Vital Statistics
Roger Pinsent: 1725 – 1803 GRO1588 (Tenant farmer, Bovey Tracey, Devon)
Elizabeth Unknown: 1719 – 1816
Married: xxxx: xxxx, xxxx
Children by Elizabeth Unknown:
Joseph Pinsent: 1748 – 1837 (Married Mary Berry, Bovey Tracey, Devon, 1773)
John Pinsent: 1755 – xxxx
Elizabeth Pinsent: 1756 – xxxx
Sarah Pinsent: 1758 – xxxx (Married William Dearin, Bovey Tracey, Devon, 1793)
Family Branch: Teignmouth
PinsentID: GRO1588
Roger Pinsent was the eldest and probably the only surviving son of Roger Pinsent, a “labourer”, by his wife, Anne Edwards. He was born in 1725 and was (as far as I know) the third in a line of Roger Pinsents. He had a younger brother John who was born in 1729 but most likely died in 1734. The Bovey Tracey parish record around then are not good about specifying parentage and it is hard to be certain of linkages in a world where there was no shortage “John Pinsents” to choose from. Nevertheless, this John appear to go missing.
Roger married a girl called Elizabeth; however, when and where is, again, uncertain. There were significant breaks in the Bovey Tracey parish records in the 1700s and they may have married during one of them – between May 1739 and 1746. Roger would have been young but he may have married in 1745. Alternatively, perhaps they had a non-conformist wedding.
Roger and Elizabeth (née Unknown) had at least two sons (Joseph Pinsent and John Pinsent) and two daughters (Elizabeth Pinsent and Sarah Pinsent) between 1748 and 1758. There may have had other children who have fallen through the cracks because of breaks in the parish records. It is hard to tell.
Roger owned and occupied the “pt. of Yeo” in Wreyland Manor in Bovey Tracey he inherited from his father. It was valued at 9s when the County of Devon compiled its Land Tax records 1780. What it was before, I do not know, as the records are not preserved; however, it had been reduced to 7s 6d by 1793. Roger also seems to rented – and presumably farmed – a much larger “part of Yeo” that was then owned by a Mr. Walker. It was valued at 19s 5 1/2d in 1780 and had dropped in value to 18s by 1800. Whether they were contiguous or not, I am not sure; however they were probably dismembered parts of a much larger estate at “Yeo” that had been in Pinsent hands (see elsewhere) in the early 1600s. Given the amount of land Roger Pinsent had to farm, he would probably qualify as a “husbandman” or “yeoman” rather than an “agricultural labourer.”
Mr. Walker died and the Reverend Morgan acquired the larger property in 1790. It was probably Church owned “glebe” lands – land used to support the vicar and the church. Roger held the lease until he died in February 1803 and it then passed to his son, Joseph. Joseph must have worked the land with his father and he continued to work it after he died – at least until 1808, when he gave it back to Rev. Mr. Morgan. Joseph would have been sixty years old by then and ready to retire. He had married in 1773 and had owned his own house (rated 4s 6d) known as “late Clapps” since the Land Tax listings start in 1780.
When Roger died, his widow Elizabeth (“Betty” or “Betsey”) Pinsent took control of his own family property (valued at 7s 6d) and she continued to pay the Land Tax until 1812. She probably had a life interest in the property which was to pass to Joseph when she died. Elizabeth lived on her “pt. of Yeo” with her daughter and son-in-law as Sarah Pinsent, took control of it for a couple of years after her mother died. Sarah Pinsent had married a Mr. Dearin in 1793. He was a “mariner” from out of parish (i.e. a “sojourner”).
Elizabeth died in Bovey Tracey in 1816, aged 97 years (!) and her “part of Yeo” was transferred to her son Joseph Pinsent with William Dearin and his sister Sarah as sitting tenants. They were there for two years. What happened to them after that, I am not sure. However, it is worth noting that an item in the Newfoundland Express sometime later tells us that “William Dearin, late of Boston, U.S. died at the home of his brother, Dr. Dearin on 27th November 1875”. Perhaps they emigrated and their children settled in North America.
Joseph married Elizabeth Berry in Bovey Tracey in 1773. His life is discussed elsewhere. Roger and Elizabeth’s son, John Pinsent, who was born in 1755, appears to drop out of sight. There is no mention of him being involved with any of the family property, so he probably died young. If he lived, he may have moved out of the district. Their daughter Elizabeth is similarly hard to trace.
Family Tree
Grandparents
Grandfather: Roger Pinson: xxxx – 1720
Grandmother: Elizabeth Symons: xxxx – xxxx
Parents
Father: Roger Pinsent: 1703 – 1783
Mother: Anne Edwards: xxxx – xxxx
Father’s Siblings (Aunts, Uncles)
Joan Pinsent: 1684 – 1685
John Pinsent: 1686 – xxxx
Roger Pinsent: 1690 – 1701
Edmond Pinsent: 1692 – 1758
Elizabeth Pinsent: 1697 – xxxx
Roger Pinsent: 1703 – 1783
Male Siblings (Brothers)
Roger Pinsent: 1725 – 1803
John Pinsent: 1729 – xxxx
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