Vital Statistics
John Pinsent: 1690 – 1737 GRO1716 (Soap Boiler, Kelly and Leigh in Hennock)
Margaret Luscombe: xxxx – xxxx
Married: 1720: Exeter
Children by Margaret Luscombe:
Sarah Pinsent: 1721 – 1805 (Married James Wreaford, 1741, Hennock)
John Pinsent: 1723 – 1800 (Married Elizabeth Puddicombe, 1742, Crediton)
Thomas Pinsent: 1726 – 1757 (Married Mary Gildon of Kingsteignton, 1752; Inherited Leigh from his father).
Mary Pinsent: 1728 – xxxx
Elizabeth Pinsent: 1732 – 1804 (Married Joseph Wills, 1754; Her stepfather, Ambrose Rackett of Crediton, was a witness).
Family Branch: Devonport
PinsentID: GRO1716
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John Pinsent (1690 – 1737) was the son and sole heir of Robert Pinsent and Elizabeth (née Delve) of “South Kelly” in Hennock. His father was a soap boiler and he was brought up in the family business. John married Margaret Luscombe, of Chudleigh, in Exeter in February 1720 (Exeter Marriage Licenses) and they had two sons and three daughters between 1721 and 1732. Three of them — Sarah Pinsent, Thomas Pinsent and Elizabeth Pinsent — were baptized in Hennock but the other two John Pinsent and Mary Pinsent were christened in Lustleigh, which was a far more convenient church and one whose jurisdiction would later be extended to include Kelly. Interestingly, Robert Pinsent Collings was baptized in Lustleigh a few months before John. Presumably, his mother was Mary Pinsent of Huxbeare – who had married Mr. Joseph Collings in 1700.
According to Cecil Torr, in “Wreyland Documents: 1910”, John took over his father’s soap boiling business as part of his marriage settlement in February 1719/1720. His father retired from the production side of the business but retained “the shopp, the shopp chamber and the entry chamber through the garden next adjoining to the high way leading from Bovey Tracey to Moretonhampstead, parcel of the premises called South Kelly” for himself (as discussed elsewhere). Presumably Robert and Elizabeth still enjoyed being a shopkeepers.
It must have been a successful business as John took on apprentices. He was the “tallow chandler” who took on Thomas Luscombe of Chudleigh (probably one of his wife’s relatives) in 1721 and added Thomas Ellis in 1729 (Apprentices of Great Britain 1768-1774). He was also the “chandler” of Hennock who signed the “Devon and Exeter Oath Roll” in 1723. It was a declaration against “transubstantiation” aimed at limiting the job prospects of Roman Catholics – “Transubstantiation” being an article of faith for Roman Catholics and an anathema to the protestant church!
John Pinsent paid parish rates of between 1/- and 1/6d for his land in Hennock between 1728 (when records resumed after a break) and 1738, the year after he died (Hennock “Church Wardens’ Accounts”). Then, as now, it can take time for the bureaucrats to catch up. He also appears on a list of Hennock “Devon Freeholders” that was compiled before his death, in 1737.
John seems to have served on the “Manor Court Jury” in Wreyland periodically between 1711 and 1725 and he was, specifically, “presented” for non-appearance in 1727 (Wreyland Documents: Cecil Torr, 1910). He must have been elected “Church Warden” in 1736, as he approved the Hennock “Church Wardens Accounts’” that year. This was shortly before he died.
John purchased a tenement called “Leigh”, from Laurance Clampitt and his wife on 28th December 1732. It was near Wreyland Cross, just to the east of the village of Lustleigh. “Leigh” was contiguous with and down slope from, “Kelly.” At the time, it was described as “1 messuage, 1 cottage, 2 gardens, 2 orchards, 7 acres (arable) land, 2 acres meadow, 1 acre pasture, 1 acre wood, and 2 acres of furze and wood”. He later passed it to his younger son, Thomas, and the latter conveyed it to John Marsh on 2nd May 1752 (Cecil Torr: Wreyland Documents). This is not the first time that the Pinsent family owned land at “Kelly” and “Leigh”. According to Cecil Torr, Court Roll documents show that a Roger Pynsant held “one messuage and half a furlong of land in Calwelegh” (“Kelly with Leigh”) in 1437. Whether this Roger’s line made it through to the eighteenth century is not known.
John Pinsent “senior” died in 1737 leaving his widow with several relatively young children to look after. He left a Will (“Calendar of Devonshire Wills and Administrations”); however, it was destroyed when the Exeter “Probate Registry” was bombed during the Second World War: its contents are unknown.
John’s widow, Margaret, was left with four (or possibly five) young children to look after. The following March, she married Ambrose Rackett, a “tanner” and moved her family to Crediton where his father was a “licensed victualler” (innkeeper). Ambrose managed the Pinsent “soap” and “tallow” boiling business for his stepson until he was old enough to take control. It may have been leased out for some of the time.
John Pinsent “junior” married Elizabeth Puddicombe in 1742. His life is described elsewhere; however, he worked at Kelly for a while and then set up a similar “tallow” boiling business in Moretonhampstead. He was there by 1762 and fully established by 1771. Ambrose, meanwhile, seems to have kept on managing the Hennock part of the business. He appears as a “Freeholder” in Hennock in 1741 (QS7/20/Teignbridge), and also in 1762 (QS7/36/Teignbridge) and 1771 (QS7/44/Teignbridge).
John and Margaret’s younger son, Thomas Pinsent married Mary Gildon of Kingsteignton and most likely farmed a tenement called “Gildons” that was, many years later, still owned by his brother’s great-grandson – another Thomas Pinsent. John and Margaret’s eldest daughter, Sarah Pinsent, seems to have married James Wreaford in Hennock in 1741. Her sister Elizabeth Pinsent married Joseph Wills of Lustleigh in 1754. On that occasion, her stepfather, Ambrose Rackett, signed the Register as a witness. What happened to John and Margaret’s third daughter, Mary Pinsent, is uncertain.
Family Tree
Grandparents
Grandfather: John Pinsent: 1626 – 1663
Grandmother: Philippa Wilmeade: 1631 – xxxx
Parents
Father: Robert Pinsent: 1661-1729
Mother: Elizabeth Delve: 1665 – 1729
Father’s Siblings (Aunts, Uncles)
Thomas Pinsent: 1652 – 1711
Julian Pinsent: 1654 – xxxx
John Pinsent: 1656 – 1656
Joan Pinsent: 1657 – xxxx
John Pinsent: 1659 – xxxx
Robert Pinsent: 1661 – 1729 ✔️
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