Vital Statistics
Thomas Pinsent: 1717 – 1802 GRO1312 (Yeoman and Second owner of Pitt farm, Hennock)
Mary Mudge: 1721 – 1794
Married: 1761: Kingsteignton, Devon
Family Branch: Hennock
PinsentID: GRO1312
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Thomas Pinsent “the younger of Pitt” was the eldest son of Thomas Pinsent and Mary (née Gale) of Pitt Farm, near Chudleigh Knighton, in Devon. He married Mary Mudge, in Kingsteignton, in 1761. He was over forty years old at the time – which seems late for an affluent farmer but there is nothing to suggest an earlier marriage and no sign of his having had children either before, or after, the marriage.
His father and mother were still alive when he married and he was referred to as “Thomas Pinsent, junior, yeoman.” His parents died in 1777 and 1774 respectively and he inherited his father’s land in Hennock, Teigngrace and elsewhere. His younger brothers, Robert, Gilbert and John were in commerce in Newton Abbot.
Thomas Pinsent “the younger” probably acquired Lower Albrook Farm in Kingsteignton (Land Tax £1 6s 6d per annum) through his marriage to Mary Mudge. Albrook is near Sandygate just to the north of the town of Kingsteignton. He certainly controlled it by 1780 and managed it, along with Pitt, in Hennock, and “Diamond’s Delight”, in Teigngrace until his own death in 1802.
Thomas had no sons or daughters to help him run the farm, so he must have relied on outside help. As a landowner, he would have been expected to take on apprentices. Some of which were appointed by Overseers, who allocated them according to a set rota.
The Parish Overseers tried to limited the number of new settlers in the parish – especially if they thought that they might become chargeable on the parish rates someday. They conducted “Settlement Examinations” to determine if an individual had the right of residence in their parish. If not, they were summarily kicked out and returned to their parish of birth.
The Overseers in Chudleigh examined Jonathan Bird in 1781. He testified that he had been bound as an apprentice to Thomas Pinsent “of Hennock” until he was twenty-one, and had then returned to Chudleigh to get married. The Apprentice Register for Kingsteignton shows that the Overseers assigned John Goodwin to Thomas Pinsent as an apprentice for Lower Albrook in 1791, and William Northway as apprentice for the same place in 1797.
The memorial in Hennock Church that notes the passing of Thomas Pinsent (“the elder”) of Pitt in 1777 and of his wife, Mary, in 1774 (above) also refers to the death of Mary, the wife of Thomas Pinsent (“the younger”) of Pitt, who died in 1794, and of Thomas, himself, who died in 1802.
Thomas Pinsent left a Will that was destroyed when the Exeter Probate Office was bombed during the Second World War. Fortunately, its content had previously been summarized in the “Death Duty Register for Durham, Ely, Exeter, Oxford (1796-1811)”.
The Will must have been written before 1791 – as Thomas’s brother Gilbert was still alive and his nephew Joseph was still under 21 years of age.
Gilbert was the least successful of Thomas’s brothers and he wound up in debtor’s prison in Exeter, in 1761. It fell to Thomas Pinsent “junior” to bail him out and see that he paid off his creditors (London Gazette: 3rd November 1761).
Thomas left a bequest to Gilbert (not that he was alive to receive it as he had died in 1794) and gave relatively large bequests to the sons of his then deceased brothers Robert (i.e. Charles, William and John) and John (i.e. Gilbert, Robert, William, Joseph, John and Charles). Their lives are all discussed elsewhere.
Thomas made John’s son Charles – who was by no means the eldest – his principle beneficiary. He inherited Pitt and the rest of Thomas’s land holdings. Brother John had died relatively young (1772) and it seems likely that his younger children, including Charles and Joseph had moved to Pitt to live with their uncle. Charles seems to have taken to farming and it is likely, given Thomas’s advanced age (and absence of children) that Charles had been running the farm for some time.
Charles took responsibility for payment of the Land Tax for Pitt (£1 0s 6d per annum) and for “the Marshes” (10s per annum) in 1791 – when he was 25 years old.
Family Tree
Grandparents
Grandfather: Thomas Pinsent: 1657 – 1696
Grandmother: Ann Waters: xxxx – xxxx
Parents
Father: Thomas Pinsent: 1691 – 1777
Mother: Mary Gale: 1690 – 1774
Father’s Siblings (Aunts, Uncles)
Susannah Pinsent: 1678 – xxxx
(?) Simon Pinsent: xxxx – 1744
Elizabeth Pinsent: 1682 – xxxx
Thomas Pinsent: 1684 – 1685
Ann Pinsent: 1686 – xxxx
Thomas Pinsent: 1691 – 1777 ✔️
Robert Pinsent: 1693 – xxxx
Unknown Pinsent: 1696 – 1696
Unknown Pinsent: 1696 – 1696
Male Siblings (Brothers)
Thomas Pinsent: 1717 – 1783 ✔️
Robert Pinsent: 1721 – 1783
Gilbert Pinsent: 1724 – 1794
John Pinsent: 1728 – 1772
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