Joshua Ginn jnr of Weston d.1902

Joshua, son of Joshua in my last post was also a Blacksmith.  He married Emily Edwards at Ashwell in 1859.  The couple did not just live in Weston, but moved around  a fair bit on the Hertfordshire/Bedfordshire border.  I have not researched them in detail.  Joshua died in 1902 and Emily in 1925. 

Joshua and Emily had a huge family of thirteen children

Francis Joshua - married Frances Day in 1894.  From 1911 until his death in 1944 they held the "Red Lion" at Weston - below. 

Francis was also a Blacksmith - the family had been blacksmiths in Weston for 200 years and we have this great photo of him below

and he and Frances in later life

They had six children viz

Percy 

 Eustace 

Eleanor Olga 

Albert - who died as a child

George

Arthur Frank

All photos - courtesy of Kathleen Ginn

William - appears to have died infancy

Lilla - married Charles Randall in 1903

Charlotte - married George Mitchell in 1896

Emily - the second married William Logsdon in 1904

Henry - married Florence Wilson in 1899

Cordelia - married Frank Farr in 1899

Arthur married Ada Johnson in 1908

Olga - died infancy

Charles - never married.  Joined the Royal Naval Air Service in WW1 - another pilot in this family

Albert - died in 1917 unmarried

Louisa - believed to have died infancy

Joshua Ginn of Weston d. 1883

Joshua Ginn here (son of William in my post of 1st April 2013 ) was also the Weston village blacksmith.  There are various papers concerning him at the Hertfordshire Record Office.

In 1826 he married Ann Watson, presumably his cousin and he and Ann had various children before Ann sadly died in 1851.  She is buried near the church at Weston - I have seen the grave.

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Joshua married Sarah Ann Bateman at Walkern in 1854, the marriage was announced in the "County Press"  Sarah was a widow and her father was a William Hunt.

From the 1850s Joshua began describing himself as an "engineer" , I am not entirely sure what he did - but he seems to have acquired/ inherited a few properties and became quite prosperous by the 1860s.  Unfortunately he seems to have overextended himself, borrowing against them and then borrowing again, and in 1868 all were sold by his creditors at auction and he went bust.  That same year Sarah added insult to injury and divorced him and Joshua moved to  lodgings in Hertford.  He was there in 1871and 1881. He sadly died in Hertford Workhouse in 1883 aged 78.

Joshua and Ann had seven children

George and Sarah - died infancy

Joshua - see next post

John - in 1855 he married Charlotte Newling who originated in the Isle of Man. They never had any children.  John ran his own Agricultural Implement Repair business in Maiden Street, Weston.  Charlotte died in 1875 aged 39 and in 1878 at Chelsea, John remarried an Eliza Parker from Wingfield in Buckinghamshire.  They had a daughter, Mary at Weston in 1880.  John Ginn died at Weston in 1891 aged 61.  What happened to Eliza and Mary is unknown.

Mary - married William Gundwill at Weston in 1844

Francis - he never married and died in Kent in 1873 aged 39.

William - became  a Blacksmith, never married and died in 1880 aged 52.  He is buried with his mother at Weston.

George Ginn of Farnham and Bishops Stortford d. 1880

George here, brother of John in my last post was a Labourer.  Like many of his brothers. he was fairly often in minor trouble with the authorities when a young man.

He got involved with Ann Carter who came from Henham in the late 1820s, and they had William and Ann before they married at Newport in 1831.

In 1851 the couple were at Bishops Stortford (Bramble Field) but they were at the Essex coast (Southend area) in 1861 where some of the Farnham Ginn family ultimately ended up.   Ann died at Bishops Stortford in 1866 with a quoted age of 60.  

In 1871 George was in a lodging house in Bishops Stortford and he died in Bishop Stortford Workhouse in 1880 aged 71,

George and Ann had four children

Ann - apparently died as an infant

William- alive in 1841 but untraced thereafter,   It is unlikely but he may be the William who died in the Northfleet disaster - it is either him or his first cousin - see post of  19th July 2012      


James - the 2nd Battalion of the 10th Regiment of Foot went on a recruitment drive in 1858 as they were shortly going to be sent overseas.  They were quite successful and three recruits were James Ginn here, his first cousin also James Ginn (see post of  19th September 2015   ) and a certain William Wherry.  Wherry was a bit of a hard case until he married and became a changed man, but he served alongside the Ginn boys and as an illustration of this later Sergeant of the 2nd Battalion I post his photo below

     .

James never saw active service, being mostly on garrison duty, either home or abroad.  He served five years in the nice posting of the Cape of Good Hope, ie South Africa, but spent twelve years in India and Burma, enduring their climate and successive bouts of illness.  He could have come home in 1872, but elected to volunteer into the 37th Foot and later the 44th, finally being discharged in 1878 aged 41 "tired and worn out" as the army put it.  He was considered fit only for light work subsequently.

James married Ellen Ginn (nee Prior) widow of his first cousin Edward in 1880 (see last post) and took upon himself responsibility for the stepchildren, having Martha, Ellen (Nellie) , Thomas , Elizabeth and Daisy themselves.  I know that James has no Ginn descendants, but likely has other descendants by his daughters.  Considering his health, he did well to die in 1917 aged 80.  Ellen's death entry is unclear.

George - married Judith Holland at South Shoebury (Southend) in 1856.  They had no less than ten children, one (George) born before the marriage - namely George, Mary, James, Susannah, William, Emily, Eliza, Elizabeth, John and Walter.  The family all decamped to the Southend area where George snr was a Brickmaker.  He died there in 1911, Judith in 1915.  All four sons married and there are a lot of descendants as you might expect.

John Ginn of Farnham d. 1860

John Ginn was a Labourer and son of William in my post of  19th January 2014 .  He always lived in Farnham, and in 1837 the Overseer’s Book notes that an illegitimacy order was made against him in regard to a child.  No further details are given (save that he contributed over £1 to its upkeep).

                                     Farnham Church in 1856

He married Amy Emma Turner at Farnham in 1842.  Amy came from Bishops Stortford.

In 1851 the family (John, Amy and Henry and Edward) were living at Farnham Green.  Their house was shared with Timothy, John’s brother who emigrated to Australia shortly afterwards.

Like the majority of his brothers, John was not one to avoid trouble and there are one or two references to him in the Quarter Sessions records.  The family were often on poor relief.

John Ginn died in 1860; he was 53 and his death was registered under the name of Gin.  Amy Emma remarried in 1861.  In the 1861 Census she was living with Henry and Edward in Bishops Stortford and was a Charwoman. 

Their children

Cornelius and George - two Georges and Cornelius died infancy

Henry - married Mary Bayford at Bishops Stortford in  1863.  Henry was a Carpenter. Henry died 1912 and Mary in 1917.  They had no less than ten children, including four sons - John (a Coachman)  William (who later used the surname Genn) Alfred (a House Painter) and David Cornelius (a soldier)  All married.  David Cornelius was a Sergeant in the 15th Hussars and died in South Africa in 1910

                       

                        

                                                       Cabinet card - Sgt 15th Hussars 1890s

Edward - married Ellen Prior at Farnham in 1868.  I know very little about the couple.  They had for children including three sons, Edward Prior, Cornelius and Alfred Timothy.   Edward died between 1874 and 1880, but I have never found a burial entry.  His widow remarried Ted's first cousin James Ginn  (son of George - see next post) and the whole family eventually moved to the Southend area

Edward Ginn of Puckeridge and Standon d 1853

 Edward was the son on John in my last post.  Every couple of generations or so, the Ginn ability to make five shillings out of one seems to have come out.  So it was with this man.

On the face of it, Edward Ginn seems to have started with very little, his father was not especially prosperous and although his wife's family were in business in a small way, it is unclear where his rise in fortunes came from.  Yet, by his death he had built a seemingly very prosperous Building and Carpentry business.

Edward was 26 when he married Esther Bangs at Standon in 1809.  Esther's mother was Alice Fordham, the sister of Catherine Fordham, Edward's Mum - in short Edward and Esther were first cousins. This was to have major consequences for one of the children.

After the marriage Edward came to live in Standon.   Esther had two spinster sisters who ran a draper's shop there - they lived together, worked together and now they lie together, in the same marked grave in Standon churchyard.

Edward was a jack of all trades, he pretty much tried his hand at anything that would make money  - buying and selling land, building and carpentry, victualing and farming.  Whilst I knew he became quite prosperous in later life , in 2009, I was shocked to find that he improved his fortunes very sharply as early as during the Napoleonic Wars  the “Morning Chronicle” (national newspaper) of Jan 16^th 1813 having the following advert:

“HERTFORDSHIRE to be let by tender for 21 years, a desirable FARM two miles from Hertford and Ware… it consists of a Messuage, Barns, Stables, Outbuildings and one hundred and fifty acres of land in a sporting part of the country….may be viwed by application to Mr Ginn, Puckeridge”.  The agents were in Bloomsbury

Edward was quite well educated.  A number of documents relating to him, and in some cases signed by him, survive (HRO).  He made a good deal of his money working on what we would call local authority contracts.  The interested reader will find numerous references to these in the Quarter Sessions papers at the Herts Record Office.  He was involved in contracts on roads, bridges and various refurbishment schemes.  He purchased the Bridewell (prison/lock-up) at Buntingford so that he could re-develop it.

In addition to all this, it is clear that Edward was a buyer and seller of property, as well as a Landlord (see Land Tax records).  Obviously, he had the vote.

Edward had property both at Braughing and Standon, but he mostly lived in Puckeridge.  I have not bothered, but it would be possible to work out where from the Tithe Map.

By 1851, Edward had retired.  He passed the business to his son Thomas.  In that year Edward and Esther were living with their unmarried children Alice and Edward.

Edward died in 1853, he certainly left a will; though I have not checked it out.  He was 70.  Esther died in 1860, she was 73.  They are not mentioned in the Standon book on M.I.s

Edward and Esther had six children:

Thomas - he married Mary Acres  at  Standon in 1836  In 2009, I discovered the following entry in “Jackson’s Oxford Journal” (a Saturday provincial newpaper but widely read) of August 27^th 1836:

“Married at Standon Hertfordshire, Thomas, son and heir of Edward Ginn Esq of Puckeridge to Mary, eldest daughter of Randall Acres Esq of Mentley in the said County” 

The entry is important as Mary appears to have no baptismal entry on the IGI.  Randall Acres was a substantial farmer who appears to have held “Mentleys” also known as Mentley Farm (still there) in Puckeridge.  Sadly, it seems clear that Thomas & Mary did not have any children. He seems to have often had a role (churchwarden etc) at Standon church

Thomas took over his father's business.  He also had a substantial farm of some 200/250 acres (which utilised 8 workers) and I have wondered if this was an extended version of the farm his father let out in 1813.  He obviously did quite well, and they had servants.

Thomas died in 1875.  Mary pre-deceased him in 1871.  Thomas did not remarry.  Thomas and Mary are buried in Standon churchyard, and there are M.I.s.  Thomas also left a will in which (among other things) he set us a Standon Charity which survives  With Thomas died the last Ginn descendant of Edward Ginn of Great Hormead (1610-1692)

Esther she married John Smith, a Miller from Braughing.  In the 1851 census she was already widowed and had four children.  This plus a 382 acre farm and 14 employees.  In the 1871 Census she was with her sister Alice, and described as a widow (a Farmer's wife).

Eliza - married Francis Cates.  Cates was a Saddler from Bishop's Stortford but came from a prosperous Puckeridge family who were innkeepers and farmers.  In 1871 she was staying with her sisters Alice and Esther, and her husband was described as an Innkeeper.  It is known through a Cates descended correspondent that Francis and Eliza moved to Great Dunmow in Essex and took over “The Saracen’s Head” public house, combining this with running Broadgroves Farm of 68 acres.  Their son Frederick apparently eventually took over Edward Ginn’s builder’s business at Standon.

Catherine -married Isaac Livermore.  He was a Farmer from ____ Hatch, the writing is unclear.  His father was named as a “Gentleman"

Alice - never married.  It was her lot to look after her handicapped brother Edward.  She was in Puckeridge in 1871 (living off an annuity) and clearly retired to the fashionable resort of Hastings/St Leonard's.  She was there in the 1881 census.  She died there in 1891, three years after Edward.

Edward - Paid the price for his parents being first cousins.  Was severely mentally handicapped.  Went to Hastings/St Leonard's.  He was in Hastings on the 1881 census.  He died there in 1888

John Ginn of Buntingford d. 1805

John son of William in the last post.  He married  Catherine Fordham of Standon at Standon in 1778.  He was of course a Shoemaker.  On the marriage entry John is described as "John Ginn of Westmill".

Westmill Church in 1840

John is always in the Westmill Militia record from 1769 until 1778.  In 1779 there is a sharp change, as thereafter he appears in the Layston record.  Presumably he therefore moved into Buntingford proper in 1779, after his marriage.

All his children were baptised at Layston

Unfortunately I know very little about this couple..  Alas John did not have the luck of his father and grandfather in living a long life - he died in 1805 aged 54.  Catherine did not outlive him for long either, she died in 1808, aged 58.

John and Catherine had seven children

Edward - Married and moved to Standon.  See next post

Susan -  the second of this name, married Robert Cottam at St Martins in the Fields London in 1813

Patty (Martha) -My grandmother was a Martha and was known by the petname “Pat”.  So it was here.   This girl was baptised as Patty which confused me for years and then, in 2007,  I finally found a reference to her:  in the will of her sister Mary who died in 1829 in London (see below).  Martha was then alive, unmarried and aged 41.  For some time after this she lived with her brother Edward,. That is all I know

Sarah - was alive in 1828 aged 43 and unmarried.  Lived with Edward.  She married Thomas Bowdler of Shoreditch London at Standon in 1829

Charlotte - survived infancy but died unmarried before 1828

Mary - died unmarried in St Sepulchre, Newgate (City of London) in 1829 (will National Archives) aged 49.  She made Edward her brother her executor and left all her money to be split between her three sisters.  I think she must have been a governess or some such.

William Ginn of Westmill d 1805

William was the son of  Edward Ginn of Layston (see post of 28th October 2012) . I know as much about William as about his father,  ie not much.

William was a Shoemaker, the registers and militia records tell us that.  In 1750 he obtained a marriage licence (the original is still at the ERO - I have seen it)  to marry Sarah Chirk of Westmill.  His father Edward signed the bond.  Sarah was born in 1726 and was the daughter of William Chirk of Westmill (formerly of Ardley) and his wife Sarah (nee Aylett).  When they married William Ginn seems to have moved from Layston to Westmill, which was of course, next door.  Up until 1762 he was always "of Westmill" in the records, but his children were baptised in three adjoining parishes, all surrounding Buntingford - namely Westmill, Aspenden and Layston.  There is no doubt it was him because all the parish clerks record his occupation.

Sarah Ginn died in 1785, she was 59.  William Ginn moved to Layston in his later life, presumably with his son John, and died there in 1805, aged 85.  Like his father he had lived a long life.

William and Sarah had four children

Edward - not traced.  If he outlived infancy he left Westmill/Layston as a teenager as he never appears in the Militia records.  No evidence of a marriage in Herts.

John - A shoemaker - what else?  Moved to Layston - See next post

Mary - died infancy 1759

Sarah - not traced.