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Henry Thrale

Henry Thrale (born 1724-30, at the Alehouse in Harrow Corner, Southwark, died 4 April,1781, London) was an 18th century English MP and a close friend of Samuel Johnson. His family owned a large London brewery.

He was the son of the rich brewer Ralph Thrale (1698 - 1758) and Mary Thrale. He married Hester Thrale on 11 October 1763; they had 12 children, and she outlived him. He was MP for Southwark 23 December 1765 - September 1780, an Alderman, and Eton College and University College, Oxford, where he matriculated on 4 June 1744. Travelled in Europe with Lord William Henry Lyttleton Westcote (1724-1808).

Friendship with Samuel Johnson

Johnson first met the Thrales on the 9 or 10 of January 1765, and immediately became almost a part of their family. There was much good literary company. When Fanny Burney was admitted to the circle, Samuel Crisp wrote "Where will you find such another set? Oh, Fanny, set this down as the happiest period of your life?." Johnson mostly lived with the Thrales at his country house Parliament. He continued to represent Southwark until his election defeat in 1780.

Thrale inherited the from his father. In 1772 a scheme for brewing beer without malt or hops put the brewery in debt to the tune of £130,000 (£13 million today). This almost bankrupted Henry Thrale. Hester Thrale raised money from her mother and other friends and cleared the debt in nine years.

Travels

In 1774 Samuel Johnson went with the Thrales on a tour of Wales.

In September 1775 Hester, Henry and their eldest child Queeney, together with Samuel Johnson and Joseph Baretti, went to Paris.

On 19 October 1775 the party was admitted to the Court of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette at Fontainebleau, and enjoyed dinner and an evening at the theatre with them.

Family life

Henry and Hester's marriage has been described as loveless. Whilst there was no great passion, they loved and respected each other. On their wedding anniversary in 1787 Hester wrote in his wife wrote in 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.

Illness and death

On 1 April 1777 Henry's death was falsely reported in the newspapers, and threw James Boswell into "a state of very uneasy uncertainty".

In July 1779, Thrale went to the house of his sister - Mrs Susannah Nesbitt - to read the will of her husband Arnold Nesbitt, MP for Cricklade, who had died the day before. During the meal, Henry had his first stroke. The second stroke came on 21 February 1780; on 16 September he had a third, whilst talking to some constituents whilst campaigning for re-election.

The strokes were largely caused by Henry's voracious appetite for large indulgent meals, accompanied by large quantities of ale.

Henry Thrale died at 5 a.m. April 4 1781, with his wife and Johnson by his side. He was buried in the , Streatham. Henry's epitaph was written by Samuel Johnson.

Obituaries

Johnson wrote

On Wednesday 11, was buried my dear Friend Thrale who died on Wednesday 4, and with him were buried many of my hopes and pleasures

I felt almost the flutter of his pulse, and looked for the last time upon a face that for fifteen years had never been turned upon me but with respect and benignity.

He also wrote of Thrale

I am not without my part of the calamity. No death since that of my wife has ever oppressed me like this.

My part of the loss hangs upon me. I have lost a friend of boundless kindness at an age when it is very unlikely that I should find another.

One great abatement of all miseries was the attention of Mr. Thrale, which from our first acquaintance was never intermitted.

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.

Arthur Murphy wrote "a more ingenuous frame of mind no man possessed. His education at Oxford gave him the habits of a gentleman; his amiable temper recommended his conversation, and the goodness of his heart made him a sincere friend".

The poet James Beattie wrote "He was a most respectable character; intelligent, modest, communicative and friendly".

In his Life of Johnson, James Boswell mentions Henry's worthy principles, sound scholarship, business acumen, general intelligence and polished manners. He also added his impressive looks, dignified bearing and generosity towards his wife in his allowance to her for entertaining those guests of her own choosing.

Will

The executors of Henry Thrale's will were Samuel Johnson, Henry Smith, Joseph Crutchley, John Cator and Hester Thrale. The Anchor Brewhouse was quickly sold to David Barclay 1728-1809 (owner of Barclays Bank), who took Thrale's old manager, John Perkins (1730-1812), into partnership. They became Barclay, Perkins and Company. The sale figure was 135,000 pounds (£13,500,000 or $22,500,000 today).

This was all left in trust for Thrale's five daughters who are said to have been left £20,000 each (£2,000,000 today). From other assets his wife was left the interest from £50,000 for life and the contents of Streatham Park (including all Sir Joshua Reynolds paintings) for life.

Samuel Johnson famously said, "We are not here to sell a parcel of boilers and vats, but the potentiality of growing rich beyond the dreams of avarice."