Vital Statistics
Thomas William Pinsent: 1895 – 1974 GRO0852 (Soldier, Aircraftsman and Postman, Thurrock, Essex)
1. Florence Perkins: 1896 – 1947
Married: 1916: London, Middlesex
Children by Florence Perkins:
Thomas William Pinsent: 1916 – 1923
Alfred James Pinsent: 1920 – 1992 (Married Jane Barlow, Wigan, Lancashire 1945 and Ince, Lancashire, 1961)
Doris May Pinsent: 1922 – xxxx (Married George Henry Bushnell, Thurrock, Essex, 1946)
George Albert Pinsent: 1924 – xxxx
Daughter (GRO0608)
2. Eleanor Mabel Eileen Littlefield: 1907 – 1985
Married: 1953: Pitsea, Essex
Family Branch: Tiverton
PinsentID: GRO0852
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Thomas William was the eldest son of Thomas Henry Pinsent, a “Wesleyan Methodist Society book warehouseman,” by his wife, Bessie Ada (née Penn). He was born in Hoxton Old Town in 1895 and was, with his brothers Joseph James and Alfred Pinsent, baptized in St. Luke’s Church in Islington, in 1902.
Thomas William was brought up in north London. He joined the army in 1911 and served for two years as a private in the “Royal West Surrey Regiment” [#5851]. However, he was transferred to the “Royal Engineers” as a Driver [#24985] in 1913. His younger brother, Joseph James Pinsent, signed up with the “West Surrey’s” in October 1914. He served with them throughout the First World War (see elsewhere). Thomas William saw action (presumably in France) with “3rd Signals Squadron R.E.” (British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards: 1914 – 1920). However, he must have been home on leave in January 1916 as he found time to marry Florence Perkins, the daughter of a then deceased butcher, in Islington. They had a son, also called Thomas William Pinsent in December that year. Presumably, he was back in France by then. Interestingly, Thomas’s cousin Maud E. Pinsent (née Spall) – the wife of William George James Pinsent – was present at the birth. Thomas survived the war and was discharged in January 1919. He was awarded the “Victory”, “British” and “14 Star” Medals (see above). His son, Thomas William Pinsent “junior” died in Kent at the age of six, in 1923. However, his parents had four more children (two boys and two girls) in the years that followed.
Thomas William was working for the railway as a “porter” when his second son was born in 1920, and he was a “labourer” when his first daughter was born in 1922. For some reason, he was away from home when the census takers came calling in 1921. His wife was living on Retford Street, in Shoreditch, in London with her two young sons. Both had been born in Stoke Newington, in London.
Thomas must have missed the discipline and structure of military life so, after apparently trying his hand as a “toy dealer”, he opted to put his skills as a “driver” and an “engine mechanic” to good use in the “Royal Air Force”– which he joined in January 1923. His service records (see above) tell us that he was five feet seven inches tall; he had dark hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion. He had a “soldier with a musket” tattooed on his right forearm as a convenient distinguishing feature. Thomas William Pinsent signed on for six years of regular service and a further six in the reserves. He enrolled as an “Air Hand.” However, he was promoted to “Aircraft’s man 2nd Class” in January 1924 and to “Aircraft’s Man 1st Class” in June 1927.
Florence and her two children moved to Andover in Hampshire to be close to where he was based, and they had two more children. Her two surviving sons and her daughters married during or soon after the Second World War. The sons went on to have families of their own. Thomas William Pinsent left the Air Force sometime in the 1930s, and he had joined the “General Post Office” (G.P.O.) as a “postman” in Thurrock, in Essex by 1937 (British Postal Service Appointment Books: 1737-1969: Ancestry.com). Thomas was away from home when the Wartime Register was compiled in 1939. However, his wife Florence was living on Tennyson Road in Pitsea with three other people whose names are redacted. They are probably three of her children. Thomas William remained with the post office for quite some time. He formally transferred from Grays – which is in the immediate vicinity of Thurrock – to Pitsea (which was approximately twelve miles (20 Kilometres) from Thurrock) at some point prior to 1945. Both his daughters later married in Thurrock.
Florence (née Perkins) died in Chelmsford in December 1947 and her husband was granted probate of her effects, which were valued at £721 2s 10d (England and Wales National Probate Calendar: 1858 – 1966: Ancestry.com). Thomas William Pinsent of Tennyson Road in Pitsea later remarried. He married a widow, Eleanor Mabel Eileen Gurnham (née Littlefield), at the Church of St. Michael and All Angels, in Pitsea in 1953. He died in Brentwood in Essex, in 1974 and she, Eleanor, died there over a decade later, in 1985.
Thomas’s eldest (surviving) son, Alfred James Pinsent grew up in Hampshire and married during the Second World War. His life is described elsewhere. His younger brother, George Albert Pinsent also grew up in Hampshire and married during the war. He may still be alive today. He married twice and had two sons by his first wife and two daughters by the second, so his line presumably continues.
Family Tree
GRANDPARENTS
Grandfather: James Pinsent: 1837 – 1912
Grandmother: Sarah Savage: 1839 – 1914
PARENTS
Father: Thomas Henry Pinsent: 1873 – 1910
Mother: Bessie Ada Penn: 1872 – 1964
FATHER’S SIBLINGS (AUNTS, UNCLES)
George James Pinsent: 1859 – 1860
James Walter Pinsent: 1861 – 1948
Sarah Lydia Pinsent: 1863 – 1942
Joseph Benjamin Pinsent: 1865 – 1897
Louisa Mary Pinsent: 1867 – xxxx
William John Pinsent: 1869 – 1918
Martha Elizabeth Pinsent: 1871 – xxxx
Georgina Frances Pinsent: 1875 – xxxx
Albert Hibbard Pinsent: 1878 – 1878
Edward Charles Pinsent: 1878 – 1878
George Hibbard Pinsent: 1879 – 1953
Alexander Sidney Pinsent: 1884 – 1911
MALE SIBLINGS (BROTHERS)
Thomas William Pinsent: 1895 – 1974
Joseph James Pinsent: 1897 – 1923
Alfred Pinsent: 1902 – 1977
James Valentine Pinsent: 1908 – 1908
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