Thrale history
Historic Sandridge. The story of a Hertfordshire parish (1952).
The first substantial chronicle of Thrale history, written by R.W. Thrale (1931-2007) & E. Giles. Reproduced in full with consent of the author.
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The oldest legible gravestone is that of Elizabeth Cox 1744. The Coxs go back in the registers to 1595, when Edward Cox married Alice Chappell, and they go forward to the burial or Gordon William Thrale Cox in 1945. Jennings Cox, the son of Jonathan and Margaret, born 1689, died 1754, was churchwarden from 1719 to 1731. In 183318 Thomas Cox was farming Hammonds and William Cox was at Nashes. Later in the nineteenth century the Coxs farmed Hill End. They appear to have been the second most important yeoman family in the parish, the Thrales being the first.
The militia played an important part in the life of Sandridge. The fact that the people had no votes did not prevent them from being called upon to fight for their country. From 1756 to 1763 England fought the Seven Years’ War and this was soon followed by the war against the American colonists. It was the duty of the parish constable to prepare each year a Militia List for the parish containing the names of all men between the ages of eighteen and fifty. There are eighteen such lists for Sandridge preserved at the County Hall covering the period 1757 to 1768. The first list contains fitly-eight names; the lowest number is fifty, and the highest 113. In 1780 there were apparently two men whose names were not known by the constable, and he describes them as "Shepard and underplowman at Hillend". In the later lists there are attached to the names various reasons why the men should not be called up. Some had already served, some had children, some were defective, and such names as the following in 1781 are crossed out:
John Munt farmer served.
James Arnold labourer five children.
Edward Harper farmer lame.
Thomas Hack servant lame.
Thomas Floyd farmer served.
John Wethered grocer one eye.
William Weeb bricklayer four children.
William Weeb labourer lame.
The next year the village shoemaker, William Dunham, was short of one of his little fingers, but his name is not crossed out. In 1785 Thomas Dearman, aged thirty-two, was subject to fits and could not be trusted with a rifle, so he stayed at home, and at the end of the year his wife Mary presented him with a baby. In 1786 two Militia Lists were made, and those who wished to appeal against military service had to attend at The Bull, St Albans.
There is a note in the accounts that on 26th October 1759 the Sandridge Militia marched. The two men, John Draper and Thomas Woodwards, marched to where we know not, but it involved the parish in great expense. The overseers had to keep on doling out guineas to them, and on the 10th May 1762 the vestry decided to go to law against them. Apparently the parish lost the case, for six months later they paid "Thos.Woodwards and his lawyer £53.4.0" and John Draper received thirty five guineas or more in 1763. In all, the two militia men cost Sandridge £148, and the rates rose to three shillings in the pound.
Sandridge also assisted Nelson in his fight against Napoleon on the high seas, for in 1795 we sent two volunteers into the Royal Navy. They were Michael Murray, an Irishman, and John Munt, a native of Hertfordshire. On joining up these men received twelve guineas and twenty guineas respectively from parish funds,19 and it should be noted that three years later Nelson was victorious at the Battle of the Nile. In 1736 Jonathan Parsons was made parish clerk.20 He was followed in turn by his son, two grandsons and a great grandson, and between five of them they held the post of parish clerk till it lapsed in 1881, a total of 145 years. It was to this family that the malt house belonged, which was behind the Rose and Crown21, and which caught fire in 1779, burning 108 bushels of malt. The duty of nine pence a bushel which had been paid was refunded.22 The family did much to increase the population of the village during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; In fact, there are no fewer than sixty-eight members of it recorded in our registers, so some account of it will be given here, although it exceeds the bounds of the chapter. Such a detailed account will give a good impression of the life led by such a family. The original Jonathan Parsons kept the Queen’s Head, the Rose and Crown, and also ran a malting business. Jonathan was followed by his son, who held the post of clerk until he died in 1812. This Jonathan married Sarah Marston of St Albans and they had nine children in eleven years, four of whom died in infancy. After his wife died, leaving him with four young sons, he married Ann Sams and had five more children. These large families were common. Jonathan’s duties for the church were not exacting. He probably attended all Sunday services and was entitled to wear a surplice. He kept the registers of theFootnotes
- Voters’ List, p.57.↩︎
- Record Of The Hertford County Sessions. Nine volumes edited by W. J. Hardy, F.S.A, and Colonel William Le Hardy, M.C., F.S.A. Vol.4, p.46.↩︎
- The earliest known parish clerk was William Greed appointed in 1618.↩︎
- Tithe Commission Report 1844.↩︎
- Record Of The Hertford County Sessions. Nine volumes edited by W. J. Hardy, F.S.A, and Colonel William Le Hardy, M.C., F.S.A. Vol.4, p.13.↩︎
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