Family Branch: Hennock

The HENNOCK branch of the family can be traced back for at least eleven generations to a Thomas Pinsent who married Ann Waters in Bovey Tracey in 1678. They had a son Thomas, born in 1691, who ended up a well-to-do owner of “Pitt Farm”, outside Chudleigh Knighton in Hennock. Thomas “senior’s” parentage is uncertain. 

Thomas of Pitt’s great grandson, Thomas Pynsent (yes, that is a story in itself) looked into his descent in the 1840s. He studied the parish records and concluded that the family came from the nearby farm at “Huxbeare” – which was in the family in the early 1700s, and likely had been for a century or two. He concluded that the Thomas who married Ann Waters was the son of the Robert Pinsent of “Huxbeare” who had married Urith Woolcombe in Chudleigh in 1650. They had a son Thomas in 1663. Thomas Pynsent was so confident of the linkage that he included it in a “memorandum” (discussed elsewhere) that traces his inferred ancestry back to the 1500s. 

The problem is that Thomas of Pitt’s father would have had to marry Ann Waters when he was fifteen years old! This is possible, but unlikely. Did Mr. Pynsent, the budding genealogist, know something I don’t? Or did he just fail to realize that there are gaps at critical places in the parish birth record? The family was fairly thick on the ground in those days and there are possibilities. For instance, there was a Thomas born to George and Elizabeth (née Soper) in Bovey Tracey in 1642. He would have been around thirty five years old at the time of the marriage.

The link Mr. Pynsent makes back to “Huxbeare” is – I believe – correct; however, I think there is a missing birth and that Thomas of Pitt’s grandfather was not Robert but his brother (yet another) Thomas who married Julian Wilmeade in 1657. 

Why do I think this? Well, this Thomas acquired a tannery at “Slade” in Bovey Tracey through the marriage and his (inferred) grandson still owned it after he moved to Pitt and brought the family back to farming. The first “Thomas of Pitt” passed the farm to his eldest son (Thomas) and his youngest son, John Pinsent, became a merchant in Newton Abbot. The latter married Susanna Pooke in 1750 and had no less than ten sons. Several died but enough survived to create the HENNOCK Branch that we have today. Two of the sons went into the Newfoundland cod fishery, another became a ship’s broker in London and three others (including Charles Pinsent of “Pitt” farm) stayed on as farmers in Devon. Collectively, their descendants went into trade, law and the other professions. One individual – as we have seen – arbitrarily resurrected the name “Pynsent” which had died out with the death of Sir William Pynsent in 1765.  

The HENNOCK and DEVONPORT Pinsents are closely related as they descend from two brothers (Thomas and John). The TIVERTON family may derive from yet another brother – William Pinsent; however that is less certain. If he does, they all link back to Huxbeare Barton in Hennock.

More Information

For a brief look at the HENNOCK family check out the Branch Summary.

Members of the Branch with Bibliographies

These branch members feature biographies describing their lives and those of their families. If you are new, select an entry below and see where it takes you.

Alfred Francis Pynsent, soldier and labourer, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 1896 – 1981.
Arthur Newman Pinsent, farmer and soldier, Saskatchewan, Canada, 1867 – 1946.
Beatrice Mary Homfray Pinsent, English Language Teacher, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1883 -1965.
Charles Pinsent, yeoman farmer and third owner of Pitt Farm, Hennock, 1766 – 1826.
Charles Pinsent, carpenter, London, 1762 – 1816.
Charles Augustus Maxwell Pinsent, businessman and agent, Newfoundland, 1866 – 1910.
Charles Burton Pynsent, company director, Caterham, Surrey, 1807 – 1967.
Charles Douglas Pinsent, lawyer, St. John’s, Newfoundland, 1919 – 1953.
Charles Pitt Pynsent, landowner and sheep rancher, Victoria, Australia and Wellington, New Zealand, 1824 – 1903.
Charles Pitt Pynsent, labourer, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 1893 – 1975.
Charles Speare Pinsent, accountant and bank manager, St. John’s, Newfoundland, 1838 – 1914.
Earl Speare Pinsent, solicitor, St. John’s, Newfoundland, 1887 – 1958.
Emily Hetty Sabine Pinsent, 1845 – 1922.
Francis Wingfield Homfray Pinsent, district valuer for Inland Revenue, Plymouth, 1875 – 1948.
Gilbert Pinsent, farmer, Kingsteignton, Devon and Froxfield, Wiltshire, 1840 – 1918.
Gilbert Pinsent, tenant farmer, Abbotskerswell & Kingsteignton, 1758 – 1835.
Gilbert Pinsent, woolcomber of Newton Abbot, 1724 – 1794.
Gilbert Soudon Pinsent, bank clerk, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1889 – xxxx.
Guy Homfray Pinsent, Captain North Lancashire Regiment, Company Director; Chobham, Surrey, 1889 – 1972.
Henry Pinsent, farmer, Doddiscombleigh and Bovey Tracey, 1844 – 1894.
Henry James Pinsent, farmer of Bovey Tracey and Hampshire, and of British Columbia, Canada, 1872 – 1927.
John Pinsent, clergyman, Winchcomb, Hampshire, 1880 – 1925.
John Pinsent, lecturer in classical studies, Liverpool, 1922 – 1995.
John Pinsent, farmer, Abbotskerswell and Kingsteignton, 1799 – 1858.
John Pinsent, merchant of Wolborough, Newton Abbot, 1728 – 1772.
John Pinsent, baker and Newfoundland merchant, London, 1753 – 1821.
John Pinsent, farmer, Middle Roccombe, Combeinteignhead, Devon and Gambledown, Sherfield English, Hampshire, 1838 – 1916.
Joseph Pinsent, shipping agent and broker of London and farmer of Lettaford, North Bovey, Devon, 1770 – 1835.
Joseph Burton Pynsent, dairyman, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 1890 – 1968.
Joseph Burton Pynsent, grain merchant, Bristol and merchant and dairyman, St. Kilda, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 1806 – 1874.
Joseph William Pynsent, dairyman, St. Kilda & Sydney, NSW, Australia, 1862 – 1926.
Lucretia Anna Maude Pinsent, Lady Abbess, Teignmouth, Devon and Vatican, Rome, 1857 – 1934.
Robert Pinsent, serge-maker and shopkeeper of Newton Abbot, 1721 – 1783.
Robert Burton Pynsent, farmer of Wanganui, New Zealand and barrister of Westminster, London, 1869 – 1953.
Robert Hedley Vicars Pinsent, clerk, Registrar General’s Office, New Zealand, 1862 – 1888.
Robert John Pinsent, Merchant and Magistrate, Newfoundland, 1798 – 1876.
Robert John Pinsent, Justice of Supreme Court of Newfoundland, 1834 – 1893.
Robert John Ferrier Homfray Pinsent, forestry company cashier, Montreal, Canada, 1874 – 1899.
Robert John Francis Homfray Pinsent, medical practitioner, Birmingham, 1916 – 1987.
Simon Pinsent, tanner of Hennock, xxxx – 1744.
Thomas Pynsent, Gentleman of Pitt House Chudleigh & of Lakenham, Westward Ho!, 1808 – 1887.
Thomas Pinsent, tanner of Slade, 1657 – 1696.
Thomas Pinsent, tanner and farmer at Pitt farm, Hennock, 1691 – 1777.
Thomas Pinsent, yeoman and second owner of Pitt farm, Hennock, 1717 – 1802.
Thomas Ogden Pynsent, lorry driver, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 1905 – 1980.
Thomas Williams Pinsent, Collector of Water Rates, St. John’s, Newfoundland, 1837 – 1890.
William Pinsent, farmer and salesman, Teigngrace, Modbury and Newton Abbot, 1797 – 1882.
William Pinsent, merchant, Port de Grave, Newfoundland, 1757 – 1835.

All Members of the Branch

This is the full list of branch members. Entries with biographies (as listed above) are marked with “”. The stories of those marked with “” are told in their father’s entry; to learn more, click their link and select their father in the family line. Entries without icons do not have biographies.