a history
Birth: 1881
Marriage: 1908
Spouse: Robert Maye Pinsent
Death: 1968
Family Branch: Devonport
PinsentID: GRO1081
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Michael Roy Pinsent: 1927 – 2019 GRO0690 (Solicitor, Pinsent & Co., Birmingham)
1) Stella Marie Priestman: 1927 – 1987
Married: 1952: Birmingham
Children by Stella Marie Priestman:
Son (GRO0910)
Daughter (GRO0702)
Daughter (GRO0857)
2) Wife (GRO1556)
Married: 1992
Children by Wife (GRO1556):
Son (GRO1002)
Sophie Laura Pinsent: 1978 – 2002
Family Branch: Devonport
PinsentID: GRO0690
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Michael Roy Pinsent was the second son of Roy Pinsent and Mary Tirzah (née Walls). He was born in Birmingham in 1927 and he was brought up in Selly Oak with an elder brother, Christopher Roy and a younger sister (GRO0764). According to a Ship’s manifest, his parents took their children on a trip to the south of France in the summer of 1936 when Michael would have been schoolboy and around nine years old (see Roy Pinsent). He probably attended “Down School” near Bristol before moving on “Marlborough College” (a “Public” i.e. “private” school) He was a schoolboy there during the “Second World War.” The school was well known to the family. His father and several of his father’s cousins had been there before him. However, his elder brother, Christopher, had, for some reason or other been sent to a different school – “Winchester College.” Michael passed his “Oxford and Cambridge Certificate” examinations in July 1942 and July 1944 respectively (Western Daily Press: 24th September 1942, and 22nd September, 1944).
Michael served in the “cadet corps.” while at “Marlborough”, and on leaving school he joined the “Royal Corps of Signals” as a “Second Lieutenant” (London Gazette: 14th January 1947). His uncle, John Ryland Pinsent, had been a senior and well respected officer in the “Corps.” Perhaps this influenced his choice. The war was over but the British Army was desperate for recruits at the time as it had lost a lot of critical personnel – both as war-time casualties and in post-war demobilization. In fact, Government was shortly to institute “National Service.” This was 12 to 18 months of compulsory military service for all boys on leaving school. The war in Europe may have been over but there were plenty of other places where Britain needed its army.
Michael Roy was promoted to “Lieutenant” and sent to Palestine – which was, incidentally, where his father had served during the First World War. Unfortunately for Britain, the United Nations had given it a mandate to govern the country, and the Israelis were in the midst of a terror campaign aimed at getting them out. They blew up the King David Hotel. It was an untenable situation for Britain and it withdrew in May 1948. Michael was; there on active service and he received a medal for his part in the campaign.
Michael’s grandfather, Sir Richard Alfred Pinsent, died in 1948 and his father, Roy, succeeded to the baronetcy and became head of the Birmingham Law firm, “Pinsent and Co.” Michael must have felt that law was the obvious route forward when he left the army. He Michael was a “solicitor’s clerk” when he married Stella Marie Priestman, the daughter of an “actuary”, in Birmingham, in July 1952 (Evening Despatch: Tuesday 13th May 1952).
The couple lived in a flat at “Cresswell Gardens” in S.W. 5. in London. Michael was called to the bar and admitted as a “solicitor” the following year (Debrett’s Illustrated Baronetage) and he joined “Pinsent and Co.” as a “junior partner” on 1st July 1954. He was a “notary public” who seems to have handled foreign legal documents and specialized in immigration law. Presumably, he took on a wide range of administrative as well as legal work as his father was nearing retirement.
Michael Roy took over some of his father’s philanthropic projects; most notably his work for the “Boys’ and Girls’ Union”. In 1967, he was appointed to the “chair” of its “Rebuilding Committee” and, as such, he oversaw the building of its leisure centre on the Smallbrook Ringway in Birmingham City Centre. It was to replace “Kyrle Hall”, which had been taken over by “Aston University”. The cost of building and running the place was always going to be a problem; however, it was greatly eased by a donation of £50,000 by a Mr. Samuel Locker, in memory of his son. That must have helped considerably (Birmingham Daily Post: Friday 21st July 1967).
Michael and Stella took over Sir Roy’s father’s flat at “29 Selly Wick Road” sometime in the mid 1950s (Midlands Electoral Registers: Ancestry.com), however; they moved out of the city after the birth of their son in 1955. Their two daughters were born in Wootton Warren, in Warwickshire, in 1957 and 1959 respectively.
Michael and Stella seemed to have parted company sometime in the 1960s and Michael may have married (GRO1556) in Birmingham in around 1970. I admit some uncertainty here as the records actually show that Michael R. Pinsent married in Birmingham in June 1992. He seems to have had two more children; a son born in 1973, and a daughter Sophie Laura Pinsent who arrived in 1978. Michael and his wife were living with Sophie on Wellington Road in 1992. Sadly, she died a few years later, in 2002.
Michael resigned from the family law firm at a relatively young age to “to concentrate on outdoor sports hobbies and travel with his wife” (Birmingham Mail: Friday 21st December 1984). He was said to be a keen skier who had recently taken up surfboarding – which is impressive. The “Law Society Gazette” shows that Michael Roy resigned as a solicitor on 27th April 1993, at the age of 66 years. Nevertheless, he remained on the books as a “notary public”, living at “#61 Wellington Road, Birmingham, B 15 2ER” until 2011. By then he was, however, listed as “inactive”, which at the age of 83 does not seem at all unreasonable! (www.yel.com/s/notaries-Birmingham).
Michael’s first wife, Stella Marie (née Priestman) never remarried. She died near Petersfield, in Hampshire, in October 1987. His second wife may still alive. He, himself, died in 2019. I am not sure of the status of his living children. The line may continue.
Grandfather: Richard Alfred Pinsent: 1852 – 1948
Grandmother: Laura Proctor Ryland: 1855 – 1931
Father: Roy Pinsent: 1883 – 1978
Mother: Mary Tirzah Walls: 1898 – 1951
Clive Pinsent: 1886 – 1948
John Ryland Pinsent: 1888 – 1957
Laurence Alfred Pinsent: 1894 – 1915
Philip Ryland Pinsent: 1897 – 1916
Christopher Roy Pinsent: 1922 – 2015
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Michael Edward Pinsent: 1943 – 2017 GRO0689 (Driver, Motor Works, Luton, Bedfordshire)
Wife (GRO1439)
Married: 1963: Luton, Bedfordshire
Children by Wife (GRO1439):
Son (GRO1073)
Son (GRO1074)
Family Branch: Devonport
Family Summary: Devonport
PinsentID: GRO0689
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Michael Edward Pinsent was the younger son of Alfred Sidney Pinsent’s sons by Gladys Ivy Pinsent (née Bleaney). He was born in Luton, in Bedfordshire, in 1943. There is very little known of his early life; however, he married in 1963. At that time, Michael was a “driver” at a “motor works”. They had two sons.
Michael Edward Pinsent was living at 12 Manor Park, Houghton Regis, in 1980 (British Telephone books). Michael died in April 2017. His family may well be still living in Luton.
Grandfather: Alfred Charles Pinsent: 1881 – 1942
Grandmother: Sarah Ann Dyer: 1881 – 1940
Father: Alfred Sidney Pinsent: 1909 – 1983
Mother: Gladys Ivy Bleaney: 1911 – 1996
Winifred Sarah Pinsent: 1905 – xxxx
Lilian Violet Pinsent: 1906 – 1983
Ivor Barry Pinsent: 1938 – 2009
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Birth: 1970
Marriage: 2002
Spouse: Demetra Koutsoukos
Death: N/A
Children by Demetra Koutsoukos:
Son (GRO1640)
Daughter (GRO1641)
Daughter (GRO1642)
Family Branch: Devonport
PinsentID: GRO1117
Grandfather: Clive Pinsent: 1886 – 1948
Grandmother: Kathleen Jane Macpherson: 1895 – 1974
Father: Ewen Macpherson Pinsent: 1930 – 2020
Mother: Mother (GRO1372)
Andrew Clive Macpherson Pinsent: 1922 – 1982
James Macpherson Pinsent: 1925 – 1983
Ewan Macpherson Pinsent: 1930 – 2020
Thomas Neil Pinsent: 1964 – 1984
Matthew Clive Pinsent: 1970 – xxxx
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Birth: 1844 (née Matilda Churchward; married as Churched)
Marriage: 1870
Spouse: Alfred Pinsent
Death: 1888
Family Branch: Devonport
PinsentID: GRO0681
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Birth: 1873
Marriage: N/A
Spouse: N/A
Death: 1873
Family Branch: Devonport
PinsentID: GRO0680
Grandfather: Charles Pinsent: 1812 -1863
Grandmother: Mary Fullick: 1812 – 1852
Father: Alfred Pinsent: 1848 – 1919
Mother: Matilda Churched: 1844 – 1888
Mary Ann Elizabeth Pinsent: 1833 – 1868
Thomas Pinsent: 1836 – 1838
Charles Pinsent: 1837 – 1862
George Pinsent: 1840 – 1875
Amelia Pinsent: 1842 – 1901
Alice Pinsent: 1844 – xxxx
Eliza Pinsent: 1846 – 1847
Alfred Pinsent: 1848 – 1919
Henry James Pinsent: 1850 – 1853
Frederick Pinsent: 1852 – 1929
Georgiana Caroline Pinsent: 1854 – xxxx
Eliza Marian Pinsent: 1856 – 1857
William C. “Pinsent”: 1866 – xxxx
Alfred Charles Pinsent: 1877 – 1948
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Birth: 1897
Marriage: 1918
Spouse: Roy Pinsent
Death: 1951
Family Branch: Devonport
PinsentID: GRO0679
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Birth: 1919 (née Robinson)
Marriage: 1945
Spouse: Harold William Pinsent
Death: N/A
Family Branch: Devonport
PinsentID: GRO1255
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Birth: 1806
Marriage: 1826
Spouse: Thomas Horton
Death: 1884
Family Branch: Devonport
PinsentID: GRO1387
Grandfather: Thomas Pinsent: 1754 – 1841
Grandmother: Anne Ball: 1747 – 1794
Father: Thomas Pinsent: 1782 – 1872
Mother: Mary Savery: 1780 – 1859
Anna Thomasin Crout Pinsent: 1777 – 1799
Thomas Pinsent: 1779 – 1779
Thomas Pinsent: 1782 – 1872
Elizabeth Pinsent: 1789 – xxxx
Maria Pinsent: 1797 – 1864
John Pinsent: 1799 – 1870
William Pinsent: 1808 – xxxx
Charles Pinsent: 1812 – 1863
George Pinsent: 1814 – 1894
Thomas Pinsent: 1807 – 1826
Savery Pinsent: 1815 – 1886
John Ball Pinsent: 1819 – 1901
Richard Steele Pinsent: 1820 – 1864
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Birth: 1919
Marriage: N/A
Spouse: N/A
Death: 1919
Family Branch: Devonport
PinsentID: GRO0671
Grandfather: Richard Alfred Pinsent: 1852 – 1948
Grandmother: Laura Proctor Ryland: 1855 – 1931
Father: John Ryland Pinsent: 1888 – 1957
Mother: Kathleen May Boyce: 1894 – 1969
Roy Pinsent: 1883 – 1978
Clive Pinsent: 1886 – 1948
Laurence Alfred Pinsent: 1894 – 1915
Philip Ryland Pinsent: 1897 – 1916
John Laurence Pinsent: 1916 – 2014
Richard Alan Pinsent: 1931 – 2019
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