Son of John (post of 23rd March 2013) William Ginn and his family are a classic example of the
social change that was sweeping England
at he close of the 18th century. At this
time, social and political change resulted in "a vast flood of
pauperism" engulfing "virtually the whole of the labouring
classes" (W.E Tate "The Parish Chest").
William was born in 1773.
His mother died when he was 8, his father when he was 15.
It is quite possible that William spent part of his early
life at Stocking Pelham. In any event,
doubtless he visited fairly often. It is clear that he and his cousin Cornelius were quite close.
Ann King was clearly a Stocking Pelham girl. She and William must have come into contact
through his visits.
Ann seems quite clearly to have been the daughter of James
King and Ann (nee Turner) of Stocking Pelham.
The parish register and Militia lists do not agree, so there were
obviously more children than those shown in the register. She was born in circa 1777.
The couple married in 1798.
Ann immediately turned her charm on Cornelius Ginn, persuading him to
let one of his vacant cottages to her father.
The Kings, incidentally, had originally come from Essendon in Herts. (See Quarter Sessions reords)
As I have mentioned, the close of the 18th century was not a
good time to be an Agricultural Labourer.
There were various reasons for this.
A rising population was a major contributor, as was a greater
industrialisation of agricultural work, and thus a decline in the need for
labourers. Other factors played a part
however, particularly the rise in the price of corn during the French wars, the
very low wages, and last, but not least, the system which prevented a man
moving from village to village if he was likely to be a burden on the poor
rates.
All of these created conditions that made it very difficult
for William and his family. Their having
such a large family did not help.
In truth, I can think of better places to live (from the
employment point of view) than Farnham.
It is very small, was not a particularly dynamic place, and unless a man
could get to Bishop's Stortford (where many headed for) I can see how men must
have faced unemployment. Certainly
William did.
We have records for Farnham's overseers from 1808. From the first, William and his family were
in a bad way. He was completely
unemployed, or had "lost time" quite frequently before 1813, after
which things improved for a few years.
It is probable that the improvement had much to do with the end of the
Napoleonic Wars (1814/5) and the resulting reduction in the price of bread.
The improvement was only temporary. The ending of the wars eventually led to
higher unemployment (as thousands of men came home). The population grew even faster, while
continuing enclosures of common land increased deprivation. William's fortunes declined sharply after
1818.
It may be that William and Ann had hoped for some help from
Cornelius. But, as we have seen,
Cornelius was in considerable debt, and he had no real assistance to
offer. Any meagre help handed out would
simply have been deducted from the couple's poor relief. They couldn't win.
By 1827 Ann was worn out.
She had had many children, and possibly with the last, died. She was quoted as 50.
William struggled on for a little while. He was probably prematurely aged; by the
work, the poor diet and lack of medical care (not to mention all the
children!). In 1832 (aged 59) he became
a permanent parish relief "Pensioner". We know that he was in a cottage at Farnham
Green (Tithe Map) somewhere in the area called "Lincolns" or
"The Folly". In 1841, he was
living with sons Henry and Timothy.
William was buried on January 29th 1842. He was quoted as being 73; he was in fact
69. The cause of death was dropsy. He received one final brief obituary in the
Overseers book - "bought a coffin. William
Ginn. .15 shillings". William had
always known it was going to be a hard life.
William and Ann had a good number of children including a magnificent nine sons:
William - Stayed in the local area.
See later post
John - Also stayed locally.
See later post
George - At least initially in the local area. See later post
Charles - Was transported to Australia - see post of 7th July 2012
James - Got into a bit of trouble and was transported to Australia. See later post.
David - In the summer of 1836, David was mentioned in the Farnham
Overseers book; he was being paid for looking after an invalid, so may have
been periodically unemployed at the time.
In late October 1839, a recruiting party of the 2nd
Battalion, Rifle Brigade, arrived in Bishops Stortford. These were formerly the
95th Rifles, the regiment portrayed in the "Sharpe” novels and TV series and the regiment that David's first cousin Sam Ginn had joined in the Napoleonic Wars- see post of 26th January 2013.
Some nine men and boys were recruited, including (on 18th
October) David Ginn, 20 years of age and all of 5ft 6ins.
David was marched back to Windsor, where he spent most of his short
army life. In the summer of 1840, the
2nd Battalion were ordered to Newport, Wales.
This being part of an increased army
presence in South Wales, resulting from the Newport
Chartist Rising in November 1839.
Group of Rifle Brigade
(Imperial War Museum)
Unfortunately David became ill, spending much of the last
year of his life in hospital. He died of
tuberculosis on 17th
September 1841; he was a mere 22 years of age. The regimental records give his next of kin as
his brother John, of "Thornham [sic] in Essex”.
All David's army service, and his
registered death, were under the name "Gin".
Henry - Joined the Royal Marines and died at Balaclava in the Crimean War - see post of 21st September 2012
Timothy - Took voluntary emigration to Australia - see post of 7th September 2012
Susannah - married William Monk
Rebecca - died aged 20
Cornelius - clearly named after William's cousin. He is the only of William's nine sons that I cannot trace. I have assumed he joined the forces and died in obscurity somewhere abroad - descendants of his siblings continued his name
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