Marshalswick
The name Marshalswick comes from John and William Marschal who owned land between 1271 and 1377, and Wick which meant 'hamlet', 'town' or 'village' in Old English.
The Thrale family owned Marshalswick for many generations from around 1630 - when it was held by Richard Thrale (1617-1690) and his male descenants, through to his grandson Thomas Thrale (b.1696) - to 1768, when the family were forced to mortgage it, and it was eventually surrendered.
Marshal's Wick Mansion by Caroline Blake (born 1802) in
1825
Click on image to enlarge
In 1769 Samuel Martin bought Marshalswick which was occupied by Major Richardson. By 1788 Martin had died, 2nd Earl Spencer declined to purchase, and Charles Bouchier of Tittenhanger purchased the estate. He altered the name of the main house to Sandridge Lodge. In 1802 Mr Strode bought the estate, followed by the Marten family in 1803, who resored the name Marshalswick in 1818. In 1824 they added a west wing. In 1826 bachelor George Marten inheireted the estate and lived there for fifty years. In 1888 the estate was said to be 809 acres. The house was pulled dawn in 1927. The sale of Marshalswick in 1921 by the Martens raised £22,000 and led to the development of 127 acres of private houses. The two lodges are now known as 1 Marshals Drive and 191 Marshalswick Lane.
Marshalswick Farm was sold in the 1930s for private housing and occupied the same site where the Quadrant shopping precinct now stands. The only remaining historic building is the old brewhouse in Marshals Drive.
In 1880 the building at Marshalswick Farm was described in the Herts Advertiser newspaper following the murder of the farmer Edward Anstee and the subsequent hanging of convicted killer Thomas Wheeler. The description was …
"A dwelling of red brick with a portico and bow drawing room window projecting beyond the other parts of the building. The back of the house was enclosed in a small court so frequently seen at older farmsteads. The house, very nicely furnished, consisted of drawing room, dining room and kitchen on the ground floor with four bedrooms on the first floor and some other accommodation above."
The Marshalswick branch of the Thrale's produced the famous Thrale Streatham family with its Johnsonian connections. The sister of Henry's father Ralph had married Richard Smith of Kingsbury St Michael's near St Albans and a lasting relationship remained between the families. Henry Smith of St Michael's being together with Dr Johnson and others an executor of Henry Thrale's will in 1781.
The old farm house at the Wick circa 1825 by
Jane Marten
Click on image to enlarge
A brother of the first Ralph Thrale of Nomansland was John Thrale of Hammonds who died in 1601 and it is through him that the Marshalswick branch is descended and also the branch terminating apparently with the death of John Thrale in 1704, whose monument is in the south transept of St Albans Abbey. John was an extremely ambitious and thrusting merchant, whose career commenced in the management of a plantation in the West Indies as a young man. His amply documented career gives fascinating insights into cargoes of trading vessels and general commercial conditions of the time. The arms on the monument "Paly of ten, Or and Gules" has been adopted by other members of the family, and can be seen in Streatham Church on the memorial of Henry Thrale, the wealthy brewer, whose story will be told later. John was owner of Fairfolds which he passed on to his daughters whose descendants sold the farm to Thrale kinsmen.
Marshalswick Mansion House
Marshalswick Mansion House was demolished in 1927 and most of the land is now part of the Marshalswick housing estate.
