Richard Ginn of Ely d. 1659

Richard here was a younger son of Robert Ginn of Ely (see post of   5th September 2012)  This was long (about 50 years) suspected but was a moot point until as late as 2021 when the Assize records at Cambridge University Library were transcribed during the Covid pendemic no less (with the aid of £40,000 from the Cambridge and Huntingdonshire Family History Society) and records linking him to his brother Arthur were revealed.

A reasonable amount is known about this family, much due to the work and transcriptions of the late Reg Holmes, Ely local historian of whom more later.  I have also been researching in the original records at the Cambridgeshire Archives and, as of 2024, in the Cambridge Manuscripts Section of the University of Cambridge Library.  The latter is an ongoing project.

Richard Ginn (sometimes Genn) was a Haberdasher of Hats who married Mary (the marriage is untraced) in about 1613.  There is some suggestion that her maiden name may have been Yarrow (see below) but I cannot confirm that.  It seems clear that he initially went into business with his brother Arthur (see post of 6th September 2012) who would have been the dominant financial partner.  And by  by the 1640s the suggestion was  that Richard set up on his own account and had a shop/tenement in Steeple Row.

It was not until 2024 that I found out what happened, the manorial records of Ely Porta Manor are at Cambridge University Library, and I turned them out.

The Church (The Dean and Chapter of Ely Cathedral) held Ely Porta Manor.  Ely Porta itself (see below - it is quite impressive) was finished in about 1400 and that was where the Manorial Court meetings were held.

 In 1629, Richard Ginn (by his death it was Genn) bought a property in Steeple Row from a Thomas Foote, Citizen and Grocer of London.  This would seem to be the same Thomas Foote who became Lord Mayor of London, was something of a Puritan, knighted by Cromwell and made a Baronet at the Restoration in 1660 - see Wikipedia.  What Foote was doing with a property in Ely seems unclear, its use when Richard and Mary bought it equally so.  But buy it they did and Richard was given as a Haberdasher.

Steeple Row ran (it still does but now just a walkway) at the side of Ely Cathedral at the Cathedral end of the High Street, on the left side. It was a tenement of about six three storey shops, with the shop on the ground floor and living quarters above. It had a wonderful view of  of the cathedral and was behind some High Street shops.  I have been there.   You walked through (as you do now) Steeple Gate which is still there as it always was (below) and there was Richard's shop.

I was astonished to find that Richard Ginn of Ely was in partnership with a Citizen and Haberdasher of London - a certain John Yarrow.  John Yarrow was a Haberdasher of Hats (he is mentioned in Boyd's Inhabitants of London, a work compiled in the 1930s) and was married, living in St Lawrence Jewry by the Guildhall of London.  John Yarrow seems to have been made a Freeman of the City (ie a Citizen) in 1614.  And about half of those named Yarrow at this time seem to come from Ely, so he was likely an Ely lad and, I hypothesise, Richard's brother in law.  It would seem logical.

Given that Yarrow was an actual Haberdasher (ie retailer) of Hats and not a merchant (supplier) it seems to me more of a partnership than a mere business arrangement.  Richard Ginn in Ely needed someone to supply the latest London fashions.  And Yarrow took security over Richard and Mary's property (why include Mary in the deal - women were mostly excluded ?) so a personal connection  seems likely.

I an event Yarrow died in 1642, just as the Civil War started - he was about 45, and his only surviving son (Samuel) would seem to have returned to Ely.  So at that point the ties were severed.

In 1630 Richard Ginn was one of the Overseers of the Poor in Ely, suggesting some substance.  We know this because in that year he is reported to have complained to the Trustees of the Parsons Charity (set up to relieve the poor of E1y) that they were not carrying out their duties and asked for money.  At that time they reportedly had £900 unallocated.  The Trustees gave none and the dispute escalated, in 1641 leading to a petition to the House of Lords which was signed by Richard and two others.

The researcher Robert Seymour Genn indicates that Richard was a trustee of the charity in addition to being an overseer of the poor for the parish.  This is not what Reg Holmes' transcription says however.  RSG further states that Richard was accounted a "gent." (ie a gentleman) on this document which is also not shown on the transcription.  This rather accords with my own research on Richard which shows that he is never referred to in the Lay Subsidy records  (and thus was not that prosperous, befitting a younger son) and appears to have leased his premises, where he also lived of course. If the man had been that prosperous the tax gatherers would have been the first to know !

                         The view that Richard saw a lot

In September 2021, in a lull in the Covid pandemic, I managed to get to the Cambridgeshire Archives (now in Ely) and under difficult conditions supplemented what we know of this man from Reg Holmes.

It became clear that Richard here was involved in the lay work of Ely Trinity, and likely the cathedral itself.

Ely Trinity Parish, as I shall say a number of time in this blog, did not have its own church, it used the Lady Chapel at the Cathedral - I have been there (below) and it is very beautiful but likely freezing cold in the winter.

By the early1640s a character called William Hitch enters the scene.  He was a Master at the King's School in Ely (still there) the Precentor (ie the man in charge of presenting the music - choir, organ etc) at the Ely Cathedral services themselves and Minister of Ely Trinity.  So he was a busy and by all accounts a very efficient man.

Now in 1642 the English Civil War began.  The Parliament side were largely led by Puritans, and these guys were not happy with what one might call Anglican "High Church" services, ie those with incense, candles, choirs and music.  They wanted it pure and simple like their name implies, with  a quiet service, contemplative faith and a rousing sermon.

 Oliver Cromwell lived in Ely at this time in a house (below - now the Cromwell House Museum) which I have visited, it sits it Ely St Mary Parish.

Cromwell was obviously a prosperous resident,  a Parliamentarian and Puritan in religious terms but there was no hint in 1642 that he would rise to such prominence so as to lead the country,

However in 1643 Oliver Cromwell was made Governor of the Isle of Ely - to manage it, defend it and secure it against Royalist forces - which he did.

And it was in that capacity that in 1644 Oliver also wrote a famous letter to William Hitch, telling him in no uncertain terms to cut down on the choir, the music and show and concentrate on the sermons.  See   The day the cathedral music died | Ely Standard

Hitch ignored him, and so one Sunday "at the time of divine service" (I think it a fair bet that both Richard Genns and their families were there) Oliver Cromwell (then 45) with his famous hat on and forty soldiers marched into the Cathedral, shouted at Hitch and expelled the congregation.

                              One of his hats and the man himself

We know as I say that Richard Ginn/Genn was involved in church affairs.  It was a requirement of the Churchwardens of Ely Trinity that the have their annual accounts agreed and in later years "signed off" by a select group of the more solid citizens of the parish.  The account book survives (P67/5/1 Cambs Archives) and  I was lucky enough to have access to the original book, and in 1654 Richard Genn signed off the 1653 accounts - the relevant page of the book and the signatures of Richard Genn (and William Hitch who also died in 1659) being shown below. It was a rare find.

Richard Ginn/Genn died in 1659 in his later 60s and is buried in the Trinity Church chuchyard, ie at the Cathedral.  Mary had died in 1647.

Richard and Mary had a good number of children, the greater part of whom died in infancy:

John - is untraced.

Alice - married Robert Bell at Ely in 1642.  As I research laterally (ie the people who associated with the Ginns as well as the Ginns themselves) it was curious to me that I could not find anything on this man, and then in 2021 when the Assize records were transcribed I found out why.  Robert Bell was a Tailor in Ely, and apparently quite a prosperous one initially.  His signature appears in a number of documents (see below)

He and Alice had a good number of childrem (some obviously not shown because of the gap in the Ely Trinity register in the 1650s) but he made the mistake of borrowing from family, never a good idea, and a substantial sum at that (£200) borrowed from his brother in law Richard Ginn/Genn jnr in 1668.  He also owed  monies to other men and this all came to a head in September 1674 (Ely Assize 26 Chas II - Cambridge University Library)  when his creditors took him to the Assize court.  It was presumably a matter of last resort for Richard Ginn jnr.  Judgment went against Robert including damages and doubtless he was ruined.  Alice died in 1685 aged 63 and Robert in 1699 aged 77.

William, Thomas, one Mary and one Richard died in infancy

Mary - the second one is untraced

Richard - the second is subject of the next post

Ann - is untraced