William Ginn of Great Hormead d. 1808

William Ginn of Anstey (son of Ben in the last post) moved to Gt. Hormead in 1755, when he married.  At that time he was a Labourer.  Mary was the daughter of William and Ann Spicer and was 28 when she married.  This accounts for the relatively low number of children; she was 42 when the last was born.

The Militia Books list William as a Labourer until 1772.  In 1772, he is listed as “William Ginn, 5 children - Alehouse-keeper”.

The excellent book by Christine Jackson, Gt Hormead's historian, on “Inns and Innkeepers of the Hormeads” mentions William as the Landlord of the "Three Horseshoes" Alehouse.  This Alehouse was owned at the time by a Henry Colton (who also owned the "Three Tuns" which has recently (1993) burnt down and been rebuilt) . I visited the "Three Tuns" just before the fire.

The "Three Horseshoes" was on Smith's Hill, now renamed Horseshoe Hill, after the Pub.  The Alehouse was a tar-boarded house, built in the 1740s.  It continued in an unchanged state (according to drawings and photographs) up until the 1960s, when it was pulled down.  So (an absolute rarity) I can actually show you where William and his family lived.  Below is an 1839 drawing (the original is at the HRO)  and  below that the only known photograph from the 1960s which shows it unchanged.

We know that William was the Landlord  from 1772-84.  Henry Colton had sold the Pub by 1787. 

The reason that William ceased to be an Alehousekeeper in 1784, may have something to do with his inheritance of that year.  As seen, William inherited two cottages from his Aunt Mary of Anstey.  He entered Letters of Administration for her estate and signed an Administration Bond (all at HRO) for £100.  Her estate must therefore have been in that region.  In 1784 William was therefore the proud owner of two cottages in Eastwood Lane, Anstey.  We know that he did not move there because in 1786 he mortgaged them both for £36.  They were mortgaged to a John Walls, of Gt. Hormead.  In 1789 William and Mary (they both signed the deed - HRO) sold the cottages to the same John Walls for £63.  I assume that the latter was minus the mortgage and that William and Mary had thus prospered by £100, overall.  Both in 1786 and in 1789 a certain Samuel King was in occupation of both the cottages.  This confirms that William and Mary stayed in Gt. Hormead throughout.

In 2015 I discovered an Insurance Certificate at the London Metropolitan Archives which shows that William considered himself to have improved his status considerably at this time, as in April 1787 he described himself as a Farmer of Great Hormead and the certificate describes him as having property at Anstey (in occupation of Samuel King, Labourer) and also property at nearby Westmill (part of Buntingford) which seems to have run to a number of cottages in the occupation of Jonathan Blakes, William Head and a man called Tinsley, all labourers.  So Bill had wisely invested the mortgage money.

William and Mary therefore had some money to see them through their old age.  They did not buy a cottage however, as they are not noted in the Land Tax.  They may have used some of the money to give their son Benjamin (below) a start.

Mary died in 1802 aged 75.  William died in 1808, as the register says, aged 80.

William and Mary had five children:         

Benjamin -went to Royston - see later post

James - stayed in Great Hormead - Ginn descendants were there until very recently - see later post

William - is untraced

   
Mary - married Thomas Clarke in 1787

 Ann - married Joseph Blakeby in 1795