Vital Statistics
William Pinsent: 1900 – 1965 GRO0883 (Clay worker and Builder’s labourer, Newton Abbot, Devon)
Olive May Perry: 1899 – 1995
Married: 1928: Totnes, Devon
Children by Olive May Perry:
Dennis William Pinsent: 1929 – 2005 (Married Rita May Paul, Newton Abbot, Devon, 1951)
Roy Arthur Pinsent: 1934 – 2023 (Married Ena Joan Weekes, Kingsteignton, Devon, 1955)
Ivor Henry Pinsent: 1934 – 1934
Family Branch: Bristol
PinsentID: GRO0883
References
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William Henry was the illegitimate son of Ada Pinsent, who was one of the daughters of John Pinsent, by his wife Ann (née Paddon). His father was a “brickyard worker.” William Henry was born in Newton Abbot in 1900 and was living in Bovey Tracey with his mother and paternal grandparents when the census takers made their rounds in 1901. The household also included his uncle Albert and his aunt Laura – who had her own illegitimate son, Sydney. William Henry was still living with his paternal grandparents, his uncle Albert, and two of his aunts (Florence and Lily Blanche) when they returned ten years later (1911). The family had; however, moved to Chudleigh. The household then included Lily Blanche’s illegitimate son, George. The cousins were both schoolboys. Interestingly, they were listed as the “sons” and not “grandsons” of John Pinsent. William’s mother, Ada, was away from home at the time. She was a “domestic servant” working for a farmer in Moretonhampstead. Her sister Laura, meanwhile, had married Charles Heath in 1900 and had moved out, taking her son Sydney with her. It was a large, complicated family!
William Henry, or “Willie” as he seems to have been colloquially known, was brought up as a younger son in the Pinsent family and the illusion seems to have continued into later life. For instance, when William’s aunt Florence died in 1918, “Willie” and his uncle Wallace were among the mourners – listed as being her “brothers” (Western Times: Friday 22nd March 1918).
William Henry joined the “2nd Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment”, and he was serving with them in Baluchistan in 1921, when the next census was taken. He was stationed at Kitchener Barracks in Quetta.
Kelly’s Directory shows that William Henry was back in England living on Morgan Avenue in Torquay in 1923. Presumably he was there for work. However, when it came to it, he rejoined his family in the clay processing industry. William Henry married Olive May Perry in Totnes in 1928 and they had three sons in the years that followed. William was said to be a “clay pit worker” when the first was born in 1929 and a “steam engine driver” when the other two arrived in 1934. The second and third were twins, one of whom died as an infant.
The age of steam and rail had certainly arrived, but it is unlikely that William drove a steam engine. He probably ran a stationary engine in one of the clay works or the quarries that were then opening up. His cousin Albert George Pinsent (Lily Blanche’s son) was a “quarry-men.”
William Henry was living with his family in Newton Abbot when the England and Wales wartime register was compiled in 1939. He was said to be a “builder’s labourer” in “heavy work.” He had his wife Olive and at least one son, Dennis – who was still at school living with him. Their second son may have been there too; however his line has been redacted.
William Henry died in Newton Abbot in 1965. His widow, Olive, stayed on there for quite some time, but moved into “Broadlands,” a residential “Old Folks” home, in 1990. She seems to have been happy there: “I’ve been here 18 months and it’s a wonderful place. We Couldn’t possibly find anywhere better than this.” (Torbay Express and South Devon Echo: Saturday 7th September 1991). Sadly, the powers-that-be closed the home down and she had to move. They found her somewhere else and she was still living in the same general area when she died in January 1995.
Family Tree
PARENTS
Father: Unknown
Mother: Ada Pinsent: 1880 – 1959
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