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Wall Hall, Hertfordshire: new entrance front and rooms for G. W. Thellusson, 1800 (3)

Notes

George Woodford Thellusson (1764-1811) was the second son of Peter Thellusson (1737-97), an Anglo-French mechant banker. The family had considerable interests in estates in Grenada, Montserrat and Grenada, and the London sugar refining business. The family firm later occupied No. 2 New Bank Buildings, built by Soane in 1807-10. Thelusson was also a Director East India Company in 1796-1807, and received compensation on the abolition of slavery.

Ptolemy Dean refers to 'minor alterations' to Wall Hall, but the designs catalogued here show fairly substantial alterations that include the rebuilding of the entrance front, dining room, entrance hall, library and passage to the offices. Soane's proposals were not carried out, and the house was rebuilt as Aldenham Abbey in 1802.

Literature:
N. Pevsner and B. Cherry, The Buildings of England: Hertfordshire, 2nd ed., 1977, p. 67; P. Dean, Sir John Soane and the Country Estate, 1999, p. 189; Wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_East_India_Company_directorsWikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_East_India_Company_directors; Legacies of British Slavery database, UCL: www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs

Tom Drysdale, March 2015

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Contents of Wall Hall, Hertfordshire: new entrance front and rooms for G. W. Thellusson, 1800 (3)