a history
Birth: 1997
Marriage: N/A
Spouse: N/A
Death: 2004
Family Branch: Australia
PinsentID: GRO1884
Father: Christopher Allan Pinsent: xxxx – xxxx
Mother: Desley Unknown: xxxx – xxxx
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Birth: 1927
Marriage: 1946
Spouse: William Leonard Beacom
Death: 2006
Family Branch: Australia
PinsentID: GRO1881
Grandfather: Charles Samuel Pinsent: 1864 – 1930
Grandmother: Edith Mary Dear: xxxx – 1924
Father: Harold Charles Appleford Pinsent: 1894 – 1985
Mother: Muriel Elizabeth Hilda May Rossbotham: 1893 – 1975
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Birth: 1866
Marriage: N/A
Spouse: N/A
Death: 1905
Family Branch: Australia
PinsentID: GRO1266
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William John Pinsent was the youngest son of Thomas James Pinsent by his wife Elizabeth James. He was born – or at least his birth was registered in Deptford on the South Coast of Victoria State, some considerable distance east of Melbourne, where his father was setting up in business as a “baker.” William grew up in Fitzroy with three brothers (Thomas James, Joseph Henry and Charles Samuel Pinsent) and a sister (Elizabeth Pinsent) who, sadly, died young – when he as about four years old.
William never married. The Electoral Rolls show that he was a “boot maker” living with his parent at 118 Alexandra Parade in Fitzroy in 1903, but died two years later. William suffered from manic episodes and he was committed to Yarra Bend Hospital and Insane Asylum in April 1905. His condition did not improve and, after weakening over the summer, he was transferred to the hospital ward in early October. He died there on 7th October 1905. One of his brother’s attended the Coroner’s Inquest and arranged for the name of record – which was inexplicably “Alexander Vincent” – to be changed to William John Pinsent. Why the confusion, I do not know as the family does not seem to have abandoned him. The medical examiner testified that there was no sign of violence on the body and that he had died from “supperative meningitis”. William’s brother (which one is not stated) had seen him in his last illness. He testified that he accepted that his brother had got the best care that could be hoped for (Victoria, Australia, Coroner Inquest Deposition Files: 1840-1925).
William was buried in C. Section in Melbourne Cemetery. The headstone reads: “In loving memory of William John, dearly beloved youngest son of T. J. and E. Pinsent, Senr., who died 7th October 1905, aged 39 years: also his beloved brother Charles Samuel who died 12th February 1930, age 65 years” (Victoria, Australia Cemetery Records and Headstone Transcriptions: 1844 – 1997). William’s death was reported in the local papers later that month (The Age (Melbourne): Saturday 21st October 1905).
Grandfather: William Pinsent: 1811 – 1879
Grandmother: Sarah Eales: xxxx – xxxx
Father: Thomas James Pinsent: 1833 – 1915
Mother: Elizabeth James: xxxx – 1908
Thomas James Pinsent: 1833 – 1915
Elizabeth Pinsent: 1836 – xxxx
Thomas James Pinsent: 1858 – 1932
William Henry Pinsent: 1860 – 1860
Joseph Henry Pinsent: 1863 – 1945
Charles Samuel Pinsent: 1864 – 1930
William John Pinsent: 1866 – 1905
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William Pinsent: 1811 – 1879 (?) GRO1257 (Tailor, Plymouth and Exeter, Devon)
Sarah Eales: xxxx – xxxx
Married: Stoke Damerel, Devon: 1832
Children by Sarah Eales:
Thomas James Pinsent: 1833 – 1915 (Married Elizabeth James, St. Helier, Jersey, 1856)
Elizabeth Pinsent: 1836 – xxxx (Married Thomas Potter Rose, Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, 1864).
Family Branch: Australia
PinsentID: GRO1257
William’s story carries on with a second family in Bristol line.
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William Pinsent was a “tailor” who married Sarah Eales in Stoke Damerel in June 1832. They had a son Thomas James Pinsent the following year, while living in Plymouth and a daughter, Elizabeth Pinsent, who baptized in St. David’s Parish, Exeter in 1836.
Thomas James Pinsent married Elizabeth James in the Channel Islands in 1856 and they took off for the goldfields in Australia shortly thereafter. Thomas’s sister Elizabeth Pinsent joined them a few years later. She married Thomas Potter Rose in Ballarat, which is in the Victoria goldfields in 1864. William’s son and his grandsons established the AUSTRALIA branch of the Pinsent family. Their descendants still live in and around Melbourne.
So who was William Pinsent? He was probably William Pinsent, and thus a member of the BRISTOL branch of the family with links back to Lustleigh. I can find no definitive tie between them but the time and relationships work. If they are the same, he was the eldest son John Pinson and Mary Follett. He was born in Ilsington Parish in Devon in 1811 and had a long and varied life before returning to Ilsington in the 1850s. William died at Haytor in 1879.
William probably married twice. Firstly, to Sarah Eales – as discussed above – and secondly (a few years after the birth of their youngest child) to Harriet Morgan. She came from Dursley in Gloucestershire. I have yet to locate the marriage record. Harriet creates the link to Bristol. Presumably Sarah, William’s purported first wife, had died by 1840. However, again, I have yet to find the record. William and Harriet had several children whose descendants belong to the BRISTOL branch of the family. The male line appears to have died out but numerous female descendants will have spread the family genes.
Grandfather: Richard Pinson: 1745 – 1825
Grandmother: Elizabeth Gregory: 1748 – 1837
Father: John Pinsent: 1782 – 1849
Mother: Mary Follett: 1782 – 1859
Thomas Pinson: 1776 – xxxx
Richard Pinson: 1778 – 1868
Elizabeth Pinson: 1780 – xxxx
William Pinson: 1784 – xxxx
Mary Pinson: 1786 – 1873
Joseph Pinson: 1788 – xxxx
Abraham Pinson: 1787 – 1871
Rachael Pinson: 1796 – xxxx
Loyalty Pinson: 1799 – xxxx
John Pinsent: 1817 – 1819
Joseph Pinson: 1819 – 1881
John Pinsent: 1823 – 1902
James Pinsent: 1825 – 1886
Samuel Pinson: 1828 – 1833
Thomas Pinson: 1830 – 1832
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Thomas James Pinsent: 1833 – 1915 GRO1259 (Baker and Property Developer, Fitzroy, Melbourne, Australia)
Elizabeth James: xxxx – 1908
Married: 1856: St. Helier, Jersey
Children by Elizabeth James:
Thomas James Pinsent: 1858 – 1932 (Married (1) Clara Jessie Candy, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia); (2) Ellen Oldfield, Victoria, Australia, 1902)
William Henry Pinsent: 1860 – 1860
Elizabeth Pinsent: 1861 – 1870
Joseph Henry Pinsent: 1863 – 1945 (Married (1) Annie Edith Miller, Clifton Hill, Victoria, Australia, 1885; (2) Emma Stranger, Victoria, Australia, 1914)
Charles Samuel Pinsent: 1864 – 1930 (Married Edith Mary Dear, Victoria, Australia, 1892)
William John Pinsent: 1866 – 1905
Family Branch: Australia
PinsentID: GRO1259
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Thomas James Pinsent was the son of William Pinsent by his wife, Sarah (née Eales). His father was a “tailor” and Thomas was born in the “Three Towns” (i.e. Plymouth, Devonport and East Stonehouse) in 1833. He grew up in Exeter where a younger sister, Elizabeth, joined the family in 1836. William Pinsent probably came from Ilsington Parish and he probably married Harriet Morgan, in Dursley, in Gloucestershire and had a second family after Sarah’s death but I have yet to find irrefutably evidence that the two families are linked to the same William Pinsent. Sarah probably died sometime after the birth of her daughter in 1836 but before William remarried in 1840. For now, his early off-spring are assigned to a separate AUSTRALIA family line. William, himself, follows the BRISTOL line.
Thomas James Pinsent married Elizabeth James at St. Helier’s Church on Jersey in the Channel Islands in 1856 and they went out to Australia shortly thereafter. Fifty years on, they placed the following announcement in the Melbourne Argus (Saturday 16th June 1906): “PINSENT — JAMES: — [Golden Wedding.] — On the 15th June, 1856, at St. Helier’s Church, Jersey, by license, by Dean Le Breton, Thomas James, eldest son of the late William Pinsent, of Plymouth, to Elizabeth, youngest daughter of the late Captain Samuel James, of Redruth, Cornwall. Present address, Alexandra-parade, Fitzroy.” What sort of “captain” Samuel James was is not specified.
The 1851 census, which had been compiled only a few years earlier, states that Thomas James was a “baker” (presumably an “apprentice baker”) but his marriage certificate has him down as a “labourer”. From the certificate we also learn that his father-in law was a “miner” – so for “captain” we should probably read “shift boss” or “foreman”.
Thomas and Elizabeth (née James) went out to Melbourne, in Victoria, soon after their marriage and headed for Ballarat (115 kilometres northwest of Melbourne). Gold had been found in the rivers there in 1851 and Ballarat was a typical, fast-growing, “gold-rush” town. The initial rush was over by the time Thomas and Elizabeth arrived, but conditions at the “diggings” must have been pretty primitive. The Colonial Government in Melbourne made the mistake of increasing the cost of “mining licenses” a couple of years earlier and the “miners” had rioted. The Government had responded in a heavy-handed manner and sent in the troops. There were, predictably, casualties and arrests. Nevertheless, the Ballarat “miners” won the right to hold local elections and, from then on, the community started to evolve from a highly disorganized tent city to a structurally (and politically) more sound wooden and, later, extremely affluent stone-built one.
It is worth noting that Thomas’s probable uncle, Joseph Pinsent – from the BRISTOL branch of the family – had settled in New South Wales in Australia in 1850 (New South Wales Assisted Immigrant Passenger list: 1828 – 1896). Joseph had spent some time in Redruth working in the mines and he had married the daughter of a Redruth miner in 1843 – so Thomas James had a connection to the place. Nevertheless, there is no indication that the families kept in touch or even knew each other. For some reason Joseph and his family kept the “Pinson” name spelling. His descent is described elsewhere.
Shortly after their arrival, Thomas James and Elizabeth set up a bakery in Ballarat, presumably on the premise that selling food to “miners” was a more reliable way of acquiring gold than digging for it. They had three children while living there; however, only the first, another Thomas James Pinsent, was strong enough to survive rigors of a frontier town. Thomas’s second son William Henry Pinsent died soon after birth and their third child, a daughter Elizabeth Pinsent, succumbed at the age of nine.
Keeping “Law and Order” in a frontier town is difficult at the best of times but the long arm of the law had made its way to Ballarat since the riot. In December 1860, Thomas James was brought up at Ballarat “General Sessions” charged with stealing a box of currants and a chest of tea, valued at 16s from one of his neighbours, William Hay, who was a local “storekeeper”. Thomas pleaded “not guilty.” However, another neighbour testified that he had seen Thomas take what he had thought was an empty tea chest from Mr. Hay’s store on “Peel Street”. Also, when he (Mr. James Lowe) had asked Thomas what he was doing, he had said he was “having a lark with the old man” who was drunk and asleep in his parlour. According to Lowe, Thomas had asked him if he knew where Hay kept his money… Another shopkeeper testified that he saw Thomas slip furtively by his shop heading towards Mr. Hay’s imporium and thought it odd but no more, as he thought Pinsent to be an honest man. The police found nothing to incriminate Thomas in his house; however, he was arrested. Another “storekeeper” and a local “publican” both spoke up for him, but he was found guilty and sentenced to twelve months imprisonment (Ballarat Star: Friday 7th December 1860; Monday 12th November 1860).
The episode must have caused considerable tension in the community and Thomas’s wife Elizabeth put up with a considerable amount of abuse while her husband was in jail. In January 1861, she sued Mr. Hay in the “Eastern Police Court”. Several witnesses deposed that Mr. Hay called her a “thief”, used abusive language and considerably unnerved her by knocking on her windows whenever he passed by. One rebuttal witness said she called him an “Old Vandemonian thief” – meaning a transported convict from Tasmania (Van Diemen’s Land) – which he may well have been. The defendant was fined 40s with £1 5s 6d in costs (The Star (Ballarat), Vic: 1855 – 1864): Thursday 3rd January 1861). I doubt if that improved relations any.
Elizabeth had a young apprentice named David Brooker helping her run the bakery while her husband was away serving time and he was – tangentially at least – implicated in a serious assault charge that was heard in the “Eastern Police Court” in Ballarat later that same year (1861). A Mrs. Ellis charged John Sullivan “a respectable looking young man … with having violated the person of (her daughter) Elizabeth Ellis, a child under ten years of age”. She complained that several boys bullied her daughter and that she had once felt obliged to beat David Brooker in Mrs. Pinsent’s presence for lifting up her daughter’s clothes. She also accused another boy of beating her daughter Elizabeth about the head with a sheep’s head! For her part, the purported victim said that she knew David Brooker through her two brothers but she denied that he had ever lifted up her clothes. As for Mr. Sullivan, the defense lawyer claimed mistaken identity but the magistrates were not convinced and the case against him was held over for further study (The Star (Ballarat), Vic: 1855-1964): Thursday 14th February 1861).
Thomas James Pinsent was back in the “Eastern Police Court” shortly after his release from prison; however, this time as plaintiff and not defendant. He felt obliged to sue a Mr. Ward for £13 4s 3d, a Mr. Welcock for £7 16s 8d and a Mr. Rose for £11 3s 0d for the payment of outstanding bills (The Star (Ballarat, Vic.: 1855-1964): Thursday 2th March 1862). The following week, he was back with a similar complaint against a Mr. Smith. All in all, Thomas’s bakery seems to have done very well. Certainly, he was able to purchase a “Town Lot” (Allot 4, Sec. L., 7 – 4 – 10p; Valuation £125, T. J. Pincent, £6 19s.) in Wills Street in Ballarat at a “Crown Land Sale” in August 1862 (The Star (Ballarat), Vic: 1855-1964): Saturday 30th August 1862).
Perhaps Thomas James saw the property as an investment rather than a place to live or work as he moved his family to Daylesford (another then more active mining community 50 kilometres northeast of Ballarat) late in 1862 or early 1863. The Victoria Government Gazette (1864) tells us that he had, in fact, purchased “2 roods and 23 perches” of land in Daylesford in 1860. It cost him £51 10s plus £1 “fee on deed” and 2s 1.5d as an “assurance fee” – whatever that was. We know that Thomas still owned property in Daylesford in 1871 as the Victoria Government Gazette lists people in default in payment on their rates. In 1871, the Daylesford City Fathers put in a demand for “John James and Pinsent” to pay them 10s for a house on West Street. John James may, conceivably, have been one of Thomas’s wife, Elizabeth’s relations.
The Government Gazette also tells us that Thomas James Pinsent of Daylesford owned three shares in the “Champion Gold Mining Company” – a firm that held claims on “Shepherd’s Flat”, near Frankinford. Whether he made anything on the venture, I am not sure. Thomas and Elizabeth had two more sons, Joseph Henry Pinsent and Charles Samuel Pinsent while living there. They both survived. Their last child, William John Pinsent was, interestingly, is said to have been born – or at least had his birth registered – in Deptford in Victoria in 1866. Deptford is on the Southern coast some considerable distance east of Melbourne in 1866. If true, I do not know why he would have been there.
Thomas James Pinsent also owned four shares in the “Argus Gold Mining Company” and in March 1866 he was called upon to either answer a call for £2 10s to support the operation or loose his shares (Mount Alexander Mail: Monday 19th March 1866). Clearly, not all his investments were winners! The Ballarat and district gold rush was petering out in the late 1860s and Thomas and Elizabeth decided to move to Fitzroy, on the outskirts of Melbourne. They opened a bakery in “Brunswick Street” in Fitzroy in 1868. Their only daughter, Elizabeth Pinsent died there in 1870 and friends were invited to follow her casket to its final resting place in Melbourne “General Cemetery” (Melbourne Argus: Saturday 30th July 1870).
Thomas seems to have been a little lax in complying with municipal and state regulations when he set up his business in Fitzroy. Mr. Donald the “inspector of weights and measures” had him up in “District Court” in October 1868 for having “an imperfect balance” in his handcart (Melbourne Argus: Saturday 17th October 1868). He was fined 10s with 12s 6d in costs. Perhaps one could get away with that sort of thing in the “goldfields” but definitely not in Melbourne. Similarly, the government inspector had him up for neglecting to carry any scales as he went about his business in October 1884 (Mercury and Weekly Courier: Saturday 18th October 1884). This time, he was fined 20s and 5s in costs.
Conditions in Fitzroy in the mid-1880s were still a little rudimentary and Mr. Pinsent felt obliged to write a letter to “Fitzroy City Council” to complain about the state of the drains (Melbourne Argus: Saturday 21st January 1882) shortly after moving his family to “Alexandra Parade” in 1881. Thomas had acquired some development land there and he asked the Council for permission to blast some rock in nearby Brunswick Street to help him develop the site (Fitzroy City Press: Saturday 25th July 1885). The City fathers reviewed the request and granted permission for him to do so and “construct brick and cement sinks and channels in each yard at the rear of three brick cottages, situated in York Street and known as Jersey Cottages” fairly quickly (Fitzroy City Press: Saturday 19th September 1885). His son William put out tenders for building two rooms in 1888 (The Age: Thursday 9th August 1888)
This tells us that Thomas James was in the process of becoming a “property developer” as well as a “baker.” It also tells us that he had not forgotten his early days on Jersey! The “Rate Books” for the City of Fitzroy shows that Thomas J. Pinsent was a “gentleman” who held property valued at £28 on Keen Street in 1887, and that he paid £2 6s 8d per annum for the privilege. The community was growing fast: In May 1890, a business frontage on the corner of Brunswick Street and York Street “adjacent to the Colonial Bank and the business establishments of Messrs. Macmillan, Moran and Cato, White, Pinsent, and others …” in “one of the most improved parts of Brunswick Street, near Alexandra Parade, with trams passing every few minutes” was sold by auction (Melbourne Argus: Tuesday 6th May 1890).
Thomas James was from a “Methodist” family and “Pinsent” – presumably Thomas James, was named one of ten trustees elected to serve at “Brunswick Street Wesleyan Church” in 1891 (Fitzroy City Press: Friday 20th March 1891). His son, who was a well-known artist of the same name, had donated artistic banners to the church the previous year (Fitzroy City Press: Friday 28th March 1890) – which might have influenced the electors, somewhat.
In 1898, Thomas J. Pinsent (presumably senior but possibly junior) was called to testify in Court regarding the “will” of Mr. Horatio Abraham Nelson Snell, who was a furniture dealer in North Fitzroy. According to the proffered “will” – which was unsigned – Mr. Snell left all his estate except a house in Fitzroy to his wife and children. He left the house to his two sisters. A second “will” was later found and then a third magically appeared that favoured his wife and was disputed by his sisters. Thomas had accompanied Mrs. Snell, who was a neighbour, to her solicitor’s office when she went to consult him about the administration of the estate (The Melbourne Argus: Wednesday 6th April 1898 and The Melbourne Age: Thursday 5th May 1898).
By 1903, Thomas James had retired. He was seventy years old and a man of “Independent Means”. By then, he was living with his wife and at least three of his sons in a large house or possibly series of houses at #118 Alexandra Parade (close to Brunswick Street but south of Edinburgh Gardens) in Fitzroy (Australian Electoral Rolls: 1901 – 1936: Ancestry.com). Sadly, his youngest son, William John Pinsent, who was a “boot maker,” died there, unmarried in 1905 at the age of 39 years. The lives of his three remaining sons (Thomas James Pinsent, Joseph Henry Pinsent, Charles Samuel Pinsent) are discussed elsewhere.
Thomas James and his wife Elizabeth celebrated their “Golden Wedding” anniversary while living in Alexandra Parade in 1906. However, Elizabeth died two years later (Melbourne Argus: Wednesday 22nd July 1908) and her will, which is now lodged in the State Archive in Victoria, shows that her husband had transferred to her the ownership of two blocks of development land on which he had built three cottages apiece (in total valued at £1,400). He had also placed two large sums for her in interest bearing accounts (£130 in a London Bank and £130 in the Landridge Building Society). Thomas James was both executor and principal beneficiary. Presumably he paid the appropriate tax and had the assets returned to him. Thomas James and his three sons placed “In Memoriam” notices of remembrance in the Melbourne Argus newspaper on the date she died for several years thereafter (i.e.: Melbourne Argus: Saturday 22nd July 1911).
Perhaps the death of his wife stirred up memories of home as he took a trip back to England after she died. A ship’s manifest (Fremantle, Western Australia, Passenger Lists: 1897-1963: Ancestry.com) shows that Thomas James Pinsent and his son, Joseph “Harry” Pinsent left London for Fremantle in Western Australia on the “S. S. Orsova” on 18th November 1909. Interestingly, they had both been listed in the manifest as “builders” rather than “bakers”. The trip back may not have been Thomas’s first. Passenger manifests for the “S. S. Renown” shows that (1) a Thomas Pinsent, aged 43, traveled from Melbourne to England in August 1876, and (2) that a Thos. Pinsent, aged 44 years returned to Melbourne on “S. S. Northumberland” in March 1877. The latter Thomas was; however, traveling steerage! Despite that, Thomas James is the most likely candidate. He had yet to win out in the development business.
After Elizabeth’s death, Thomas James stayed on at “#118 Alexandra Parade” for the rest of his life; however, he actually died across the Merri River in a private Hospital in Northcote in 1915 (Melbourne Argus: Tuesday 9th February 1915). He died at the age of 81 years and six months and a death notice states that he was been a colonist for 58 years. This confirms that he arrived shortly after his marriage to Elizabeth (née James) in 1856. His will and probate records are also in the Victoria State Archives. They refer to Mr. Thomas J. Pinsent “gent” and describe how he was the owner of six terraced houses on Alexandra Parade and two blocks with five brick cottages on York Street, all of which were build for rental purposes – although it appears that his sons may have had squatters rights. His other assets were minimal but his estate still ran to £2,554. He had clearly taken advantage of the opportunities that came from Melbourne’s growth in the late 1800s. Thomas James Pinsent had come a long way since being locked up in Ballarat!
Thomas James appointed his sons, Thomas James (a “sign writer and decorator”) and Joseph Henry (a “collector”) as his executors and he divided his estates between them and his younger son, Charles Samuel Pinsent.
Grandfather: John Pinson: 1782 – 1849
Grandmother: Mary Follett: 1782 – 1859
Father: William Pinsent: 1811 – 1879
Mother: Sarah Eales: xxxx – xxxx
Ann Pinson: 1809 – 1862
Elizabeth Pinson: 1814 – xxxx
John Pinsent: 1817 – 1819
Joseph Pinson: 1819 – 1881
Sarah Pinson: 1821 – 1886
John Pinsent: 1823 – 1902
James Pinsent: 1825 – 1886
Samuel Pinson: 1828 – 1833
Thomas Pinson: 1830 – 1832
Thomas James Pinsent: 1833 – 1915
William Henry John Pinsent: 1841 – 1923
Sidney Pinsent: 1846 – 1880
Alfred James Pinsent: 1847 – 1848
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Birth: N/A (née Sarah Eales)
Marriage: 1832
Spouse: William Pinsent (Australia); (Bristol)
Death: N/A
Family Branch: Australia
PinsentID: GRO1258
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Birth: N/A (née Ruby Margaret Anderson)
Marriage: N/A
Spouse: Raymond George Pinsent
Death: N/A
Family Branch: Australia
PinsentID: GRO1519
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Birth: 1893 (née Muriel Elizabeth Hilda May Rossbotham)
Marriage: 1919
Spouse: Harold Charles Appleford Pinsent
Death: 1975
Family Branch: Australia
PinsentID: GRO1280
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Harold Charles Appleford Pinsent: 1894 – 1985 GRO1276 (Soldier, Driver, Melbourne, Australia)
1. Muriel Elizabeth Hilda May Rossbotham: 1893 – 1975
Married: 1919: Victoria, Australia
Children by Muriel Elizabeth Hilda May Rossbotham:
Heather Violet Pinsent: 1927 – 2006 (Married, William Leonard Beacom, St. Kilda, Melbourne, Australia, 1946)
2. Veronica Mary Collins: 1904 – 1980
Married: xxxx: xxxx, xxxx
3. Wife (GRO1608): xxxx – xxxx
Married: xxxx: xxxx, xxxx
Family Branch: Australia
PinsentID: GRO1276
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Harold Charles Appleford Pinsent was the eldest son of Charles Samuel Pinsent by his wife Edith (née Dear). He was born in Fitzroy, Melbourne, in 1894 and grew up both there and in Western Australia. He had an elder sister, Elizabeth Edith Pinsent and a younger half-brother William Watts Francis Pinsent. There were also three other brothers Alfred Samuel Pinsent, Clement James Pinsent and another half-brother George Watts Pinsent who all died in infancy.
Harold’s parents had an uneasy relationship and they separated while living in Western Australia in 1898. Edith seems to have taken up with a man named “Watts” and moved to the gold-mining town of Kalgoolie. Presumably she took her children with her; however her son Harold seems to have rejoined his father at some stage. Charles Samuel Pinsent, who was a “painter” and “decorator,” went back to Melbourne to live with his parents on “Alexander Parade” in Fitzroy after the separation. Edith’s daughter likely married in 1912 and Edith elected to return to Melbourne in 1914. When Charles heard she was coming, he started divorce proceedings in the “Supreme Court.” The relevant papers filed in the State Registry appear to be incomplete and it may never have been finalized. Nevertheless, their marriage ended in July 1914.
In August, Edith sued Harold’s father for support and maintenance (The Truth: Saturday 15th August 1914). In court, she described how her son (presumably Harold) had warned her that her husband was filling for divorce. She said that she left him because he had become abusive, and explained that he had sold off her belongings – including the sewing machine she used to earn her living as a “dress maker”. She admitted that her two children (presumably Harold and William) were nearly fully grown, but the magistrates still ordered Charles to pay her 27s per week by way of maintenance and threatened him with £25 fine in default.
Harold Charles Appleford Pinsent enlisted in the “Australian Armed Forces” in October 1915. His attestation papers confirm that he was the son of Charles Pinsent of “Alexandra Parade” in Fitzroy; however, he gave his address as “Ruskin Road” in St. Kilda. Harold stated that he was 21 years old and a single “Methodist packer.” His medical report shows that he was 5′ 5.5″ tall, he weighed in at 10 stone and 6 lbs and had a fresh complexion. He had brown eyes and brown hair. The medical officer noted three vaccination marks and a “slight scar on his chest”. Harold may have been a boxer before the war but there was no sign of any damage on that account (The Herald: Wednesday 30th July 1913)!
Private Harold Charles Pinsent (No. 3111) embarked on troop-transport A17 (“Port of Lincoln”) in Melbourne and sailed for Egypt with the “10th Battalion” on 16th October 1915. He then underwent training, and was taken on the strength of the “14th Battn.” at Ismailia. While there, he was one many ANZAC soldiers who wrote home thanking their family and friends for sending “Billycans” of good cheer at Christmas (Brisbane Courier: Saturday 26th February 1916).
Harold was transferred to the “46th Battn.” at Tel-el-Kebir in March 1916. The unit had taken a mauling at Gallipoli and was being rebuilt prior to service on the Western Front. He was promoted to “Corporal” on 14th March 1916 and embarked for Marseilles in France on 2nd June. Harold was given a field promotion to “Sergeant” in October 1916 and to “Second Lieutenant” on 15th May 1917. He was wounded in July, and his father was duly notified by a letter sent to “#118 Alexander Parade”, Fitzroy from “Base Headquarters” in Melbourne on 25th July 1917. It must have been a dizzying task to keep the paper straight. His injury was publicaly announced in the “329th Casualty List” printed by the Mildura Cultivator, a local newspaper, on 11th August.
Interestingly, another local newspaper in Melbourne, the Northcote Leader (Saturday 28th July 1917), published a list of members of the “Sacred Heart Church” in Preston who had volunteered for active service. It tells us that “Mr. Joseph H. Pinsent, 100 Gladstone Avenue, Northcote, has been notified that his son, (sic) Harold C. Pinsent has been awarded a commission as 2nd Lieutenant. He has been at the French front for about two years.” Joseph H. Pinsent was, of course, his uncle and not his father! Perhaps there was some reluctance to acknowledge the fact that Charles Samuel Pinsent was his father as his parents had recently gone through a messy, well publicized, divorce. Harold was made a full “Lieutenant” in September 1917 and was granted leave in November. This lead to an extended stint in hospital in Le Havre from December through to March 1918! It was probably preferable to being at the front.
Harold returned to action and Lieutenant Pinsent was awarded the “Military Cross” on 28th August 1918. As described by the London Gazette (11th October 1918): Lt. Harold Charles Pinsent (of the “Australian Imperial Force”) received the medal “For conspicuous gallantry when his platoon was held up by two machine guns. He immediately rushed the post, killing two of the enemy and capturing both guns. The following night he skillfully attacked an enemy post with his platoon, capturing eight prisoners and one machine gun without casualties to his men. He showed great courage and first class leadership.” Several Australian newspapers refer to the award and one notes that: “Lieut. Harold C. Pinsent, who has been awarded the Military Cross, enlisted as a private in November 1915. He was soon promoted sergeant, and in 1916 gained his commission. He was a member of the 14th Reinforcements, and on arrival in France was transferred to the 46th Battalion, of which he is still a member. He is a Fitzroy boy, and at one time was connected with “The Herald” publishing staff” (Weekly Times (Vic. 1914-1918) Saturday 26th October 1918). I did not know about that.
Harold was granted leave on 5th October 1918 and was in Paris in February 1919. From there, he was sent to “A.I.F. Headquarters” in London, England. He arrived at the end of March just in time to rejoin his unit and return to Australia on the troop-transport “Ypiringa”. He was discharged on 27th August 1919. In addition to the “Military Cross,” he was awarded the “Star”, “British War” and “Victory” service medals. In 1939, Australia’s Official “War Historian” – who was evidently still writing up Australia’s contribution to World War I – placed an advertisement in the Newcastle Sun (Tuesday 14th February 1914) seeking information on Harold’s whereabouts. Whether he made contact with him or not, I do not know.
It did not take long for Harold to find his feet on his return to Australia. He married Miss Muriel Elizabeth Hilda Rossbotham (“Hilda”) at North Carlton “Presbyterian” Church in Melbourne on 27th September 1919. The wedding was described, with a photograph attached, in a later issue of Table Talk (Thursday 9th October 1919). Miss E. Pinsent was one of the bride’s-maids. Presumably this was his sister, although I thought she had married long since!
After the war, Harold became a “motor driver” in St. Kilda. He may have been employed at “Shields’ Motor Garage” on “Flinders Street” in Melbourne as he reported that his bicycle had been stolen from the garage in April 1923 (Victoria, Australia, Police Gazette: 1855 – 1924). Harold and “Hilda” had a daughter, Heather Violet Pinsent in 1927. She was later to marry William Leonard Beacom in St. Kilda in September 1946 (The Age: Monday 16th September 1946).
In his spare time, Harold seems to have been interest in fishing. The Sporting Globe shows that H. Pincent and H. Hyder caught “90 flathead, one weighing 3 lb, and rock cod” at Beaumaris, in April 1928 (Sporting Globe: Saturday 28th April 1828). Not content with that, they caught a further 108 flathead a few weeks later (Sporting Glove: Saturday 16th June 1928).
The Australian Electoral Rolls show that Harold and “Hilda” lived at 5 Rothesay Avenue in St. Kilda, Victoria, in 1928 and that they were still there in 1931. However, their marriage did not last. He placed an advertisement in one the local papers in July 1933 stating that he would no longer be responsible “for any debts contracted in my name without my written authority” (The Age: Wednesday 5th July 1933). This was not a good sign. The couple got a divorce later that year. Harold Charles Pinsent could be found living on Lascelles Street, in Bourke, Coburg in 1936, while his ex-wife was in Barkly Street in St. Kilda. The Electoral Rolls also tell us that Harold was living with Veronica Mary Pinsent (née Collins) by 1942, so he must have remarried. I am not sure when or where. As far as I am know, “Hilda” never remarried. She appears to have become a “book binder” in Malvern Victoria.
In February 1940, Harold was summoned to attend Northcote Court for “not having his rear number place illuminated,” which must have been embarrassing for a professional “driver”. He was convicted and duly paid his £1 fine the following month (Victoria Petty Sessions: Register of Convictions, Orders and other Proceedings). He was still a “driver” and living on Lascelles Street in 1954.
Harold’s second marriage (to Veronica) may not have lasted long. The Electoral Rolls seems to show that he was living on his own in the early 1950s. However, he may have tried again and married for a third time in the 1950s. He was living with Wife (GRO1608) on O’Heas Street, in Coburg by 1963. He was described as being a “shopkeeper”; however, he must surely have retired by then! Harold and Wife (GRO1608) moved inland and they were living at Myrrhee near Wangaratta in 1968. It seems to have been a short stop as they had moved back to Moorabbin in Southern Melbourne by 1972. The Rolls go on to show that Harold Charles and Wife (GRO1608) were living at Moorabbin as late as 1980. Harold died in Melbourne in 1985.
Grandfather: Thomas James Pinsent 1833 – 1915
Grandmother: Elizabeth James: xxxx – 1908
Father: Charles Samuel Pinsent: 1864 – 1930
Mother: Edith Mary Dear: xxxx – 1924
Thomas James Pinsent: 1858 – 1932
William Henry Pinsent: 1860 – 1860
Elizabeth Pinsent: 1861 – 1870
Joseph Henry Pinsent: 1863 – 1945
William John Pinsent: 1866 – 1905
Harold Charles Appleford Pinsent: 1894 – 1985
Alfred Samuel Pinsent: 1895 – 1896
Clement James Pinsent: 1898 – 1898
William Watts Francis Pinsent: 1900 – 1977
George Watts Pinsent: 1902 – 1902
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Birth: 1902
Marriage: N/A
Spouse: N/A
Death: 1902
Family Branch: Australia
PinsentID: GRO1517
Grandfather: Thomas James Pinsent: 1833 – 1915
Grandmother: Elizabeth James: xxxx – 1908
Father: Charles Samuel Pinsent: 1864 – 1930
Mother: Edith Mary Dear: xxxx – 1924
Thomas James Pinsent: 1858 – 1932
William Henry Pinsent: 1860 – 1860
Elizabeth Pinsent: 1861 – 1870
Joseph Henry Pinsent: 1863 – 1945
Charles Samuel Pinsent: 1864 – 1930
William John Pinsent: 1866 – 1905
Harold Charles Appleford Pinsent: 1894 – 1985
Alfred Samuel Pinsent: 1895 – 1896
Clement James Pinsent: 1898 – 1898
William Watts Francis Pinsent: 1900 – 1977
George Watts Pinsent: 1902 – 1902
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.