Vital Statistics
William Watts Francis Pinsent: 1900 – 1977 GRO1283 (Photographer, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia)
Eva Dorothy Truscott: xxxx – 1983
Married: 1924: Burwood, New South Wales, Australia
Children by Eva Dorothy Truscott:
Brenda Irene Pinsent: 1932 – 2001
Family Branch: Australia
PinsentID: GRO1283
William Watts Francis Pinsent was ostensibly the second surviving son of Charles Samuel Pinsent by his wife Edith Mary Dear. However, he was born in Fremantle in Western Australian several years after they separated so he was probably not legitimate. William had an elder (legitimate) half-sister, Elizabeth Edith Pinsent and half-elder brother Harold Charles Appleford Pinsent. Two other half-brothers, Alfred Samuel Pinsent, Clement James Pinsent and one true brother George Watts Pinsent seem to have died in infancy.
William’s mother separated from her husband in 1898, two years before he was born but they only formally separated when she returned to Melbourne, where her husband lived, in 1914. Edith’s husband Charles Samuel Pinsent, who was a “painter” by trade, accused Edith of desertion as William Watts Francis Pinsent was born in 1900 and his short-lived brother George Watts Pinsent was born in 1902 – long after he had returned to Melbourne. However, it is not clear that she did not have cause. It was an acrimonious separation and William’s mother had to sue her erstwhile husband for support when she returned to Melbourne (The Truth: Saturday 15th August 1914). She described how her husband had become abusive in testimony given in “Fitzroy County Court”, and said that on one occasion, at the end of their relationship, she went to collect her belongings and found that he had sold them – even the sewing machine she needed to look after herself as a “dress maker.” Her two surviving sons (presumably Harold and William) were by then (1914) nearly fully grown but the magistrates ordered Charles Samuel to pay her 27s per week in maintenance anyway – with a £25 penalty should he fail.
Edith’s daughter (Elizabeth Edith Pinsent) had probably married in Western Australia in 1912; however, there is an element of doubt about that as a “Miss E. Pinsent” was bridesmaid at her brother Harold’s wedding in 1919. Her son Harold had served with distinction in “Australian Imperial Force” during the “First World War”. He had risen in rank from “private” to “lieutenant” and had been awarded a “Military Cross” along the way.
William was a photographer who settled near Sydney in New South Wales. He was living with his mother in Darlinghurst when she died in April 1924. William married Eva Dorothy Truscott in Burwood, Sydney, that December (Burwood Anglican Parish Register (1814-2011). Interestingly, the parish record shows that although William gave his own and his mother’s information correctly; however, he said he was the son of “William Henry Pinsent”. I am not aware of a “William Henry Pinsent” in the family – at least in his generation. Perhaps his true father was “William Henry Watts” and he had conflated the two.
While William was living on Francis Street in Five Dock (part of Sydney) in 1927, he applied to the local authorities for a permit to work on (presumably rebuild) a “Weatherboard Cottage on Trafalgar Street” (The Sydney Daily Telegraph: also the Construction and Local Government Journal: Wednesday 16th November 1927). Perhaps he had realized how profitable real estate development could be as he also applied for permits for a cottage on “Ludgate Street” the following February (The Sydney Daily Telegraph: Wednesday 22nd February 1928).
The photography business was probably a little slow during the “Second World War” so William dabbled as a “trader” while it was on and found himself in a “Special Federal Court“ answering charges that he had “supplied coupon goods otherwise than against the surrender of the proper number of coupons”. He pleaded guilty to two such charges and the magistrate imposed a fine of £10, with costs, in each case (Sydney Morning Herald: Friday 31st December 1943). He probably went back to photography after the war.
William and Eva had a daughter Brenda Irene Pinsent in Five Dock, Sydney, in 1932. She attended the “Presbyterian Ladies College” in Croydon in the late 1940s and graduated in 1950 (The Sydney Daily Telegraph: Thursday 12th January 1950). She must have been a good-looking girl as a local newspaper states: “Social Chatter: … One of the prettiest debs presented to the Gov-Gen. (Mr. McKell) at the Highland Society’s Ball at the Town Hall recently was brown-eyed Brenda Pinsent of Fivedock: Brenda Wore a bouffant gown of satin striped taffeta and tulle” (Truth: Sydney, NSW: 1894 – 1954: Sunday 16th July 1950). The Electoral Rolls show that she later became a teacher in Australia’s Capital Territory and played doubles tennis competitively for the “North Uni” team in 1957 (Canberra Times: Monday 22nd July 1957).
Brenda Irene taught at “Turner Infant’s School” and put her children through a “number drill” for the edification the parents and friends at an “Open Day” in August 1961. Brenda and the children had their photograph taken while doing so (Canberra Times: Tuesday 8th August 1961). She sold off her hiking gear in October 1966 (Canberra Times: 15th October 1966) and joined a “Cultural Clubs Working Committee” as “publicity officer” in 1969 (Canberra Times: Friday 18th July 1969). She married but died in Canberra in 2001 (Canberra Times: 9th June 2001).
The Electoral Rolls show that William and Eva Pinsent lived on “Newcastle Street” in Five Dock from the early 1930s until at least 1968. William was described as being “late of Five Docks” when he died in 1977 (Sydney Morning Herald: 11th April 1977). His widow, Eva (née Truscott), died in 1983 (Canberra Times: Thursday 1st September 1983). They may have had children, other than Brenda; however, if they did I am not aware of them.
Family Tree
Grandparents
Grandfather: Thomas James Pinsent: 1833 – 1915
Grandmother: Elizabeth James: xxxx – 1908
Parents
Father: Charles Samuel Pinsent: 1864 – 1930
Mother: Edith Mary Dear: xxxx – 1924
Father’s Siblings (Aunts, Uncles)
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
Male Siblings (Brothers)
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.