PART
ONE
The
Gloucestershire Main Line - 1450 to 1800
This is the first of four
sections of this Collett family line.
It includes an Appendix
for a branch of the family at Dudley
which is complementary to
Part 48 – The Dudley West Midlands Line
Updated October 2024
Significant information received from brothers
David and Robin Gee in 2016 seemed to suggest that the father of Thomas Collett
(Ref. 1D1) was William Collett of Gloucestershire who was also credited to be
the grandfather of John Collett, Thomas’ youngest son. What is known, is the aforesaid William Collett
was the grandson of Thomas Colet (Ref. 18Z2), the Rector of Little Kimble,
whose family line can be found in the first section of Part 18 – The Suffolk
Line
Earlier
contributions have been gratefully received from Sarah Ahlstrom, Simon Collett,
Kelvin Parker of Christchurch in New Zealand, Brian Gregory Collett (Ref. 1R65)
of Cairns in Australia, Andrew Collett (Ref. 3Q14), Marilee Rylett Magder (Ref.
1P90) of Whitby in Ontario, and Martin Davies of Stourton in the West Midlands
who provided details for the three brothers Richard, John and Isaac Collett
(Ref. 1N6, N7 and N8) which has been taken forward to form Part 37 – The
Oxford City Line
The starting point for
this family has long been the subject of speculation, that it most likely began
at Kimble or Wendover to the south of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire. What is known about that branch of the family
is that Henry Colet, born circa 1360, was the brother of Thomas Colet who was
the Rector of Little Kimble up to 1408.
Whilst Henry married and had children, no such records have been found
for Thomas. However, one of Henry’s
grandchildren was a Thomas Colet born at Wendover circa 1430 and, although no
such record has been found, he may have had a son by the name of William, as
detailed in the introduction (above).
He would then have been around the right age to be the father of Thomas
Colet of Over Slaughter who was born there in 1485. Having said all of this, it is also
established from records at the British Library, relating to Buckinghamshire,
that Thomas Colet left Little Kimble on 9th October 1408, when he
travelled to Gloucestershire, where he settled in the village of Barnsley, near
Cirencester
Details of the Colet families of Kimble and
Wendover can be found in Part 18 – The Suffolk Line, and Part 63 –
Two Collett Families from Buckinghamshire
WILLIAM COLLETT
[1C1] was born at Over Slaughter around 1454, the possible
son of Thomas Colet and the grandson of Thomas Colet (Ref. 18Z2), the Rector of
Little Kimble, whose family line is detailed in Part 18. The names of Thomas and Robert Colet were
prevalent in the branches of the Colet family residing at Kimble and Wendover
from 1360 onwards
1D1 – THOMAS COLLETT was born in 1485 at
Over Slaughter
1D2 – Robert Collett was born at Cutsdean
THOMAS COLLETT [1D1] was born in 1485
at Over Slaughter in Gloucestershire and he married Alice around 1517. It was originally written here, and extracted
from The Collett Saga by Margaret Chadd, that Thomas Collett was Joint Lord of
the Manor of Over Slaughter with Mr Venfield, and that he was the godfather to
ten children. For other references to the name Venfield see Ref.1F9 and 1F11. In October 2017 correspondence received from
Peter Davies, the seven times great grandson of James Collett (Ref. 1J1),
provided information that brought this into question. According details downloaded by Peter from
the website www.british-history.ac.uk, the Manor of Upper Slaughter was
in the hands of the Slaughter family from the 1200s to the mid-1700s, while the
Manor of Lower Slaughter was held by Syon Abbey for centuries, until the
dissolution of the monasteries, when it passed to the crown, which held it
until 1611, when it was granted to Sir William Whitmore. It is therefore assumed that Thomas Collett
and Mr Venfield have been confused with John Collett and Gyles Venfield who
were the Joint Lords of the Manor of Naunton in 1608, Naunton being only three
miles from Upper Slaughter, within the Slaughter Hundred, the old
administrative district for that part of Gloucestershire. See Ref. 1F9 for details of John Collett, the
grandson of Thomas Collett
Thomas Collett died in
1538 and his Will of 24th March 1538 was proved in 1539 (see
Will in Legal Documents). It
names his wife Alice and their son Henry Collett (below) as
executors. The Will, like all of the
Wills available to view on the Collett Family History website, has been
translated into current day English. It
is understood that Thomas Collett was buried in the south transept of
Tewkesbury Cathedral. Alice died in 1557
and her Will dated 22nd June 1557 (see Will in Legal Documents)
included the names of all of her children, with the exception of eldest son
William and eldest daughter Marian. The
Will actually refers to her four daughters so it is possible that Marian may
have died before reaching her fortieth birthday, although it is known that son
William was alive at the time Alice made her Will. It is therefore curious why the two eldest
children were excluded from the Will
Important footnote:
In 2013 the website My Heritage included the names of the parents and
grandparents of Thomas Collett of Over Slaughter, as placed there by John
Riddle in New Zealand. It must be noted
that the details are incorrect, with Over Slaughter being confused with the
village of Over in Cambridgeshire. The
details for Thomas Collett who was born at Over near St Ives in 1480 can be
found in Part 69 – Other Cambridgeshire Families
1E1 – Marian Collett was born in 1517 at
Over Slaughter
1E2 – William Collett was born in 1518 at
Over Slaughter
1E3 – Henry Collett was born in 1520 at
Over Slaughter
1E4 – Elizabeth Collett was born in 1521 at
Over Slaughter
1E5 – Alice Collett was born in 1522 at
Over Slaughter
1E6 – Joan Collett was born in 1523 at
Over Slaughter
1E7 – Agnes Collett was born in 1524 at
Over Slaughter
1E8 – JOHN COLLETT was born in 1525 at
Over Slaughter
Robert Collett [1D2] was born at
Cutsdean in Gloucestershire and he died in 1544. He was referred to in the Will of 1538 of
Thomas Collett (above) as ‘brother’
Marian Collett [1E1] may have been born
around 1517 or before. To date no record
has been found for her birth. However,
the 1557 Will of her mother Alice Collett makes no reference to daughter Marion
but does include a Robert Rooke who, with Anwin Matthews, received a sheep for
‘their pains’. Robert Rooke was also a
witness at the signing of her Will.
Almost twenty years earlier a Richard Rooke from Bourton-on-the-Water
married a Marian Collett of Upper Slaughter at Upper Slaughter on 16th
January 1538. That would place her date
of birth around 1517 or slightly earlier and could place her as the first-born
child of Thomas and Alice Collett. The
later Will of Edith Collett, made in 1597, makes reference to Elizabeth Rooke
the second daughter of Richard Rooke of Evenlode. Therefore, it seems likely that Elizabeth was
the daughter of Marian Collett and Richard Rooke. Edith Collett was the second wife of Marian’s
brother Henry Collett (below)
William Collett [1E2] was born around
1518 at Over Slaughter and he married (Anne) or Agnes Hanks on 26th
October 1542 at Upper Slaughter. It
would seem rather curious that, following the birth of the couple’s first
child, the next four children were born to William some thirty years later when
Agnes would have been in her late fifties.
The alternative, and perhaps more logical explanation, might be that
William was married twice, first to Anne and later to an Agnes who may even
have been Anne’s sister, since some of the birth records indicate the mother’s
name as either Agnes or Anne Hanks.
William Collett died in 1587 at Upper Slaughter after acting as sole
executor of Agnes’ Will which was proved in 1587. (Over Slaughter and Upper Slaughter are
different references for the same village).
From this it might be concluded that William initially married Anne
Hanks, with whom he had a son, and later married Agnes Hanks, the daughter of
Richard Hanks who was born at Upper Slaughter around 1538. The records also show that all of the later
four children were born at Upper Slaughter.
The list of Gloucestershire Wills includes an entry for William Collett
of Upper Slaughter, a shepherd, whose Will of 1587 has the reference number
1587/269
1F1 - William Collett was born in 1543, very
likely born at Upper Slaughter, but was later ‘of Stanley’
The following are the
children of William Collett by his second wife Agnes Hanks:
1F2 - Edmund Collett was born in 1571 at Upper
Slaughter
1F3 – Joan Collett was born in 1577 at Upper
Slaughter
1F4 – Robert Collett was born in 1581 at Upper
Slaughter
1F5 – Thomas Collett was born in 1584 at Upper
Slaughter
Henry Collett [1E3] was born in 1520
at Over Slaughter where he married (1) Joan Hanks in 1540, the mother of all
his children. After her death Henry
married (2) Edith Arcolle,
a lady of some wealth, who was born in Cirencester in 1520 and who died in 1597. Henry was a Yeoman of Over Slaughter and
Church Warden of the Parish. He was also
the sole executor of the Will of his mother Alice Collett. Henry Collett died in 1592 and was buried in
the churchyard at Over Slaughter. His
Will of 20th August 1591 in the 33rd year of the reign of
Queen Elizabeth of England, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, was
proved in 1592 (see Will in Legal Documents)
The document named his
eldest son Thomas Collett (below) as sole executor. All of his children, with the exception of
Henry Collett the youngest son, were named in the Will with Thomas Collett the
eldest son being allow to reside in one half of the house occupied by his stepmother
Edith until her death, at which time it would become his property. It also stipulated that Edith would get
nothing if she did not agree to that provision.
In addition, Henry’s Will also included the following bequeaths: Ł10 and
the best bed in the house to wife Edith; ten shillings to the poor of the
village; Ł3 of good and lawful money of England to each of seven of his eight
children; and a plough and a pair of harrows to his son Anthony Collett (below). It seems likely that Joan Collett nee Hanks,
Henry’s first wife, died during or just after the birth of Henry Collett (below)
their last-born child. And it is
interesting to note that the child was not mentioned in his father’s Will
Henry’s second wife Edith
Collett made a Will on 18th
November 1596 which was proved in 1597 (see Will in Legal Documents)
in which she bequeathed nothing to any member of the Collett family. The only Collett named in her Will was
‘Thomas - a friend’ who, with Thomas Carter, was charged with overseeing the
Will. Thomas Collett was very likely the
eldest of her stepsons and seems the most likely person, since he was also sole
executor to her husband’s earlier Will.
The bulk of her estate was shared amongst the members of her own Arcolle family, although
there was also reference to the Rooke family.
In addition, eight pennies were bequeathed to every poor house in Over Slaughter, and
six pence to every house of the Alms folk of Stow St Edwards
WILL NOTES: Of interest is the name Robert Rooke in the 1557
Will of Alice Collett, the widow of Thomas Collett (Ref. 1D1), who was named as
an overseer of her Will and who was witness to the signing thereof. That then raises the question, was Robert
Rooke, the father of Richard Rooke, who married Marian Collett (Ref. 1E1), the
daughter of Thomas and Alice Collett, whose daughter Elizabeth was also
referred to in the 1596
Will of Edith Collett as simply Elizabeth daughter of Richard Rooke of Evenlode
1F6 – Alice Collett was born in 1541 at
Upper Slaughter
1F7 – Elizabeth Collett was born in 1545 at
Upper Slaughter
1F8 – Thomas Collett was born in 1547 at
Upper Slaughter
1F9 – John Collett was born in 1548 at
Upper Slaughter
1F10 – William Collett was born in 1551 at
Upper Slaughter
1F11 – Jane Collett was born in 1553 at
Upper Slaughter
1F12 – Anthony Collett was born in 1554 at
Upper Slaughter
1F13 – Henry Collett was born in 1556 at
Upper Slaughter
Elizabeth Collett [1E4] was
born in 1521 at Over Slaughter and was married there to John Bayliss on 19th
July 1546. John, and a Thomas Bayliss
who may have been his father, were witnesses for the Will of Alice Collett,
Elizabeth’s mother
Alice Collett [1E5] was born in 1522
at Over Slaughter and married David Anthony Taylor of Bourton on the
Water. In the 1557 Will of her mother
Alice Collett there is a clause specifically excluding the children of Anthony
Taylor. However, later in the Will
Eleanor Taylor who could be a daughter to Anthony and Alice was named as being
bequeathed one sheep
Joan Collett [1E6] and Agnes Collett [1E7] were
born in 1523 and 1524 respectively at Over Slaughter and one of them married
Thomas Hanks the likely brother of Joan Hanks who married their older brother
Henry Collett (above). An Elizabeth
Hanks was bequeathed a sheep in the Will of their mother Alice Collett, so
Elizabeth was probably the daughter of the couple and therefore the
granddaughter of Alice Collett
JOHN COLLETT [1E8] was born in 1525
and he married (1) Marion Jakes at Broadwell just north of Stow-on-the Wold on
15th June 1547 or 16th June 1547, where all of their
children were born and baptised and where Marion Jakes was born around
1528. Under the terms of the 1538 Will
of John’s father Thomas Collett, John and all of his sisters (above) but
excluding Marian Collett, were bequeathed twenty shillings and ten sheared
sheep (see Will in Legal Documents). John
Collett of Broadwell died in 1597 and his Will was proved that same year. It was originally believed that the widow of
John Collett, Marion, died ten years after her husband in 1607, but that has
now been disproved, as it applied to his second wife Katherine. The recent discovery of John’s Will (see
Will in Legal Documents) has provided additional information about his
wife and children at the time of his death which conflicts with the list of
children credited to John and his wife Marion in an earlier version of this
file
The Will also referred to
John’s wife as Katherine who was previously (2) Katherine Sanders who married
John Collett at Broadwell on 1st November 1582 or 11th
November 1582, Katherine having been born there in 1555. That means John’s first wife Marion, had died
after the birth of their last child in 1558 and before 1582. John being married twice now makes sense of
the statement in his Will about his sons ‘Henry Collett the elder’ and ‘Henry
Collett the younger’ that is, one from each of his two marriages. Therefore, the revised lists of his children
from those two marriages are now reproduced below, in accordance with the
details extracted from his Will. In
addition to his own children, the Will also included the names of two
grandsons, they being Thomas and John the sons of Henry Collett the elder. It is also interesting to note that the
witnesses to the signing of the Will were ‘neighbour William Wright of
Broadwell and John Collett of Naunton’.
That John Collett (Ref 1F9) was the son of John’s older brother Henry
Collett (above) who, at the time of his death in 1605, was referred to
as John Collett of Naunton
Under the terms of the
Will of John Collett, the church at Broadwell received twenty pence, and the
poor of the town were to receive a strike of corn. Henry the younger son was to receive the
great brass pan and iron bedstead in the nether chamber, while Anthony was to
get the second-best brass pan and iron bedstead from the upper chamber upon the
death of his mother Katherine. Notable
absentees from the Will were John’s daughter Francis and son Robert (both from
his first marriage) and Philip and Anne (from his second marriage). No later records have been found for Philip
and Anne, so it seems very likely that they both had died while still very
young. However, the older two children
did survive beyond childhood and their adult details are included later on
The following are the children of John Collett
by his first wife Marion Jakes:
1F14 – William Collett was born in 1548 at
Broadwell
1F15 – Elizabeth Collett was born in 1550 at
Broadwell
1F16 – Frances Collett was born in 1552 at
Broadwell
1F17 – Robert Collett was born in 1554 at
Broadwell
1F18 – HENRY COLLETT ‘the elder’ was born in 1558 at
Broadwell
The following are the children of John Collett
by his second wife Katherine Sanders:
1F19 – Henry Collett ‘the younger’ was born in 1583 at
Broadwell
1F20 – Philip Collett was born in 1584 at
Broadwell
1F21 – Anne Collett was born in 1586 at
Broadwell
1F22 – John Collett was born in 1588 at
Broadwell; died in 1596
1F23 – Anthony Collett was born in 1589 at
Broadwell
1F24 – William Collett was born in 1589 at
Broadwell
1F25 – Thomas Collett was born in 1590 at
Broadwell; died in 1642
Alice Collett [1F6] was born in 1541
at Over Slaughter and was the daughter of Henry Collett and Joan Hanks. Alice later married Mr Humphries
Elizabeth Collett [1F7] was
born in 1545 at Over Slaughter and was the daughter of Henry Collett and Joan
Hanks and she later married Mr Haynes
Thomas Collett [1F8] was born in 1547
at Over Slaughter and was the eldest son of Henry Collett and Joan Hanks. Thomas Collett married Edith with whom he had
ten children as detailed in Pedigree 2 of Margaret Chadd’s book The Collett Saga,
published in 1987. Margaret Chadd and
the compiler of the Collett Family History website worked together during the
years from 1992 to 1997 to assemble and eventually publish a supplement to The
Collett Saga. Thomas Collett of Over
Slaughter, together with his brother Anthony Collett (below) were
overseers, with Nicholas Perratt, of the 1603 Will of John Hules of Over
Slaughter who was the father-in-law of Anthony Collett who married Elizabeth
Hules (see Will in Legal Documents). Thomas Collett, who was mentioned in the 1605
Visitation, died in 1620. The record of ‘Men
& Armour of Gloucestershire in 1608’ included Thomas Collett of Upper
Slaughter who was described as “a subsidy man, unable
in body to serve, has one caliver furnished”. Also include in the same section for Upper
Slaughter were three of his sons, John, Anthony and Paris
1G1 – John Collett was born in 1576 at
Upper Slaughter
1G2 – Anthony Collett was born at Upper
Slaughter
1G3 – Mary Collett was born at Upper
Slaughter
1G4 – Paris Collett was born at Upper
Slaughter
1G5 – Henry Collett was born at Upper
Slaughter
1G6 – Elinore Collett was born at Upper
Slaughter
1G7 – Richard Collett was born at Upper
Slaughter
1G8 – Margaret Collett was born in 1592 at
Upper Slaughter
1G9 – Elizabeth Collett was born in 1595 at
Upper Slaughter
1G10 – Thomas Collett was born in 1598 at Upper
Slaughter; died in 1676
John Collett [1F9] was born in 1548
at Over Slaughter and was the son of Henry Collett and Joan Hanks. He married Elizabeth Venfield of Naunton in
1583. In 1591 John Collett, with his
brother Thomas Collett (above) and Richard Perratt were listed as
Trustees of the Lands of Upper Slaughter which were purchased and conveyed for
the repair of the church and the relief of the poor. John was Joint Lord of the Manor of Naunton
with Giles Venfield, who was possibly John’s brother-in-law, being his wife’s
brother
The website www.british-history.ac.uk
has the well-documented history of Naunton Manor from 1066 up to 1962, and
includes the following extract. “In 1591 the manor
passed to John Talbot, who married Eleanor, daughter and heir of Thomas
Baskerville, and he sold it to Giles Venfield and others before 1608, when
Venfield and John Collett were Joint Lords of the Manor. Collett's half of the manor passed to his
brother Henry Collett in 1642 and, afterwards, to Anthony Collett (who died in
1719), then to Anthony's brother Henry Collett (who died in 1731). After that it then passed to William Moore
(who died in 1768), whose wife Elizabeth was Henry Collett's daughter. After the death of
Moore's second wife, around 1795, the estate passed to Hill Dawe, an
illegitimate son of William Moore, and William Dawe was the owner from around
1807 to 1826. It was probably this
estate, with the reputed manor, centred on the Manor House with the large
dovecot, which William Hanks purchased from James Clark in 1857. In 1962 it was owned by Mr. G. Hanks, the great-grandson
of William Hanks. Giles Venfield's
moiety of the manor passed to his son Thomas in 1612, and by 1650 it had been
sold to William Rogers”
On a wall inside the
Church of St Peter at Upper Slaughter is a plaque dated 1792 with the heading
‘Benefactors of this Parish’ that reads as follows: “In 1594 certain land were purchased and conveyed to the trustee for
the repair of the church and the relief of the poor. At the enclosure 56 acres were allotted in
lieu of the said lands which are now upon lease at Ł56000. John Collett, Richard Perratt and Thomas
Collett are the only surviving trustees.
Several sums of money have at different times been given to the poor
amounting in the whole Ł52 which is lent upon mortgage to the Trustees of the
Church Estate. The interest is
distributed annually. January 1789 the
Reverend F T Travell conveyed by deed to the three Trustees vis the Rector of
the Parish for the time being, John Collett and William Cook”
William Cook was the
brother-in-law of John Humphries whose Will was made in 1771. The document also revealed that John
Humphries’ daughter Mary Humphries married Thomas Collett (Ref. 14K9). It is therefore very likely that the
aforementioned trustee John Collett was Thomas’ brother (Ref. 14K7) who was
known as John Collett of Upper Slaughter (see Will in Legal Documents). The John Collett here, who was born
at Over Slaughter in 1548, died at Naunton in 1605 and his Will was proved
later that same year
Details of his children and the continuation of his
line, including his Will,
can be found in Part 2 - The Secondary Line from 1550 to 1775
commencing with 1F9. This is also the family
line of Gordon John Collett (Ref. 3Q5) of Boston in Lincolnshire, and his son
Martin who lives in Australia. From Part 2, the line
continues to Part 32 – The Newfoundland Line as the family line of Max
Collett, Bonnie Brown and Natasha Young of Placentia Bay
William Collett [1F10] was born in 1551
at Over Slaughter and was the son of Henry Collett and Joan Hanks. He was married by licence to Ann Harwood of
Great Rissington in Gloucestershire on 9th November 1576 at Upper
Slaughter. Very little else is known
about William and Ann, except that he died in 1633
Jane Collett [1F11] was born in 1553
at Over Slaughter and was the younger daughter of Henry Collett and Joan
Hanks. It was also at Over Slaughter
where Jane married John Venfield of Naunton in 1573. John was the brother of Elizabeth Venfield
who married Jane’s brother John Collett (above)
Anthony Collett [1F12] was born in 1554
at Over Slaughter and was the son of Henry Collett and Joan Hanks. He married Elizabeth Hules of Upper Slaughter
in 1593. The marriage produced four
children for Anthony and Elizabeth as detailed in Pedigree 5 of The Collett
Saga and as shown in Part 14 of the Collett Family History website. Anthony Collett died on 20th May
1627 and his Will, which was made on 8th April 1627, was proved on 5th
July 1627. For the continuation of this family line, go
to Part 14 – The John Kyte Collett Line (Ref. 14F1)
Henry Collett [1F13] was born in 1556
at Over Slaughter and was the last child born to Henry Collett and Joan
Hanks. Sadly, his mother died either
during the birth or shortly thereafter
William Collett [1F14] was
baptised on 8th January 1548 at Broadwell and was the first-born
child of John Collett and Marion Jakes, and he later married Elizabeth Chegner
at Broadwell on 29th June 1579.
His father John died in 1597 and, as the eldest son, the name of William
Collett was the first of John’s children mentioned in his Will which was proved
in 1597 (see Will in Legal Documents).
However, under the terms of the Will he only received three pence. Thirty years later, under the terms of the
1627 Will of his cousin Anthony Collett (above), William was to be paid
forty shillings each year during his life by his cousin’s son Henry Collett
(Ref. 14G2)
Elizabeth Collett [1F15] was
baptised on 6th April 1550 at Broadwell and was the second child of
John Collett and Marion Jakes. She
married William Collins on 30th July 1580 at Broadwell, and
seventeen years later in 1597 she was a beneficiary under the terms of the Will
of her father who had died in 1597. As
Elizabeth Collins, she was to receive two strikes of corn and four pence for
each of her children (see Will in Legal Documents)
Francis Collett [1F16] was
born in 1551 at Broadwell and was the daughter of John Collett and Marion
Jakes. The name Francis, spelt this way,
would usually indicate a male, but the 1606 Will of Robert Currier (see details
under Ref. 1F19) clearly indicates this was a female by mentioning Francis
Mason as the daughter of Francis Mason (see Will in Legal Documents). Francis Collett married Edmund Mason on 1st
October 1571 at Broadwell. Rather
strangely there was no reference to daughter Francis in the 1597 Will of her
father John Collett who died that year.
This could mean that she had died by then, thus leaving a daughter
Francis Mason who was the one referred to in the Will of Robert Currier ten
years later. Furthermore, the 1629 Will
of John Currier (see also under Ref. 1F19) not only referred to the children of
Francis Mason, but also to members of the Collett family including Francis’
half-brother Henry Collett the Younger (below) and his children, two of
which were specifically named, they being Elizabeth Collett (Ref. 1G17) and
Robert Collett (Ref. 1G19) (see Will in Legal Documents)
Robert Collett [1F17] was baptised on 19th
August 1554 at Broadwell and was the son of John Collett and Marion Jakes. He too, like his sister Francis (above)
who may have died, was not mentioned in his father’s Will of 1597, although it
is clearly evident that he was alive long after his father passed away. Robert Collett married (1) Elizabeth but from
which union no children were produced, before he married (2) Alice much later
in his life. It was also later in his
life that he was referred to as Robert Collett of Guiting Power. All four of his children were born and
baptised at Guiting Power and all from his second marriage to Alice. The dates of birth of the children indicate
that Alice must have been a very young bride compared to an aging Robert,
perhaps even thirty to forty years younger than her husband
1G11 – Elizabeth Collett was born in 1625 at
Guiting Power
1G12 – Alice Collett was born in 1627 at
Guiting Power
1G13 – Edmund Collett was born in 1630 at
Guiting Power
1G14 – Richard Collett was born in 1633 at
Guiting Power
HENRY
COLLETT [1F18]
- Henry the Elder, was baptised on 4th November 1558 at Broadwell and was the last child presented to John Collett
by his wife Marion Jakes prior to her death.
Following the death of his mother, his father married Katherine Sanders
and their first child together was also named Henry Collett (below). From that time on the two boys were referred
to as Henry the elder and Henry the younger.
Henry Collett was married by licence to (1) Elizabeth Insil at
Upper Slaughter on 22nd May 1593 and accordingly to the parish
register Elizabeth Insil was the daughter of John Insil. The marriage produced two sons for Henry and
Elizabeth and both were named in the 1597 Will of Henry’s father John Collett,
as Thomas and John, the sons of Henry Collett the elder. Sometime after the birth of the two boys it
would appear that Elizabeth died leaving Henry to take a much younger second
wife some years later, with whom he had a further five children
Henry Collett later married (2) Elizabeth
Goodwin of Lower Dorsington in the Parish of Welford. He died in 1647 at Broadwell and his Will was
proved in 1648. However, to avoid a
major revision to the layout of this family line, and that of Part 4, the
details of Henry Collett’s second marriage to Elizabeth Goodwin have been
retained in Part 4 and it is there that the family lines of their five children
are extended. Details of the
children from his second marriage can be found in Part 4 -
The Great Western Line from 1560 to 1950 commencing with Ref.
4F1. That is also the family line of Charles
Benjamin Collett (Ref. 4N7), Chief Mechanical Engineer with the Great Western
Railway who designed the Kings and Castles classes of locomotives at Swindon in
the 1920s and 1930s
1G15 – THOMAS COLLETT was born in 1594 at
Broadwell
1G16 – John Collett was born in 1596 at
Broadwell
Henry Collett [1F19] - Henry the
Younger, may also have been known as Harry, to distinguish him from Henry the
elder. However, it was as Henry Collett
of Westcote that he was baptised at Broadwell on 31st August 1583
and was the first child born to John Collett and his second wife Katherine
Sanders during the month of July 1583.
Henry was also the half-brother of Henry Collett (above) the last
child of John Collett and his first wife Marion Jakes. In order to separately identify his two sons
with the same name at the time of his death, John Collett referred to them in
his Will as Henry Collett the elder and Henry Collett the younger. And it was the younger Henry, who with his
brother Anthony (below) shared half of their father’s estate with the
other have being left to Henry’s wife Katherine (see Will in Legal Documents). Henry Collett married Joan
Currier of Kempsford in Gloucestershire on 19th June 1609 at
Charlton Kings in Gloucestershire. Joan
was the daughter of Robert and Margaret Currier – see below. All of their
children were born and baptised at Charlton Kings
Henry died in 1642 and
his wife Joan was named as sole executor of his Will dated 3rd
November 1641 (see Will in Legal Documents). The document refers to
seven of their eleven children so an assumption has been made that the missing
four children had already passed away by the time of their father’s death. Second surviving son Walter Collett was the
main beneficiary, inheriting all of his father’s land purchased from William
Hilton. The Will also states that eldest
son Henry Collett had already had bestowed upon him his inheritance. For the remainder of his children: Elizabeth
received all rents and profits from land at Westcote for the next five years;
Walter Collett received the bedstead, furniture, ploughs and harrows and usage
of the land for the next twelve years; while Joyce Collett, Sarah Collett, Joan
Collett and Jane Collett each received an annual annuity for five years from
the land at Westcote
The Will also set aside
money to repair the church at Charlton Kings and there was a gift of three
pence for each of the poor people of the village. Henry’s brother William Collett (below)
and cousin Richard Wager were named as overseers of the Will. Henry Collett was buried at Charlton Kings
on 13th May 1642. In the book
‘Men & Armour of Gloucestershire in 1608' he was described as ‘husbandman
of medium stature suitable for Musketeer'.
Henry’s wife Joan died twelve years after her husband and her Will was
proved on 22nd August 1654.
In the document she was referred to as ‘Joan Collett, widow of Charlton
Kings’. Henry and two of his children,
Elizabeth Collett and Robert Collett, were named in the 1629 Will of John Currier (see Will in Legal Documents)
who was the brother of Joan’s father Robert Currier – see below. Joan Collett nee
Currier died twelve years after her husband, when she passed away in 1654
Robert Currier was married to Margaret
and his Will of 1606 (see Will in Legal Documents) named
Joan Collett (the wife of Henry) as his daughter and to whom he bequeathed:
four sheep, one cow, a corn wagon, a dung wagon both with iron band wheels, a
plough, a pair of harrows with small implements of husbandry. His step-daughter Isobel Gosling, his wife’s
daughter from an earlier time, received: Ł40 to be paid out at the rate of Ł10
per year but starting in the sixth year after his death, one fallow heifer and
two sheep. Robert’s brother John Currier
was appointed as an overseer of his Will in which John’s son William was left
free land while younger son John received one bushel of barley. Curiously the name of Richard Wager appears
in all three Wills and is stated as ‘cousin’ in the Wills of both John Currier
and Henry Collett
1G17 – Elizabeth Collett was born in 1610 at
Charlton Kings
1G18 – Henry Collett was born in 1612 at
Charlton Kings
1G19 – Robert Collett was born in 1614 at
Charlton Kings
1G20 – Walter Collett was born in 1618 at
Charlton Kings
1G21 – Margaret Collett was born in 1621 at
Charlton Kings
1G22 – Joyce Collett was born in 1623 at
Charlton Kings
1G23 – Francis Collett was born in 1625 at
Charlton Kings
1G24 – Sarah Collett was born in 1628 at
Charlton Kings
1G25 – Francis Collett was born in 1630 at
Charlton Kings
1G26 – Joan Collett was born in 1633 at
Charlton Kings
1G27 – Jane Collett was born in 1635 at
Charlton Kings
Philip Collett [1F20] was born at
Broadwell in 1584 and was the second of four children born to John Collett and
his second wife Katherine Sanders. Curiously Philip and
his sister Anne (below) were two of the four children of John and
Katherine not to be mentioned in the Will of their father when he died in
1597. He would have been twelve years
old at the time, and therefore it was previously assumed that Philip had
already died prior to 1597. However, it
is now known that it was in 1619 when he passed away, so why was he left out of
his father’s Will?
Anne Collett
[1F21] was born in 1586 and was baptised at Broadwell on 28th
August 1586, the daughter of John Collett and Katherine Sanders. Anne, like her brother Philip (above),
had possibly died before 1597 since she too was not mentioned in the Will of
her father who died that year, while it is now confirmed that she too passed
away during 1619
Anthony
Collett [1F23]
was baptised at Broadwell on 7th March 1589 and was child of John
Collett and Katherine Sanders. His father died when Anthony was only eight
years old and, in his Will, John Collett bequeathed that half of his estate
should be divided between his two sons Henry the younger (above) and
Anthony, but that is should remain in their mother’s hands until they reached
the age of twenty-one. The other half of
the estate went to John’s wife Katherine.
Fourteen years later, when Anthony had reached the age of 21, he married
Mary Perkes at Broadwell on 30th January 1611, following which he
received his inheritance. In the book
‘Men & Armour of Gloucestershire in 1608’ Anthony is listed as ‘shepherd of
lower stature in the youngest age band A20’.
The first child of the marriage was baptised at Broadwell, while the
remainder were born / baptised at Bourton-on-Water
1G28 – Ann Collett was born in 1617 at
Broadwell
1G29 – Anthony Collett was born in 1618 at
Bourton-on-the-Water
1G30 – Richard Collett was born at
Bourton-on-the-Water
1G31 – Thomas Collett was born at
Bourton-on-the-Water
1G32 – Mary Collett was born at Bourton-on-the-Water
William Collett [1F24], whose date on birth is not known, was not named in the
1597 Will of his father John Collett.
His name is included here based solely on a reference to him as an
overseer of the 1642 Will of his eldest brother Harry aka Henry Collett the
younger (above) in which William was described as being the brother of
the deceased
John Collett [1G1] was born in 1576
the eldest child of Thomas and Edith Collett.
He married Mary and they had a son Joseph. John Collett died in
1657. In the 1608 record of ‘Men & Armour
of Gloucestershire’ John Collett is listed with his father and his brothers
Anthony and Paris (below) as a husbandman of Upper Slaughter
1H1 – Joseph Collett at Upper Slaughter
Anthony Collett [1G2], whose date of birth is not known, was the son of Thomas
and Edith Collett and he married Mary Booch.
In
the 1608 record of ‘Men & Armour of Gloucestershire’ Anthony Collett is
listed with his father, his brother John (above) and his brother Paris (below)
as a husbandman of Upper Slaughter
Mary Collett [1G3], whose date of birth is not known, was the daughter of
Thomas and Edith Collett and she married William Arcot
Paris Collett [1G4], whose date of birth is not known, was the son of Thomas
and Edith Collett and he married Ann. In the 1608 record of ‘Men & Armour of
Gloucestershire’ Paris Collett is listed with his father and his brothers John
and Anthony (above), when he was described as a husbandman of Upper
Slaughter, the son of Thomas Collett, of short stature and young age, being
category A20
Henry Collett [1G5], whose date of birth is not known, was the son of Thomas
and Edith Collett and he married Alice
Richard
Collett [1G7], whose
date of birth is not known, was the son of Thomas and Edith Collett and he
married Elizabeth Tatum
Edmund Collett [1G13] was baptised at
Guiting Power on 29th August 1630 when he was confirmed as the son
of Robert Collett. He attended Christ
Church College at Oxford where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts on 28th
February 1659
THOMAS COLLETT [1G15] was born at
Broadwell in 1594 and was only three years old when his grandfather John
Collett died. In his grandfather’s Will
of 1597 Thomas and his brother John (below) were listed as the sons of
Henry Collett the elder and they were to receive half a guinea shared between
them. Thomas Collett married Elizabeth
Kingly around 1617 at Broadwell and all of the children from the marriage were
born and baptised at Broadwell. The
youngest of his known children was only two years old when Thomas Collett died
in 1642
1H2 – William Collett was born in 1619 at
Broadwell; baptised there on 13th
June 1619
1H3 – Catherine Collett was born in 1621 at
Broadwell; baptised there on 15th
July 1621
1H4 – Philip Collett was born in 1624 at
Broadwell; baptised there on 9th
June 1624
1H5 – THOMAS COLLETT was born in 1627 at
Broadwell
1H6 – Maria Collett was born in 1636 at
Broadwell; baptised on 2nd
December 1636
1H7 – Elizabeth Collett was born in 1638 at
Broadwell
1H8 – John Collett was born in 1640 at
Broadwell
John Collett [1G16] was born at
Broadwell around 1596 and was named as a beneficiary under the terms of the
1597 Will of his grandfather John Collett.
In that document, John and his brother Thomas (above) received a
half guinea which was to be shared between the two boys. Within the Will, John and Thomas were
described as being the sons of Henry Collett the elder, the deceased John
Collett having another son named Henry from his second marriage. John Collett married Alice Marshall on 2nd
August 1633 at Guiting Power. He is
believed to have died in 1690 and his Will as ‘John Collett Gentleman of Upper
Slaughter’ was proved on 25th November 1690
Elizabeth Collett [1G17]
was born
at Charlton Kings on 29th May 1610 and it was there that she was
baptised on 8th June 1610.
She was a beneficiary under the terms of the 1641 Will of her father
Henry Collett, her mother Joan Collett nee Currier being the sole executor of
the Will
Henry Collett [1G18] was born at
Charlton Kings where he was baptised on 13th September 1612, the son
of Henry Collett and Joan Currier. Henry
married Edith around 1634 at Charlton Kings and known as a Yeoman of Charlton
Kings. All of Henry’s and Edith’s
children were born and baptised at Charlton Kings. In his father’s Will of 1641, he was referred
to as already having received his heritance prior to the death of his father
Henry Collett. Henry died in 1669 and
his Will dated 5th January 1669 was proved in 1670 (see
Will in Legal Documents). In the
Will he names his best friend, John Collett of Cheltenham as an overseer of the
Will. Henry’s wife Edith and his
children Margaret Collett, Henry Collett and Robert Collett were all referred
to in the Will. It is therefore assumed
that the other two children had already passed away. The property was divided 50/50 between his
wife Edith and his eldest daughter Margaret.
Eldest son Henry Collett received the furniture, while youngest son
Robert Collett received a one-plank bed with bed sheet, cushion and
blankets. The aforementioned John
Collett of Cheltenham appeared in the 1672 Hearth Tax records as having seven
hearths, indicating the ownership of a substantial property. In the year 1637 he was living at Charlton
Kings where his son Robert Collett was baptised on 4th January
1H9 – Margaret Collett was born in 1639 at
Charlton Kings
1H10 – Edith Collett was born in 1641 at
Charlton Kings
1H11 – Henry Collett was born in 1643 at
Charlton Kings
1H12 – Edward Collett was born in 1646 at
Charlton Kings
1H13 – Robert Collett was born at Charlton
Kings
Robert Collett [1G19] was born at
Charlton Kings and was baptised there on 30th October 1614, the son
of Henry Collett and Joan Currier. It is
assumed that he died before 1641 as he was not referred to in his father’s Will
of that year. He was however mentioned
in the 1629 Will of John Currier. It
therefore seems likely that he died approaching his twenty-fifth birthday and
was not even married before his death in 1639.
The Will of ‘Robert Collett Yeoman of Westcote’ was proved on 4th
July 1639 which probably corresponds with Robert’s father Henry owning land at
Westcote
Walter Collett [1G20] was born at
Charlton Kings where he was baptised on 14th March 1618, the son of
Henry Collett and Joan Currier. Apart
from his elder brother Henry, Walter was the only other surviving son of Henry
Collett to be named in his Will of 1641
Margaret Collett [1G21] was
born at Charlton Kings and baptised there on 2nd April 1621, the
daughter of Henry Collett and Joan Currier.
The lack of any reference to Margaret in her father’s Will in 1641
probably indicates that she had died by then
Joyce Collett [1G22] was born at
Charlton Kings and it was there that she was baptised on 24th
October 1623. She was one of the
children of Henry Collett to be named in his Will of 1641
Francis Collett [1G23] was
born at Charlton Kings where he was baptised on 28th January
1625. The fact that the next child born
to Henry Collett and Joan Currier was also named Francis probably indicates
that Francis suffered an infant death prior to 1630
Sarah Collett [1G24] was born at
Charlton Kings where she was baptised on 3rd May 1628 and was one of
seven surviving children of Henry Collett and Joan Currier to be named in her
father’s Will in 1641
Francis Collett [1G25] was
born at Charlton Kings and it was there that he was baptised on 12th
July 1630. However, it would appear that
he suffered a childhood death as he was not referred to in the 1641 Will of his
father Henry Collett
Joan Collett [1G26], whose date of birth is not known, and the daughter of
Henry Collett and Joan Currier and was a beneficiary under the terms of her
father’s Will in 1641
Jane Collett [1G27] was born at
Charlton Kings where she was baptised on 16th November 1635. She was one of seven surviving children of
Henry Collett to be named in his Will of 1641
Ann Collett [1G28] was born on 20th
June 1617 and was baptised on 9th July 1617 at Broadwell, the eldest
child of Anthony Collett and his wife Mary Perkes
Anthony Collett [1G29] was
baptised at Bourton-on-Water on 12th February 1618. He married Mary of Great Dorsington around
1660. He died in 1686 and his Will was
proved in 1687. The couple’s four known
children were born and baptised at Dorsington near Welford-on-Avon
1H14 – Dorothy Collett was born in 1660 at
Dorsington
1H15 – Thomas Collett was born in 1663 at
Dorsington
1H16 – Richard Collett was born in 1666 at
Dorsington
1H17 – Mary Collett was born in 1668 at
Dorsington; baptised there on 3rd July 1668
Joseph Collett [1H1], whose date of birth is not known, was the son of John
and Mary Collett. He married Mary with
whom he had a son Edmund
1I1 – Edmund Collett
THOMAS COLLETT [1H5] was baptised on 28th
October 1627 at Broadwell and he married Elizabeth around 1660. It is understood that he moved to Westcote
five miles south of Broadwell, once he was married, to manage the land there
which had been owned by his great uncle Henry Collett (the younger). And it was at Westcote that all of the
couple’s children were born and baptised.
Thomas’ wife Elizabeth, who was born in 1630, died during 1701, and was
followed four years later by Thomas who was buried at Westcote following his
death on 2nd October 1705
1I2 – FRANCIS COLLETT was born in 1661 at
Westcote
1I3 – Sarah was born in 1662 at Westcote;
baptised there on 21st February 1662
1I4 – Ann was born in 1667 at Westcote;
baptised there on 24th October 1667
1I5 – Margaret Collett was born in 1670 at
Westcote
Elizabeth Collett [1H7] was
born at Broadwell where she was baptised on 12th April 1638. It would appear that she never married and
that she died in 1701
John Collett [1H8] was baptised on 29th
July 1640 at Broadwell. He married Aymer
circa 1664. All of the children were
born and baptised at Westcote
1I6 – Richard Collett was born in 1665 at
Westcote; baptised there on 28th March 1665
1I7 – Margaret Collett was born in 1666 at
Westcote; baptised there on 5th October 1666
1I8 – Elizabeth Collett was born in 1667 at
Westcote; baptised there on 5th October March 1667
1I9 – Aymer Collett was born in 1668 at
Westcote; baptised there on 17th September 1668
1I10 – Walter Collett was born in 1669 at
Westcote; baptised there on 21st March 1670
1I11 – Joseph Collett was born in 1671 at
Westcote; baptised there on 21st March 1672
Margaret Collett [1H9] was
born at Charlton Kings and was baptised there on 29th September
1639. She was just one of three children
to be named in her father’s Will of 1669
Edith Collett [1H10] was born at
Charlton Kings and it was there that she was baptised on 14th
November 1641. However, she may have
died prior to 1669 since there was no mention of her in her father’s Will
produced that year
Henry Collett [1H11] was born at
Charlton Kings and that may have taken place around 1639 from his stated age at
the time of his death. What is known was
that he was baptised at Charlton Kings near Cheltenham on 6th
November 1643, where he also later married Elizabeth on 20th March
1669. Elizabeth was considerably younger
than Henry having born in 1651 and she died on 17th August 1724 aged
73. The couple’s three daughters were
all born and baptised at Charlton Kings, as was Henry’s base-born son Henry, who
was born two years before his marriage to Elizabeth. Henry Collett, who was known as a Gentleman
of Tewkesbury, died on 29th September 1712 aged 73 and was buried at
St Catherine's Chapel in Tewkesbury Abbey.
In his Will dated 14th January 1712 (see Will in Legal Documents)
he was referred to as a yeoman of Charlton Kings. The Will was drawn up in the tenth year of
the reign of Our Sovereign Lady Anne Queen of Great Britain, France and Ireland.
The Will was proved on 26th May 1716 and mentions his wife
Elizabeth and their three daughters Joyce Collett, Elizabeth Collett and Sarah
Goodrich nee Collett, but makes no mention of any sons or his two younger
daughters
The
details of his children and the continuation of his line can be found in Part 5 –
The Tewkesbury Line from 1630 to 1960 commencing with Ref. 5I7
Edward Collett [1H12] was born at
Charlton Kings and was baptised there on 20th October 1646. As there was no reference to him in his
father’s Will of 1669, it has been assumed that Edward had died before then
Robert Collett [1H13], who was born at Charlton Kings but whose date of birth
is not known, was referred to as ‘Robert son of Henry Collett’ in his Will of
1669
Dorothy Collett [1H14] was
born at Dorsington around 1660 where she married Thomas Hemming on 21st
October 1684
Thomas Collett [1H15] was baptised at
Dorsington on 11th October 1663 where he married Susanna Roberts on
12th July 1687
Richard Collett [1H16] was
baptised at Dorsington on 1st February 1666 where he married Anne,
and where all of their children were born and baptised
1I12 – Thomas Collett was born in 1702 at
Dorsington; baptised there on 5th March 1702
1I13 – Elizabeth Collett was born in 1706 at
Dorsington; baptised there on 3rd April 1706
1I14 – Anne Collett was born in 1708 at Dorsington;
baptised there on 23rd October 1708
1I15 – William Collett was born in 1714 at
Dorsington; baptised there on 6th June 1714
FRANCIS COLLETT [1I2] was baptised on 21st
September 1661 at Westcote. He married
Susannah Sanders of Kempsford in 1685.
His occupation was that of blacksmith working at The Old Forge in
Kempsford. Susannah, his wife, was born
at Kempsford on 17th January 1654, the daughter of Edward and Sybil
Sanders. She was buried at Kempsford on
4th October 1728 followed by Francis who was buried there on 17th
December 1729. His Will of 19th
November 1729 was proved on 24th May 1736. All of their children were born and baptised
at Kempsford but only sons James Collett and Leonard Collett, and daughter
Sarah Collett were referred to in their father’s Will. It must therefore be assumed that daughter
Deborah Collett had died prior to the making of the Will. Henry Collett, his only other son, is known
to have died earlier in 1716. The Will
is of vital importance to the continuation of this family tree because it
verifies what was, before its discovery, the missing link spanning between two
generations. Within the Will the main
beneficiary was Francis’ grandson Francis Collett (Ref. 1K10) - the son of
Henry Collett (Ref. 1J2) - who was also named as the whole and sole executor of
the Will
Grandson Francis was an
orphan and had been taken in and brought up by his grandfather Francis
Collett. That happened following the
death of his father Henry Collett when he was only five years of age. His mother Mary Collett had already died
shortly after his birth. Francis Collett
(the grandfather) therefore taught the young Francis his trade as a blacksmith
and hence it was logical that he should pass the business onto him. Through the Will the young Francis Collett,
then aged 18 years, inherited the dwelling house, furniture, household goods,
the blacksmith’s shop and tools, new and old iron, the penthouse, coal-house,
Barn Garden and Backside (the backyard) which comprised The Old Forge at the
corner of the High Street and Wharf Lane in Kempsford
The reason the Will took
six and a half years to go through probate, probably stemmed from it being
contested by the three surviving members of Francis’ family, all of whom
received only a pittance. Each of them, sons James Collett and Leonard Collett,
and daughter Sarah Newport nee Collett, received just one shilling of lawful
money of Great Britain. The Will was
signed by Francis before witnesses William Edwards, William Leveridge and
Charles Cowley. On the day it was
proved, the following statement was added.
“This Will was proved the
twenty-fourth day of May in the year of Our Lord 1736 before the worshipful Sir
Henry Pomice, Knight Doctor of Law, Vicar General in Spirituals of the Right
Reverend Father in God, Martin by Divine Permission Lord Bishop of the Diocese
of Gloucester and of his Episcopal Convistory official principal Lawfully
Constituted by Francis Collett sole executor and so forth to whom and so forth
after having first sworn well and faithfully to administer to the said Will and
also to exhibit an inventory and render an account and so forth”
1J1 – James Collett was born in 1686 at
Kempsford
1J2 – HENRY COLLETT was born in 1688 at
Kempsford
1J3 – Leonard Collett was born in 1690 at
Kempsford
1J4 – Sarah Collett was born in 1692 at
Kempsford
1J5 – Deborah Collett was born in 1695 at
Kempsford; baptised there on 11th March 1695
Margaret Collett [1I5] was
born at Westcote around 1670. She never
married and died during childbirth in 1690, following which she was buried at
Westcote on 11th April 1690.
Three days later her base-born son was baptised at Westcote, although he
too died before reaching his second birthday in 1692, and was buried on 11th
March 1692 at Westcote with his mother
1J6
– Thomas Collett was born in 1690 at Westcote; baptised there on 14th
April 1690
James Collett [1J1] was born at
Kempsford in September 1686 and was baptised there on 21st October
1686. He married Elizabeth Haynes of
Kempsford on 31st March 1714 at Kempsford. Referred to as James of Whelford, he was
buried at Kempsford on 3rd October 1742. Elizabeth, his wife, was baptised on 20th
June 1687 at Kempsford and was buried there on 17th January
1738. All of their children were
baptised at Kempsford, although it is likely that they may have been born at
Whelford, there being no church or chapel at Whelford until the latter part of
the nineteenth century
1K1 – Robert Collett was born in 1715 at
Whelford
1K2 – Mary Collett was born in 1716 at
Whelford
1K3 – a Collett daughter was born in 1718 at
Whelford; baptised at Kempsford on 29th April 1718
1K4 – James Collett was born in 1719 at
Whelford
1K5 – Dinah Collett was born in 1721 at
Whelford
1K6 – Elizabeth Collett was born in 1722 at
Whelford
1K7 – John Collett was born in 1724 at
Whelford
1K8 – Sarah Collett was born in 1726 at
Whelford
1K9 – Susannah Collett was born in 1729 at
Whelford
HENRY COLLETT [1J2] was baptised on 18th
March 1688 at Kempsford, where he married Mary in 1709. Mary died shortly after giving birth to their
only child and was buried at Kempsford on 27th July 1711. Her
husband Henry Collett died five years later during 1716. Once orphaned, their son Francis spent his
early years living with his grandparents Francis and Susannah Collett until
their deaths in 1729 and 1728, at which time he inherited the family blacksmith
business. More details on this can be
found under Francis Collett (Ref. 1I2)
1K10 – FRANCIS COLLETT was born in 1711 at
Kempsford
Leonard Collett [1J3] was Born during 22nd
June 1690 at Kempsford and it was there that he married Susannah Wiggins on 29th
December 1715 and it was there that all of their children were baptised. Leonard died in 1751 and was buried at
Kempsford on 17th December 1751.
His wife Susannah had died twelve years earlier and was also buried at
Kempsford on 4th August 1739
1K11 – Jane Collett was born in 1716 at
Kempsford
1K12 – Mary Collett was born in 1718 at
Kempsford
1K13 – Elizabeth Collett was born in 1720 at
Kempsford
1K14 – Henry Collett was born in 1722 at
Kempsford
Sarah Collett [1J4] was baptised on 28th
December 1692 at Kempsford. She married
John Newport on 4th October 1722 at Kempsford. All of their children were born and baptised
at Kempsford and they were Elizabeth Newport (baptised on 1st
September 1723), Rachel Newport (baptised on 17th September
1725), John Newport (baptised on 13th November 1727), Susannah
Newport (baptised on 7th December 1729), and a second John
Newport (baptised on 14th June 1733)
Robert Collett [1K1] was very likely
born at Whelford, following which he was baptised at Kempsford on 13th
June 1715, the eldest child of James Collett of Whelford. And it was there that he was buried on 11th
August 1790. No record has been found to
confirm whether or not he ever married.
It seems possible that he did not, and that he shared his life with his unmarried
sister Mary Collett (below)
Mary Collett [1K2] was born at
Whelford but was baptised at Kempsford on 25th September 1716, the
eldest daughter of James Collett of Whelford.
She was 70 when she was buried at Kempsford on 6th June
1786. The parish burial record noted
that she was a ‘single woman of Whelford’
James Collett [1K4] was baptised on 10th
November 1719 at Kempsford and was buried there three months later on 12th
February 1720
Dinah Collett [1K5] was baptised on 12th
March 1721 at Kempsford. She later
married John Holyoak at Fairford on 6th July 1760
Elizabeth Collett [1K6] was
baptised on 27th November 1722 at Kempsford, the daughter of James
and Elizabeth Collett. She never married
and it was also at Kempsford where she died on 7th March 1786 at the
age of 63
John Collett [1K7] may have been born
at Whelford or Kempsford during May 1724 and was baptised at Kempsford on 28th
June 1724. It was also at Kempsford that
he married (1) Mary Smith on 27th July 1755, and was later buried
there on 1st May 1808. It now
appears that John lost his wife around the time of the birth of their son
James, who may also have died at that same time. The records at Kempsford indicate that John
Collett, a widower, was married there on 20th October 1761 to (2)
Mary Francis just about nine months before the birth of John’s second child
Elizabeth. All of his children were
baptised at the parish church in Kempsford, although it is established that son
Robert was born at nearby Whelford, most likely where the family was residing,
and therefore possibly where all of the children were born
1L1 – James Collett was born in 1756 at Whelford;
baptised at Kempsford on 6th June 1756
The following are the children of John Collett
by his second wife Mary Francis:
1L2 – Elizabeth Collett was born in 1762 at Whelford
1L3 – Ann Collett was born in 1764 at Whelford
1L4 – Sarah Collett was born in 1766 at Whelford
1L5 – Robert Collett was born in 1767 at Whelford
1L6 – William Collett was born in 1769 at Whelford;
baptised at Kempsford on 25th January 1770
1L7 – Martha Collett was born in 1771 at Whelford
1L8 – Michael Collett was born in 1772 at Whelford;
baptised at Kempsford on 10th October 1772
1L9 – Mary Collett was born in 1773 at Whelford
1L10 – Hannah Collett was born in 1777 at Whelford
1L11 – Catherine Collett was born in 1779 at Whelford;
baptised at Kempsford on 13th June 1779
Sarah Collett [1K8] was baptised on 14th
May 1726 at Kempsford and was buried there on 9th August 1730 within
a few days of her year-old sister Susannah (below)
Susannah Collett [1K9] was
baptised on 8th June 1729 at Kempsford where she was buried on 16th
August 1730 one week after her four-year old sister Sarah (above)
FRANCIS COLLETT [1K10] was
baptised on 8th July 1711 at Kempsford and was an orphan from the
age of five, his mother having died in 1711 and his father in 1716. Francis was raised by his grandparents
Francis and Susannah Collett (Ref. 1I2) until their deaths in 1729 and 1728
respectively. Francis’ occupation was
that of blacksmith, a trade he had learned from his grandfather Francis Collett
and from whom he inherited the family business.
The ‘smithy’ operated from The Old Forge in Kempsford which was situated
at the corner of High Street and Wharf Lane.
The Old Forge was still there in the early 1930s as shown in the picture
below
The discovery of the
marriage certificate for Francis Collett and Catherine Cowling in Dean’s
Wiltshire Marriage Bonds confirmed the details as follows. Francis Collett, a blacksmith of Kempsford in
Gloucestershire, married Catherine Cowley, of Highworth near Swindon in
Wiltshire, at Highworth on 11th June 1735, the marriage being
witnessed by bondsman Joseph Titchener, a tailor of Highworth. Catherine’s ancestors were stonemasons who
had moved to Kempsford from Oxford to build the church tower in the 1300s, from
when they had permanently settled in the village. All of the children of Francis and Catherine
were born and baptised at Kempsford
1L12 – Henry Collett was born in 1735 at
Kempsford
1L13 – Lawrence Collett was born in 1737 at
Kempsford
1L14 – Mary Collett was born in 1739 at
Kempsford; baptised there on 27th August 1739
1L15 – James Collett was born in 1741 at
Kempsford
1L16 – Margaret Collett was born in 1743 at
Kempsford
1L17 – Francis Collett was born in 1745 at
Kempsford; baptised there on 5th May 1745
1L18 – ROBERT COLLETT was born in 1747 at
Kempsford
1L19 – Thomas Cowling Collett was born in 1752 at
Kempsford
Jane Collett [1K11] was baptised on 6th
February 1716 at Kempsford, where she married William Lukes on 6th
December 1747
Mary Collett [1K12] was born at
Kempsford where she was baptised on 10th October 1718, and where she
was later married to William Hill of Kempsford on 31st July 1743
Elizabeth Collett [1K13] was
baptised on 4th September 1720 at Kempsford, where she married clerk
Robert Church on 7th February 1748.
All of her children were born and baptised at Kempsford and it was there
that she buried on 25th May 1795.
The children were Mary Church (baptised on 11th
January 1748), Leonard Church (baptised on 26th November
1750), Rachel Church (baptised on 3rd December 1752), Elizabeth
Church (baptised on 1st December 1754), Robert Church
(baptised on 28th May 1757), Susannah Church (baptised on 18th
March 1759), and Henry Church (baptised on 22nd February
1761). This is the family line of Jane
Mettler whose husband, Alex kindly supplied valuable details of the Wills of
many of the Collett family during the late 1990s. It is also the line of Mick Coggins of
Rothwell in Northamptonshire, the five times great grandson of Elizabeth
Collett and Robert Church, through their eldest daughter Mary Church. Mick’s late father John Bernard Coggins was
buried at Ramsgate in 1985, while his cousin John Francis Coggins was buried at
Coventry on 15th April 2011, his funeral being attended by his
brother-in-law of Alex Mettler and the aforementioned Mick Coggins
Henry Collett [1K14] was baptised on 2nd
October 1722 at Kempsford, where he married Mary Cooper of Kempsford on 10th
October 1747. In the Kempsford parish
register at the time of his marriage he was referred to as ‘Henry Collett of
Fairford’. He was buried at Kempsford on
16th July 1808, while his wife Mary was buried there a few years
earlier on 1st April 1797.
All of their children were baptised at Kempsford
1L20 – Aaron Collett was born in 1748 at Kempsford
1L21 – Mary Collett was born in 1756 at Kempsford;
baptised there on 6th September 1756
1L22 – Anne Collett was born in 1759 at Kempsford;
baptised there on 24th June 1756
1L23 – Henry Collett was born in 1761 at
Kempsford
Elizabeth Collett [1L2], who was referred to as Betty, was
born at Whelford and baptised at Kempsford on 8th August 1762, the
eldest child of John Collett and his second wife Mary Francis. She later married Richard Arnold on 18th
June 1789. She was his second wife,
Richard having previously been married to Jane Harvey in 1782, but who died a
few years later in 1786. Elizabeth and
Richard had two daughters, Sarah Arnold and Margaret Arnold, and
a son John Arnold (1791-1851).
Son John married an Elizabeth around 1824 and their son William Arnold
married Ann Hill. In the next
generation, William and Ann’s daughter Elizabeth Arnold (1853-1932) married
Joseph Bunker (1841-1934) and their daughter Lilly May Bunker (1882-1921)
married George Edward Gay (1884-1954). George Edward Gay
was the grandfather of Les Durham of Bagnaria in Italy. And it was Les who kindly supplied confirming
information regarding this Collett family.
Ann Collett [1L3] was born at
Whelford and baptised at Kempsford on 11th February 1764, the third
child of John and Mary Collett. She
later married Robert Hewer, who was the 4x great grandfather of David
Cook. It may be of interest that Henry
Collett of Sherborne (Ref. 9M6) married Jane Hewer in 1849, and it is known
that her family had connections with the Meysey Hampton area, near
Kempsford. There was also a connection
between the Hewer family and the Bowne family of Stow-on-the-Wold, which is
again interesting since William Collett (Ref. 56L3) of Upper Slaughter married
Susannah Bowne of Northleach in 1792
Sarah Collett [1L4] was baptised on 9th
February 1766 at Kempsford, the daughter of John and Mary Collett. Sadly, around the time of her seventeenth
birthday, she died at Kempsford, where she was buried on 14th
February 1783
Robert Collett [1L5] was born at
Whelford in March 1767 and was baptised at Kempsford on 12th April
1767 the son of John and Mary Collett.
He married Anne Constable by banns at Kempsford on 21st
September 1789, as confirmed by the Bishop’s Transcript. At the time of his death, he was referred to
as Robert Collett of Whelford when he was buried at Kempsford on 30th
April 1859. Anne was buried at Kempsford
on 3rd March 1839 at the age of 70.
Her death was confirmed in the census of 1841, when widower Robert
Collett had a rounded age of 70 and the only person living with him in Whelford
was his grandson Henry Collett, the base-born son of Robert’s youngest daughter
Mary Collett. According to the next
census in 1851 for the Kempsford area, Robert was described as a widower at the
age of 83 and a farmer of eight acres who had been born at Whelford. It was there also, where all of his children
were born, although they were all baptised at nearby Kempsford
1M1 – Isaac Collett was born in 1791 at
Whelford
1M2 – Sarah Collett was born in 1793 at
Whelford
1M3 – Robert Collett was born in 1796 at
Whelford
1M4 – Hannah Collett was born in 1798 at
Whelford
1M5 – William Collett was born in 1802 at
Whelford
1M6 – Mary Collett was born in 1804 at
Whelford
1M7 – John Collett was born in 1807 at
Whelford
1M8 – James Collett was born in 1808 at
Whelford
Martha Collett [1L7] was baptised at
Kempsford on 19th May 1771, the daughter of John and Mary
Collett. She never married but gave
birth to a base-born daughter who was also born at Kempsford
1M9 – Mary Collett was born in 1793 at
Kempsford
Mary Collett [1L9] was born at
Kempsford, where she was baptised on 28th November 1773, the
daughter of John and Mary Collett. It
seems unlikely that she was only sixteen when she married, although it is very
curious that it was at Kempsford that a Mary Collett of that parish married Richard
Arnold of Fairford by licence on 18th June 1789, as detailed in the
Bishop’s Transcript for Kempsford. That
must be an error, because it was Mary’s older sister Elizabeth who married
Richard Arnold on that day
Hannah Collett [1L10] was baptised at
Kempsford on 2nd February 1777, the penultimate child of John
Collett and his second wife Mary Francis.
In early 1799, it was discovered that unmarried Hannah was expecting the
birth of a child. The shame and pressure
that brought to a family in a small community was immense, and resulted in the
expectant mother being served with a removal order, dated 23rd
January 1799, “as a person likely to become a financial burden to the
parish”. It was for that reason that
she was living in Cricklade, just across the county boundary into Wiltshire,
when she gave birth to a base-born son.
Hannah Collett was twenty-two-years old when she gave birth to John
Collett, who was baptised on 30th June 1799 at St Sampson’s Church
in Cricklade, when just the name of Hannah Collett was recorded as the
parent. Three years after that, and most
likely with her son being raised by her parents, Hannah Collett married John
Eggleton at Kempsford on 23rd May 1802. The known children of John and Hannah,
baptised at Kempsford, are: Rachel Eggleton who was baptised on 19th
June 1814; Daniel Eggleton who was baptised on 20th June
1819; and Mary Ann Eggleton who was baptised on 26th
September 1819 who, it seems likely was born earlier and was baptised when she
was a few years old. Also, the parish
register for Mary, only named Hannah Eggleton as parent, perhaps indicating
that John Eggleton had died between June and September 1819. The death of Hannah Eggleton, nee Collett,
was also recorded at Kempsford during 1820
1M10 – John Collett was born in 1799 at
Cricklade, Wiltshire
Henry Collett [1L12] was born at
Kempsford during November 1734 where he was baptised on 13th
December 1735, the first-born child of Francis Collett and Catherine Cowling. His occupation was that of blacksmith like
his father Francis and previous generations of his family. He married Sarah (Frances) Lawrence of
Bourton on the Water by licence on 16th January 1769, less than
three months after the deaths of his parents.
Sarah was born during 1743. It
would appear that Henry, who having sought a Bond of Administration (see
Legal Documents) following the death of his father who left no Will,
moved away from Kempsford and took up residence at Bibury where he continued in
the family trade as a blacksmith. He was
referred to as Henry Collett of Bibury in various subsequent records and that
would appear to be the earliest reference to a Collett living in Bibury. It was at Bibury that Henry Collett died on 1st
April 1799. Following his death his
widow Sarah Collett married Edmund Stone on 5th November 1800 at
Bibury. Edmund, who was born in 1750,
died two and a half years later on 22nd June 1803 as inscribed on
the gravestone of Sarah’s first husband Henry Collett. Sarah Stone, formerly Collett nee Lawrence,
was buried there on 14th August 1810, as inscribed on the same
headstone. All of the children came from
her marriage to Henry and all of them were baptised at Bibury. Even though it is understood from later
records that the couple’s eldest child was born at Bibury, it may be that the
family moved to Bibury shortly after he was born, and that may be the reason
why no baptism record for him has been found there
1M11 – Giles Collett was born in 1770 at
Bibury
1M12 – Catherine Collett was born in 1772 at
Bibury
1M13 – Sarah Collett was born in 1776 at
Bibury
1M14 – Mary Ann Collett was born in 1779 at
Bibury
1M15 – Henry Collett was born in 1783 at
Bibury
Lawrence Collett [1L13] was
born in July 1737 and was baptised on 5th August 1737 at Kempsford,
the second child of Francis Collett and Catherine Cowling. It was also there, as Laurence Collett, that
he married Mary Edwards on 25th March 1759 who gave birth to his
first child within the next five months.
Once again, he was
recorded as Laurence Collett the father of Rachell, when she was baptised in
1761. All of their children were
born and baptised at Kempsford and it was there where Lawrence was buried on 12th
June 1811. Mary died at Kempsford nearly
twenty-two years after her husband when she was 92 and was buried with him on
17th March 1833. In 2014,
unverified information noticed on the internet suggests that Lawrence’s wife
was Mary Day, rather than Mary Edwards, which is possible only an assumption
based on the second forename of the couple’s third child
1M16 – James Collett was born in 1759 at
Kempsford; baptised there on 29th August 1759
1M17 – Rachel Collett was born in 1761 at
Kempsford
1M18 – William Day Collett was born in 1763 at
Kempsford
1M19 – Elizabeth Collett was born in 1765 at
Kempsford; baptised there in September 1765
1M20 – Rachel Collett was born in 1769 at
Kempsford
1M21 – Walter Collett was born in 1771 at
Kempsford
1M22 – Catherine Collett was born in 1773 at
Kempsford
1M23 – Lawrence Collett was born in 1774 at
Kempsford
1M24 – Lawrence Collett was born in 1775 at
Kempsford; baptised there on 5th August 1775
1M25 – Thomas Collett was born in 1778 at
Kempsford
1M26 – Mary Collett was born in 1780 at
Kempsford; baptised there on 9th March 1780
1M27 – Edith Collett was born in 1782 at
Kempsford; baptised there on 10th February 1782
Mary Collett [1L14] was born in 1739 at
Kempsford, where she was baptised on 27th August 1739, the third child and eldest daughter of Francis and
Catherine Collett. At the age of 25
unmarried Mary Collett of Kempsford discovered she was with-child after an
entanglement with a so far unnamed male, resulting the birth of her base-born
son Thomas Cowling Collett in the latter half of 1764. It was the parish baptismal records at
Kempsford which confirmed that Thomas Cowling Collett, bastard son of Mary
Collett, was baptised there on 26th September 1764
1M28 – Thomas Cowling Collett was born in 1764
at Kempsford
James Collett [1L15] was born at
Kempsford towards the end of 1740 and was baptised there on 28th
February 1741, where he died and was buried on 17th April 1742
Margaret Collett [1L16] was
born at Kempsford on 2nd February 1742, where she was baptised on 13th March 1742. It was there also that she died at the age of
four-years, and where she was buried on 18th April 1746
ROBERT COLLETT [1L18] was born at
Kempsford and baptised there on 8th February 1747, another son of
Francis Collett and Catherine Cowling.
He later married Mary Tackley at Liddington on 8th September
1769, with the marriage details confirmed within the Bishop’s Marriage Bonds
for Wiltshire, as follows: Robert Collett, aged 21 and bachelor of Kempsford in
Gloucestershire, married Mary Tackley, aged 21 and spinster of Liddington in
Wiltshire, on 8th September 1769, the marriage being witnessed by
bondsman Robert Pigot of Chiseldon. The
marriage bond does not make it clear where the marriage ceremony took place
but, thanks to Dennis Collett who recently visited the Wiltshire & Swindon
Archive in Chippenham, it has been discovered in the parish records there that
the wedding took place at Liddington.
All of the children of Francis and Mary were born and baptised
Kempsford. Robert Collett died in 1777
and was buried at Kempsford on 4th May 1777. After his death, Mary gave birth to two
base-born children, the first by Joseph Bunce, a local blacksmith, the second
by an unknown individual
1M29 – John Collett was born in 1770 at
Kempsford
1M30 – Henry Collett was born in 1772 at
Kempsford
1M31 – JOHN COLLETT was born in 1774 at
Kempsford
1M32 – Elizabeth Collett was born in 1777 at
Kempsford
The following are the two base-born children of
widow Mary Collett:
1M33 – William Collett was born in 1778 at
Kempsford; baptised there on 16th October 1778
1M34 – Judith Collett was born in 1782 at
Kempsford; baptised there on 10th February 1782
Thomas Cowling Collett [1L19] was
the last child born to Francis Collett and Catherine Cowling, who was born at
Kempsford during the month of September in 1752. It was there also that he was baptised on 7th
October 1752 and where he died within six-months of being born, following which
he was buried on 14th February 1753
Aaron Collett [1L20] was baptised on
24th July 1748 at Kempsford.
He married Anne Habgood at Latton near Cricklade in Wiltshire on 5th
April 1774, and his occupation was that of blacksmith. In 1790 he was churchwarden at St Swithun’s
Church in Leonard Stanley, just south-west of Stroud, where all his children
were baptised, and where he was buried on 15th April 1832. Aaron’s wife Anne was baptised at Latton on
20th October 1754, the daughter of William and Susanna Habgood who
owned and lived at the Habgood Manor, adjacent to the parish church in
Latton. One of the witnesses at their
wedding was William Waine who, five years earlier, had married Anne’s sister
Sarah Habgood. Aaron and Anne both
signed the register in their own hand.
Like her late husband, Anne Collett nee Habgood was also buried in St
Swithun’s churchyard almost a year after he passed away, when she was laid to
rest with him on 8th March 1833.
The adjacent Banns of Marriage in the church register inn 1774, is very
interesting as it was for the union of William Jock and Susanna Stockwell, who
made her marked, while one of their witnesses was James Habgood. Interesting, because one Hannah Stockwell
married William Collett (Ref. 2N8) at Bibury in 1834
1M35 – Aaron Collett was born in 1775 at
Leonard Stanley
1M36 – Anne Collett was born in 1778 at
Leonard Stanley
1M37 – Mary Collett was born in 1780 at
Leonard Stanley
1M38 – Miriam Collett was born in 1781 at
Leonard Stanley
1M39 – William Collett was born in 1783 at
Leonard Stanley
1M40 – James Collett was born in 1785 at
Leonard Stanley
1M41 – Susannah Collett was born in 1787 at
Leonard Stanley
1M42 – Sarah Collett was born in 1789 at
Leonard Stanley
1M43 – Thomas Collett was born in 1790 at
Leonard Stanley
1M44 – Charles Collett was born in 1792 at
Leonard Stanley
1M45 – Hannah Collett was born in 1794 at
Leonard Stanley
Henry Collett [1L23] was baptised at
Kempsford on 6th December 1761, the youngest child of Henry Collett
and Mary Cooper. Although not yet proved
that it was this Henry Collett, but a Henry Collett married Elizabeth Shaw at
Kempsford on 5th November 1792
Isaac Collett [1M1] was born at
Whelford and was baptised on 3rd July 1791 at nearby Kempsford, the
eldest child of Robert Collett and his wife Anne Constable. Sadly, it was also at Kempsford that he was
buried on 1st January 1794 when he was only thirty months old
Sarah Collett [1M2] was born at
Whelford and was baptised at Kempsford on 3rd September 1793, the
second child of Robert Collett and Anne Constable
Robert Collett [1M3] was born Whelford
on 15th March 1796, but was baptised at Kempsford on 15th
May 1796. It was also at Kempsford where
Robert married Mary Trotman on 28th November 1817. He was referred to as Robert Collett of
Whelford when he was buried at Kempsford on 20th November 1858. That, and subsequent census records, indicate
that Robert and Mary lived in Whelford, where all of their children were
born. However, as there was no church in
Whelford (the Chapel of St Anne’s in
Whelford was only opened in 1864), the people from the hamlet had to be
baptised, married and buried at ceremonies conducted in the nearby parish
church at Kempsford. It was in Whelford
that the family was recorded on the day of the first national census in
1841. On that day the couple’s eldest
son William was already living in nearby Fairford, while the two eldest
daughters were also absent on that census day.
Robert and Mary both had rounded ages of 45, with the six children still
living with them listed as Richard Collett and Jane Collett, who each had a
rounded age of 15 years, John Collett who was 13, Isaac Collett who was 10,
Charles Collett who was eight and Joseph Collett who was six years of age
Nine years later, Mary
Collett, Robert’s wife, died and was buried at Kempsford on 1st
November 1850, aged 57 years, where all of her children were baptised, for the
reason given above. According to the
1851 Census, Robert Collett, aged 54, was an agricultural labourer and a
widower living at Kempsford with sons Isaac Collett aged 20 and Joseph Collett
who was 16, both of them agricultural labourers, together with his daughter
Sarah Ann Collett who was nine years old, all four of them having been born at
Whelford. Towards the end of the decade
the death of Robert Collett was recorded at Cirencester. However, there are two deaths recorded there,
neither giving the age of the deceased.
The first of them was during the fourth quarter of 1858 (Ref. 6a 250),
the second during the second quarter of 1859 (Ref. 6a 216). The Trotman name occurs again in Part
Three – The Chedworth Line (Ref. 3N9)
August 2022 – thanks to Jonathan Leyland, who
kindly provided a copy of the marriage certificate for Jane Collett, daughter
of Robert Collett of Whelford and Kempsford, we now know that Jane Collett
married William Lucker in 1847. Prior to
this, and recorded here as Anne (Jane) Collett [1N5] she was incorrectly
married to William Curtis in 1849 as Anne Collett, who was not the daughter of
Robert Collett. So, where there was once
Anne (Jane) Collett, we now have Jane Collett
1N1 – Sarah Collett was born in 1818 at
Whelford
1N2 – William Collett was born in 1820 at
Whelford
1N3 – Mary Ann Collett was born in 1822 at
Whelford
1N4 – Richard Collett was born in 1824 at
Whelford
1N5 – Jane Collett was born in 1826 at
Whelford
1N6 – John Collett was born in 1828 at
Whelford
1N7 – Isaac Collett was born in 1830 at
Whelford
1N8 – Charles Collett was born in 1833 at
Whelford
1N9 – Joseph Collett was born in 1835 at
Whelford
1N10 – Sarah Ann Collett was born in 1841 at
Whelford
Hannah Collett [1M4] was born at
Whelford and was baptised on 20th May 1798 at Kempsford, where she
was also buried less than two years later on 22nd July 1800
William Collett [1M5] was born at
Whelford and baptised at Kempsford on 23rd May 1802. He married Hannah Dixon at Kempsford on
either 21st September 1825 or that same day but in 1828. Sometime after they were married the couple
moved to Highworth, near Swindon, where their first two children were born,
before finally settling in Fairford around 1838, where their third child was
born. According to the Fairford census
in 1841, William Collett had a rounded age of 35, his wife Hannah had a rounded
age of 30, when their three children were named as Fanny Collett who was 10,
Clara Collett who was four and Cornelius Collett who was two years of age. Every member of the household was incorrectly
recorded as having been born in Gloucestershire. It was virtually two years after that day,
when the couple’s son suffered a childhood death at the age of four years. Hannah again expecting the birth of her
fourth child, another son, who was given the same name in remembrance of his
deceased brother. The 1851 Census for
Fairford listed the couple as William Collett, aged 50 and a carpenter of
Kempsford, and his wife Hannah Collett, aged 42 and a laundress born in
London. Living there with them were
their four children, daughters Frances Collett aged 19, and Clara Collett aged
14, both of them employed as laundresses and both of them born at Highworth,
their son Cornelius Collett who was seven and their daughter Elizabeth Collett
who was five years old, and both of them having been born at Fairford. Three years later, and at the age of only 17,
daughter Clara Collett died at Fairford, her premature death recorded at nearby
Cirencester (Ref. 6a 198)
By 1861 the family was
still living at Milton Street in Fairford where William was 59 and a carpenter,
and Hannah was 52 and a laundress.
William’s place of birth was then given as Whelford and that would
correspond with that of his father, who was referred to as Robert Collett of
Whelford. Only two of their children
were living with the couple at that time, and they were Cornelius Collett, aged
17, and his sister Elizabeth Collett who was 15. On that occasion Cornelius was working as an
apprentice plumber. It was five years
later that the death of William Collett, at the age of 64, was recorded at
Cirencester (Ref. 6a 197) during the third quarter of 1866. Following his passing, his widow travelled
north to the Hartlepool suburb of Throston in County Durham where, in 1871,
Hannah Collett from Middlesex was 62 and a laundress, was described as the
mother-in-law of head of the household, Joshua Wiltshire, the husband of Hannah’s
eldest daughter Frances. Six years after
that day, the death of Hannah Collett, nee Dixon, was recorded at Hartlepool
(Ref. 10a 73) during the fourth quarter of 1877, when she was 67
1N11 – Frances Collett was born in 1831 at
Highworth
1N12 – Clara Collett was born in 1836 at
Highworth
1N13 – Cornelius Collett was born in 1839 at
Fairford
1N14 – Cornelius Collett was born in 1843 at
Fairford
1N15 – Elizabeth Collett was born in 1845 at
Fairford
Mary Collett [1M6] was born at
Whelford and baptised on 12th January 1804 at the parish church in
Kempsford. She was the youngest daughter
of Robert Collett and Anne Constable.
Around the time she was nearly eighteen years of age, Mary fell pregnant
with a son who was born during the summer of 1822. It would appear that the child was raised by
Mary’s parents at Whelford, which was where he was recorded with his
grandfather Robert Collett in the census of 1841. Nearly four years after her base-born son was
born, Mary Collett married Thomas Jordan on 28th February 1826. Thomas had also been baptised at Kempsford on
20th September 1801, and was the son of Thomas and Ann Jordan. The children of Mary and Thomas were all born
at Kempsford and by 1841 Thomas’ family was living at Dunfield in Kempsford,
when he himself was not with his wife and three children on that occasion. Mary had a round age of 40, while her
children were Harriet Jordan who was 12, Elizabeth Jordan who was
nine, and Edwin Jordan who was one year old. Her son Josiah Jordan was also missing
from the family group that day
By 1851 the two eldest
children had left the family home in Kempsford, when the family comprised farm
labourer Thomas Jordan who was 49, Mary Jordan who was 47, Josiah Jordan who
was 17, Edwin Jordan who was 11, and Robert Jordan who was six. Every member of the household was said to
have been born at Kempsford. After a
further ten years, it was at Furzey Hill in Kempsford that Thomas, aged 60, and
Mary, aged 58, were living with just their youngest child Robert Jordan who was
16. In 1871 the couple’s ages were
incorrectly record as 73 for Thomas and 71 for Mary and on that occasion for
the first time, their place of birth was recorded as Whelford. Just over three years later, the death of
Mary Jordan, nee Collett, was recorded at Cirencester (Ref. 6a 249) during the
last three months of 1874, when she was actually 71. Fourteen years after that, the death of
Thomas Jordan, aged 88, was recorded at Cirencester (Ref. 6a 259) during the
first quarter of 1889
1N16 – Henry Collett was born in 1822 at
Kempsford
John Collett [1M7] was born at
Whelford, perhaps as early as 1805, and it was at Kempsford that he was
baptised on 10th February 1807.
He later married Mary Maria Ferris at St Mary’s Parish Church in
Cheltenham on 18th April 1835.
Mary, who was referred to as Maria in all the national census records,
was born in 1814. Once married the
couple settled in Whelford, where all of their children were born, although it
is acknowledged that all of the children were baptised at the parish church in
Kempsford. By June 1841 the marriage had
produced the first two children for John and Maria, they being sons Edwin
Collett who was four and (Frederick) Alfred Collett who was only one year old
and recorded simply as Alfred, even though his birth was recorded under his
full name. Curiously the next child was
also named Frederick, from when his older brother of the same name was known as
Alfred. In 1841 the family was residing
at Horcott, just west of Whelford, when John and Maria had rounded ages of 30
and 20 years respectively while, in reality, they would have been nearer 34 and
26. Over the next ten years two further
sons were added to the family and John’s occupation on the birth certificate
for son Frederick was stated as being that of a carrier. The certificate also revealed that Maria had
registered the birth at Fairford, six days after Frederick Collett had been
born
In the next census of
1851 John’s age was given more accurately as 45, when his occupation was
confirmed as being that of a carrier.
His wife Maria was 37 and both of them were confirmed as having been
born at Whelford. Three of their
children were living with them and they were Edwin Collett aged 15, Frederick
(Alfred) Collett who was 11 and (Charles) Robert Collett who was three years of
age and died later that year, all of them born at Whelford. The couple’s third son Frederick Collett, who
would have been seven years old, was absent from the family home that day, but
was back living with the family in 1861.
In addition to the family, niece Hannah Collett, aged 16 and a servant
from Whelford, was also staying with the family on the day of the census in
1851, Hannah (Ref. 1N23) being the daughter of James Collett, John’s younger brother
(below). Just over four months
after the census day that year, the couple’s youngest son Charles Robert
Collett died, and he was followed eight months later by his mother Maria
Collett who died at Whelford and was buried in the parish churchyard at
Kempsford on 31st March 1853 at the age of only 39. By 1861 the family was still living at
Whelford but, by then, widower John Collett was 53 years of age and still
working as a carter/carrier. Living with
him were his three surviving sons Edwin Collett who was 24, (Frederick) Alfred
Collett who was 21, and Frederick Collett who was 17. Completing the household was boarder and
housekeeper Emma Maslin who was 29 of Whelford. She was the eldest daughter of John’s brother
James Collett (below) and was described as the niece of John Collett,
who had with her, two of her Maslin children, Jane and Charlotte
Ten years later the
details within the 1871 Census confirmed that John was 66, that he had been
born at Whelford, where he was still living, and that he was still employed as
a carrier. Living with him at Whelford were
his two unmarried sons Edwin Collett aged 35, who was an agricultural labourer,
and Alfred Collett aged 31, who was a carrier presumably working with his
father. Both sons were recorded as
having been born at Whelford. Living
with them again, as housekeeper, was widow Emma Maslin aged 40 and of
Kempsford, who was John’s niece. With
her were her children Elizabeth Maslin, Clara Maslin who was 11, Ernest Maslin
who was seven, Louisa Maslin who was six and Angelina Maslin who was five years
old, and all of them born at Whelford.
There was little that had changed over the next ten years since, in the
1881 Census for Kempsford, John Collett, at the age of 76 was still a carrier,
who still had living with him his two unmarried sons, Edwin Collett who was 45
and Alfred Collett who was 41, all of them recorded as having been born at
Kempsford on that occasion. Still living
with them was John’s niece, the widow Emma Maslin, aged 49, who was still
performing the role of housekeeper for the three men. It is now established that John Collett died
eight years later when he was 84, his death recorded at Cirencester (Ref. 6a
261) during the first three months of 1889
1N17 – Edwin Collett was born in 1836 at
Whelford
1N18 – Frederick Alfred Collett was born in 1840 at
Whelford
1N19 – Frederick Collett was born in 1843 at
Whelford
1N20 – Charles Robert Collett was born in 1848 at
Whelford
James Collett [1M8] was born at
Whelford but was baptised at Kempsford on 3rd July 1808, where he
later married (1) Elizabeth Tyrrell on 18th August 1830. All of their children were baptised at
Kempsford although they were born at nearby Whelford. At the time of the first census in 1841 the
family comprised James Collett and his wife Elizabeth, both with a rounded age
of 30, together with their five children Emma Collett aged 10, Eliza Collett
who was eight, Hannah Collett who was six, Job Collett who was three and
Timothy Collett who was just one year old.
It would appear that James’ wife Elizabeth died after the birth of their
last child, during the following year and, that sometimes after that sad event,
James married (2) Susannah with whom, it would seem, he had no further
children. Certainly by 1871 James, aged
62, was married to Susannah, who was 55, and by then the couple had left
Gloucestershire and instead were leaving at Highworth in Wiltshire. Living there with them was James’ youngest
daughter Ruth and her base-born child Elizabeth Collett. By the time of the census in 1881 James was a
hurdle maker at the age of 72, when he was living at Hampton Hill Farm House in
Highworth with his wife Susannah, aged 65.
James gave his place of birth as Whelford, while Susannah said she was
born at Wanborough near Swindon. It
would appear than Susannah died during the 1880s because, by 1891, James
Collett was back living alone at Whelford, where he was recorded as being 83
years old
1N21 – Emma Collett born in 1831 at
Whelford
1N22 – Eliza Collett born in 1833 at
Whelford
1N23 – Hannah Collett born in 1835 at
Whelford
1N24 – Job Collett born in 1837 at
Whelford
1N25 – Timothy Collett born in 1840 at
Whelford
1N26 – Ruth Collett born in 1842 at
Whelford
Mary Collett [1M9] was born at
Kempsford in 1793 and was the base-born daughter of Martha Collett and an
unknown father. She survived for only a
very short while and was buried at Kempsford on 8th November 1793
John Collett [1M10] was the base-born son
of Hannah Collett who later married John Eggleton at Kempsford in 1802. He was born at Cricklade in Wiltshire, where
he was baptised on 30th June 1799.
John Collett turns out to be the 3x
great grandfather of Jonathan Leyland from North Wales, who made contact in
2020, and helped to develop this otherwise unknown branch of the family. In his younger days, John may have been
raised by his grandparents John Collett and Mary Francis, his second wife,
freeing up Hannah to marry John Eggleton and start a family together. At some time later, John moved north to Warwickshire
and, at the age of twenty-four, he married Ann Webster on 28th
February 1824 at Alderminster, five miles south of Stratford-upon-Avon. At that time, Alderminster was recorded as
being in the county of Worcestershire and, as confirmed by the census in 1841,
every member of their family was recorded as born within that county, except
head of the household John Collett, who had not. In a later census, his place of birth was
confirmed as Cricklade
All of the children of
John and Ann Collett were born at Dudley in Worcestershire and were baptised
there at the Church of St Thomas.
Baptism records have been found for seven of their children, Mary Ann,
Urias (a form of Uriah), John, William, Thomas, Hannah and John. The Dudley census conducted in 1841, recorded
the family living at Dudley Wood as John Collett who was 40 and a labourer, Ann
Collett who was 35, Mary Collett who was 14, William Collett who was eight,
Hannah Collett who was six, John Collett who was two, and Daniel who was
one-year-old. John and Ann Collett,
together with their children, were previously included in error, within Part 48
– The Dudley West Midland Line as an appendix.
Incorporating the family here, as a new branch of the family, would
require a major re-organisation of the whole four sections of this family
line. So, in order to avoid that, John
and Ann start a new branch, the full details of which can be found in a new Appendix
at the end of this first section of the Gloucestershire Main Line
Giles Collett [1M11] was born or was
baptised on 29th June 1770, following the marriage of his parents
Henry Collett and Sarah Lawrence at Bourton-on-the-Water in January 1769. The baptism records for all of his younger
siblings have been located at Bibury, so it is possible that Giles was born
prior to his parents settling in Bibury.
It was also at Bibury on 17th April 1797 that Giles Collett
was married by licence to Elizabeth May Gregory with whom he is known to have
the eight children listed below, who were all baptised at St Mary’s Church in
Bibury. Brian Collett, the Collett
Family History webmaster, visited Bibury on 29th August 1991 and saw
the graves of Giles and Elizabeth Collett, but at that time he had not
connected them to this, his own family line.
It is now thanks to Kelvin Parker from Christchurch in New Zealand, that
we know he is part of this Collett family.
The records at the Gloucestershire Records Office in Gloucester reveal
that Elizabeth May Collett nee Gregory, aged 53, died at Bibury on 10th
May 1827, and she was buried there on 14th May. It was just over six years later that Giles
Collett, aged 64, who died on 14th June 1833, was buried with his
wife on 21st June. In
addition to this, all of the baptism dates for their children were also
obtained during the visit to the Gloucestershire Records Office in 1991
1N27 – Barbara Collett was born in 1799 at
Bibury
1N28 – Giles Lawrence Collett was born in 1801 at
Bibury
1N29 – Isabel Collett was born in 1803 at
Bibury
1N30 – Francis Collett was born in 1804 at
Bibury
1N31 – Catherine Collett was born in 1806 at
Bibury
1N32 – Henry Collett was born in 1808 at
Bibury
1N33 – Frances Collett was born in 1812 at
Bibury
Sarah Collett [1M13] was born at
Bibury, where she was baptised on 27th May 1776. She never married and died at Bibury, where
she was buried there on 26th August 1819 at the age of 43
Mary Ann Collett [1M14] was
born at Bibury in May 1779 and was baptised there on 3rd June
1779. It was also at Bibury where she
married John Sessions on 24th April 1802. All of their children were born and baptised
at Bibury, and they were James Sessions, who was baptised on 18th
June 1802, Sarah Sessions, who was baptised on 16th January
1804, John Sessions, who was baptised on 14th August 1808,
and George Sessions who was baptised on 2nd February
1812. George was married twice, the
second time on 4th May 1847 to Caroline Stratton of Holborn Saint
Andrew, and he died twenty-nine years later during 1878. This is the family line of Elizabeth Jack of
Longlevens in Gloucestershire
Henry Collett [1M15] was born at Bibury
during October 1783 where he was baptised on 5th November 1783. It was originally thought that he married Ann
Fletcher at Somerford Keynes in Gloucestershire on 14th January
1808. However, according to Margaret
Chadd in her book The Collett Saga, Anne Fletcher of Somerford Keynes, who was
born on 9th May 1784, married Henry Collett (Ref. 2M18) of Notgrove
who was baptised there on 13th February 1786. Details
of the family of Henry Collett and Anne Fletcher can be found in Part 2 - The Secondary Line from
1775 to 1870, commencing with the
Ref. 2M18
Rachel Collett [1M17] was baptised at
Kempsford on 21st September 1761 and was the eldest daughter and
second child of Laurence Collett and his wife Mary Edwards. Tragically, she survived for less than three
months, when she buried at Kempsford on 8th December 1762
William Day Collett [1M18] was
baptised at Kempsford on 11th November 1763, the third child of
Lawrence and Mary Collett. At some time
in his later life, he married and had at least one child, Henry Collett. By the time of his death, at the age of 64,
he was residing in a property on Crown Street in the Hackney area of London,
and it was at St Leonards Church in Shoreditch that he was buried on 2nd
April 1828
1N34 – Henry Collett was born around 1790
Rachel Collett [1M20] was born at
Kempsford, where she was baptised on 2nd April 1769. She was given the same name as the first
daughter born to Lawrence and Mary Collett, who had died within three months of
her birth. According to the Bishop’s
Transcript, it was on 20th October 1789 that Rachel Collett married
Thomas Peard by banns at Kempsford
Walter Collett [1M21] was born at
Kempsford in 1767, where he was baptised on 16th July 1771, the son
of Lawrence and Mary Collett. On moving
to London, he married Mary Marshall at St Saviours Church in Southwark on 30th
July 1800, the bride being the daughter of John and Sarah Marshall. Once married the couple settled in South
Wales. Details
of the family of Walter and Mary and the continuation of this line can be found
in Part 53 - The South Wales Branch Line, commencing with the reference 53M1
Lawrence Collett [1M23] was
born at Kempsford where he was baptised on 12th August 1774. He only survived for a very short time and
died an infant death
Thomas Collett [1M25] was baptised at
Kempsford on 12th April 1778.
Kempsford lies about twenty miles east of Norton in Wiltshire to which
there is virtually a straight road running between Cricklade (near Kempsford)
to Malmesbury (near Norton), which would enable easy passage between the two
settlements. Although not yet proved, it
seems very likely that Thomas married Elizabeth who was born in 1783. The place of their wedding has not yet been
determined but, it is known that a Thomas and Elizabeth Collett were the
parents of children born at Norton in the early 1800s. If this eventually proves to be true, then the
continuation of this family line is as depicted in Part 44 – The Malmesbury
District Line
John Collett [1M29] was baptised on 10th
September 1770 at Kempsford, where he was buried one month later on 14th
October 1770
Henry Collett [1M30] was born on 2nd
April 1772 and was baptised at Kempsford on 27th April 1772, the
second son of Robert Collett and his wife Mary Tackley. His was a tragic family with his older
brother John (above) and younger sister Elizabeth (below) having
both died very young and before Henry reached five years of age, shortly after
which his father died. In addition to
those sad events, his mother became a loose woman after the death of her
husband and all of these may have been a contributing factor in Henry
eventually deciding to leave Gloucestershire for a new life in London, where he
married Elizabeth Woods on 31st December 1798 at St Mary’s Church on
Marylebone Road in the City Borough of Marylebone. Shortly after they were married the couple left
the City of London and settled at Harefield in Middlesex, where all of their
children were born. For the
continuation of this family line, go to Part 41
– The Middlesex Harefield Line
JOHN COLLETT [1M31] was baptised at
Kempsford on 16th May 1774.
He married Elizabeth (Betty) around 1798 or 1799 at Cricklade in
Wiltshire. John, who was a labourer, was
buried on 1st December 1849 at St Peter's Church in the village of
Siddington near Cirencester. Their first
child, Lydia, was born at Cricklade before the family settled in Siddington,
where the other members of the family were all born
1N35 – Lydia Collett was born in 1799 at Cricklade
1N36 – James Collett was born in 1801 at
Siddington
1N37 – James Collett was born in 1802 at
Siddington
1N38 – Henry Collett was born in 1805 at
Siddington
1N39 – Betty Collett was born in 1808 at
Siddington
1N40 – JOHN COLLETT was born in 1811 at
Siddington
1N41 – Thomas Collett was born in 1813 at
Siddington
1N42 – Dinah Collett was born in 1816 at
Siddington
Elizabeth Collett [1M32] was
baptised at Kempsford on 23rd March 1777, where she was buried on 13th
May 1777. That was just nine days after
her father Robert Collett was also buried there
Aaron Collett [1M35] was born at
Leonard Stanley during January 1775 and was baptised there on 5th
March 1775, the eldest child of Aaron Collett and his wife Anne Habgood. He was a carpenter and wheelwright and he
married Sarah Stephens on 12th April 1798 at Stonehouse, where all
of their children were born and baptised.
According to the 1851 Census, Sarah was a widow living at the home of
her son Martin Collett and his family, in the village of Ham, south of
Gloucester in the Vale of Berkeley, near to the River Severn. Aaron Collett died on 2nd February
1835 and was buried at Stonehouse on 8th February 1835 at the age of
59. His Will and Codicil (see
Will and Codicil in Legal Documents) made on 19th and 29th
January 1835 respectively named all of the surviving children. In the Will Aaron’s eldest daughter Nancy
Collett inherited two cottages at Stonehouse.
And it was at nearby Wheatenhurst that Aaron’s widow Sarah Collett was
living with her youngest son Martin and his wife in June 1841, when she was
recorded with a rounded age of 70.
Aaron’s brother-in-law John Stephens was one of the joint executors of
the Will, but on 11th November 1842 (see Letter of Administration in
Legal Documents) as the sole surviving executor he renounced this,
leaving widow Sarah Collett nee Stephens and her son Martin Collett to take
over responsibility for carrying out the long-term objectives contained within
the Will (see Adcon Cum Testo Annexo in Legal Documents). Sarah Collett the widow of Aaron
Collett died on 20th August 1857, aged 86
1N43 – Nancy Collett was born in 1799 at
Stonehouse
1N44 – Sarah Collett was born in 1802 at
Stonehouse
1N45 – John Collett was born in 1804 at
Stonehouse
1N46 – Martha Collett was born in 1806 at
Stonehouse
1N47 – Hester Collett was born in 1809 at
Stonehouse
1N48 – Martin Collett was born in 1813 at
Stonehouse
Anne Collett [1M36] was born at
Leonard Stanley during February 1778 and was baptised there on 15th
March 1778, the daughter of Aaron and Anne Collett. It was also at Leonard Stanley that she
married William Huntley on 8th May 1803
Mary Collett [1M37] was born at
Leonard Stanley, either at the end of 1779 or during the first few days of
1780. It was there also that she was
baptised on 30th January 1780 and, where twenty-two years later, she
married John Golding on 2nd September 1802
Miriam Collett [1M38] was born at
Leonard Stanley in 1781, where she was baptised on 8th September
1781. It was also at Leonard Stanley
that she married John Church on 13th April 1802. John was very likely the grandson of
Elizabeth Collett (Ref. 1K13) and Robert Church
William Collett [1M39] was
born at Leonard Stanley in 1783 and was baptised there on 11th May
1783. He was still at Leonard Stanley
when he married Sarah Watts on 16th November 1802. William was a timber decker by trade and the
family lived at Bownham Cottage in Minchinhampton, where all of their children
were born. The witnesses to the marriage
were William’s sister Susannah Collett (below) and Sarah’s father Daniel
Watts. Daniel’s name also appears as a
witness to other entries in the register, so he is likely to have been the
church warden or connected to the church in some other way. As an example, see the marriage of William’s
son George Collett who was married there thirty-two years later in 1834, when
once again Daniel Watts was named as a witness.
Sarah Collett nee Watts was born at Rodborough and was baptised on 12th
September 1784 at Leonard Stanley, where she was buried in 1816 at the
relatively young age of 33. William
Collett also died that same year and was buried at Leonard Stanley on 20th
October 1816. Their deaths and that of
their youngest son Joseph around the same time, perhaps indicates the
occurrence of a tragic accident or a serious illness within the family. Some records show that the family was living
at Rodborough at the time of their passing.
See also Part 10 – Other Branch Lines for more details
of the Watts family
1N49 – Harriet Collett was born in 1803 at
Minchinhampton
1N50 – Ann Collett was born in 1805 at
Minchinhampton
1N51 – John Collett was born in 1807 at
Minchinhampton
1N52 – William Collett was born in 1809 at
Minchinhampton
1N53 – Sarah Collett was born in 1811 at
Minchinhampton
1N54 – George Collett was born in 1813 at
Minchinhampton
1N55 – Joseph Collett was born in 1815 at
Minchinhampton
The aforementioned references
to the Watts family and Minchinhampton are subjects that requires further
research, since it was there in 1848 that Caroline Ruth Watts was born, who was
married to William Collett (Ref. 2O6) of Bibury in 1866.
James Collett [1M40] was born at Leonard
Stanley in 1785, where he was baptised on 18th September 1785, the
son of Aaron and Anne Collett. It was
also at Leonard Stanley that he married Hannah Land on 5th June
1808, and there where James and his family lived up to around 1818. And it was there that his first four children
were born and baptised before the family moved to nearby Woodchester, where
James and his wife lived for the rest of their lives. After the family had moved to Woodchester the
baptism records for the couple’s last four children, for some reason, gave the
parents’ names as James and Elizabeth Collett, rather than James and Hannah
Collett. Originally it was thought that
James may have been widowed and had re-married, but the existence of Hannah in
the census of 1851 proved that not to be the case. See latest information below
James Collett died in 1830 when he was around
45, following which he was buried at Leonard Stanley on 14th April
1830 where the parish register referred to him as James Collett of
Woodchester. Although no record of his
wife Hannah (or Elizabeth) has been found in the census of 1841, it was as
Hannah Collett, aged 63 in 1851, that she was living at Selsey Road in
Woodchester with her unmarried daughter Susanna Collett, when she was described
as a widow, a pauper, and a former laundress.
Curiously when Hannah Collett died, she was not buried with her late
husband at Leonard Stanley, instead she was buried at Woodchester on 9th
December 1852, at the age of 65 years
Thanks to Diane Fussell
from Tamatea, Napier in New Zealand, who supplied a copy of the death
certificate for James’ daughter Elizabeth, it is now known that James Collett
was a wheelwright, the same occupation as his three brothers Aaron (above),
and Thomas and Charles (below).
However, upon the death of daughter Elizabeth Collett in 1881 she was
described as the daughter of wheelwright James Collett and Elizabeth Moss,
rather than Hannah or Elizabeth Land. It
is of further interest that Hannah Land who was baptised at Leonard Stanley on
26th October 1787, the daughter of Thomas and Hannah Land, also had
a sister Elizabeth Land who was also baptised at Leonard Stanley on 8th
November 1785. That therefore raises the
question, did James first married Hannah and later her sister Elizabeth, who
was Elizabeth Moss through marriage by then
1N56 – William Collett was born in 1808 at
Leonard Stanley
1N57 – Thomas Collett was born in 1811 at
Leonard Stanley
1N58 – John Collett was born in 1814 at
Leonard Stanley
1N59 – Elizabeth Collett was born in 1817 at
Leonard Stanley
1N60 – Edwin Collett was born in 1819 at
Woodchester
1N61 – Joseph Collett was born in 1823 at
Woodchester
1N62 – Caroline Collett was born in 1926 at
Woodchester
1N63 – Susannah Collett was born in 1829 at
Woodchester
Susannah Collett [1M41] was
born at Leonard Stanley during 1787 and was baptised there on 3rd
August 1787, the daughter of Aaron and Anne Collett. Thanks to Joyce Gedye in New Zealand, the
great great great granddaughter of Susannah, we now know that Susannah married
Charles Tanner on 3rd March 1808 at the village church in Standish,
two miles north of Stonehouse. Charles was born at Stonehouse on 23rd
February 1792. Susannah and Charles
lived at Charlton Kings near Cheltenham where their children were born. In 1841 the family at Charlton Kings was
recorded in the census that year as Charles and Susannah Tanner, with three of
their children. They were Julia
Tanner aged 15, Theresa Tanner aged 13 and Charles Tanner who
was 11. Both the ages for Charles and
Susannah were rounded to 50 years and 45 years, when Susannah would have been
53 and Charles would have been 48
Susannah’s daughter Theresa Tanner, who was
born at Charlton Kings in 1828, married William Edge of Pedmore, near
Halesowen, who emigrated to New Zealand shortly after their wedding day. They eventually settled at Waikaka where they
built a hotel, which is still standing today and in very good order. Two of Theresa's direct descendants, who are
in their eighties, are still living at Waikaka in 2012, where they are still
fit and able enough to shear their sheep
Sarah Collett [1M42] was born at
Leonard Stanley during February 1789, and was baptised there on 8th
March 1789. Sarah was in her
mid-twenties when she married William Thomas at Leonard Stanley on 8th
October 1815. The marriage ceremony was
part of a double wedding with her sister Hannah Collett (below)
Thomas Collett [1M43] was born at
Leonard Stanley during April 1790, where he was also baptised on 3rd
June 1790, and where he also married Ann Antill on 25th October
1812. Seven of their eleven children
were born and baptised while the couple was living at Leonard Stanley. It was not long after the birth of their
seventh child, who was baptised at Leonard Stanley, that the family moved the
five miles north to Haresfield, just south of Gloucester, and it was there that
Ann presented her husband with a further four children. It is interesting that their seventh child
Edward, later gave his place of birth as Haresfield, perhaps not knowing he had
moved there from Leonard Stanley when he was still very young. And it was also at Haresfield that the family
was living when the first national census was conducted in June 1841, when the
residential note for them stated they were residing ‘in the street P B’. The census return listed the family at that
time as Thomas Collett aged 50, Ann Collett aged 53, George Collett aged 18,
Thomas Collett aged 13, Jane Collett aged 11, Samuel Collett who was nine and
John Collett who was eight years old. Also
living apart from the family at that time, but still living within the same area
registration was Thomas’ unmarried daughter Mary Collett who was 25. Two of the couple’s older children, Charles
and Elizabeth, together with missing son Edward, were recorded residing at Coln
St Aldwyns, where Thomas was living ten years later, as was his son Charles,
who married Eliza just after the census day in 1841
Two years later, on 5th
October 1843, Thomas’ wife Ann died and was buried at St Peter’s Church in Haresfield
on 11th October 1843 at the age of 55. One month later, Ann’s young son Thomas died
at the age of 15 years, and was buried with his mother in the grounds of St
Peter’s Church in Haresfield. Thomas
remained living at Haresfield after the death of his wife and was still living
there at the time of the census in 1851.
By that time the only one of his children still living with him was his
youngest son John, who was 17. Thomas
Collett of Leonard Stanley was described as a widower and a wheelwright of 60
years of age. Not long after 1851 it
would appear that Thomas left Haresfield, when he moved east, some twenty miles
to settle in Coln St Aldwyns, close to the villages of Hatherop and
Quenington. The move was very likely to
do with the fact that his son Edward was living in Hatherop at that time, while
another son, Samuel, was living in Coln St Aldwyns on the occasion of the
census in 1851 who, later that same year, moved to Quenington where he lived
until he emigrated to New Zealand in 1858.
According to the next census in 1861, widower Thomas Collett, aged 70
and from Leonard Stanley, was in lodgings at Coln St Aldwyns. The only other difference from the previous
census was that on that occasion his occupation was stated as being that of a
carpenter. It was just under seven years
later that Thomas Collett died on 8th January 1868 at Tuffley, a
suburb of Gloucester, following which his death was recorded at Gloucester
(Ref. 6a 331) during the first three months of 1868. The Collett family headstone at St Peter’s
Church in Haresfield, having previously included Ann Collett, wife of Thomas, a
carpenter, and their young son Thomas, had the name of Thomas Collett added,
which confirmed he died on 8th January 1868 at the age of 77
There follows a brief outline regarding two of the sons
of Thomas and Ann who ended up in New Zealand where, a little while later, two
of the couple’s grandsons joined them there.
New information about one of the grandsons has been kindly provided by
Kelvin Parker of Christchurch in 2014.
The first of the sons to sail to New Zealand in 1840 was Henry Collett who had married his first cousin Elizabeth
Collett and they were one of the earliest families to settle in Petone, where
Collett House is still a local landmark.
Henry brought the skills of a wheelwright to the colony and later took
up farming. His family of ten carried on
his professions and spread throughout the lower districts of the North
Island. The next to make the long
journey was their son Samuel Collett in 1858. He was a carpenter and he and his family
settled in Christchurch where he built many houses and prominent buildings
before taking his family to Waimate where he carried on building and
renovating, and also diversified into undertaking and soft drink manufacturing.
The couple’s third son
George Collett had a son, their grandson Thomas Collett, who was born at
Eastington and he too was a carpenter and joiner like his father, but until
2014 nothing was previously known about him after his family had moved to
Cheshire in 1871 without him. The new
details of his short life supplied by Kelvin confirm that he arrived in Otago
during 1875, with his wife and two daughters, and settled in Dunedin where
several other Collett families had also made their home. The last of the four was their grandson Edward
William Collett, the son Thomas and Ann’s son Edward and his second wife
Mary Anne Bracknell. Edward William was
born in Ireland and was listed as a farm labourer on his arrival at Lyttelton
in 1876. It was in Akaroa near Lyttelton
that he settled and it was there that he was married and raised his
family. There is a very interesting link
between these two grandsons, insofar as the aforementioned Thomas Collett from
Eastington died at Dunedin in 1877, where he was buried, and in the same grave
buried with him less than nine months later was four-months old Susan Harris,
the daughter of
Alexander Joseph Harris and Mary Ann Pearce of
Union Street in Dunedin. It is possible
that Susan Harris from Ireland, the wife of Thomas Collett (below), was related
to the much younger Susan Harris, since the two Thomas Colletts were first
cousins
1N64 – Ann Collett was born in 1813 at
Leonard Stanley
1N65 – Mary Collett was born in 1815 at
Leonard Stanley
1N66 – Charles Collett was born in 1817 at
Leonard Stanley
1N67 – Henry Collett was born in 1818 at
Leonard Stanley
1N68 – Elizabeth Collett was born in 1820 at
Leonard Stanley
1N69 – George Collett was born in 1822 at
Leonard Stanley
1N70 – Edward Collett was born in 1824 at
Leonard Stanley
1N71 - Thomas Collett was born in 1828 at Haresfield
1N72 - Jane Collett was born in 1830 at Haresfield
1N73 – Samuel Collett was born in 1832 at
Haresfield
1N74 – John Collett was born in 1833 at Haresfield
Charles Collett [1M44] was
born at Leonard Stanley during March 1792 and it was in the following month
that he was baptised there on 15th April 1792, the youngest son of
Aaron Collett and his wife Anne Habgood.
Charles was still in Leonard Stanley twenty-five years later, when he
married the much younger Sarah Edmunds on 9th September 1827. Charles' sister Hannah Collett (below)
married Sarah’s brother John Edmunds.
All of the children of Charles and Sarah were born and baptised at
Leonard Stanley, with their first two children being born while Sarah was still
a teenager. By June 1841 Charles and
Sarah had already suffered the infant death of their son William. The census return for Leonard Stanley that
year recorded the family as Charles Collett, with a rounded age of 45, who was
a wheelwright, Sarah Collett who had a rounded age of 30, James Collett aged
16, Aaron Collett aged 12, Charles Collett aged 11, Anthony Collett who was
eight, Sarah Collett who was six, Ann Collett who was four and Miriam Collett
who was ten months old
From the census details
it might perhaps be assumed that none of the couple’s children were baptised
during the first few months of their lives, particularly their eldest son, who
appears to have been around three years old when he was baptised. Furthermore, it is highly likely that Sarah
was with-child on the day of the census since, sometime after the sixth of June
and before the first of November 1841 she presented her husband with their last
known child. Ten years later in 1851 the
only member of the family seemingly still living within the Stroud &
Stonehouse registration district was Sarah Collett who was 42. No other member of her family has been
located anywhere in Great Britain. The
census that year placed her as a married house-servant living and working at
the home of Samuel S Marling, aged 40, a manufacturer of woollen cloth, in the
Ebley area of Stonehouse, when her place of birth was recorded as Ardington
near Wantage in Berkshire. It is also
interesting that she was described as being either blind, deaf, and/or dumb
New information received
in November 2011 from Andrew Collett (Ref. 3Q14) gives the reason why Sarah was
not living with her family in 1851.
Towards the end of 1841 her husband and the older sons sailed to Canada
and arrived at Prince Edward Island that same year. It was then twenty years later that Charles
Collett died on Prince Edward Island on 13th December 1861. Perhaps it was the fact that his wife was
disabled in some way that prevented her from following her family to
Canada. Either that or the Sarah Collett
who was 42 in 1851 was not the wife of Charles Collett
Once in Canada, Charles
fathered another child, his youngest daughter Susannah who was named in his
Will on 1861. The baptism records for
Prince Edward Island included the birth of Susannah Collett at Lot 29, Upper Westmorland
around 1847, to a single parent named as Charles Collett. That raises the question, did Charles from
England take a second younger wife after he settled there, since he would have
been around 55 years old when the child was born. It was also at Lot 29 that the Collett family
was living around the time of the death of Charles Collett senior towards the
end of 1861 or during the first five months of the following year. The Will of Charles Collett of Summerside was
made on 29th October 1861 and was proved on 10th June
1862. Within the Will there was no
mention of a wife, the main beneficiary being his son Charles Collett junior
who inherited the plot of land in Summerside which had been purchased from
Jonathan Weatherby on 9th June 1855.
Only five other children of Charles Collett senior were named in the
Will and they were his daughters Susannah Collett, Sarah Goldsmith, Ann Beers,
Miriam Gould and Mary Chaswell – see Will in Legal Documents. The same document also referred to Charles
Collett senior being the maker of cart saddles
1N75 – James Collett was born in 1824 at
Leonard Stanley
1N76 – Aaron Lot Collett was born in 1828 at
Leonard Stanley
1N77 – Charles John Collett was born in 1829 at
Leonard Stanley
1N78 – William Collett was born in 1832 at
Leonard Stanley
1N79 – Anthony Collett was born in 1832 at
Leonard Stanley
1N80 – Sarah Elizabeth Collett was born in 1834 at
Leonard Stanley
1N81 – Anne Collett was born in 1836 at
Leonard Stanley
1N82 – Miriam Collett was born in 1840 at
Leonard Stanley
1N83 – Mary Matilda Collett was born in 1841 at
Leonard Stanley
1N84 – Susannah Collett was born in 1847 at
Lot 29 Upper Westmorland
Hannah Collett [1M45] was born at
Leonard Stanley in September 1794. Just
over a month later she was baptised at Leonard Stanley on 26th
October 1794, the youngest child of Aaron Collett and Anne Habgood. It was just after her twenty-first birthday
that she married John Edmans at Leonard Stanley on 8th October
1815. John’s surname had various
spellings in the following census returns, although on the occasion of the
baptism of six of the couple’s nine known children, listed below, it was again
recorded as Edmans, with three as Edmunds.
Hannah’s wedding day was also the same day that her sister Sarah Collett
(above) was married, and therefore it is highly likely that it was a
double wedding celebration. Their children were all baptised at Leonard
Stanley, the baptism for the first of them was recorded there just four months
after John and Hannah were married. The
nine children were Miriam Edmans (baptised on 4th February
1816), Susannah Edmunds (baptised on 22nd March 1818), Ann
Edmunds (baptised on 14th April 1820), Charles Edmans
(baptised on 25th August 1822), John Edmans (baptised on 25th
March 1827), Sarah Edmans (baptised in January 1829, who died on 1st
March 1829), Jorada Edmans (baptised on 11th April 1830), James Edmans (baptised on 8th April 1832) and William Edmunds
baptised on 16th March 1834)
One other child may have
been born into the family since, according to the census in 1841, an Aaron
Edmond aged one year was one of the five children living at Leonard Stanley
with widow Hannah Edmond who was 45. At
that time in her life, Hannah and her children were staying at the home of her
married daughter Ann Axford nee Edmond.
Where her husband was that day, has not been determined. Ann’s husband was Reuben Axford, whom she had
married at Leonard Stanley on 4th July 1840, and was very likely
already expecting the birth of their first child Aaron Axford. The older four children of Hannah Edmond were
Charles aged 20, John aged 15, James aged 10 and William who was seven. Tragically during second quarter of 1842, the
death of Charles Edmond was recorded at Stroud.
Nine years later, in the census of 1851, John Edmonds, aged 58 and from
Frocester in Gloucestershire, and his wife Hannah who was 56, were living at
‘The Street’ in Leonard Stanley with just their youngest son James who was
19. Hannah was listed as being a
laundress, John was a carpenter, and son James was an agricultural
labourer. Just a few properties away
from the family home, and also in ‘The Street’, was Hannah’s son William who
was a lodger at the home of Charlotte Lusty, while it was only eight years
later that his death was recorded at Stroud during the third quarter of 1859,
two years after the death of John Edmond was recorded there in the second
quarter of 1857
Four years after losing her husband, Hannah
Edmonds was 66 and working as a storeman at a nearby silk works, although under
status she was recorded as being married.
On that day she was staying with her married son James and his wife
Elizabeth at Seven Waters in Leonard Stanley, where also staying was Elizabeth
Lynn from Woodchester who was eight years old and described as the niece of
James Edmonds. After a further ten
years, the Leonard Stanley census in 1871 identified the widow Hannah Edmonds
as 76 and living with her married daughter Ann Axford and her husband Reuben
Axford from Roade in Somerset, and their five of their nine known
children. Three after that the death of
Hannah Edmonds nee Collett was recorded at Stroud (Ref. 6a 212) during the last
three months of 1874 when she was 80 years old
APPENDIX
Please note, the early
family name was Collett, but when a section of the family
took up residency in
Lincolnshire, they were recorded as Collitt.
It becomes more
interesting when one
family later returned to Dudley, where they were once again Collett.
It would therefore
appear to be that Collett became Collitt north of The Wash and on the east
side of England, such
as in Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, and County Durham, which may simply be
the result of the
interpretation of the local dialects and the way the name sounded to those
recording it
John Collett [1M10] was the base-born son of Hannah
Collett [1L10] of Kempsford who married John Eggleton at Kempsford in
1802. He was born at Cricklade in
Wiltshire, where he was baptised on 30th June 1799. It transpires, from information in The
1799 Bastardy Record and other records around that time, that Thomas
Mulcock, a son of William and Grace of Kempsford, aged 25 and the widowed husband
of the late Mary Edwards, to whom he was married at Stratton St Margaret on 7th
February 1797, a labourer of Stratton St Margaret, near Swindon, was the father of the bastard
son of Hannah
Collett, a spinster of Cricklade St Sampson, who was
recorded as the child’s mother. John Collett turns out to
be the 3x great grandfather of Jonathan Leyland from North Wales, who made
contact in 2020, and helped to develop this otherwise unknown branch of the
family which, previously, was included as an appendix in Part 48 – The Dudley
West Midlands Line. In his younger days,
John may have been raised by his grandparents John Collett and Mary Francis,
his second wife, freeing up Hannah to marry John Eggleton and start a family
together. At some time later, John moved
north to Warwickshire and, at the age of twenty-four, he married Ann Webster on
28th February 1824 at Alderminster, five miles south of
Stratford-upon-Avon. At that time,
Alderminster was recorded as being in the county of Worcestershire, and
confirmed by the census in 1841 when every member of their family was recorded
as born within that county, except head of the household John Collett, who had
not. In a later census, his place of
birth was confirmed as Cricklade
All of the children of
John and Ann Collett were born at Dudley in Worcestershire and were baptised
there at the Church of St Thomas.
Baptism records have been found for seven of their children, Mary Ann,
Urias (a form of Uriah), John, William, Thomas, Hannah and John. The Dudley census conducted in 1841, recorded
the family living at Dudley Wood as John Collett who was 40 and a labourer, Ann
Collett who was 35, Mary Collett who was 14, William Collett who was eight,
Hannah Collett who was six, John Collett who was two, and Daniel who was
one-year-old. Two further children
seemingly were added to the family in 1844, perhaps twins, and all ten of them were
born within the Dudley area, which includes the district referred to as Bowling
Green, midway between Cradley Heath and Rowley Regis
No record of the family has been found in 1851,
and it was around eighteen months before the next census day in 1861, that the
death of Ann Collett was recorded at Dudley (Ref. 6c 35) during the last three
months of 1859. Her passing was
confirmed in the Dudley Newtown census of 1861, when John Collett from
Cricklade was a widower at 61, who was working as a farm labourer. Living with him that day, were four of his
children, but the next name on the census return was that of daughter-in-law
Mary Ann Collett from Dudley who was 33 and a washer woman, possibly also the
housekeeper for her elderly father-in-law.
John’s three children were his married son William Collett who was 28, unmarried
Daniel Collett who was 21, and Elizabeth Collett who was 17, all three of them born
at Dudley. Also living with John and his
family in 1861, was his married daughter Hannah Raybould, with her husband
James Raybould and their two young children, Martha and Sarah Ann Raybould
During the mid-1860s our John Collett may have
been the John Collett described as ‘an old man of miserable appearance’
attending court and charged with cutting down birch in Salt Well Wood, not far
from Dudley Wood. The case was reported
in two local newspapers, the Birmingham Daily Gazette on 26th April
1864 and the Birmingham Daily Post two days later
Under the headline Damaging the Foliage at Salt
Wells Wood, the report read as follows: “At the Public Office on Monday,
before Captain Bennitt and Mr Barrs, John Collett (as described above) was
charged with having wilfully damaged and cut some birch in the wood at Salt
Wells, the property of the Earl of Dudley.
He was seen to commit the offence on Thursday last, and as such conduct
is becoming a great nuisance, and considerable injury is thereby done, the Earl
of Dudley has given orders to prosecute in every case which can be proved. The defendant said he was very sorry and very
poor, and had not had a bed to lie upon for two years. The Bench remanded the case until Wednesday to
see if anything could be done for him.
What the outcome was is not known, but by 1871
John Collett was 71 (given as 61) and a railway labourer when he was a boarder
at the High Street, Rowley Regis, Dudley, home of his married daughter Hannah
Raybould and her family. When asked for
his place of birth he gave that of his late wife, that being Shipston-on-Stour,
perhaps because he was reluctant to give the correct information, apropos his
age. Hannah’s family comprised husband
James and their three children Martha, Sarah, and Betsy. Completing the household was William Collett
aged seven years, Hannah’s niece and therefore the son of one of her six
brothers, his father being William Collett who was made a widow when George
William Collett was born at Dudley in 1864
Two years after that census day, the death of
John Collett was recorded at Dudley (Ref. 6c 156) during the third quarter of
1873, when he was 73 years of age. The
death certificate confirmed the following details. John was an agricultural labourer who died at
85 Dudley Wood in Dudley on 9th August 1873, when the cause of death
was 'senile decay', and the informant of his death was his next-door neighbour
Elizabeth Ness of 87 Dudley Wood who was present when he passed away. The 1871 census confirmed she and her husband
and their six children. Curiously, the
adjacent four properties were all unoccupied, maybe because the next eight
dwelling were recorded as ‘falling down’. Perhaps it was after repairs or restoration
works were completed that John was able to move into 85 Dudley Wood
For the majority of his children their baptisms
appear to have been delayed for some reason or other, which again can cause
some confusion
1n1 – Mary Ann Collett was born around 1824
at Dudley
1n2 – Urias Collett was born around 1826
at Dudley
1n3 – William Collett was born around 1832
at Dudley
1n4 – Thomas Collett was born around 1833
at Dudley
1n5 – Hannah Collett was born in 1835 at Dudley
1n6 – John Collett was born in 1838 at
Dudley
1n7 – Daniel Collett was born in 1840 at
Dudley
1n8 – Elizabeth Collett was born in 1844 at
Dudley
1n9 – John Charles Collett was born in 1844 at
Dudley
Mary Ann
Collett [1n1] was
born at Dudley North
around 1824 and was baptised there at St Thomas’ Church on 18th
March 1827, the eldest child of John Collett from
Cricklade and Ann Webster from Alderminster. She was first recorded as being 14 years old
in the census of 1841, when she was still living with her family in
Dudley. It was almost exactly six years
later, when she married widower James Freeman Green at the Church of St Thomas
in Dudley on 8th August 1847.
James had previously
married Susannah Andrews at Wolverhampton in the summer of 1844, with
whom he had a daughter Harriet Green, who was baptised at St John’s Church in
Wolverhampton on 10th December 1847.
Once married, the couple moved to Wolverhampton, where they had at least
seven children who were all living with James and Mary at Wolverhampton East in
1871. The family at that time comprised
James Green aged 50 who
was a boatman born in Birmingham, Mary Ann Green was 45 and born at Dudley North,
Harriet Green who was 26, William Green who was 17, Mary Ann
Green who was 12, Henry Green who was 10, Emma Green who was
eight, John Green who was six, Alice Green who was four, and Clara
Green who was two years old. The
family was living at 11 Hill Street in Wolverhampton in 1881, when James Green,
aged 59 and from Birmingham, was working as a general labourer. His wife Mary A Green from Dudley was 56, and
the children still living with the couple were, Henry who was 21 and a general
labourer, Emma who was 20 and a labourer at the local ironworks, John who was 16
and a boatman working on the nearby canal, and Alice and Clara who were 13 and
12 respectively, who were still attending school
Mary
Ann’s stepdaughter Harriet Green had been born at Wolverhampton where
her birth was registered (Ref. xvii 351) during the first three months of 1846,
so she was nearly two years old when she was baptised in December 1847. As far as we know, she never married and was
81 years old when her death was recorded at Staffordshire register office (Ref.
6b 708) in 1928. In 1871, at the age of
26, Harriet was employed as a galvanizer, whose marital status was recorded as
unknown. In addition to her seven
half-siblings (as listed above), living with her were her two daughters, Phoebe
Collett who was four years of age, and Sarah Collett who was two
months old, both described as granddaughter of James Green
Phoebe
Ann Collett had been born Dudley North on 11th
September 1866 with her birth then registered at Dudley (Ref. 6c 133) during
the fourth quarter of 1866. It was over
two years later she was baptised at St Mary’s Church in Wolverhampton on 4th
April 1869, when the church record reported that she was the daughter of a
father named Collett and a mother named Harriet. Her sister Sarah Collett was recorded in 1871
as having been born at Wolverhampton, where her birth was registered (Ref. 6b
565) during the first three months of 1871, hence why she was two months old in
that year’s census. Tragically, Sarah would have been approaching her first
birthday, when her infant death was recorded at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 357)
during the first quarter of 1872
After a
gap of nineteen years, during which no record of Phoebe has been found, Phoebe
Ann Collett aged 23 and father not known, married Edward James 23 and the son
of William James, with their wedding conducted at the Church of St Mary &
St James in Great Grimsby on 19th May 1890. The marriage was recorded at the Lincolnshire
Caistor register office (Ref. 7a 1352).
They were only married for seven years, when Phoebe Ann James, nee
Collett, died at the age of 31, with her premature death recorded at Caistor
register office (Ref. 7a 434) during the first quarter of 1897. Prior to that, Edward and Phoebe were
residing in Great Grimsby when they were both 25, with Phoebe’s place of birth
simply recorded as England.
Urias Collett [1n2] was born at Dudley around
1826, and was baptised at St Thomas’ Church on 27th December 1829,
the eldest son of John and Ann Collett.
Urias is another version of the name Uriah. No further record of Urias or Uriah, has been
located after that time, and he was not living with his family in 1841
William
Collett [1n3] was
born at Dudley around 1832 and was baptised at St Thomas’ Church on 14th
April 1833, another son of John and Ann Collett. He was eight years old in June 1841, when
living with his family at Dudley Wood, although no record of the family has
been found in 1851. The marriage of
William Collett and Ann Williams took place at the Church of St Thomas in
Dudley on 2nd May 1858, Ann being the daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth
Williams, who was also baptised at St Thomas’ Church, on 7th June
1829. Fifteen months earlier, when
William’s sister Hannah (below) married James Raybould at the end of
January in 1857, it was William Collett and Ann Williams who were the witnesses
who made their mark with a cross. By the
time of the census in 1861, William Collett from Dudley was 28 and a
chain-maker, his wife was said to be Mary Ann Collett who was 33 and from
Dudley, who was working as a washer-woman.
On that day, the childless couple was staying at the Dudley Newtown home
of William’s widowed father John Collett from Cricklade, a farm labourer, and
two younger unmarried siblings, Daniel who was 21 and Elizabeth who was 17,
both of the also employed as chain-makers.
Also listed in the census, and living at the adjacent dwelling, was
William’s younger married sister Hannah Raybould (below), with her
husband and their two children
No further record of the couple has been found
after that time, although it was their son George William Collett who was born
in 1863/64, who was living with William’s younger married sister Hannah
Raybould in 1871, when her nephew William Collett was seven years old, who
continued to live with her right up to her death in 1902. No death of the child’s father has been
positively identified, but there was a recording of the death of an Ann Collett
within that area of the country during the third quarter of 1864 (Ref. 6b 11),
which would coincide with the her of her son
1o1 – George William
Collett
was in 1864 at Dudley
Thomas
Collett [1n4]
was born around 1833 at Dudley and was baptised on 29th March 1835
at St Thomas’ Church. He was not
recorded with his family at Dudley Wood in 1841, and therefore may not have
survived
Hannah Collett [1n5] was born on 1st
December 1835 at Dudley but was not baptised until she was nearly four years
old, when she was baptised at Thomas’ Church on 1st September 1839
in a joint ceremony with her baby brother John (below). She was another daughter of John and Ann
Collett, who was six years old in the Dudley census of 1841, when she was
living there with her family. No census
records for Dudley are available for 1851, while it was six years later that
Hannah Collett, the daughter of labourer John Collett, married James Raybould,
the son of boatman James Raybould senior, at St Mary’s Church in Wolverhampton
on 26th January 1857. The two
witnesses were Hannah’s older brother William Collett (above), and his
future wife Ann Williams. All four of
them signed the marriage register by making the mark of a cross. The residing address for both the bride and
the groom was said to be Cannock Road, with the event recorded at Wolverhampton
(Ref. 6b 24). James was born at Rowley
Regis, but baptised at the Church of St Thomas in Dudley on 30th
November 1834, the son of Joseph and Elizabeth Raybould. In the Newton (Dudley) census of 1861, Hannah
and her husband, together with their two children, were staying at the home of
Hannah’s widowed father John Collett from Cricklade, where her brother William
was also living with his wife Mary Ann.
James Raybould was 25 and a labourer, Hannah Raybould was 26, Martha
Raybould was five, and Sarah Ann Raybould was three years old. All four of them had been born at Dudley
By 1871, the family was living at Rowley Regis
where James was 36 and a railway banksman (at a coal pit), Hannah was 35 and
employed as a charwoman, Martha was 14 and a chain-maker, Sarah A Raybould was
12 and still attending school, when Betsy Raybould was just four years
of age. All four females at the property
were confirmed as having been born at Dudley, with James born at Rowley
Regis. Recorded with the family that day,
was Hannah’s orphaned nephew William Collett from Dudley, who was seven years
old. He was George William Collett the
only known child of Hannah’s old married brother William Collett and Mary Ann
Williams. During the following decade,
James and Hannah left Rowley Regis and moved north to Barrow-in-Furness, taking
their daughter Sarah and their nephew William with them, where they were all
living together in 1881. James Raybould
was 45 and a labourer at the iron works, Hannah Raybould was 44 and a
laundress, Sarah Raybould was 22 and a general labourer, and George William
Collett was 17, an unemployed cab driver.
The later death of James Raybould was recorded at Barrow-in-Furness
(Ref. 8e 595) during the last three months of 1889, when his age was recorded
in error as 50 years. As a result of
being widowed, it was just Hannah and her nephew who were still living in
Barrow-in-Furness at Buccleuch Street, where ‘Hanny’ Raybould was 54 and still
working as a laundress, and George W Collett was 24 and a bachelor who was working
as a general labourer. It was the same
situation in 1901, by which time Hannah was 64 and a washerwoman, and her
nephew George William was 37 who was a carter and a general labourer. The property on Buccleuch Street, must have
been sizeable, because five members of the Glaze family were staying at the
address, plus Hannah’s granddaughter M A Farm who was 13 and born at Barrow,
and Jane Freeman from Scotland who was 37.
Twelve months later, the death of Hannah Raybould was recorded at Barrow
register office (Ref. 8e 564) during the second quarter of 1902, when she was
68 years old
John Collett [1n6] was born on 3rd
December 1838 at Dudley, where he was baptised in a double christening service
with his much older sister Hannah (above) on 1st September
1839 at the Church of St Thomas. He was
three years old in the June census of 1841, when his family was living in
Dudley. With no census apparently
available for the Dudley area in 1851, it was five years later that the
marriage of John Collett and Ann Maria Willitts was recorded at Dudley (Ref. 6c
16) during the last quarter of 1855. By
1861, the marriage of chain-maker John aged 23 and Maria aged 24, had produced
two children for the couple. They were
Uriah Collett who was four, and one-year-old Ann Collett who, it would appear,
was named after her mother, whose name changed between Maria and Ann in
subsequent census records. Over the
following ten years, a further three more children were added to the
family. So, by 1871, chain-maker John
and his wife Ann M Collett were both listed as being 33 and living with them in
Rowley Regis, were Uriah who was 14, Ann who was 11, Thomas who was four, David
who was two, and Elizabeth who was under one year. Every member of the family on that occasion,
was recorded as having been born at Dudley.
Sometime within the next two or three years the family left the West
Midlands and moved to Gainsborough in Lincolnshire, where their next two
children were born and where the family was living in 1881
According to the Gainsborough census conducted
in 1881, the family was recorded with the Collitt spelling of the surname. The census return placed the family living at
37 Waterworks Street and, living next door at 39 Waterworks Street, was their
eldest son Uriah Collett and his family.
John Collett of Dudley Wood was a chain-maker aged 44, and his wife
Maria Collett of Netherton was 45. Their
children were confirmed as sons Thomas Collett aged 14 and David Collett who
was 12, and daughters Elizabeth Collett aged 11, Ellen Collett who was six, and
Florence Collett who was four. The birthplace
of the first three children was said to have been Newtown in Dudley, while the
last two were born after the family had moved to Gainsborough. The house at Waterworks Street must have been
a fairly large property since, boarding with the Collett family was the
family’s eldest daughter Ann Darley, her husband Harry, and their first
child. Within the next ten years, John
and Ann Maria, and the younger members of the family, left Gainsborough and
returned to Dudley, and they were residing within the Bowling Green area of
Dudley in 1891. John Collett, a
chain-maker, and his wife Ann, were both 53, daughter Elizabeth was 20, Nellie
was 16, and Florence was 14. Staying
with the family that day, was Lizzie Collett (Ref. 1pX) who was 17 and from
Staffordshire, who was described as the granddaughter of John and Ann. Nine months prior to the end of the century,
the death of John Collett was recorded at Dudley register office (Ref. 6c 130)
during the second quarter of 1899, when he was 61 years old. No trace of widow Ann Maria Collett, or her
family, has been found in 1901, although it is established that married son
David Collett had returned to Dudley, where he was living with his wife and
their first two children in 1901
1o2 - Uriah Collett was born in 1856 at Dudley Wood
1o3 - Ann Collett was born in 1859 at Bowling Green, Dudley
1o4 - Thomas Collett was born in 1866 at Newtown,
Dudley
1o5 - David Collett was born in 1869 at Newtown,
Dudley
1o6 - Elizabeth Collett was born in 1871 at Newtown,
Dudley
1o7 - Helen Collett was born
in 1875 at Gainsborough, Lincolnshire
1o8 - Florence Collett was born
in 1877 at Gainsborough, Lincolnshire
Daniel Collett [1n7] was born at Dudley in
1840, with his birth recorded there (Ref. xviii 16) during the second quarter
of that year. He was another son of John
Collett and Ann Webster, and was around twelve months old on the day of the
Dudley census in 1841. With no census
record found for the family in 1851, by 1861, Daniel Collett from Dudley was one
of three children still living at the family home in Dudley, with their widowed
father. As with many members of the
family, twenty-one-year-old Daniel Collett of Dudley was working as a
chain-maker. Just over one year later,
the marriage of Daniel Collett and Lucy Stevens was recorded at Dudley (Ref. 6c
8) during the second quarter of 1862.
Their married produced a number of children, although not all of them
survived. By the time of the next census
in 1871, the couple and their young family were residing at Bowling Green, near
Dudley. Daniel was 31 and a chain-maker,
Lucy was 32, and their three children were Alice Collett who was six, Catherine
Collett who was four, and Ellen Collett who was just one-year-old. After a further ten years, according to the
next census in 1881, Daniel Collett was 40 and a chain-maker, who was living at
36 Bowling Green, just south of Dudley, with his wife Lucy who was also 40
years of age. On that occasion, the
three children living there with them were Annie Collett who was eight, Adeline
Collett who was five, and Wilfred Collett who was ten months old. Every member of the household was said to
have been born at Bowling Green
During the following year, the names of both
Daniel and Lucy appeared in the local newspaper, the Dudley & District News
on 11th November 1882, the article reproduced here from the section
on Court Notices, under the headline “Wife Beating –
Daniel Collett chain-maker of Dudley Wood, was charged with assaulting Lucy
Collett, his wife. The complainant said
that on the 6th inst., the defendant laid hold of her by the hair on
her head, and bumped her head against the wall, and otherwise illtreated
her. He had frequently beaten her, but
she had never summoned him before. The
defendant pleaded guilty. The Bench
thought this a very bad case, and sentenced the defendant to one month’s hard
labour without the option of a fine. The
defendant, on leaving the dock, coolly thanked the Bench”
It was at Bowling Green, that the family was still
living in 1891, by which time their daughter Alice, absent in 1881, had
returned to the family home. Chain-maker
Daniel Collett was 51, his wife Lucy was 52, and their three daughters were
Alice Collett who was 26, Annie Collett who was 18 and Adelaide who was
16. Completing the family was their son
Wilfred Collett who was ten years old.
Daniel Collett died during the last decade of the old century and, in
the census of 1901, his widow was recorded at 27a Bowling Green at Netherton
within the parish of Dudley St Andrews.
Lucy Collett from Dudley was 60 years of age and a chain-maker, who was
working at home. The only member of her
family still living there with her was her son Wilfred who was also another
chain-maker aged 20. Mother and son were
still together ten years later, when they were living at Court 1, No 3 Mouse
Sweet Lane, Old Hill, midway between Cradley Heath and Rowley Regis. Lucy Collett was head of the household at the
age of 72, who was described as an old age pensioner and a British Subject. Her unmarried son Wilfred Collett was 30 and
still working as a chain-maker. Recorded
as visitors, two younger people, Harriet Mallin aged 15, a small chain-maker,
and her brother Arthur Mallin, who was eight years old, both born in Dudley,
were listed at the property with Lucy and her son. In fact, Harriet and Arthur, were Lucy’s
grandchildren, two of the children of her married daughter Catherine Mallin,
nee Collett. Just under thirteen years
after that census day, the death of Lucy Collett, a widow, was recorded at
Dudley register office (Ref. 6b 84) during the first three months of 1924, when
she was 86 years old. No record of the
death of her husband has been found
1o9 – Alice Collett was born in 1864 at
Bowling Green, Dudley
1o10 – Catherine
Collett was
born in 1867 at Bowling Green, Dudley
1o11 – Ellen Collett
was born in 1869 at Bowling Green, Dudley (Ref. 6c 78) Q4
1o12 – Ann Collett was
born in 1872 at Bowling Green, Dudley (Ref. 6c 15) Q4
1o13 – Adeline Collett
was born in 1874 at Bowling Green, Dudley
1o14 – Wilfred Collett was born in 1880 at
Bowling Green, Dudley
Elizabeth Collett [1n8] was born at Dudley in
1844 and may have been the twin sister of John Charles Collett (below). Her birth was recorded at Dudley (Ref. xviii
27) during the first three months of that year.
Her mother died near the end of 1859, leaving 17-year-old Elizabeth working
with her widowed father as a chain-maker with whom she was still living at
Dudley in 1861. In addition to her brother
Daniel (above), Elizabeth’s older married brother William and his wife
were also visiting or staying at the house.
Eight years after that day, the marriage of Elizabeth Collett and John
Griffin was recorded at Dudley (Ref. 6c 80) during the second quarter of 1869. Once married, the couple settled at
Corngreaves Road in Rowley Regis where their first child was born and where the
three of them were living in 1871.
Despite having a new born baby to care for, Elizabeth Griffin was 26 and
still working as a chain-maker. John
Griffin from Old Hill was 22 and also a chain-maker, and baby Annie L
Griffin was nine months old and did not survive. Two more children were born at Old Hill,
before the family moved to Flintshire and the town of Saltney (now part of
Chester), where two further children were born.
It was at 2 Bridge Terrace in Saltney where the larger family was living
in 1881. John Griffin was 32 and a
labourer at an oil refinery, Elizabeth was 35, John J Griffin was seven,
Thomas E Griffin was six, Elizabeth A Griffin was three, and May
Griffin was ten months old. Two more
children were born at Saltney, before the family returned to Dudley, where they
were living in 1891, at 39 St Giles Street
On that occasion, John was 44 and a
chain-maker, Elizabeth was 47, John was 17 and a general labourer, Thomas was
15 and a boiler maker, Elizabeth was 13, May was 10, and Delilah was
seven. The two older children were said
to have been born at Rowley Regis, while the four younger ones has been born at
Stonebridge in North Wales, which was a reference to Saltney, where they were
actually born. The death of Elizabeth
Griffin, a widow, was recorded at Dudley Register office (Ref. 6c 71) during
the third quarter of 1903, at the age of 57.
Two years earlier, the Dudley census of 1901, identified widow Elizabeth
Griffin, aged 60, living at Union Street in Netherton, with four of her
children. They were Thomas from Cradley
Heath who was 26 and a coal miner and hewer, May from Saltney who was 21, as
was Delilah Griffin who was 17 and a chain-maker, and Eli Griffin
who was 15 and already working on the canal as a boatman. Completing the family was Elizabeth’s grandson,
Luther J Mullett who was three years of age and born at Netherton. Elizabeth Griffin, nee Collett, was the
great great maternal grandmother of Jonathan Leyland, via her son Eli Griffin
(1886-1971) and his wife Sarah Ann Hughes (1887-1964), and their son John
Thomas Griffin (1911-1979) and his wife Elsie May Nixon (1915-2002). And it was Jonathan who helped to create this
new branch of the Collett family
John Charles Collett [1n9] was born in 1844 at
Dudley, his birth recorded there (Ref. xviii 34) during the first three months
of that year, just after that of his seemingly twin sister (above). He was baptised there at St Thomas’ Church on
27th February 1844, the last child born to John Collett from
Cricklade and Ann Webster from Alderminster.
No details of the whereabouts of him or his family have been found
during the research of the census of 1851, while eight years later his mother
died. After that, his father hit hard
times and ended up in court in Dudley in 1864 charged with damaging birch trees
on the estate of the Earl of Dudley. What
happen to John during that time has never been discovered, or where he was in
1861 and 1871, when other members of his family were still residing in the
Dudley area. It was therefore previously
thought that he may have died young
However, it is now established that he was 79
years old when he died, prior to which he was a married man, possibly with
children of his own. Apart from his
birth and baptism recorded, the next occasion when he appeared alive and well
was in the Ireland census of 1911, by which time he was a widower. On that day he was recorded as John Charles
Collett from Dudley who was 67 years old, having no stated occupation, living
at the home of John Butterfield from Dublin who was 58, his wife Mary Jane who
was 50, and their six youngest children.
The relationship of John Charles Collett to John Butterfield was
recorded as father-in-law, making his late wife one of John and Mary Jane’s
eldest daughters, who would have been many years young than John Charles when
they were married
Eleven years later, the death of John Collett was
recorded at the Dublin South register office during the second quarter of 1922
when he was 79
George William Collett
[1o1] was at Dudley Newtown
either at the end of 1863, or just after the start of 1864. His birth was registered at Dudley during the
first quarter of the latter year, the only known child of William Collett and
Ann Williams (or Mary Ann according to the 1861 Census). Whilst his parents were listed in the 1861, it
is very likely that he was made an orphan not long after he was born. When that happened, he was taken in by his
father’s younger married sister Hannah Raybould who, together with her husband
and their two young children, were living with George’s parents at Dudley
Newtown in 1861. Very likely because of
the close relationship between Hannah and her brother William, it seemed
obvious that Hannah and James Raybould should take into their family baby
George. That situation was confirmed in
the next four census returns from 1871 through to 1901
On the first occasion
in 1871, George was recorded with the Raybould family living at Rowley Regis as
William Collett from Dudley who was seven years old and described as
nephew. After a further ten years, nephew
George William Collett from Dudley was 17 and an unemployed cab driver residing
at Buccleuch Street in Barrow-in-Furness, the home of James Raybould and his wife
Hannah Raybould, the former Hannah Collett.
Completing the family group was their 22-year-old Dudley born daughter
Sarah Ann Raybould who was a general labourer.
By the time of the next census in 1891, George W Collett was again
confirmed as the nephew of Hannah Raybould with whom he was still living at
Buccleuch Street in Barrow-in-Furness, but as a widow after the passing of
husband James eighteen months earlier.
Both of them were said to have been born in Worcestershire, with George
then working as a labourer. It was the
same situation in 1901, with nephew George William Collett being 37 and a
carter and a general labourer, who was still living with his elderly aunt,
passed away just over one year later
George William Collett
died on 8th June 1927 at the age of 63 and was buried at Barrow-in-Furness
Cemetery & Crematorium, when his death was recorded at Lancashire register
office (Ref. 8e 943). Sixteen years
earlier, and also at Barrow-in-Furness, the marriage of George W Collett and
Elizabeth A Bispham was recorded there (Ref. 8e 1835) during the second quarter
of 1911. The later death of Elizabeth A
Collett was also recorded at Lancashire register office (Ref. 8d 335) in 1937
when she was 63 years old
Uriah Collett [1o2] was born at Dudley
Wood in 1856, the eldest son of John Collett and Ann Maria Willitts, and
another member of the family of chain-makers.
His birth was recorded at Dudley (Ref. 6c 10) during the last three
months of 1856, and was four years old in 1861.
On leaving school, he took up the family trade of a chain-maker and, in
the Dudley census of 1871, at the age of 14, he was living with his family at
Rowley Regis. It was only two years
later that he became a married man, when Uriah Collett and Johanna Ashman was
married at Rowley Regis on 12th August 1873. The event was recorded at Dudley (Ref. 6c 99)
during the third quarter of 1873, when Uriah, the son of John Collett, was approaching
seventeen years of age. Johanna was the
daughter of Richard Ashman and was born at Cherry Orchard, Old Hill, like
Bowling Green, lying midway between Cradley Heath and Rowley Regis. It was also at Old Hill, that the couple initially
settled, and where their first child was born not long after their wedding day.
Perhaps because of the embarrassment
that may have caused the wider Collett family, Uriah, Joanna and their
daughter, together with Uriah’s parents and the rest of the family, all moved
to Gainsborough in Lincolnshire around that same time. Once settled in Gainsborough, Joanna
presented Uriah with ten more children, although not all of them survived. It was at Gainsborough that the three eldest
children of Uriah and Joanna Collett were baptised on 21st April
1877, the same day that four of Uriah’s younger siblings Thomas, David,
Elizabeth and Helen, were also baptised there. By 1881, the family was residing on Waterworks
Street in Gainsborough, right next door to the home of Uriah’s parents and his
younger siblings at 37 Waterworks Street, both families listed under the
Collitt spelling of the surname. Uriah
and his family were recorded at 39 Waterworks Street, where Uriah from Dudley
Wood was 24 and a chain-maker, like many other members of the Collett family. His wife Johanna was 26, and their four
children on that day were Elizabeth aged seven years, John Henry who was five,
Ann who was two, and Sarah J Collett who was under four months old. It should be noted that their children were
baptised some years after they were born, with Elizabeth, John, and Richard,
baptised together on 21st April 1877. More children were later baptised at
Gainsborough on 30th September 1882 and 12th December
1885, they being daughters Sarah Jane and Maria Collett
According to the following census in 1891, the
Collitt (sic) family was living at 10 Hawksworth Street, in Gainsborough, just
a stones-throw from the River Trent.
Uriah was 34 and a chain-maker and a manager at a local ironworks. His wife Johanna was 36 and born at Cherry
Orchard, and the six children recorded with the couple were John Henry Collett
15, Sarah Jane Collett 10, Eliza Collett who was eight, Maria Collett who was
six, and Uriah Collett who was three, and Thomas Collett who was only a few
months old. Missing from the family list
that day was eldest daughter Elizabeth who had left home by then, and daughter
Ann (two in 1881), whose birth was recorded at Gainsborough (Ref. 7a 347)
during the third quarter of 1878. It
seems very likely that she was Lily Ann or Lillian, since her death as Lillian
Collett, aged three years, was recorded at Gainsborough (Ref. 7a 446) during
the last three months of 1882.
Furthermore, the couple’s eldest son Richard did not survive and died
when he was only six months old and shortly after he was baptised on 21st
April 1877. Two further baptisms took
place during the 1890s, the first being that of Amy Collitt whose birth was
recorded at Gainsborough (Ref. 7a 59) during the second quarter of 1895, who
was then baptised there at Holy Trinity Church on 15th October 1895,
prior to her premature death on 19th December that year. The second baptism was for Thomas Collitt on
16th February 1896, when he was around five years old. All of the baptisms of their children gave
the parent’s names as Uriah and Joanna or Johanna Collett or Collitt
During the next decade, the family left
Hawksworth Street and, by 1901, had moved the short distance to nearby 28 Hickman
Street, still in Gainsborough, where they were living in 1901. On that occasion, Uriah was continuing his
work as a chain-maker, at the age of 44, when both he and his wife Johanna,
aged 46, were said to have been born in Dudley.
Four children and a grandchild were living there with them, and they
were Uriah who was 13, Thomas who was 10, and Dorothy A Collitt who was five,
plus married and widowed daughter Sarah Jane Close who was 20 and granddaughter
Frances Sophia Close aged one year, who had also been born at Gainsborough. Two other daughters were living and working together,
nearby in Gainsborough, and they were Eliza (Liza) Collitt who was 18, and
Maria Collitt who was 16, both of whom were employed as general domestic
servants.
During the next ten years, Uriah was given a
promotion at the iron foundry where he worked as a chain-maker. It was the Gainsborough census of 1911 that
described him as Uriah Collett from Newtown, whose was 54 and an iron
manager. His with Johanna from Cherry
Orchard was 56, and the four other members of the household were unmarried John
Henry who was 34, Uriah who was 23, Dorothy Adelaide who was 15, and
granddaughter Evelyn Close, who was eight years old and the daughter of Sarah
Jane. All four of them were confirmed as
having been born at Gainsborough. Two
years later, the death of Uriah Collett was recorded at Gainsborough register
office (Ref. 7a 112) during the second quarter of 1913, when he was 56 years
old. It is interesting to note, that
from the time he was born, up until the day he was married, his surname was
recorded as Collett but, after settling in Lincolnshire, the family name was
recorded as Collitt in every census return and again at the time of his
passing. Curiously, the first five
children were baptised under the Collett spelling of the name, with the later
children recorded as Collitt
1p1 – Elizabeth Collett was born in 1873 at
Old Hill, near Rowley Regis
1p2 – John Henry Collett was born in 1875 at
Gainsborough, Lincolnshire
1p3 – Richard Collett was born in 1877 at
Gainsborough, Lincolnshire
1p4 – Ann Lillian Collett
was born in 1878 at Gainsborough, Lincolnshire; died in 1882
1p5 – Sarah Jane Collett was born in 1881 at
Gainsborough, Lincolnshire
1p6 – Eliza Collett was born in 1883 at
Gainsborough
1p7 – Maria Collett was born in 1885 at
Gainsborough, Lincolnshire
1p8 – Uriah Collett was born in 1887 at
Gainsborough, Lincolnshire
1p9 – Thomas Collett was born in 1891 at
Gainsborough, Lincolnshire
1p10 – Amy Collett was
born in 1895 at Gainsborough, Lincolnshire; died in 1895
1p11– Dorothy Adelaide Collett was born in 1895 at
Gainsborough, Lincolnshire
Ann
Collett [1o3]
was born at Bowling Green in Dudley, near the end of 1859 or early in 1860,
with her birth recorded during the first three months of 1860 (Ref. 6c 71). She was one-year-old and eleven years of age in
the Dudley censuses of 1861 and 1871. A
few years later her family left the West Midlands for Lincolnshire, where they
settled in the town of Gainsborough and it was there that Ann met her future
husband. It seems likely was it was
during the first half of 1880 that Ann realised she was with child. She eventually married the child’s father but
it is not known whether that took place was before or after the birth of the
child. What is known is, Ann returned to
Dudley, perhaps out of embarrassment, since it was there that her son was born
in June 1880. By April 1881 Ann and was
married to Harry Darley who was from Brigg in Lincolnshire. With no home of their own the couple, and with
their nine-month-old baby John W Darley, they spent the first few years
of their life living at the home of Ann’s parents. The 1881 Census confirmed that Ann Darley was
21 and that she had been born at Bowling Green in Dudley. She and her husband Harry, who was four years
older at 25, and their son John, were lodging at 37 Waterworks Street in
Gainsborough with John and Maria Collett.
No occupation was given for Harry Darley
Thomas
Collett [1o4] was born at Newtown, Dudley, at the end of 1866 or
the beginning of 1867 with his birth recorded at Dudley (Ref. 6c 208) during
the third quarter of that year. For
whatever reason, Thomas and three of his four following siblings were not
baptised when they were infants, instead, and following a move to Lincolnshire
when Thomas was around seven years of age, it was at Gainsborough that the
three of them were baptised on the same day, when Thomas was nearly 12 years
old. However, one month prior to their
baptism, the youngest child in the family was baptised on her own. Maybe it was that event, which reminded their
parents that the four older children had not been baptised. It was at Rowley Regis, near Dudley, that
Thomas was four years old in the census of 1871. Having moved to Gainsborough during the
following year, it was five years later that Thomas, David, Elizabeth, and Helen
were baptised together on 21st April 1877, with the three eldest
children of their older brother Uriah (above). One month earlier, their youngest sibling
Florence (below), had been baptised there on 29th March. Four year later, the Gainsborough census in
1881, identified the family living at 37 Waterworks Street, when Thomas Collett
was 14 years old. Ten years later, according to the Gainsborough census in
1891, Thomas Collett from Worcestershire was 24 and a chain-maker who, by then,
was a married man. His wife was Annie E
Collett from Nottinghamshire was also 24, when the childless couple was
residing at Providence Place in the town.
It was two years earlier, when the marriage of Thomas Collett and Annie
Elizabeth Hayes was recorded at Gainsborough (Ref. 7a 278) during the second
quarter of 1889. Annie was the daughter
of Joseph and Eliza Hayes of East Retford.
Not long after they were married, and before they had any children,
Thomas Collett died, leaving his widow to return to East Retford to live with
her widowed mother Eliza, and Annie’s two younger brothers. Annie Elizabeth Collett was 33 years old,
with no stated occupation and, it was twelve months earlier, at Gainsborough
register office (Ref. 7a 354), that the death of Thomas Collett was recorded
during the second quarter of 1900, when he was only 31 years old
David
Collett [1o5] was born in 1869 at Newtown, his birth recorded at Dudley
(Ref. 6a 38) during the second quarter of that year. He was the fourth child of John Collett and
Ann Maria Willitts He was two years of age in the Rowley Regis census of 1871,
and a year after that, the family moved to Gainsborough in Lincolnshire, where
David was 12 in 1881 and living at 37 Waterworks Street. For some reason, David was only baptised at
Gainsborough when he was eight years old, in a joint ceremony with three siblings
on 21st April 1877. Although
absent from the family home at Gainsborough in 1891, it is possible that he had
already returned to Dudley by then. It
was towards the end of 1896, when the marriage of David Collett and Rose Esther
Whitehouse was recorded at Dudley register office (Ref. 6c 328) during the last
three months of that year. Rose, who was
also born at Dudley, had presented David with two children by the time of the
census in 1901, although their first son was born in 1900 and died that same
year. The birth of John William Collett
was recorded later at Dudley (Ref. 6c 284) during the third quarter of that
year, his death also recorded there during the third quarter (Ref. 6c 277) of
1902. David Collett from Dudley was 29
(sic) and a chain-maker, residing at Mouse Street in Dudley with his young
family. His wife Rose E Collett was 25,
daughter Florence Collett was two years old, and John W Collett was around nine
months old, all three confirmed as having been born at Dudley. Ten years later, the enlarged family was
living at 40 Garratts Lane in Old Hill, near Rowley Regis, just south of
Dudley. The census that year confirmed that
David Collett from Newtown was working as a chain-striker at the age of 42 and
had been married to Rose for fourteen years.
The census return also confirmed that four of their five children were
still living. David’s wife was described
as Rose Esther Collett from Cradley Heath who was 35 and a chain-maker ‘working
at home’, who was already pregnant with her next child. Their four surviving children were listed as
Florence Collett who was 12 and at school, as was Tom Collett who was eight,
Mary Ann Collett who was six, and Beatrice May Collett who was three. Tom and Beatrice had been born at Old Hill, their
births recorded at Dudley register office, with Mary Ann born at Round Oak
Three more children were added to their family,
one later that same year, and two later children, who were born after the end
of the Great War. That perhaps shows
that David was away from home for many years, as a soldier with the British
Army. The births of all three children
were recorded at Dudley register office, when the mother’s maiden-name was
confirmed as Whitehouse. The first of
them was Bertha Collett (Ref. 9c 99) during the third quarter of 1911, next was
David L Collett (Ref. 6b 65) during the fourth quarter of 1918, and the last
was William H Collett (Ref. 6b 144) during the third quarter of 1920. His youngest child was 17 years of age, when the
death of David Collett was recorded at Rowley Regis register office (Ref. 6b
28) during the last quarter of 1937, when he was 68
1p12- Florence Collett was born in 1898 at
Dudley
1p13 - John William
Collett was born in 1900 at Dudley; died in 1902
1p14 - Thomas Francis Collett was born in 1902 at Old
Hill, Rowley Regis
1p15 - Mary Ann Collett was born in 1905 at
Round Oak, Dudley
1p16 - Beatrice May
Collett
was born in 1907 at Old Hill, Rowley Regis
1p17 - Bertha Collett was born in 1911 at
Dudley
1p18 - David L Collett was born in 1918 at
Dudley
1p19 - William H
Collett
was born in 1920 at Dudley
Elizabeth
Collett [1o6] was born in 1871 at Newtown, her birth recorded at Dudley
(Ref. 6c 241) during the third quarter of the year. However, she was not baptised until after the
family had moved to Gainsborough in Lincolnshire, by which time she was nearly six
years old. Elizabeth and three of her
siblings were baptised together at Gainsborough on 21st April 1877. She was 11 years of age on the day of the
Gainsborough census of 1881, when the family was living at 37 Waterworks Street,
when her place of birth was confirmed as Newtown. No further record of her has been found after
1881
Helen Collett [1o7] was born
in 1875 at Gainsborough where her birth was recorded during the third quarter
of that year (Ref. 7a 29). It was there
also that she was baptised on 21st April 1877 in a joint ceremony
with her three older siblings. Ellen was
six years old in the Gainsborough census of 1881, when living at 37 Waterworks
Street with her family. On completing
her education, and as Nellie Collett, she was 16 in the Gainsborough census of
1891, by which time she was working with her father as a chain-maker
Florence Collett [1o8] was born
in 1877 at Gainsborough, with her birth registered there as Flory Collett (Ref.
7a 123) during the second quarter of the year.
It would appear that her birth was register after she was baptised there
as Florence Collett on 29th March 1877, the last child of John
Collett and Ann Maria Willitts. Why she
was christened one month before her four older siblings seems odd, when those
four were baptised at Gainsborough on the same day, 21st April
1877. It may have been that single event,
reminded John and Ann Maria that their older children had not been christened,
or perhaps it was a suggestion made by the clergyman who conducted the ceremony
for their youngest child. The family was
residing at 37 Waterworks Street in Gainsborough on the census day in 1881,
when Florence was four years old
Alice Collett [1o9] was born near the end
of 1864 at Bowling Green, following which her birth was recorded at Dudley
(Ref. 6c 17) during the first three months of 1865. She was the first-born child of Daniel
Collett and Lucy Stevens, and was six years old in the Bowling Green census of
1871. Her family was recorded at 36
Bowling Green in 1881, although sixteen-year-old Alice was absent that
day. That was because she had already
left school and was working as a general servant at the Yardley, Birmingham,
home of the Lear family. Alice returned
home sometime later, and was still living at Bowling Green with her parents in
1891, when she was 26, by which time she was earning a living as a
chain-maker. Two years later, the
marriage of Alice Collett was recorded at Dudley (Ref. 6c 149) during the second
quarter of 1893.
Catherine Collett [1o10] was born in 1867 at
Bowling Green, the birth recorded at Dudley (Ref. 6c 345) during the second
quarter of 1867. Catherine was four
years old in the Bowling Green census of 1871 and, just as with her older
sister Alice, Kate was not living with her family at 36 Bowling Green in
1881. Instead, she too was a general
servant, aged 14, employed at the Yardley home of the large Garrard family from
London. Just over eight years later, the
marriage of Catherine Collett and Joseph Mallin was recorded at Dudley (Ref. 6c
330) during the fourth quarter of 1889.
Joseph Whitehouse Mallin was baptised at Rowley Regis on 1st
August 1865, the son of William and Mary Ann Mallin. By the time of the next census for the Bowling
Green area, Kate Mallin was 23 and her general labourer husband Joseph Mallin
was 22, when they were awaiting the birth of their first child. Over the following fifteen years, Kate
presented Joseph with a total of seven children. In 1901, Joseph Mallin was 32 and a general
labourer, Kate Mallin was 33 and employed as a chain-maker, when their five
children were Beatrice Alice Mallin who was nine, Joseph Mallin
who was seven, Harriet Mallin who was five, Harry Mallin who was
two, and Anne E Mallin who was not yet one-year-old. Two more children were added to their family
during the next few years, although two of their seven children were staying
with Kate’s widowed elderly mother Lucy Collett on the day of the census of
1911. The census that year recorded the
Mallin family within the Dudley and Rowley Regis registration area as Joseph
who was 42, Kate who was 43, Alice (previously Beatrice) who was 19, Joseph who
was 17, Harry who was 12, Annie who was 10 and Wesley Mallin who was
five years old. It was their daughter
Harriet, who was 15 and a small chain-maker, and their son Arthur Mallin
who was eight years old who were visitors at the home of 72-year-old Lucy
Collett at Court 1, No 3 Mouse Sweet Lane, Old Hill in Netherton. The death of Joseph Whitehouse Mallin was
recorded at Dudley register office (Ref. 6b 33) during the quarter of 1933,
when he was 67. The later death of
Catherine Mallin was recorded at Rowley Regis register office (Ref. 6b 149)
during the last three months of 1942, at the age of 75
Wilfred Collett [1o14] was born on 25th
May 1880 at Bowling Green, Dudley, his birth recorded at Dudley (Ref. 6c 9)
during the third quarter of that year.
He was the only son and last child born to Daniel Collett and Lucy Stevens. He and his family were living at 36 Bowling
Green (Road), when Wilfred Collett was said to be ten months old. After a further decade, the family was still
there when Wilfred was recorded within the St Andrews district of South Dudley
as being 10 years old. Wilfred’s father
died during the 1890s since, in the March census of 1901, Wilfred Collett was
20 when he was living at 27a Bowling Green in St Andrews, Dudley, with his
widowed mother Lucy Collett. Both of
them were working at home as chain-makers and both of them had been born in
Dudley. Wilfred was still not married by
1911, when he was 30 and still living with his elderly mother, but at Court 1,
No 3 Mouse Sweet Lane, Old Hill midway between Cradley Heath and Rowley Regis, where
he continued to work as a chain-maker – but ‘working away from home’. Two young visitors to the house were Wilfred’s
niece Harriet Mallin, who was 15 and working alongside Wilfred making small
chains, and her brother Arthur who was eight, they being two of the children of
Wilfred’s older sister Catherine Mallin, nee Collett. The death of Wilfred Collett was recorded at
Dudley register office (Ref. 9b 3) during the last three months of 1969, when
he was 89 years old
Elizabeth Collett [1p1] was born in 1873 at
Old Hill, near Rowley Regis, the eldest child of Uriah Collett and Johanna
Ashman. It was after her family moved to
Gainsborough, that she was baptised there on 21st April 1877 with
her two brothers John Henry and Richard.
During that same ceremony, four of Elizabeth’s Collett grandparent’s youngest
children were also baptised, and they were Thomas, David, Elizabeth and Helen,
who were living in the adjacent dwelling. Elizabeth was seven years old in 1881, when
she and her family were living at 39 Waterworks Street in Gainsborough, next
door to her Collett grandparents at 37 Waterworks Street. Ten years later it was at 10 Hawksworth
Street in the town that her family was recorded although, by then, Elizabeth
was no longer living there with them. The
later marriage of Elizabeth Collett and Thomas Holmes took place at
Gainsborough on 23rd October 1894, and recorded at Gainsborough
(Ref. 7a 294). Elizabeth was 20 years
old and the daughter of Uriah Collett, and Thomas was 23 and the son of Thomas
Holmes senior. Thomas was born at Bole
in Nottinghamshire, and by 1901 had three children living with him and his wife
at Albert Terrace on Trinity Street in Gainsborough. Thomas from Bole was 28 and a machine moulder
labourer working in an iron foundry.
Elizabeth was 27, and their three Gainsborough born children were Thomas
Uriah Holmes who was five, Amy Holmes who was two, and John Henry
Holmes who was only a few months old.
Three more children were added to the family during the first decade of
the new century, but only five of their six children were still living with the
couple in 1911. Machine moulder Thomas
was 38, Elizabeth was 37, Amy was 12, John was 10, Harry Holmes was
eight, William Holmes was three, and Arthur Holmes was one year
old. With the next three years,
Elizabeth gave birth to her last two children, when Walter Holmes was born on
19th July 1912, who was baptised a Gainsborough on 3rd
August 1912, followed by Cyril Holmes who was born on 29th October
1914, and also baptised at Gainsborough on 14th November 1914. In both cases, they were confirmed as the
children of Thomas Holmes and Elizabeth Collett
John
Henry Collett [1p2] was
born at Gainsborough in 1875, his birth recorded there (Ref. 7a 180) during the
third quarter of that year, the eldest son of Uriah and Joanna Collett. It was there also that he was baptised on 21st
April 1877 with his sister Elizabeth (above) and brother Richard (below),
together with four other members of his extended Collett family. They were Thomas, David, Elizabeth and Helen,
four of the youngest five children, of John Henry’s Collett grandparents. As John H Collitt, he was five years old in
the census of 1881 when living in the family home at 39 Waterworks Street in
Gainsborough while, after leaving school, John Henry was 15 years of age and a
boiler maker’s labourer, still living with his family in 1891, but at 10
Hawksworth Street in Gainsborough.
Although absent from the family home in 1901, unmarried John Henry
Collett was 34 and a machine packer at an iron foundry in 1911 when, once again,
he was living with his parents on the day of the Gainsborough census in 1911,
two years prior to the death of his father.
That meant his father was still alive to see his eldest son eventually
become a married man. It was just under
a year from the census day, that the marriage of John Henry Collett and Rosetta
Warriner was recorded at Gainsborough register office (Ref. 7a 52) during the
first three months of 1912. They were
married for just eight years, having no children, when the death of John Henry
Collitt was recorded at Gainsborough (Ref. 7a 64) during the first three months
of 1920, when he was only 44 years of age.
Rosetta Collitt, a widow, died in 1955, her death recorded at Scunthorpe
register office (Ref. 3b 56) during the first quarter of the year, when she was
74
Richard
Collett [1p3] was
born at Gainsborough in 1877, where he was also buried that same year, another
son of Uriah and Johanna Collett. His
birth was recorded there (Ref. 7a 196) during the second quarter of the year,
and his death was also recorded at Gainsborough (Ref. 7a 261) during the last
quarter of the year. In between those
two events, Richard Collett was baptised at Gainsborough with his two older
siblings, Elizabeth and John Henry, on 21st April 1877 and was
therefore around six months when he passed away, following which he was buried
there on 5th October 1877
Sarah Jane Collett [1p5] was born at
Gainsborough in Lincolnshire during 1881, the fifth child of Uriah and Johanna
Collett. Her birth was recorded there
during the first quarter of that year (Ref. 7a 146) and on the day of the
census that year, she was only a few months old. It was over eighteen months after she had
been born, that Sarah Jane Collett was baptised on 30th September
1882. Nine years later, the family was
residing at Hawksworth Street in Gainsborough, when the surname was recorded as
Collitt, with Sarah J Collett being 10 years of age. Sarah was approaching her eighteenth birthday
when she married (1) Frank Francis Close, their wedding recorded at
Gainsborough register office (Ref. 7a 85) during the last quarter of 1898. Their marriage produced one child for the
couple although, very tragically, Frank died before the child was born, the
death of Frank Close recorded at Gainsborough register office (Ref. 7a 369)
during the first quarter of 1899, at the age of 22. Two years after losing her husband, and in
the Gainsborough census of 1901, Sarah and her daughter were recorded with Sarah’s
Collett family at 28 Hickman Street.
Sarah J Close was 20 years of age, when her daughter Frances Sophia Close
was one-year-old, both of them born in Gainsborough, although Frances was just two
weeks away from her second birthday, having been born on 13th April
1899, and later baptised at Holy Trinity Church on 21st October 1900. Whether through struggling to cope with
losing her husband after such a short while, Sarah may have had a casual
relationship with another man, with whom she gave birth to a second daughter
That second, base-born child, was Evelyn
Matthew Close, whose birth was recorded at Gainsborough register office
(Ref. 7a 232) during the third quarter of 1902, the daughter of Sarah Jane
Close. Evelyn was subsequently raised by
Sarah’s parents, with whom she was living in 1911. On that day Evelyn Close was eight years old,
the granddaughter of Uriah and Johanna Collett, the family living within the
Gainsborough parish of All Saints. Having
been a widow for over five years, the marriage of Sarah Jane Close and (2)
Frederick Goodhand took place at Gainsborough during the third quarter of 1904
(Ref. 7a 144). The couple then settled
in the Lincolnshire village of Worlaby, north-east of Scunthorpe, where all of
their seven children were born. Of her
earlier two children, it was only Frances who was taken into Sarah’s new family
where, in 1911, she was named as Frances Goodhand. On that day Frederick Goodhand of Worlaby was
33 and a labourer working on a farm, Sarah Jane was 31, Frances was 11, Mabel
Amelia Goodhand was five, Frederick Goodhand was four (bapt
4/4/1907), Frank Goodhand was three (25/7/1908), Violet Goodhand
was two (bapt 18/7/1909), and Charles Henry Goodhand, who had only just
been born and was not yet named in the census return, who was baptised on 8th
May 1911
Two more children were added to the family, and
they were Elsie Goodhand, who was baptised on 25th October
1912, and Hilda Goodhand, who was baptised on 7th November
1913. All with all of the children, they
were baptised at Worlaby, when the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as
Collett. Sadly, daughter Elsie was only
six years of age when she died, her passing recorded at Gainsborough register
office (Ref. 7a 6) during the last three months of 1918. Just prior to that loss in her life, Sarah
saw her eldest children Frances Sophie Close married to Alfred Horner in
Gainsborough near the end of 1917. It
was twenty-four-years later that the death of Sarah Jane Goodhand, formerly
Close, nee Collett, was recorded at Gainsborough register office (Ref. 7a 55)
during the last quarter of 1944, when she was 63 years old
Eliza
Collett [1p6] was
born at Gainsborough in 1883, where her birth was recorded (Ref. 7a 184) during
the first three months of 1883, another daughter of Uriah and Joanna
Collett. She was eight years old in the
census of 1891, when Eliza Collitt and her family were recorded at 10
Hawksworth Street in Gainsborough. Ten
years later, and as Liza Collitt, she was 18 and working as a domestic general servant,
one of four servants employed by Bernard Pumfrey, a hotel proprietor and
joiner, and his wife Jennie, at their property on the Market Place in
Gainsborough. Another of the four
servants, was Eliza’s younger sister Maria (below). On the day that Eliza was married she gave
her age as 20, when in fact she was still 18 as it was only five months later,
and on 5th August 1901 at Gainsborough, that she married Walter John
Burton, the son of John Burton, when Eliza’s father was confirmed as Uriah
Collitt. Over the following eight years,
Eliza gave birth to a son and a daughter, both born at Gainsborough, where they
were also baptised. John Richard Burton
was born on 12th August 1906 and baptised on 25th August
that year, who died in Lincoln during 1979.
while Mabel Burton was born on 15th December 1909, but was
not baptised until 4th March 1910.
No record of the family has been found in 1911
Maria Collett [1p7] was born at
Gainsborough in 1885, where she was baptised on 12th December 1885
at Holy Trinity Church, the seventh of the eleven known children of Uriah
Collitt and Johanna Ashman. She may have
been born at 10 Hawksworth Street, in Gainsborough, where the family was living
in 1891, when Maria was six years old. She
was not recorded with her family in Gainsborough in 1901 and that was because
Maria and her sister Eliza (above) were working alongside each other, as
domestic general servants at the Market Place hotel of Bernard Pumfrey and his
wife Jennie in Gainsborough, when Maria was 16.
However, at the end of the following year, Maria Collett and George
Leachman were married at Gainsborough on 27th December 1902. George was 20 and the son of John Leachman,
while Maria was 18 and confirmed as the daughter of Uriah Collett. The death of Maria Leachman was also recorded
at Gainsborough (Ref. 7a 774) during the last three months of 1928, when she
was 43. It may be of interest that on 4th
December 1928, an Ann Maria Leachman was buried in Gainsborough, who was most
likely the former Maria Collett
Uriah Collett [1p8] was born in 1887 at
Gainsborough, where his birth was recorded (Ref. 7a 8) during the third quarter
of that year. He was three years of age
in the census of 1891, when the family was living at 10 Hawksworth Street in
Gainsborough, where he may have been born.
By 1901, the family was living at 28 Hickman Street, when Uriah was 13
in the Gainsborough census that year.
After completing his education, Uriah joined his father at the local
iron foundry where he was the manager, with Uriah working as a blacksmith’s
striker in 1911 at the age of 23. No
record has been found to suggest that Uriah ever married, instead he was only
31 years old when his premature death was recorded at the Derbyshire Hayfield
register office (Ref. 7b 76) during the first three months of 1919, Hayfield
being just north of Chapel-en-le-Frith
Thomas Collett [1p9] was born on 7th
January 1891 at 10 Hawksworth Street in Gainsborough, where he was living with
his family on the day of the census that year.
His birth, as Thomas Collitt, was recorded at Gainsborough (Ref. 7a
103). However, like many members of this
branch of the Collett/Collitt family, his baptism was delayed until he was
older, being five years old when he was baptised at Holy Trinity Church in
Gainsborough on 16th February 1896. By the time he was 10 years of age, he and his
family were living at 28 Hickman Street in Gainsborough, and ten years after
that, he may have been with the military based abroad, since no record of him
has been found in Great Britain. Later
in his life, he was residing within the Scunthorpe area of Lincolnshire, where
his death was recorded (Ref. 3b 28) during the first quarter of 1959 at the age
of 68. Once again, his surname was
recorded at Collitt
Dorothy Adelaide Collett [1p11] was born at
Gainsborough in April 1895, and was baptised there at Holy Trinity Church on 16th
January 1896, the last child of Uriah Collett from Dudley and Johanna Ashman
from Cherry Orchard. Her birth was
recorded at Gainsborough register office (Ref. 7a 60) as Dorothy Adelaide
Collitt, and as Dorothy A Collitt, she was five years old in the Gainsborough
census of 1901, when she and her family were residing as 28 Hickman Street in
the town. She had left school by 1911,
when Dorothy was 15 and with no stated occupation, still living with her
parents in Gainsborough. Exactly two
years later, the marriage of Dorothy Adelaide Collitt and Frederick W V Wiseman
was recorded at Gainsborough register office (Ref. 7a 26) during the second
quarter of 1913. The children of
Frederick William Vincent Wiseman and Dorothy Adelaide Collett were all baptised
at Gainsborough and they were: George William Destoray Wiseman on 4th
October 1913, born on 18th September; Frederick Ronald Wiseman
on 17th June 1916, born on 14th February 1915; Cecil
Wiseman on 28th February 1916, born on 7th February; Vincent
Wiseman on 1st January 1918, born on 30th December
1917; Francis Leonard Wiseman on 18th February 1920, born on 10th
February; and Doris Joanna Wiseman on 4th June 1921, born on
17th May that year. The
mother’s maiden-name in each case was recorded at Gainsborough register office
using the Collett and Collitt spelling.
The later death of Frederick William Vincent Wiseman was recorded at
Woolwich register office (Ref. 1d 29) London, during the third quarter of 1940,
when he was 48 years of age
Florence Collett [1p12] was born on 11th
July 1898 at Dudley, where her birth was recorded (Ref 6c 309) during the third
quarter of the year. She was the
first-born child of David Collett of Dudley who had only recently returned from
being with his family in Gainsborough, and who had married Rose Esther
Whitehouse in 1896, following his return from Lincolnshire. It is likely that Florence was born at Mouse
Street in Dudley where she was living with her family in 1901, at the age of
two years. No long after that census day
the family moved to Rowley Regis where they were living in 1911, when
12-year-old Florence was attending school.
The later marriage of Florence Collett and Joseph B Rollason was
recorded at Dudley register office (Ref. 6b 103) during the first three months
of 1921. Their marriage was blessed by
the birth of four children, all of their births recorded at Dudley, when the
mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett.
They were Doris M Rollason in 1921, Gladys I Rollason in
1924, William B Rollason in 1928, and Leonard Rollason in
1932. Forty years after giving birth to
Leonard, the Joseph and Florence were still living in the Dudley area, with the
death of Florence Rollason nee Collett recorded there towards the end of 1972,
when she was 84. Joseph Bert Rollason
was born on 18th February 1895 and, nine months after being widowed,
his death was recorded at Dudley register office (Ref. 9b 97) during the summer
of 1973
Thomas Francis Collett [1p14] was born at Old Hill,
Rowley Regis, perhaps at the end of 1902 or early in 1903, with his birth
recorded at Dudley register office (Ref. 6c 21) during the first quarter of
1903. He may have been born at Mouse
Street in Dudley, before the family moved to 40 Garratts Lane in Old Hill,
where they were living in 1911, when Tom Collett was eight years old. Thomas F Collett was 31 when his marriage to
Elsie M Hiatt was recorded at Birmingham register office (Ref. 6d 148) during
the last quarter of 1934. Their first
three children were born at Rowley Regis, while it was at Birmingham that their
last child was born. On all four
occasions, the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Hiatt
1q1
– Maureen H Collett was born in 1936 at
Rowley Regis (6b 4 – Q2)
1q2 – Shirley M Collett was born in 1938 at Rowley Regis (6b 8 - Q4)
1q3 – Douglas D Collett was born in 1941 at Rowley Regis (6b 123 - Q4)
1q4 – Thomas C Collett was born in 1943 at Birmingham (6d 84 – Q3)
Mary Ann Collett [1p15] was born at Round Oak,
Dudley in 1905, with her birth recorded at Stourbridge register office (Ref. 6c
86) during the second quarter of 1905.
She was living with her family 40 Garratts Lane in Old Hill, Rowley Regis
on the day of the census in 1911.
Sixteen years later, the marriage of Mary Ann Collett and Owen W Owen
was recorded at Dudley register office (Ref. 6b 39) during the first quarter of
1927. Near the end of that same year,
the birth of their daughter Dorothy J Own was recorded at Dudley (Ref. 6b 71)
and she may have been their only child
Beatrice May Collett [1p16] was born on 8th
November 1907 and probably at 40 Garratts Lane in Old Hill, Rowley Regis, where
the family was living in 1911. She was another
daughter of David Collett and Rose Esther Whitehouse, whose birth was recorded
at Dudley register office (Ref. 6c 265) during the third quarter of the
year. As Beatrice May Collett, she was
said to be three years old in the Rowley Regis census of 1911, and it was
sixteen years after that, when the marriage of Beatrice May Collett and Edward
Lowe was recorded at Dudley register office (Ref. 6b 55) during the second
quarter of 1927. Each of their three
children were born in a different place, but in all cases, the mother’s maiden-name
was confirmed as Collett. They were Iris
D Lowe whose birth was recorded at Dudley nine months after they were
married, Barbara A Lowe who birth was recorded at West Bromwich in the
summer of 1935, and Gladys G Lowe who birth was recorded at Rowley Regis
during the summer of 1937. Beatrice May
Lowe, nee Collett, was 78 years old when her death was recorded at Dudley
register office during the month of May in 1986. It was eight years earlier, that the death of
Edward Lowe was also recorded there, early in 1978, when his date of birth was
confirmed as 11th February 1905
Bertha Collett [1p17] was born in 1911 at 40
Garratt Lane in Old Hill after the census that year, with her birth recorded at
Dudley register office (Ref. 9c 99) during the last three months of the
year. She was another daughter of David
and Rose Collett who was nearly 22 years of age when she married Francis Simeon
Northall at Dudley (Ref. 6b 100) during the third quarter of 1933. Within just a few short months of their
wedding day, Bertha gave birth to the first of their two sons, when Francis
Thomas Northall was born at Dudley on 9th November 1933, who
died at Sandwell, Staffordshire, during November 1995. The couple’s second son was Gordon Richard
Northall and he was born at Dudley on 22nd October 1937, and he also
died at Sandwell, but two years earlier, during May in 1993. Bertha Northall herself, suffered a premature
death, when her passing was recorded at Dudley register office (Ref. 6c 112)
during the first quarter of 1943, when she was 31 years of age, and when her
youngest son was only six years old. Her
husband had been born on 7th October 1907 and was 67 when the death
of Francis Simeon Northall was recorded at Dudley during the spring of 1975
David L Collett [1p18] was born in 1918 at
Dudley towards the end of the year, his birth recorded there (Ref. 6b 65) when
his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Whitehouse. It was after the Second World War, that the
marriage of David L Collett and Joan E Bonner was recorded at Birmingham
register office (Ref. 6d 62) during the second quarter of 1946. Over the next ten years, Joan gave birth to
two sons and a daughter at Rowley Regis, each birth confirming that the
mother’s maiden-name was Bonner. The
birth of David Collett was recorded during the last three months of 1947 (Ref.
9b 100), the birth of Jennifer Collett was recorded during the fourth quarter
of 1952 (Ref. 9b 110), and the birth of John Collett was recorded during the
third quarter of 1956 (Ref. 9b 136).
1q5 – David Collett was
born in 1947 at Rowley Regis, Dudley
1q6 – Jennifer Collett
was born in 1952 at Rowley Regis, Dudley
1q7 – John Collett was
born in 1956 at Rowley Regis, Dudley
William H Collett [1p19] was born at Dudley in
1920, the last child of David Collett and Rose Esther Whitehouse, his birth
recorded at Dudley register office (Ref. 6b 144) during the third quarter of
that year. He was 22 when he married Gladys
E Madeley, their wedding day recorded at Meriden register office (Ref. 6d 56) during
the first quarter of 1943.
Maureen H Collett [1q1] was the first of the
four children of Thomas Francis Collett and Elsie M Hiatt, and was born at
Rowley Regis in 1936. Her birth was recorded
there (Ref. 6b 4) during the second quarter of the year, and she later married
Gordon F Taylor at Birmingham in 1956, where the event was recorded (Ref. 9c
76) during the first three months of that year
Shirley M Collett [1q2] was born in 1938 at
Rowley Regis where her birth was recorded (Ref. 6b 8) during the last quarter
of the year. She was 20 years of age
when her marriage to Frederick Knight at Birmingham where the event was
recorded (Ref. 9c 82) in the last three months of 1958. Shirley and Fred had four children with the
births of three of them recorded at Birmingham register office, the second at
Meriden register office. They were
Patricia F Knight in 1960 (Ref. 9c 8), Petula A Knight in 1962 (Ref. 9c 114),
Robert P Knight in 1965 (Ref. 9c 134), and Tangina Jane Knight in 1967 (Ref. 9c
99)
Douglas D Collett [1q3] was born at Rowley
Regis in 1941 with his birth recorded there (Ref. 6b 123) during the fourth
quarter of the year. He was 30 years old
when his marriage to Marilynne J Billingham was recorded at Birmingham (Ref. 9c
109) towards the end of 1971. They day
two daughter who were both born at Birmingham where their births were recorded,
and where their mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Billingham. The first child was Wendy Jane Collett born
in 1974 Ref. 9c 20) at the start of the year, and Helen Louise Collet born in
1975 (Vol. 32 29) during the spring of that year
Thomas C Collett [1q4] was born in 1943 at
Birmingham where his birth was recorded (Ref. 6d 84) during the third quarter
of the year. He was the last child born
to Thomas and Elsie Collett and he later married Patricia C A Smith in 1965,
their wedding recorded at Birmingham register office (Ref. 9c 50) during the
third quarter of the year