Vital Statistics
Birth: 1891
Spouse: Florence Maud Fisher (1920), Edith Emma Sussemilch (1933)
Death: 1967
Family Branch: Bristol
PinsentID: GRO0830
References
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Thiery George Pinsent, or “George Pinsent” as he was commonly known, was the eldest son of William Henry Thiery Pinsent by his wife, Hannah Ann Cox . He was born in Corsham in Wiltshire and grew up there with an elder sister, Daisy Louise Pinsent, and a younger brother Walter Sidney Pinsent who died at the age of four.
Thiery George’s father was a “baker” who moved his family to Bath, in Somerset before the census was taken in 1911. Thiery was a single, young, man who lived at home on Coronation Avenue and worked as a “press-man” and “lithographer” at Pitman’s (?) Printing Works. His sister was also living at home. She was unmarried.
G. T. Pinsent enlisted as a private in the “Northumberland Fusiliers” [Regimental #86338] in March 1916 (“British Army WWI Medal Rolls:” Ancestry.com). Perhaps surprisingly, does not seem to have seen front-line active service. His service records seem to show that he was stationed in England throughout the war, and that he was based in Peckham Rye, in Dulwich, in 1918 (London, England, Electoral Register 1847-1965). He was discharged for reason of “sickness” in York, in February 1919 “U.K. Silver War Badge Records (1914 – 1920).” One has to wonder if he caught the influenza bug that caused so much damage that year.
“Thiery George” seems to have gone by the name of “George” throughout the war – and it certainly became his name of choice thereafter. Perhaps, he felt his grandfather’s foreign-sounding name was a bit of a liability. George returned to printing after war and was a “printer” when he married Florence Maud Fisher, the daughter of “gardener” in Westbury on Trym parish Church in December 1920. According to the census taken the following year, he was a “printer’s machinist” employed by “Sir J. Pitman & Sons, Publishers”, in Tiverton; however, at that time he was out of work. Florence, meanwhile, was occupied by “home duties.” They lived on Bridge Road at Twerton. Sadly, a local paper records that: “Florence Maud, the treasured wife of George Pinsent, late of Bath” died in Bristol in August 1925 (Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette: Saturday 22nd August 1925). They had no children.
For the next few years (1925 to 1930) George lived on his own at Coalpit Heath north east of Bristol, and then at Wick-Wick, near Winterbourne in the same parish (Gloucestershire, England, Electoral Register 1832 – 1974). He was determined to remarry and he set his sights on a Miss Lily May Jefferey, a “waitress” at the Victory Café in Fishponds, in Bristol. Sadly, the match was not to be. His hopes were dashed when she dropped him as a prospective husband after hearing slanderous statements from a so-called “friend” (or rival?).
Ronald Francombe told Lily that George could have saved his first wife’s life if he cared to, but had not and that he periodically took off for London with lady-friends … Not something any prospective spouse wishes to hear. Lily never thought to question the allegations. She dropped him and moved on. When he discovered the deception, George took Ronald to court claiming “alienation of affection”. Mr. Justice Rowlatt, who was in charge of the case, was sympathetic. He said that George had been very badly served but, as the couple were not actually contracted or engaged at the time of the slander, there was no contract broken. He dismissed case and George had to eat the costs (Western Daily Press: Thursday 7th June 1928). By then, Miss Jefferey had other suitors.
Still, George pressed on and in December 1933 he married Edith Emma Sussemilch, the daughter of a “wheelwright” in Foxley Parish Church, near Marmlesbury in Wiltshire. She may have worked in a village shop as George quickly settled into Foxley and became the “manager” of the village store. George and Edith were present at the funeral of the village “post-mistress” in 1937 (Western Daily Press: Saturday 30th January 1937). After her demise, George seems to have added her postal duties to his own, and he become an unofficial “postmaster”. The England and Wales Register compiled in 1939 shows that he was a “post master and grocer (shop keeper) and master gardener.” Gardening must have come naturally given his predecessors. George and Edith were living with one of her relations, Florence Lilian Sussemilch at the time.
George and Edith seem to have retired to Brinkworth, near Swindon, by 1959 and moved to Katifer Lane in nearby Malmesbury by 1967, before George died. George had made plans for a big funeral: He had arranged for his numerous and various legatees to receive sealed envelopes that they were to hand to the “undertaker” at his funeral service at the “Congregational Church” in Malmesbury. The letters were to be proof of attendance. The undertaker was instructed to pass them on to George’s “solicitor”, who was instructed to withhold legacies (which ranged from £10 to in excess of £150) from anyone who failed to attend. He received thirty envelopes – from friends and villagers, and also from representatives of social service agencies such as the “Salvation Army” and “British Legion”. One of the legatees was reported as saying (presumably in bewilderment): “I am sure most of us would have been here in any case” (Daily Mirror: Thursday 21st September 1967) – Perhaps. George’s estate was valued at approximately £10,000 (Calendar: Index of Wills and Administration: 1967 – 1995).
Another quirk of the will that caused considerable amusement at the time was its stipulation that, Edith, George’s widow, was only to inherit her share – “provided she chose not to live closer than 90 miles out from London,” as “he thought it was a wicked city” (Winnipeg Free Press, Manitoba, Canada: 10th February 1968). She happily agreed to the limitation and, as Malmesbury was deemed to be 95 miles from London, stayed on – safely out of the forbidden zone! She died in Malmsbury in 1971 and probate of her will was granted in Winchester in February 1972. There were no children from the marriage.
Family Tree
GRANDPARENTS
Grandfather: William Henry John Pinsent: 1841 – 1923
Grandmother: Louisa Broad: 1837 – 1926
PARENTS
Father: William Henry Thiery Pinsent: 1865 – 1915
Mother: Hannah Ann Cox: 1865 – 1922
FATHER’S SIBLINGS (AUNTS, UNCLES)
Louisa Pinsent: 1867 – 1936
Edwin John Pinsent: 1868 – 1949
George Pinsent: 1870 – 1890
Alfred James Pinsent: 1872 – 1873
Emilie Marie Eugenie Pinsent: 1873 – 1959
Josephine Pinsent: 1876 – 1952
Lana Florence Mary Pinsent: 1878 – 1879
Alfred Louie Pinsent: 1880 – 1944
Beatrice Rose Pinsent: 1882 – 1959
Sidney Pinsent: 1883 – 1947
MALE SIBLINGS (BROTHERS)
Walter Sidney Pinsent: 1893 – 1898
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