John Ginn of Great Hormead d. unknown

John Ginn here, son of Edward in the last post, has given me a headache since I started researching him over twenty years ago and he, his wife and two of his children have still not been ultimately traced which is very irritating !

John was 34 when, in 1673, he married Ann Collup at Watton.  Ann was also 34, being the daughter of William and Elizabeth Collup, and born in Datchworth in 1639.

So Ann was no youngster when she got married, and this cut down on the number of children.  Only three children were baptised at Gt. Hormead, and it seems clear that this is all there were.

At some point after 1682 John Ginn and Ann left Gt. Hormead.  In 1990, this was all I knew about this family. Six years later I traced their son John and no particular progress in the research has been made since, despite repeated efforts.
 

It seems pretty clear that John Snr was not just a smallholder (it is known that he held a little land in Great Hormead).  He was probably a Higgler (see below) an occupation which would have required him to travel around.  This would explain how he met a girl from Watton.  It seems likely that when he left the Hormeads he went south, probably to London, but certainly to the outer London area but, as I say, I have never yet found where they died. 

John and Ann had three children:

John Ginn Jnr. - tracing the movements of this man and his family was a genealogical exercise all in itself.

John Ginn Jnr was born in 1674.  He was a Higgler, a licensed itinerant dealer or pedlar.  Higglers generally (but not exclusively) dealt in foodstuffs.  They sold door to door, or at markets, fairs and the like.  They did not only sell for cash, but often bartered ie haggled, hence the name, so they actually dealt in a large range of goods.  They were “packmen", roaming all over the place selling their wares and given the distance he is known to have covered it is likely John travelled with a wagon.

In 1716 John Ginn was at Loughton in Essex.  On the 1st October of that year John Ginn applied for a London Marriage Licence (below - with his mark) and there "appeared John Ginn of Lowton Essex aged 42 years and a Bachelor and Avis Bruce of the same widow”.  They married at All Hallows, London Wall. 

Avis Bruce was born Avis Dorrington.  She was apparently the daughter of a family of farmers at Hatfield Broad Oak in Essex .  In 1700 she had married a man called Robert Bruce at Loughton, and they had two daughters: Avis (1700) and Sarah (1703). By 1716, probably about 40 or so, she was a widow.

John Ginn just appeared in Loughton.  He was clearly the first Ginn there.  As you would imagine, John was highly mobile and it is clear that he went into London to trade a great deal.  He doubtless made his money selling at the many London markets, fairs and public hangings etc.

John must have had a fairly lively life, and as a "window" on his world I have included the contemporary Hogarth engraving in this section.  It is easy to forget that the sun rose and set in his day, just as in our own.

As Avis was past childbearing, John's branch of the Ginns stopped here.  He seems to have been a nice chap, he certainly took his responsibility to his step-children very seriously.

He was also a hard worker.  He still owned the land at Gt. Hormead, which must have been tenanted.  Before his death he also bought three acres of land (freehold) at Theydon Bois and a couple of acres of copyhold at Loughton.  So they lived in passable comfort.

His step-daughter Avis Bruce married a William Nutt (Nutton) at West Ham in 1721.  They were at Bow in 1732; Nutton was a Blacksmith.  His other stepdaughter, Sarah,  married a John Gates in London while John was on his deathbed, which annoyed me somewhat given that John went to some lengths to take care of his stepchildren. The latter couple lived in Loughton.

John Ginn died in November 1732; he was 58.  He made a will (National Archives ) in which he mentioned his two sisters.  Avis went to live with her daughter Avis in Bow, so became an adopted "cockney".  In 1758 she made a will (also at Bow, by this time Avis Jnr was the wife of a William England).  The will (National Archives) mentions the Bruces and Dorringtons over some four pages.  She was actually buried at Loughton alongside John.

Elizabeth - in November 1732 (from her brother's will) she was the wife of someone with the surname Luck.  She was then 56. Her brother bequeathed some "heriditaments" ie property to her in Great Hormead.  As a lawyer, I am aware that the executors had to do their best to trace her and it is clear that my 18th century colleagues did their best over some forty years or more as there is an entry in the London Gazette.  The suggestion therefore is that she was not that close, emotionally or geographically to John and could not be found.  Unfortunately I have had no success either.  Even assuming that Mr Luck was her second or third husband I cannot find her. 

Sarah  - She was the wife of someone with the surname Harwood in 1732; then aged 50.  She clearly had sons named John and James.  I have found nothing in the marriage indexes.  We may trace her.  Also came into the hereditaments (above).

Edward Ginn of Great Hormead d. 1692

Edward Ginn was a Husbandman, second son of Richard Ginn (post of 14th August)  brother of Aquila Ginn who died in 1687 and uncle of John in the last post.   In his father's will of 1624 he was left four acres of land called "Little Leys”, with a proviso that his elder brother could buy them back for £30.  This land was enclosed, i.e. hedged or fenced, and I suspect that Edward built a cottage on this land.

Edward lived in Gt. Hormead proper, and in 1633 he married Judith Perry, who may well have come from Gilston.  Unfortunately I know relatively little about him and Judith, though have had quite a bit of success with his Ginn descendants

In 1658, Edward and Judith were assaulted and robbed by two locals, including Thomas Dines, Edward’s nephew.  Edward lost a purse containing the princely sum of 6d.

Edward liked a drink, and he had little time for Puritans.  The laws on drink were very strict during the Commonwealth period, when the Puritans ruled England under Cromwell.  Edward had no regard for them.  In 1658 he was prosecuted for the offence of “drinking and tippling in the house of John Poulter during the time of divine service”.  John Poulter is mentioned in the work of Christine Jackson on the inns and innkeepers of the Hormeads and was Edward's brother in law.

Edward lived to a very good age for the period; dying in 1692, aged 82.  Judith died in 1695, also no doubt in her 80s.

Edward and Judith had five children:

Sarah - two Sarah Ginns married in Gt. Hormead in 1661.  One was from Anstey, the other was this Sarah.  I have found it impossible to distinguish between them.  One married William Aldrich, the other Henry Scaggs.  I have assumed that this one married William Aldrich alias Beadle.  That is certainly what is claimed by descendants of this couple online.

John - the sort of chap to give a genealogist a headache - see next post

Nicholas - see later post

Grace - is technically untraced, but in September 2022 an Australian correspondent (Cathy Reading) made a convincing case that she married Roger South of Great Hormead in about 1661.  The couple had five children - Edward, Elizabeth, Mary, Judith and an unbaptized male.  If this is correct, then Grace died in 1700 and Roger in 1703.

 Judith - is untraced

John Ginn of Little Hormead d. 1712

John Ginn was the youngest son of Aquila Ginn in my post of  14th August and was a Yeoman/smallholding farmer.  By birth he was a Yeoman, though in terms of land held it is more probable that he would have been deemed to have been a Husbandman.  He clearly inherited whatever land his father had in the Hormeads.  The absence of manorial records means that I do not know all what this was (see below) but I suspect most land was held by lease. 

I know little about him.  In the years from 1679-83, perhaps longer, he was a Churchwarden of Little Hormead Church.  This was a responsible position, given only to farmers and the like. The church is tiny, very old and very beautiful (I visited many years ago).  Thus in 1679 the Little Hormead register tells us that “a handsome reading desk was set up in the Chancel by John Ginn, Churchwarden, at the charge of the parishioners”.  The Hormeads historian, Christine Jackson, tells me that this reading desk (or lectern) survives.  It is still used and is illustrated in the booklet by Mrs Jackson on Hormead Churches and can be seen in the photo of the interior of Little Hormead church shown below  In 1683 “John Ginn brought to church a fine surplice made by Sarah Ballard of Much (Great) Hormead...". 

John first married Rebecca in about 1670 (I have not traced a marriage entry) and the couple had a large family, including a magnificent eight sons, all of whom lived to adulthood.  It has taken me years of research to track them all down, but find them I have.

In 2011 it was discovered by way of the Essex Beneficiaries Index that in 1707 (when the will was made) that John was the tenant (almost certainly by lease as opposed to tenancy at will) of a freehold and copyhold tenement with house in Little Hormead (will of the yeoman and schoolmaster John Ives of Manuden and Bishops Stortford 1712 ERO ref D/ABW/80/206  ) suggesting he was a Husbandman with a fair sized arable smallholding.

This information was followed up in 2012 and it is clear from the work of  Catherine Jackson on properties in the Hormeads (Hertfordshire Local Studies) that John was the tenant of a smallholding called “Whiscates” of 20 acres or so in Little Hormead.  The tenement included a cottage but Catherine (who did not access the will of John Ives or Ive) believed from the court rolls that this was not in use beyond 1678 as it was supposedly dilapidated.  Whether John had other land and actually lived elsewhere is therefore a moot point as also is how long he held “Whiscates”

Rebecca was unfortunate enough to develop the nasty wasting disease called Scrofula, caused by tuberculosis and leading to the swelling of lymph nodes in the neck.  To her contemporaries it was known as "The King’s Evil" . 

 It was so nicknamed because these superstitious people thought that the touch of a Royal might cure it.  Rebecca also believed this, or at least was game enough to try anything, because in 1684 she was granted a licence (by Royal Proclamation) to go and see William III in London (as shown above) or on one of his tours of the Realm, in the hope she could be cured (Little Hormead register).  This gentleman does not look too kindly a soul in his portrait of 1677 below.

Scrofula and its parent tuberculosis was a fatal disease, killing slowly by degrees and Rebecca died in 1700.  John Ginn temporarily forgot the fact that he had been a churchwarden, getting involved with the “Widow Carter” by whom he had a daughter - Elizabeth (Hertfordshire Quarter Sessions) whom I have not been able to trace.

John did marry again, though I did not know this until 2008 when I found that "John Ginn of Great Hormead"  married an Elizabeth Vincent at Enfield, Middlesex in 1702, the parish where a number of his sons relocated. 

John Ginn died in 1712, he was 66.  It seems clear that Elizabeth remarried Andrew Stone at Anstey in 1713.

John and Rebecca had a very large family:

John   -  went to Essex - see later post

Richard - also went to Essex - see later post

Isaac - stayed in the Hormeads.  Died there in 1703, aged 30 - unmarried.  He had a few pounds, as administration of his estate was granted to his Dad (see Admins 1707 - National Archives)

Rebecca - married Thomas Key in 1695. 

Aquila - moved to Broxted, Essex with brothers Richard and Edward.  He died there in 1703, aged 25.  He also had a few pounds, as administration of his estate was also granted to his Dad (see Admins 1707 - National Archives)

Edward - went to Essex - see later post

Grace - untraced.

Philip - moved to Enfield in Middlesex. See later post

Abraham - moved to Enfield in Middlesex.  See later post

Jacob - moved to Edmonton (next door to Enfield) in Middlesex.  See later post.

Not a single child died in infancy, which is a tribute to Rebecca

William Ginn of Braughing d. 1766

William was the heir to William Ginn, Miller of Braughing (see post of 4th September ), and presumably looked forward to taking over Gatesbury Watermill.  As it turned out, this all ended disastrously.

It is not clear what happened.  Did William Snr delegate enough responsibility to William? -  i.e. was he trained to take over the family business?  It is uncertain, but it is plain that William Jnr got heavily into debt, having borrowed from his mother (and possibly others) and was forced to sell the Mill by 1723 (Land Tax).

William married Sarah Russell at Braughing in 1708, his father having died the year before and initially things were probably alright, although William obviously had siblings who drew on his father's estate.  We get some first hand testimony of his predicament in 1715, because in that year the new Vicar of Braughing did a tour of his Parish (with a view to assessing the due Tithes).  He kept a journal, which survives (HRO) and in April of that year he called on William.  The Vicar was not at all happy, noting that he would be collecting a much lower Tithe from William (as compared to his father) and saying "he has but one  cow, no hogs at all, and I am to bait him [abate or reduce the tithe] by six shillings until he lays some down or increases his stock".  William had the Mill and five fields.

In I717 William gave and signed the marriage bond on the licence for the marriage of his sister Ann when she married Edward Wilson, a yeoman of Royston (ERO - see below) and still had Gatesbury Watermill then, being described as a Miller and was still calling himself a Miller in 1723 when he apprenticed his son William to his (William snr's) brother Thomas, Citizen and Master Carpenter of London.

 

From 1723, William had to find alternative employment.  He went to work for the local gentry.

The Calvert family owned Furneux Pelham and much of the local area.  When William sold the mill he bought a cottage in Braughing Street (the High Street, such as it was) and this was but a short walk to Furneux Pelham.  He worked for the Calverts.

                         Portrait of an English gamekeeper of 1720

We can be pretty sure that William was working there as early as 1726, because he named one of his daughters Honor, that rare forename, and undoubtedly she was called after Honor Calvert, wife of the Lord of the Manor, this lady dying prematurely the year before Honor Ginn's birth (1725).

William did quite well in the employ of the Calverts.  By 1746 he was the Calvert's Head Gamekeeper (Sporting Licence Records - HRO) and in the same year he also worked as gamekeeper for the Brown family of Great and Little Hormead.  We can imagine a grizzled, weatherworn man in tricorn hat, with a number of gundogs at his heels, out in all seasons and well represented by the rare surviving portrait of an actual gamekeeper of the period shown above.

Throughout all these years William continued to own the cottage in Braughing Street.  This was held freehold, and thus gave William the vote (see Poll Book).

By 1762 (now 81) old William had given up work, and had apparently moved to Calvert land.  His will suggests that he had moved to Furneux Pelham (the Calverts lived at Pelham Hall, which is still there, the gardens often open to the public).  I have wondered if William moved out of the Braughing cottage to allow his son and family to take over.  He may have moved to servant’s quarters at the Hall, or been allocated a cottage on the estate.  This old man had been a loyal servant of the Calverts.

It seems pretty clear that William's daughter, Honor, looked after him in his old age; she clearly lived in Furneux Pelham (perhaps in service at the Hall).  I assume that it was for that reason he left her all what money and goods he had.  William Jnr received the proverbial shilling, not an insult, but a note (for legal purposes) that the old man remembered him (so that he could not later say the old chap was non compus mentis through old age).  William Jnr had, after all, received the only real thing of value that William had - the cottage.

Sarah Ginn had died in 1756.  I cannot find a baptism entry, but she must have been at least 70.  Old William died in 1766, he was 85 and his original will (Guildhall Library -Peculiar Jurisdiction of St Pauls) with his signature is shown above.  All that fresh air had agreed with him.

William and Sarah had seven children:

William - the only son and heir.  See later post

Mary - turned up in 2007.  She is in the Fleet Marriages indexed by the Herts FHS but somehow missed from the actual index.  She married Thomas Johnson of Braughing (likely links to Furneux Pelham) in London in 1750.  She was forty and no children are known or likely.

Sarah - married Edward Warren at Braughing in 1738 

Susannah - is untraced

Honor - married Thomas Bull (likely son of William - a witness to her father's will) at Furneux Pelham in 1767.  She was forty one.

Ann and Elizabeth - died in infancy