John Pinsent: 1594 – 1654 DRO0050 (Landholder in Bere Ferrers)
Alice Stidston: xxxx – 1672
Married: 1619: Bere Ferrers, Devon
Children by Alice Stidston:
Agnes Pinsent: xxxx – 1641
John Pinsent: xxxx – 1640
Matthias Pinsent: xxxx – 1632
Francis Pinsent: 1626 – xxxx
Diggory Pinsent: 1629 – xxxx (Married 1) Margaret Hawkins, Bere Ferrers, Devon, 1656; 2) Mary Hilman, Exeter, Devon, 1672.)
Hugh Pinsent: 1631 – 1660
Family Branch: Combe
PinsentID: DRO0050
John Pinsent of Bere Ferrers was, most likely, the son of George Pinsent of Exminster by his wife Mary. However, there were several “John Pinsents” around at the time and I cannot be sure of that. He seems to be the most likely candidate.
Although this John appears to have moved to Bere Ferrers (on the West Bank of the Tavy River near Plymouth) in the early 1600s, he may have inherited at least some of his father George’s property rights in Exminster. When Sir John Hole sold “Marshrowe” (80 acres in the parish) to Ambrose Smyth in 1642, it was then said to be “in the possession of a John Pinsent, “ presumably as a sitting tenant (DRO 2741M/T/8). Unfortunately, there were a lot of “John Pinsents” around at the time and the attribution is uncertain.
Bere Ferrers was fast developing a small-scale mining industry and it may have been that that attracted John to the area. He could have learnt about mining from his uncle Hugh. He arrived in the early 1600s but did not marry Alice Stidston, a local girl, until 1619. They had several children. Unfortunately, the parish registers for this period are highly corroded; however, they show that John’s sons Diggory and Hugh were born in 1629 and 1631 respectively. Both are known to have grown to manhood and Diggory, at least, is known to have married and had a family.
John was an educated man and one of the Church Wardens who signed off on the parish’s Accounts in 1626. He not only paid the rates for his part of the property at Ley (4s in 1633) (DHC 1237A//PW/52) for many years but, for some of them, he was paid (3d in 1625) to write up the “presentments” (DRO 1237/A add PW 1-40).
Sometime in the 1620s, John and a friend, William Michell, made the mistake of borrowing £21 from a local gentleman, Sir Richard Buller. John missed the deadline for repayment and Sir Richard had him charged for non-payment in the Court of King’s Bench at Westminster in 1629. The deal had come with a non-payment penalty and Sir Richard was duly awarded £40 – and around £6 in costs and charges. John negotiated an arrangement with Sir Richard whereby he would pay down the debt over nine years by paying half-yearly installments of £6 per annum. The money would come from the profits of John’s his estate at Ley (Leigh) in Bere Ferrers.
In a later case brought before the Court of Chancery, John says that he paid these payments for eight and a half years and attempted to make the last payment, but for some reason he was unable to do so. Sir Richard could have taken stock or other items off his estate to complete the payment if he had wanted to. However, he did not.
Instead, Sir Richard Buller took John back to the Court of Kings’ Bench to recover the original £40 bond and the subsequently imposed penalty, worth £60, for the rent charges. John was imprisoned and required to pay Sir Richard a further £12, and to sign another bond for £10 to regain his freedom.
Sir Richard Buller died (what of, I do not know) while defending Plymouth from the Royalists during the Civil War and it fell to his son Francis Buller to probate his father’s will, pay his debts, and replace his enormous losses – which were substantial, as the Royalists had ransacked his family home. He needed all the money he could lay his hands on! Francis found the original bond, which had never been cancelled, and in 1648 decided to prosecute John in the Court of King’s Bench. John responded by referring the matter to the Court of Common Pleas; which looked into it the following year. From there the dispute went to Chancery (C9/7/152 & C2/CHASI/P97/1).
Francis claimed he had the original bond and knew that it had not been fully paid; however, he was ignorant of the details of his father’s dealings as most of his father’s papers had been lost when Royalist soldiers ransacked his home at Shillingford in 1642. Francis said he knew his father had gone to great pains to recover the debt, and he did not believe John’s story, or that there was only £3 outstanding. Besides … besides, some of the payments John had made may have been for different debts. John, meanwhile, claimed that he had been punished enough for his failure to fully cover the original bond. I do not know what the outcome of all this was!
John was one of the Churchwardens in Bere Ferrers in 1625 and he paid the church rate for “his pte of Ley” (“Leigh”) routinely between 1627 and 1650. The amount varied from year to year but was at its height £0 5s in 1644 – which was one of the years he signed the tax roll (Devon Taxpayers: 1500-1650: Volume Two: Bere Ferrers to Chudleigh: Todd Gray). Bere Ferrers is close enough to Plymouth that he would likely have had Royalist Troops foraging on his land and property. Life must have been difficult.
John’s marriage to Margaret seems to have produced five sons (John, Matthias, Francis, Diggory and Hugh) and one daughter (Agnes) – although the order in which they arrived is unclear as the birth records are poor. Agnes, John and Matthias are only known through their burial records and Francis is a complete mystery!
Hugh made it to manhood, but, as far as I know, never married. He died in 1660 leaving a will that was probated through the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC Nabbs: V302 #292): It describes him as being a “yeoman.” He left £10 to his mother Alice and £5 to his nephew (Diggory’s son) John Pinsent. He also left minor bequests to his godson George Stidson, and to Henry and Robert Stidson, and to other important people in his life. John Kensall received £5 and his tools, and Beatrice Pearce received £5 and “the contents of his box”. The presence of “tools” may suggest that Hugh had taken up a trade – leaving his brother Diggory to work on the farm.
Hugh left the remainder of his estate, which included a couple of bonds which were shortly to come due, to his brother Diggory Pinsent, who was his executor. Diggory’s life is described elsewhere.
Family Tree
Grandparents
Grandfather: John Pinsent: xxxx – 1575
Grandmother: Johanna Unknown: xxxx – 1570
Parents
Father: George Pinsent: xxxx – 1598
Mother: Julianna Bonfessor: xxxx – 1591
Father’s Siblings (Aunts, Uncles)
John Pynsent: 1532 – 1615
George Pinsent: xxxx – 1598
Thomas Pinsent: xxxx – xxxx
Elizabeth Pinsent: xxxx – xxxx
Hugh Pinsent: 1540 – 1626
Margaret Pinsent: 1542 – xxxx
Walter Pinsent: 1544 – xxxx
Mary Pinsent: 1546 – xxxx
Johanna Pinsent: 1549 – xxxx
Male Siblings (Brothers, Step-Brothers)
Richard Pinsent: 1571 – 1571
Gilbert Pinsent: 1577 – xxxx
Robert Pinsent: 1579 – 1631
George Pinsent: 1586 – 1632
John Pinsent: 1594 – 1654
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.