Vital Statistics
Joseph Pinsent: 1748 – 1837 GRO0539 (Tenant farmer, butcher and property owner, Bovey Tracey, Devon)
Mary Berry: 1751 – 1825
Married: 1773: Bovey Tracey, Devon
Children by Mary Berry:
John Pinsent: 1773 – xxxx (Married Sarah Hill, Lustleigh, Devon, 1798)
Thomas Pinsent: 1776 – 1856 (Married Lucia Ferrers, Westminster, Middlesex, 1806)
Sarah Pinsent: 1779 – xxxx
Unknown Pinsent: 1781 – xxxx (probably Mary Ann who married William Symons – see Blackmore)
Elizabeth Pinsent: 1785 – xxxx
Family Branch: Teignmouth
PinsentID: GRO0539
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Joseph Pinsent was the eldest son of Roger Pinsent by his wife, Elizabeth (née unknown). His father farmed “part of Yeo” in the Manor of Wreyland in Bovey Tracey and he grew up there with a younger brother (John Pinsent) and sister (Elizabeth Pinsent) who are unaccounted for, and with a sister Sarah who married William Dearin, a “mariner” from out of parish in 1793.
In addition to the “part of Yeo” that he had inherited from his father, Roger farmer a larger block of land in the parish owned by Rev. Mr. Walker. It was valued at around 19s 5 1/2d in Land Tax in 1780, which would have made him a significant, albeit not particularly wealthy, farmer. Bovey Tracey’s tax records shows that when Roger died in 1803 his widow took over her husband’s “part of Yeo.“ She probably had a life interest in it as the family freehold would have gone to her eldest son, Joseph. Joseph’s sister Sarah and her husband were in residence when their mother died in 1816. She stayed on there with her husband for a couple of years before turning the the property over to Joseph. They may have emigrated to the United States.
Joseph married Mary Berry “by banns” in Bovey Tracey in 1773 and had at least five children over the next twelve years. The first two were boys (John Pinsent and Thomas Pinsent) who went on to marry and have children. Their lives are described elsewhere. The third was a girl, Sarah. What happened to her, I am not sure. Joseph and Mary’s two remaining children are doubtful, as the parish registers are torn and difficult – if not impossible to read. The younger is probably another Elizabeth – born in 1785.
Joseph would, doubtless, have helped his father farm both pieces of land at “Yeo”; however, he was also a “butcher” in his own right, and had a home and/or shop, “late Clapps,” that was valued at 4s 6d in 1780. This was the first year that an annual run of “Land Tax Assessments” is available. The run ends in the early 1830s. Interestingly, Joseph Pinsent and Thomas Tapley were appointed Land Tax “assessors and collectors” for Bovey Tracey in 1786-1787. It was a role they filled until 1793-1794 – when Thomas backed out and Joseph teamed up with John Sercombe. The following year, he worked with George Harris. Clearly, Joseph knew the value of local real estate.
The apprenticeship records for Bovey Tracey show that Joseph had Joanna Hilman apprenticed to him for “late Walker’s estate” in 1790. This was for the “part of Yeo” that his father worked for Rev. Mr. Walker. It probably belonged to the Church as it was transferred to Rev. Mr. Morgan after Mr. Walker died. The apprenticeship record shows that Joseph was a “butcher”; however, he probably helped his aging father out on the farm. Joseph also seems also to have rented a still larger piece of land, known as “Forda,” from 1794 to 1797. It was valued at £1 19s 0d and belonged to a Thomas Pinsent – until sold to Mr. Earl in 1797.
Thomas was probably a descendant of the original Pinsent owner of “Lower Yeo” (see elsewhere) and a very distant relation of Joseph. He seems to be the last of a line of Pinsents that farmed at “Yeo” back in the early 1600s. He was born in around 1740; however his birth record appears to be missing. Thomas left Bovey Tracey and became a “gamekeeper” and “custom’s officer” in Talland in Cornwall. He inherited and later sold the bulk of his substantial holdings in Bovey Tracey (bits of “Higher” and “Lower Yeo” and “Hatherleigh” etc) to Nelson Gribble in 1788 (Cecil Torr: Wreyland Documents: 1910). Thomas kept some of his land (“Forda” and “Culverslades”) until he died; however, he had no children and it was sold off in 1797.
Joseph was assigned William Bearn as an apprentice for “Forda” in 1795. A few years later, in 1800, he was assigned Jonas Gale as an apprentice for “Rev. Morgan’s part of Yeo.” Joseph’s father had retired by then so Joseph’s name was on the relevant contract and leasing documents. Joseph farmed the Rev. Mr. Morgan’s “part of Yeo” for a few years after his father died but returned it to its owner (the Church) in 1808. This was, perhaps, because he too was getting on in years. Unfortunately, his eldest son, John Pinsent, had died and his younger son, Thomas Pinsent, was a “carpenter” in London. There was no one to work the farm with him.
Joseph’s mother, Elizabeth, must have had a life interest in the family “pt. or Yeo” and, as she did not die until 1816 when she was 97 years old, Joseph would have had to wait until then before taking full control of the property. After his sister left, he may have sold part of it and put the proceeds to the purchase of several houses (valued at 2s and 4s). They were rented out and probably bought for investment purposes. A Register of Freeholders in Bovey Tracey taken in 1816 (QS 7/64: Devon Social and Institutional Records: Findmypast) confirms his status as a property owner.
Perhaps it is not surprising that even relatively modest landowners like Joseph were happy to invest in the property market. The town of Bovey Tracey had expanded rapidly in the late 1700s and several brickyards and potteries were coming on stream in the early 1800s. The community was linked to Newton Abbot and the outside world by a canal and the navigable part of the Teign River, and the arrival of the railway in the 1860s only served to increase its importance. Joseph held five houses (including “Pt. of Yeo” and “Pt of Clapps”) in 1830. He seems to have shared the ownership of some of the properties. Sadly, the run of Land Tax Assessment data ends in 1831.
Joseph’s wife Mary died in Bovey Tracey aged 74 years in 1825. Joseph died there in 1837. He was aged 89 years and a “gentleman”. He had likely been predeceased by his eldest son (another John Pinsent), so he appointed his younger one, Thomas Pinsent as executor of his will (Index to Probate Duty Register: 1766-1903: Findmypast).
Family Tree
Grandparents
Grandfather: Roger Pinsent: 1703 – 1783
Grandmother: Anne Edwards: xxxx – xxxx
Parents
Father: Roger Pinsent: 1725 – 1803
Mother: Elizabeth Unknown: 1719 – 1816
Father’s Siblings (Aunts, Uncles)
Roger Pinsent: 1725 – 1803
John Pinsent: 1729 – xxxx
Male Siblings (Brothers)
Joseph Pinsent: 1748 – 1837
John Pinsent: 1755 – xxxx
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