Richard Ginn/Genn of Ely d. 1772

Richard Ginn, possibly only surviving son (we cannot be sure as others were alive in the 1690s) of Richard Ginn/Genn of Ely in my post of  28th September 2012 , married a Margaret in about 1702 but they only had one child, also Richard, in 1705.  All we know of Richard senior here is that he died at Ely Trinity in 1726 aged 50.  What happened to Margaret is unknown but it is likely she remarried.

The subject of this post is the Richard born in 1705.  The work which has been produced pre 2005 on this family is, I am discovering, only a small part of the story.  There is still a lot to be discovered.  Some of the things that I have found would probably have astonished previous researchers.

Richard Ginn was a Shoemaker.  He was also, at least for a time, one of the constables in Ely and in 1755 the Quarter Sessions records show that Richard and the Chief Constable went in to an Ely pub and declared that they were ale tasters and demanded a free pint.  They got their drink and all was well until the landlady discovered they weren't what they said they were, hence the court case.  Nobody knows the verdict.

That, frankly, is all that prior researchers knew of Richard except for the fact that at this point the surname was changing from Ginn to Genn and thereafter remained so. 

I have discovered, astonishingly, that for at least a few years (1766-69) Richard lived in Hertfordshire and, indeed, Hoddesdon in southern Hertfordshire where I lived until very recently.  He had moved with his son William and family.  He was, indeed, a Constable for Hoddesdon also and two settlement examinations (for the purpose of the Poor Law) survive proving this (contained under reference PS/E/ASS4 & 16) at Cambs Record Office. See text of one (1769) below:

"Richard Genn the elder, 64, cordwainer and wife Mary, born in Ely Trinity. Formerly Constable for the parish of Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire"

 

             Hoddesdon as Richard knew it (I have this engraving)

Richard and Mary were likely moved back to Ely when he was too old to work properly and Mary became ill and thus possibly a burden on Broxboume parish.  She died at Ely that same year. There was a further examination in 1770, Richard now being a widower. He died at Ely in 1772 aged 67.

Richard and Mary had five children, all sons:

John - in RSG's study it simply says in regard to John "married Mary Gotobed from an old Ely family in 1755, after this there is no other information".

I have made some progress however.   He was a shoemaker.  He married Mary and they do not appear to have ever had any children. In 1760 the “Apprentices of Great Britain” records show that John “Ginne” of Ely, Cordwainer took an apprentice at a premium of £5.  The surname was even then still in transition.  He was a witness (as Genn) to his brother William's marriage in Ely in 1764 and could sign his name.  He similarly was the witness/oath swearer to his brother William's Certificate of Settlement in Hoddesdon in 1766 so was obviously still in Ely then.

In 1778, the couple were in Cambridge.  The London Gazette of that year reports that “John Genn formerly of Ely in the Isle of Ely but late of Cambridge, cordwainer” was in Cambridge Castle (below) as a prisoner.  This was almost certainly (as it was reported in the London Gazette) because of debt which was imprisonable in that period.

In 1785, the couple were in St ClementParish, Cambridge - there is a document at Cambs Record Office (P27/13/11) dealing with settlement for the poor Laws that states that the couple were sent back to Ely.  John Genn was then 54.  I have no further information but they do not appear to have died in Ely.

Richard - see post of 9th March 2013

William - the second of that name, ignored in previous research by RSG and others - moved to Hertfordshire - see post of 10th March 2019.

 

James- no prior research has ever been done on James.  In 2010, I fiirst found him with wife in Littleport.  No other information turned up until 2019 and research on him is active.

James Genn was a Glover.  Allied to shoemaking - just different digits !  He has astonished me because he married a Norfolk girl - marrying Annabel Jarvis at North Runcton in Norfolk (near Kings Lynn) in 1757.  I had to do some "field research" on this and went to Norfolk Record Office.  Annabel was  born in North Runcton ,with the lovely name Anabel Gervaise in August 1739 - so she was barely 18 when she married.  Her parents were Edmund and Ellen, Ellen being Edmund's second wife, but I cannot find either marriage or occupation for Edmund.  The Gervaise family were fairly extensive in the area  Like his brothers James could write his name.

 

In 1760 the couple were back at Littleport near Ely where they had a daughter Mary who sadly died there in infancy in 1761.

                                                                    Littleport

                                                    
By 1763 they were back in Annabel's home turf however, because she died that year as "Ann Bell Ginn" (the parish clerk could not cope with the Christian name) at Shoulham near Kings Lynn, likely in childbirth.  I am researching further and seeking to trace James, who pretty muh could have gone anywhere.  It seems likely that there was at least one child unknown to me.