Vital Statistics
William John Pinsent: 1869 – 1918 GRO0905 (Covent Garden Fruit Salesman, London, Middlesex
Rose Emmeline Parsons: 1872 – 1950
Married: 1891: London, Middlesex
Children by Rose Emmeline Parsons:
William George James Pinsent: 1892 – 1963 (Married (1) Maud Eleanor Spall, London, Middlesex, 1913; (2) Elizabeth Thornley, 1942, Barnet, Hertfordshire, 1942)
Sidney Henry Pinsent: 1895 – 1979 (Married Louisa Elizabeth Sophia Kaylor, London, Middlesex, 1921)
Henry Thomas Pinsent: 1896 – 1897
Leonard Charles Pinsent: 1898 – 1974
Rose Marguerita Pinsent: 1900 – 1918
Violet Pinsent: 1902 – xxxx (Married Albert Johnson, London, Middlesex, 1924)
Bertram Horace Pinsent: 1904 – 1967 (Married (1) Kathleen Croney, 1924; (2) Lilian Mary Hynes, London, Middlesex, 1930)
Ivy Lilian Pinsent: 1909 – xxxx (Married George J. Sawyer, London, Middlesex, 1928)
Marguerite Florence Ethel Pinsent: 1911 – 1911
Marguerite Winifred Pinsent: 1913 – 2006 (Married George William Carey, London, Middlesex, 1932)
Family Branch: Tiverton
PinsentID: GRO0905
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William John was the third surviving son of James Pinsent, “greengrocer” and “fruit market salesman,” by his wife, Sarah (née Savage). He was born in Holborn where his family could be found at time of the 1871 Census, and he grew up there and, later on, on Witchampton Street in St. Leonard’s parish, Hackney. He had five brothers and four sisters; four each of whom were later to marry.
The British Government mandated education up to the age of ten years in 1880 and William John was a “scholar” in St. Leonard’s parish at the time of the 1881 Census.
In September 1885, when he was only seventeen years and nine months old, William signed on for six years service with the 3rd Battalion the Middlesex Regiment. It was a militia regiment, so he did not expect to see service overseas. His attestation papers show that he was 5 feet 3 1/4 inches in height, had a sallow complexion, brown eyes, black hair and a distinguishing scar on his right buttock! I am not sure how he got that.
William was a “market porter” living with his parents on Woodville Road, in Islington, when the next census was taken, in 1891. However, he seems to have married and moved out a few months later. He married Rose Emmeline Parsons, the daughter of a “bootmaker” in St. James’s parish, Shoreditch, in September 1891.
William John and Rose Emmeline had ten children, five boys and five girls, over the next twenty-one years. Only one of each died young, which must be a testament to the much improved living conditions found in London at the end of the nineteenth century. William and Rose had the first two of their surviving sons (William George James Pinsent and Sidney Henry Pinsent) while living on Red Lion Street, in Shoreditch, in the 1890s and the next three (Leonard Charles Pinsent, Rose Marguerita Pinsent and Violet Pinsent) while living on Norway Street, in Holborn in the early 1900s. From there, the family moved to St. Leonard’s Shoreditch, and – after a couple of short-term rentals – settled in Poole Street. They had their younger surviving children (Bertram H. Pinsent, Ivy Lilian Pinsent and Marguerite Winifred Pinsent) while living there.
Interestingly, Violet was admitted to the nearby Gopsall Street School in April 1907, on the same day as her cousin Alfred Pinsent. He was the son of William John’s younger brother, Thomas Henry Pinsent. The two families had kept in touch.
The census records tell us that William was a “Covent Garden Porter” in 1911. He lived in a three-room apartment on Poole Street in Shoreditch with his wife, Rose, their unmarried sons William (who as a “corn chandler’s assistant,”) and Sidney, (an “errand boy”), his school-age children Leonard, Bertram, Rose and Violet Pinsent and two newcomers. Ivy was two years old and Marguerite Pinsent was all of 28 days old! It must have been crowded.
William John Pinsent rejoined the Army as a Private in the Royal Army Service Corps. [#T4/071331] in March 1915, and British Army Service Records show that he was sent to France a month later; however he was discharged for medical reasons – “sickness” – on 1st June the following year (WO 372/16). He had served abroad and he was thus eligible for the Victory and British Medals, the 15 Star Medal and the U.K. Silver War Badge. On his return (and subsequent recovery) William appears to have gone back to being a Covent Garden “fruit salesman”. Sadly, he died of complications (pneumonia) following influenza in November 1918. He must have been an early casualty of the epidemic that plagued Europe after the First World War.
William and Rose’s three elder son, William George James Pinsent, Sidney Henry Pinsent and Leonard Charles Pinsent also joined the armed forces. All three survived but only two (William and Sidney) married and had children. Their lives are described elsewhere. The third and youngest, Leonard Charles never married. He lived with his mother until she died in Islington in 1950, and then went to live with his youngest sister (Marguerite) and her family.
Leonard Charles Pinsent was educated at the Hamond Square Infant School from 1903 to 1906 and at the Gopsall Street, Boys’ school (both in Hackney) until around 1909. In those days, it was common practice for working-class boys to leave school and enter the workforce at the age of twelve or thirteen and that is, presumably, what he did. I am not sure what he did before he signed on for military service during the First World War. He enlisted as an eighteen-year-old private [#50626] in the South Lancashire Regiment and was sent abroad with his regiment. He was wounded in June 1989 (British Army Casualty Lists) but survived, returned to England and was discharged in October 1918 – a few days before the war actually ended. He was awarded the Victory and British Medals and the Silver War Badge (British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index and U.K. Silver War Badge Records: (National Archives WO 372/16)). However, he did not qualify for either of the Star Medals as they were only given to soldiers who served in 1914 and 1915.
Several of William’s children had already left home before the census takers returned to Poole Street in 1921, so only six remained in his widow, Rose’s, care. Sydney and Leonard were “packing case dealers” who worked from home; Violet was a “hair pin packer” employed by “Chalmers Hair Pin Makers,” of Branch Place in London; Bertram was a “grocer’s assistant,” employed by his elder brother “W. G. Pinsent, Grocer, of 99 Bridport Place.” Ivy and Marguerite Pinsent, they two youngest were at school full time.
Leonard lived with his mother on Poole Street from 1921 to at least 1929 (London, England Electoral Register: 1847-1965: Ancestry.com). However, they had both moved to Newington Green Road, in the Mildmay district of Islington by 1938 (same source) and they were there when the (Second World) Wartime Register was compiled the following year. Leonard was described as being “incapacitated”. Whether this was a short-term injury or a long-term affliction, perhaps dating back to the First World War, is not stated. Rose and Leonard were still living together on Newington Road in 1949. Rose died there the following year.
Leonard Charles stayed on in London. He went to live with his youngest sister, Marguerite Winifred (née Pinsent) and her husband, George William Carey, in Woodlands Road in Edmonton (London, England, Electoral Registers: 1932-1965). He died in Hackney in 1974.
Family Tree
GRANDPARENTS
Grandfather: John Pinsent: 1799 – 1878
Grandmother: Susanna Morrish: 1799 – 1875
PARENTS
Father: James Pinsent: 1837 – 1912
Mother: Sarah Savage: 1839 – 1914
FATHER’S SIBLINGS (AUNTS, UNCLES)
Joseph Pinsent: 1830 – 1840
Mary Pinsent: 1833 – xxxx
John L. Pinsent: 1833 – xxxx
Susan Morrish Pinsent: 1836 – 1889
William Pinsent: 1837 – 1881
James Pinsent: 1839 – 1905
Melissa Pinsent: 1841 – xxxx
MALE SIBLINGS (BROTHERS)
George James Pinsent: 1859 – 1860
James Walter Pinsent: 1861 – 1948
Joseph Benjamin Pinsent: 1865 – 1897
William John Pinsent: 1869 – 1918
Thomas Henry Pinsent: 1873 – 1910
Albert Hibbard Pinsent: 1878 – 1878
Edward Charles Pinsent: 1878 – 1878
George Hibbard Pinsent: 1879 – 1953
Alexander Sidney Pinsent: 1884 – 1911
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