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John Pinsent was the only son of the Rev. John Pinsent by his wife Edith Mary (née Lane). His parents decided to emigrate to Australia when he was two years old. Unfortunately, his father died on the “S.S. Hobson Bay” en route to Melbourne and his mother, who also had a young daughter to care for, decided to return to England. The family grew up in New Milton, in Hampshire. John was fond of the place. On returning there after the war, he wrote a letter to the Editor of the New Milton Advertiser questioning its local development plans: “I am not attacking this on any political lines. I am merely stating an evident economic fact. The real strength of this Borough, I suggest, lies in the development of Lymington as a town of craft industries, its (original position in the country), and of the rest of the Borough as a predominantly farming community. The over-development of the rentier class has already destroyed much the real of community in the Borough” (New Milton Advertiser: Saturday 19th January 1946). He was a young man of strong opinions!
John was educated at “St. Edmund’s School Canterbury” where he (predictably) did well in Latin, Modern Languages and English and History (Kentish Express: Friday 1st July 1938). He was at “Oriel College”, Oxford, studying classics, at the outbreak of the Second World War. He stayed on at university for a while, and was at home in New Milton long enough to participate in a four scene version of “Romeo and Juliet” in which he “made a gallant, albeit remorseful lover, gaily attired” (New Milton Advertiser: Saturday 30th August 1941).
Men of RAF 210 squadron gather around a Catalina flying boat via the Imperial War Museum.
John joined the Royal Air Force as a “leading aircraftsman” in July 1943. He was promoted to “Flight Officer” in November 1943, and “Flight Lieutenant” in May 1945 (London Gazette). John the war with “Coastal Command”, much of it piloting Catalina flying boats out of Loch Erne in Northern Ireland. Presumably he was looking for enemy submarines and monitoring the progress of convoys in the Atlantic. After the war, he stayed on in the “Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve” and in 1969 he was attached to a unit serving in Scotland. He was an active member of the “Volunteer Reserve” until March 1972, when he retired with the rank of “Squadron Leader” (London Gazette: 27th March 1972).
John’s interest in national defense reemerged in a series of letters that he sent to the Editor of the London Times in 1966. Sir Ralph Cochrane was looking for ways to include the knowledge and experience of a broad range of people in political and military decision-making, and Dr. Pinsent (as he was then) came up with the idea of a “country house” model, whereby military personnel, defense strategists and politicians could meet with university staff and other invited individuals. As a side-benefit, he thought the approach might lead to more productive scientific research both in universities and the private sector (The Times: Monday 31st January 1966). Another correspondent pointed out that a similar model had been used very successfully during the last war and a third, who happened to be the “Director of the Royal United Services Institute”, pointed out that it already had the facilities required and a staff to go with it! It had been around for over 130 years (The Times: Friday 4th February 1966)! The following year John gave his support for the creation of a “Royal Defense College” specifically designed to provide a more focused education on military matters than was currently available through the universities (London Times: Monday 12th June 1967).
After the war, John returned to finish his degree in Classical Studies at Oxford University and in 1950 he accepted the position of “Assistant Lecturer in Greek” at Liverpool University. He later became a “Senior Lecturer”, and then a “Reader” in the Classics Department. Dr. J. Pinsent, M.A., D.Phil. retired from teaching in 1990. He had been at it for 40 years.
John’s letter to “Robin” (R. J. F. H. Pinsent) from 1967.
Dr. John Pinsent took a sabbatical year at the “University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia” in the United States in 1958/9 and on his return to Liverpool heard of my father, Dr. R. J. F. H. Pinsent‘s, interest in family history. They corresponded on family related matters into the 1970s and their work forms the foundation for the current “One Name” study. Interestingly, he called his home in Liverpool (#9 Menlove Gardens West, Liverpool) “Rocombe” – hearkening back to the family’s farm in Stokeinteignhead in Devon.
According to his Obituary published in the “London Times” (Tuesday 28th February 1995), John first visited Greece while on a military exercise with the R.A.F. in 1968 and quickly realized its potential for on-site learning.
The cover of the 1973 edition of Greek Mythology by John Pinsent.
Dr. Pinsent gave a series of public lectures on Greek and Roman history in August 1966 (Chester Chronicle: Friday 19th August 1966) and he completed his well-known book on “Greek Mythology” (published by Hamlyn, London: 1969) three years later – in August 1969. He then took his family out to America for a year on sabbatical, teaching at “University of Michigan” (Liverpool Echo: Monday 18th August 1969).
While there, he wrote a companion book, “Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece” – a paperback that presents “nearly 100 tales from Greek mythology with the aim of providing a fascinating insight into Greek“ (Kensington News and West London Times: Friday 20th March 1970).
The cover of the 1973 edition of Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece by John Pinsent.
On his return to Liverpool, Dr. Pinsent started to organize annual tours of the principal archaeological sites in Greece and for several years “The Doctor Pinsent’s Tour” was a mainstay of the University’s “Institute of Extension Studies” (Liverpool Echo: Monday 24th December 1973). From 1977 onward, he regularly attended the “Homeric Conferences” in Ithaca. It provided material for illustrated lectures (Staffordshire Sentinel: Friday 18th November 1983) and was a rewarding way of networking and promoting his periodical magazine.
Dr. Pinsent had become intensely frustrated by the intricate formatting (and the inevitable delays) that came in getting professional papers published in the established Classical Journals; so he had established his own outlet in 1975. He solicited eclectic papers and articles and personally contributed and edited the “The Liverpool Classical Monthly” until he died in 1995. Sadly, the newsletter died with him (Obituary: H. D. Jocelyn). However, it is still available in libraries and online and his ideas live on – as they do in other publications: for instance, in his comments on “Ascetic Moods and Greek and Latin” (in, “Asceticism”, by V. L. Wimbush, R. Valantasis, Oxford University Press: 1998).
The header block for the November 1992 edition of the Liverpool Classical Monthly.
Dr. Pinsent as he is appointed “Public Orator”. Liverpool Daily Post, July 7, 1983.
John Pinsent evidently had charm and wit and he was well-enough versed in French wine to be appointed Chairman of University’s “Laid Down Wine Committee”. He had a booming voice (I can attest) and served as “Liverpool’s Public Orator” from 1983 to 1987. He had the honour of addressing Princess Alexandra, the Queen’s cousin, when she attended a conferment ceremony in Liverpool in July 1985 (Liverpool Echo: Friday 19th July, 1985).
John Pinsent addresses Princess Alexandra and others as she receives an honourary degree. Liverpool Echo, July 19, 1985.
John and his sister Mary Catherine Pinsent were “best man” and “brides maid” when their friends Kenneth Friend and Lexie Foxton married in Hinton Admiral (New Milton Advertiser: Saturday 29th June 1946) in 1946.
As for John, himself, he married a few weeks later. In fact, he married three times. Firstly, he married while back at University after the war. The wedding notice tells us that: “The bridegroom served with R.A.F. Coastal Command during the late war, holding the rank of Flight Lieutenant, and in the later stages of his service he was captain of a Catalina flying boat, while his bride was engaged in research work at Bart’s Hospital” (New Milton Advertiser: Saturday 31st August 1946). The marriage ended in divorce in July 1950. There were no children and his erstwhile wife remarried two years later.
Secondly, John married a schoolteacher in 1955 and they had three children, two sons, one of whom has since died, and a daughter: His son, John Pinsent – the last (5th) in a long line of “John Pinsents” – died in Newcastle upon Tyne in 2016. He had been predeceased by his own wife, Margaret. I am not aware of any children by that marriage. John’s other two children live on.
Later on in life, John married for a third time. On this occasion it was to a colleague in the Classics Department. Dr. J. Pinsent died in Liverpool in 1995. He is buried in Toxteth Cemetery.
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John Pinsent was the last born and only surviving son of John and Catherine (née Whidborne). He was born in Combeinteighhead, in Devon, but grew up with seven sisters on “Gambledown farm” in Sherfield English, near Romsey, in Hampshire.
All but one of the girls (Ellen Pinsent), had left home before the census was taken in 1901; however, John Pinsent “junior” was still living with his parents. He was reported to be a “farmers son,” aged twenty. Presumably he would have been a great help to his father who was, by then, in his sixties. In 1911, when the census takers next made their rounds, Ellen was visiting Catherine, her eldest sister, but John “junior” was still at home. However; he had decided against becoming a farmer and he was enrolled as an Anglican “theology student.” Perhaps living next door to “Romsey Abbey” influenced his decision and drew him to “High Anglicanism.” It is worth noting that the St. Barbe Monument in Romsey Abbey harks back to an earlier generation of more affluent Pinsents (Pynsent’s) who lived in the area in the 1600s.
John Pinsent, father and son, may have attended a meeting of the “Sherfield English New Forest Conservative Association” in 1906 (Western Gazette: Friday 20th April 1906); however, his interests lay elsewhere.
John Pinsent “junior” was ordained as a “priest” by the Lord Bishop of St. Albans, in Bedford, in December 1914 (Biggleswade Chronicle: Friday 25th December, 1914). As the Rev. John Pinsent, John went on to hold curacies at Woolwich, Biggleswade, Leiston, Crosby and Lincoln at intervals between 1914 and 1925 (Freeman’s Journal (Sydney: New South Wales): Thursday 11th December 1924). The paper does not give the dates but we know he was Curate of Biggleswade in the summer of 1914 as he organized a “Whist Drive and Dance” on behalf of the local “Nursing Association” (Biggleswade Chronicle: Friday 3rd July 1914).
St. Andrew’s Anglican Church at Biggleswade via Rodney Burton at Wikimedia.
He was at Biggleswade at the outset of the First World War, and we find that he was present at several events and services held in Biggleswade in 1915. Evidently, he built up quite a reputation for his “impressive officiating” – especially at funerals (Biggleswade Chronicle: Friday 16th April 1915) – and was also complimented for his fine tenor voice (Bedford Times and Independent: Friday 19th March 1915).
The Rev. John seems to have had a theological breakdown in May 1915 and his doctor instructed him to take a two-month sabbatical (Bedfordshire Times and Independent: Friday 21st May 1915). The diocese agreed to this but as he was unable to return in July, it asked him to resign: “The current issue of the “Parish Magazine” contains the following: “We are sorry to say that owing to continued ill-health Mr. Pinsent has resigned. The Vicar felt obliged to ask him to do so, as it was evident Biggleswade did not suit his health, and for the sake of the work here he has kindly fallen in with his wishes, and the Bishop has accepted his resignation” (Biggleswade Chronicle: Friday 9th July 1915).
Rev. John Pinsent resigns. Bigglewade Chronicle, July 9, 1915.
Biggleswade village seems to have had more than its fair share of casualties during the First World War – quite apart from those belonging to the various army units that were cycled through the nearby camp. Interestingly, the camp was the home of the “Royal Engineers, “D” Company Signals Section” from “the outbreak of war” in 1914 until August 1919 – when it was under the command of Major John Ryland Pinsent. The “Signals Section” then transferred to Mansfield Park. According to the local paper “their departure will be regretted by many residents in the town and district” (Biggleswade Chronicle: Friday 1st August 1919). Whether the two “John Pinsents” ever met, I do not know.
How long the Reverend John had off, and when he moved on to Leiston, in Suffolk (as suggested above) I do not know. However, he resigned from his position as curate at Leiston citing ill-health in April 1917 (East Anglian Daily Times: 2nd April 1917), was appointed to Crosby in the “Lincoln Diocese” in March 1918 (Lincolnshire Echo: Monday 18th March 1918), and to St. Swithuns, in Lincoln in February 1919 – after the war was over (Sheffield Telegraph: Tuesday 25th February 1919).
The Reverend John’s final posting was to Winchcomb, in Wiltshire. He was there by November 1921 and, from then on, we find him once again holding services and actively involved in the social life of the community. For instance, he attended a meeting of the “Winchcombe Auxiliary of the Bible Society” (Cheltenham Chronicle: Saturday 26th November 1921). On the social side, his tenor voice was still much in demand at concerts and other events (Gloucestershire Echo: Tuesday 13th December 1921)!
Rev. John Pinsent performs. Cheltenham Chronicle, March 31, 1923.
The Reverend John Pinsent was nearly forty-one years old when he married Edith Mary Lane in April 1921. Shortly afterwards, he took her visit his sister Jessie Florence Gibson, in Grimsby, in Lincolnshire. Her husband, Edward Galliard Gibson, was the “chief cashier” at the Grimsby “National Provincial & Union Bank of England.” The census takers have Rev. John down as being a “priest” at St. Bartholomew’s at Southsea.
Edith Mary helped him with his pastoral work at Winchcomb. For instance, she collected food and money for “Cheltenham General Hospital” (Gloucestershire Echo: Friday 2nd December 1921). Rev. John was formally appointed “Curate at Winchcombe” in January 1922 and was actively involved in parish activities throughout that year.
Report of Rev. John Pinsent’s conversion to Catholicism, Advocate, November 27, 1924.
In March 1923, Rev. John resigned his position as “treasurer of Winchcombe St. Peter’s Cricket Club”, saying that he was leaving town (Cheltenham Chronicle: Saturday 31st March 1923). The stated cause of his leaving was, once again, “ill-health”; however, at the Easter Vestry, a week or so later, it became clear that he had had a disagreement with the Vicar, Rev. F. M. Wickham. The Vicar objected to some of John’s changes to the religious services and, although “he wished to come to a fair and open agreement on the matter, to live and let live, if possible, without any compromise of principle on questions which it was ultimately his duty and responsibility to decide” (Cheltenham Chronicle: Saturday 7th April 1923) it was not to be. It seems likely that Rev. John had tried to move to a more Catholic approach to the liturgy but that the Vicar had objected. Certainly, the Roman Catholics considered him to be a convert (Advocate (Melbourne, Victoria) 27th November 1924).
Rev. John Pinsent resigns. Cheltenham Chronicle, April 7, 1923.
Reverend John and Edith had a son, another John Pinsent, who was baptized in Romsey Abbey in 1922, and a daughter, Mary Catherine Pinsent, who (for some-reason) had her birth registered at Minehead, in Somersetshire, in 1924. How and where she was baptized, I do not know. After leaving Winchcombe, the Rev. John appears to have taken a trip to the West Indies on the “Royal Mail Steam Packet S.S. Andes.“ Again, I am not sure why. Perhaps it was just to clear his head.
The S.S. Hobson Bay via the Queensland State Library.
Under the circumstances, it was going to be difficult for Rev. John to re-enter the “Church in England” so, by the time he returned, he had decided to emigrate to Australia. The Reverend John and his family boarded the “Australian Commonwealth Steam Ship Line vessel S.S. Hobson Bay” in London and set off for Melbourne on 31st March 1925.
Rev. John Pinsent’s estate is settled. Grant of Administration, Supreme Court of the State of Victoria, November 27, 1925. Via Public Records Office of Victoria.
Sadly, he never arrived. The “Calendar of Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration” tells us that “Rev. John Pinsent of the Steam Ship Hobson’s Bay, clerk, died 24th April, 1925, at sea”. His wife had a choice to make. She could either stay on in Melbourne or return to England. She decided to return home; however, before she could do so, the “Public Trustee, the Attorney of the Curator of Victoria, Australia” had to grant Edith preliminary “letters of administration” over her late husband’s effects – which were valued at £497. This took time and the Court in the meantime granted her a small weekly sum out of her husband’s estate for the care of her daughter Catherine and her son John.
The Australian letters were revoked when she returned to England and another set were granted – after John’s English creditors had had a chance to make their claims (London Gazette: 5th January 1926). There was no significant change.
Rev. John Pinsent’s entry in the England and Wales National Probate Calendar in 1925.
Edith Mary Pinsent appears in the 1939 England and Wales Register.
Edith Mary Pinsent was thirty one years old when her husband died. She never remarried. After bringing her children back to England she seems to have brought them up on her own. She settled at Far Dene in New Milton, in Hampshire, and became an active member of the Milton & Milford Choral Society. It had considerable success in local competitions in the 1930s (New Milton Advertiser: Saturday 26th September 1936 etc.). The Wartime Register (1939) tells us that she was a “matron” at “Field Place School”, in Lymington, Hampshire.
Edith Mary Pinsent’s entry in the England & Wales National Probate Calendar.
Edith died in Oxford in 1989. Her daughter, Mary Catherine, married Haim Musa Nahmad in London in 1957. Her son, another John, attended St. Edmund’s School in Canterbury and went on to serve in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. He studied classics at Oxford and became a lecturer at Liverpool University. His life is described elsewhere.
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John Pinsent was the eldest son of John Pinsent by his wife Ann (née Brock). He was born at “Aller Barton” in Abbotskerswell and grew up there and at “Ware Barton” in Kingsteington with several younger brothers. His father taught them how to farm; however, he died in 1858, while they were still quite young. John – as the eldest son – nominally took over the tenancy of the family farm and became the next “Mr. Pinsent of Ware Barton.” His mother Ann was still alive and ran it with the help of her sons.
John “senior’s” loss created vacancies in the village hierarchy and John “junior” was appointed to fill a vacancy on the “Newton Abbot Dispensary Committee” in April 1861. At the same meeting, his more elderly (and more affluent) neighbour, Mr. Thomas Pinsent of (“Greenhills”) Kingsteignton was appointed a “vice president” (Exeter and Plymouth Gazette: Friday 5th April 1861). Thomas was from the DEVONPORT branch of the family. John attended the “Joint Annual Meeting of the South Devon and Newton Agricultural Societies” in Torquay in November that year (Western Times: Saturday 2nd November 1861) and he could be seen at most of the “Newton Abbott Agricultural and Labourers’ Friend Society” meetings and dinners in the early 1860s. One of his young ploughmen, George Warren, won second prize in the youth category at the “25th Annual Ploughing Competition” in 1863 (Western Mercury: Friday 23rd October 1863).
John Pinsent celebrates a threshing machine. Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, October 2, 1863.
Mr. John Pinsent of Ware (and, one would imagine, some of this brothers) witnessed a “B. J. Webber & Co.” threshing machine in action in October 1863 and he, along with other local farmers signed a promotional letter extolling its virtues (Exeter and Plymouth Gazette: Friday 2nd October 1863).
John married Catherine Whidborne, the daughter of a farmer from Bishopsteignton and took over the tenancy of a farm at “Middle Rocombe” – in the nearby parish of Combeinteignhead on “Ladyday” (25th March) 1865. “Middle Rocombe” is south of the Teign River and inland from the estuary town of Shaldon. It is now in the parish of Stokeinteignhead but, in those days, was in Combeinteignhead. The farm was up put up for sale relatively recently, which accounts for the excellent quality of the photographs on line.
John Pinsent acts as a judge during a show. Western Times, September 11, 1866.
John left “Ware Barton” in the hands of his mother and his capable younger brother Gilbert. Soon after his arrival in Combeinteignhead, John was asked to act as a judge at the annual “Cottage Garden Society” meeting. Presumably, the locals thought that, as a new-comer, he would be impartial (Western Times: Tuesday 11th September 1866). He must have made good impression as they invited him back the following year (Exeter and Plymouth Gazette: Friday 2nd August 1867)!
Middle Rocombe Farmyard.Middle Rocombe Farm.
Map of Middle Rocombe in Devonshire.
A week or so after that first flower show, “Middle Rocombe” was advertised for sale with Mr. Pinsent as its then sitting tenant – as he had signed a fourteen-year lease. According to the announcement: “The Farm is very compact, and comprises a recently erected Dwelling House and all necessary Outbuildings, Cellarage, Yards, Gardens, Labourers’ Cottages, and about 164 Acres of Land, of which about 36 Acres are fertile Pasture and Watered Meadow, about 18 Acres of Orchard in full bearing, and the residue, about 110 Acres, superior Arable Land, and is very conveniently situated about four miles from the excellent market town of Newton Abbot …” (Exeter and Plymouth Gazette: Friday 21st September 1866).
John and Gilbert Pinsent attended numerous events and meetings together in the late 1860 and 1870s. For instance, they attended a lecture on the “Education of the Labouring Classes” in April 1868 (Western Times: Friday 17th April 1868), and a discussion on “Agricultural Taxation” put on by the “Devon Central Chamber of Agriculture” the following month (Western Times: Friday 22nd May 1868). They also attended funerals, often in the company of representatives of the DEVONPORT branch of the family (Western Times: Friday 12th March 1880).
John Pinsent is listed as an employer in the 1871 census.
The 1871 Census tells us that John Pinsent employed four men, a boy and three full-time domestic servants at “Middle Rocombe”. The Census was taken three days after John’s daughter, Emma Pinsent, was born, so it is not that surprising to find that Catherine’s unmarried sister, Mary E. Whidborne was also present. She was a widowed nurse. Catherine’s two eldest daughters, Catherine Ann Pinsent and Mary E. Pinsent had gone to stay with their uncle Gilbert at “Ware Barton” but the third, Lucy Whidborne Pinsent, was still at home with her mother. She was only two years old.
Farming was the lifeblood of the community and in Combeinteignhead it was honoured by an annual harvest festival that included, a church service and – at least in 1872 – quite a party: “after (the) service, the whole of the male population, about 150, were regaled in Mr. Lang’s building with a good substantial meal of beef and plum pudding without stint, beer and cider being also supplied them. The happiness evinced by the labouring portion showed that very pleasant relations existed between them and their employers. The women and children, about 250, were provided with tea, cake etc.” The “Teignmouth Artillery Band” played, cannons were fired, bells rung and the evening ended with a firework display. Needless to say, as an important local farmer, J. Pinsent was on the organizing committee (Exeter Flying Post: Wednesday October 2nd 1872) and doubtless threw in some cash as well. The East and South Devon Advertiser (Saturday 21st September 1878) tells of a similar event at which “no less than 600 persons were regaled in this way” on the rector’s lawn.
Some residential servants stayed with their masters – or at least on their farms – for decades and the “Newton Abbot Agricultural and Labourers’ Friend Society” awarded prizes annually to those who had stayed put the longest. In 1874, Ann Howard came second for her 30 years and 4 months service at “Ware Barton”. That was the year that John Balkwill, who worked for Mr. J. Pinsent in Combeinteignhead, came in second in the “double or one-way ploughing competition” (Exeter and Plymouth Gazette: Friday 23rd October 1874).
John Pinsent, farmer, is fined one pound. East & South Devon Advertiser, April 12, 1884.
Two advertisements placed in the Western Times Friday 10th December 1875 issue are of note: One describes the loss of a white and liver coloured spaniel called “Sport:” – Mr. Pinsent of Rocombe was offering a reward. The other placed immediately below it, says: “Found, a spaniel dog”. … One hopes they were reunited. Interestingly, another liver and white spaniel turned up “Found” at the neighbouring farm of Lower Rocombe around Christmas 1880. However, this one may have come from Christow (Western Times: Friday 31st December 1880).“Sport” and his kennel mates led to their master receiving a dressing down at the “Newton Abbot Petty Sessions” in April 1884. John Pinsent was fined £1 for keeping dogs without a license (East and South Devon Advertiser: Saturday 12th April 1884)!
John Pinsent’s ever-expanding family is listed in the 1881 census.
John and Catherine and their ever-growing family of young daughters (he had seven before the arrival of his first, and as it happens, only surviving, son, John Pinsent) were still living at “Middle Rocombe” when the Census was retaken in 1881. This one tells us that the farm covered 165 acres and that John was still employing four labourers and a boy, and he still had three household servants. His daughters were growing up; Catherine Pinsent, Lucy Pinsent, Emma Pinsent, Ellen Pinsent and Ada Pinsent were “scholars.” Their sister, Mary Eliza Pinsent was, for some reason, staying with Whidborne relations at Shute in Bishopsteignton. John’s two youngest children, Jessie Pinsent and John Pinsent were still young; she was two and John was just four months old.
John’s 14-year tenancy at Middle Rocombe officially expired in 1879 but he stayed on for a few more years holding the farm on a series of annual leases. Messrs. Rendell and Symons auctioned off the fee-simple inheritance of and in the “Manor and Lordship of Combeinteignhead” – along with the freehold estate of “Middle Rocombe” (“now in the occupation of Mr. John Pinsent”) in June 1883 (Exeter and Plymouth Gazette: Friday 8th June 1883). John seems to have realized that it was time to move on and the same auctioneers sold off some of John’s stock in August 1883. They disposed of the remainder at an auction held on the farm on March 24th 1884. John sold 182 sheep and lambs, 24 bullocks, 5 horses, 4 pigs, poultry and implements of husbandry (Western Times: Friday 7th March 1884). He surrendered the tenancy of the farm on Ladyday (25th March 1884).
Map of Gambledown Farm and Sherfield English, Hampshire.
John moved his family to another mixed farm, at “Gambledown”, in Sherfield English, near Romsey in Hampshire. His brother, Gilbert, coincidentally, or probably otherwise, followed him east a few years later. He moved to “Scrope Farm”, in Froxford, in Wiltshire.
John Pinsent and his family appear in the 1891 census.
John and Catherine Pinsent were living at “Gambledown” with their children Jessie F. and John, and two domestic servants when the 1891 Census was taken. Two of their daughters, Catherine A. and Ada were then with their uncle Gilbert, who had recently moved to “Scrope Farm.” Lucy was married and the other two, Emma and Mary Eliza were working as a shop assistant, at Leamington in Warwickshire, and as a governess for a farmer’s family at Liskeard in Cornwall. Even farmer’s daughters were expected to work in those days! John was elected as one of the two “Guardians” representing Sherfield English Parish in the “Romsey Union” that year – so was becoming an established member of the community (Romsey Register and General News Gazette: Thursday 2nd April 1891). He was a member of the “Romsey and South Hants Farmers’ Union” and a member of its committee in 1896 (Eastleigh Weekly News and Hants Gazette: Saturday 1st February 1896).
By 1901, all but two of the children (Ellen and John Pinsent), had moved out and, by 1911, John and Catherine only had their one son in residence. John was 70 years’-old in 1908, and winding down his farm. That autumn, he arranged for a four-year old roan colt and a two year-old shorthorn bull to be sold at auction at Salisbury (Salisbury times: Friday 18th September 1908). However, he kept his Clydesdale horses. He bred them and we find that one of his foals won second prize and another came second in the yearling category in a competition sponsored by Major S. F. Chichester of Embley Park in 1910 (West Sussex Gazette: Thursday 22nd November 1910).
At least four of the girls, who had been properly educated as befitting young ladies, went on to marry in Sherfield English. Catherine married a “medical practitioner” in 1898 and Lucy a local “gentleman” in 1888. In the latter case, the marriage announcement noted that her father was John Pinsent “of Gambledown, Romsey, formerly of Combe-in-Teignhead, Devon” (London Evening Standard: Friday 2nd November 1888). Emma married a “draper” (1910) and Jessie a “banker’s clerk” (1908). The latter was said to have been “a very pretty country wedding” (Grimsby News: Friday 24th January 1908). Jessie had attended the Goldsmiths’ Institute in London and taken part in an “Art Students’ Conversazione” there in December 1896. She played “The Lady of Shallott” in a presentation entitled “Tennyson’s Heroines” (Brockley New, New Cross and Hatcham Review: Friday 25th December 1896).
The London Hospital’s main entrance.
Their sister Ada was to become a nurse at the “London Hospital” in Whitechapel, which was, in those days, one of the poorest and most squalid parts of London. She lived in a world without vaccines or antibiotics and it is not that surprising that she died of pneumonia in 1903. Whether her time there overlapped with Edith Cavell, the nurse executed by the Germans for assisting British and French soldiers in Belgium during the first world war, I do not know. Edith left the London Hospital in 1907. The story of “London Hospital” – as it was in 1906 – was dramatized by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in 2006. The series story lines are based on hospital records and give a sense of the world in which Ada (and her sister Mary Eliza) lived. Neither married. Nursing was considered to be a commitment for life.
There were, however, male Whidborne weddings for their parents to attend. John and Catherine and their daughter Mary attended one of their nephew’s weddings in 1910 (Middlesex County Times: Saturday 17th September 1910).
Mary Eliza Pinsent appears in the Registrar of Nurses for 1934.
Mary Eliza Pinsent trained at the self-same “London Hospital” (Charity Record: Thursday 15th August 1901) and, fortunately, lived to tell the tale. Perhaps she knew Edith Cavell before she left the London Hospital to go to Belgium in 1907. Mary Eliza later moved to the “Royal Orthopaedic London Hospital,” where she was appointed “Matron” in 1901. This merged with the “National Orthopaedic Hospital” in 1906 and Mary Eliza, who had been acting Matron under Miss Frances Hole was promoted to “Lady Superintendent” of the combined “Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital” (Charity Record: 15th March 1906).
The “Royal” hospital “had been opened by King Edward VII for the treatment and cure of crippled and deformed patients, 75 per cent of whom were children.” It held annual bazaars to raise funds and the Mayoress of Marylebone opened one of them in 1911. Evidently, it proved a great success: “Miss Mary E. Pinsent, the matron, presided at a stall that had upon it many pretty goods dear to the hearts of the gentler sex, such as exquisite table covers, miniature cushions and picture frames” (Marylebone Mercury: Saturday 4th November 1911).
The former Great Portland Street site (1909-1984) of the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital via Wikipedia.
At the outset of the war, Mary switched to war-work (Southwestern Star: Friday 28th August 1914). She was appointed assistant matron at the “3rd London General Hospital” on Wandsworth Common and was called upon to help escort the King and Queen around when they made a surprise visit in October 1914 (London Evening Standard: 7th October 1914). She later worked at the “Military Hospital” at Bagthorpe, in Nottingham before joining the “Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service Reserve” (Q.A.I.M.N.S. R.), (London Gazette: 2nd June 1916). From there, she went out to Alexandria, in Egypt, as a resident “Matron” (National Archives: WO 372/23).
After the war, Mary Eliza returned to the “Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital” (234 Great Portland Street, London W. 1), as its Matron. There is a photograph of her with Lord Denbigh, Lady Dorothie Moor and some of the children from the Orthopaedic Hospital who were involved in an event on behalf of crippled children at Devonshire House shown in the Nottingham Journal: Friday 14th January 1921.
“Miss” Pinsent, as assistant matron, is presented to the King. London Evening Standard, October 7, 1914.
Mary Eliza retired back to Devon. She was there by 1933. Interestingly, Mary took trips into the Mediterranean on ships bound for Suez in 1932, 1933 and 1935. Perhaps she was going back to Alexandria to see friends. She died at “Seaway” in Torquay in 1960 (livesofthefirstworldwar.org/lifestory/5152960). She left about a third of her estate to the “First Church of Christ Scientist” in Torquay (Torquay Times and South Devon Advertiser: Friday 22nd July 1960).
Mary Eliza Pinsent’s badge.The back of Mary Eliza Pinsent’s badge.
A nurse, possibly Mary Eliza Pinsent.
Mary Eliza’s life and her career as a Nurse has been studied in considerable detail by Sarah Rogers. Her work is available on line under “Collecting Nursing History”: Mary Eliza Pinsent 1869 – 1960: (www.schoolof nursing.co.uk/collections/ … Mary Eliza’s photograph comes from a Pinsent family tree found on Ancestry.com. It does not specifically identify the individual as Mary Eliza; however, there are facial similarities with lesser quality photographs and, given the nurse’s uniform, it seems likely.
It is not clear what happened to her sister Ellen. However, she may well have been the Ellen Pinsent who testified during the “Tasker Divorce” proceedings in 1895 (Gloucestershire Echo: Wednesday 10th July 1895). If so, she “formerly (was a) chambermaid at a Plymouth hotel (and) said that when the parties stayed there Mr. Paton occupied a bedroom opposite Mrs. Tasker’s. Two or three nights Paton’s bed was not occupied, and Mrs. Taskers looked as if two had slept there.” I can not speak for Mr. Paton, or Mrs. Tasker for that matter but, but by the sound of it, Mr. Tasker was not the best of husbands. I am not sure what happened to Ellen.
“Miss” Pinsent performs as part of a vocal duet. East & South Devon Advertiser, February 10, 1894.
Catherine Ann, or“Katie” as she was known gave singing and music lessons in the Romsey area in 1891 (Romsey Register and General News Gazette: Thursday 22nd January 1891) and likely continued to do so until she married in 1898. I can not be sure, but I suspect that she was also the “Miss Pinsent” who gave two mandolin solos (“Blue Eyes” and “Rialto March”) at a Literary and Musical Society meeting at Axminster in February 1895 (Pulman’s Weekly News and Advertiser: Tuesday 26th February 1895). She was definitely the “Aunt Katie” that John Pinsent, the “Senior Lecturer in Classical Studies at Liverpool University”, corresponded with in the early 1960s. Catherine would have been in her 90s at the time and, hardly surprisingly, her memory was a bit faulty. John and Catherine’s only surviving son, another John Pinsent, had no interest in farming. He became a clergyman and married Edith Mary Lane in Portsea, Portsmouth, in 1921. His life is described elsewhere.
John Pinsent, senior, retired from farming and auctioned off his lifestock and farming implements in September 1913 (Salisbury Times: 19th September 1913). He died at “Gambledown” three years later and the “Calendar of Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration” show that the administration of his estate was granted to his son, Rev. John Pinsent, “clerk”. John’s widow, Catherine went to live with her daughter Lucy Whidmore May, and her husband Harry John May, who was a retired “physician and surgeon” in Romsey. She was there, as were several visiting members of the May family, when the census was taken in 1921. Catherine died in Romsey in July 1923. Her son, the Reverend John Pinsent, probated her will.
Gambledown was and still is a mixed-farm on the edge of the New Forest. On-line sources say that it has diversified in recent years and the current owners run holiday lets and host events and meetings.
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