer; and Giuseppe Baretti, Queeney's Italian tutor and Johnson's friend. The trip included: meeting King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette at the Palace of Versailles; and a coaching accident.
  Note	11 Oct 1776
  	Baronet Sir William Weller Pepys (1740-1825) wrote these verses to mark their 13th wedding anniversary. Give me to bless Domestick Life With sweet Repose secure from Strife; (Cries every Pedant in a College) A Wife not over-stockt with Knowlege; This—every Fool who loves to quote What Parrot-like he learn’d by rote; And every Coxcomb whose Pretence To Wisdom marks his want of Sense, And all good Huswives skill’d in Darning Who rail with much Contempt at Larning: And all who place their Sovreign Good in The Composition of a Pudding Repeat with such Triumphant Air Such deep Sagacity—you’d swear That Knowledge among Woman kind Was deadliest Poyson to the Mind; A Crime—which venial if conceal’d Like Theft at Sparta,—if reveal’d, The Guilty stamps with such disgrace, No Culprit dares to Show her Face. But tell me You, who dar’d despise These vulgar Maxims—who from Eyes Which well might grace the loveliest Fair, Turn’d not because bright Sense beam’d there; But—vent’rous Deed!—in Marriage sought A Mind with Stores of Knowledge fraught; Tell me through all these thirteen Years, Through varying Scenes of hopes and Fears; Could Ignorance more faithful prove? Could Folly’s Self more warmly love? Then long may this Auspicious Morn At each still happier Year’s Return Tell—what thy Sweet Experience shews, That Head and Heart are friend—not Foes.
  Note	6 Jul 1777
  	Dr. Samuel Johnson in a letter to Hester Thrale, said … I know no man… who is more master of his wife and family than Thrale. If he but holds up a finger, he is obeyed.
  Note	10 Sept 1777
  	Hester wrote in Thraliana… As this is Thraliana—in good Time—I will now write Mr Thrale’s Character in it: it is not because I am in good or ill Humour with him or he with me, for we are not capricious People, but have I believe the same Opinion of each other at all Places and Times. Mr Thrale’s Person is manly, his Countenance agreeable, his Eyes steady and of the deepest Blue: his Look neither soft nor severe, neither sprightly nor gloomy, but thoughtful and Intelligent: his address-is neither caressive nor repulsive, but unaffectedly civil and decorous; and his Manner more completely free from every kind of Trick or Particularity than I ever saw any person’s—he is a Man wholly as I think out of the Power of Mimickry. He loves Money & is diligent to obtain it; but he loves Liberality too, & is willing enough both to give generously & spend fashionably. His Passions either are not strong, or else he keeps them under such Command that they seldom disturb his Tranquillity or his Friends, & it must I think be something more than common which can affect him strongly either with Hope, Fear Anger Love or Joy. His regard for his Father’s Memory is remarkably great, and he has been a most exemplary Brother; though when the house of his favourite Sister was on Fire, & we were alarmed with the Account of it in the Night, I well remember that he never rose, but bidding the Servant who called us, go to her Assistance; quietly turned about & slept to his usual hour. I must give another Trait of his Tranquillity on a different Occasion; he had built great Casks holding 1000 Hogsheads each, & was much pleased with their Profit & Appearance—One Day however he came down to Streatham as usual to dinner & after hearing & talking of a hundred trifles—but I forgot says he to tell you how one of my great Casks is burst & all the Beer run out. Mr Thrale’s Sobriety, & the Decency of his Conversation being wholly free from all Oaths Ribaldry and Profaneness make him a Man exceedingly comfortable to live with, while the easiness of his Temper and slowness to take Offence add greatly to his Value as a domestic Man: Yet I think his Servants do not much love him, and I am not sure that his Children feel much Affection for him: low People almost all indeed agree to abhorr him, as he has none of that officious & cordial Manner which is universally required by them—nor any Skill to dissemble his dislike of their Coarseness—with Regard to his Wife, tho’ little tender of her Person, he is very partial to her Understanding,—but he is obliging to nobody; & confers a Favour less pleasingly than many a Man refuses to confer one. This appears to me to be as just a Character as can be given of the Man with whom I have now lived thirteen Years, and tho’ he is extremely reserved and uncommunicative, yet one must know something of him after so long Acquaintance. Johnson has a very great Degree of Kindness & Esteem for him, & says if he would talk more, his Manner would be very completely that of a perfect Gentleman.
  Note	13 Apr 1779
  	Hester Thrale wrote in Thraliana … In 1779, Hester, who had also lost several children, was unhappy in the thought that she had ceased to be appreciated by her husband. She became jealous of his regard for Sophy Streatfeild of Chiddingstone (1754-1835), a rich widow's daughter.
  Note	5 Apr 1781
  	Shortly after the death of Henry Thrale, Hester Thrale wrote… Streatham. I have now appointed three Days a Week to attend at the Counting house, & wish I could defecate my Mind of Borough Dirt, when I pass the Laystalls at the Stones End; but it will not be yet, it will not be– > The vile Ideas where I fly pursue: Rise in the Grove, even in the Thicket rise, Stain all my Soul, and grovel in my Eyes. If an Angel from Heaven had told me 20 Years ago, that the Man I knew by the Name of Dictionary Johnson should one Day become Partner with me in a great Trade, & that we should jointly or separately sign Notes Draughts &c. for 3 or 4 Thousand Pounds of a Morning, how unlikely it would have seemed ever to happen!— unlikely is no Word tho’—it would have seemed incredible: neither of us then being worth a Groat God knows, & both as immeasurably removed from Commerce, as Birth Literature & Inclination could set us. Johnson however; who desires above all other Good the Accumulation of new Ideas, is but too happy with his present Employment; & the Influence I have over him added to his own solid Judgment and Regard for Truth, will at last find it in a small degree difficult to win him from the dirty Delight of seeing his Name in a new Character flaming away at the bottom of Bonds & Leases.
  Note	12 Oct 1781  [5]
  	Hester Thrale wrote in Thraliana… Yesterday was my Wedding Day; it was a melancholy thing to me to pass it without the Husband of my Youth.
  Note	11 Oct 1787  [5]
  	On their wedding anniversary, Hester wrote in Thraliana… Why do the people say I never loved my first husband? ’tos a very unjust conjecture. This day on which 24 years ago I was married to him never returns without bringing with it many a tender Remembrance: though ’twas on that Evening when we retired together that I was first alone with Mr. Thrale for five minutes in my whole life. Ours was a match of mere Prudence; and common good Liking, without the smallest Pretensions to passion on either Side: I knew no more of him than any other Gentleman who came to the House, nor did he ever profess other Attachment to me, than such as Esteem of my Character, & Convenience from my Fortune produced. I really had never past five whole Minutes Tête a Tête with him in my life till the Evening of our Wedding Day,—& he himself has said so a Thousand Times. yet God who gave us to each other, knows I did love him dearly; & what honour I can ever do to his Memory shall be done, for he was very generous to me.
  Residence	From January 1781 - March 1789	Grosvenor Square, Middlesex, England
  Note	21 Jul 1813
  	Queeney in a letter to Fanny Burney wrote … Do you know what my opinion is? that my mother hated my father. She loved him certainly, as everybody did, for his good qualities and his generosity; but she did not like him, nor any man in the world, well enough to desire to be alone with him.
  Histories		Pets of Henry & Hester Thrale The Thrales' love of animals is evident in both their writings. The Thrales' pets including dogs, cats, birds, chickens, ducks, rabbits, an aviary (including canaries, finches, and parrots) and a monkey, were an important part of their family, and they brought them a great deal of joy.
  Family ID	F46	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	William Frederick WELLS
  Marriage	1796
  	Type: Unmarried & living together
  Divorce	1816
  Notes	Susannah Thrale lived with watercolourist William Frederick Wells 1732-1836, a widower and father of seven, but did not marry him. She "joined him at his house", Ash Cottage, in Knockholt, Kent. Wells' name does not appear in the Thrale family correspondence. Her mother refers to him as "Mr Ash Grove". She lived at Ash Grove Cottage for the rest of her life, remaining there even after Wells retired to Mitcham, Surrey. Wells was a drawing instructor to young aristocrats and had exhibited at the Royal Academy. He founded the Society of Painters in Watercolours, now the Royal Watercolour Society in 1804.
  Family ID	F1034	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	15 Jun 2024

  
  

• Event Map		Birth - 23 May 1770 - Anchor Brewery, Southwark, Surrey, England Education - Agency: Mrs Cumyns's boarding school - - Kensington, Middlesex, England Education - She was knowledgeable and had a talent for reading elegantly. She was able to speak French and English by age five.,Agency: Mrs Stevenson's school,Address: Queens Square - - London, England Residence - After Henry Thrale’s death, Hester Lynch Thrale née Salusbury rented a house in Harley Street between January and March 1782, where she lived with her daughters. The house was too small to accommodate Samuel Johnson. On 4 January 1782, Hester Thrale wrote in Thraliana … I have taken a house in harley street for these three months next ensuing, & hope to have some society–not company tho’; crouds are out of the question, but people will not come hither on short days, & ‘tis too dull to live all alone so. the world will watch me at first, & think i come o’ husband hunting for myself or my fair daughter: but when i have behaved prettily for a while, they will change their mind. - 4 Jan 1782 - Harley Street, Middlesex, England Note - The four daughters of Henry & Hester Thrale established almshouses for poor single women of Streatham. - 1832 - Thrale Almshouses (1832-1930), Streatham High Road, Streatham, Surrey, England Residence - June 1807 - Nov 1858 - Ash Cottage, Knockholt, Kent, England Death - 5 Nov 1858 - Knockholt, Kent, England Burial - - Saint Leonards Church, Streatham, Surrey, England  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Photos » Slide Show		Susannah Arabella Thrale 1770-1858
  		Portrait of Susannah Arabella Thrale by unknown artist.
  		Thrale Almhouses, Streatham High Road, 1832-1930
  		Thrale Almshouses, 27 Polworth Road About 1985

  
  

  Videos

  BBC TV Arena: According to Beryl (2001). On 6 October 2001, BBC Television broadcast 'According to Beryl'. Their hour-long account of the family arrangement enjoyed by Samuel Johnson and the Thrale family of Streatham seen through the eyes of Beryl Bainbridge, author of the book on the same subject, According to Queeney. We also have an account of the Bery Bainbridge book According to Queeney, upon which this TV programme about Queeney, Johnson and the Thrale family is based.

  
  

• Sources

  [S22] Web, http://johnmadjackfuller.homestead.com/romance.html. [S18] GRO index (UK), Volume: 2A; Page: 149; Line number: 7. Registered in Bromley, Kent. [S22] Web, http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/Libr/MIs/MIsKnockholt/MIsKnockholt.htm. [S16] Gentleman's Magazine, October 1763. [S40] Editor: Katherine C Balderston, Thraliana, (Oxford University Press 1951).