I knew relatively little about this man until 2011. There was no record of his occupation, but it seemed pretty clear that he referred to himself as a Yeoman. He was certainly a solid citizen, because in 1700 he was one of the Churchwardens, and he has his name and the initials "C.W" inscribed on one of the church bells (still in use) and in the belltower below.
In 2023, the Anstey bellringers * were kind enough to send me photos of the treble bell that bears his name and I was pleased for William and the Anstey Ginn family generally, as it is a reminder, perhaps a form of immortality - of their presence in the parish.
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William married Elizabeth Whitby at Anstey in 1689, I sadly know nothing of her family. They lived in Anstey, though I have no idea where, but it
seems likely given what is said below that they lived in the northern part of the parish, as both his father seems to have done and as did his sons. Some of his land was held freehold, because
William had the vote - see Poll Book.
In 2011 it was discovered through the will of his friend and
workmate Matthew Rayner a Coachman of the Cockenhatch Estate, and quite
prosperous at that, (will ERO: D/ABW 88/2/4 ) that William Ginn was in
service to the Chester family who held the large Newsells and Cockenhatch
estates in Barkway, a short walk from Anstey.
He had probably been in their service for many years and in 1730 was the
Park Keeper (ie Head Gamekeeper) there.
The Cockenhatch Estate is much changed but is still where it has always been.
The picture above is the “Cockenhatch Conversation Piece” by
Arthur Devis which dates from circa 1740 odd and shows Edward Chester (owner of
the estate) leaning on the horse jump at Cockenhatch, his brother Peter
(Governor of Florida in the American Colonies as then) standing alongside him
leaning on the jump, a horse and estate groom (sadly not the gamekeeper) in the
centre, the Reverend Allen of Barkway on the far right and, a man well known to
William, Thomas Gorsuch the Estate Manager and his immediate boss on the far left of the picture.
William died at Anstey in 1741; he was 77. Elizabeth had died in 1739.
William and Elizabeth had six children:
Elizabeth - clearly married Samuel Munt.
Issue are known.
William - he is in the 1754 Poll Book, then 58
There is no evidence of a marriage or children. I cannot believe that it
is he who was the Park Keeper in 1730 as the man in charge would likely have
been older. He does not seem to have
died at Anstey.
John - there is some speculation on my part that he died young and
unmarried.
Joseph - if one relied on Hertfordshire records, then virtually
nothing would be known of this man. Go
to the Essex Record Office and a lot of things become clear.
Joseph Ginn married Margaret Mead in 1738, when he was 38. I have not checked Margaret’s age, but it is
probable that she too was in her thirties.There are only three recorded children, but there was
certainly a fourth.
Joseph Ginn was a Farmer.
He called himself a Yeoman, and he held some freehold land, because he
had the vote. He was also the tenant of
some land held by a Mary Smith (of Great Hormead - see topographical notes:
HRO). It is unwise to underestimate him (as I first did) because
one of his daughters married very well (see below). Joseph and Margaret's known children are as follows:
John 1739 died
Sarah 1740 md Robert Burton 1764
Mary 1742 md John Robins 1764
Elizabeth 1752 md John Leman 1774
The most interesting of these is Mary, who has no baptismal
record. The Essex Record Office has a
personal name index (chiefly relating to deeds). I puzzled as to why Joseph Ginn of Anstey was
mentioned. It turns out that Mary's husband, John Robins, was pretty
well off. He entered into a Marriage
Settlement (Post-Nuptial Agreement) with Joseph, and gave as security a good
deal of property in Newport in Essex. There are a whole bundle of deeds concerning
this. The security was for a substantial
£500 and involved some eight cottages or so.
Both Joseph and John Robins were quoted as being Yeomen. Robins
promised to faithfully take care of Mary - if he didn’t then Joseph got the
£500. Robins (his parents’ names are given in the deeds) was an
Anstey Farmer, but the family later moved to Little Hadham. There are more deeds at the ERO concerning him
and Mary after they had moved to Little Hadham.
I had a quick look at the Hadham register, and it is pretty clear that
the couple probably had a good number of descendants through their daughter
Milly. The question is whether
researchers will ever connect a Robins family at Hadham with that at Anstey and
link in to the deeds at the ERO !
Margaret died in 1773. There is no burial record for Joseph (who is in the Poll Book for 1761 but not that of 1774) and doubtless he moved away with one of his daughter’s families.
Benjamin - untraced. He is not
the man who married Grace
Graves.
Judith - is also untraced
Graves.
Judith - is also untraced
* Thanks to James Sawyer the Vicar of Anstey (2023) and particularly Patricia Hamilton and Justin Jewitt of the bellringing team
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