Vital Statistics
Robert Pinsent: 1654 – 1686 GRO1776
Mary Hamlyn: xxxx – xxxx
Married: 1677: Widdicombe
Children by Mary Hamlyn:
Robert Pinsent: 1678 – 1707 (Married Elizabeth Voisey, 1703, Hennock)
Mary Pinsent: 1680 – xxxx (Married Joseph Collings, 1700, Exeter)
Elizabeth Pinsent: 1683 – 1704
Thomas Pinsent: 1685 – 1694
Family Branch: Devonport
PinsentID: GRO1776
Click here to view close family members
Robert Pinsent was the eldest son of Robert Pinsent by his wife Urith Woolcombe. He grew up at “Huxbeare” in Hennock with one brother (Thomas Pinsent) whose fate is currently unknown and four sisters – at least two of whom seem to have married. Robert “junior” was a teenager when his father died in 1671; so his mother kept the farm “in trust” for him until he came of age – in 1675. Robert married Mary Hamlyn of Widecombe-in-the-Moor (the ultimate destination of “Bill Brewer, Jan Stewer, Peter Gurney … and Uncle Tom Cobley and all” of folksong fame) two years later.
They had two sons (Robert Pinsent (1678 – 1707) and Thomas Pinsent (1685 – 1694)) and two daughters (Mary Pinsent and Elizabeth Pinsent) in the years that followed. However Robert died in 1686 as a relatively young man. He was 32 years old. His widow, Mary, was left with a young family.
Robert, Mary’s eldest child, was eight years old when her husband died; so she seems to have made arrangements to keep the family farm “in trust” for him until he came of age. Robert’s grandmother, Urith was still alive, and she provided continuity within the family until she died in 1692. Nevertheless, the parish accounts show that there was considerable uncertainty as to who was to pay the rates for Huxbeare while Urith’s male descendants were infants. After her death, they decided to bill “the occupiers” – and left it at that.
Mary (née Hamlyn) re-married in 1692 (Exeter Marriage Licenses) and her new husband, Richard Hart, presumably, managed the farm until such time as her Robert “junior”, was able to take over.
Robert and Mary’s other son, Thomas Pinsent, died as a nine-year old child and his elder sister, Elizabeth Pinsent, died as a young (21 year-old) woman. What happened to his other sister Mary Pinsent is uncertain. She may have married Joseph Collings, of Chudleigh, in St. Mary Arches, Exeter, in 1700. However, that is not confirmed. Alternatively, she may have remained single.
After her re-marriage, Mary Pinsent (née Hamblyn) became Mrs. Hart but the Pinsent family link with “Huxbeare” was such she may have been the “Mrs. Mary Pinsent of Huxbeare” who died in Hennock in May 1733. Alternatively, that may have been her daughter Mary as the term “Mrs.” did not always signify marital status in those days; it was sometimes used to signify social status.
The year before he died, her first husband, Robert Pinsent of Hennock “yeoman,” leased seven pieces of land covering 54 acres and including a small limestone quarry in Chudleigh from Sir Giles Inglett, of Chudleigh, for a year, at a cost of 5s and a nominal rent of “a peppercorn” (Devon Records Office: 22M2 M/25). The soil in Devon is mostly acidic and the limestone was probably used to neutralize soil.
Family Tree
Grandparents
Grandfather: Thomas Pinsent: 1597 – 1649
Grandmother: Julian Sidstone: xxxx – 1663
Parents
Father: Robert Pinsent: 1624 – 1671
Mother: Urith Woolcombe: xxxx – 1692
Father’s Siblings (Aunts, Uncles)
Helen Pinsent: 1618 – 1618
Joan Pinsent: 1619 – xxxx
Mary Pinsent: 1622 – xxxx
Robert Pinsent: 1624 – 1671 ✔️
John Pinsent: 1626 – 1663
Julian Pinsent: 1628 – xxxx
Margaret Pinsent: 1630 – xxxx
Thomas Pinsent: 1633 – 1701
William Pinsent: 1638 – xxxx
Male Siblings (Brothers)
Robert Pinsent: 1654 – 1686 ✔️
Thomas Pinsent: 1663 – xxxx
Please use the above links to explore this branch of the family tree. The default “Next” and “Previous” links below may lead to other unrelated branches.