Vital Statistics
Arthur James Pinsent: 1921 – 2000 GRO1277
Sheila Mary Park: xxxx – 2008
Married: 1947: xxxx, xxxx
Children by Sheila Mary Park:
Son (GRO1633)
Son (GRO1879)
Family Branch: Australia
PinsentID: GRO1277
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Arthur James Pinsent was the fourth and probably the youngest son of Arthur Henry Pinsent by his wife, Catherine Mary (née Lynch); however, I have yet to find his birth record. He was likely born in Middle Park in South Melbourne, where he would have grown up with three brothers and a sister. Arthur’s grandmother, Annie Edith Pinsent, was the proprietress of “Hotel Pinsent” in Wangaratta, a city northeast of Melbourne and well known to the “better class” of society in Melbourne. The family must have had a fairly high profile.
Arthur’s father was a noted Middle Park cricketer well into the 1920s and it is not surprising that at least two of his sons played the game. We find that N. Pinsent and A. Pinsent played for Middle Park in a match against the “Lands Department” in February 1934 (Melbourne Argus: Monday 26th February 1934). Arthur’s eldest brother Norman Arthur Pinsent, was the “N.” Pinsent referred to and his brother Allan Henry Pinsent was most likely the “A.” Pinent. He was known to be a good cricketer. Arthur James would probably have been too young to make the team anyway.
Nevertheless, Arthur James did eventually play cricket for Middle Park. In March 1941, “A. J. Pinsent (Middle Park)” was twelfth man at a “Victoria Junior Cricket Association” “Patriotic Match” played against a combined eleven that included well-known (presumably “Aussie Rules”) football personalities. It must have been hard to make up teams in those days and one of the players failed to attend: he was “unable to obtain leave from Flinders Naval Depot” (The Argus: Monday 24th March 1941). Arthur and his brother Norman both played for Middle Park in March and April 1941 (The Argus: Monday 31st March 1941). One or other of them was back playing cricket for Middle Park in November 1943. The Sporting Globe (Saturday 27th November 1943) shows that “Pinsent” scored 36 not out.
Two of Arthur’s brothers, Norman and Ronald Pinsent found time (although I do not know when) to serve in the “Australian Armed Forces” during the “Second World War”. The Sporting Globe, a Melbourne newspaper, listed 6359 sportsmen from the State of Victoria who left to join the forces and named 67 of them, including “Pinsent, A.” and “Pinsent N.” (both of Middle Park) in a list it published in September 1942 (Sporting Globe: Saturday 26th September 1942). Arthur James may have been too young to serve.
After the war, Arthur’s interest appears to have switched away from cricket and towards “Australian Rules” football. He must have had an eye for the game as he started writing game reports for the Sporting Globe in April 1948 (Sporting Globe: Saturday 17th April 1948). He quickly became one of its principal sporting commentators and his reports on games and discussions on players in the “Victorian Football Association” were published routinely until at least 1954.
Arthur became engaged to Sheila Mary Park in January 1947 (The Argus: Melbourne, Vic. 1848 – 1956: Saturday 4th January 1947) and they likely married later that year, although I do not know the date. They had at least one son who was born in Melbourne in 1948 (The Argus (Melbourne): Thursday 8th April 1948).
According to the Electoral Rolls, the family lived on “Wrexham Road” in the Prahran district of Melbourne in 1949, and on “Anglesey Street,” in Seymour, a railway town approximately 65 miles (100 km) north of Melbourne in 1954. In his professional life, he appears to have been a “salesman” who became a “manager” when he moved out of Melbourne. Sheila; meanwhile, was a “typist” who (inevitably) settled down to “home duties” when their son arrived. By 1963, the couple had moved to “Tricia Avenue” in Springvale, on the outskirts of Melbourne. It was their home until at least 1980.
Arthur James Pinsent died in Melbourne on 1st April 2000 (Melbourne Herald Sun: 3rd April 2000) and his widow, Sheila Mary Pinsent “late of Springvale” (The Age (Melbourne): 16th July 2008) died in the Mulgrave suburb of Melbourne in June 2008 (Melbourne Herald Sun: 25th June 2008). Their son (above) and any other children they may have had may still be living in and around the City of Melbourne to this day.
Family Tree
GRANDPARENTS
Grandfather: Joseph Henry Pinsent: 1863 – 1945
Grandmother: Annie Edith Pinsent xxxx – 1936
PARENTS
Father: Arthur Henry Pinsent: 1886 – 1971
Mother: Catherine Mary Lynch: xxxx – 1972
FATHER’S SIBLINGS (AUNTS, UNCLES)
Mary Elizabeth Pinsent: 1889 – xxxx
MALE SIBLINGS (BROTHERS)
Norman Arthur Pinsent: 1914 – xxxx
Ronald Francis Pinsent: 1915 – 1983
Allan Henry Pinsent: 1917 – 2002
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