Charles Ginn of Hertford d.1881

For various reasons have not had the time to update the blog over the last few months, but hope to catch up a little over the next few weeks.

Charles here is the son of Charles snr of Hertford in my post of 1st April 2013.

He married Jane Binton at Hertford in 1848 and soon after he and Jane had thoughts of emigration.

I knew that they had spent a few years in South Africa before returning to Hertford when researching in the early 1990s, but had no idea what happened.  In later years a few things turned up in my research.

Charles joined the Merchant Navy in about 1850, clearly with the intention of emigrating, as in about that year he and the pregnant Jane took ship to Cape Town.  Their first child, Hannah, was born on the voyage down.

The Cape had been annexed by the British from the Dutch in the Napoleonic Wars, indeed Charles' distant cousin John Ginn was part of the original British garrison.  The garrison was not just there to resist invasion from another European country, but to provide some protection from the native tribes, in the Cape these being known as the Xhosa or more generally and racially as Kaffirs.  A series of wars were fought ("the Kaffir Wars") between the British and these tribes when the colony expanded and land and resources were contested.

Charles clearly thought that he was emigrating from peaceful Hertford to a settled non threatening colony like New South Wales in Australia, instead he and Jane turned up in the Cape when the military and the settlers were caught up in the latest of the Kaffir Wars.  If not quite frontier country  it was obviously a bit of a shock for them and, believe it or not, there is a surviving letter from the couple letting us know what happened !

Charles wrote back to his family in early 1851 and his brother Thomas thought that its contents should be passed on to the local newspaper "The Hertfordshire Mercury" so he took the letter in to them.  The comments were published in the edition of  17th May 1851 along with the marriage notice of Tom to Rebecca Klusman.

Charles had written on 7th March 1851.  Reading between the lines he was not a happy man.  He said that the Kaffir Wars had raised prices and there was a dearth of provisions - as a result he could not any money aside - despite having found work at the Cape Town Gas Works.  He tried to put a gloss on it.  "In all other respects however he was prospering with an increasing family which he was managing to find sufficient for in spite of the Kaffirs" Their second child John was born in Cape Town.

They would have been better off going on to Australia or whatever, but by December 1853 they had had enough and took ship on the "Cleopatra" and returned to England.  There was nothing for them there, just the slum housing in Hertford thast they had left.

Charles was a labourer.  He and Jane in total had ten children before Jane died in 1874.  John followed in 1881 leaving a number of young orphans

Their children

Hannah - probable sighting of her in Spitalfields in the 1871 census.  She was called Anna and was a needlewoman.

John - the only son to stay in Hertford.  Married Ellen Drew in 1875 and Elizabeth Hurrell in 1908.  Had ten children by his first wife.

Elizabeth - married Joshua Shadbolt

Susan - alive 1881

Rebecca - married Walter Harvey

Albert - he was in jail in St Albans at the time of the 1881 census and was a small time crook.  Died in 1906 aged 33.

Benjamin - he used a middle name of Charles when he married Ruth Stockwell in 1893.  I have a note that at one time he was a soldier (pre WW1) but have no further information at present.  He was a Bricklayer's labourer later.  He and Ruth had three children 

Joseph - he was in Ware Workhouse with his brother Benjamin (called Richard) in the 1881 census – the two of them now being orphans.

He joined the army in 1885 or so (he was 16). Presumably he lied about his age.

Joseph joined the Bedfordshire Regiment and appears to have served in the 2^nd Battalion.  He served with them for twelve years, and I believe he probably spent some time on the North West Frontier fighting the Afghans.

At some point Joe appears to have married (or acquired a companion) whilst in the army. This seems likely to have occurred abroad.

Joe was discharged from the army in late 1896.  He volunteered for the Army Reserve and in January 1897 was a bricklayer’s labourer at Hounslow where he was attested for the Middlesex Militia.  In June of 1897, he stated that he was married with one child. At present I have no idea of whom he married or the name of the child.  He was 5ft 8 ins tall with hazel eyes and brown hair.  Both forearms were tattooed.

The Boer War started in 1899.  The Middlesex Militia were “embodied” (ie called up) in that year.  

 It seems that Joseph’s first "wife"  died and in 1899 he married Louisa Mooney – possibly in anticipation of being sent overseas.  (He declared himself to be a bachelor on the marriage certificate in 1899).  He went out to South Africa, ironically where he father had spent a few years.  He was in the 2^nd Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment.

Joseph Ginn may have arrived too late for the Battle at Spion Kop which was a very bloody engagement  involving the Middlesex in January 1900.  He was with the 2^nd Battalion by February however, because he was at The Battle for the Tugela Heights and was involved in Buller’s march to relieve the Siege of Ladysmith. He received the South Africa Medal and clasps for both these engagements were attached.

Joe was discharged from the army in January 1901.  Back as a bricklayer’s labourer, he was at Finsbury in the 1901 census with Louisa.  They had no children then, but Louisa was 28 and subsequently they had three children.  Joseph  was called up to joined Royal Engineers in 1915 aged 46 and worked as a Pioneer throughout WW1. 

Charles and Henry - died in infancy