a history
Cambridge Tripos: The Wrangles. The order of merit for the Cambridge Mathematical Tripos ceased last year … (list includes) … G. H. S. Pinsent, Trinity …
Transcribed in whole or part from scanned originals: Presented with or without modified text and punctuation. For absolute accuracy refer to the original newspapers. Source: The British Newspaper Archive.
GRO0365 Devonport: Gerald Hume Saverie Pinsent: 1888 – 1976
Birth: 1819 (née Sharpe)
Marriage: 1842
Spouse: Henry John Pinsent
Death: 1904
Family Branch: India
PinsentID: GRO0140
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William Henry Pinsent: 1845 – 1895 GRO0899 (P. & O. Co. Clerk, Southampton, Hampshire)
Frances Arabella Baker: 1842 – 1923
Married: 1885: Stratford, Essex
Family Branch: India
PinsentID: GRO0899
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William Henry Pinsent was the eldest of Henry John Pinsent’s sons by his wife Charlotte Best (née Sharpe). He was born in Calcutta in the Presidency of Bengal in India while his father was out there working as a “purser” or local administrator for the Pacific and Orient Company. The firm started small but grew rapidly in the mid 1800s after acquiring contracts to carry mail to Britain’s expanding eastern empire. It helped developed the transportation system to the orient both before and after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869.
As a child, William Henry Pinsent spent very little time in India, as his parents (or his mother at least) was back living in Highgate, in London when his younger brother, Charles Powell Tronson Pinsent arrived on the scene in 1849. William’s father rose in seniority in the “P. & O. Co.” and he moved his family to Portswood, in South Stoneham, near Southampton to be near its centre of operations in 1853 – after the birth of his third son (Frederick Henry Davison Pinsent) in December 1852 but before the birth of his first daughter (Frances Anne Pinsent) in September 1853.
John Henry was a “Superintendent Purser” for the “P. & O. Co.“ in Southampton for over twenty years. His children grew up in Portswood and were educated in Southampton. His two younger sons attended the P. & O. Co. School in Southampton. However, William Henry probably missed out on that, as it was not built until the early 1860s. Nevertheless, he received a good education and on leaving school joined his father in the “P. & O. Co.” service as a “clerk”. His work seems to have been largely limited to Southampton; however, he went out to Calcutta on the “S. S. Pera” in November 1867 (London and China Express: Tuesday 26th November 1867) and to Madras on the “S. S. Simla” in 1868 (Allen’s Indian Mail and Official Gazette: Thursday 30th January 1868). Presumably that was on business. Ships manifests also show him returning from Bombay on the “S. S. Bokhara” in July 1875 (Hampshire Advertiser: Wednesday 7th July 1875). Presumably these were intermittent trips as William was involved in activities in and around Southampton in the 1860s and 1870s.
William Henry joined a militia unit, the “First Hants. Artillery Volunteers” in the 1860s and his father, who had been asked to present one of the traditional toasts at a dinner in support of the Southampton “Volunteers,” said “Success to No. 3 Company” -“Although he was not a Volunteer himself he had much sympathy with them, and he had a son who was a member of the company. He wished them every success, and he thought that as long as they continued to do their duty and attend to their drill they need not fear being invaded” (Hampshire Advertiser: Saturday 5th December 1863). Son William was promoted from Gunner to Bombardier, in July 1870 (Hampshire Advertiser: Saturday 9th July 1870) and was part of a detachment that attended a “National Artillery Association” competition in Shoeburyness the following month (Hampshire Advertiser: Saturday 20th August 1870).
Military dress was quite acceptable at “Fancy Dress” balls in those days, and William proudly wore his when he joined his father and his sister Frances Anne Pinsent at the Mayor and Mayoress’s ball in November 1870. She went at “Titania, the Fairy Queen” (Hampshire Advertiser: Wednesday 9th November 1870). He was probably also in uniform when he attended the First Hants. Volunteer Engineer’s ball in 1876 (Hampshire Advertiser: Saturday 22nd January 1876).
William Henry married a widow, Frances Arabella (née Baker) in Stratford, in Essex in 1885. She was the daughter of an “auctioneer” from Poole in Dorset. He was thirty-nine years old and, according to census data, had, hitherto, lived with his parents. I am not aware of them ever having children.
William Henry and his brothers in India were active members of the “United Grand Lodge of Freemasons”. William was initiated into the order while living in Southampton in 1884. He had moved to Romford in Essex by the time of the 1891 Census; so perhaps he was then working for the “P. & O. Co.” out of London. If he was, he resigned from the company shortly thereafter – for health reasons. William Henry renewed his Freemason membership at the “St. John’s Lodge” of the “Order at Grays”, near Thurrock, in Essex in 1888. He was one of many lodge members who attend a church service in support of the “West Ham Hospital” when it was held in St. John’s Church, Stratford, in 1894 (Walthamstow Express: Saturday 14th July 1894). Lodge records show that he paid his annual subscription up until 1895. The last entry notes plaintively “Died August 1895”. He had contracted tuberculosis (London and China Express: Friday 30th August 1895) and he died at #383 Romford Road on 22nd August (Eastern Mercury: Tuesday 27th August 1895). The Probate Index shows that William Henry left his wife his effects valued at £981.
Frances Arabella never remarried (twice was enough!). Census records show that she was living “on her own means” on Kings Road in Windsor, in Berkshire in 1901 and also in 1911. She died at #24 Airlie Gardens, in Romford, Essex, in March 1923. She outlived her husband by approximately twenty-eight years.
Grandfather: Henry Pinsent: 1769 – 1854
Grandmother: Joanna Wogan: 1772 – 1848
Father: Henry John Pinsent: 1812 – 1894
Mother: Charlotte Best Sharpe: 1819 – 1904
Mary Ann Pinsent: 1802 – xxxx
Henrietta Pinsent: 1803 – 1806
Eliza Pinsent: 1805 – 1839
Henrietta Pinsent: 1806 – xxxx
Joanna Pinsent: 1808 – xxxx
Emma Pinsent: 1811 – xxxx
Henry John Pinsent: 1812 – 1894 ✔️
George Pinsent: 1814 – 1838
Emma Pinsent: 1817 – xxxx
William Henry Pinsent: 1845 – 1895 ✔️
Charles Powell Tronson Pinsent: 1849 – 1904
Frederick Henry Davison Pinsent: 1852 – 1902
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Birth: 1894
Marriage: 1918
Spouse: Henry Adrian Roberts
Death: 1981
Family Branch: India
PinsentID: GRO0723
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Grandfather: Henry John Pinsent: 1812 – 1894
Grandmother: Charlotte Best Sharpe: 1819 – 1904
Father: Charles Powell Tronson Pinsent: 1849 – 1904
Mother: Harriet Ann Soden: 1860 – 1949
William Henry Pinsent: 1845 – 1895
Charles Powell Tronson Pinsent: 1849 – 1904 ✔️
Frederick Henry Davison Pinsent: 1852 – 1902
Frances Anne Pinsent: 1853 – xxxx
Eliza Charlotte Pinsent: 1857 – xxxx
Mary Louisa Pinsent: 1859 – 1948
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Birth: 1859
Marriage: N/A
Spouse: N/A
Death: 1948
Family Branch: India
PinsentID: GRO0673
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Grandfather: Henry Pinsent: 1769 – 1854
Grandmother: Joanna Wogan: 1772 – 1848
Father: Henry John Pinsent: 1812 – 1894
Mother: Charlotte Best Sharpe: 1819 – 1904
Mary Ann Pinsent: 1802 – xxxx
Henrietta Pinsent: 1803 – 1806
Eliza Pinsent: 1805 – 1839
Henrietta Pinsent: 1806 – xxxx
Joanna Pinsent: 1808 – xxxx
Emma Pinsent: 1811 – xxxx
Henry John Pinsent: 1812 – 1894 ✔️
George Pinsent: 1814 – 1838
Emma Pinsent: 1817 – xxxx
William Henry Pinsent: 1845 – 1895
Charles Powell Tronson Pinsent: 1849 – 1904
Frederick Henry Davison Pinsent: 1852 – 1902
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Birth: 1802
Marriage: N/A
Spouse: N/A
Death: N/A
Family Branch: India
PinsentID: GRO1651
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Grandfather: John Pinson: 1734 – N/A (unconfirmed)
Grandmother: Elizabeth Lang: N/A – N/A
Father: Henry Pinsent: 1769 – 1854
Mother: Joanna Wogan: 1772 – 1848
Henry John Pinsent: 1812 – 1894
George Pinsent: 1814 – 1838
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Birth: 1861 (née Sharpe)
Spouse: Frederick Henry Davison Pinsent (1900), Frank Willis (1904)
Death: 1948
Family Branch: India
PinsentID: GRO0616
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Birth: 1766
Marriage: N/A
Spouse: N/A
Death: N/A
Family Branch: India
PinsentID: GRO1636
Father: John Pinson: 1734 – xxxx
Mother: Elizabeth Lang: xxxx – xxxx
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Birth: N/A
Marriage: 1763
Spouse: Elizabeth Lang
Death: N/A
Children by Elizabeth Lang:
Margaret Pinson: 1766 – xxxx
Henry Pinsent: 1769 – 1854 (Unconfirmed)
Family Branch: India
PinsentID: GRO1634
John Pinson was the founder of the India branch.
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Birth: 1808
Marriage: 1830
Spouse: William Bellman
Death: N/A
Family Branch: India
PinsentID: GRO1649
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Grandfather: John Pinson: 1734 – xxxx (unconfirmed)
Grandmother: Elizabeth Lang: xxxx – xxxx
Father: Henry Pinsent: 1769 – 1854
Mother: Joanna Wogan: 1772 – 1848
Henry John Pinsent: 1812 – 1894
George Pinsent: 1814 – 1838
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