John Minchin’s Family Tree: 1813-1922. Plough boy who fathered nine children.
The Lodge, Westfield Farm, Notgrove. James Minchin was an agricultural labourer here. This is the farm where John Minchin was born in 1847.
John Minchin 1847-1922
Father of Bill Minchin, grandfather of Eileen, Peggy, Nancy and Thelma.
1847: Birth, Westfield, Temple Guiting, near Naunton, Gloucestershire. 18 September. Note: There is a West Field Farm, Notgrove – the addresses are local and interchangeable – at GL54 3BX.
1841: West Field Farm, Temple Guiting. Census shows John Minchin’s father James Minchin, 25, Ag.Lab. This is the first national census.
1851: Census: Son of James and Eliza Minchin, Upper Turkdean. Household: James Minchin, Head, 38, Ag-Lab, born Chedworth, Gloucestershire; Eliza Minchin, Wife, 29, b Notgrave; Thomas Minchin, 5, Scholar, b Notgrave; John Minchin, 3, b Temple Guiting; Mary I. Minchin, 2, b ?, Gloucestershire.
30 March 1851: Census shows James Minchin, his wife Eliza, and children Thomas, John and Mary.
1861: Census: Now living at 80 High Street, Northleach. John Minchin’s birthplace is given as ‘Westfield, Gloucestershire’. Household: James Minchin, Head, 45, Agricultural Labourer, born Stowell; Eliza Minchin, Wife, 36, b Notgrave; Thomas Minchin, Son, 16, Plough Boy, b Notgrave; John Minchin, Son, Plough Boy, 14, b Westfield. What has happened to Mary I Minchin who would have been 12? Has she gone into service – or died?
1861: High Street, Northleach. Census shows James Minchin, Eliza, Thomas and John, 14, described as Plough Boy.
1871: Residence, Northleach. Household: James Minchin, Head, 56, Ag Lab; Eliza Minchin, Wife, 48, Nurse; John Minchin, 24, Groom; George Bourton, Lodger, 44, Road Lab, b Bibury.
1873: Death of brother Thomas, age 27, on 22 January, at Northleach. (B 26/08/1845. In 1871 Census, he was living in Coln St Denis, Glos, married to Jane, b 1847 St Aldwyn, Glos, with a son, Michael W Minchin, then 5. He had a daughter Elizabeth in 1873).
1876: Death of mother Eliza, age 50, County Lunatic Asylum, Kingsholm, Gloucestershire, 26 March.
1876: Marriage to Annie Pitts, 21 October, registration district Stow on the Wold. He is 29, she 19.
Ann Minchin nee Pitts, about the time of her marriage to John Minchin in 1876.
1878: Father to Thomas (d – )
1881: Census: Residence, Sherbourne St, Bourton on the Water. Household: John Minchin, Head, 31, Gardener, born Naunton; Ann Minchin, Wife; Thomas, son, 2; Emma Bromage, niece, 7, scholar, b Stow on Wold.
Sherbourne Terrace. Theirs was an impoverished cottage and must have become overcrowded as Annie Minchin had nine children in 16 years, including Bill.
1881: Father to Beatrice (d – ).
1883: Father to Arthur John (d 1911).
1885: Father to William Victor (d 1974).
1887: Father to Mabel Annie (d – ).
1890: Father to Helen (d 1981) and Nellie (d – ).
1891: Census: Residence, Sherbourne St, Bourton on the Water. Household: John Minchin, Head, 44, General Labourer, born Westfield; Annie Minchin, Wife, 35, Laundress; Thomas, 12, scholar; Beatrice, 9, scholar; Arthur, 7; William, 6; Annie, 4; Nelly, 1.
1892: Father to Alfred John (d 1955).
1894: Father to Florence Emma (d 1987).
1894: Death of father, James Minchin, 17 September, Stow on the Wold. Age 78 (b 1816).
1901: Census: Residence, Sherbourne St, Bourton on the Water. John Minchin, 53, General Gardener (domestic), b Glos. Bourton on W. Annie Minchin, Wife, 44; Beatrice, 20; William, 16, Grocers Porter; Nellie, 11; James, 9; Florence, 7. Note: William’s choice of work would have seemed insignificant then. But it led him into the bakery, a reserved occupation which saved him from the mass slaughter of the 1914-18 War. If he had died in that – as did 27 men from Bourton – none of the subsequent family would have been born.
James Minchin in his later years.
1911: Son Arthur John (born 1883) dies age 26.
1911: Census: Now living at Nethercote, Bourton on the Water. Household members: John Minchin, head, 64, Gardener (Domestic), married 35 years; Annie Minchin, 53, wife, laundress; Hellen Minchin, 21, Single, Assisting in Business Laundry; James Minchin, 19, Single, Plumber, (Builder); Horace Heathfield, visitor, 23, Single, GWR Servant (Porter).
(William, 26, may still be at Sherborne Cottages, near mill and bakery where he was working. 1911 Census shows May Wood, 18 (future May Minchin) is now living in Bourton as children’s nurse to Dr Moore. SEE ARTICLE MAY WOOD AND BILL MINCHIN: DRAMA OF THE EARLY YEARS. James Minchin is Alfred J Minchin 1892-1955; Helen 1890-1981. Nethercote is south side of Rissington Road, on eastern edge of Bourton. Eileen Dale says she doesn’t recall any mention of this. JD says as a child he was pointed out a house where someone said Bill Minchin had lived. It might have been by Bill himself, unsure. But, apart from that, ages and details on the 1911 Census fit exactly.)
1911- : At some point William begins courtship with May Wood, childrens nurse at Dr Moore’s home. In the close community of Bourton, John and Annie would no doubt have got to know her.
1914: Outbreak of the Great War. As a baker William, 29, is in a reserved occupation and saved from the slaughter on the Western Front. John and Annie must have been extremely relieved, especially when the casualty lists began to include Bourton boys. By the end of the war, there would be 27 dead from this tight-knit community, from village families they would have known well.
Bill Minchin in his younger days.
1916: Death of John’s wife Annie. Age 59, 22 May, Stow on the Wold, in the middle of the 1914-18 War. From humble beginnings, and after a difficult start to life, John and Annie could feel proud of what they had achieved. With limited earnings from hard labour, they had seen their large family come of age, with even her youngest Florence now turned 22, and most would go on to raise successful families of their own.
1920: Son William marries May Wood who thus becomes May Minchin.
1921: William and May have their first daughter Eileen, just in time for her to be held by her grandfather John.
Bill Minchin worked in this bakery, rising early to help bake the bread, then spending many hours delivering loaves by horse and cart around Bourton and surrounding villages.
1930s: Outside the flour mill, Bourton. This could well by Bill Minchin’s horse and cart.
1922: John Minchin dies, age 74, 6 March, at Old Gloster Road, Staverton, Cheltenham.
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James Minchin 1813-1894
Father of John Minchin, great-grandfather of Eileen, Peggy, Nancy and Thelma.
1813 (about): Born at Chedworth/Stowell, about 12 miles from Bourton.
1841: Census. Residence, West Field Farm, Temple Guyting, Glos. Household: Richard Pinchen, 25, Ag Lab; Elizabeth Pinchen, 20; William Pinchen 4 months; James Minchen (sp), 25, Ag Lab.
1844: Marriage to Eliza Hall, 18 August, at Parish Church, Notgrove, Glos. He is 28, she is 22.
Living at Notgrove/Notgrave, which is a few miles west of Bourton.
1845: Father to Thomas Minchin (d -), b Notgrave, 26 August.
Return to West Field, Temple Guiting.
1848: Father to John Minchin, b Temple Guiting.
1849: Father to Mary I. Minchin.
1851: Census: Turkdean Household: James Minchin, Head, 38, Ag-Lab, born Chedworth, Gloucestershire; Eliza Minchin, Wife, 29, b Notgrave; Thomas Minchin, 5, Scholar, b Notgrave; John Minchin, 3, b Temple Guiting; Mary I. Minchin, 2, b ?, Gloucestershire.
1861: Census: Now living at 80 High Street, Northleach. Household: James Minchin, Head, 45, Agricultural Labourer, born Stowell; Eliza Minchin, Wife, 36, b Notgrave; Thomas Minchin, Son, 16, Plough Boy, b Notgrave; John Minchin, Son, Plough Boy, 14, b Westfield. What has happened to Mary I Minchin who would have been 12. Has she gone into service – or died?
1871: Residence, Northleach. Household: James Minchin, Head, 56, Ag Lab; Eliza Minchin, Wife, 48, Nurse; John Minchin, 24, Groom; George Bourton, Lodger, 44, Road Lab, b Bibury.
1873: Death of son Thomas, age 27, on 22 January, at Northleach. (B 26/08/1845. In 1871 Census, he was living in Coln St Denis, Glos, married to Jane, b 1847 St Aldwyn, Glos, with a son, Michael W Minchin, then 5. He had a daughter Elizabeth in 1873).
1876: Death of wife Eliza, age 50, County Lunatic Asylum, Kingsholm, Gloucestershire, 26 March.
1876: Son John Minchin marries Annie Pitts, age 19, Stow, on 21 October.
1894: Death, 17 September, Stow on the Wold. Age 78.
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Eliza Minchin (nee Hall) 1826-1876
Wife of James Minchin, mother of John Minchin.
1826: Birth, Eliza Hall, Notgrove, Gloucestershire.
1841: Census: Residence, Notgrove, age 15.
1844: Marriage to James Minchin, 18 August, at Parish Church, Notgrove, Glos. He is 28, she is 22.
Living at Notgrave.
1846: Mother to Thomas Minchin (d -), b Notgrave.
Living at West Field, Temple Guiting.
1848: Mother to John Minchin, b Temple Guiting.
1849: Mother to Mary I. Minchin.
1851: Census: Turkdean Household: James Minchin, Head, 38, Ag-Lab, born Chedworth, Gloucestershire; Eliza Minchin, Wife, 29, b Notgrave; Thomas Minchin, 5, Scholar, b Notgrave; John Minchin, 3, b Temple Guiting; Mary I. Minchin, 2, b ?, Gloucestershire.
1861: Census: Now living at 80 High Street, Northleach. Household: James Minchin, Head, 45, Agricultural Labourer, born Stowell; Eliza Minchin, Wife, 36, b Notgrave; Thomas Minchin, Son, 16, Plough Boy, b Notgrave; John Minchin, Son, Plough Boy, 14, b Westfield. What has happened to Mary I Minchin who would have been 12. Has she gone into service – or died?
1871: Residence, Northleach. Household: James Minchin, Head, 56, Ag Lab; Eliza Minchin, Wife, 48, Nurse; John Minchin, 24, Groom; George Bourton, Lodger, 44, Road Lab, b Bibury.
1873: Death of son Thomas, age 27, on 22 January, at Northleach. (B 26/08/1845. In 1871 Census, he was living in Coln St Denis, Glos, married to Jane, b 1847 St Aldwyn, Glos, with a son, Michael W Minchin, then 5. He had a daughter Elizabeth in 1873).
1876: Death, age 50, County Lunatic Asylum, Kingsholm, Gloucestershire, 26 March.
1876: Son John Minchin marries Annie Pitts, age 19, Stow, on 21 October.