Vital Statistics
James Pinsent: 1825 – 1886 GRO0924 (Royal Marine and Licensed Victualler, Plymouth, Devon)
Elizabeth Ann Perkins: 1831 – xxxx
Married: 1852: Newton Abbot, Devon
Children by Elizabeth Ann Perkins:
Frederick James Pinsent: 1857 – 1873
Elizabeth Ann Pinsent: 1860 – 1881
Alice Maud Pinsent: 1869 – 1949 (Married Alfred Edwin Parnall, Devonport, Devon, 1886)
Family Branch: Bristol
PinsentID: GRO0924
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James Pinsent was the youngest surviving son of John Pinsent by his wife, Mary (née Follett). He was born in Ilsington in Devon, where his father was an “agricultural labourer,” in 1825. He had three brothers and three sisters and, like them, he was probably apprenticed out while still a young boy. Census records show that James was one of four “servants” in the household of a local “yeoman,” Samuel Lambshead, in 1841. He would have been fifteen years old at the time. How long he remained with Mr. Lambshead is uncertain. It is worth noting that his son (?) Samuel may well have been the “yeoman” who married James’s niece Laura Emily Pinsent in Ilsington Wesleyan Chapel in Ilsington in 1875. Their marriage certificate is on view at the “House of Marbles” museum in Bovey Tracey. Samuel was born in 1847 and would have been around while James was “in service”.
James is notably absent from the 1851 Census. He may well have been abroad with the “Royal Marines”. However, he was back the following year as he married Elizabeth Perkins, in the “Chapel” in Wolborough (Newton Abbot) in March 1852. The venue may be a nod to the independent leanings of the Pinson family; however the ceremony was performed according to the “rites of the established church”. Both parties signed the register “by mark”, which tells us that they were illiterate.
They couple had three children. Their first-born child, Frederick James Pinsent, was born in East Stonehouse (Devonport) in 1857 and their second, Elizabeth Ann Pinsent was born while James was stationed in Eccleshall Barlow, in Yorkshire in 1860. The following year’s census shows that James “Pinson” (sic) was a “Private” in the “Royal Marines” living with his wife Elizabeth on Burgess Street in Sheffield. The entry tells that he, like his brother Joseph, had not fully made the transition from “Pinson” to “Pinsent”. What the marines were doing in an inland town I do not know! The couple had their third child, another daughter, Alice Maude Pinsent back in East Stonehouse, the “Royal Marines” garrison town, in 1869.
James’s tour of duty (men normally signed on for a number of years unless there were extenuating circumstances such as war – or they agreed to an extension) must have ended around 1870 and he elected to leave. The census the following year shows that James Pinsent was a 45 years old “Greenwich Pensioner” living on George Street in East Stonehouse with his wife and their three children.
Sadly, their son, Frederick James died while still a teenager, in 1873, and the next batch of census takers found James living with his wife, their two daughters and an unmarried niece (Elizabeth Jessie Perkins) on Pembroke Street in Stoke Damerel, Devonport when they returned in 1881. Their daughter, Elizabeth Ann was reported to be a “domestic servant” aged twenty years old. Sadly, she died unmarried later that year. She was said to be a “dress-maker” when she died.
At some point, probably in the 1870s, James acquired the license for the “George Inn” in Devonport. In 1877, he testified at the inquest of William Wood, one of his patrons, who had committed suicide by cutting his throat. According to James, Mr. Wood – despite what other people may have said – not drunk when he left his inn (Western Morning News: Thursday 18th October 1877).
James later ran the “Turks Head,” an Inn on Prospect Row (which is close to Mount Wise Park and the Mayflower Marina) in Devonport. According to Eyre’s Plymouth Directory (1885) he was a “Naval Pensioner” as well as a “licensed victualler.” It is the ambition of many soldiers, sailors and marines to run a pub. James actually achieved it. However, he died in August 1886. The records of the “Principal Registry” show that administration of his estate, which was valued at £70., was granted to his widow Elizabeth Pinsent the following month (PCC Wills and Administration Summaries). It is not clear when she died.
Alice Maud had better luck than her siblings. She married Alfred Edwin Parnall, a “gunnery instructor” on “H.M.S. Adelaide” in St. Mary’s Parish Church, Devonport in September 1886.
Family Tree
GRANDPARENTS
Grandfather: Richard Pinson: 1745 – 1825
Grandmother: Elizabeth Gregory: 1748 – 1837
PARENTS
Father: John Pinsent: 1782 – 1849
Mother: Mary Follett: 1782 – 1859
FATHER’S SIBLINGS (AUNTS, UNCLES)
Thomas Pinson: 1776 – xxxx
Richard Pinson: 1778 – 1868
Elizabeth Pinson: 1780 – xxxx
William Pinson: 1784 – xxxx
Mary Pinson: 1786 – 1873
Joseph Pinson: 1788 – xxxx
Abraham Pinson: 1787 – 1871
Rachael Pinson: 1796 – xxxx
Loyalty Pinson: 1799 – xxxx
MALE SIBLINGS (BROTHERS)
William Pinsent: 1811 – 1879
John Pinsent: 1817 – 1819
Joseph Pinson: 1819 – 1881
John Pinsent: 1823 – 1902
Samuel Pinson: 1828 – 1833
Thomas Pinson: 1830 – 1832
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