George was born in 1598. He was the eldest son and heir of Henry Ginn of Datchworth d. 1632 (see post of 8th September 2012 ) and thus was the technical heir of the Ginn farm "Garrets" or "Jaretts" which had been illegally taken from the family in the 1560s by the gentry Boteler family of Watton, the lease of the actual mansion house having been sold out of the family by George's father - a fact he seems to have been unaware of.
George inherited a little when his father died in 1632. And like his brother and father before him, George was a Collier - ie a charcoal burner, as well as farming a little land as a Husbandman.
He married by Licence, his bride being an Elizabeth Meredith from Luton and they married at Datchworth in 1634. George seems to have used both Datchworth and Welywn churches, though technically he was of the latter parish.
Disaster struck in 1641, the year before the commencement of the English Civil War.
Charcoal burners bought land to exploit the wood. This they cut down, piled it up under cover and setting a smouldering fire. left it to smoulder to create the charcoal, an essential fuel at the time. The method is still used today by English traditional woodsmen.
In June 1641 George had set a fire to smoulder and believing the fire out and the charcoal made had gone home for the night. The wind got up and set the pile ablaze and destroyed the lot. It seems to have been the last financial straw for George who considered himself ruined and took the very unusual step of appealing for charity from the people of the County by going to the Quarter Sessions at Hertford. I will let the record from October 1641 tell the tale-
Petition of George Gynne of Wellwyn, Collier, shows that he bought three acres of wood of one John North of Bulls Green in the parish of Datchworth and that he, the said Gynne, having "coaled" some part thereof, did, upon 16th June, last go home about 11 o'clock, supposing the fire to be clean extinguished. On returning the next morning to "sacke" his coals, he found them all consumed and burned to ashes, and the sacks that lay over them consumed, his loss thereby amounting o £20 and more. Also, that he hath suffered other losses lately by the death of horses to the amount of over £30, by which losses he in "utterly undon". He further shows that of late he has become very lame and altogether unable to labour, and has a wife and three small children. He prays for relief.
The Bench commends the said distressed estate of the said petitioner and his family to the charitable consideration of all well-disposed people in the county, desiring them to contribute to their relief.
The Petition was not only from George, but also from many people who knew him and the truth of what he said. His names and circumstances was to be read out in churches nationwide before the church collection. Hopefully people did contribute. It was clear that the magistrates could see that George came from a solid hardworking background and not what considered at the time to be the "idle poor".
George's Petition of 1641
Whatever condition he was in health wise, did not prevent him fathering a further four children however !
His son George tells us in 1662 that his late father kept up a claim to "Garrets" throughout his lifetime, though I find that unlikely, though he obviously knew that his father Henry had been deprived of his rightful inheritance.
George Ginn died in 1661, he was 63. His widow Elizabeth was in the 1663 Hearth Tax with one hearth, but disappears thereafter and likely went to one of the children.
George and Elizabeth had seven children, six of whom were sons-
George - He launched a Court Action in London in 1662, ie immediately after his father's death, to try and reclaim the farm. I could not trace him for nearly 30 years, and then discovering information on his brother came to a theory. See next post
Henry - There were two living sons of the same name -it was a custom of the time to do this with important family names to ensure that one lived. It was a wise move as one died in 1657. The other married Elizabeth Smith (likely a widow) at Hatfield in 1669. They had three sons
Henry 1670
Henry 1671
William 1673
The two Henrys (born at Hatfield) were again apparently both living, but one died in 1672. The other is untraced.
It was discovered in 2018 that William was apprenticed at 14 (in 1687) to a Thomas Tutt, a Haberdasher of the City of London. Tutt had himself been apprenticed in 1658 and made a Freeman in 1671. He only ever took two apprentices, Will here and a David Spencer from Leicestershire who was taken on in 1686 and likely shared a room with Will at Tutt's premises in St Michael, Wood Street (Cripplegate) parish below. Tutt died there in 1690 aged about 46.
What happened after that is unclear. The lads should have had their apprenticeships transferred to other masters, and likely did, because Spencer became a Freeman of the Company a few years later. But there is absolutely no trace of Will. He may had died or left his trade, he may have finished his apprenticeship and not taken up his freemanship. I just do not know. I have several Williams in London at this time but none appear to be this guy. So at present this is a mystery.
Henry Ginn snr we are told was a Tanner of "Welling" (sic) in Hertfordshire in 1687. So he had moved back home. But he is totally untraced later and the records being so good, my suspicion is that this guy went into London.
Daniel - was born in 1648 amid the chaos of the English Civil War and has no baptism. He married Mary Grigg at Bramfield in 1681. Her father was Samuel Grigg of that parish, he was a Husbandman who left a will when he died in 1687 but sadly only the inventory survives.
Daniel and Mary were likely non conformists as I know of only two children - Jane and Mary, both of whom survived infancy but both died unmarried. It is likely that there were other children.
The tithe records had Daniel with a house, an orchard and a close of an acre or so in St James Lane Datchworth in 1714. He was a tenant. He died at Datchworth in 1718 with quoted age of 70. Mary died soon afterwards.
Robert - died aged 15
William - is untraced - I have obviously speculated that he went to London
Elizabeth - is untraced
Henry - There were two living sons of the same name -it was a custom of the time to do this with important family names to ensure that one lived. It was a wise move as one died in 1657. The other married Elizabeth Smith (likely a widow) at Hatfield in 1669. They had three sons
Henry 1670
Henry 1671
William 1673
The two Henrys (born at Hatfield) were again apparently both living, but one died in 1672. The other is untraced.
It was discovered in 2018 that William was apprenticed at 14 (in 1687) to a Thomas Tutt, a Haberdasher of the City of London. Tutt had himself been apprenticed in 1658 and made a Freeman in 1671. He only ever took two apprentices, Will here and a David Spencer from Leicestershire who was taken on in 1686 and likely shared a room with Will at Tutt's premises in St Michael, Wood Street (Cripplegate) parish below. Tutt died there in 1690 aged about 46.
Henry Ginn snr we are told was a Tanner of "Welling" (sic) in Hertfordshire in 1687. So he had moved back home. But he is totally untraced later and the records being so good, my suspicion is that this guy went into London.
Daniel - was born in 1648 amid the chaos of the English Civil War and has no baptism. He married Mary Grigg at Bramfield in 1681. Her father was Samuel Grigg of that parish, he was a Husbandman who left a will when he died in 1687 but sadly only the inventory survives.
Daniel and Mary were likely non conformists as I know of only two children - Jane and Mary, both of whom survived infancy but both died unmarried. It is likely that there were other children.
The tithe records had Daniel with a house, an orchard and a close of an acre or so in St James Lane Datchworth in 1714. He was a tenant. He died at Datchworth in 1718 with quoted age of 70. Mary died soon afterwards.
Robert - died aged 15
William - is untraced - I have obviously speculated that he went to London
Elizabeth - is untraced
