Arthur was left various bequests in his father's will of 1637. Like many Ginns, and not a few Arthurs, he never married but was a very good uncle to his nephews and nieces and well deserves a mention here.
In 1655, when Arthur was 31, he and his brothers Thomas and John
and his brother in law George Brockwell were supposedly involved in the theft of deer from Writtle Park. This was the period after the English Civil War but before the Restoration when the gentry were not exactly in favour and Writtle Park was obviously open to exploitation.
Arthur was the trickiest of all three brothers, and evaded
capture by the Constable of Chipping Ongar until 1662. He was captured briefly
and then absconded again.
Arthur
had an important role in the history of this family. I do not know for sure that he never married and had
issue but doubt it, but he certainly became the guardian of his nephew’s
children until his death. From the 1680s
at least and until his death he was Estate Manager to the Bendish family
(baronets) who held Bower Hall at Steeple Bumpstead in northern Essex on the
Suffolk border. They were descendants of the Pepys family of the famous diarist
Samuel and whether Arthur ever met Sam Pepys (who kept in with many of his wealthier family) who was Arthur's contemporary is a moot
point.
Samuel Pepys
Amazingly, Arthur’s
accounts papers in his own hand and with his sgnature survive and are at the Essex Record Office for the years
1687-8. He obviously lived in lodgings
at the Hall and was paid £12 a year with all found. A page is shown below and note the reference to Richard Pepys, known to Samuel.
Bower Hall (which no longer stands) was quite a magnificent estate and engravings of 1710 and later photographs show the house to have not changed over the centuries.
Bower Hall
Arthur Ginn became guardian to his gt nephews and
nieces after the death of his nephew Thomas (see later) and obviously played an important part in bringing them up. As guardian, sometimes referred to as a Yeoman and sometimes a Gentleman, he was involved in a
case in Chancery in 1691(Noake v Ginn ref C6/298/83 at the National Archives) which will be discussed in more detail later.
His great nephew Thomas informed me in a later court case of 1702 that good old Arthur here died in 1693 - I have never found a burial entry - he may well have been buried in a seperate chapel at the Hall. He was 69.
Hello Michael, thought you would appreciate some more info on this article. Sir Henry Bendyshe of Bower Hall,died in 1717 and bequeathed his sugar plantation property in Barbados called Bydes Mill to his nephew, Henry Roberts. Sir Henry Bendyshe's "steward and bayliff" for Bydes Mill was John Perratt Sr.(1654-1729) who continued in that position for the new owner, Henry Roberts.
ReplyDeleteThis John Perratt Sr.married Ann Hales and they had a son, John Perratt jr. who had a daughter, Ann Perratt that married Francis George Steger in 1737 in Barbados. Francis George Steger was the brother of Hans Heinrich Steger who married Tralucia Ginn, daughter of William Ginn Quaker watchmaker in London, son of the Quaker baker as he is so fondly remembered. These Steger brothers were the sons of Johannes Steger born 1659 Germany and Elizabeth Reynolds born 1683 in Devonshire House London. Both Steger brothers and their families ended up in Virginia by 1750. So, an interesting connection between Arthur Ginn at the Bendyshe (Bendish) Bower Hall and Tralucia Ginn. Here is a link to the Perratt/Parrott family: https://sites.rootsweb.com/~parrott/PDFs/Pullen%201975.pdf A short, but very interesting read to me considering this Ginn/Steger line went from Virginia down to Huntsville, Madison County, Alabama where my great great grandfather Logan Ginn was born in 1823.