Home > Hester Thrale

Her diaries and correspondence are an important source of information about Samuel Johnson.

She was born Hester Lynch Salusbury at Bodvel Hall, Caernarvonshire, Wales. She was a member of an illustrious Welsh land-owning family.

She married the rich brewer Henry Thrale on 11 October 1763, at St. Anne's Chapel, SohoThis article is about the district of Greater London. For other meanings see Soho (disambiguation Soho is an area of London's West End in the City of Westminster. It is roughly the area bounded by Oxford Street to the north, Regent Street to the west, Pic, London. They had 12 children.

This was her entry to LondonLondon is the capital of the United Kingdom and of England, and with over seven million inhabitants in the Greater London area, is the second-most populous conurbation in Europe (after Moscow). From being Londinium the capital of the Roman province of Bri society, as a result of which she met Samuel Johnson, James BoswellJames Boswell ( October 29, 1740 May 19, 1795) was a lawyer, diarist, and author born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was the eldest son of a judge, Alexander Boswell of Auchinleck, Lord Auchinleck. He is best known as the biographer of Samuel Johnson. His nam, Bishop Thomas PercyBishop Thomas Percy ( 1729 1811) was an English clergyman, poet, and antiquarian. His greatest contribution to the world was his Reliques of Ancient English Poetry ( 1768), the first of the great ballad collections, which was the one work most responsible, Oliver GoldsmithOliver Goldsmith ( November 10, 1730(?) April 4, 1774) was an Irish writer and physician known for his novel The Vicar of Wakefield ( 1766), his pastoral poem The Deserted Village ( 1770) (written in memory of his brother), and his plays The Good-natur'd and other literary figures, including the young Fanny BurneyFanny Burney later Madame D'Arblay ( June 13, 1752- January 6, 1840) was an English novelist and diarist. She published her first novel Evelina anonymously in 1778. The revelation of its authorship brought her immediate fame. She published Cecilia in 1782. Johnson visited Wales in Mrs Thrale's company on several occasions. In 1775Events February 9 American Revolutionary War: British Parliament declares Massachusetts in rebellion March 23 American Revolutionary War: Patrick Henry delivers his speech " give me liberty or give me death" in Williamsburg, Virginia. April 14 American Re he wrote verse in celebration of her 35th birthday, and the same year wrote Latin verse in her honour.

Following Thrale's death in 1780, Hester married Gabriel Mario Piozzi , an Italian music teacher. This caused a rift with Samuel Johnson which was only mended shortly before his death. With her second husband, she retired to Brynbella, a specially-built country house on her Bach y graig estate, in the Vale of Clwyd, south of - and close to - Tremeirchion village in north Wales.

In 1786, she published Anecdotes of the late Samuel Johnson, and in 1788 she published her letters with Johnson. These two sources, together with her unpublished diaries, are often referred to as Thraliana by scholars, and they serve as a notable correction to the picture of Johnson presented by Boswell. Further, since Johnson all but lived in the Thrale household, Mrs. Thrale provides exact details of when and how Johnson composed some of his great works.

She died in at Royal York Crescent, Clifton, Bristol. She was buried on 16 May 1821 near Brynbella in the churchyard of Corpus Christi Church, Tremeirchion. A plaque inside the church is inscribed "Dr. Johnson's Mrs. Thrale. Witty, Vivacious and Charming, in an age of Genius She held ever a foremost Place".

From the time of her death to nearly the present, she was referred to by scholars as Johnson had referred to her: as "Mrs. Thrale" or "Hester Thrale." However, she is now most commonly referred to as either "Hester Lynch Piozzi" or "Mrs. Piozzi."