Vital Statistics
Adrian Pinsent: 1864 – 1945 GRO0010 (Foreman Finisher, Shoe Trade, Leicester, Leicestershire)
Hannah West: 1865 – 1934
Married: 1887: Barrow upon Soar, Leicestershire
Children by Hannah West:
Arthur Pinsent: 1888 – 1978 (Married Hilda Mabel West, Leicester, Leicestershire, 1916)
Doris Mabel Pinsent: 1897 – 1898
Harold West Pinsent: 1900 – 1962
Family Branch: Tiverton
PinsentID: GRO0010
References
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Adrian, or “George” Pinsent as he was frequently known, was the second eldest son of James Pinsent, a “shoe finisher,” by his wife, Emma (née Jackson). He was born in Loughborough in 1864 but grew up on Syston Street in the nearby City of Leicester after his parents moved there soon after he was born. Adrian had several siblings (five sisters and two brothers) all of whom reached maturity. They left school when they were about twelve years old and went to work in the surrounding factories. All but one of Adrian’s siblings, his elder brother, James Pinsent, stayed on in Leicester. James move to Nottingham.
The family was living on Syston Street when the 1881 Census was taken. Adrian was a seventeen-year-old “shoe rivetter.” He lived at home until 1887 when he married Hannah West, the Methodist daughter of a deceased “framework knitter.” They married in Barrow-upon-Soar in Leicestershire. They had three children, two sons, Arthur Pinsent and Harold West Pinsent and a short-lived daughter, Doris Mabel Pinsent. Arthur is of particular note, as he grew up to be a well-respected Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Wales, in Aberystwyth. Harold West went into the leather business, in Nottingham. Their lives are discussed elsewhere.
Adrian was a “foreman” in the shoe trade in 1901 when the Census takers caught up with his family, which was then were living on Gipsy Road, in Belgrave in Leicester. They were still living there ten years later – in 1911 – but Adrian was, interestingly, then going by the name of George Pinsent (Leicester Electoral Registers). I do not know why.
Adrian may well have been the “Bro. A. Pinsent” who attended the Leicester District “Order of Forester’s Belgrave Court” meeting called to honour the visit of the District “Chief Ranger” in February 1911 (Leicester Daily Post: Thursday 2nd February 1911). If so, he was doubtless involved in planning the order’s “78th High Court” meeting in July 1912, when “1,000 delegates will assemble at Leicester” on the August Bank Holiday weekend (Leicester Evening Mail: Thursday 27th July 1912). I am guessing here, but it was probably his son, Arthur, who was the “A. Pinsent” who turned out for the Belgrave cricket team when they played St. Paul’s that July. He was a keen sportsman (see elsewhere). Still, this was not one of his better outings, as he was bowled out for a duck (zero) (Leicester Evening Mail: Saturday 13th July 1912).
In 1920, the firm of “T. Hatton and Co.” was set up to take over a pre-existing boot and shoe manufacturing business on Britten Street, and we find that “A. Pinsent, 17 Gipsy Lane, Leicester” was one of its first directors (Leicester Daily Post: Thursday 4th March 1920). The 1921 census tells us that he was also a “manager” of the firm. Perhaps he was a long-term employee. Adrian and Hannah were still living on Gipsy Lane until 1928 at least (Kelly’s Directory).
They moved to Gwendolen Street in Barrow-upon-Soar sometime thereafter, and that was where Hannah died in 1934. Adrian, who was by then a “retired shoe-manufacturer’s foreman”, stayed on in Gwendolen Street with a lodger, a “commercial traveler” who signed on with the “Observer Corp.” (Wartime Register: 1939).
Adrian was an old man by 1945 (81 years old) and he may well have felt that he had had enough. He committed suicide. He had “suffered for years from recurring bronchitis and myocardial degeneration. Early in December he had an enlarged prostrate and was seen by a specialist with a view to an operation. This was not possible owing to the condition of his heart. As a result, Pinsent appeared to be depressed”. He cut his own throat (Leicester Evening Mail: Tuesday 1st January 1946). The coroner’s report implies that he did so “while the balance of his mind was temporarily disturbed.” Letters of Administration (with a Will) was granted to his son, Harold West Pinsent, a “leather manufacturer” (Calendar of Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration).
Family Tree
GRANDPARENTS
Grandfather: Thomas Pinsent: 1795 – 1860
Grandmother: Hannah Johnson: 1800 – 1871
PARENTS
Father: James Pinsent: 1831 – 1902
Mother: Emma Jackson: 1831 – 1903
FATHER’S SIBLINGS (AUNTS, UNCLES)
Fanny Pinsent: 1820 – 1880
William Pinsent: 1822 – xxxx
Thomas Pinsent: 1824 – 1831
Caroline Pinsent: 1825 – 1864
James Pinsent: 1831 – 1902 ✔️
Elizabeth Pinsent: 1833 – 1833
Elizabeth Pinsent: 1833 – xxxx
John Pinsent: 1836 – 1899
Henry Pinsent: 1838 – 1846
George Pinsent: 1839 – 1857
Charles Pinsent: 1842 – 1882
MALE SIBLINGS (BROTHERS)
James Pinsent: 1862 – 1936
Adrian Pinsent: 1864 – 1945 ✔️
Arthur Edwin Pinsent: 1872 – 1938
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