Thrale history

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of every kind of flower and grass that the farm grew'.⁴¹ Besides these items there were pieces of armour, and cannon balls weighing anything from two to fourteen pounds which had been dug up in the neighbourhood. Although local tradition supposed the latter to be relics from the Civil War, they were no doubt used during the second battle of St. Albans which occurred in 1461 and was fought on Bernards Heath. During the battle Henry VI was reputedly sent to Sandridge and then to the Common.⁴²

The 'Bengal Tiger' was described in the catalogue as being in Case No.1. labelled a panther or Ceylon leopard. A short description of its history was given, but the fullest information is given by a delightful piece of journelese which appeared in the Herts Reformer of 7th June 1836. The account is given full length for it is a piece most evocative of that time, and also mentions the Lattimores, a family well known in in the locality during the second half of the nineteenth century. The debate as to whether it was a Thrale or a Mardall who really should have the credit for the kill continued in the family for decades!

'On the 30th ult. the village of Wheathampstead was the scene of an event which will long be remembered and which, if it were not for the account being corroborated by a friend who lives on the spot we should have been inclined to suppose was a tale manufactured for the amusement of the credulous. It appears that two men, named Isaac Field and William Smith, were passing through a field, surrounded by thick brow hedges, called New Close at Hamwell, the property of Mr. C.H. Lattimore, they heard a rustling in the hedge, when one of them said 'That's a hare in the snare'. Field crept into the hedge on his hands and knees, and approached within a yard of an animal which immediately rushed up the hedge and from the imperfect view he had of him he supposed it to be a deer. The men then went to their work; but on their return about twelve o'clock, curiosity induced them to examine the place where Field had seen the animal, when, the sun shining brightly through the hedge, he was disclosed to their view. It was perfectly clear to them that it was not a deer; but the men were entirely at a loss to know what it could be; they became rather alarmed and proceeded to the house of Mr. Ralph Norman Thrale at No Mans Land and informed him of the circumstances. Mr. Thrale immediately repaired to the spot with his gun, in company with the men, and arriving within about ten yards of the

Footnotes

41. W. Chambers: Guide to Hertfordshire 1880.↩︎
42. F. Goodman - Herts Advertiser.↩︎