Thrale/Thrall history

Brynbella, Tremeirchion, Flintshire, Wales

Tree: UK Thrale family

Notes:

Construction

In 1794, Hester Lynch and Gabriel Piozzi started building a new house - which they called Brynbella - on Hester’s Bach y graig estate, in the Vale of Clywd, close to Tremeirchion.

The house is in the style of an Italian villa, with two bows flanking the front, two wings on either side, a flight of steps leading to the door, a balcony outside the windows leading to the porch, and several stables and outhouses at the rear. The house faces west, above a stream leading to the River Clywd. Piozzi diverted the trout stream to flow near the kitchen.

Occupancy

Period	Occupant
1794	Built
1795 - 1821	Thrale & Piozzi
1821 - 1858	Sir John Salusbury Piozzi Salusbury
1858 - 1900	Mr Michael Ralli
1900 - 1920	Sir Henry Mainwaring & Lady Evelyn Cecil
1920 - 1944	Dr Glynne & Dr Evans
1944 - 1994	Sir Geoffrey Glazebrook & Lady Anne Cavendish
1994 - date	Peter and Maria Neumark

Thrale and Piozzi

Hester and Gabriel took up residence in 1795. Piozzi took pleasure in his manorial role, and he improved the cottages and was benevolent to the cottagers. He also improved the scandalous state of the local church in Tremeirchion.

On 1 September 1794, Hester wrote in Thraliana …

Cecilia Margaretta Thrale keeps healthy yet abhors the Place; & when Mr Piozzi rides to Brynbella, She goes the other Way; professing with more Sincerity than Politeness her Hatred of Wales, and of our House in particular!

On 22 April 1800, Piozzi was appointed Overseer of the Poor for Tremeirchion. However, he tried to avoid the duties to the annoyance of the Dean of St. Asaph’s.

Alike with all well-to-do people at that time, Hester had servants and on 15 May 1804, she wrote of them on her return to Brynbella from Streatham Park …

Poor Hodgkins! He died whilst we were absent—so we bring back Three new Servts Chivers, Joseph & Julia the Cook—it lowers my Spirits tho’ to see all new Faces about us so.

Gabriel Piozzi died from gout at Brynbella on 26 March 1809. Hester and her adopted son, John, remained at Brynbella for five more years until he married Harriet Maria Pemberton of Ryton Grove Shropshire on 7 November 1814. Hester then left John the whole of her Welsh estate, and she retired to Bath, where she took temporary lodgings in New King Street, before taking permanent residence at 8 Gay Street, Bath.

Salusbury

After Hester died in 1821, her adopted son Sir John Salusbury Piozzi Salusbury inherited the House and estate. Much of the original Piozzi furniture, specially made by Gillows of Lancaster, was sold after Hester’s death in 1821 by her adopted son and heir, Hester then left John the whole of her Welsh estate, and she retired to Bath, where she took temporary lodgings in New King Street, before taking permanent residence at 8 Gay Street, Bath.

Michael Antonio Ralli

Michael Ralli was a Greek merchant and consul who owned Brynbella from 1858 to 1900. Born 1825, in Chios, Greece to a prominent shipping and trading family. He moved to Liverpool, England, in the 1840s, where he established a successful cotton brokerage business and in 1865 was made Greek consul in Liverpool.

Michael Antonio Ralli.

As a wealthy and influential man. He was a member of the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce and the Liverpool Stock Exchange and a patron of the arts and sciences. Ralli bought Brynbella in 1858. He made some alterations to the house, including adding a new wing and a conservatory. He also landscaped the grounds extensively. With his family, he lived in Brynbella from 1858 to 1900. In 1881, he hosted a visit from King George I of Greece. He died in 1900 aged 75.

Sir Henry Mainwaring & Lady Evelyn Cecil

The Mainwarings were a prominent Welsh family who owned Brynbella from 1900 to 1920. The family’s name is derived from the village of Mainwaring in Cheshire, England. The Mainwarings had been settled in Wales for centuries, and they owned several estates in the country. The head of the Mainwaring family at the time that they owned Brynbella was Sir Henry Mainwaring, 8th Baronet. He was born in 1850 and in 1877 he married Lady Evelyn Cecil, the daughter of Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1885 to 1892 and again from 1895 to 1902. Sir Henry and Lady Mainwaring were a wealthy and influential couple. Sir Henry was a Justice of the Peace and a Deputy Lieutenant of Flintshire. He was a benefactor of the National Museum of Wales, a member of the Royal Cambrian Academy and the Conservative Party, serving MP for Flint from 1880 to 1885. They lived in Brynbella from 1900 to 1920. In 1902, they hosted a visit from the Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII) and the Princess of Wales.

Dr Glynne and Dr Evans

Thrale.com currently does not know about them or their period of residence.

Sir Geoffrey Glazebrook and Lady Anne Cavendish

The Glazebrook family owned Brynbella from 1944 to 1994. Sir Geoffrey Glazebrook, 4th Baronet was born in 1908 and he married Lady Anne Cavendish, the daughter of the 10th Duke of Devonshire, in 1933. He was a member of the Conservative Party and was Lord Mayor of Manchester from 1955 to 1956, a member of the Royal Academy of Arts and a benefactor of the Manchester Art Gallery. As a listed building with a 7-acre garden, a 40-acre park, two lodges, stables with a cupola, bell tower and clock, was always a scene of great activity, especially in summer, when regular open days and Strawberry Fairs were held. Every Christmas since 1945, a local choir visited. Visitors particularly admired the chandeliers and mahogany and walnut doors. In 1958, they hosted a visit from Queen Elizabeth II.

1994 sale

After the death of Mrs Glazebrook aged 93 in December 1993, Brynbella was put up for sale.

The two-day sale of the contents of Brynbella - the ‘Sale of the Century’ - as it was described in the local press generated a great deal of interest. According to the auction house Sotheby’s, the romantic Italianate villa was a “house of treasures”, and the sale itself “a very important auction”.The auction took place in June 1994. A date which assumes some significance when one remembers that Mrs Piozzi, a member of the Salusbury family, moved into her “little cottage”, as she termed Brynbella, exactly 200 years before in 1794. Brynbella played an important part in the life of Tremeirchion over the years, and locals were excited by the sale, for nearly everyone went, just for a look. Jackson, Stopps & Staff, of Chester, listed the price of the property as £750,000; but it is said that the sale price exceeded that. The contents, in the form of fine art and antiques and furniture, were expected to raise around £1 million; but it sold for more than £1.7 million.

The sale contents - mostly collected by the Glazebrooks - included:

• a Cecil Kennedy still life of flowers oil painting which raised £43,000;
• some Richard Wilson paintings;
• a James Stark painting entitled “Sheep dipping at Thorpe” sold for £91,700 to Mr Richard Green.
• a Phillip Steer 1903 painting “A Turn of the Cards” which was expected to fetch over £80,000

The local church, Corpus Christi took advantage of the crowds attending the sale of Brynbella and organised three open days of its own. Over 200 people came to see the Church’s Salusbury vaults, and the hatchment or coat of arms presented to the church by Mrs Piozzi, with other items. They could also inspect wall tablet commemorating Mrs Piozzi.

Peter and Maria Neumark

Brynbella front facade July 2001..

Peter and Maria Neumark have owned Brynbella since 1994. Peter Neumark is the founder and chairman of the Neumark Group, the largest privately-owned transport company in the UK. Maria Neumark and their daughter Rebecca are trustees of the Neumark Family Foundation, which focuses on children in North Wales.

The Neumarks are passionate about Brynbella and they are committed to preserving it for future generations. They have said that they want Brynbella to be a place where people can come to enjoy the beauty of the house and gardens and learn about the history of the house and its former owners.

Address : Latitude: 53.241052516630305, Longitude: -3.377123773097992