Vital Statistics
Harry Pinsent: 1896 – 1957 GRO0406
1. Dorothy Gladys Hope: 1900 – xxxx
Married: 1919: Southampton, Hampshire
Children by Dorothy Gladys Hope:
Thelma Gladys Muriel Pinsent: 1921 – 2004
Frances Beryl Pinsent: 1923 – xxxx
Phyllis Margaret Pinsent: 1924 – 2014
Daughter (GRO0867)
Son (GRO1872)
Son (GRO0687)
2. Wife (GRO1496)
Children by Wife (GRO1496):
Son (GRO0408)
3. Minnie Copsey: 1908 – 1998
Married: 1954: Southampton, Hampshire
Family Branch: Tiverton
PinsentID: GRO0406
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Harry Pinsent was the only surviving son of Henry Pinsent, a “wheelwright,” by his first wife, Elizabeth (née Phillis). He was born in Leicester in 1896 as one of several children, most of whom died in infancy. Harry’s parents separated when he was ten years old. His father moved out of the family home and went to live with Lydia Wilkinson (née Spriggs) and her family on the Birstall Road. Harry’s mother, Elizabeth, died in 1913 and his father and Lydia, who was by then a widow, married the following year.
Harry grew up in a blended family! He had a true sister Florence Louisa Pinsent, six Wilkinson step-siblings and (eventually) three half-siblings, Violet Pinsent, John Pinsent and Hilda Pinsent. Violet and John were born before Henry and Lydia married, and Hilda arrived shortly afterwards.
Henry’s father was a patient in the Infirmary in Leicester at the time of the 1901 Census. His son, Harry, was living with his maternal grandparents in Providence Place, Leicester, and his mother, Elizabeth, seems to have been lodging in the house next door. Perhaps the Phillis family home was not big enough to accommodate her. Alternatively, as she drank too much there may have been a conscious effort to keep her separated her from her son! Ten years later, in 1911, Harry was still living with his grandparents; however, by then, they were on Sidney Street, in Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire.
Harry was a “shoe-hand” when he enlisted as a private (Regimental #11370) in the 3rd Leicestershire Regiment, in March 1914. He had previously signed on with a Territorial Force, the 4th Leicestershire Regiment and he must have expected to be accepted without any problem. He was 5 feet 4 1/8th inches tall. He weighed 100 pounds, had light blue eyes and fair hair. He had a tattoo of an “anchor” on his right wrist, and of a “heart, anchor, H. R. and dots” on his left forearm – for some reason. He was at first considered fit enough for active service. However, when he undertook basic training it became clear that he had heart issues. He was discharged on 19th November 1914 after serving for 239 days.
British Army Documents show that Harry reapplied in Melton Mowbray in March 1915. This time, he signed up as a private [Regimental #184417] at the “Royal Army Service Corps (R.A.S.C.)” Remount Depot. He either passed the medical or they turned a blind eye to his heart issues. Harry’s early days of service are obscure; however, after serving 23 days in detention, he transferred to the “2nd Reserve Artillery” as a gunner in April 1916. A year later, he was moved to “322 Army Field Artillery”. Harry was discharged as sick in February 1919. Perhaps his heart condition had caught up with him or he may have contracted influenza. Although Harry acknowledged that his father was the Henry Pinsent who lived on Birstall Street, he gave his grandparent’s address on Sidney Street in Melton Mowbray as his principal residence and contact – which suggests that his grandparents had brought him up.
Gunner Harry Pinsent of the Royal Horse Field Artillery (Charlton, Woolwich) saw overseas service and was awarded the Victory and British Medals (British Army WWI Service Records: 1914 – 1920 (Ancestry.com).
After being demobilized and recovering from his illness, moved to Southampton, in Hampshire, and worked as a “coal trimmer”. He met and then married Dorothy Gladys Hope, the daughter of a fellow worker, in September 1919. The couple were living with her parents, (James and Nellie Hope) on Derby Road in Southampton when the census takers called in 1921. Harry was then a “coal porter” employed by “Rea Coal Co. Ltd”. at the L.S.W.R. (London South West Railway) docks, while Dorothy helped out her mother with “home duties.” They had four daughters and two sons in the years that followed. Where he worked, other than at the docks, I am not sure. Nevertheless, he seems to have remained a “miner” and/or “labourer” through to at least 1926.
Harry may have served some time as a “seaman” in the merchant navy. An enigmatic Harry Pinsent “Born 1894, Leicester … aged 28, … (was issued) … Discharge Number 1111316 … Date Range 1921 – 1941” (Merchant Navy Seamen 1918-1941: Findmypast.com). The date of birth is not quite right but it is hard to see who else it could be.
Harry’s daughters all grew up in Southampton. The family was living on Payne Road in September 1939, when the War-time Register was compiled. Harry was, on that occasion, described as being: a “labourer highways H.W.” and a member of the “War Reserve Police”. Interestingly, he gave his date of birth as 1894 (not 1896). This is in accord with the merchant seaman’s date of birth mentioned above. Harry’s wife Dorothy is mentioned in the 1939 Register but the names of three of his children, his elder daughters, have been redacted (presumably as they were alive when the document was last updated). His two infant sons were, however named. They probably lived but I know very little about them. The household also included Edward Robinson, who was a “dock labourer” and a “naval pensioner” aged, 51. Dorothy and the unredacted children’s entries were later modified. Their surname was changed to Robinson with “N.R. 280, E.M.D. 17th September 1948” given as the explanation.
Harry and Dorothy probably separated during or shortly after the war and Dorothy “married” Mr. Robinson, and took her sons into her second marriage. Neither of the boys reappears in the records, which suggests that they took the name “Robinson”.
Harry, meanwhile, had another son by Wife (GRO1496) in 1942. If they had any offspring, they may well be alive today. Harry’s eldest daughter, Thelma, became a “cable factory machinist” and married a merchant seaman in 1940.
Harry’s earlier marriages (?) were dissolved by 1954 and he married another divorcee, Minnie Joseph (née Copsey). He was a hospital porter at the time and died three years later, in December 1957. His new wife, Minnie, remarried in 1963.
Family Tree
Grandparents
Grandfather: John Pinsent: 1836 – 1899
Grandmother: Elizabeth Johnson: 1837 – 1909
Parents
Father: Henry Pinsent: 1871 – 1939
Mother: Elizabeth Phillis: 1872 – 1913
Father’s Siblings (Aunts, Uncles)
Sarah Jane Pinsent: 1855 – 1855
Thomas Johnson Pinsent: 1856 – 1925
John Henry Pinsent: 1858 – 1861
George Pinsent: 1861 – 1932
Eliza Pinsent: 1863 – xxxx
Louisa Pinsent: 1865 – 1945
Ada Pinsent: 1867 – xxxx
John Arthur Pinsent: 1869 – 1930
Henry Pinsent: 1871 – 1939
William Horace Pinsent: 1874 – 1876
Horace Pinsent: 1879 – 1949
Male Siblings (Brothers, Half-Brothers)
John Harry Pinsent: 1892 – xxxx
Vincent Horace Pinsent: 1893 – 1893
Arthur Ellis Pinsent: 1895 – 1895
Harry Pinsent: 1896 – 1957
Horace Pinsent: 1897 – 1898
Jack Pinsent: 1899 – 1899
George Pinsent: 1901 – 1902
John Pinsent: 1911 – xxxx
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