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Hester Thrale
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Hester Thrale
Hester Lynch Thrale Piozzi (née Salusbury; 27 January 1741 or 16 January 1740 – 2 May 1821) was a Welsh writer and socialite who was an important source on Samuel Johnson and 18th-century British life. She belonged to the prominent Salusbury family of Anglo-Welsh landowners, and married firstly a wealthy brewer, Henry Thrale, with whom she had 12 children, then a music teacher, Gabriel Mario Piozzi. Her Anecdotes of the Late Samuel Johnson (1786) and her diary Thraliana, published posthumously in 1942, are the main works for which she is remembered. She also wrote a popular history book, a travel book, and a dictionary. She has been seen as a protofeminist.
Hester Lynch Salusbury was born at Bodvel Hall, Caernarvonshire, Wales, the only daughter of Hester Lynch Cotton and Sir John Salusbury. As a member of the powerful Salusbury family, she belonged to one of the most illustrious Welsh land-owning dynasties of the Georgian era. Through her father's line, she was a direct descendant of Katheryn of Berain. Hester enjoyed the devoted attention of her uncles and was educated to a high level for a young woman. She would later describe that "they had taught me to read and speak and think and translate from the French, till I was half a prodigy."
After her father had gone bankrupt in an attempt to invest in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Hester married the rich brewer Henry Thrale on 11 October 1763, at St Anne's Chapel, Soho, London. They had twelve children, of whom only four survived to adulthood, and lived at Streatham Park. However, the marriage was often strained: her husband frequently felt slighted by members of the court and may well have married to improve his social status. The Thrales' eldest daughter, Hester, became a viscountess as the wife of George Elphinstone, 1st Viscount Keith.
After her marriage, Thrale was free to associate with whom she pleased. Due to her husband's financial status, she was able to enter London society, as a result of which she met Samuel Johnson, James Boswell, Bishop Thomas Percy, Oliver Goldsmith, and other literary figures, including the young Frances Burney, whom she took with her to Gay Street, Bath.
In July 1774 Johnson visited Wales in Thrale's company, during which time they visited Hester's uncle Sir Lynch Cotton at Combermere in Denbighshire. Frances, the wife of Sir Lynch's son Robert "found Johnson, despite his rudeness, at times delightful, having a manner peculiar to himself in relating anecdotes that could not fail to attract old and young. Her impression was that Thrale was very vexatious in wishing to engross all his attention, which annoyed him much."
Johnson wrote two verses for Thrale in 1775, the first to celebrate her 35th birthday, and another in Latin to honour her.
Frances Burney, in her diary, describes the conversations at several of Thrale's soirées, including one in 1779 about a young woman named Sophy Streatfeild (1755–1835), a daughter of Henry Streatfeild, who was a favourite of Mr Johnson and Mr Thrale, rather to the chagrin of Hester, who commented that Sophy "had a power of captivation that was irresistible... her beauty joined to her softness, her caressing manners, her tearful eyes, and alluring looks, would insinuate her into the heart of any man she thought worth attacking." The touch of jealousy here is further revealed in Thrale's remarking (after another of her male guests had professed devotion to Miss Streatfeild and the desire to "soothe" her): "I would ensure her power of crying herself into any of your hearts she pleased. I made her cry to Miss Burney, to show how beautiful she looked in tears" and (on being rebuked about this) "Oh but she liked it ... Miss Burney would have run away but she came forward on purpose to show herself. Sophy Streatfeild is never happier than when tears trickle down from her fine eyes in company."
The Thrales were in Bath in 1780 at the time of the Gordon Riots, when a Roman Catholic chapel was set on fire, although the greater worry for them was whether Thrale's brewery in Southwark would escape being ransacked, which it narrowly did.
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Hester Thrale
Hester Lynch Thrale Piozzi (née Salusbury; 27 January 1741 or 16 January 1740 – 2 May 1821) was a Welsh writer and socialite who was an important source on Samuel Johnson and 18th-century British life. She belonged to the prominent Salusbury family of Anglo-Welsh landowners, and married firstly a wealthy brewer, Henry Thrale, with whom she had 12 children, then a music teacher, Gabriel Mario Piozzi. Her Anecdotes of the Late Samuel Johnson (1786) and her diary Thraliana, published posthumously in 1942, are the main works for which she is remembered. She also wrote a popular history book, a travel book, and a dictionary. She has been seen as a protofeminist.
Hester Lynch Salusbury was born at Bodvel Hall, Caernarvonshire, Wales, the only daughter of Hester Lynch Cotton and Sir John Salusbury. As a member of the powerful Salusbury family, she belonged to one of the most illustrious Welsh land-owning dynasties of the Georgian era. Through her father's line, she was a direct descendant of Katheryn of Berain. Hester enjoyed the devoted attention of her uncles and was educated to a high level for a young woman. She would later describe that "they had taught me to read and speak and think and translate from the French, till I was half a prodigy."
After her father had gone bankrupt in an attempt to invest in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Hester married the rich brewer Henry Thrale on 11 October 1763, at St Anne's Chapel, Soho, London. They had twelve children, of whom only four survived to adulthood, and lived at Streatham Park. However, the marriage was often strained: her husband frequently felt slighted by members of the court and may well have married to improve his social status. The Thrales' eldest daughter, Hester, became a viscountess as the wife of George Elphinstone, 1st Viscount Keith.
After her marriage, Thrale was free to associate with whom she pleased. Due to her husband's financial status, she was able to enter London society, as a result of which she met Samuel Johnson, James Boswell, Bishop Thomas Percy, Oliver Goldsmith, and other literary figures, including the young Frances Burney, whom she took with her to Gay Street, Bath.
In July 1774 Johnson visited Wales in Thrale's company, during which time they visited Hester's uncle Sir Lynch Cotton at Combermere in Denbighshire. Frances, the wife of Sir Lynch's son Robert "found Johnson, despite his rudeness, at times delightful, having a manner peculiar to himself in relating anecdotes that could not fail to attract old and young. Her impression was that Thrale was very vexatious in wishing to engross all his attention, which annoyed him much."
Johnson wrote two verses for Thrale in 1775, the first to celebrate her 35th birthday, and another in Latin to honour her.
Frances Burney, in her diary, describes the conversations at several of Thrale's soirées, including one in 1779 about a young woman named Sophy Streatfeild (1755–1835), a daughter of Henry Streatfeild, who was a favourite of Mr Johnson and Mr Thrale, rather to the chagrin of Hester, who commented that Sophy "had a power of captivation that was irresistible... her beauty joined to her softness, her caressing manners, her tearful eyes, and alluring looks, would insinuate her into the heart of any man she thought worth attacking." The touch of jealousy here is further revealed in Thrale's remarking (after another of her male guests had professed devotion to Miss Streatfeild and the desire to "soothe" her): "I would ensure her power of crying herself into any of your hearts she pleased. I made her cry to Miss Burney, to show how beautiful she looked in tears" and (on being rebuked about this) "Oh but she liked it ... Miss Burney would have run away but she came forward on purpose to show herself. Sophy Streatfeild is never happier than when tears trickle down from her fine eyes in company."
The Thrales were in Bath in 1780 at the time of the Gordon Riots, when a Roman Catholic chapel was set on fire, although the greater worry for them was whether Thrale's brewery in Southwark would escape being ransacked, which it narrowly did.
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