Family Branch: Teignmouth

The DEVONPORT, HENNOCK and (possibly also) TIVERTON branches of the family come from Hennock parish. However, the Pinsents were well established in the neighbouring parishes of Lustleigh and Bovey Tracey in medieval times as well, and some of the branches can be traced back to them. Unfortunately, there are gaps in the parish record and the linkages break down in the 1700s’ and there is countless broken twigs. Most of the Pinsents born and/or married and buried in the Bovey Tracey area are still waiting to be assigned to a family branch. 

The TEIGNMOUTH Branch appears to have come from a farm called Yeo at the confluence of the Bovey River and a south-flowing tributary known as the Wrey Brook. The farm was down-stream from Wreyland and, in the early days at least, part of Wreyland Manor.

In 1602, John Pinsent “of Yeo” (and several of his neighbours from Wreyland Manor) disputed the King’s right to force them to grind their corn in Bovey Tracey as they did not live in his manor. This particular John’s descent is far from clear but, if Cecil Torr’s observations in his book “Wreyland Documents” are interpreted correctly, the family probably made it through to an eighteenth century Thomas Pinsent who owned a considerably amount of land at Yeo but had no interest in farming. He became a custom’s officer in Polperro (on the south coast of Cornwall). Thomas died in 1798 without having had sons, so he does not have a tree of his own. 

Yeo had been partially dis-aggregated by the time Thomas died, and I do not know how his family was related to that of Roger Pinsent, the owner of part of “Higher Yeo.” Roger left the land and some more that he leased to his son; and his grandson, another Roger Pinsent, left it to his son Joseph Pinsent – who either sold the freehold family land or used it to build houses. Bovey’s pottery industry was taking off in the early 1800s and there must have been a pressing need for cheap housing. None of Joseph’s descendants farmed. Most went into the construction trades; however, one great-grandson, William Pinsent, became a merchant seaman and settled in St. John’s Newfoundland in the mid-1860s. The TEIGNMOUTH branch of the family can be traced through nine generations; however, it is probably extinct in the male line. 

More Information

For a brief look at the Teignmouth family tree check out the Branch Summary. For the closer look at how they lived, “notable members” (“”) include full biographies. Family members marked with “” are discussed in their fathers’ biographies.

Notable Members of the Branch

Edmond Pinsent, agricultural labourer, Lustleigh, Devon, 1692 – 1758.
James Pinsent, house painter, Torquay, Devon, 1839 – 1905.
John Pinsent, schoolmaster, Teignmouth, Devon, 1799 – 1878.
John Pinsent, property owner, Bovey Tracey, Devon, 1773 – xxxx.
Joseph Pinsent, tenant farmer, butcher and property owner, Bovey Tracey, Devon, (1748 – 1837)
Roger Pinsent, agricultural labourer, Bovey Tracey, Devon, 1703 – 1783.
Roger Pinsent, tenant farmer, Bovey Tracey, Devon, 1725 – 1803.
Roger Pinsent, weaver and labourer, Bovey Tracey, Devon, xxxx – 1720.
Thomas Pinsent, carpenter, London, Middlesex, and Bovey Tracey, Devon, 1776 – 1856.
William Pinsent, master mariner, Teignmouth, Devon, and St. John’s, Newfoundland, 1837 – 1881.
William Mitchelmore Pinsent, hardware store owner, Swampscott, Massachusetts, United States of America, 1872 – 1953.

All Members of the Branch