Vital Statistics
Thomas Pinsent: 1776 – 1856 (Carpenter, London, Middlesex and Bovey Tracey, Devon)
Lucia Ferrers: xxxx – xxxx
Married: 1806: Westminster, Middlesex
Children by Lucia Ferrers:
*Emma Pinsent: 1808 – 1881 (Married Robert Perriman French, Bovey Tracey, 1849)
Joseph Pinsent: 1812 – 1820
Mary Pinsent: 1813 – xxxx
Elizabeth Pinsent: 1814 – 1821
Lucia Pinsent: 1816 – 1816
* Emma’s illegitimate child: Georgiana Vallee Pinsent: 1840 – xxxx
Family Branch: Teignmouth
PinsentID: GRO0837
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Thomas Pinsent was the younger son of Joseph Pinsent by his wife, Mary (née Mary Berry). He was born in Bovey Tracey and grew up there with an elder brother John Pinsent and at least three younger sisters. His father was a tenant farmer who worked on a parcel of land at “Yeo,” a large farm that had at one time all belonged to the Pinsent family. John Pinsent, Thomas’s elder brother, appears to have died around 1808 and Joseph gave up farming around then. He bought houses as an investment instead. It was a smart move at a time as the town of Bovey Tracey was growing in response to the growth of the local potteries and brickyards.
Thomas trained to be a “carpenter” and he was apprenticed to “Thomas Week & Son”, in Chudleigh in 1791 when he was fifteen years old (U.K. Register of Duties Paid for Apprentices’ Indentures: 1710-1811: Ancestry.com). After completing his training, he moved up to London, where he married Lucia Ferrers in St. James’s parish in Westminster, in 1806. They had five children, one son and four daughters in the years that followed. Thomas was a “carpenter” by trade; however, he settled for being a “coal merchant” in Ealing in West London for a few years in the mid 1810s. He paid London Land Tax while living in Ealing from 1816 to 1822 (London Land Tax: 1692-1960). Thomas’s son Joseph Pinsent died in St. Marylebone parish in Westminster in 1820. He was eight years old. It is not clear what happened Thomas’s daughter Mary but his two younger girls, Elizabeth and Lucia died young.
Mortality rates in London were exceptionally high in early decades of the 19th Century. The sanitation was poor and mortality rates were high. Thomas and his daughter Emma were back in Devon long before Dr. John Snow finally showed that an outbreak of cholera in Soho in 1854 was caused by water from a contaminated water pump. The build up of sewage in the Thames in 1858 caused what came to be known as the “big stink.” It was only then that London turned its attention to rebuilding its sewage system.
Thomas’s wife Lucia probably died in London; however, I do not know when or where. Thomas and his eldest, and only, remaining daughter, Emma stayed on in London for a while; however, Thomas’s father made him his executor in 1838 (Index to Probate Duty Register: 1796 – 1903: Findmypast) and the two of them returned to Devon sometime after he (Joseph) died. Emma had an illegitimate daughter, Georgiana Valle Pinsent in London in 1840 but she probably died an infant as she does not show up in the 1841 Census.
The 1841 Census tells us that Thomas was still a “carpenter” when he returned to Devon. However, he had probably retired and, as he would have acquired some (if not all) of his father’s property in Bovey Tracey he most likely lived on rental income. Emma married a local “yeoman farmer” from Woolley near Bovey Tracey in 1849, and the extended family (plus visitors and servants) was all living on East Street when the Census takers returned in 1851. Thomas was described as a “shopkeeper” in White’s Directory for Devonshire in 1850. What he was selling, I do not know.
Thomas’s home on East Street was one of five contiguous properties of his that were put up for Auction at the King of Prussia Inn, in 1854. He lived in Lot 3: They comprised: “Lot 1: A cottage or dwelling house situated in East Street, Bovey Tracey, aforesaid, with the courtlage (surrounding land), walled garden and appurtenances thereto adjoining and belonging, now in the occupation of Henry Discombe as tenant: Lot 2: A convenient and roomy dwelling house adjoining Lot 1, with the cellar, stable, out-buildings, courtlage and walled garden thereto adjoining, now in the occupation of Mr. J. Storier, as tenant: Lot 3: A dwelling house, adjoining Lot 2, with the courtlage, garden, outbuildings, and appurtenances thereto belonging, in the occupation of Mr. Thomas Pinsent, the owner. Lot 4: A very desirable orchard, situated behind Lot 3, containing about 1 acre and a half of land, well stocked with thriving trees in excellent bearing. Also, three newly built cottages, with garden plots adjoining, in the occupation of Holmes, Shears and Daymond, and a spacious and substantial cellar, conveniently situated near the orchard. Lot 5: a cottage with yard and garden behind the same, situated in Fore Street, Bovey Tracey, and now in the occupation of Sarah Mitchell.” Prospective purchasers who wished to view the properties were advised to contact Mr. Pinsent at Lot 3 (Exeter Flying Post: Thursday 27th July 1854).
In August 1855, Thomas took Elizabeth Coyshe to Newton County Court for recovery of £4 of rent on a cottage that he had let her for her daughter and her son-in-law, Mr. Shears. Quite reasonably, she argued that it was not her responsibility to pay their rent. Thomas was eighty years old by then and evidently a local “character”: “ Mr. Templer, who appeared for the defendant, asked the plaintiff (who is 80 years of age) if it was not in consequence of his familiarities towards Mrs. Shears that she refused to pay him her rent? The plaintiff: – “Oh! nonsense; she come where my family was, so that I could not take any liberties with her; they would have liked for me to have done such a thing” (laughter). Mr. Templer: ”How many bastard children have you?” Mr. Francis, for the plaintiff, objected to the question but the plaintiff replied – “don’t know that I have any; not to knowledge” (laughter). The defendant, on being called, stated that the cause of her daughter’s refusal to pay any more rent was that the old man behaved improperly” towards her. The old gentleman, upon hearing this, laughed heartily, upon which the defendant emphatically remarked, “You needn’t laugh, Mr. Pinsent! there you be, and you can’t deny that you cost the parish £50 year in bastards” (much laughter). In cross-examination, Mr. Francis asked her if she was not also afraid of the bad Mr. Pinsent? The defendant (warmly), “No; why should I? I bant young enough for ‘en”(laughter).” If he had tried it on with me, he would have had something else” (laughter). I should like to catch him in my house again; I wish I had only cracked his head when caught him there last; he’ll never come again” (much laughter)”. His Honour gave judgment for the defendant (Western Times: Saturday 4th August 1855). Thomas died the following March, doubtless depriving the community of much amusement.
Shortly after Thomas Pinsent died the five “lots” described above were brought back up for sale at auction, suggesting that they had not sold the first time round. Thomas’s son-in-law Robert French was asked to show prospective purchasers around before the lots came up for Auction at the King of Prussia Inn in May (Western Times: Saturday 17th May 1856).
Family Tree
Grandparents
Grandfather: Roger Pinsent: 1725 – 1803
Grandmother: Elizabeth Unknown: 1719 – 1816
Parents
Father: Joseph Pinsent: 1748 – 1837
Mother: Mary Berry: 1751 – 1825
Father’s Siblings (Aunts, Uncles)
Joseph Pinsent: 1748 – 1837
John Pinsent: 1755 – xxxx
Elizabeth Pinsent: 1756 – xxxx
Sarah Pinsent: 1758 – xxxx
Male Siblings (Brothers)
John Pinsent: 1773 – xxxx
Thomas Pinsent: 1776 – 1856
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