Arthur married in 1580, when he was 28. His bride was a Mary Pakeman, whom I have
traced, she came from a large Yeoman family of Pakemans in Essex.
Mary had been taken very ill just before she married, and it
wasn't just pre-marriage nerves.
In the late 1570s she became extremely sick, or as she puts
it "visited with sickness, and in great peril and danger of
death". Mary was living at Farnham
in Essex at the time, a mile or two from
Manuden, where most of the Pakemans lived.
The whole family thought that she was going to die. One of her family, an Edmund Pakeman,
possibly her brother, visited her often.
Unfortunately he had more than her welfare on his mind. Mary tells us that he made "many
efectionate speches" before asking her to sign a writing effectively her
will, leaving everything that she owned to him.
If she was an orphan (I don't know) this could have been considerable.
Edmund was a bit of a bad lot. For even as poor old Mary lay in her supposed
deathbed, he went around the house "compassing to himself", i.e.
stealing, all her money, clothes and belongings.
Unfortunately for Edmund, Mary recovered. She could do nothing by herself, but after
she married Arthur Ginn she sued Edmund Pakeman (Chancery actions-National Archives C2 JasI/P14/57). The result of the case is not known, it was
probably settled. An Edmund Pakeman died
in 1607, left a will (he was quite well off), but ignores Mary.
Arthur Ginn is one of the few men whose landholdings I know.
He held at least 80 acres of land in
Anstey and Barkway, by free and copyhold, and probably more by lease. In Anstey he held 30 acres including tenements
called "Southman's" and "Parkins". In Barkway and Nuthampstead he held 50 acres,
including seven by freehold. So Arthur
was a prosperous Yeoman.
Whether Mary Pakeman had been severely weakened by her
illness, I don't know; but she and Arthur never had any children. They did however take in Arthur King,
Arthur's nephew - Arthur was obviously
fond of him.
I know that Arthur was popular because he is mentioned in
virtually every surviving Anstey Ginn record of the period
When someone wanted an important job done, they asked Arthur to do it.
. Caliverman of the 1580s
Arthur took his responsibilities as a Yeoman seriously. He was required by law to provide arms for
the muster. Arthur was not badly off, so
he went out and purchased a Caliver (a sort of lightweight musket). In the Spanish Armada period musters he
attended himself, but he later gave the musket to the muster, for the use of
the younger men.
Mary was perhaps always a bit sickly and she died in 1613,
doubtless in her 50s. Arthur soldiered
on.
Like his brother Henry, Arthur had a strong regard for his
nephew Robert Ginn and he decided to leave him
all his land.
Arthur died in 1630, as he puts it in his will
"accompanied by divers infirmities of old age". He was 78.
Arthur dearly loved his wife and asked to be buried in
Anstey church "near unto the place where my wife was buried". They doubtless still lie under the church
floor. He also gave some thought to the
poor - he gave and charged two acres of his freehold land with a gift to the
poor, yearly "for so long as the world endures". .a marvellous phrase. This charity
survives as “Arthur Ginn’s Charity” and is registered with the Charities
Commission as of 2010 as a parochial charity.
Immortality indeed.
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