Vital Statistics
Hilary John Silvanus Pinsent: 1924 – 2019 GRO0423 Bristol (Aircraft Design Engineer, Hamilton, Ohio, United States of America)
1. Wife (GRO1452)
Married: 1948: Hayes, Middlesex
Children by Wife (GRO1452):
Son (GRO0054)
2. Wife (GRO2010)
Married: 1973: Hamilton, Ohio, United States of America
Family Branch: Bristol
PinsentID: GRO0423
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Hilary John Silvanus Pinsent was the eldest son of John Thomas Pinsent and his wife Annie Violet (née Keenor). He was born in Bideford in North Devon. His father was an electrician who moved around to find work and the family settled in Torquay when he was two years old. Hilary’s brother, Robert Peter Derek Pinsent was born there in 1926.
Sadly, the marriage seems to have fallen apart shortly thereafter, and John went up to London to look for work, while Annie stayed on in Torquay to looked after the children. She had to apply to the magistrates for a maintenance order in 1928 (Wednesday Morning News: Tuesday 24th July 1928). The magistrates hoped that they would get back together again; however, there is no indication that they ever did.
When the Pre-War Register was compiled in 1939, Annie was living on Windemere Road in Torquay with her younger son, Robert. She was a “daily cook” and he was a school boy. The “one other” person who’s name was redacted was probably Hilary. He was to become an “Aeronautical Engineer,” and the following year he was awarded a “Society of British Aircraft Constructors and the Royal Aeronautical Society” scholarship (The Aeroplane: Volume 59: p53: 1940). It must have been an exciting time to be working in the industry.
The Electoral rolls show that Annie Violet moved up to London after the war and she was living with her two sons, Robert and Hilary at #28 Shakespeare Avenue in the borough of Southall, Hayes in 1947. Her sons both married the following year. Hilary Pinsent was an “aircraft technician” when he married and later Electoral Rolls (1954) show that Wife (GRO1452) was a “nurse” working at Middlesex Hospital, on Mortimer Street in St. Marylebone. The couple lived on Bourne Avenue in Hayes, in Middlesex in 1949, and they were still there in 1953.
The couple decided to emigrate and a ship’s manifest shows that they left England for New York in the Cunard Ship “Queen Mary” on 3rd June 1954. They gave their last address in England as 33 Bond Street in Ealing, London, and gave settling in Canada as their intention. A New York Passenger and Crew List (FindmyPast] show that their first stop was to be the Ford Hotel in Toronto, Ontario. They had six pieces of luggage with them – and a dog! Wife (GRO1452) may well have been pregnant at the time as she had their son sometime in 1955.
Hilary’s mother, Annie Violet went out to see them and meet her grandson in 1956. The passenger lists show that she arrived in New York on the “Queen Elizabeth” on 15th May 1956 and tell us that she was in transit to 12 Minnie Avenue, Downsview, Toronto. It was a short visit. She arrived back in Southampton on the “Queen Mary” on 26th June that year. Annie said she was a “cook supervisor” returning to 28 Shakespeare Avenue in Hayes, Middlesex.
I am not sure whether the couple divorced, or if Wife (GRO1452) died – there was a woman of that name who died in Montreal on 2nd January 2009 (Montreal Gazette: 14th January 2009) and this could be her if she reverted to using her maiden name. Regardless, we know that Hilary crossed over to the United States at some point and settled in Ohio. He married Wife (GRO2010) while he was living in Hamilton, Ohio, in 1973. His son seems to have followed him down as he married there the following year. The United States directories show that, Hilary J. Pinsent was living on Willfleet Drive in Cincinnati, Ohio, in the early 1990s, so he presumably stayed on there.
Hilary J. S. Pinsent, of Sharonville, Ohio, died at Hollywood, Florida on 12th March 2019. His obituary was placed in the Cincinnati Enquirer and other papers on 15th March 2019.
Family Tree
GRANDPARENTS
Grandfather: Alfred John Pinsent: 1869 – 1939
Grandmother: Rosina Train: 1865 – 1947
PARENTS
Father: John Thomas Pinsent: 1896 – 1958
Mother: Annie Violet Keenor: 1899 – 1989
FATHER’S SIBLINGS (AUNTS, UNCLES)
Vera Effie Pinsent: 1895 – 1895
Robert Cecil Pinsent: 1898 – 1920
Amy Rose Pinsent: 1900 – 1973
Margery Rosina Pinsent: 1907 – 1998
MALE SIBLINGS (BROTHERS)
Robert Peter Derek Pinsent: 1926 – 2005
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