Hugh Pinson (abt. 1540 - aft. 1589)

Born about 1540 in England [uncertain]

Descendants

Died after 28 Oct 1589 after about age 49 in Staffordshire, England [uncertain]

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Jonathan Crawford [send private message]

Notes to Researchers

• The 1627 will of Henry Pinson of Wolverhampton, Staffordshire is probably that of Hugh Pinson's alleged son, linked hereto, because he was in the same neighborhood at the expected time and the name Pinson is not that common. Wolverhampton is only a short distance from Great Saredon where Hugh Pinson left several records between 1562 and 1589, including his1586 will.
• We know from the British National Archives description of a 28 October 1589 grant that Hugh Pinson's wife at the time was named Joan and they had a daughter Margaret, who was married to Thomas Burne, who was a glover by trade. We can estimate that Margaret was probably born well before 1575.
• We know from the British National Archives description of the 26 September 1562 bond from William Pinsone to Hugh Pinsone of Great Saredon that the two must have been closely related. It's likely that William was granting property to his son, but can't assume the fact. Perhaps the bond explicitly identified their relationship?
• The internet article "The age of marriage" claims "Data taken from birthdates of women and marriage certificates reveals mean marriage ages to have been as follows:1566-1619 27.0 years....The marriage age of men was probably the same or a bit older than that of women. (In 1619, it was about 23 for women, 26 for men....The reason for late marriage among labourers and the middle class was ...it took a long time for a couple to acquire enough belongings to set up housekeeping, even in a room of their parents' home." Knowing Hugh had a married daughter in 1589, we can use this information to calculate that she was probably born before 1570 and her parents probably born by 1545, or earlier. Knowing that Hugh Pinson was the recipient of property in 1562, leads us to believe he was probably born by 1541. That is the basis of our rough estimate of a birth around 1540.
• One should not be distracted by seeing the name Pinson spelled as Pynson, or Pinsone, in these documents. It was common in the script of the time to replace the letter i with the letter y and also to add a letter e to the end of words. Another common variant spelling is "Penson". The name is, however, Pinson, which is of Norman origin and the Pinsons are believed to have come to England in the Norman conquest in 1066. The name has been found in the Domesday Book a few decades later.
• Have fun reading these 16th and early 17th century wills. Besides penmanship and all the other hindrances, you will have to deal with Secretary script, or a variant, with different letters and abbreviations etc. The probate section at the end of the will adds the thrill of translation of Latin.

Biography

No one knows exactly when Hugh Pinson was born, but based on what we know, it must have been by 1540, or earlier. We've estimated 1540. The exact place of birth is unknown, but the best guess, based on his later records, is Staffordshire, England. Records indicate that Hughe was very closely related to William Pinson, who may have been his father or a brother.

Hugh Pinson drew his will in 1586, we don't know when it was probated. We do have a record for Hugh Pinson in the same area in October 1589. It is purely a guess, but he likely died not long after that record

Claimed Children

• Margaret (Pinson) Burne (est birth 1560). She is proven to be a child by two records identifying her as such.
• Joane (Pinson) Jhonson (est birth by 1580). She may have been a daughter, or a niece.
• Richard Pinson (est birth 1560). He appears to be of the next generation and is living in Hugh Pinson Sr's immediate neighborhood.
• Hugh Pinson (est birth by 1580)
• Henry Pinson (est birth 1585 - ? )
• Hugh Henry Pinson (1590 - ) (disputed. He may be a morphing of the prior two Pinsons, Hugh and Henry.)

Sources

• 26 September 1562 bond from William Pinsone to Hugh Pinsone: deed of same date re property in Great Saredon. The record is housed in the Burne Family Records Collection by Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Archive Service, in the William Salt Library, 19 Eastgate Street, Stafford, England, ST16 2LZ. Reference: D1717/A/2/44.
• Chancery Court case Walhowse v Pynson. Plaintiffs: Richard Walhowse. Defendants: Hugh Pynson. Subject: property in Great Saredon, Staffordshire. Date: 1558-1579. Record held by The British National Archives, Kew, England. Reference: C 3/193/75. This record has not been digitised and cannot be downloaded.
• 20 February 1581 Marriage settlement on marriage of Thomas Burne son Edward Burne of Somerford, yeoman, to Margaret daughter of Hugh Pynson by which a messuage in Great Saredon, meadow called the Heritage, close called Goodybridge Close, meadow called Round Meadow, croft called Lyme Croft, croft called the Whomage, parcel of ground called Bentley, little croft called Rudding, and arable land in the Westfield, Mill-field, Churchfield and Littlecroft, is conveyed to trustees. The record is housed in the Burne Family Records Collection by Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Archive Service, in the William Salt Library, 19 Eastgate Street, Stafford, England, ST16 2LZ. Reference: D1717/A/2/46.
• 26 February 1582 lease by Hugh Pynson to Edward Burne of a moiety of a messuage, barn, garden and orchard in Great Saredon and closes called Bentley, Newland, Pole Rudding, Breacroft, Crocheford Meadow, Little Crocheford Meadow, 3 selions of arable in the Westfield, 20 selions of arable in the Churchfield and 12 selions of arable in the Millfield. Dated . The record is housed in the Burne Family Records Collection by Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Archive Service, in the William Salt Library, 19 Eastgate Street, Stafford, England, ST16 2LZ. Reference: D1717/A/2/47. (GR. Pinson note: From Wikipedia: "A selion is a medieval open strip of land or a small field used for growing crops, usually owned by or rented to peasants. A selion of land was typically one furlong (660 ft) long and one chain (66 ft) wide...". Each selion equaled 43,560 square feet, the size of an acre. So, this was a good chunk of land.)
• 1586 will of Hugh Pinsone of Great Saredon, Staffordshire, England. A copy of the will is housed in the Burne Family Records Collection by Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Archive Service, in the William Salt Library, 19 Eastgate Street, Stafford, England, ST16 2LZ. Reference: D1717/H/1/1. This record has not been digitised and cannot be downloaded. (Pinson-796 note: We haven't seen the will, perhaps some researcher in Stafford England will visit the library and reveal it's contents. For now it does prove a Hugh Pinson was living in Staffordshire in the late 16th century. )
• Grant by Hugh Pinson to Thomas Burne of all his goods and chattels. Dated 28 October 1586. The record is housed in the Burne Family Records Collection by Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Archive Service, in the William Salt Library, 19 Eastgate Street, Stafford, England, ST16 2LZ. Reference: D1717/A/2/54 .
• 28 October 1589 grant by Hugh Pinson and Joan his wife to Thomas Burne, glover, and Margaret his wife, daughter of Hugh Pinson of all the goods, chattels etc., of the said Hugh. The record is housed in the Burne Family Records Collection by Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Archive Service, in the William Salt Library, 19 Eastgate Street, Stafford, England, ST16 2LZ. Reference: D1717/A/2/55.
• The age of marriage. https://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/Library/SLT/society/family/marriage.html

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Melinda Bowman for creating WikiTree profile Pinson-107 through the import of Marks Family Tree.ged on Feb 2, 2013.

Click to the Changes page for the details of edits by Melinda and others.