“Old Tom the Carpenter” as I call him, has been an
interesting man to research.
Tom was born in 1747 - see last post.
When he was 14 he was apprenticed by his father to a Thomas Hubbard of
Braughing, a carpenter (see apprenticeship tax records - National Archives- Kew). This apprenticeship would have been for seven
years, and cost his father £5.
So Thomas had been a qualified carpenter for a couple of
years when he married Mary Newland in 1770. He
was then 23. I have not researched Mary's family.
Thomas was a hard working chap, and he did quite well. There
are quite a few mentions of him in the Land Tax, the tithe records and the Poll
Books.
He owned two freehold cottages, which by 1800 or so he was
letting out. By at least 1806 (and probably
long before) Thomas had bought the Alehouse in Braughing called "The Bird
in Hand". It is clear that he was
living there by the year of Trafalgar (1805).
See the illustrations of "The Bird in Hand". See also the Victualler's Recognizences (HRO).
“The Bird in Hand” as
it was in the 1800s and when I visited in 1997.
It is no longer a pub if course but the house is still called “The Bird
in Hand”
Thomas lost his first wife in 1781, probably in childbirth.
He must have been an eligible widower in the confines of Braughing, but he
managed to struggle along with the children by himself; probably with the aid
of a housekeeper.
By 1790 Thomas had found the “right woman” and decided to remarry. Her name was Mary Ward, and she was
apparently 29, some 14 years younger than Thomas.
Tom made his will in 1806, a bit early, and his
circumstances had changed before his death.
The terms were that Mary his wife would have a life interest in
everything, with it then being split equally between the surviving
children. The will (National Archives - Probate 1828)
does not therefore tell us much of note.
Both his Executor/Trustee (a brewer from Royston) and his wife were to
die before Tom.
Mary died in 1825, she was quoted as being 64. Thomas died in 1827, he was 80. As his executor was dead, they granted
administration of his estate with the 1806 will annexed. His administrator was his son Thomas. Some of his property was disposed of before
his death, or at least I believe it was, because the estimate of his estate
(Estate Duty records - PRO) was £200, which seems rather low for two cottages
and a Pub.
Thomas and his wives had nine children:
John - I tracked him through mention of his wife in the 1851
Census.
John was also a Carpenter. In 1801 he married Elizabeth Field at
Datchworth, and they moved to Tewin.
They had three children, all daughters:
Mary 1802
Eliz. Ann 1804
Margery 1806 md Abraham Enever in 1838
In 1832 John Ginn owned the two freehold cottages at
Braughing (see 1832 Poll Book). So he
presumably acquired these as a result of the settlement on his father's death.
Before 1839, John and Elizabeth had moved to Cole Green,
Hertingfordbury (see Rate Book: HRO).
John died there in January 1841; he was quoted as 65, he was 66.
Elizabeth
went to live with her daughter Margery and family, the Enevers. These had apparently been farmers, they are
mentioned in the 1832 Poll Book, but Abraham seems to have been reduced to a
Labourer by 1851, so I am not sure what happened. Scope for research here. I have not attempted to trace anybody beyond
this.
Ann - married Edward Lawrence in 1796.
Elizabeth - she was alive in 1813.
In that year she is mentioned in the will of her third cousin, Cornelius
Ginn of Stocking Pelham. He left £20 to
the spinster daughter of his "cousin Thomas Ginn the Carpenter". In 1813 she was 22. I cannot trace her as yet.
Thomas - went to Highgate in London - see later post
Charles - it took me several years to trace Charles. If he hadn't left a will then I would not have
traced him at all - online records have rather changed things since I did this initial research in the early 1990s.
Charles married Mary Dockley at St John's, Hackney in June 1823. The couple went to live at Kate's Lane (later
known as Brook Street)
Clapton.
The following children are known and I believe are all there were:
Charles 1824
Elizabeth
Mary 1827 md. Thomas Roome in
1856
Elizabeth
was living with her parents in the 1851 census.
She worked as a dress maker.
Charles Snr. was a Carpenter, and quite a prosperous one. Mary would seem to have died in 1860. Charles subsequently acquired a companion
(described as a lodger in the census) Sarah Saunders, a local widow. They continued to live in Brook Street (at 4 Brunswick Place)
Charles Ginn died in 1872, aged 77. He left some £1,500 (see wills - National Archives) the money chiefly going to his son and grandchildren (by his then
deceased daughter). A legacy also went
to his sister Mary.
Charles Ginn Jnr was at Eagle Street, Shoreditch in 1851, he was
a Journeyman Carpenter. In 1872 it is
known that he was living in the Colony of Victoria, Australia, though I cannot
trace him in the Victoria Pioneer Index. The exectuor of his father's will made extensive records to trace him (there are notes on this in the London Gazette) and an Australian researcher I employed has told me that whilst contemporary newspapers records indicate that unclaimed post was sent to him, he was never found.
I have no idea what happened to him.
Mary - she married Jeremiah Walls.
In 1825 Thomas Ginn (her father) had handed over the reins of "The
Bird in Hand" to them. They were
Licensees (see Victualler's Recognizences).
Whether he had sold the pub to them, or merely let them run it (while he
lived with them - more likely) I don't know. He was 78 by 1825, and his much younger wife
died that year
In 1872, Mary was still alive, then 73. At that time, her brother Charles tells us
that she was married to a William Gray of Braughing, also a Licensed
Victualler.
Elisha and Polly - died in infancy
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