Thrale history

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CROWMARSH BATTLE FARM, OXFORDSHIRE, ENGLAND

Tree: UK Thrale family

Notes:

The estate lay in South Oxfordshire, south of Benson, and comprised approximately 650 acres of land and buildings. It was known as The Manor or Lordship of Preston Crowmarsh, also called Crowmarsh Battle. The suffix “Battle” derives from the manor’s inclusion among the lands granted by William the Conqueror to Battle Abbey, Hastings, as part of its original endowment.¹

After passing to the Crown under Henry VIII, the estate was farmed by a succession of tenants. In the later seventeenth century, it came into the hands of London speculators and in 1696 was sold to Thomas Cowslad of Mewbury for £5,300, who held the estate until selling to Ralph Thrale MP.

Thrale ownership and descent

1. Ralph Thrale MP, purchased for £1,997, 1742 – 9 Apr 1758;
2. his son and heir, Henry Thrale MP, 9 Apr 1758 – 4 Apr 1781;
3. his eldest daughter, Hester Maria Thrale, who succeeded in her own right, 4 Apr 1781 – 31 Mar 1857;
4. her cousin, Thomas Arthur Bertie Mostyn (known as Bertie), who inherited under the terms of Henry Thrale’s will, which directed that, after his eldest child, the estate should descend to his eldest surviving grandson or granddaughter. Bertie managed the estate closely, making frequent visits of inspection. 31 Mar 1857 – 3 Oct 1876 ²;
5. The Honourable Georgina Augusta Henrietta Keith, 3 Oct 1876 – 21 Sep 1892.

During Henry Thrale’s ownership, the estate was tenanted to Robert Lovegrove. Hester Thrale recorded that Lovegrove kept the property “neat and bright”, despite, in her words, having “a drunkard for a wife”.

Upon the death of Augusta Keith in 1892, the estate descended to the heirs of her father as follows:

• Emily (Flahault), widow of the 4th Marquess of Lansdowne, 21 Sep 1892 – 1895;
• her son, the 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, 1895 – 1910.

In 1910, the estate was sold out of the family to F. P. Chamberlain. Following his death, it passed to his son, P. C. Chamberlain, who continued to farm the property until at least 1975.

Footnotes

1. Mary Hyde, The Thrales of Streatham Park, Harvard Press, 1977, p. 102 fn. 16. ↩︎
2. Mary Hyde, The Thrales of Streatham Park, Harvard Press, 1977, p. 336. ↩︎

Thanks are due to John Marriott for his January 2026 contribution, which helped refine and extend this account.

Media

Documents

Henry THRALE 1781 will Written 18 days before his death, the will was read to the four male trustees on 5 April 1781. His wife, Hester, was later informed of its provisions by Samuel Johnson.

Histories

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.

Land

Matches 1 to 2 of 2

	Last Name, Given Name(s)	Land	Person ID	Tree
1	THRALE, Henry M.P.	10 Apr 1758	I83	UK Thrale family
2	THRALE, Ralph M.P.		I69	UK Thrale family