| Name |
Hester Maria Thrale |
- Had a variety of nicknames used less frequently than Queeney, including Nig. Niggy. Tit. Birdey. Hetty. Samuel Johnson affectionately called her Sweeting.
|
| Nickname |
Queeney |
| Birth |
17 Sep 1764 |
Southwark, Surrey, England  |
| Christening |
Address:
Saint Saviour's Church
(now Southwark Cathedral) |
|
| Gender |
Female |
| Note |
9 Apr 1771 |
Dr. Samuel Johnson was devoted to Queeney and referred to as…Sweet, dear, pretty, little Miss. |
| Note |
8 Dec 1774 |
She produced a mock-solemn covenant …Streatham December the 8th at night, 1774;,
I promise to work for two full hours at her Italian every day as Mr. Barretti shall instruct me. And I promise further, that, whether I am in good humour or out of humour, I will be in earnest and very attentive to my lesson, as if I were in the very best humour, nor will I look about me with a vacant and weary countenance, so that the said Mr. Barretti (alias Taskmaster) shall have no reason, no, not the least shadow of a reason to complain of my disattention, unwillin(gn)ness, and reluctance.
signed by Hester with her full name and her seal, and witnessed by:
Tutor Barretti left Streatham a month later. |
| Note |
14 Sep 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:
|
| Physical Description |
1777 - 1778 |
 |
Hester and Queeney Thrale in 1777/8.
By Sir Joshua Reynolds. |
| Note |
26 Nov 1778 |
Fanny 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. Burney wrote …Miss Thrale is a very fine girl, about fourteen years of age, but cold and reserved, though full of knowledge and intelligence. |
|
|
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:
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 |
Jul 1780 |
Hester Lynch Piozzi wrote in Thraliana whilst in Brighton …I have picked up Piozzi here, the great Italian singer. He is amazingly like my father. He shall teach Hester. |
| Note |
17 Sep 1780 |
On her 16th birthday, her mother wrote in Thraliana …It is this day given me by God to see my first born offspring, my dear Hester,—sixteen Years old— virtuous in Heart, prudent in Behaviour, pleasing in Person, & accomplished in Knowledge.
What more would I have! & yet I often catch myself complaining.—Oh God forgive my foolish repining Spirit; and give me Grace to be thankful for, & to enjoy the Blessings I do not deserve.
We always have a Dance on her Birthday for the Servants, and they shall have it this Year too—in spite of past Sorrows. Mr. Johnson's Birthday is the next day to hers, & we keep them together, &. fill the Summer House with Food, Fiddles &c, today being Sunday, the Balls must be tomorrow & Tuesday.
Sure nothing will ever happen that will keep me from rejoycing on the 17: & 18: of September, the Birthdays of my Daughter & my Friend.,—. |
| Note |
26 Jul 1781 |
Her mother wrote in Thraliana …Doctor Johnson has undertaken to teach my eldest Daughter Latin and has actually undertaken & begun his Work. Fanny Burney, Author of Evelina is to learn with her of the same Master — Mr Thrale says it is better to teach each of them than a Thousand pounds added to their Fortune. Dear Creatures! How earnestly do I wish them Success! they love one another and will improve by studying together—what a Master they have too! Happy Rogues!— |
 |
Hester Maria Thrale aged 17 (artist unknown)
|
| Note |
17 Sep 1781 |
On her 17th birthday, her mother wrote in Thraliana …Oh Lord accept my grateful and Heartfelt Thanks for having lived to see her attain this proximity to Womanhood, & permanent Duration. She is however still delicate in her Health I think, & mightily tormanted with Worms. |
| Note |
1 Jan 1782 |
Her mother wrote in Thraliana …She is a prudent Child indeed, I would wish to consult her on every occasion: so much sound Judgment, so little Vanity, such proper Notions of this World, & such Aspiration after a better have I yet never seen in a Creature of her Age:
The Marquis of Caermarthen son to the present Duke of Leeds, & elder Brother to. I this Cuckoldly Marquis, appeared to me to be the Person most resembling her for Perfections of Body & Mind:—beautiful, pious, wise and well accomplished was the late Lord Caermarthen.
Hester is however deficient enough in the _petite morale_: not caressing, not even _attentively_polite; never appearing pleased either with herself or Companions, She will not I fancy be a sought-for Character. |
| 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 |
Jul 1784 |
 |
Cabinet from Samuel Johnson.
Cabinet given to Hester Maria (Queeney) Thrale by Dr. Samuel Johnson in July 1784. |
| Note |
28 Apr 1789 |
|
|
Thrale v. Hester Maria Thrale, 28 April 1789.
A dispute about recipient of income from Henry Thrale's estate at Crowmarsh Battle between Hester Lynch Thrale née Salusbury and her daughter Hester Maria (Queeney) Thrale. Thrale v. Hester Maria Thrale (1789), 1 Ves. Jun. 215. Court of Chancery. |
| Note |
17 Sep 1803 |
On her 39th birthday 17 September 1803, her mother wrote in Thraliana …Here is Miss Thrale's Birthday come round again, the weather beautiful, & I hope my heart grateful for having lived to see my eldest child 39 years old—& just now not unkind at all— She has written once or twice this year, & in the last Letters some Compassion was exprss'd fo Mr Piozzi's Sufferings—They are indeed very great—Well!
God bless her, & him. |
| Education |
21 Jun 1805 |
She told her mother in a letter that she would never have dared to learn Hebrew if she had not been told that:The Illeterate and Itinerant Preachers of Methodism up & down, all study Hebrew, to torment the clergy. |
| Physical Description |
1822 |
 |
Hester Maria Thrale aged 58.
By George Saunders in 1822. |
| 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. |
 |
Thrale Almhouses, Streatham High Road, 1832-1930
|
 |
Thrale Almshouses, 27 Polworth Road
About 1985 |
| Census |
30 Mar 1851 |
Bolsover Castle, Bolsover, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England [1] |
| Overnight(s) visitor to Bolsover Castle. |
 |
UK census 1851
|
| Note |
Fanny Burney described Hester Maria Cotton as …Smart and proud, but cold and proud. |
| Death |
31 Mar 1857 |
Piccadilly, Middlesex, England [2, 3] |
Address:
110 Picadilly |
| Burial |
Overton Kirkyard, Tulliallan, Fife, Scotland [2] |
| Person ID |
I94 |
UK Thrale family |
| Last Modified |
13 Jul 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 meetingHenry 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 |
DowryHenry 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:
|
| 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. |
| Family ID |
F46 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
Thrale/Thrall history
1764 - 1857 (92 years)
: Address
: Location
: City/Town
: County/Shire
: State/Province
: Country
: Not Set
