DEATH OF MR. D. H. PINSENT, OF FOXCOMBE HILL: —- The body of Mr. David Hugh Pinsent (sic), a civilian observer, son of Mr. and Mrs. Hume Pinsent of Foxcombe Hill, near Oxford, the second victim of an aeroplane accident, in West Surrey, was on Tuesday night found! in the Basingstoke Canal at Frimley. The body of the pilot, Lieut. Lutyens was discovered near the wreckage at the time of the accident. Mr. Pinsent was born in 1891, and was educated at Marlborough College, of which he was a scholar, and subsequently obtained first a minor and afterwards a major scholarship in mathematics at Trinity College, Cambridge. At Cambridge, he graduated with the highest possible mathematical honours in 1913. When the war broke out, he was reading for the Bar. He twice applied for a commission but was refused on the ground of defective eyesight. After a time at the Ministry of Munitions he got himself trained as a munition’s worker at the school for this purpose established in Birmingham. He then went to the Royal Aircraft Factory at Farnborough, where for eight months he worked in the shops as a fitter. It was felt, however, that in this work his special acquirements were being wasted, and it was also more exacting physically than he was fit for. In Jan. 1917, therefore, he was transferred to the Experimental and Research Department, where his mathematical acquirements could be utilised. He also soon became an unusually competent experimenter and observer. He had already done work of considerable value in relation to aeroplane design and construction, and at the time of his death was engaged in further investigations of importance. It had just been arranged that his very earnest wish should be gratified, and that he should be trained as a pilot, so as to be able to conduct experiments in single-seated machines. His only brother, Mr. Richard Parker Pinsent. Exhibitioner in Chemistry of Balliol College, Oxford, was killed in Pinsent in October 1915. … … also … … Death: Pinsent, May 8, killed while flying, David Hume Pinsent, B.A., Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, only surviving son of Mr. and Mrs. Pinsent, of Foxcombe Hill near Oxford and Birmingham, aged 26.
Transcribed in whole or part from scanned originals: Presented with or without modified text and punctuation. For absolute accuracy refer to the original newspapers. Source: The British Newspaper Archive.
Referenced
GRO0163 Devonport: David Hume Pinsent: 1891 – 1918
GRO0245 Devonport: Ellen Frances Parker: 1866 – 1949
GRO0435 Devonport: Hume Chancellor Pinsent: 1857 – 1920