Vital Statistics
John Ball Pinsent: 1844 – 1890 GRO0517 (Brewer, Newton Abbot)
1. Jane Coles: 1853 – 1879
Married: 1877: Axminster, Devon
Children by Jane Coles:
Edith Jane Pinsent: 1878 – 1940 (Married Herbert Parker, 1903, Wolborough, Devon)
2. Jane Maye: 1847 – 1884
Married: 1880: Staverton, Devon
Children by Jane Maye:
Robert Maye Pinsent: 1881 – 1944 (Merchant, Plymouth; Married Mildred Adams, 1908, Bilston Staffordshire)
Charles Pinsent: 1883 – 1937 (Brewer, Edmonton, Canada; Married Henrietta Perraton, 1905, Cardiff, Glamorganshire)
Family Branch: Devonport
PinsentID: GRO0517
References
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John Ball Pinsent was the youngest surviving son of John Ball Pinsent by his wife Hannah Davie Swain. He grew up in the Newton Bushell, or Highweek Parish, part of Newton Abbot with his two brothers Thomas Pinsent and William Swain Pinsent. Their father owned a brewery that employed approximately twenty-one men at the time of the 1851 Census. The boys were, at that time, listed as “scholars”. A decade later, Thomas and William were in Birmingham with their mother, and John Ball was at home with his father. They lived in a large house on Highweek Street, near the family brewery. The household included two or three live-in servants. John Ball Pinsent “junior” was, predictably, “engaged in the brewery” by 1871.
John Ball married Jane (“Jessie”) Coles, who was the daughter of a dairy farmer from Chardstock, near Axminster, in August 1877 (Western Times: Wednesday 22nd August 1877). They had a daughter Edith Jane Pinsent the following year. Sadly, their marriage was short-lived as Jane died after a carriage accident that took place on 24th April 1879 .
The local newspapers tell us that while Jane was driving through “Devon Square” in Newton Abbot, her pony took fright at two boys who were driving a grocery “truck” (sic)—a horse-drawn cart. Her horse bolted and her carriage caught its wheel on a curb and crashed into the corner of a building. Jane and her mother-in-law were thrown against the wall of the building with considerable force and were rendered unconscious. They were immediately taken to their respective homes and attended to. Jane never regained consciousness. She died on 3rd May 1879. Her mother-in-law, Hannah Davie Pinsent suffered a serious concussion and broke her collarbone but eventually recovered (Western Times: Friday 25th April 1879; Exeter Flying Post: Wednesday 30th April 1879).
The Coroner felt that the two boys were not entirely to blame and that, once the pony had been startled, the carriage was just too much for the ladies to handle. The jury returned a verdict of “accidental death” (Western times: Friday 9th May 1879). Nevertheless, a witness claimed to have seen Richard Luscombe, a draper’s boy (sic), and George Bridgeman drive the “truck” down the road into the Square at a “furious pace” and Richard was charged with dangerous driving at the local Petty Sessions. The witness said she thought the noise of the “truck” had startled Mrs. Pinsent’s pony and caused it to bolt. A police sergeant who later examined the cart said that it had no brakes and the magistrates imposed a penalty on the boy of 15s or 14 days imprisonment (Western Times: Friday 23rd May 1879).
John Ball had an infant daughter to look after. She seems to have been taken in by her grandparents, John Ball Pinsent “senior” and Hannah Davie (née Swain). At the time of the 1881 Census, when Edith Jane Pinsent was all of three years old, she was described as being a member of their household. Where her father was at that point is uncertain. Ten years later (1891), Edith was still with her grandparents; however, her father had recently died and the contents of her erstwhile family home at “West Holt”, on Powderham Road in Newton Abbot, were being sold off. At Census time in 1901, Edith Jane Pinsent was living “on her own means” on the Gloucester Road with Mary Curtis, a long-time family retainer. She married Herbert Parker, the son of a local building contractor, two years later.
Edith’s father, John Ball Pinsent “junior” remarried. He married Jane Maye, the daughter of a “gentleman”, in Staverton in August 1880 (Brief: Friday 27th August 1880). They moved into a house called “Bucklands” on Wolborough Hill with Jane’s mother Mrs. A. Maye. The newly weds had two sons (East and South Coast Advertiser: Saturday 19th May 1883). Robert Maye Pinsent who was born in 1881 and Charles Pinsent who arrived in 1883. Presumably they were brought up with their half-sister, Edith – for the next few years at least.
John Ball’s marriage to Jane (née Maye) was also short lived. She committed suicide at “Buckland” on 10th January 1884. According to the local papers, Jane took “prussic acid after she had over-drawn her account and her brother had come to the house to see her about it” (Morning Post: Saturday 12th January 1884. She had been called down from her room when her brother first arrived with his wife, and she had said she would be down shortly; however, when she did not appear, a servant went upstairs and found her bedroom door locked from the inside. A concerned Mr. May used a ladder to enter his sister’s room through a window and he found her dying with a bottle of the poison beside her. At the inquest, Mr. Maye explained that he was a trustee of his sister’s marriage settlement, and that she was overdrawn on her account; however, their mother (who lived with the Pinsents) had settled the bill and it was not a serious problem. He said that: “his sister had a peculiar temperament, but her husband was kindness itself to her.” One of the servants said she had “never seen any unpleasantness between Mr. and Mrs. Pinsent, or Mrs. May”. John Ball Pinsent had been out that afternoon. Giving evidence under considerable emotion, he said: “he left about five minutes to three; his wife was then upstairs nursing the baby. She had shown no difference in her manner latterly. They had been married three and a half years. There was nothing on her mind at all that he knew of, and he knew nothing whatever of the business Mr. May came upon. His wife had not mentioned to him the subject of having overdrawn her account at the Bank” (Western Times: Saturday 12th January 1884).
On exploring further, the Coroner determined that the poison came from a Chemist shop on Queen’s Street and that Mrs. Pinsent had purchased it with other items saying that she had been given a dog that she did not care for, and she wished to dispose of it. The chemist claimed that he asked her “if he could safely trust her with it. She smiled at the remark, and said she would not let it out of her hands.” The jury returned a verdict of suicide by poisoning “during a fit of temporary insanity” (Western Times: Saturday 12th January 1884). The Chemist, Mr. Bibbings, was later summoned for contravening the Pharmacy Act for selling the prussic acid without obtaining the customer’s signature or completing the requisite paperwork. He pleaded guilty at “Newton Abbot Petty Sessions” and explained how shocked he was by the turn of events (Western Times: Thursday 24th January 1884). Jane was buried in Staverton on 26th January (Totnes Weekly Times: Saturday 26th January 1884). Probate of her will was granted to two family friends, Arthur Stephen Rendell, an auctioneer, and George Perkins Henry Rowell, a retired wine merchant. Her effects were valued at £104 13s 6d. Shortly thereafter, John Ball moved his family to “West Holt” (East and South Coast Advertiser: 12th July 1884). Under the circumstances, it is not hard to see why he would want to move.
John Ball Pinsent “junior’s” roll in the family firm is hard to determine as he and his father, who was clearly the man in charge, shared the same name. However, he was referred to as a “tea dealer” of Queen Street when his wife died in 1884 (Western Times: Friday 11th January 1884). This suggests that in the 1880s, at any rate, he was responsible for the firm’s “Off-license” on Queen Street. A journalist describing Newton Abbot as it was decked out for Christmas in 1885 remarked on several well-stocked shops and stores and, after waxing lyrical over the “delicacies” on display at Mrs. Towell and Mrs. Hodges’ place on Courtenay street, goes on to say “it was a kind of relief to take a glance at the bottle store of J. B. Pinsent, and in imagination sip the “nectar” to be found in that well arranged establishment”. Definitely over the top, but it does suggest a well-run establishment (Western Times: Thursday 24th December 1885).
The “Off-License” portion of the shop was the local outlet for “Ind, Coope Co.”. It sold the Company’s “Mild and Strong Burton” and its “East India Pale Ales” (Western Times: Tuesday 22nd December 1885), and also its “Pilsner Lager beer” (East and South Devon Advertiser: Saturday 24th December 1887). Presumably it was brought down from the Midlands by rail. I doubt if the Pinsents’ own beer travelled very far. It seems to have been available through local outlets.
Devon Directories show that John Ball Pinsent “junior” was an agent for the “Commercial Insurance Company”. His father was growing elderly by the late 1880s and he may well have called on his youngest son to help his brother William Swain Pinsent to run the brewery. For instance, we find that it was Mr. Pinsent, “spirit merchant” who put in the winning bid for the freehold of the “Commercial Inn” in Highweek Street when it came up for sale in April 1887 (Western Times: Friday 29th April 1887).
J. B. Pinsent “junior” and his father J. B. Pinsent “senior” both attended a speech by Mr. W. J. Harris, M.P. given at the “Constitutional Club” at Newton in 1885. It was an election year, and Mr. Harris was the local Conservative Candidate. John Ball “junior” may, in fact, have been fairly active in the “Newton Conservative Association” (Exeter and Plymouth Gazette: Saturday 30th May 1885)—if we accept that his father’s days of attending meetings were just about over.
John Ball Pinsent “junior” was less active in local issues than his hyperactive brother William Swain Pinsent. Nevertheless, in 1887 he appears to have been appointed to a committee to co-ordinate local celebrations for Queen Victoria’s upcoming jubilee (East and South Devon Advertiser: Saturday 7th May 1887). Like many another gentlemen in those days, he made a token effort to compete in local shows. His dog “Jack II” came in first in “Division 2: Dogs not used in field sports: 46: Toys – Dogs or Bitches (not exceeding 7 lbs in weight)” at the “Devon County Agricultural Show” in Torquay in 1882. However, realistically, he could never compete with his brother. William Swain Pinsent’s Dorking cock and hen did well on that occasion, coming in first in their class (Western Times: Friday 19th May 1882). The brothers shared the honours and presumably remained on speaking terms. John Ball’s main love was probably his greenhouse and garden.
John Ball Pinsent “the younger” of “West Holt”, Powderham Road, in Newton Abbot, died on 15th December 1890 (London Gazette: 21st April 1891). Arthur Stephen Rendell and George Perkins Henry Rowell, who had dealt with wife’s wife’s estate in 1884, probated his will. His personal estate was estimated at £2,352 11s 5d, but later re-sworn at £2,452 11s 5d in January 1894 (PCC Wills and Administration Summaries 1858-1947). John Ball left three young children. Two of them, Edith Jane (his daughter by his first marriage) and Charles (his younger son from the second) went to live with their grandfather, John Ball Pinsent “senior” despite his relatively advanced age and the fact that his wife had recently died. They were living with him at the time of the 1891 Census. Robert Maye Pinsent (John Ball’s elder son from the second marriage) went to live with his uncle, Thomas Maye, who was a “cider” and beer merchant” in Totnes. Why is not clear.
Shortly after he died, John Ball’s executors decided to sell his assets. They started with the contents of his greenhouse. The plants were sold by auction on 18th January 1891 (East and South Devon Advertiser: Saturday 10th January 1891). His furnishings, which included two cottage pianofortes, about 100 oz of plate, superior plated goods, oil paintings, prints and water colours including “108 framed (political and satirical) cartoons from the St. Stephen’s Review”, Minton, Worcester, Dresden, Wedgewood and other china etc. followed a month or so later, on the 19th and 20th February. The full catalogue was available for 6d (East and South Devon Advertiser: Saturday 14th February 1891). Presumably the cartoons had a Conservative twist to them.
After his youngest son’s death, John Ball Pinsent, “senior” was left with one remaining son. It would be up to William Swain Pinsent to help his father out and to take over when he died; which he did in 1901. William Swain does not seem to have paid much attention to the business until the unfortunate loss of his two brothers. However, from 1890 onward, he stepped up and helped his father.
Family Tree
Grandparents
Grandfather: Thomas Pinsent: 1782 – 1872
Grandmother: Mary Savery: 1780 – 1859
Parents
Father: John Ball Pinsent: 1819 – 1901
Mother: Hannah Davie Swain: 1815 – 1887
FATHER’S SIBLINGS (AUNTS, UNCLES)
Mary Savery Pinsent: 1806 – 1884
Thomas Pinsent: 1807 – 1826
Anna Pinsent: 1809 – xxxx
Elizabeth Savery Pinsent: 1811 – xxxx
Sarah Savery Pinsent: 1812 – 1813
Savery Pinsent: 1815 – 1886
Sarah Pinsent: 1817 – 1847
John Ball Pinsent: 1819 – 1901
Richard Steele Pinsent: 1820– 1864
Emma Pinsent: 1823 – 1831
MALE SIBLINGS (BROTHERS)
Thomas Pinsent: 1842 – 1889
William Swain Pinsent: 1843 – 1920
John Ball Pinsent: 1844 – 1890
Frederick Richard Steele Pinsent: 1855 – 1856
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