Thomas Ginn of Croxton, Cambridgeshire d. 1779

Thomas Ginn, the third son of John of Anstey (see my post of 12th September) married Lydia Mace there in 1709.

                                            Wimpole

Tom, like both of his brothers was obviously given a little money by his Dad and both had a freehold cottage in Anstey and had the vote there as a consequence.

Lydia came from Cambridgeshire, from Papworth, and was born there in 1684 to Tom and Lydia (nee Barrett).  How Lydia met Tom Ginn I have no idea, but shortly after they married they moved to Wimpole in Cambridgeshire, Lydia may have had family connections there.

Tom was a labourer and the couple only had two known children, Tom jnr (1720) and Mary (1715).  

Tom snr died at Wimpole in 1746 aged 64, Lydia having died there in 1720, almost certainly in childbirth.

Mary is untraced, but Tom jnr, the subject of this post, went north to his mother's "neck of the woods" and settled in Croxton.

                                               Croxton

Tom jnr married Elizabeth Mitchell at Croxton in 1746, the year of his father's death.  He was also a labourer, settled at Croxton permanently and, his being mentioned in the Overseers Book a couple of times apart,  I know absolutely nothing about him.

Tom jnr died in 1779, aged 59.  Elizabeth died in 1786 aged 60.

Tom and Elizabeth had a good number of children:

  Lydia  -  married Abraham Barber at Eltisley in 1772.  They had a number of children and moved into Hunts and were at Little Paxton by the 1780s.  Lydia seemed to dictate the names of children as many were named after her brothers and sisters.  She would appear to have died at Little Paxton in 1803 aged 57.
 

  Alice - married William Cooper at Little Paxton, Hunts, in 1772. No children known.  She likely lived alongside Lydia above who named a daughter after her but I cannot trace them further.
 

 Joseph - see later post  
 

 Lucy - married William Smeeton at Gt Staughton, Hunts in 1782.  They had a good number of children over a wide area from Keysoe over into Bedfordshire and many of them were not baptised until they were grown up which is helpful.  I know that there are descendants through their son John (at Pertenhall) at least.  William died at Keysoe in 1809.  Lucy died there in 1826 with a quoted age of 80, she was actually 69.
 

 Charlotte - married William Howe of Sawtry at Wyton, Hunts in   1791. Lydia Barber was witness.  No children known and I cannot trace them further.

 
Thomas - is untraced
 
 Robert - one died in infancy, the other is untraced
 
 Benjamin- one died in infancy, the other is untraced
 
 Elizabeth - is also untraced 

NB  It is notable that the daughters have largely been traced but the fate of most of the sons is unknown.  There are many Ginn families in the Croxton area but none link to this family.

            

Charles Ginn of Anstey d. 1734

Charles Ginn was a Labourer/Husbandman and is one of the significant Ginn family men in this blog, having a good many Ginn family descendants alive today.   He owned freehold land and had the vote, so in his later years he would definitely have argued had you said he was a Labourer. 

In 1698 (when he was 31) he purchased a property in Cheapside in Anstey.  The property was described as being "near a little lane called Eastwood Lane" and passed down through the family to 1789 (as we shall see).  Its owners can subsequently be traced (without doubt) and I have established what this consisted of and exactly where it was.  As a solicitor/property lawyer I am well qualified to undertake this and I have a note showing the chain of ownership, with maps.

Charles bought this property from a chap called Robert Bennett and his wife, and paid them £23.  (See Deed HRO).  In 2008, I discovered that the property was originally owned by a Robert Rowley, the Anstey smith, who died in 1666 and appears to have been a friend and neighbour of John Ginn, Charles’ dad (see post of 12th September ).  Rowley’s widow Joan died in 1674, having made her will in John Ginn’s presence in 1671, and Joan the widow left it to her brother Edmund Allen who died in Anstey in 1677 and who in turn left it to Robert Bennett and his wife as above.  It consisted of a cottage and an adjacent smithy (which had also been converted for residential use).  There was also a barn, a stables, a large garden and an orchard.  The property was adjacent Eastwood Lane, and at the back Charles had a large long oblong shaped field.  This stretched virtually right back to East Wood, in a long strip.  In all, Charles had an acre of land.

Unfortunately, the cottage is no longer there.  There are a row of houses  there now.  But, the good news is that the field at the back is the same as it always was.  So, descendants can go and have a look if they want.

        Cottage stood where the white house can be seen -Eastwood Lane is the little lane to

                                                                 the direct right

In any event, Charles married Mary in about 1700, I cannot trace a marriage entry.  He found marriage was expensive, and in 1702 he mortgaged the property to a John Browne (Deed HRO) for £10.  This deed had many of his signatures on it (Charles took at least one further advance).

Mary Ginn died in 1709, probably in childbirth.  Charles did not remarry.

                                  
                                    The surviving paddock at the rear of the cottage

In 1723 all local householders were required to swear an oath that they accepted German George (George the First) as their King, notwithstanding the fact that he never learnt to speak English.  Charles walked over to the “George Inn” at Barkway to swear his oath (See Quarter Sessions Books HRO).

In December 1733, Charles became fatally ill and he died in early 1734; aged 67.

He made a will (ERO with original at HRO) and left his land to his son James, his second son.  Yet another example of the eldest being disinherited.  For a summary of the inheritance of the cottages by his children - see below.

Charles and Mary had a number of children, not all of whom are shown on the IGI:

James - has been dealt with first, because he inherited the property.  He paid 3s Land Tax on this, and did not marry. .He appears in various Poll Books.  He died in 1776, aged 73, and the property was inherited by his brother Charles (see 1786 Mortgage below), and Anstey Manor Court Book (HRO)

Charles - did not marry.  Upon his brother James's death, he presented himself to the Anstey Manor Court and stated that he was “the only brother and heir of James Ginn".  The other brother (Benjamin) had died in 1759.  He inherited the property, paying a fine of £3 3s to the court.  He died in 1781 (intestate) aged 80.  All this is recited in 1786 Mortgage (below).  He was the last man called Ginn to live in Anstey, after nearly 300 years of continuous occupation by the family.

Mary- clearly married George Johnson of Anstey (I can't find the marriage entry).  George died in 1772.  They had not had any children.  She inherited the cottages on her brother Charles’s death (see Mortgage) but died herself (again Intestate) in 1784, aged 80.  Letters of Administration were granted to her nephew William Ginn, of Great Hormead (eldest son and heir of her brother Benjamin) - see Letters of Admin and Bond all of which survive at the HRO.  The Bond was for £100, clearly roughly the value of the estate.  William mortgaged the property in 1786 (as we shall see) and the complicated inheritance outlined above is detailed again in that deed (HRO)

Benjamin - married Grace Graves.  See later post

Ruth - yet another one of this family to not marry.  She died a maid in 1770; aged 62 

William -two of this name died in infancy