Thomas Ginn of Braughing d. 1827

“Old Tom the Carpenter” as I call him, has been an interesting man to research.

Tom was born in 1747 - see last post.  When he was 14 he was apprenticed by his father to a Thomas Hubbard of Braughing, a carpenter (see apprenticeship tax records - National Archives- Kew).  This apprenticeship would have been for seven years, and cost his father £5.

So Thomas had been a qualified carpenter for a couple of years when he married Mary Newland in 1770.  He was then 23. I have not researched Mary's family.

Thomas was a hard working chap, and he did quite well. There are quite a few mentions of him in the Land Tax, the tithe records and the Poll Books.

He owned two freehold cottages, which by 1800 or so he was letting out.  By at least 1806 (and probably long before) Thomas had bought the Alehouse in Braughing called "The Bird in Hand".  It is clear that he was living there by the year of Trafalgar (1805).   See the illustrations of "The Bird in Hand".   See also the Victualler's Recognizences  (HRO).

“The Bird in Hand” as it was in the 1800s and when I visited in 1997.  It is no longer a pub if course but the house is still called “The Bird in Hand”

Thomas lost his first wife in 1781, probably in childbirth. He must have been an eligible widower in the confines of Braughing, but he managed to struggle along with the children by himself; probably with the aid of a housekeeper.

By 1790 Thomas had found the “right woman”  and decided to remarry.  Her name was Mary Ward, and she was apparently 29, some 14 years younger than Thomas.

Tom made his will in 1806, a bit early, and his circumstances had changed before his death.  The terms were that Mary his wife would have a life interest in everything, with it then being split equally between the surviving children.  The will (National Archives - Probate 1828) does not therefore tell us much of note.  Both his Executor/Trustee (a brewer from Royston) and his wife were to die before Tom.

Mary died in 1825, she was quoted as being 64.  Thomas died in 1827, he was 80.  As his executor was dead, they granted administration of his estate with the 1806 will annexed.  His administrator was his son Thomas.  Some of his property was disposed of before his death, or at least I believe it was, because the estimate of his estate (Estate Duty records - PRO) was £200, which seems rather low for two cottages and a Pub.

 

Thomas and his wives had nine children:

George - I have tracked him down using the Militia lists.  He was in the Braughing Militia for 1796 (then 25) as George Ginn "carpenter".  In 1801, he was in the Tewin Militia (having gone there with his brother John).  He died there in 1804, at "Warrengate" in Tewin; he was 33.  He was clearly a Bachelor.

John - I tracked him through mention of his wife in the 1851 Census.

John was also a Carpenter.  In 1801 he married Elizabeth Field at Datchworth, and they moved to Tewin.  They had three children, all daughters:              

            Mary                1802

            Eliz. Ann           1804

            Margery           1806 md Abraham Enever in 1838

In 1832 John Ginn owned the two freehold cottages at Braughing (see 1832 Poll Book).  So he presumably acquired these as a result of the settlement on his father's death.

Before 1839, John and Elizabeth had moved to Cole Green, Hertingfordbury (see Rate Book: HRO).  John died there in January 1841; he was quoted as 65, he was 66.

Elizabeth went to live with her daughter Margery and family, the Enevers.  These had apparently been farmers, they are mentioned in the 1832 Poll Book, but Abraham seems to have been reduced to a Labourer by 1851, so I am not sure what happened.  Scope for research here.  I have not attempted to trace anybody beyond this.

Ann - married Edward Lawrence in 1796. 

Elizabeth - she was alive in 1813.  In that year she is mentioned in the will of her third cousin, Cornelius Ginn of Stocking Pelham.  He left £20 to the spinster daughter of his "cousin Thomas Ginn the Carpenter".  In 1813 she was 22.  I cannot trace her as yet.

Thomas - went to Highgate in London - see later post

Charles - it took me several years to trace Charles.  If he hadn't left a will then I would not have traced him at all - online records have rather changed things since I did this initial research in the early 1990s.

Charles married Mary Dockley at St John's, Hackney in June 1823.  The couple went to live at Kate's Lane (later known as Brook Street) Clapton.

The following children are known and I believe are all there were:

            Charles                        1824

            Elizabeth Mary             1827 md. Thomas Roome in 1856

Elizabeth was living with her parents in the 1851 census.  She worked as a dress maker.

Charles Snr. was a Carpenter, and quite a prosperous one.  Mary would seem to have died in 1860.  Charles subsequently acquired a companion (described as a lodger in the census) Sarah Saunders, a local widow.  They continued to live in Brook Street (at 4 Brunswick Place)

Charles Ginn died in 1872, aged 77.  He left some £1,500 (see wills - National Archives) the money chiefly going to his son and grandchildren (by his then deceased daughter).  A legacy also went to his sister Mary.

Charles Ginn Jnr was at Eagle Street, Shoreditch in 1851, he was a Journeyman Carpenter.  In 1872 it is known that he was living in the Colony of Victoria, Australia, though I cannot trace him in the Victoria Pioneer Index.  The exectuor of his father's will made extensive records to trace him (there are notes on this in the London Gazette) and an Australian researcher I employed has told me that whilst contemporary newspapers records indicate that unclaimed post was sent to him, he was never found.  I have no idea what happened to him.

Mary - she married Jeremiah Walls.  In 1825 Thomas Ginn (her father) had handed over the reins of "The Bird in Hand" to them.  They were Licensees (see Victualler's Recognizences).  Whether he had sold the pub to them, or merely let them run it (while he lived with them - more likely) I don't know.  He was 78 by 1825, and his much younger wife died that year

In 1872, Mary was still alive, then 73.  At that time, her brother Charles tells us that she was married to a William Gray of Braughing, also a Licensed Victualler.

Elisha and Polly -  died in infancy

William Ginn of Braughing d.1794

William was the son of William Ginn in my post of 25th October 2012 . I do not know a great deal about this family.  There is little in the way of surviving material on Braughing for this period.

Until 2010 it was thought that the future of this family (and its involvement in the carpentry trade) was the result of William’s marriage to Elizabeth Lawrence in 1731.

I knew that Elizabeth was the daughter of Randall Lawrence and Ann (nee Totman), head of a family that moved between Great Hormead and Braughing and owner occupier of a good sized cottage (Land Tax).  The Herts historian  Lionel Munby told me of the Lawrences, numerous in Braughing, and, says Lionel, the "outstanding" family of Braughing carpenters.  All the males were in the trade, men and boys.

However it was not the Lawrence’s who introduced the Ginns of this family to carpentry, but rather Thomas Ginn, William’s uncle and Freeman of the Company of Carpenters and Citizen of London, for Will here was apprenticed to him in 1723, qualifying in 1730 though not taking up his citizenship but returning to Braughing.  So Will was a carpenter.

We can be sure of the Lawrence influence however.  Why, they even named a son after the family, a fact commented on by Lionel (who, of course mentions the Ginns in his study). William Ginn was also witness to Randall Lawrence's will ( 1749 -ERO) and his signature likely therefore upon it.

The Ginns of this family were likely reasonably prosperous,  never mentioned in the Overseer’s book of the mid 18th century (HRO) and William able to pay for the apprenticeship of his youngest son

The implication of William the Gamekeeper’s will is that William and Elizabeth moved into the Braughing Street cottage in or before 1762.

Elizabeth died in 1774, I regret that I have not noted her age.  It seems probable that William sold the cottage, it certainly disappears from the Land Tax between 1767 and 1780.  I have assumed that he sold up and moved in with his son Thomas.

William lived a long life, just as his father had done: he died in 1794, he was 85.

William and Elizabeth had six children

William - married a Mary Dellow in 1753.  They had a daughter, Ann, in 1755.  Ann may have died in the same year (or this could be William's sister) but, in any event, the family had moved by 1758.  William is never in the Militia list, and there is no trace of them in Hertfordshire.  I have assumed that he was a Carpenter.

John -  Untraced for sure; not in the Militia.   It is either this man or his second cousin  who went to Farnham in Essex - see later post

Lawrence  - quite an interesting chap to research             

Lawrence was a Carpenter.  He married Martha Gayler in 1763  when he was 25.  They had a daughter, Ann, in 1767 and in the summer of 1767 the trio applied for a Certificate of Settlement, with the intention of moving to Bishop's Stortford.  (HRO)  

However, he delayed the move; because, in late 1767 they had a son William at Braughing.

They had still not moved in 1771, because Martha died that year, presumably in childbirth; she is buried in Braughing.

Lawrence then made the move to Bishops Stortford.  In 1777, he married Ann Arrows, they had just the two children.  Unfortunately, Ann was no luckier than Martha: she died in 1781, presumably in childbirth; she was stated to be 34.

I list the children below

                        Ann                 1764

                        William           1767 
                       - ----------------------

                        Mary              1778

                        John               1780

                                   

Lawrence was not buried at Bishop's Stortford.  I am pretty certain (there being no other known surviving Middlesex candidate)  that he is the Lawrence Ginn (passing through ) who I found (quite by accident) being buried in St Andrew Enfield in 1799 "poor". He may have obtained work there.  If so, he was 61.

Of these four children:

Ann married Richard Tharby at Albury in 1790 (established for definite in 2022) 

William is untraced.

Lawrence’s daughter Mary had an illegitimate child - William , who died in infancy.  She is thereafter untraced.

John Ginn joined the Napoleonic War Army and died in South Africa - see my post of 3rd October 2012

Elizabeth - married William South in 1764

Thomas - see later post 

Ann - probably died  in her teens. 

Francis Ginn of Weston & Clothall d.1798

Francis Ginn, son of William in my post of 6th January 2013,  moved to Weston in, or about, 1757.  He was 30.  I know little of his early life, but I do know that he had a severe limp.  This seems to have resulted from a poorly reset broken leg, possibly the result of an accident at his father's Mill.  Windmills were generally on five floors, each floor used for a particular task.  I have wondered if Francis fell through one of the hatches.  The evidence of his injury comes from the Militia records.

He married Ann Swain at Weston in 1757 when he was 30.  I have not researched Ann's family, but she was quoted as being a minor.  From her burial entry, she seems to have been 16 (if this is accurate).  Her brother Samuel was a local blacksmith and it was through his influence that this family eventually developed their interest in smithing and metalwork/engineering which lasted for the next 200 years.

If the register is accurate  then Francis and Ann seem to have had few children at Weston.  They seem to have been scrupulous in having their children baptised (and properly married) and there seem to be no unaccounted for Ginns.  So the whole thing is strange.  I have even wondered whether Francis's injury contributed to this.

In about 1765 (see Militia) Francis moved to Clothall.  He was a Labourer, and if his injury was really bad, may have had trouble finding work.  However, by 1790, he achieved the Labourer's dream; he became the Landlord of the local Pub - "The Barley Mow and Windmill".  We know this, because in 1790 (HRO) he is mentioned in a conveyance of the Alehouse to James Ind (of later Ind Coope).  He was Landlord there until his death.

"The Barley Mow and Windmill" later became just "The Barley Mow".  The building appears to still stand (it no longer has a licence) and is fairly remote from the village,  I visited in the early 1990s and below is a photo of the building still called by that name and I believe at least in part the building of the 1790s.

Francis Ginn died at Clothall  in 1798.   The register gives his age as 72 (he was 71).  In 1803 Ann had the unpleasant task of nursing her dying son Francis, who had been brought home from Broxbourne.

Ann Ginn was buried in December 1815.  She was quoted as being 74.

Francis and Ann had six children:

Francis - he obtained the permission of the magistrates to move to Broxbourne.  See later post

Mary - married Jeremiah Nutting

Judith - she had an illegitimate child - either George Bill or George Bull Ginn in 1798 who is untraced.  Later married William Watson.

William - second of that name, he was a Blacksmith.  Established a large Ginn clan at Weston.  See later post

Ann - married John Bygrave