William Ginn of Hoddesdon died 1840

William here was the brother of Frank in my last post and second son of Francis snr in my post of  23rd February 2014.

I know little about him.  He was a Labourer and married Martha Sams, likely sister of Elizabeth (sisters marrying brothers) at Great Amwell Church in 1817.

Great Amwell adjoins the parish of  Broxbourne, and although I know that William and Martha (like the majority of this part of the family) lived in Hoddesdon which was a substantial community, Hoddesdon did not have it's own church until the 1840s, so William and Martha mixed and matched churches.

In 1801 the census shows Hoddesdon having about 1200 residents, but it grew greatly thereafter, there were many inns, it was on the coaching route and by 1840 Broxbourne had the railway.  In 1835, to show its gathering importance the Clock Tower was built and still stands (I used to live in Hoddesdon) in the Market Square.

Martha sadly died in 1833, giving birth to the daughter named after her.  William did in 1840, he was just 47 himself and although they would have been supported by the family network around them, the children did well to get by, keep out of trouble and stay out of the workhouse.

William and Martha had five children

Mary Ann - married Reuben Hale at Broxbourne in 1840

Caroline - she was living in Ware in 1851 when she was 30.  It is believed that she married in later life.

Elizabeth  - was born in 1822 and is untraced

William - who I often call "the Engineer" because although he worked in a brewery for a good while, he was often later referred to as an "engineman" or "engineer".   He married three times - Emma Rawlins at Ware in 1848: they had three known children and then she died in 1858 after which Bill married Emily Kent at Hertford that same year.  They then had three further children and Emily sadly died aged 30 in Bengeo in 1863 aged 30.  He remarried the widow Jane Maskell (nee Bolton) at Bengeo in 1864 and there were yet three more children.  

Bill lived in Hoddesdon from a lad, working for Christie's Brewery there (below) but in 1851 there was an unfortunate incident where he was convicted of stealing a visiting workman's tools and they parted company.

In 1851 he was lodging in Hertford and stayed there and in Bengeo thereafter.  He died in Bengeo in 1872 aged 47 and Jane remarried a William Bradford in 1874.

Martha Emma - was born as her mother died in 1833, was a servant in Hackney in 1851 and married George Leighton at Stanstead Abbots near Hoddesdon in 1869.  That same year they emigrated on the SS City of New York to New York.

Martha and George had children and descendants have been in touch.  She died in Galesburg, Knox County Illinois in 1922 aged 89.