Francis Ginn died at Essendon. I knew as I say (from the will of his father) that he was alive in 1668 and it was clear that he had already been given his inheritence but, in 1995, had only found one or two stray entries for a Francis and nothing made sense.
In 2005, I did a search on the internet version of the IGI
against multiple spellings of the Ginn surname and realised that there was a
full family to this man. The name
pattern of this man’s family matched the likely pattern of the chap from
Datchworth but I also checked that the other “possibles” had died in infancy;
they did. Then years later, in late 2021, a series of deeds were indexed at the Herts Archives and they confirmed my conclusions.
Francis Ginn was a Labourer/Husbandman . He was in Hatfield in 1670/2 but moved to adjacent Essendon by 1676 and
stayed there for the rest of his life.
His brother John fretted about the fact that Frank has been largely disinherited. One reason he worried was whether Frank had a claim to the ownership of the three cottages that John had inherited. So in the 1670s and early 1680s or so (John was selling one or two of the cottages) deeds were drawn up (but never executed - the drafts survive) for Francis to remove any claim by gifting the cottages to John (see for example D.E/PT 2881 at Herts Archives).
The only other entry of note that I can find, dates to 1691 when
“Francis Gin of Essendon” is in the Quarter Sessions records “for leaving a dunghill
on the Kings highway to the annoyance of the inhabitants”. Although laughable in itself today, it is
likely that his lack of efficient husbandry was due to the probems he was
facing at home, because Sarah died that year and Francis was faced with a
number of young children to look after whilst trying to earn their bread.
Polls Books were not required to be kept until an act of
1696, and the only such surviving documents I was aware of at HRO did not commence until 1722 and were on
microfilm. In 2010, I was astonished to
discover a manuscript Poll Book at the
HRO from 1697 which showed Francis Ginn to have been a freeholder and to
have had the vote. I would assume
therefore that his father had set him up with a little money when he married,
hence the passing reference in his
father’s will.
Francis Ginn died in 1698, he was 58. He left a cottage and a little money. Letters of Administration were granted (PCC 6/75 214 National Archives) to son Francis in December 1699. He left a number of orphans, some in their
infancy and no obvious family support to come to their aid.
Old map showing
Hatfield and Essendon
Francis and Sarah had a good number of children
Sarah - died in 1695, aged 19
John - died in 1692
Mary and Ann - are untraced
Mary and Ann - are untraced
William - see next post
Alice - died in 1704, aged 14
Francis - one died in infancy in 1670. I had guessed that there was another but did not know this for certain until May 2020. The second Francis was born (there is no baptism record) in circa 1675.
His father died in 1698, and in December 1699 it was this man who was given Letters of Administration of his estate. The cottage obviously went directly to Frank jnr's brother William, but Dad must have left some money, and this man was granted the right to deal with that.
Almost, if not as soon as Frank junior received his money he married an Ann. The marriage could have been a declaration (which was legal) because I cannot find a church wedding which would have cost him a fee.
By 1700, he and his bride were in Epping in Essex. For a young man with ambition, moving from tiny Essendon was a good move, moving to a town near London on a major traffic route was not. This was a time of major smallpox epidemics, and as I type the UK is in the grip of an epidemic, and moving to Epping put he and his family in harm's way.
I like Epping. But probably the only thing that Frank would recognize is the "Black Lion" pub, we have both I suspect eaten and drunk there.
Ann and Francis had four children in Epping, namely
Mary 1702
Elizabeth 1704 d. 1712
William 1707
Ann 1709 d. 1712
I have assumed that Francis was a Husbandman, ie a smallholding farmer, but I do not know. What I do know is that tragedy struck this family in the summer, July/August, of 1712. It was obviously smallpox. Within a few days Francis and his daughters Elizabeth and Ann were dead. Frank would have been about 36. Ann soldiered on but died in 1715 leaving William aged 8 and Mary aged 12 as orphans. There were no Ginns left to take care of them, so unless Ann's parent's could, the orphans were presumably taken by the parish and are untraced.
Epping church
Francis - one died in infancy in 1670. I had guessed that there was another but did not know this for certain until May 2020. The second Francis was born (there is no baptism record) in circa 1675.
His father died in 1698, and in December 1699 it was this man who was given Letters of Administration of his estate. The cottage obviously went directly to Frank jnr's brother William, but Dad must have left some money, and this man was granted the right to deal with that.
Almost, if not as soon as Frank junior received his money he married an Ann. The marriage could have been a declaration (which was legal) because I cannot find a church wedding which would have cost him a fee.
By 1700, he and his bride were in Epping in Essex. For a young man with ambition, moving from tiny Essendon was a good move, moving to a town near London on a major traffic route was not. This was a time of major smallpox epidemics, and as I type the UK is in the grip of an epidemic, and moving to Epping put he and his family in harm's way.
I like Epping. But probably the only thing that Frank would recognize is the "Black Lion" pub, we have both I suspect eaten and drunk there.
Ann and Francis had four children in Epping, namely
Mary 1702
Elizabeth 1704 d. 1712
William 1707
Ann 1709 d. 1712
I have assumed that Francis was a Husbandman, ie a smallholding farmer, but I do not know. What I do know is that tragedy struck this family in the summer, July/August, of 1712. It was obviously smallpox. Within a few days Francis and his daughters Elizabeth and Ann were dead. Frank would have been about 36. Ann soldiered on but died in 1715 leaving William aged 8 and Mary aged 12 as orphans. There were no Ginns left to take care of them, so unless Ann's parent's could, the orphans were presumably taken by the parish and are untraced.
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