Vital Statistics
John Thomas Pinsent: 1896 – 1958: GRO0531 (Electrician, Torquay, Devon and Hayes, Middlesex)
Annie Violet Keenor: 1899 – 1989
Married: 1921: Newton Abbot, Devon
Children by Annie Violet Keenor:
Hilary John Silvanus Pinsent: 1924 – 2019 (Married (1) Wife (GRO1452), Hayes, Middlesex, 1948; (2) Wife (GRO2010), Hamilton, Ohio, United States of America, 1973)
Robert Peter Derek Pinsent: 1926 – 2005 (Married (1) Eileen Florence Stenings, Hayes, Middlesex, 1948; (2) Margaret Iris Tweddle, Uxbridge, Middlesex, 1956)
Family Branch: Bristol
PinsentID: GRO0531
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John Thomas Pinsent was the eldest son of Alfred John Pinsent by his wife Rosina (née Train). He was born in Paignton in 1896 and grew up in the neighbouring community of Torquay with a younger brother (Robert Cecil Pinsent) and two younger sisters (Amy Rose Pinsent and Margery Rosina Pinsent). They all grew to maturity but John and Amy were the only ones to marry.
John’s father was a “printer” and “compositor” in Torquay at a time when the city was growing rapidly and the sandy beaches around the coast were becoming a popular holiday destination. The family had had “Methodist” leanings for several generations and John (“Jack”) and his siblings Amy, Maud Lymin (sic) and Robert attended the local “Primitive Methodist” Sunday School on Market Street, near their home at Rosemont, Ellacombe, in Torquay (Torquay Times and South Devon Advertiser: Friday 20th April 1906). Why the records show Maud rather than Margery, I do not know.
The Census records for 1911 show that John Thomas was a “plumber,” so he probably left school at the age of fourteen. He had taken on an apprenticeship with a local tradesman. When he filled out his forms to join the “Territorial Army” the following May, he said he was a single “plumber” employed by a Mr. Bovey. He also said he lived at home with his father in Torquay. He was 5 ft. 7 in. tall and fit enough to serve. He joined the “7th Battalion of the Devon Regiment” for four years on 8th May 1912. The “Territorial Army” was a home-based, part-time, institution that provided useful training for military life. Little did he know what lay ahead.
John Thomas Pinsent transferred to the “Army Cyclist Corp.” as a private (Regimental #569) in December 1914. The transfer made him eligible for service overseas. He was roughly nineteen and a half years old at the time, and still unmarried. He was 5 ft. 9 in. tall, weighed 160 lbs. and had a girth of 34 in with 4 in expansion. Presumably he had learned the basic requirements and he claimed to be an “electrician” rather than a “plumber”. He was posted to the “7th Dev. Cyclists Company” and shipped to France on 24th December 1914. John was generally considered to be “of good character” although he was docked a week’s pay for some illegible offense committed in March 1915. He bought war bonds in May that year and was granted seven days leave in England in December. He had been on active service for a year.
John was transferred to the “Royal Engineers (“L” Signals Battalion)” as a “Sapper” (Regimental #252889) on 13th July 1917 and proved to be a valuable asset. His records include a request from his commanding officer, dated 26th March 1918, requesting a pay increase for him as being able to “complete work equivalent to the test for the rate of a skilled engineer.” It was a field promotion. He was a “proficient linesman”. John Thomas had a further 14 days of leave in England in mid August 1918 and was finally demobilized at Chatham on 18th April 1919. He was awarded the “Victory” and “British Medals” and the 1915 “Star Medal” for his service in both units in France between 25th December 1914 and August 1918 (British Army WWI Service Records: 1914-1920: Ancestry.com) and (National Archives: WO 372/16).
When he was released from the army John Thomas rented a flat on Shaftesbury Road in Portsea, in Hampshire, for a few months (Hampshire, Portsmouth and Portsea Island Rate Book: April to September 1920: Findmypast) and then returned to Torquay where he found work as an “electrician” while living with his parents. He married Annie Violet Keenor in Torquay in July 1921. They had two sons: Hilary John Silvanus Pinsent – who was born in Bideford in North Devon and Robert Peter Derek Pinsent who was born, or at least baptized, in Torquay.
It was not a happy marriage – at least from Annie’s point of view. She filed an application for support with the magistrates in Torquay in 1928. Annie told them that: “They first resided at Dartmouth, but her husband’s business did not pay and they moved to Bideford. Whilst there, trouble arose. Subsequently her husband removed to Torquay, leaving her behind. She rejoined him but he went to live at Newton Abbot. Over 12 months ago he left her, and witness eventually learned he was in London. During the last 13 weeks her husband had been in work, but witness had received only two payments of 5s. She would be quite willing live with her husband”. The magistrates hoped the pair would resume married life together. Unfortunately, there was not much chance of that. According to another newspaper, there was “a little trouble between her and her husband on account of another woman” while they were living in Bideford, and one of her sons was living with her parents and the other with his parents. He did send her money intermittently but he said he was also “helping his sister.” Presumably he was referring to Margery as Amy would have been married (Torquay Times and South Devon Advertiser: Friday 27th July 1928). In the meantime, I hope they arranged for her to get support. The article does not say one way or the other (Wednesday Morning News: Tuesday 24th July 1928).
John Thomas and Annie Violet (or “Violet” as she seems have been more generally known) were still technically living on St. Paul’s Road in the Babbacombe part of Torquay in 1931 (England and Wales Electoral Registers: 1920-1932: [FindmyPast]). However, they finally split up and John Thomas moved up to London shortly thereafter. The Electoral registers also show that John was living in the Ealing-Greenford South Ward in Harrow in 1935. Presumably he was there for work.
John was living with is sister, Amy Veale (née Pinsent) on King’s Road in Kingston-Upon-Thames, in Surrey, when the Second Word War Register was compiled in 1939. By then, he was an “electrical engineer, power and factory maintenance” worker. His wife, Annie, meantime, was still in Torquay living on Windemere Road with her younger son, Robert. She was a “daily cook” and he was a still in school. There was “One other” person mentioned but redacted. This was probably Hilary.
John had a brush with the law in 1943, when charged at Acton Police Court with stealing a soldering iron and photographic equipment and plates from his employer at CAV Limited in 1943. He claimed that he had been framed, but did admit to taking some of the material “for research” purposes (Acton Gazette: Friday 16th April 1943). What he was up to and what his fate was, I do not know
The Electoral rolls show that Annie Violet and her two sons, Robert and Hilary Pinsent, were living at 28 Shakespeare Avenue in the borough of Southall, Hayes in 1947; however, the two boys both married the following year. Their lives are discussed elsewhere.
Hilary Pinsent and his wife Sheila (née Long) were living on Bourne Avenue in Hayes, Middlesex in 1949 and also in1953. They sailed for New York in the Cunard Ship “Queen Mary” on 3rd June 1954 giving their last address in England as 33 Bond Street in Ealing, London and their intention of settling in Canada. Their immediate destination was the Ford Hotel in Toronto, Ontario. They had six pieces of luggage with them – and a dog [The New York Passenger and Crew Lists (FindmyPast)]!
Annie went out Canada to see them and to inspect her newly arrived grandson in 1956. New York passenger lists show that she was in transit to Canada when she arrived on the “Queen Elizabeth” on 15th May that year. Her ultimate destination was 12 Minnie Avenue, Downsview, Toronto. It was a short trip. She arrived back in Southampton on the “Queen Mary” on 26th June that year. She was said to be a “cook supervisor” returning to 28 Shakespeare Avenue in Hayes, Middlesex.
Annie lived with on Shakespeare Avenue her younger son Robert Peter Derek Pinsent until he married Eileen Florence Stenings in December 1948. Sadly, Eileen died the following year so Robert returned home to live with his mother. His engagement to Lena McCarty was announced in the Buckingshire Advertiser on the 27th November 1953; however, I am not sure that anything came of it (Uxbridge & W. Drayton Gazette: Friday 27th November 1953). He was still living with his mother in Hayes when he finally did remarry, in 1956. He then moved out but Annie stayed on in the family home with a variety of lodgers – at least until 1965.
John Thomas Pinsent died in the “Royal Surrey County Hospital” in Guildford in September 1958. His estranged widow, Annie Violet lived on in the London area – perhaps in Shakespeare Avenue. She died in Hillingsdon, in Middlesex in January 1989.
Family Tree
GRANDPARENTS
Grandfather: Thomas Pinsent: 1834 – 1917
Grandmother: Mary Ann Gilley: 1839 – 1895
PARENTS
Father: Alfred John Pinsent: 1869 – 1939
Mother: Rosina Train: 1865 – 1947
FATHER’S SIBLINGS (AUNTS, UNCLES)
William Thomas Pinsent: 1870 – 1871
Frederick William Pinsent: 1872 – 1912
MALE SIBLINGS (BROTHERS)
Robert Cecil Pinsent: 1898 – 1920
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