Bill Chinn of Shirrell Heath
   Bill Chinn of Shirrell Heath     
December 21, 2008                                             Click here for more information on the Chinn family
Bill Chinn of Hinton St Mary, Bill Chinn, William Chinn, William Boothby Chinn, Bill Chinn of Shirrell Heath, Bill Chinn of Dinder, Somerset; Chinn family UK,
Bill Chinn of Hinton St Mary, Bill Chinn, William Chinn, William Boothby Chinn, Bill Chinn of Shirrell Heath, Bill Chinn of Dinder, Somerset; Chinn family UK,
Bill Chinn of Hinton St Mary, Bill Chinn, William Chinn, William Boothby Chinn, Bill Chinn of Shirrell Heath, Bill Chinn of Dinder, Somerset; Chinn family UK,
Bill Chinn of Hinton St Mary, Bill Chinn, William Chinn, William Boothby Chinn, Bill Chinn of Shirrell Heath, Bill Chinn of Dinder, Somerset; Chinn family UK,
Bill Chinn of Hinton St Mary, Bill Chinn, William Chinn, William Boothby Chinn, Bill Chinn of Shirrell Heath, Bill Chinn of Dinder, Somerset; Chinn family UK,
Bill Chinn of Hinton St Mary, Bill Chinn, William Chinn, William Boothby Chinn, Bill Chinn of Shirrell Heath, Bill Chinn of Dinder, Somerset; Chinn family UK,
Bill Chinn of Hinton St Mary, Bill Chinn, William Chinn, William Boothby Chinn, Bill Chinn of Shirrell Heath, Bill Chinn of Dinder, Somerset; Chinn family UK,


Contact:

sheilachinn@gmail.com

 Childhood   Click here for Family Tree
William was born on 15th August 1913 to Arthur and Clara Elizabeth (nee Boothby) Chinn.  He was the youngest of 5 children, two of whom died during infancy.  Clara died during Will’s birth at 9 Elms Lane in Fareham, Hampshire.  His step-mother, Amelia, formed an exceptionally close relationship with little William, which touched him until the end of his life, aged 92 years.

Arthur and Clara Chinn on their wedding day
Arthur and Clara Chinn - Married on 24.12.1898
Clara died giving birth to William Chinn - 15.8.1913

William's father was a cowman. When the family were at Spurlings Farm in Fareham, William cut part of his finger off in a chaff cutter – he was 4 years old. 

Arthur Chinn with bull at Spurlings Farm, Pook Lane, Fareham
Arthur Chinn with his prize-winning bull at Spurlings, Pook Lane, Fareham Hampshire
At the age of 8 years, William and family moved to Dinder in Somerset, where his father again worked as a cowman. 

William said, “When we moved to Lyatt Cottage in Dinder, it was like another world.  Woods all around us.  The Keeper lived not far away.  I spent a lot of my time shooting and ferreting with him. It was like heaven living there.”  It is likely some of William’s ashes will be scattered in the woods at Dinder.Miss Norman - Bill Chinn's teacher in Dinder, Somerset
Miss Norman - Bill's teacher in Dinder, Somerset.
 
Amelia Coombes Gillingham

William's Step-mother - Amelia Coombes-Gillingham

Bill Chinn - aged 7 years
When William was approximately 5 years old, the family moved to Dinder in Somerset
Dinder was Bill's Heaven on Earth
Some of his ashes are sprinkled at Sharcombe Estate where the family lived (Lyatt Cottage)
Bill Chinn at Lyatt Cottage, Dinder, Somerset
Bill at Lyatt Cottage, on the Sharcombe Estate, Dinder, Somerset 1999

The family moved to Myrtle Cottage, Biddenfield Lane, Wickham, Fareham Hampshire when William was 12. He remembered the journey by lorry and how it broke his heart to leave his beloved Lyatt.

However, it was when he lived here that he went to Wickham Fayre one day and egged on by two sisters, won them a coconut. One of the sisters, Miriam Smith, was later to become his wife.

Miriam Chinn with mother and father in law outside Myrtle Cottage
Miriam with Amelia and Arthur Chinn