Vital Statistics
Thomas Pinsent: 1795 – 1860 GRO0839 (Cordwainer, Loughborough, Leicestershire)
Hannah Johnson: 1800 – 1871
Married: Tiverton, Devon: 1820
Children by Hannah Johnson:
Fanny Pinsent: 1820 – 1880 (Married Charles Belton, 1843, Leicester, Leicestershire)
William Pinsent: 1822 – xxxx
Thomas Pinsent: 1824 – 1831
Caroline Pinsent: 1825 – 1864 (Married William Abel, 1848, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire)
James Pinsent: 1831 – 1902 (Married Emma Jackson, 1856, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire)
Elizabeth Pinsent: 1833 – 1833
Elizabeth Pinsent: 1833 – xxxx (Married James Johnson, Leicester, Leicestershire)
John Pinsent: 1836 – 1899 (Married Elizabeth Johnson, 1855, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire)
Henry Pinsent: 1838 – 1846
George Pinsent: 1839 – 1857
Charles Pinsent: 1842 – 1882 (Married Susannah Bagshaw, 1864, Leicester, Leicestershire)
Family Branch: Tiverton
PinsentID: GRO0839
Thomas Pinsent was the second eldest son of James Pinsent by his wife Hannah Brimson. He was born in Tiverton and was brought up to be a “shoemaker” or – according to then current parlance –“cordwainer,” although whether by apprenticeship in Tiverton, or elsewhere, I am not sure. He may have learned the trade in Leicestershire which, with the coming of the “Industrial Revolution” was developing into a major centre for the manufacture of boots and shoes.
Thomas married a girl from Shepshed near Loughborough, in Leicestershire. He married Hannah Johnson in Tiverton in 1820 and they had their first six children (three boys and three girls) while living there. They then moved to Hannah’s hometown of Loughborough in 1834 or 1835 and had five more children (a girl and four boys) there. In all, they had eleven over a period of twenty-two years, of whom at least three sons, James Pinsent, John Pinsent and Charles Pinsent and three daughters, Fanny Pinsent, Caroline Pinsent and Elizabeth Pinsent grew up to become adults and married. Interestingly, their children John and Elizabeth both seem to have married into of their mother’s (?) presumably extended “Johnson” family. The three boys established well-defined lines of descent, each of which will be reviewed in turn.
What happened to the fourth son, William Pinsent is unknown. He drops out of the picture sometime after 1841. That year’s census shows that Thomas and his wife Hannah and their children were living on Holland Street in Loughborough. Thomas was reported to be a “cordwainer” (shoemaker) and his wife and two elder children, Fanny and William, were also said to be involved in the shoe trade. Ten years later, the next census tells us that the family had moved to Barrow Street in Loughborough. By then, Thomas’s two elder children had moved on and James, his eldest then resident son, was also a “cordwainer”. By 1851, Thomas and Hannah had lost two sons; Thomas had died in Tiverton in 1831 aged 4 years and Henry had died in 1846, aged 8 years (Leicester Chronicle: Saturday 14th February 1846). George was to die in 1857, aged 18 years (Nottingham Guardian: Thursday 29th July 1857). In the latter two cases, the newspapers refer to the children’s father as “Mr. Thomas Pinsent” – which suggests that he had some social standing in the local community.
Thomas’s daughter Caroline married William Able, a mechanic from New Radford in Nottingham in 1848, and emigrated to the United States of America. She died in Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania, in 1864.
Thomas made boots and he periodically ran a boot and shoe stall in the market at Ashby De La Zouch, a small county town in Leicestershire. In August 1854, he noticed “two decently dressed little girls” eyeing up his wares, and a nearby stall-keeper later saw them steal two pairs of boots when his back was turned. They were valued at 10 shillings. The stall-keeper alerted Thomas who rounded up a police constable and they followed the miscreants out of town and apprehended them as they walked home. They had the boots in their possession and they made an appearance at the next “Petty Sessions”. The father was also present. He was severely admonished for neglecting his children and his for excessive drinking, and the girls were fined 5s each with £1 4s 6d in costs (Leicester Chronicle: Saturday 2nd September 1854).
In December in the previous year Thomas had hired a horse for his visit to Ashby and by some mishap or other it acquired a deep gash in the inside of a fetlock, and although Thomas dressed the wound before he returned it, it had to be put down. The disgruntled owner sued Thomas for £7 6s at “Loughborough Petty Sessions”. The latter explained that horse had fallen on the way home. A local veterinary surgeon thought that unlikely but the Magistrate knew better and accepted Thomas’s version of events. He gave judgment for the defendant (Leicestershire Mercury: Saturday 18th February 1854).
Thomas probably knew a thing or two about horses. He had a pony that participated in a closely-contested race for a bridle as a prize on Finney Hill in 1851. It was beaten by half a length in the third heat (Derby Mercury: Wednesday 24th September 1851).
Thomas was a keen gardener and he did exceptionally well at the “Loughborough Cultural Fete” in 1857, after it restarted after a short break. Thomas did well with his flowers (Roses, Pansies, Sweet Williams and Wild Flowers), his fruits (Gooseberries, Red and Black Currants) and his vegetables (Potatoes, Parsley and Rhubarb). Hannah seems to have claimed credit for “six onions (spring sown)”. There were, perhaps, fewer competitors than might have been hoped for in the Amateur Class but give credit where it is due (Leicester Journal: Friday 31st July 1857). Presumably Mr. Thomas Pinsent had retired back to his garden. He was described as being a “master bootmaker” when he died in Moor Lane in Loughborough in 1860.
His widow, Hannah, stayed on in Moor Lane with her unmarried son, Charles Pinsent – and that was where the Census takers came by the following year. It was probably Charles who played for the “Moor Lane Cricket Club” when it played “Loughborough High School” in September 1856 (Leicestershire Mercury Saturday 27th September 1854. He married in 1864. Hannah held on for few more years. In 1871 (Census) she was described as being a widow and “finisher of marino (woolen) goods,” lodging with another widow on Wellington Street in Loughborough. She died there in November 1871 (Leicester Journal: Thursday 16th November 1871).
Family Tree
GRANDPARENTS
Grandfather: Thomas Pinsent: 1738 – 1825
Grandmother: Anne Wright: 1740 – 1815
PARENTS
Father: James Pinsent: 1769 – 1833
Mother: Hannah Brimson: 1766 – xxxx
FATHER’S SIBLINGS (AUNTS, UNCLES)
James Pinsent: 1769 – 1833 ✔️
Mary Pinsent: 1771 – xxxx
Dorothy Pinsent: xxxx – 1590
Benjamin Pinsent: 1776 – 1819
Elizabeth Pinsent: 1776 – xxxx
MALE SIBLINGS (BROTHERS)
William Pinsent: 1792 – 1844
Thomas Pinsent: 1795 – 1860 ✔️
Richard Pinsent: 1799 – xxxx
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