I'm still trying to find a timeline for this, but it seems Thorn and his family resided in Tuscany for a period of time (maybe 1831 or 1832), after their inital relocation to Paris. Herman's son James Jauncey Thorn was married to Therese von Leykam on January 20/1/1834 in Geneva, Switzerland, and then they moved... Continue Reading →

As I research, some snippets of information remain tantalisingly elusive. That's the lure of history, as far as I am concerned. One such example is that of the poet, William Maurer, or G. Maurer, who lived with Colonel Thorn at Rue de Varenne for six and a half years as tutor to his children. Maurer... Continue Reading →

One of my newly discovered relatives, Yolande de Ziegler, kindly sent me this photo from the Geneva art show where Tim Walker was being exhibited. It is a mash-up of the the original Winterhalter painting with Eugenie and her Ladies in Waiting. Jane Thorn is on the left of the top of the picture with... Continue Reading →

I'm going to use this post to cobble together any peripheral pieces of information about the Ball. One interesting snippet was from the Countess of Granville's diary where she moans about having to attend. It would be interesting to know if she had a personal issue with Herman and Jane, or it was simply part... Continue Reading →

The accounts I have read about Colonel Thorn's famous costume ball held on March 3rd, 1840 at Hotel de Monaco, rival anything F. Scott Fitzgerald imagined for Gatsby. Invited guests were told visit the Versailles museum to study the court life of Louis X1V and the costumes from that period. Countess Granville diarised the upcoming... Continue Reading →

I can only surmise why Colonel Thorn relocated the entire family to France in the 1830's. However, Paris was, at that time, the cultural and social epicentre of the world. It was the place to find his daughters and sons the kind of marriages he desired. The place of noble and wealthy suitors. The research... Continue Reading →