PART
EIGHTEEN
The Main Suffolk
Line 1850 to 1890
This
is the third of four sections of Part 18 of the Collett family
Updated October 2023
Augusta
Cecil Collett [18P20]
was born at Chelsworth on 16th December 1847, and it was there also
that she was baptised on 27th April 1848, the daughter of William
and Mary Cecil Augusta Collett. Her
birth was recorded at Cosford (Ref. xii 315).
She never married and was still living with her two-times widowed father
at Hawstead in 1881 at the age of 33.
Her father died ten months later and, by 1891, she was 44 and the only
sibling living with her older sister Ellen (above) in Bury-St-Edmunds. It was after that, when Augusta emigrated to
North America, to where her younger brothers Frederick William Collett and John
Anthony Collett (below) had already planned to live. Although no record of her has so far been
found in the US Census of 1900, it is established that she was living in Sonoma
County near San Francisco in 1908. In
the years running up to then, Augusta was instrumental, with others, including
Mrs Anna Finlaw, in forming the Saturday Afternoon Club, a local church
group. It was during 1908 that the
ground-breaking ceremony took place to mark the commencement of the
construction work on the clubhouse, as depicted in the photograph below. Mrs Anna Finlaw is holding the shovel and
Augusta Collett is one of the ladies to the left of her
Augusta was still living in Sonoma County of
California in 1910 when she was listed in that year’s census. Over the following years, it would appear
that she devoted her life to the Church of the Incarnation in Santa Rosa, the
history of which pays tribute to Augusta C Collett and Anna Finlaw for much of
the carving within the church, including the altar, the choir stalls, the
reredos (a screen behind the altar see below), and the litany desk. The building today is the oldest church
structure in Santa Rosa, having been built in 1873. It suffered bulging walls during the
earthquake of 1906, when it served as a morgue and a hospital for the
devastated city of Santa Rosa. However,
the carvings are as beautiful today as they were when they were originally
created by Augusta and Anna, as detailed here in the screen behind the altar
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Augusta Cecil Collett never took up American
citizenship, and was described as a resident alien in the census of 1930. By that time in her life, she was 82 and had
living with her at Santa Rosa, her widowed brother Frederick W Collett (below)
who was 73, and who died there early in the following year. All of the new information about Augusta and
her brother Frederick was gratefully received in 2010 from Neil and Heidi
Blazey of Santa Rosa, who currently live in the same house that was once
occupied by Augusta Cecil Collett, albeit not at the same location, since it
was moved to its present site in 1924.
It was on 2nd November 1935 that Augusta Cecil Collett was
living at 576 Mendocino Avenue in Santa Rosa when she died, where a gravestone
bearing her name also includes her date of birth and the date of her
passing. It simply reads ‘Augusta C Collett - Dec 16 1847 – Nov 2
1935’. On the day after she died, an
obituary appeared in the Santa Rosa newspaper Press Democrat, which read as
follows, under the headline
Funeral
services will be held Monday afternoon for aged woman
“Miss
Augusta C Collett died yesterday in her little vine-covered Mendocino Avenue
home surrounded in the summertime by its roses and other blooms of which she
was fond, and in the fall and winter time with the vari-coloured foliage. She lived and died in the atmosphere she
loved the best. Since childhood she was
a devoted member of the Episcopal church and throughout her more than forty years’
residence in Santa Rosa she was constantly engaged in the activities of the
Church of the Incarnation, which stands near her home. Across the way from her home, in Tenth
Street, is the clubhouse of the Saturday Afternoon Club, another environment in
which she loved to linger. She was a charter
member of the Saturday Afternoon Club.
For many years Miss Collett was treasurer of the Church of the
Incarnation, a member of the Vestry, president for a long period of the Altar
Guild, and a member of the other guilds of the parish. Up to within six months of her passing, Miss
Collett seldom was absent from the services of the church. Her childhood faith was long
established. Her father was a
distinguished clergyman of the Church of England and at one time was rector of
one of the most famous parishes in England, Bury-St-Edmunds in Suffolk. More than half a century ago, Miss Collett
and other members of her family came to this state. During her long residence here, she made
several journeys back to the old home land.
She was a
gifted woman, well-educated and particularly devoted to art work. She did the principal carving of the
beautiful reredos and altar in the Church of the Incarnation and statuary of
the Angels at the entrance to the chancel.
She also carried out the carving of the choir stalls. In this work she was assisted by a very warm
friend, the late Mrs Anna Love Finlaw, who lived across the way from her in
Mendocino Avenue. Miss Collett was a
native of England, where she was born more than 87 years ago. A sister, Lenora Collett, still resides in
England. A brother, John Collett of
Seattle, survives and was here with his sister at the time of her passing. Her death yesterday was particularly reviewed
by many of the older members of the local parish and it recounted among other
traits her great and sincere devotion to her church and its activities. The funeral rites will take place at 2 o’clock
Monday afternoon from the Church of the incarnation, with the Rev. Egbert B
Clark Jr. Officiating. The choir of the
church will sing. Pallbearers will be R
S Knight, Dawson Dixon, W W Shuhaw, Attorney Fred W McConnell, J Y Bittel, and
John Lamb. The body is at the Hampton-
Burgen undertaking parlours. It is
thanks to Neil Blazey that we are able to publish this newspaper article.”
At the end of her life the Estate of Augusta
Cecil Collett amounted to $14,827.98, and in her Will she left a substantial bequest to the Church of the Incarnation
in Santa Rosa, and to her half-sister Leonora Julia Collett in Bury St Edmund,
England and her half-brother John Anthony Collett in Vashon, Washington (both
below). Again, thanks to Neil Blazey we
now have a copy of her Will, the Codicil, and the Petition for Probate. Reproductions of each, extracted from the
original document entitled “In the Matter of the Estate of Augusta Cecil
Collett deceased”, can be found in Legal Documents under the headings ‘Will
1934 Augusta C Collett’, ‘Will 1934 Codicil for Augusta C Collett’, and ‘Will
1935 Petition for Probate Augusta C Collett’.
Mary
Louisa Collett [18P21] was born at Bury-St-Edmunds late 1849, her birth recorded
there (Ref. xiii 393) during the final quarter of that year, a daughter of
William Collett and Mary Cecil Augusta von
William
Charles Collett [18P22] was born at Bury-St-Edmunds on 2nd August 1851,
his birth recorded there (Ref. xiii 429), the son of William Collett and his
first wife Mary. He was nine years of
age in the Hawstead (Suffolk) census of 1861, when he and his family were
installed at the parsonage on Great Green in Hawstead. He was 19 in the Hawstead census in 1871 and,
by 1881, he was 29 and was a colonial managing clerk working in Wimbledon,
where he was in lodgings at 13 Ridgeway, the home of master tailor William
Kearns. Following the death of his
father in February 1882, William was in Herne Hill, South London, where he met
and married Mary King. Their wedding was
conducted on 14th April 1883 at St Paul’s Church in the Parish of
Herne Hill, when William Charles Collett was 31 and a clerk residing in
Wimbledon, the son of William, a man in Holy Orders. Mary was also 31 and a clerk, but of Herne
Hill, the daughter of William King, a merchant.
Seven years later, the childless couple was recorded in the Wimbledon
census of 1891 living at Homefield Road, where William C Collett from Suffolk
was 39 and a mercantile clerk working in the fibre trade. His wife Mary Collett from Warwickshire was
also 39, and staying with them at that time was William’s younger half-brother
John Anthony Collett (below).
That day William was employing a domestic servant, Esther Ledger from
Surrey who was 26
Sometime after that, William’s half-brother
emigrated to America, while William and Mary continued to living in the
Wimbledon area, where William Charles Collett from Bury-St-Edmunds was 49 and a
manager for a fibre merchant. Mary
Collett was also 49 and again stated that she had been born in Warwickshire
within the census return in 1901. That
year the couple still employed a servant, twenty-three-year-old Sarah Holmes
from Wiltshire. Just under nine years
after that day, William was widowed, when the death of Mary Collett was
recorded at Kingston-on-Thames register office (Ref. 2a 317) during the first
quarter of 1909. Two years after losing
his wife, William Charles Collett, aged 59 and from Bury-St-Edmunds, was
confirmed as a widower who was still living in Wimbledon, where he was working
as the office manager for a general merchant.
The only person living at the same address was his housekeeper, Kate
Annie Murray from Surrey who was 36. It was nearly eighteen after that census
day, when the death of William C Collett was recorded at Kingston-on-Thames
(Ref. 2a 941) during the first three months of 1929, when he was 77. The Will of William Charles Collett of 15
Homefield Road in Wimbledon who died there on 14th February 1929 was
proved at London on 6th April 1929 to Ellen Mary Collett, spinster,
when his estate was valued at £1,113 16 Shillings and 3 Pence
Agnes
Maria Collett [18P23] was born at Bury-St-Edmunds in 1854, another daughter of
the Rev William Collett and his wife Mary, whose birth was recorded at Bury
(Ref. 4a 404) during the third quarter of that year. By the time she was two years old, her family
was living in the village of Hawstead, two miles south of Bury, where her
younger brother Frederick (below) was born. The Hawstead census returns for 1861, 1871
and 1881 recorded Agnes M Collett as being aged six years, 16 years and 26
years, respectively. In each case, under
occupation, was written ‘daughter’. It
was on 27th September 1886, at Axbridge in Somerset, that the
marriage of Agnes Maria Collett and Alexander John Woodforde, the Vicar of
Rodney Stoke within the Wells district of Somerset, took place and where it was
recorded (Ref. 5c 799). She was his
second wife, and he already had a lot of children from his first marriage, five
of whom were living at Rodney Stoke with Alexander aged 52 and Agnes aged 36 in
1891. They
had one child, Dorothy Cecil Woodforde who was born on 20th
December 1888, but who died just nineteen days later on 8th January
1889
By 1901, her husband was the Vicar of Locking,
near Weston-Super-Mare, where Alexander J Woodforde from Castle Cary in
Somerset was 60 and Agnes M Woodforde from Bury-St-Edmunds was 46, and employed
a male and a female servant. Upon the
death of her husband, two years prior to the next census, his widow was in
Weston-super-Mare in 1911, where Agnes M Woodforde from Bury-St-Edmunds was 56
and a widow, living off her own small private means, when she was a visitor at
the home of the Robinson from London.
Agnes continued to reside at Weston-super-Mare, where she died on 24th
December 1920, when she was 66 years old.
Her death was recorded at Axbridge register office (Ref. 5c 540) during
the last three months of 1920. Probate
was completed on 2nd April 1921, when the beneficiaries were named
as Robert Edmond Heighes Woodforde and Richard Blackway Drewett. Alexander John Woodforde was baptised at
Castle Cary on 22nd November 1839, the son of George Augustus
Woodforde and his wife Harriet Mary. It
was on 11th January 1870 at Castle Cary that he married 20-year-old
Elizabeth Laishley, the daughter of George N Laishley. The later death of Elizabeth Woodforde was
recorded at Taunton (Ref. 5c 294) during the second quarter of 1885, following
her demise at Lausanne in Switzerland on 5th February 1885. Her Will was proved at the Principal Registry
by her husband, when her estate was valued at £2,100. Upon the later death of
Alexander John Woodforde at The Vicarage in Locking on 29th December
1909, his Will was proved on 14th May 1910, the sole beneficiary
being his widow Agnes Maria Woodforde, nee Collett. His passing was also recorded at Axbridge
register office (Ref. 5c 311) when he was 70, when he was buried at Locking on
1st January 1910. All of the
previous burial services had been conducted by the Rev A J Woodforde
Frederick William Collett [18P24], who was born in 1856 at Hawstead, near Bury-St-Edmunds,
and was the youngest child of the Reverend William Collett and his first wife
Mary Cecil Augusta von Linsingen. As
Frederick W Collett he was five years old and already attending school when he
and his family were still living at Great Green in Hawstead for the census in
1861. Three years later, his mother died
when Frederick was eight years old, and four years after being widowed his father
was married for a second time. Frederick
was educated at Dedham Grammar School, where he was a pupil at the age of 14 in
1871. Sometime after leaving school, and
certainly prior to 1879, he emigrated to North America. That was confirmed by the US Census in 1880
for Blue Rock Precinct, Mendocino County, California, when Frederick Collett
from England was 25 and a sheep raiser who was living with Howard Till, a
teacher, and his wife Elizabeth. It was
on 6th December 1881 when Frederick W Collett was accepted as a
Citizen of the United States of America at the Open Court of the County of
Mendocino in California. A years later, at
Benicia in California, on 25th December 1882, Frederick William
Collett married Margaret Miller
Seventeen years after
their wedding day the childless couple was residing at Little Lake Township in
Mendocino County, where Frederick W Collett from England, the son of an English
father and a German mother, was 44 and a farmer who was born in July 1855, who
had been living in America for twenty-four years. His wife Margaret was 61 and born in Canada
of English parents, who had lived in America for thirty-five years. William was the only one who had not sought
American citizenship, while the census record confirmed that the couple never
had any children. When the next census
was conducted in 1910, the couple was living at 660 Robinson Street in Ophir
Township, Butte County in California. By
then, Frederick W Collett was 58 and a driver with a transfer wagon, with
Margaret being 64. Just prior to that
year, Frederick’s older unmarried sister Augusta Cecil Collett (above)
had sailed from England to America, and had travelled across the country to
live in California. In 1910 she was
recorded in the town of Sonoma, just north of San Francisco, while staying her
twenty years later was her younger brother Frederick W Collett. He was 73 and was with his sister on the day
of the census in 1930 at the house owned by 82-year-old Augusta C Collett in
Santa Rosa township in Sonoma County. It
was almost eleven months later that Frederick William Collett died at Santa
Rosa on 28th February 1931
However, before that
happened, Ophir was renamed Oroville, where Frederick (recorded as Frank)
and Margaret were still living at Robinson Street in 1920, when they were 64
and 74 respectively. Margaret Collett
nee Miller died on 20th March 1923 and that was when Frederick when
to live with his sister. The couple’s
gravestones carried the following information.
Margaret wife of F W Collett born March 22 1846, died March 20 1923 and
F W Collett born July 1 1856, died February 27 1931 – a day earlier than
that recorded in the California death records
Leonora
Julia Collett [18P25]
was born at Hawstead on 30th October 1871, her birth recorded at
Thingoe (Ref. 4a 455) during the last three months of the year. She was the eldest of the two children of the
Reverend William Collett, Rector of Hawstead, and his second wife Charlotte
Stowiczek. And it was at The Rectory in
Hawstead that she was living with her widowed father at the time of the census
in 1881 when she was nine years old. Ten
months later her father died on the first day of February 1882, although it has
not been determined exactly what happened to her following his death. Ten years later, at the time of the census in
1891, Leonora J Collett of Hawstead was 19 and was living in the Brentford area
of north London. She later returned to Bury-St-Edmunds
to live with her older half-sister Ellen Mary Collett, with whom she was living
in March 1901 when she was recorded as Leonora Julia Collett, who was unmarried
at the age of 29, and who was working as a daily governess.
It can now be confirmed that she never married,
firstly from the next census in 1911, when she was still unmarried and living
at Bury-St-Edmunds at the age of 39 and then, following the probate process of
the Will of her half-sister Mary Louisa Collett (above) in which Leonora
Julia Collett was named as the main beneficiary in the summer of 1921. The later Will and obituary for her
half-sister Augusta Cecil Collett, (above) published in a Santa Rosa
newspaper on 3rd November 1935, named Leonora J Collett of Bury-St-Edmunds,
where she was still living with another half-sister Ellen Mary Collett (above). She was also one of the main beneficiaries
under the terms of Augusta C Collett’s Will made in 1934, together with her
brother John Anthony (below), and the Church of the Incarnation in Santa
Rosa. See Legal Documents for precise
details. Five years later, the 1939 Registry included
Leonora J Collett living in Bury-St-Edmunds, when she was described as a
retired teacher. New details
discovered in 2014 reveal that spinster Leonora J Collett died at Bury-St-Edmunds,
where her death was recorded (Ref. 4b 1205) during the second quarter of 1967,
when she was 95 years of age. During her
life, she was known to have a keen interest in art, perhaps through her
association with her half-sister Sophia Elizabeth Collett (above) and
Alfred Master Collett (below), both established artists from Suffolk. The Will of Leonora Julia Collett of The
Planche, Thurston, Bury-St-Edmunds, who died on 29th April 1967, was
proved at Ipswich on 21st June 1967 to Thomas Mason Ashton, solicitor,
and Dorothy Alice Croaswell, spinster, when her personal effects were recorded
as £11,400
John
Anthony Collett [18P26], who was born at Hawstead on 11th January 1874, his
birth recorded at Thingoe (Ref. 4a 507) during the first quarter of 1874. He was the younger of the two children of the
Reverend William Collett, Rector of Hawstead and his second wife Charlotte
Stowiczek. Tragically, his mother died
shortly after he was born. Subsequently
he was recorded as John A Collett, who was seven years old, at the time of the
census in 1881, when he was living at The Rectory in Hawstead with his widowed
father, his sister Leonora (above), and his four much older
half-sisters. At the age of 17, and
according to the census in 1891, John A Collett from Hawstead was living in the
Wimbledon area of South London with his married older half-brother William
Charles Collett (above), having been taken there following the death of
their father in February 1882. During
the years after 1891, it would appear that John emigrated to North America,
where he was known later to be living at Vashon in King County, Washington
State. It was at Vashon Precinct that he
was recorded in the US Census of 1920, when he was described as John Collett
from England, aged 45, single, and working as a labourer, who entered America
in 1915. He was still there, at 66
Vashon High Way in 1930, by which time he was 56 and a fruit farmer whose home
carried a value of $2,500. He was again living
in Vashon in November 1935, when his older half-sister Augusta Cecil Collett (above)
died when he was referred to in her obituary as John Collett of Seattle, and
was one of the main beneficiaries under the terms of her Will, which revealed
he was living in Vashon at that time. See
Legal Documents for precise details
By the time of the next census in 1940, John A Collett from England was
66 and had retired, having no stated occupation, when he was still residing at Vashon
in King County, at the same house as the previous census. At the time of the First World War, the US
Draft Registration Form provided the following details of John A Collett. He was 44 years old, a British subject who
had been born on 11th January 1874, with his permanent address
stated to be 1019 Stanger Road in Seattle.
He was working as a labourer and employed by Bruce Nettleton of 2
Meridian Road, Seattle, when he said that his nearest relative was Augusta
Collett of 576 Mendocino Drive, Santa Rosa, California. Much later, when John Anthony Collett was 70
years of age, he died at Vashon on 25th May 1944
Alfred
Master Collett [18P27] may have been born at the end of 1858 at Melcombe Regis, an
area of Weymouth in the Parish of Radipole, his birth, under his full name, was
recorded at Weymouth (Ref. 5a 334) during the first two months of 1859. He was the only child of Daniel Collett and
his first wife Elizabeth Lizzie Pollard, nee Canwell, and was baptised at
Weymouth on 9th February 1859.
By the time of the census in 1861, Alfred M Collett was two years old
and was living with his parents at 7 St Mary’s Street in Melcombe Regis. Ten years later, in 1871, the family was
still living in Melcombe Regis, but at 7 Grosvenor Road, when Alfred M Collett
was 12. His mother Lizzie P Collett was
only 40 years old on that occasion, but died during the summer of 1875, after
which his father was married for a second time.
During that same decade, Alfred was educated at Keble Collage in Oxford,
where he matriculated on 15th October 1877, aged 18. He came away from university with a Bachelor
of Arts in 1880 and, later, obtained a Master of Arts in 1884. By the time of the census in 1881, he was recorded
again at the family home, 7 Grosvenor Road in Melcombe, with his stepmother
Mary Sherwood Collett, when his father was working in London as a civil
engineer that day. Within the census
return Alfred M Collett was 22 and described as a BA (Oxon) Student. It was during the next year, that Alfred M
Collett was ordained a deacon at Norwich, from where he was appointed as the
priest at the Church of St Mary Stoke on the south bank of the River Orwell in
Ipswich. He was an accomplished artist
and, as a member of the Ipswich Art Club from 1883 to
1885 he exhibited his work in each of those three years. At the time of the exhibition in 1883, he was
residing at Mill Cottage, Belstead Road in Ipswich, when he exhibited four
monochromes: ‘Witney Church, Oxon’; ‘Manor House, Radipole, Weymouth’;
‘Wimborne Minster, Dorset’; and ‘Magdalen Bridge, Oxford'. In 1884 he was living at Gipping House,
Burrell Road in Ipswich and in 1885, from his home at St Mary Stoke, he entry
two monochromes, ‘Sketch of Sproughton’ and ‘Bramford’
As the Reverend Alfred Master Collett, he was
never married and, following the death of his father in 1889, the Will of
Daniel Collett was proved on 28th May 1889 named Alfred Master
Collett and his stepmother Mary Sherwood Collett as the main
beneficiaries. Also, during the latter
years of the 1880s, Alfred was appointed to the post of Curate of St Mary’s
Church in Dover. That was confirmed in
the census in 1891 when Alfred Master Collett from Weymouth was 32 and recorded
at the Eastry (Kent) home of the Barton family.
After a further ten years, he was in Cheltenham, at the home of his
stepmother Mary, at 5 Selkirk Parade in the town. The census confirmed that the place of birth
of Alfred M Collett was Weymouth and that he was 42, and living on his own
means. And it was a similar situation in
1911 when at the age of 52, Alfred Master Collett was still living in
Cheltenham, but as a boarder at the home of elderly Caroline Osborn, by which
time he was working as a private tutor.
Alfred survived for a further twenty-six years and was a patient at
Cheltenham Infirmary when he died on 4th May 1937, at the age of 79,
following which his death was recorded at Cheltenham register office (Ref. 6a
443). His Will was proved at Gloucester
just three weeks later on 27th May 1937. During the probate process it was confirmed
that Alfred Master Collett died in hospital in Cheltenham on 4th May
and that his personal effects worth £641 19 Shillings and 2 Pence were handled
by Henry Edwin Daniel, a retired bank official.
Daniel was the maiden-name of his maternal grandmother Amelia Daniel,
the wife of Cornelius Collett, so it is likely that Henry Edwin Daniel was a
member of Alfred’s extended family
Emily
Collett [18P28] was
born at Beverley in 1861, where her recently married parents Trusson Collett
and Elizabeth Charlotte Collett, were living at that time. While her birth was recorded at Beverley
(Ref. 9d 91) during the third quarter of 1861, it was at Brightwell Church in
Brightwell-cum-Foxhall, near Ipswich, that she was baptised on 18th
August 1861, where her grandfather was the Reverend Woodthorpe Collett, the
father of Emily’s mother Elizabeth. The
baptism record for Brightwell-cum-Foxhall confirmed that Emily was the daughter
of Trusson and Elizabeth Charlotte Collett, Collett also being her mother’s maiden-name. Emily and her parents continued to live in
Beverley for a few more years, before they moved into London where they were
living in 1881, although their whereabouts ten years earlier has not been
determined
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Emily Collett her
daughter
However, it is known that in 1871 Emily Collett
from Beverley was attending a boarding school at Bexley in Kent (South London)
when she was ten years of age, the head of the school being James Newlone and
his wife Eliza A Newlone. Ten years
later, the census in 1881 confirmed that Emily and her parents were living at
178 Goldhawk Road in Hammersmith, where her father Trusson’s occupation was
that of a clerk. Emily’s place of birth
was Beverley and, although she was 19 years old, she was listed as a scholar
which would indicate that she was participating in higher education. After a further decade, Emily Collett was a
spinster at 29, when she was still living with her parents on the day of the
census in 1891. Shortly thereafter,
within the next three months, the marriage by the reading of banns of Emily
Collett and Leopold Hapesburg Norton took place on 13th August 1891
at Christ Church in Brondesbury within the Middlesex parish of Willesden. The event was recorded at Hendon (Ref. 3a
232) during the third quarter of 1891.
Leopold was 25, a bachelor and a clerk of 47 Cavendish Road in
Brondesbury, the son of Robert Norton esquire (deceased). Emily was a spinster at 30, whose abode was
21 Cavendish Road, the daughter of Trusson Collett, gentleman. The marriage register was signed by the bride
and groom in their own hand, when the witnesses were Trusson Collett and his
wife Elizabeth Charlotte Collett, and Walter P Norton, with the wedding service
conducted by the Reverend W M Collett, Rector of Cromhall. He was William Michael Collett [18O53 1839-1902]
Leopold was an insurance clerk who had been
born at Islington in London on 1st November 1865, (when his surname
was recorded as Hansburg), the youngest son of Robert and Clara Norton, who was
baptised at Old Church in St Pancras on 25th November 1865. Tragically, Leopold Hapesburg Norton died
after only being married to Emily for three years, but not before the marriage
had produced a daughter for the couple.
He suffered with epilepsy and died of tubercular meningitis on 8th
September 1894, his death recorded at Brentford register office (Ref. 8a 64) at
the age of only 28. His Will was proved
in London on 5th November 1894, when the sole beneficiary was his
wife Emily Norton. The couple’s
daughter, Dorothy Annis Norton, had been born in the family home at 37
Fairlawn Avenue, Acton Green in Chiswick, two years earlier on 6th
September 1892, after which she was baptised at the Church of St Alban the
Martyr in Acton Green on 2nd October 1892. Such was the grief, that Emily felt following
the loss of her young husband, that she never recovered and died on 9th
July 1901 while staying with relatives in Suffolk. The death of Emily Norton was recorded at
Blything register office in Suffolk (Ref. 4a 639) when she was 40 years of
age. It was also in Suffolk where her
Will was proved on 15th August 1901, when the sole beneficiary was
her father Trusson Collett. No obvious
record of Emily Norton has been found within the census of 1901. On the day, her daughter Dorothy A Norton,
aged eight years and from London, was recorded as visiting the Rope family at
Blaxhall, within the Blything area of Suffolk
Following the death of her mother, Dorothy was
looked after by her elderly grandparents Trusson and Elizabeth Collett at their
home in London. That was confirmed in
the census return for 1911, when eighteen years old Dorothy Annis Norton of
Chiswick was living at 21 Cavendish Road, just of the A5 Edgware Road between
Brondesbury and Kilburn. Also living in
the house was Trusson Collett and his wife Elizabeth Charlotte Collett,
together with two domestic servants.
Dorothy was described as a scholar since, at that time, she was
attending a boarding school in Richmond.
The photograph above, and to the right of her mother, was taken midway
between the 1901 and 1911 Census years, when Dorothy Annis Norton was around
thirteen years of age
Nine years after the census day in 1911,
Dorothy Annis Norton, aged 27, married widower Frederic Paul Marcel Tallet,
aged 48, at Brondesbury on 2nd June 1920. Frederic was of French parents and was born
in 1872, and was therefore twenty years older than Dorothy. Once married, the couple settled in Maida
Vale, to the south of Brondesbury, and were living at 23 Bloomfield Court at
the time of the birth of their two children.
It was also there that Dorothy and her family were living at the end of
1922, when her widowed grandfather Trusson Collett passed away and Dorothy
Annis Talet was named as one of the joint executors of his Will. It was during the previous year that her
first child, Gerald Paul Marcel Tallet, was born in 1921 while his sister
Margaret Pauline Tallet was born four years later in 1925. The children’s father Frederic died in 1954
at the age of 82, while their mother Dorothy, who lived to be 97 when she died
in 1989, continued to manage her own affairs right up to the end of her
life. Her son Gerald died two years
later in 1991, while her daughter Margaret is married with a daughter of her
own, who was born at Aylesbury in 1971.
This is Katerina Antalopoulos, and it is Katerina who kindly provided the
information that has enabled the story of her mother and her grandparents to be
told
Frances
Mary Collett [18P29] was
born at Gillingham in Dorset during 1844, with her birth recorded at
Shaftesbury (Ref. viii 77) during the third quarter of the year. It was at Gillingham where she was baptised on
1st September 1844, the eldest child of William Lloyd Collett, a
clerk (in Holy Orders) from Little Ilford in Essex and Frances Harriet
Smith of Charlton in Kent, when the baptism ceremony was conducted by her
father Reverend W L Collett. Possibly
because of the birth of the family’s fifth child in 1850, Frances and her two
younger sisters Anna and Mary were staying with their grandparents at Charlton
in 1851, where they were six, five, and three years old respectively. Frances M Collett of Gillingham was 16 in
1861 when she was living with her family at St Stephen’s Parsonage in
Hammersmith, although it is not known where she was at the time of the census
in 1871 at the age of 26. She has also
not been located in 1881, even though it is established that she never
married. By the time of the census in 1891
Frances M Collett, aged 47, was once again living with her parents in
Hammersmith and, following the death of her father in 1896, Frances and her
mother left London and retired to Brighton to live at 10 Charlotte Street, the
home of her uncle John James Collett
That was confirmed by the Brighton census in
March 1901 when Frances was 56. In
addition to her mother, Frances’ unmarried sister Catherine (below) was
also living there with them, as was Frances’ uncle John Collett of Westerham,
her father’s youngest brother. Upon his
death early in 1902 Frances Mary Collett was named as one of the executors of
his Will with her sister Helen Clara Collett (below). With the death of her mother sometime during
the following decade, Frances Mary Collett, aged 66, was still living in
Brighton in April 1911, and living with her at that time were her two unmarried
sisters Helen Clara Collett and Catherine Hester Collett. It was just over eleven years later that
Frances Mary Collett passed away on 2nd August 1922, her death
recorded at Ampthill register office in Bedfordshire (Ref. 3a 314), when she
was 77 years old. Her address by that
time was The Hoo at Aspley Guise near Woburn in Bedfordshire. It took eighteen months for her Will to pass
through probate, when it was proved at Northampton on 19th January
1924. By that time the value of her
estate had been published at £8,832 7 Shillings and 2 Pence, while it was her
unmarried sister Catherine Hester Collett who was named within the Will,
together with spinster Eva Margaret Williams and her brother Edward Taunton
Williams [solicitor]
Anna
Sophia Collett [18P30] was born at Gillingham in Dorset in 1845, her birth
recorded at Shaftesbury (Ref. viii 74) during the last three months of the
year. She was also baptised at
Gillingham on 2nd November 1845, the daughter of William Lloyd
Collett and his wife Frances. At the age
of five she was staying with her grandmother Susette Smith and her grandfather
Henry Smith at Morden College, and with her were her two sisters Frances (above)
and Mary (below). In 1861 Anna S
Collett was 15 and was attending school in Hammersmith, while she was living
with her family at St Stephen’s Parsonage.
By the time of the next census in 1871, Anna would have been 25, and
with no record of an Anna Sophia Collett in that census or any thereafter, it
must be assumed that she had become a married lady by then
Mary
Collett [18P31] was
born at Gillingham in Dorset in 1847 and was baptised there on 1st
August 1847, the daughter of William Lloyd and Frances Harriet Collett. At the time of the census in 1851 Mary
Collett, aged three years and from Gillingham, was staying with her
grandparents Henry and Susette Smith at Morden College, where Henry was the
college treasurer. No further record of
Mary has been found after that time, so it is assumed that she very likely
suffered a childhood death
Helen
Clara Collett [18P32] was born at Dover in 1848, where her birth was recorded
(Ref. v 117) and where she was baptised on 11th April 1849, the
daughter of William Lloyd Collett and his wife Frances Harriet Smith. She was two years old at the time of the St
Pancras & Kentish Town census of 1851, but was absent from the family in
1861 when they were living at St Stephen’s Parsonage in Hammersmith, when she
would have been 12. At the age of 22 she
was once again living with her family in Hammersmith, but with no listed
occupation, which probably suggests that she was supporting her mother. By 1881 Helen was still a spinster at 32, and
was still living with her parents in the vicarage on Coverdale Road in
Hammersmith. It is unsure where Helen
was during the next three decades, but in 1911 she was living on her own means
in Brighton with her sisters Frances (above) and Catherine (below),
when she was described as unmarried Helen Clara Collett, aged 62. Nine years prior to that Helen Clara Collett
was named as one of the executors of the Will of her uncle John James Collett
on 10 Charlotte Street in Brighton. The
death of Helen Clara Collett of the Hoo at Aspley Guise in Bedfordshire, the
home she shared with her sister Catherine (below) was recorded at
Leighton Buzzard register office (Ref. 3b 394) during the last quarter of 1927
at the age of 79. It was on 19th
November 1927 that she died at the Carlton Medical Home in Leighton Buzzard,
Beds, following which probate of her personal effects of £10,034 5 Shillings and
7 Pence, save and except settled land, was granted in London on 1st
February 1928 to Wilfred Godden, a solicitor
Catherine
Hester Collett [18P33] was born at Winkfield in Berkshire on 8th
October 1850, the fourth daughter of William and Harriet Collett and was under
one year old in the St Pancras & Kentish Town census of 1851. Over the following years her family settled
in Hammersmith where she was 10 in 1861 and 20 in 1871. According to the next census in 1881
Catherine H Collett from Winkfield in Berkshire was a certified
schoolteacher. On that occasion she was
unmarried at the age of 30, and was a lodger at 7 Church Street in Farnworth,
Lancashire, the home of coal agent William Farnworth and his wife Ellen. In 1891 Catherine Collett, aged 40, was again
living with her elderly parents at Hammersmith, where her sister Frances (above)
was also living at that time. With the
passing of her father five years later, Catherine and her mother, together with
her sister Frances Mary (above), moved to Brighton where all three were
living on their own means in 1901 at 10 Charlotte Street the home of John James
Collett. Catherine E Collett was 50 and
shortly after that Catherine’s mother passed away, at which time a third
unmarried sister Helen joined Catherine and Frances at Brighton. That was confirmed in the census of 1911 when
Catherine Hester Collett was 60
It was just over eleven years later that
Catherine’s eldest sister Frances Mary Collett died at Aspley Guise near Woburn
on 2nd August 1922. Her
sister’s Will was eighteen months going through probate, and was eventually
proved at Northampton on 19th January 1924, in which spinster
Catherine Hester Collett was named as receiving some part of her sister’s
estate of just over £8,832. It was a
similar situation in 1929 upon the death of her brother Robert William Collett (below),
when his estate was inherited by Catherine Hester Collett. Following the death of her older sister Helen
Clara Collett (above), Catherine continued to live at the Hoo in Aspley
Guise, Bedfordshire, the home that she had very likely shared with her sister
until she passed away. Certainly that
situation was confirmed in the 1939 Register, which included an entry for
Catherine Hester Collett living at The Hoo, where she was living on private
means with two female domestic servants.
The register also confirmed that she had been born on 8th
October 1850. It was also at the Hoo in
Aspley Guise that Catherine Hester Collett was living in 1940 when she
died. Her death on 24th June
1940 was recorded at Ampthill register office (Ref. 3b 878) at the age of
89. Upon her death she left a
considerable fortune amounting to £23,452 17 Shillings and 8 Pence, probate for
which was handed to William Deacons Bank Ltd and Edgar Laurence Newall Tuck, a
solicitor
Robert
William Collett [18P34] was born at Cumberland Cottage in Shepherd’s Bush within
the Parish of St Stephen Hammersmith in London on 5th June 1852, the
eldest of the three sons, and the sixth child of William and Harriet
Collett. It was on 8th July
1852 that he was baptised at St Stephen’s Church, on Coverdale Road in
Shepherds Bush by the Reverend William Cooke, who deputised for Robert’s father
that day, William Lloyd Collett being a Minister in the Church of England and a
Clerk in Holy Orders, who conducted most of the other services at St Stephen’s
Church. Robert W Collett, aged eight
years, was living with his family in the Hammersmith census return for
1861. He was still there ten years later
when he was still attending school (medical college) at the age of 18. He eventually qualified from medical college,
when he became a physician and a surgeon with the following initials after his
name M R C S L R C P. After an initial
spell working in London, Robert spent a short while at Wick near Bristol,
before securing a position at Yarmouth Hospital in Deneside, Great Yarmouth,
where he was working in 1881. By that
time, as Robert William Collett, he was described as being aged 28, from
Hammersmith, unmarried, and employed as a House Surgeon.
It was three years later when bachelor Robert
William Collett was married by licence to Emily Maria
Saunders at the Parish Church in Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire, on 25th
October 1884 (Ref. 5a 248). The
registration of their wedding recorded that Robert was 32 and a surgeon
residing at St Stephen’s Vicarage in Shepherd’s Bush, the son of William Lloyd
Collett, a Clerk in Holy Orders. His
bride was described as a 24-year-old spinster, residing at The Priory, the
daughter of Thomas Bush Saunders, esquire. The wedding ceremony was conducted by Robert’s
father (Vicar of St Stephen’s Hammersmith), when the couple signed the register
in their own hand, and when one of the witnesses was Emily’s father. Emily was born at Brompton in London on 13th
January 1860, her birth recorded at Dartford (Ref. 2a 261), who was baptised at
Brompton on 9th May 1860, the daughter of barrister Thomas Saunders
with whom she was living at the time of the census in 1891. It seems rather strange that Emily remained living
in Wiltshire after she married Robert, perhaps to look after her elderly
widowed father. The census in 1891
recorded her as Emily M Collett who was 31 and from Middlesex, a married lady
living at Market Street in Bradford-on-Avon, the home of her father and head of
the household Thomas Bush Saunders who was 83.
Completing the household were two domestic servants, Elizabeth Lye aged
27, and Adelaide King who was 17.
Staying with them on that day was their relative Beatrice C Riley who
was 18. On that same day, Robert
Collett aged 38 and from Shepherd’s Bush, was married and a Doctor of Medicine
(London), but on that occasion he was a lodger at a boarding house at 7 Lower
Rock Gardens in the Kemp Town district of Brighton, not far from Brighton
Pier. Living with Robert’s parents at
Hammersmith in 1881 was Robert’s aunt Frances Collett and her brother, uncle
John Collett. They were an older sister
and a younger brother of Robert’s father, and by 1891 they too were living in
the Kemp Town area of Brighton, so it is possible Robert was visiting them for
health reasons
Why he and his wife continued to live apart
from one another, remains a mystery, while it has been confirmed that Emily
Collett aged 41 and from Brompton was still living in Bradford in 1901 and
again in 1911, when she was recorded as Emily Maria Collett aged 51 and from
Brompton. The only other known fact
about her is, that she died in Wiltshire during 1916, where the death of Emily
Maria Collett, ‘the wife of Robert William Collett’ was recorded at
Bradford-on-Avon register office (Ref. 5a 111) during the third quarter of
1916, when she was 56 years of age. Her
burial record at Christ Church in Bradford reveals that the entry was previously
made using her maiden-name of Saunders, but was amended to Collett, which
confirmed she was still residing at The Priory in Bradford when she died and
that she was buried on 15th September 1916. The Will of Emily Maria Collett of The Priory
Bradford-on-Avon, wife of Robert William Collett, was the subject of limited
administration in London on 4th February 1917 and granted to William
Hawkins Herbert, solicitor and attorney, for Henry John Saunders in the sum of
£13,101 7 Shillings and 3 Pence. The
documentation also confirmed that she died on 12th September 1916
It is now understood that shortly after 1891,
Robert may have been become mentally ill and was possibly admitted into a home,
hence the reason he has not been identified within the census conducted in
1901. Certainly, that was the case ten
years later, when R W Collett was a patient at St
Andrew's Hospital for Mental Diseases on Billing Road in Northampton. At the age of 59, he was described as being
married and a former medical practitioner, who had been a lunatic for many
years. His place of birth was
incorrectly stated as Sheffield, a mistake for Shepherds Bush one assumes. It was also while he was still a patient at
St Andrew’s Hospital that he died in 1929, that death
was recorded at Bangor register office (Ref. 11b 485) during the third quarter
of 1929, when he was 77. The Will of Robert
William Collett of St Andrew’s Hospital who died on 21st July 1929
while at Bryn-y-Nwadd Hall, Llanferfechan near Carnarvon, was proved at London
on 14th November 1929 to Catherine Hester Collett, spinster, the
estate valued at £2,885 19 Shillings and 1 Penny. All previous reference to Robert possibly
having fathered a son prior to his marriage to Emily has now been removed as
incorrect
Alfred
Collett [18P35] was
born at Shepherds Bush in 1854 and was a twin with his brother Arthur. The birth of Alfred Collett was recorded at
Kensington (Ref. 1a 103). The baptism of
both sons was conducted at St Stephen’s Church in Shepherd’s Bush (in the London
Parish of St Stephen’s Hammersmith) by their father the Reverend William Lloyd
Collett, the Clerk in Holy Orders at St Stephen’s, on 17th May 1854,
following their birth earlier that same day at Cumberland Cottage in Shepherd’s
Bush. In the Hammersmith census of 1861
Alfred and Arthur were both six years old when living with their family at St
Stephen’s Parsonage. Ten years later
they were both still living with their family when they were 16, at a time when
the family was then living in St Stephen’s Vicarage in Hammersmith. By the time of the next census in 1881 Alfred
Collett, aged 26, was listed as a civil engineer who was still living at the
home of his father the Reverend William Lloyd Collett at the vicarage in
Coverdale Road in Shepherd’s Bush, Hammersmith.
It is not known at this time, as to the whereabouts of his twin brother
Arthur Collett, of whom no records have been found in any of the British census
records after 1871
Alfred Collett was a Member of the Institute of
Civil Engineers (M.I.C.E.) and it may have been his work that resulted in him
sailing to South America in the early 1880s, where he was later joined by his
sister Jessie Susette Collett (below).
And it was in Argentina at St John’s Anglican Cathedral in Buenos Aires
on 29th April 1886, that Alfred married Ida May Wilkinson, following
the reading of banns at that church. Ida
was the daughter of James Wilkinson. The
witnesses at the wedding did not include Alfred’s sister Jessie, suggesting
that she had travelled to South America after that time. The cathedral record confirmed that Alfred
and Ida were both from England, that they were both residents of Buenos Aires
at the time of their marriage, and that the witnesses were W. Tudor, John Joseph Bithell, Mary Tudor, Agnes Woodhouse,
Catherine Tudor, Augusta Lennox Robertson, Henry Dickinson, and Chas. B.
Wilkinson, with the service being conducted by the officiating minister Arthur
George Lennox Robertson, assistant chaplain.
Alfred Collett was only married for nine years when he died at Natal Rio
Grande Norte in Brazil on 29th June 1895, following which his Will
was proved in London on 26th March 1896 to Alfred Sturton Pinn and
Edgar Ford, esquires, for his personal effects of £592 11 Shillings and 7 Pence
The birth of Ida May Wilkinson was
recorded at Hampstead (Ref. 1a 595) during the second quarter of 1868, and was
baptised at All Soul’s Church in West Hampstead on 16th May 1868,
the daughter of James John Wilkinson, a civil engineer, and Eliza Hackett of 31
Springfield Road. Four years prior to the
death of her husband, the wife of Alfred Collett was residing at 96 Addison
Road in Kensington, London. Ida M
Collett from St John’s Wood in London, was 23 and with her was her son Reginald
A Collett who was two years of age and a British Subject born in South
American. That day, in 1891 also
confirmed that Ida was employing two female domestic servants, while ten years
later her son was attending a private boarding school at Standon in
Hertfordshire. The 1901 census confirmed
that Reginald Alfred Collett from Buenos Aires, Argentina, was 12 years of age,
a student at the all-boys school, and the son of an English mother. After a further ten years, widow Ida May
Collett, a widow aged 41 and born in the Marylebone area of London, was living on
private means in the five-roomed property that was 57 Carlton Mansions,
Portsdown Road in Paddington. With her
that day was widower John Pearce, a 73-year-old boarder from Kensington, also
living on private means
18Q13 –
Reginald Alfred Collett was born after 1886 in Argentina
Isabel
Augusta Collett [18P37] was born at St Stephen’s Parsonage in Shepherd’s Bush on 30th
1856, the nineth child of William Lloyd Collett and Frances Harriet Smith. It was her father, who conducted her baptism
at St Stephen’s Church on 3rd May 1856, where he was the Perpetual Curate
of St Stephen’s Hammersmith. She was
four years old in the Hammersmith census of 1861, when she was living at St
Stephen’s Parsonage with her family. On
that occasion she was listed as Isabella A Collett. It was ten years later that she was recorded
as Isabel Augusta Collett, aged 14, who was living with her family at St
Stephen’s Vicarage in Hammersmith. By
1881 Isabel A Collett, aged 24 and unmarried with no stated occupation, was
still living with her parents at the vicarage in Coverdale Road in
Hammersmith. However, sometime after
that she headed north to Oxford where, in 1891, she was listed as Isabel A
Collett, aged 34 and from Shepherd’s Bush, living within the St Clement &
Headington census registration district.
It would appear that, like three of her sisters, she never married and
by 1901 she was still living in Oxford St Giles when, as Isabel A Collett, she
was 44 and from Shepherd’s Bush with no stated occupation
During the first decade of the new century
Isabel left Oxford and retired to Devon, where she was living in 1911. The census that year recorded Isabel Augusta
Collett, aged 54 and from Shepherd’s Bush, living alone in Newton Abbot on the
south coast of the county. It was over
twenty-five years later that Isabel Augusta Collett, spinster of East Wyke,
South Zeal near Okehampton in Devon died on 24th August 1935 when
administration of her personal effects of £14,367 14 Shillings and 3 Pence was
granted to her sister, the widow Jessie Suzette Collett- Mason, on 23rd
October that same year. It would appear
that, like three of her sisters, she never married and by 1901 she was still
living in Oxford St Giles when, as Isabel A Collett, she was 44 and from
Shepherd’s Bush with no stated occupation.
During the first decade of the new century Isabel left Oxford and
retired to Devon, where she was living in 1911.
The census that year recorded Isabel Augusta Collett, aged 54 and from
Shepherd’s Bush, living alone in Newton Abbot on the south coast of the
county. It was over twenty-five years
later that Isabel Augusta Collett, spinster of East Wyke, South Zeal near
Okehampton in Devon, died on 24th August 1935 when administration of
her personal effects of £14,367 14 Shillings and 3 Pence was granted to her
sister, the widow Jessie Suzette Collett-Mason, on 23rd October that
same year. The death of Isabel A Collett
was recorded at Okehampton register office (Ref. 5b 425) during the third
quarter of 1935, at the age of 78
Jessie
Susette Collett [18P38] was born at St Stephen’s Parsonage in Shepherds Bush on 18th
June 1860, her birth recorded at Kensington (Ref. 1a 110) during the third
quarter of 1860. It was at St Stephen’s
Church that she was baptised on 17th July 1860, the last child born
to William Lloyd Collett, a Clerk in Holy Orders, and the Vicar of St Stephen’s
Church in Shepherd’s Bush, and his wife Frances Harriet Smith. Jessie was ten months old in the Shepherd’s
Bush census of 1861, and ten years later, in the census of 1871, when she would
have been 10 years old, she was missing from the family home at St Stephen’s
Vicarage on Coverdale Road in Shepherd’s Bush.
However, ten years after that in 1881, she was one of four children
still living with her parents at the vicarage on Coverdale Road, when she was
20 years of age. It would appear that,
before the next census in 1891, Jessie may have been persuaded to leave England
for South America by her brother Alfred (above), who had already
travelled to that distant continent sometime before 1886. However, she was not a witness at Alfred’s
wedding in April that year, perhaps indicating that she had arrived in the
country after 1886. What is known though
is that she married James Collett Mason by the publishing of banns at St John’s
Anglican Cathedral in Buenos Aires on 20th August 1887, and that her
married brother Alfred Collett (above) was a witness at the
ceremony. James was born on 7th
June 1853 at Chorlton in Manchester, where his birth was recorded (Ref. 8c 426),
and was baptised on 27th October 1853, the youngest child of William
Wallis Mason (born in 1806), a chemist and a druggist, and his wife Mary Anne
Poole, and the great grandson of William Wallis Mason and his first wife Mary
Collett of Eyke [18M7]. Jessie’s great
grandfather was Robert Collett of Eyke [18M9], the brother of Mary Collett,
thus confirming that Jessie and James were in fact distant cousins.
On 17th March 1896, James Collett
Mason, a farmer, sailed out of Southampton on board the SS Clyde bound for Buenos
Aires in Argentina, when he was 43 years of age. Ten years later, at the age of 53, James made
the return journey, arriving at Southampton on 4th August 1906 on
board the SS Amazon. He made the same
homeward bound journey, on the same ship, two years later, arriving at
Southampton on 18th July 1908, when he was 55, and again on board
the SS Aron (Royal Mail Steam Ship) from which James stepped ashore at
Southampton on 31st July 1909.
His wife Jessie had also made the sea journey on at least two occasions,
the first time being on board the SS Amazon of The Royal Mail Steam Packet
Company, arriving in Southampton from Buenos Aires on 4th January
1908, when Jessie Susette Collett Mason was 43 and accompanied by her daughter
Margaret Marion Collett Mason who was 19.
On what might appear to be her final return journey to England, Jessie
was accompanied by her husband and her three daughters. Unfortunately, the passenger list for the SS
Aragon, which arrived at Southampton on 2nd July 1910, did not
include their ages. The family was
simply listed as James Collett Mason, Jessie Collett Mason, Margaret Collett Mason,
Frances Collett Mason, and Kathleen Collett Mason. All of the sea journeys were undertaken in
first class cabins
The cathedral record confirmed that Jessie
Susette Collett from England was a resident in the Belgrano district of the
city, while James Collett Mason, who was also from England, was living in Santa
Fe Province. The witnesses at the
service were recorded as J. Palmer Smythies, Alfred
Collett, John Joseph Bithell, O. P. S. Nancy, J. G. Russell, and T. W.
Hubbard. The officiating minister at the
ceremony was Waite Hockin Stirling, the Bishop of the Falkland Islands. It may be of interest that James Collett
Mason is credited as having an estancia (farm) called ‘Santa Micaela’ in San
José de la Esquina in the Province of Santa Fe.
Jessie and James’ first child, their daughter Margaret Marion
Collett-Mason, was born while the couple was living in Buenos Aires, while
their next four children were born at Rosario in Argentina. It was the couple’s youngest child, William
Collett Mason, who inherited everything from his father to the detriment of his
siblings. It was sometime after the
birth of the couple’s last child that James Collett Mason and his family
returned to England where he became a Justice of the Peace. Burkes Landed Gentry [2001] states that he
lived at Nieuport Hall in Eardisley in the County of Herefordshire, whereas the
1963 version of Debrett when listing his daughter Ascelin Frances Collett
Mason, referred to him as the late James Collett Mason JP of Ashurst Place,
Langton Green in Kent. It was also at
the time of the marriage of his eldest daughter in 1918 that his address was
given as Nieuport Hall, Eardisley
In early 1911, prior to the census that year,
James sought official approval to incorporate Collett as part of the family’s
surname. This was granted and was in
evidence by the end of March 1911 when the census was conducted that year. From the date of approval, the name was
hyphenated as Collett-Mason, so James became James Collett Collett-Mason and
Jessie became Jessie Susette Collett-Mason.
Certainly, at the time of the census in Great Britain in 1911, Jessie
was recorded as Jessie Susette Collett-Mason, head of the household at The Hoo
in Aspley Guise in Bedfordshire. She was 50, living on private means, and had
been born at St Stephens, Uxbridge Road in London. The census return also described Jessie as
having been married for 23 years, and had given birth to four children, all of
whom were still alive. That statement
seems no to have taken account of daughter Augusta, about whom nothing is
known, and who presumably suffered an infant death. However, living at The Hoo with Jessie were
her two daughters Ascelin Francis who was 20 and Kathleen Lucy who was 19 and both
of them born in Argentina and both described as British subjects by parentage. That day Jessie employed four domestic
servants at the seventeen-roomed accommodation that was The Hoo. At that same time Jessie’s youngest son
William, aged 15, was attending a school in Kent. Where James was on that day has not been
determined. It was on Saturday 14th
December 1929 that Jessie’s husband died while the couple was living at Ashurst
Place, Langton Green to the west of Tunbridge Wells. The death of James Collett Collett-Mason was
recorded at Tonbridge register office (Ref. 2a 999) at the age of 76. The following announcement of his passing was
printed in The Times newspaper on Tuesday 17th December 1929. “On
December 14, 1929 at Ashurst Place, near Tunbridge Wells, of pneumonia, James
Collett Mason, loved husband of Jessie Collett-Mason, aged 76. Funeral service today (Tuesday) at Langton
Green Church, Kent at 2.30 p.m.”
His widow Jessie was still alive in 1935 when
she was given the estate of Isabel Augusta Collett, her older sister (above),
to administer. However, it was towards
the end of the following year that Jessie S Collett-Mason died on 15th
December 1936 when she was 76. Her death
was recorded at Upton-on-Severn in Worcestershire (Ref. 6c 183) during the last
quarter of that year. The Will of Jessie
Susette Mason-Collett was proved in London on 29th April 1937 and
this confirmed that she had been living at Melton Lodge in Malvern at the time
of her death and that probate was granted to her son William Wallace Collett
Collett-Mason, of no occupation, and Paul Braddon a solicitor. Her personal effects amounted to £8,823 14 Shillings
and 6 Pence. While James’ second
daughter was Ascelin, his uncle Henry Ward Mason (born at Beverley in 1812) had
a son Asline Collett Mason who was born at East Barnet in 1858 who later died
in Australia during 1921. Details about
him can be found under James’ daughter Ascelin Frances Collett Mason, after
whom she was presumably named
New information unearthed in 2021 by Roger
Collett of Elgin County, Ontario, reveals an interesting snap-shot of the
family immediately prior to the birth of the son William. The document was a page from the Argentina
census conducted in 1895. That placed
the family at an estancia, where Santiago Collett
Mason was 41, Jessie Collett Mason was 28, Daisy Marion Collett Mason was
seven, Ascelin Frances Collett Mason was five, and Kathleen Lucy Collett Mason
was three years of age
18Q14 – Margaret Marion
Collett Mason
was born in 1888 in Argentina
18Q15 – Ascelin Frances
Collett Mason
was born in 1890 in Argentina
18Q16 – Kathleen Lucy
Collett Mason
was born in 1892 in Argentina
18Q17 – Augusta F
Collett Mason was born in 1893/4 in Argentina
18Q18 – William Wallis
Collett Mason
was born in 1895 in Argentina
Bernard
Stockwell Collett [18P39] was born at St Stephen’s Parsonage in Shepherd’s Bush on 1st
February 1866 and was baptised on 3rd March 1866 at St Stephen’s
Church where his father William Lloyd Collett was the vicar. He was five years old in the census of 1871
when he and his family were still residing at The Vicarage in Shepherd’s Bush,
and ten years later in 1881 he was 15 years of age when he was a boarder at The
Priory School, High Street in Marlborough, Wiltshire. It was around two and a half years later that
his death was recorded at Fulham (Ref. 1a 124) during the third quarter of 1883
when he was 17
Phillis
Carthew Collett [18P40] was born at St Mary Abbot in Kensington, London in 1873,
the eldest child of Charles Preston Collett and Lucy Ellen Daniels, her birth
recorded at Kensington (Ref. 1a 131) during the last three months of the year. Around 1875 her family left London and moved
to Devon where in 1881, they were living at Highclere House on the Warberry
Road in Tor-Moham, a parish of Torquay, where Phillis Carthew Collett was seven
years old. Following the death of her father
during at the start of 1891, Phillis and her sister Margaret (below)
were attending an all girls’ boarding school at Royal Parade in Cheltenham, where
student Phillis Collett from London was 17 years old on the day of the census
in 1891. It is curious that in the next
census of 1901 Phillis C Collett, aged 26, and her brother Arthur P Collett,
aged 20, were staying with the Borthwick family at 35 Palmerston Place in
Edinburgh, while it was twenty-one years after that when their brother Charles
Morden Collett (below) married the eldest daughter of Alexander and
Katherine Borthwick. After a further ten
years Phillis Carthew Collett from London was described as being 37 and a
spinster living on private means in the census of 1911, when she was recorded
as a boarder at 3 The Grove in Westward Ho, North Devon. Staying at the same address was her unmarried
sister Margaret Morden Collett who was 36.
The boarding house was managed by widow Susan Pennington, who was 55,
and her two adult children
Following the death of her aunt Ellen Anna
Collett of Swanton Morley Street, off Valerie Road in Bournemouth, on 12th
June 1921, probate of her estate worth £16,337 14 Shillings and 9 Pence was
granted to Phillis Carthew Collett, a spinster, and Charles Alfred Morton
Lightly, a solicitor. Thirteen years after
inheriting that vast sum of money, Phillis and her younger unmarried sister
Margaret (below) were living at The Cove at Torcross near Kingsbridge in
South Devon. From there the sisters boarded
the vessel Johan Oldenbarnevelt of the Netherland Royal Dutch Mail Line at
Southampton on 11th January 1935 which bound for Batavia in Dutch
East Indies. Part way along the ship’s sea route, the couple disembarked at
Genoa, when Phillis was 60 and Margaret was 59, having travelled there in a
second-class cabin. The pair of them
made the return journey from Genoa later that same year, arriving back at
Southampton, on the same ship, on 18th March 1935. Three years later, it was also as Phillis
Carthew Collett that she died at the Forbes Fraser Hospital in Bath on 20th
April 1938, her passing recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 560), when
she was 64. Her Will was proved in
London on 23rd June 1938 when her brothers Charles Morden Collett
and Arthur Preston Collett, both retired Indian Civil Servants, were granted
administration of her personal estate of £7,891 8 Shillings and 9 Pence. The probate document revealed that her home
address was Heatherlands, Ilsington near Newton Abbot in Devon
Margaret Morden Collett [18P41] was born on 20th
January 1875 at Kensington in London, with her birth recorded at Kensington (Ref.
1a 135) during the first quarter of 1875, another child of Charles and Lucy
Collett. Just after she was born, her
family move to Torquay where Margaret Morden was six years old in 1881. Ten years later, Margaret as Maggie Collett
from London was 16 and a student at a girls’ boarding school on Royal Parade in
Cheltenham. A student and boarder at the
same school was Maggie’s sister Phillis Collett (above). No record of Margaret has been found within
the 1901 Census, while in 1911, and living on private means, Margaret Morden
Collett was 36 and a boarder at 3 The Grove, Westward Ho, within the Northam
district of North Devon, where her sister Phillis was also boarding at the same
property. On 11th January
1935 the sisters sailed from Southampton to Genoa in Italy, maybe as a holiday,
from where they return to England two months later, arriving at Southampton on
18th March 1935. The
passenger list of the J V Johan Oldenbarnevelt recorded them in second-class at
the age of 60 and 95, when their home address was The Cove at Torcross near
Kingsbridge in South Devon. Four years
after that trip to Italy, and following the death of her sister Phillis in
1938, the 1939 Registry included details of Margaret Morden Collett who was living
at Hookhills, Paignton in South Devon, where she was living on private means. Margaret was 73, where her death was recorded
at Newton Abbott register office (Ref. 7a 607) during the first quarter of
1949. By that time in her life, she was
residing at Woodhaye, Torwood Road in Torquay, where she died on 3rd
January. Her Will was proved in London on
25th March 1949 to Lloyds Bank Limited, her estate valued at £16,266
4 Shillings and 1 Penny
Charles
Morden Collett [18P42] was born in 1876 at Torquay, just after his parents arrived
there from London. His birth was
recorded at Newton Abbott (Ref. 5a 142) during the last quarter of that
year. At the age of four years, Charles
M Collett was living with his family at Highclere House, Warberry Road in
Tor-Moham in 1881. His father died when
Charles was around ten or eleven years of age, and by the time of the census in
1891 he was being educated at Upton-on-Severn in Gloucestershire when he was 14. It is unclear what happened to Charles after
1891, with no record of him located within either of the census returns from
1901 and 1911. However, it was while he
was in Bombay, on 21st October 1922, that he married Evelyn Grace
Stanhope Borthwick who was born at Winchester on 27th October 1878,
where her birth was recorded (Ref. 2c 124). Evelyn S Borthwick was 22 at the time of the
census in 1901 when she was living with her parents at 35 Palmerston Place in
Edinburgh. Her father Alexander
Borthwick was 62 and the Chief Constable of Police, his wife being the much
young Katherine Borthwick who was 45.
Coincidentally on that occasion, staying with the family that day, were
two of Charles’ siblings, Phillis C Collett (above) and Arthur P Collett
(below), so the two families were known to each other well before
Charles married the Borthwick’s eldest daughter. Charles and Evelyn remained in India after
they were married, but just for the next nine months. It is now known that on 29th
September 1922 sailed out of the Port of London on board the P &O liner
China bound for Bombay, when she was described on the passenger list as Miss Evelyn
Borthwick of Southwick, Fareham in Hampshire, a spinster of 43 years who was
travelling first-class, on her where in India to be married
After that they then sailed back to England on
board the ship Matiana which sailed out Calcutta and into the Port of London,
arriving on 26th August 1923.
The passenger list confirmed that Charles was 47 and that the couple’s
temporary address in England was the East India United Services Club at 16 St
James Square in Seething Wells, Surbiton.
In 1934 and following the death of his mother during the previous year,
Charles Morden Collett of no occupation was named with his brother Arthur
Preston Collett (below) as the joint executors of her estate. The same pair was also named in their
sister’s Will of 1938, following the death of Phillis Carthew Collett (above)
in April that year. Charles Morden
Collett was residing at 15 Wellswood Park in Wellswood, Torquay when he passed
away on 31st January 1946, his death recorded at Newton Abbott
register office (Ref. 5b 199) when he was 69. Five months later his Will was proved in
London. Probate of his personal effects
amounting to £10,489 11 Shillings and 10 Pence was granted jointly to his widow
Evelyn Stanhope Grace Collett, his unmarried sister Laura Lesley Collett (below)
and William Stanley Richards, a solicitor.
His wife survived him by thirteen years and at the time of the death of
Evelyn Stanhope Grace Collett on 15th April 1959 she was living in
Flat 3 at Bourne House, 189 Sloane Street in London SW1. Her death was recorded at Chelsea register
office (Ref. 5c 249), when she was 81. Following
her passing her considerable estate of £91,397 13 Shillings and 7 Pence was
proved in London on 26th June 1959 and placed in the hands of
Martins Bank Limited and David Henry Fitzroy Somerset, a private secretary
Laura
Lesley Collett [18P43] was born at Torquay on 11th October 1878, her
birth recorded at Newton Abbott (Ref. 5b 164). She was two years old at the time of the
census in 1881 when she was living with her family at Warberry Road in
Tor-Moham in Torquay. Almost ten years
later her father Charles Preston Collett died and so by April 1891 Laura was 12
and was living with her widowed mother and younger brother Arthur (below)
at Highclere in Tor-Moham, Torquay. No
trace has been found of her mother, but by April 1911 Laura Lesley Collett was
32 and was living at Lewisham in London when her occupation was that of a
teacher of Swedish gymnastics. By 1935,
when Laura was 56 and still a spinster, she was living in Mozambique but
returned to England on board the Union Castle mail steamship Dunbar Castle
which sailed from Beira in Mozambique via Durban and Cape Town, arriving at
Southampton on 12th August 1935.
Many years later, Laura Lesley Collett passed away at the age of ninety,
when her death was recorded at register office Stroud register office (Ref. 7b
1313) during the second quarter of 1969.
By that time she was a very wealthy lady, with her estate valued at
£59,851, and her Will proved in London on 18th July 1969. The probate document confirmed that she had
died on 20th April 1969 when she was residing at Nibley House, North
Nibley, in the Dursley district of Gloucestershire
Arthur
Preston Collett [18P44] was born at Torquay on 10th September 1880, his
birth recorded at Newton Abbott (Ref. 5b 139), another son of Charles Preston
Collett and his wife Lucy Ellen Daniels.
He was seven months old on 3rd April 1881 when he was living
with his family in Warberry Road at Tor-Moham in Torquay. Ten years later, and following the death of
his father, Arthur was recorded as being 10 years old when he was still living
with his widowed mother and sister Laura (above) at Highclere in Tor-Moham,
Torquay. Around the time he was 19,
Arthur Preston Collett was admitted as a scholar into Queens College in
Cambridge, when he was confirmed as the son of high court judge Charles Collett
of Madras. Prior to going to Cambridge,
Arthur had attended Malvern College, from where he matriculated. In March 1901 he and his sister Phillis C
Collett (above) were recorded in the census that month with the
Borthwick family at 35 Palmerston Place in Edinburgh, their eldest daughter
Evelyn becoming Evelyn Collett through her married to Charles Morden Collett (above)
in 1922
Arthur entered the India Civil Service during
1903 and served in the United Provinces as Magistrate and Collector. By 1911 he was Deputy Commissioner, and in
1914 was Joint Magistrate. In 1913
Arthur disembarked from the P&O ship India at Plymouth on its passage from
Bombay to the Port of London, where it arrived on 19th July that
year. The passenger list identified him
as Mr Arthur Collett aged 33 of the India Civil Service. Two year later Arthur was appointed Private
Secretary to the Lieutenant-Governor in 1915, and was on military service
during the Great War from 1916 to 1919. On leaving the army he continued to work as
Magistrate and Collector (of Taxes) in 1920, a post he held until 1827. During the years from 1928 to 1932 he was the
Opium Agent and Commissioner of Income Tax in the United Provinces, after which
he retired and resided at The Lodge in Hollesley, near Woodbridge in Suffolk. Following the death of his mother in 1933,
Arthur Preston Collett was named, with his brother Charles Morden Collett (above),
as the joint executors of her estate
In addition to all of this, it is known that
Arthur Preston Collett married Sheila MacKinnon at Gorakhpur, Bengal in India
on 2nd February 1921, when he was 40 years old. All three of their children were born in India,
the family travelling between England and India on a fairly regular basis. Two years after they were married and just
after the birth of the first of their three children, the family visited
England, and it was on 8th June 1923 that the three of them sailed
back to Bombay, out of the Port of London on board the ship Narkunda of the
P&O Line in a second-class cabin.
Arthur Preston Collett of the ICS was 43, whose home was The Lodge at
Hollesley, Woodbridge. His wife Sheila
was 26, and their daughter Phillis was eight months old. Back in India, the couple’s remaining two
children were born and, also most immediately after the birth of the third
child, the family sailed from Bombay to London on 1st April
1926. The passenger list named the
family as Arthur P Collett, aged 45, Sheila Collett, aged 28, Phillis Anne
Collett who was three, Anthony F Collett who was one, and Sheila C Collett who
was just three months old. Six months
later the whole family made the return journey back to Bombay on board the
P&O liner Rajputana, leaving the Port of London on 29th October
1926 in second-class. On that occasion
they had been staying at the Tilbury Hotel in Tilbury, Essex, Arthur being
employed by the India Civil Service aged 46, Sheila being 30, Phillis being four,
Anthony being two, and Sheila being nine months old
In 1929 Arthur made the same journey from
Calcutta, but alone, on board the ‘Mulbera’, a ship of the British India Steam
Navigation Company when he travelled first-class at the age of 49. Once again, he disembarked at Plymouth, his
forward address being Court House in Ash Priors, Taunton, Somerset, most likely
a business trip to do with his work with the ICS. The Mulbera eventually arrived at the Port of
London on 13th December 1929.
The family’s time together in India ended in 1931, when Sheila and her three
children travelled on board the TSS Exeter of the Ellerman Line back to
England, arriving at the Port of London on 30th April 1931. For that final journey they travelled in
first-class accommodation, when they were recorded as Mrs S Collett aged 31,
Miss P A Collett was seven, Master A P Collett was five, and Miss S C Collett
was four years of age. The passenger
list also confirmed that their ultimate destination was The Lodge at Hollesley,
Woodbridge in Suffolk
Eight years after that, the 1939 Registry
included Arthur and Sheila who were residing at The Lodge in Hollesley within
the Deben Rural District Council area on the banks of the River Deben, where
Arthur P Collett was a retired Indian civil servant. His wife was simply described as Sheila
Collett who was performing unpaid domestic duties, whose date of birth was
recorded 19th February 1897. Six
years later the couple was living in Felixstowe in 1945 when they receive the
sad news that their daughter, Petty Officer Wren Phillis Anne Collett of the
Royal Navy, had been killed during the Second World War. Arthur Preston Collett of Brackenbury Lodge
on Cliff Road in Felixstowe died on 25th March 1954 at the age of
73, his death recorded at Samford register office (Ref. 4b 1064). Probate of his personal effects of £5,719 1
Shilling and 11 Pence was granted to Sheila Collett, widow, to Geoffrey Barham
Sankey and James Gutch Swift, solicitors.
His widow was stilling living at Brackenbury Lodge in 1957, when her
married daughter Sheila Candace Austin and her husband Philip John Austin,
brought their baby daughter Sheila from Singapore to see her grandmother for
the first time at the age of just two-months.
With Philip having to return to Singapore for business reasons, his wife
and daughter died not make their return until June in 1958. Twenty-three years later, Sheila Collett, nee MacKinnon
died at the start of 1981, when her death was recorded at Gipping register
office (Ref. 10 2706). Gipping was just
north of Stowmarket, while it was at her home, at Cedar Cottage, Debenham Road,
in Crowfield, just east of Stowmarket, that she died on 13th
February 1981, six days before her eighty-fourth birthday. Her Will was proved at London on 28th
April 1981, when her estate was £60,107
18Q19 – Phillis Anne Collett was born in 1922 in
India
18Q20 – Anthony Farquar Charles MacKinnon
Collett
was born in 1924 in India
18Q21 – Sheila Candace Collett was born in 1926 in
India
Edward
Pyemont Collett [18P45] was born in 1863 at Shenton, two miles from Market Bosworth
in Leicestershire, with his birth recorded at Market Bosworth (Ref. 7a 70) during
the first three months of that year. He
was the eldest of three sons of Henry Pyemont Collett of Suffolk and Isabella
Lamb Frazer of Wolverhampton. Shortly
after he was born his parents moved to Norfolk, and in 1871 they were living
within the Wisbech & Terrington St Clement district of the county when
Edward was eight years old, but was listed in the census as Edward Pyewood
Collett. Ten years later, at the age of
18, Edward from Leicester, was a medical student studying dentistry at
Hastings, where he was living with his family at 12 Springfield Road. On that occasion his mother and youngest
brother were both absent, so it was just his father and his brother Henry (below)
who were there at that time. It was five
years later that Edward Pyemont Collett was married by banns to Aurora Beatrice
Landi from London at St Ann’s Church in Westminster on 23rd October
1886. The wedding ceremony was performed
by Edward’s father Henry Pyemont Collett, a Clerk in Holy Orders. The entry for the marriage in the church
register was signed by the hand of each of them, when Edward and Aurora were
both 23, Edward being a dental surgeon residing in Chorlton-cum-Hardy,
Manchester, with Aurora living at 67 Putt Street in Westminster, the daughter
of Romolo Landi, a sculptor. The event
was recorded at Westminster (Ref. 1a 945), while the birth of Aurora was
recorded at The Strand, London (Ref. 1b 502) during the third quarter of 1863. Once married, it was at Chorlton-cum-Hardy
where the couple settled, and where Edward continued his career as a
dentist. It was while they were living
there that Aurora presented Edward with two children, when they were living at
Keppell Road in Chorlton-cum-Hardy.
In 1891 the family of four living at
Chorlton-cum-Hardy was recorded in the census return as follows. Edward P Collett was 28, his wife Aurora B
Collett was 27, and their two children were Nora Collett who was three, and
Henry R P Collett who was under one-year-old.
Both of the children were sent to private schools, so in March 1901, it
was only Edward and Aurora that were recorded as living at
Chorlton-cum-Hardy. Edward P Collett,
aged 38, from Hinckley in Leicestershire was a dentist, while his wife Aurora B
Collett from London was 37. Their
daughter Nora Collett, aged 13, was attending a school in Sussex, with her
brother Robert at a school in Harrogate at the age of ten. Both children were confirmed as having been
born at Chorlton-cum-Hardy. By the time
of the next census in April 1911, the family had moved to Bucklow near
Knutsford in Cheshire, and also by that time, Edward’s daughter Nora was
married to John Cooke and they were living at Tynemouth in Northumberland. Living at Bucklow were Edward Pyemont Collett
48, Aurora Beatrice Collett 47, and their son Henry Robert Pyemont Collett who
was 20
The later death of Edward Pyemont Collett was
recorded at the Lancashire Salford register office (Ref. 8d 519) during the first
quarter of 1937, when he was 73. It was
at Salford Royal Hospital that he died on January 1937, when his home address
was 8 St John’s Street in the Deansgate area of Manchester. His Will was proved at Manchester on 19th
March 1937 to William Herbert Foyster, solicitor, and Annie Christine
Osterstock, spinster, his estate valued at £1,487 7 Shillings and 11 Pence. Four year earlier he had been widowed, with
the death of Aurora Beatrice Collett recorded at Bucklow (Ref. 6a 220) during
the second quarter of 1933, when she was 69 years of age, Bucklow being
south-west of Manchester
18Q22 – Nora Collett was born in 1887 at Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester
18Q23 – Henry Robert Pyemont Collett was born in 1890 at
Chorlton-cum-Hardy
Henry
Francis Collett [18P46] was born at Denver in 1865 after his parents, Henry Pyemont
Collett and Isabella Lamb Frazer had moved to Norfolk from Leicestershire, his
birth recorded at Downham (Market) (Ref. 4b 372) during the second
quarter of 1865. Just two miles south of
Downham Market is the village of Fordham where Henry’s father was the Perpetual
Curate of the Parish of Fordham, who performed the baptism service for his son Henry
on 9th April 1865. The entry in
the parish register stated that Henry Francis Collett had been born on 12th
March 1865, and that the family abode was at Denver, midway between Downham and
Fordham. In his father’s own
handwriting, at the bottom of the same page, was the following note. “I, Henry Pyemont Collett, Perpetual
Curate of the Parish of Fordham in the County of Norfolk, do hereby solemnly
declare that the several writings hereto annexed purporting to be copies of the
several entries contained in the several Register Books of Baptisms and Burials
of the Parish aforesaid from the first day of January 1865 to the thirty-first
day of December 1865, are true copies of all the several entries in the said
several Register Books respectively, from the said first day of January 1865 to
the thirty-first day of December 1865, and that no other entry during such
period is contained in any such Books respectively, which entries are truly
made according to the best of my knowledge and belief.” Signed by H P Collett and counter-signed by
Jermyn Pratt, Church Warden – The only church warden
In the census of 1871, the family was recorded
as living within the Wisbech & Terrington St Clement registration district,
where Henry Francis Collett was six years old.
However, during the next few years the family moved to Hastings on the
south coast. By 1881 Henry F Collett
from Norfolk was still attending school at the age of 16, while he was living
at the family home at 12 Springfield Road in Hastings St Leonards. What happened to Henry after that time has
not yet been discovered, but no record of him has been found in the census
returns for 1891, 1901, and 1911. His
absence may be a result of the fact that he spent some time in his life living
in America and may have been a frequent traveller across the Atlantic
Ocean. Certainly, in 1890 he sailed from
New York to Liverpool on board the SS Servia, when the passenger list described
him as Henry F Collett, aged 25 and an estate agent, a visitor to England. Two years later he made the same crossing,
when Henry F Collett aged 27 was a passenger on the SS Etruria from New York
which arrived at Liverpool during February 1892. On that passenger list his occupation was
stated as being involved in mining
Many years later, the marriage by banns of
Henry Francis Collett and Metabella Robinson Holyoake was recorded at Brentford
register office (Ref. 3a 453) during the quarter of 1925, when there was a
twenty-three difference in their ages, although Henry did not admit that when
providing the details for the wedding register.
It was at Holy Trinity Church in Twickenham that their wedding was
conducted on 21st July 1925, when Henry was a bachelor of 46 (sic)
and a (men’s) outfitter of 47 Southwood Road in New Eltham (within the London
Borough of Greenwich), the son of Henry Collett deceased. His bride was a spinster of 37 and a civil
servant residing at 14 Holmes Road in Twickenham, the daughter of William
Holyoake, a manufacturing stationer. The
birth of Metabella was recorded at Birkenhead (Ref. 8a 506) during the second
quarter of 1888, after which she was baptised at St James’ Church in Birkenhead
on 29th June 1888, the daughter of William and Sarah Holyoake. The 1939 Register identified the couple
residing at 47 Southwood Road in Woolwich, where Henry F Collett as the
proprietor of a drapery store, and Metabella R Collett had been born on 4th
May 1888 and was undertaking unpaid domestic duties. Once again the stated that he was younger
than his real age, when he said he had been born on 5th April
1879. After a marriage lasting nearly
twenty years, Henry Francis Collett died on 2nd May 1945, when he
was described as being of 47 Southwood Road in Eltham – his primary address,
but also of 387 and 389 Footscray Road in Eltham, possibly the work double-fronted
premises for his drapery store. However,
on the day he passed, he was at 25 Egerton Drive, Hale in Cheshire. His Will was proved at Llandudno on 24th
January 1946 to Metabella Robinson Collett, widow, when his estate was valued
at £30,194 9 Shillings and 4 Pence
John
Anthony Collett [18P47] was born at Denver, near Downham on 15th
September 1866, the youngest of the three sons of Henry Pyemont Collett and
Isabella Lamb Frazer. It was at Downham
Market, just north of Denver, where his birth was recorded (Ref. 4b 346) during
the last three months of 1866. He was
five weeks old when he was baptised at Fordham, a mile south of Denver, on 21st
October 1866 by his father, the Perpetual Curate of Fordham. The entry in the parish register also
confirmed his date of birth and the place when the family was living. Once again, the same note written by his
father at the foot of the page for the year 1865, covering the baptism of his
older brother Henry (above), was repeated for the year 1866 – see above. However, during the following year, his
father ended his term of office as the curate for Fordham when, in 1867 he was
attached to the Church of St Mary in Tilney-cum-Islington near King’s Lynn,
where the family was still living in 1871 when, as John Anthony Collett, he was
four years old. It is curious, that
within the next census of 1881, when John A Collett was 13 and attending Norton
House College at Luton in Bedfordshire, that his place of birth was recorded as
Leicester, where certainly his oldest brother had been born. That would simply appear to be an error made on
the part of the college, since his brother Henry was certainly born at Denver
during the previous year and where he was also baptised by his father.
Perhaps for reasons of military service, no
record of John has been located within the census of 1891, but in March 1901 he
was still a bachelor at 34, when living at East Cliff in East Dawlish, Devon at
the home of his widowed mother Isabella, following the death of his father in
1898. On that occasion his mother was
living on her own means, while John from Denver in Norfolk had no stated
occupation but, following the death of his mother at the start of 1910, it was only
John’s eldest brother Edward, together with an unrelated solicitor who were
charged with managing her estate. Now on
his own, John left Dawlish and moved to Bristol, where he was recorded in April
1911, in the Clifton district of the city. John Anthony Collett from Fordham in Norfolk,
was unmarried at the age of 44 and living on private means, which may indicate
that he was perhaps a beneficiary under the terms of his father’s Will, and
maybe even his late mother’s Will.
Visiting John that day was Edward Beales from Cambridge who was 41,
single, and also living on private means.
Ten years later, at the age of 53, the marriage of John Anthony Collett
and Annie Maud Waghorn was recorded at Willesden register office (Ref. 3a 601)
during the second quarter of 1921. Annie
was fourteen years younger than John, her birth recorded at Lewisham in London
(Ref. 1d 1138) early in 1881. The couple
was still together at the time the 1939 Register was compiled, which stated
that John and Annie were living at 57 Egerton Gardens in Hendon, where John was
again living on private means, when Annie was undertaking unpaid domestic
duties. It was during the following year,
when he was 73, that the death of John Anthony Collett was recorded at the
Middlesex Hendon register office (Ref. 3a 906) during the second quarter of
that year. His Will was proved at
Llandudno on 2nd October 1940 to Annie Maud Collett, widow. His personal effects were estimated to be
worth £3,309 18 Shillings and 8 Pence, and the probate document confirmed that
he died on 6th June 1940, when he was residing at 57 Egerton Gardens
in Hendon
Mary Elizabeth Collett [18P48] was born at
Brightwell-cum-Foxhall in Suffolk in 1861 and was baptised there on 19th
May 1861, the eldest of the four children of Charles Keeling Collett and Eliza
Skinner Cole formerly Robinson. Just
like her younger siblings, the birth of Mary Elizabeth Collett was also
recorded at Kensington (Ref. 1a 6) during the first three months of 1861. After the birth of her brother Charles at
Brightwell, the family of four moved to London, firstly settling in Paddington
before living in Kensington, where Mary’s youngest brother was born. On the occasion of the census in 1871 the
three siblings, together with their mother were recorded at 3 Foxley Road in
Kensington, when Mary E Collett was ten years of age and still attending school. Tragically, she was only 18 years of age,
when the death of Mary Elizabeth Collett was recorded at Brentford (Ref. 3a 64)
during the first quarter of 1879. She
was subsequently buried at Perivale on 27th January 1879 when her
abode was recorded as Ealing. It was at
13 Windsor Road in Ealing-with-old-Brentford that her family was living in
1881, having moved there during the 1870s
Charles
Hubert Edgar Collett [18P49] was born at Brightwell-cum-Foxhall on 30th
December 1862, and was baptised there on 12th July 1863, the son of
Charles and Eliza Collett, although his birth was recorded at Kensington in
London (Ref. 1a 18). According to the
census in 1881 Charles Hubert Edgar Collett was born at Paddington in London in
1862. The census return also indicated
that he had followed his father into the world of finance and that, at the age
of 18 years, he was a stockbroker’s clerk working in London while living at the
family home in 13 Windsor Road in Ealing.
Nine years later Charles was in Toronto, where he married widow Mary A
Cutting nee Houghton on 22nd June 1889. She was 35 and the daughter of Cedrus and
Marianne Houghton, who was born at Toledo, Ohio. Charles was described as Charles H E Collett
who was 27, born in England, and intending to live in Toronto after becoming a
married man. He was recorded as being a
mechanic and the son of Charles K Collett and his wife E S Collett. When the Voters Registration document was
compiled on 8th June 1896, Charles Hubert Edgar Collett from England
was 35 and residing at 1512 South Grand Avenue in Los Angeles, California. Just two years later, Charles was reunited
with his brother Percy (below) but unfortunately the two of them ended
up in trouble in Los Angeles when they were charged with burglary (2nd
degree) on 14th January 1898 and sentenced to two years in the California
State Prison. The crime record named
them both with the Collette spelling of their surname and, while Charles’ age
was correct, his brother was said the be eight years younger, rather than the
actual four years between them. Charles’
occupation was that of an artisan at the age of 37. As convict 17587, Charles was discharged early,
on 14th September 1899, the same day as his brother
Charles Hubert Collett, the son of Charles K
Collett, both born in England, mother’s maiden-name unknown, died on 9th
July 1949 at 122 Madison, San Antonio, Bexar County in Texas, where he had
lived for the previous thirteen years.
He was a white, married, male who had been born in London, whose
occupation had something to do with pipe organs and pianos. The information of his death was recorded as
Mrs Virginia Collett, who gave his date of birth incorrectly as 31st
December 1861, when the cause of death was a haemorrhage of the brain
Percy Duque Collett [18P50] was born at Kensington
in London on 31st December 1865, possibly at 3 Foxley Road, after
moving there from Brightwell-cum-Foxhall, where his two older siblings were
born. His birth was recorded at
Kensington (Ref. 1a 87) as simply Percy Collett, during the first three months
of 1866. It was at St Philip’s Church in
Kensington where he was baptised on 15th August 1866, the youngest son
and penultimate child of Charles Keeling Collett, gentleman, and his wife Eliza
Skinner Cole of 3 Foxley Road in Kensington.
At the age of five years, and again simply as Percy Collett, he and his
siblings were still living at 3 Foxley Road in Kensington, with his father
absent that day for some reason. His
older brother Charles (above) was married in Toronto in the summer of
1889 and five years later Percy sailed across the Atlantic to join his brother
in America. From London, he first
travelled north to Liverpool where he went on board the sailing ship Umbria on
13th October 1894 for the 32-day journey to New York. It was as Percy D Collett that his name was
on the passenger list when he gave an incorrect age and occupation, which was
recorded as 31 and a farmer. The two brothers
were reunited in Los Angeles where they were later charged with burglary and
sentenced to two years in the California State Prison commencing on 14th
January 1898. On being sentenced, Percy
Collette (sic) from England said he was twenty-nine instead of 32, and a
salesman. In the end the brothers were
released three months early, being discharged on 14th September 1899
The 12th June 1900 was the US Census
day, which recorded Percy Collett residing in Los Angeles where he was a
servant employed as a coachman, whose date of birth was 31st
December 1865. The same census return
stated that he had been living in America for three years, during which he had
not had one month when he was unemployed
Mabel Catharine Collett [18P51] was born at 3 Foxley
Road in Kensington in 1871, where she was baptised at St Matthew’s Church on 31st
July 1871, the last child born to Charles and Eliza Collett. As with all of her three older siblings, her
birth was also recorded at Kensington (Ref. 1a 117) during the second quarter
of 1871. Ten years later neither Mabel
or her older sister Mary (above) were living with their parents. Instead, nine-year-old Mabel Collett from
Kensington was a boarder at 41 Breakspear Road in St Paul Deptford, South
London, the home of Fanny B MacLean, a 65-year-old spinster and a school
mistress from London. Mabel was one of
just three girls at the property where, presumably, they were being
educated. Mabel’s father died in 1882
and after a further nine years, she living with her widowed mother at
Kensington in 1891, at the age of 19. Just
over two years after that census day, the marriage of Mabel Catharine Collett and
Edward Laing-Meason was recorded at Paddington (Ref. 1a 163) during the last
three months of 1893. Edward was 23
years old, his birth recorded at Poplar (Ref. 1c 695) during the last quarter
of 1870. By 1901, Mabel was again living
with her mother but at 43 Richmond Gardens in Hammersmith. On that day she was recorded as Mabel
Laing-Meason from Kensington who was married and 29 years old, the mother of Gregor
Laing-Meason from Clapton who was six years of age. Where her younger son was that day remains a
mystery. It was a similar situation in
1911, except that Mabel had both sons with her who, with her mother Eliza, had
moved to South Place in Kensington, when the four members of the family were
recorded in the census that year. Her
widowed mother was the head of the household, when Mabel Catharine Laing-Meason
was 39 and had been married for 17 years, during which time she had given birth
to two sons who were living with her that day.
They were Edward Hugh Gregor Laing-Meason born at Clapton, and Gilbert
George Nigel Laing-Meason born at West Kensington, both of them employed as
pages at a local London hotel
It was in September the following year that
Mabel and her youngest son travel from London to Southampton, where they
boarded the American Line ship the SS Philadelphia bound for New York. The seventeen-day journey start on 14th
September 1912, the passenger list including Mabel Laing-Meason who was 41 and
a wife, and Gilbert Laing-Meason who was 16 and a porter. On arrival in New York, the Manifest of Alien
Passengers recorded a slightly different picture, insofar as placing a W in the
column for marital status against Mabel’s name, rather than M, and under
occupation she was described as a housekeeper.
The pair of them were from London England, while the name and full
address of the nearest relative or friend, in their home country, was Mrs
Collett, an aunt, of 21 Cavendish Place, Brondesbury, North-West London. Two months later, Mabel’s eldest son was on
the SS Philadelphia sailing out of Southampton, to be reunited in America with
his mother and brother. The passenger
list recorded Edward Laing-Meason as being 19 and a clerk, with the
corresponding Alien Manifest saying that he was a lift attendant, whose
ultimate destination was Tracy City, San Joaquin County, California, the same
place as his mother and brother. The
name and full address of a relative or friend in England was Mrs Laing-Meason, Harleyford
Road, Vauxhall, South-East London
Anthony Keeling
Collett [18P52] was
born at Cromhall near Wootton-under-Edge on 22nd August 1877, the
eldest son of the Reverend William Michael Collett and Alice Burnett. His birth was recorded at Thornbury (Ref. 6a
217). At the age of two months, he was
baptised at Cromhall on 28th October 1877, the service conducted by
his father, the Rector of Cromhall. He
was three years old in the census of 1881 when he was living with his family at
The Rectory in Cromhall. Ten years
later, and following the apparent separation of his parents, Anthony was 13
years of age when he was living with his married mother at Claremont Crescent
in Weston-sure-Mare. He was educated at
Bradfield College in Berkshire and, on 26th January 1896, was an
elected scholar at Oriel College in Oxford on payment of £10. It was at Oriel College where he matriculated
on 22nd October 1896. Two
years later in 1898, he obtained a Third Class in Classical Moderations and,
after a further two years, a Second Class in Final Classical School in 1900. 1900 was also the year he was made Bishop
Fraser’s Scholar. During that period in
his life, he also attended the University of Berlin. The following year Anthony was 23 and was
living at Theale in Berkshire where he was working as a journalist. Following that he worked for The Globe and,
four years later in 1905, he was on the staff of the St James’ Gazette. He was later employed by the magazine County
Gentleman and that was followed by over twenty years writing for The
Times. He was initially a writer on
nature, but held the position of leader writer from 1908 to 1922. According to the London census conducted in
1911, Anthony Collett was 33, single, and a journalist, who was living as a
boarder in the Lincoln’s Inn area of the city
He lived most of his adult life in London, but
travelled to Italy, Wales and Scotland.
During the First World War he enlisted as a private with the Post Office
Rifles. After gaining a commission,
Anthony saw active service in France where he was involved in the battle at
Vimy Ridge. Following an injury, he was
invalided back to England and spent the last part of the war in the Historical Section
of the War Office. His love of nature
lead to him writing a number of books on the subject. In May 1920 Anthony Keeling Collett, a
journalist, was granted permission through the probate service to settle the
Will of his aunt Bertha Emily Wright near Collett, the older sister of his
father, who died in hospital in Felixstowe earlier that year. He never married and it was on 22nd
August 1929 that Anthony Keeling Collett died of a wasting illness, while
attending a London nursing home. The
death of Anthony K Collett was recorded at Kensington register office (Ref. 1a
121) at the age of 52. The proving of
his Will contained the following details; that he was Anthony Keeling Collett
of The Oxford & Cambridge Club in Pall Mall, London, whose place of
residence was 5 Collingham Gardens in Earls Court, London. Probate was granted in London on 3rd
October 1929 to Christopher Edward Nicholl, a schoolmaster, and George Sidney
Freeman, a journalist, the executors of his estate of £3,074 10 Shillings and 9
Pence
John
Colet Collett [18P53] was born at Cromhall on 30th August 1880, the
youngest of the two sons of the Reverend William Michael Collett and Alice
Burnett, His birth was recorded at Thornbury (Ref. 6a 212). In 1891, at the age of ten years, John C
Collett was at school in Oxford, where he was a boarder at Bevington Road. From 1893 to 1897 he was educated at Rossall
School in Fleetwood, near Blackpool, following which he became a student
studying civil engineering at Heysham.
That situation was confirmed in the census of 1901, in which he was
listed as being from Cromhall, aged 20 years, and a civil engineering student,
whilst being a boarder at the home of the Elliott family in Heysham, near
Lancaster. Ten years later, he was again
living with his mother, but at Rugby in Warwickshire, when John Colet Collett
from Cromhall was 30 and a civil engineer.
He was known within the family as Jack Collett and worked as a railway
engineer, his work taking him to Russia and China in the early years of the
twentieth century. It was during the
first three months of 1914 that the marriage of John Colet Collett and Ellen
O’Brien, was recorded at Kensington register office (Ref. 1a 202), although
they never had any children. On one of
his many overseas outings, the passenger list named his travelling companion as
Ellen Collett. On that occasion in 1931,
John Collett, an engineer of 51, and Ellen Collett who was 46, arrived in the
Port of London on the ship Highland Chief, which had sailed from River Plate in
South America. Their intended forward address
was given as 49 Grosvenor Street in London W1, while their last country of
permanent residence was given as Uruguay.
Their long sea voyage had been in a First-Class cabin. Eight years later, the 1939 Register included
John and Ellen living at Leigh Court, Sans Lane, within the Tisbury & Mere
district of Wiltshire. John C Collett
was a civil engineer at the age of 59, when Ellen Collett was 54, her date of
birth confirmed as 25th March 1885.
On that day, the couple’s domestic cook was originally named as Maud H
Collett born on 22nd March 1881 and a married, which has been
amended to Maud H Ceaton, a widow
At some time in their life, John (Jack) Collett
purchased a villa at Rapallo in Italy, and he and his wife spent much of the
latter part of their life together. The
property was also part of his estate at the time he passed away. John Colet Collett died on 24th
July 1960 at Via Privata Ghizolfo, 22 Rapallo in Italy, his wife having already
died by then. Probate of his personal
effects amounting to £46,958 4 Shillings and 8 Pence was handled by the
National Provincial Bank Limited at their Lincolns Inn Branch in Carey Street,
London WC2. His Will was proved at
Bristol on 10th October at which time the executors of his estate
were named as Francis Stephen Perry, a medical practitioner, and Margaret Clare
Monk, the wife of Christopher William Monk.
Under the terms of his Will his estate was divided between just three
individuals, one of them being his nephew, the aforementioned Francis Stephen
Perry. As a result, many of the antiques
and personal possessions of John Colet Collett were passed to his nephew, one
of which was an embroidered silk wallet containing his passport and the
visiting card of the Viceroy of Canton.
The passport was issued by the Foreign Office in London on 25th
January 1912, at which time John Colet Collett was 31 and a civil engineer
travelling to Russia. The many different
hand stamps clearly demonstrate that he travelled a great deal during 1912 and
1913
Ada
Wright [18P54] was born on 8th
August 1884 at 2 Craven’s Terrace off Albert Street in Kingston-upon-Hull, her
birth recorded at Sculcoates (Hull) during the third quarter of that
year (Ref. 9d 161). She married Walter
Benson on 27th July 1907, the event recorded at the Monmouthshire Newport
register office (Ref. 11a 468). Walter
was the son of Thomas Boulton Benson and Selina Stanton Mumby and was born on
29th November 1885. Once they
were married Ada and Walter moved to Scotland and it was while they were in
Glasgow that their first child was born.
Shortly after the family of three moved to 11 Walton Road in Blackley,
just north of Manchester, where they were living in 1911. By the time three of their children were
baptised together on 21st August 1912, the family of musician Walter
Benson, and his wife Ada, were living at 34 Turkey Lane, Queens Park in
Manchester, where the couple’s last two children were born. It was Walter’s work as a musician that
eventually was the cause of his death.
Tragically, on 6th October 1926, while working as a musical
director for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), he was killed in a
motorcycle accident in Aberdeen where he was buried. Ada remained living in the Harpurhey area of
Manchester, just north-east of Queens Park, after her husband’s death and,
twenty-five years later, it was there that she passed away on 18th
May 1951 aged 66
18Q24 – Selina Benson was born in 1908 at Glasgow
18Q25 – Ernest Walter Benson was born in 1910 at Blackley,
Manchester
18Q26 – Francis William Benson (twin) was born in 1912
at Queens Park, Manchester
18Q27 – Edna Maria Benson was born in 1912 at
Queens Park, Manchester
18Q28 – Hector Benson was born in 1913 at
Queens Park, Manchester
18Q29 – Myra Benson was born in 1917 at
Queens Park, Manchester
Florence
Mary Collett [18P65] was
born at Edmondsley near Chester-le-Street in County Durham on 28th
October 1874, the eldest child of Charles Collett and Elizabeth Alice Field who
were married in Lowestoft, Suffolk, during the first three months of that same
year. The birth of Florence Mary Collett
was recorded at Chester-le-Street (Ref. 10a 596) during the last three months
of 1874. Not long after she was born her
parents moved to Sunderland, but by 1881 the family was living at 4 Johnsons
Place in the Holy Trinity district of Hull, where Florence was recorded as
being six years old. They were only at
Hull for a short while, as the family finally settled in Ipswich where they
were living at the time of the census in 1891.
However, by that time Florence had already left the family home and was living at 53 Lordship Park in Stoke Newington, where she was employed as
a general servant to Otto Schallert, a journalist editor who was born in
Germany, and his wife Barbara from Essex.
Five
years later, on 1st July 1896, the marriage of Florence Mary Collett
and widower James Johnson, aged 35, took place at St Giles Church in
Mountnessing in Essex, within the Borough of Brentwood, when Florence was 23
and confirmed as the daughter of Charles Collett. It was at Billericay register office in Essex
that the event was recorded (Ref. 4a 697), following which Florence gave birth
to six children up to 1910, who were all born at Chelmsford in Essex, and they
were Charles Thomas Johnson (born 1898), Frederick Edward Johnson
(born 1899), Annie May Johnson (born 1901), William Henry Johnson
(born 1904), Elizabeth Mabel Johnson (born 1907), and Florence Lydia
Johnson who was born in 1910.
By
the time of the census in 1901 Florence and her husband James were living at
Friars Place in New London, within the Moulsham area of Chelmsford, with four
children; Albert Ernest Johnson, aged 14 who was James’ son by his first wife
Annie Sophie Jacobs (1863-1893), Charles Johnson who was three, Frederick
Johnson who was two, and Annie Johnson who was just five months old. Both James and his eldest son were coach
painters. It would appear that, after
the birth of their sixth child, the family moved the very short distance to 4
Spains Croft, The Chase in Widford, just outside Chelmsford, where they were
living in April 1911. With Florence and
James on that occasion were five of their six.
They were Charles who was 13, Frederick who was 12, William who was
seven, Elizabeth Mabel who was four, and Florence Lydia who was one year old. James Johnson was still a coach painter, but
by that time, he was working on his own account. Their missing eldest daughter Annie May was
staying at her grandparents' house in Ipswich, where she was recorded simply as May Johnson, who was
ten years old
According
to the 1939 Register, James Johnson was an old-age pensioner aged 78, and his
wife Florence Mary Johnson was 64 and undertaking unpaid domestic duties, when
they were living at 3 Queen Street in Chelmsford. James’ date of birth was recorded as 27th
August 1861, recorded at Chelmsford (Ref. 4a 146), and Florence’s as 28th
October 1875 (sic). Staying with the
couple was a childless young married couple, Edward Ratcliffe who was 28 and a
master motor engineer, and Ratcliffe who was 25 and undertaking unpaid domestic
duties. Three years later, the death of
James Johnson was recorded at Chelmsford register office (Ref. 4a 481) during
the second quarter of 1942, at the age of 80.
Many years later, the death of Florence Mary Johnson, nee Collett, was
recorded at Epping register office (Ref. 4a 1641) during the third quarter of
1971, when she was 96, her date of birth confirmed (correctly) as 28th
October 1874
Elizabeth
Honor Collett [18P66] was born at Sunderland in 1876, where her birth was
recorded (Ref. 10a 614) during the fourth quarter of that year. By 1881 Elizabeth H Collett from Sunderland
was four years old when she and her family were living at 4 Johnsons Place in
the Holy Trinity district of Hull, before the family moved to Ipswich, where
they were living in 1891, at Vine Cottage on St Georges Street. At that time in her life, she had left school
and was 14 and a mother’s helper. It was
nine years later that she married William Hallows at Islington in London,
William having been born at Romford in Essex (Ref. 4a 194) during the fourth
quarter of 1877, their wedding day recorded at Islington register office (Ref.
1b 621) during the third quarter of 1899.
The wedding ceremony was conducted at Islington’s St Andrew’s Church on
27th August 1899, following the reading of banns, when the groom was
21, a coach painter, living at 82 Offord Road, and the son of William Hallows
deceased, a former cellarman. The bride
was 22 and of 44 Elkington Street, the daughter of Charles Collett, a
blacksmith. In
March 1901 Elizabeth and her husband were living in Romford with their first
child, William Henry Hallows, who was only two months old, his birth
recorded at Romford register office (Ref. 4a 553). Three weeks prior to that census day, William
Henry Hallows was baptised at St Edward the Confessor Church in Romford on 10th
March 1901. Five years after that happy
day, the death of William Henry Hallows was recorded at Camberwell register
office (Ref. 1d 490) during the last three months of 1906. Over the next decade Elizabeth presented
William with three more children, but sadly only one of their four children
survived. By March 1911 Elizabeth, aged 34, and her husband William, aged 33, were still living
in the Camberwell area of London. They
were described as having been married for twelve years, during which time they
had given birth to four children although only one of them was still
alive. That was Walter Hallows
who was two years old, who had been born at Camberwell.
The
next of their children not to survive was Cyril Joseph Hallows, who was
born at Romford during the first quarter of 1903 (Ref. 4a 583), whose death was
recorded there (Ref. 4a 261) during that same quarter of 1903, after which he
was buried at the Church of St-Mary-the-Virgin in Great Ilford on 21st
January 1903. Nearly two years later the
couple’s fourth was born, with the birth of Charles Frederick Hallows
recorded at Camberwell register office (Ref. 1d 846) during the last three
months of 1904, who was baptised at St Edward the Confessor in Romford on 21st
April 1905 and confirmed as another child of William and Elizabeth Honor
Hallows. He was two years of age when he
died, his death recorded at Camberwell
(Ref. 1d 498) during the last quarter of 1906. Despite what was recorded in the census return
for 1911, the couple’s fifth child Irene Elizabeth Hallows was born at Romford
in 1908. It was on 7th
December 1937 in his home at Maple View, 25 Beech Street,
Romford in Essex, that William Hallows died at the age of 60, following which
probate was granted in favour of his widow Elizabeth Honor Hallows for his personal
effects valued at £913 17 Shillings and 3 Pence. Elizabeth Honor Hallows nee Collett outlived
her husband by twenty-seven years, when she passed away on 24th
August 1964, her death recorded at Romford register office (Ref. 5a 319). At the time of her death Elizabeth’s home was
at 11 Vine
Street in Romford, although it was at Hainault Lodge in Hainault, Essex where
she died. Administration of her personal
effects of £3,360 was granted to her son Walter Hallows, a sign writer
The birth of the only surviving child, Walter
Hallows, was recorded at Camberwell register office (Ref. 1d 838) during the first
quarter of 1909, and was baptised at Camden Church in Camberwell on 24th
March 1909. The parish register also
confirmed that he was born on 28th February 1909 and was the son of coach
painter William Hallows and his wife Elizabeth Hallows of 7 Wells Place in
Camberwell. Five
years before his father passed away Walter Hallows married Ann Charlotte
Stanton, their wedding recorded at Romford register office (Ref. 4a 1112)
during the fourth quarter of 1932, with whom he had three children who were all
born at Romford. They were Brian D
Hallows (born 1933), Ann Hallows (born 1935) and Patrick Hallows (born 1939). Walter Hallows was 88 when died, with his
death recorded at Thurrock register office in Essex (Ref. a29a 167) during
January 1998
Charles
Frederick W Collett [18P67] was born at Sunderland on 10th May 1879,
with his birth recorded after his parents had settled in Kingston-upon-Hull
(Ref. 9d 283) during the second quarter of that year. Two years later he and his family were living
in the Holy Trinity district of Hull at 4 Johnsons Place. In 1890 the family had returned to their
Suffolk roots and was living at Vine Cottage in St George’s Ipswich. Ten years later Charles, at the age of 21,
was still living with his family in the St Margaret’s area of Ipswich where he
was working as a coach painter. It was
just over two years after that census day when the marriage of Charles Frederick
W Collett and Emma Matilda Woodward was recorded at Ipswich register office (Ref.
4a 1987) during the final quarter of 1903. His wife Emma was born at Sproughton, to the
west of Ipswich, on 30th April 1878, her birth recorded at Samford
(Ref. 4a 680). After they were married,
the couple lived at 316 Foxhall Road in Ipswich,
where their only known child was born, and where the family of three was
residing in April 1911. By that time in
his life Charles from Sunderland was 31 and a coach builder and a blacksmith. His wife of seven years Emma from Sproughton was
32, while their daughter Elizabeth Collett was only seven months old, described
as the couple’s only child. However,
Elizabeth was not their only child, with two more children added to the family
at Ipswich over the next four years, although the first of them died shortly
after he was born
The birth of the couple’s first son was
recorded at Ipswich register office (Ref. 4a 1922) during the four quarter of
1912, when the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Woodward. The subsequent death of Charles Frederick
Collett was also recorded there during that same three-month period (Ref. 4a
1074). A little over two years after
suffering that loss, Emma gave birth to another son, whose birth was also
recorded at Ipswich register office (Ref. 4a 1915) during the second quarter of
1915, when the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Woodward. The registering o his birth happened after he
was baptised at Ipswich on 4th March 1915. With their daughter married during the
mid-1930s, the 1939 Register recorded the three remaining members of the family
living at 654 Woodbridge Road in Ipswich.
They were Charles F Collett who said he was 62 (when he was actually 60)
and still working as a painter, Emma Collett who was 61 and undertaking unpaid
duties, and Temple C Collett who was 24 and a hospital porter, who was shown to
have been born on the same day that he was baptised. The later death of Charles F Collett was
recorded at Ipswich register office (Ref. 4b 827) during the third quarter of
1966, when his age was incorrectly recorded as 89
18Q30 – Elizabeth May Collett was born in 1910 at Ipswich
18Q31 – Charles Frederick Collett was born in
1912 at Ipswich; died there in 1912
18Q32 – Temple Charles
Collett was born in 1915 at
Ipswich
Maria
Collett [18P68] was
born at 4 Johnsons Place in Kingston-upon-Hull in 1881, her birth recorded at
Hull (Ref. 9d 256) during the fourth quarter of the year, following which she
was baptised at the Church of St Luke in Hull on 9th October 1881. She was the youngest of the four children of
Charles Collett of Halesworth and his wife Elizabeth Alice Field. Not long after she was born her parents left
Hull and returned to Suffolk and by 1891, the family was residing at Vine
Cottage, St Georges Street in Ipswich, where Maria Collett was nine years
old. Tragically, Maria Collett was just
19 years old when she died at Britannia Road in Ipswich on 15th
November 1900, following which she was buried at St Margaret’s Church in
Ipswich on 20th November 1900.
Her death was record at Ipswich register office (Ref. 4a 532)
Frederick William Collett [18P69] was born at Leeds in
1890, where his birth was recorded as Frederick William Collett Mallinson (Ref.
9b 553) during the first three months of the year. His mother was Maria Alice Mallinson, a
waitress and a married lady who was separated from her husband, and bachelor
William Collett a waiter from Halesworth in Suffolk. He was one year old in the census of 1891
when he was at the home of William Collett at 5 Clare Road in Leeds together
with his mother and his three older Mallinson half-siblings, Ellen, Henry and
Samuel. After a further ten years, and
as Fred Mallinson, he was 11 years of age and still living at the home of
waiter William Collett which, by 1901 was at 1 Belmont Road in Harrogate where
Fred then had an eleven-month-old baby sister Marjorie Collett (below). Following the death of his mother’s estranged
husband Samuel Mallinson in 1907, his father married his mother, and it was
with them at 3 Cheltenham Parade in Lower Harrogate that 21-year-old Frederick
William Collett was living in 1911, when he was described as a musical student
from Leeds. No further record of
Frederick William Collett has been found after 1911
Marjorie Collett [18P70] was born at Harrogate in
1900, the daughter of Mrs Maria Alice Mallinson and bachelor Frederick Collett,
and was eleven months old in the Harrogate census of 1901. Her mother was made a widow in 1907, from when
she was known as Maria Alice Collett, with whom she was living with her father
and older brother Fred (above) at 3 Cheltenham
Parade in Harrogate in 1911, where her father died in 1921. Whether a coincidence or not, a married woman
by the name of Marjorie Mallinson, a house wife who was born in England in 1900
and was 47 years old on 31st July 1947 when she sailed from
Southampton on board HMS Queen Mary of the Cunard White Star Line bound for New
York
William
Collett [18P71] was
born at Mettingham towards the end of 1846 and within six months of the
marriage of his parents. The birth of
William Collett was recorded at Wangford (Ref. xiii 329) during the last year
of the year. No baptism has been found
but tragically he died when he was two years old and was buried at Mettingham
on 24th December 1848, the eldest child of William Collett and his
wife Mary Ann Bradnum
Maud
Matilda Collett [18P72] was born at Mettingham at the end of 1847, her birth being
recorded at Wangford (Ref. xiii 520) as simply Matilda Collett during the first
quarter of the following year. She was
the eldest surviving child of William Collett of Mettingham and Mary Ann
Bradnum of Kirby Cane. She was three
years old in the census of 1851 when she was one of only two children living at
Mettingham with her parents. The second
child was her sister Harriet (below), and not her brother Benjamin who was
older than Harriet. Upon leaving the
village school in Mettingham it would appear that it was arranged for Matilda
to enter domestic service with the Boggis family at Home Farm in Gorleston. That was confirmed by the census in 1861
which placed Matilda Collett, aged 13 and from Mettingham, as a servant to
James and Charlotte Boggis. Home Farm
was 200 acres and James Boggis employed eight men and two boys to help him
manage the land. It would also appear
that the Boggis family had only moved to Gorleston three or four years earlier,
since the two eldest children had been born at Kirby Cane, where Matilda’s
mother was born. So, it is likely it was
through that connection that Matilda was taken on by the family. Within the next ten years Matilda made her
way to London and by 1871 she was working in domestic service at the home of
‘factor of paper hangings’ Charles Weedon and his wife Maria at 323 Caledonian
Road in Islington. It also seems very
likely that she secured work for her two younger sisters, since they were both
working together in Islington by 1881.
In July 1876, Maud Matilda Collett was one of the witnesses at the Burgh
Castle wedding of her younger brother Joseph Collett (below), when their
brother Benjamin Collett was the other witness
According to the census of 1881 Matilda was
still a spinster at the age of 34, when she was still working as a domestic
servant for Charles Weedon, but at 13 Thornhill Square in Islington. Her place of birth was confirmed as
Mettingham. It was also around that time
in her life that Matilda became pregnant by a so far unknown gentleman, the
child being born at Gorleston later that same year. Following the birth of her son Matilda
returned to live with her parents who, in 1891, were living in Porter’s Lane in
Burgh Castle. Matilda Collett from
Mettingham was 44 and was working as a charwoman. The only other occupant at her parents’ home
was George J Collett, aged nine years and from Gorleston, who was described as
the grandson to head of the household William Collett. However, just a few months prior to the next
census in 1901 Matilda’s son, aged around 19, must have died by some means, since
his death was recorded at Yarmouth during the last quarter of 1900. So the census in the following March listed just
unmarried Matilda Collett, aged 54 and from Mettingham, as continuing to work
as a charwoman, while a servant at the home of farmer John H Chapman and his
wife Susan at St Johns Road in Belton Entire in the parish of All Saints, just
one dwelling from the Kings Head Inn. By
the time of the census of 1911, Matilda Collett from Mettingham was still
living and working at the home of the Chapman family in Belton. At that time Matilda was 65, while Susan
Chapman, aged 69, was a widow and had living with her, her daughter Beatrice
Chapman who was 35. It was during the
first three months of 1925 that Matilda Collett died at the age of 77, her
death being recorded at Stow register office (Ref. 4a 1070) near Bury-St-Edmunds
18Q33 – George James Collett was born in 1881 at
Gorleston
Emma
Collett [18P73] was
born at Mettingham on 14th September 1848, where she was buried
three days later on 17th September 1848. It is understood that she was the daughter of
William Collett and Mary Ann Bradnum, her birth recorded at Wangford (Ref. xiii
515) during the third quarter of the year, where her death was also recorded
during that same three-month period (Ref. xiii 319)
Charlotte
Collett [18P74] was born at Mettingham in 1849, her birth recorded at Wangford
(Ref. xiii 549) during first three months of the year, another daughter of
William Collett and Mary Ann Bradnum. Curiously
though, and the same as her brother Benjamin (below), she was not
recorded living with her family in the Mettingham census of 1851. By 1861, at the age of 12, niece Charlotte
Collett from Mettingham was already working as a maid-servant at the Burgh
Castle home of her uncle and aunt James Bradnum, aged 24 and a market gardener
and his wife Mary 25 with whom, interestingly, her eldest daughter Louisa
Elizabeth Jackson was living but at Gorleston High Street in 1891, when she was
19 and a shop assistant employed by fruiter James Bradnum. Charlotte was still living in that same area
ten years later, as confirmed by the Mutford & Gorleston census of 1871,
when she was recorded as Charlotte Collett, aged 22. Just over three weeks after the census day,
Charlotte married John William Jackson at Burgh Castle on 25th April
1871, the event recorded at Mutford (Ref. 4a 1085). John had been born at Reedham in 1842, the
son of agricultural labourer James Jackson and his wife Mary Ann Sales. Four year later Charlotte’s brother William
Collett (below) married John’s sister Elizabeth Jackson
During the following decade Charlotte presented
John with six children. The first three
were born while they were living at Somerleyton in Suffolk, while the second
three were born after the family had settled in the village of Cantley in
Norfolk, where they were living at the time of the census in 1881. John Jackson, aged 39, was a plate-layer
working on the railway which passed through Cantley, his wife Charlotte was 33
and from Mettingham, and their six children were Louisa Elizabeth Jackson
who was nine, Matilda Jackson who was seven, Sarah Anna Jackson
who was six, James William Jackson who was four, Dinah Jackson
who was three, and Kate Jackson who was one year old. Two further children were added to the family
at Cantley during the following five years, but by 1891 two of the couple’s
older children had left home by then.
The family recorded at Church Road in Cantley for the census of 1891
comprised John 50 and a plate-layer on the railway, Charlotte 43, Matilda 17,
James 14, Dinah 13, Kate 11, Alice Jackson who was eight, and Violet
Jackson who was four years old. It
is of some significance that Charlotte’s daughter Sarah Anna Jackson married Thomas William Collett [18Q48] at
Yarmouth in 1898, he being the son of Charlotte’s brother William Collett (below)
By 1901, Charlotte Jackson was earning a living
as a monthly sick nurse and, on the day of the census that year, she was at
Cantley midway between Norwich and Great Yarmouth. It was at the home of the large family of
shopkeeper, grocer, butcher, and draper, Bernard England and his wife Julie,
that Charlotte from Mettingham was recorded as being 52 and living at 79 School
Road in Cantley, where she was looking after the family’s one-month-old
daughter Adelaide B England. After a
further ten years, Charlotte and her husband were together again, when they
were residing at Cantley in a two-roomed dwelling. On that day John Jackson from Reedham in
Norfolk was 68 and employed as a farm labourer, said to be working at home, and
Charlotte Jackson from Mettingham in Suffolk was gave her age as being 65
(sic), when she was 62. The census
return also confirmed that they had been married for 41 years, during which
time they had given birth to a total of ten children, seven of whom were still alive. Fourteen years later, John William Jackson
died in 1925, his death recorded at in Norfolk near Cantley at Blofield
register office (Ref. 4b 262) during the first quarter of the year, when he was
80 years old. Having lost her husband,
Charlotte moved further north in Norfolk and it was at Smallburgh register
office, near Barton Broad, where the death of Charlotte Jackson nee Collett was
recorded (Ref. 4b 56) during the second quarter of 1935, at the age of 86
Only eight of the couple’s ten children
appeared in the various census returns and are listed above. The first of the two missing children is now
known to be William Jackson who was born at Cantley and baptised there at St
Margaret’s Church on 29th April 1883. Tragically, he was just over
two-and-a-half-years-old when he died and, on being buried at St Margaret’s
Church on 17th November 1885, his name was recorded at William John
Jackson. The second of the two missing
children was Ethel Esther Jackson who was born at Cantley and baptised at St
Margaret’s Church on 31st May 1885 when she was around two months
old. Sadly, Ethel was just eight months
old when she was buried there, with her brother William, on 17th
November that same year. Both of them
were credited as being the children of railway labourer John Jackson and his
wife Charlotte. All of the couple’s
other eight children were also baptised at Cantley, even though the baptism of
first three girls was delayed for a few years, until they had decided to make
their home there
Benjamin
Collett [18P75] was
born at Mettingham in early 1850, the second surviving child and eldest son of
William Collett and Mary Ann Bradnum.
The birth was registered at Wangford (Ref. xiii 559) during the second
quarter of 1850. He was not listed with
his family at the time of the census a year later in 1851, when he was one-year-old
and was staying at the home of his maternal grandparents Joseph Bradnum, market
gardener, and his wife Dina Bradnum. He
was however, recorded with his own family in 1861, when he was 11 years old. By the time of the next census in 1871, he
had already moved out of his parent’s home, which by then was at Burgh Castle
near Great Yarmouth. At that time in his
life he was a seaman on board the fishing boat ‘Royal Oak’. Two years later Benjamin married Emily Turvey
Pearson at Burgh Castle on 30th April 1873, the event being recorded
at Mutford Registration District during the second quarter of 1873. Emily was born at Burgh Castle, where she was
baptised on 13th June 1852, the daughter of agricultural labourer
James Pearson and his wife Mary Ann, her birth recorded at Mutford during the
second quarter of 1852. Benjamin Collett
was also a witness at the marriage of his younger brother Joseph (below)
who was married at Burgh Castle in July 1876, together with sister Maud Matilda
Collett as another witness. During the
following years Emily presented Benjamin with six children, four of them born
before the next census in 1881, although the youngest of the three died just
two weeks before the census day.
According to the census that year, Benjamin Collett, aged 30 and a
fisherman from Mettingham, was living with his family at 12 Manor House in
Burgh Castle. On that occasion he was
the third hand on board the fishing boat ‘Allah’. His wife Emily was 28, and their three
surviving children were Selina Collett, who was six, George Collett, who was
three, and Jessie Collett who was two years old, all three of them having been
born at Burgh Castle. Also living with
the family was Emily’s widowed mother Mary Ann Pearson aged 63 of Norwich
Just less than two years later, 33-year-old
Benjamin Collett suffered a fatal accident when he reported as a merchant
marine who was lost at sea on 26th January 1883. On that fateful day, there were six men on
the fishing boat ‘Water Witch’, none of whom survived. Eight years after being widowed, Emily was
still living in a dwelling on the High Road (High Street) at Burgh Castle, when
the family was recorded as Emily J Collett who was 38 and the head of the
household and a laundress, her son George W Collett who was 13, Jessie Collett
who was 12, and Louis Collett who nine years old. Ten years later it was only Emily, aged 48,
who was living at Holly Cottage on the High Street at Burgh Castle, with just
her youngest child. Louis Collett was
18, and was not credited with an occupation, whereas his mother was described
as a washer and laundress on that occasion.
After a few more years Emily’s son Louis was married and started a
family of his own. However, by April
1911, Louis and his wife, and their two daughters, were still living on the
High Street at Burgh Castle, and still living there with them was his mother
Emily who was 58. By that time in her
life, her eldest child, and only daughter Selina, had been married for over ten
years who, with her husband and their two daughters had emigrated to Canada in
1906. So when Selina suggested that her
mother joined her there, it was an offer that she could not refuse
18Q34 – Selina Margaret Collett was born in 1874 at
Burgh Castle
18Q35 – George William Collett was born in 1877 at
Burgh Castle
18Q36 – Jesse Benjamin Collett was born in 1878 at
Burgh Castle
18Q37 – Arthur Herbert Collett was born in 1881 at
Burgh Castle
18Q38 – Louis Arthur Collett was born in 1882 at
Burgh Castle
Harriet
Collett [18P76] was
born at Mettingham in early 1851 and her birth was recorded at Wangford (Ref.
xiii 571) during the first quarter of that year. Furthermore, she was only a few weeks old by
the time of the census at the end of March in 1851, when she was living at
Mettingham with her parents and her older sister Matilda (above). In the next census of 1861 Harriet, aged 10,
was still living at Mettingham with her large family. However, sometime between 1866 and 1870
Harriet and her family left Mettingham, when they moved nearer to Great
Yarmouth, to settle at Burgh Castle.
With the family having twelve children, there may well have been an
over-crowding issue in the new Collett household which prompted the older
members to leave. Certainly, by the time
of the census in 1871, Harriet, aged 19, and her younger sister Sarah (below)
were living within the Yarmouth Southern district of the town. By that time both girls had entered into
world of domestic service.
Ten years later Harriet was still unmarried at
the age of 29, but by then she was a domestic servant at the north London home
of George Pavely and his wife Mary.
George was a wholesale bookbinder employing 100 hands, while living at
132 Queens Road in Hornsey, Middlesex.
It is possible that Harriet never married because in the census of 1901,
at the age of 50, she was still working for the George Pavely at his home in
the St Pancras area of London. How long
she worked for the Pavely family is not known, but in April 1911 she was
employed as a domestic cook at the home of elderly Thomas Edmund Oldacre and
his even older wife Jane. Unmarried
Harriet Collett was 56 and was one of eight people listed at the dwelling at 7
Hillmarton Road in Islington, North London, while her place of birth was
incorrectly recorded as Bungay in Suffolk.
It was just over seven years later that Harriet Collett died at
Islington, where her death was recorded during the third quarter of 1918 (Ref.
1b 232), after which she was buried at Islington on 1st October 1918
Joseph
Collett [18P77] was
born at Mettingham at the start of 1852, with his birth recorded at Wangford (Ref.
4a 665) during the first three months of that year. He was nine years old in the Mettingham
census of 1861 when he was still living there with his family. During the last years of that decade his
parents, William and Mary Ann Collett, took the family to live at Burgh Castle
where Joseph, aged 18, was living and working in 1871. However, on that occasion he was a fisherman
living at Bull Way in Burgh Castle, at the home of journeyman tile-maker Thomas
Stannard and his wife Eliza. It was just
over five years later that he married the widow Elizabeth Penrose at Burgh
Castle on 26th July 1876, the event recorded at Mutford (Ref. 4a
1119). Elizabeth, who had been made a
widow at the age of 21, was born at Burgh Castle during the third quarter of
1857, her birth recorded at Downham (Ref. 4b 351), the daughter of Thomas
Lack. The witnesses at their wedding
were Benjamin Collett and Maud Matilda Collett, two of Joseph’s older siblings. The marriage of Joseph and Elizabeth produced
nine children, the first two born at Burgh Castle, prior to the family settling
in Gorleston, from where Joseph continued his occupation as a fisherman. It was his work at sea, that was the reason
why he was missing from the family home on the days of the census in both 1881
and 1891. In the first of those, his
wife and two of their first three children were living at 5 Manby Road in
Gorleston. Elizabeth Collett from Burgh
Castle was 25 and was working as a charwoman, Susan Collett also from Burgh
Castle was two years old, and Mary Ann Collett from Gorleston was only a few
weeks old. The birth of the first child
had been registered at Mutford (Ref. 4a 842) during the second quarter of 1879,
while the younger child’s birth had been registered there (Ref. 4a 854) during
the first three months of 1881
Four more children were added to the family
over the next eight years and, by the time of the census in 1891, Elizabeth and
her young family were residing at 2 Back Wall Reach in Gorleston. Once again Elizabeth’s husband was confirmed
as being away at sea, so the family comprised Elizabeth aged 35, Susan who was
12, Mary Ann who was 10, Alice who was seven, Georgina Kate who was four,
Joseph Thomas who was three, and George Henry who was one year old. The couple’s final two children were born
during the following decade, after the family had settled in Aberdeen. According to the next census, conducted in
1901, Joseph Collett aged 48 and from Suffolk, has been positively identified
as the master of a fishing boat working out of Durness, Loch Eriboll in
Sutherland, at the most northerly tip of Scotland. On that same day his wife and some their
children were living at 1A Castlehill in West Aberdeen,
where Elizabeth Collett, a fisherman’s wife born in England, was 44 and had seven
of the couple’s eight children living there with her. They were Mary A Collett who was 20, Alice
Collett who was 17, Katie Collett who was 15, Joseph Collett who was 13, George
Collett who was 11, William Collett who was six, and Maggie Collett who was one
year old. Their daughter Susan had
married George Ross two years prior to the census in 1901 and, that same day,
she and her young family were living with Susan’s family at 1a Castlehill. George Ross was 21, Susan Ross was 20, their
daughter Mary Ross was two and George Ross junior was three months old. George was a widower when he died in Aberdeen
on 30th January 1960
So far, no record of the family has been found
in 1911 which was most likely still living in Scotland, where Joseph died on 17th
September 1922. His death certificate
provided the following information: first, that he was Joseph Collett, a
fisherman, whose wife was Elizabeth Lack; that he was 73 years old and died at
27 Malcolm Road in Newhills, Aberdeen; that his deceased parents were William
Collett an agricultural labourer and Mary Ann Bradnum; that the cause of death
was cardiac degeneration, general oedema, and cardiac failure; and finally,
that the informant was Joseph T Collett, son, of 119 Hilda Street in Grimsby. After the death of her husband, Elizabeth remained
living in Aberdeen, although she did visit Gorleston during the following nine
years later. In the end, Elizabeth
Collett, formerly Lack, died at Aberdeen on 1st December 1931 at the
age of 74, when she was described as a widow, sometime of 71 Trafalgar Road in
Gorleston and latterly of 37 Dee Street in Aberdeen. Her Will was made on 21st November
1931 and recorded at Aberdeen on 6th May 1932, valued at £152 7
Shillings and 9 Pence, and confirmed on 7th May 1932 to George Ross
of 37 Dee Street in Aberdeen, her son-in-law and executor of her Will
As regards their children, (1) the birth of
Harriet Elizabeth Collett was recorded at Mutford (Ref. 4a 784) during the
fourth quarter of 1877, who was baptised at Somerleyton on 15th
January 1878 and who was 14 in 1891, a servant at the Southtown Road home of
Anna E Arnott, (2) the birth of Susan Collett was recorded at Mutford (Ref. 4a
842) during the second quarter of 1879, (3) the birth of Mary Ann Collett was recorded
at Mutford (Ref. 4a 854) during the first quarter of 1881, (4) the birth of
Alice Collett was recorded at Mutford (Ref. 4a 845) during the third quarter of
1883, (5) the birth of Georgina Kate Collett was recorded at Mutford (Ref. 4a
940) during the third quarter of 1886, who married Aubrey James Stanley in
Aberdeen on 20th December 1904, (6) the birth of George Henry
Collett was recorded at Mutford (Ref. 4a 929) during the third quarter of 1889,
(7) the birth of William Collett was recorded at Aberdeen in 1895, and (8) the only
record found of Maggie Collett was as reported above, as a one-year-old in the
census of 1901
18Q39 – Harriet Elizabeth Collett was born in
1877 at Burgh Castle
18Q40 – Susan Collett was born in 1879 at Burgh
Castle
18Q41 – Mary Ann Collett was born in 1881 at
Gorleston
18Q42 – Alice Collett was born in 1883 at
Gorleston
18Q43 – Georgina Kate Collett was born in 1886
at Gorleston
18Q44 – Joseph Thomas Collett was born in 1888 at
Gorleston
18Q45 – George Henry Collett was born in 1890
at Gorleston
18Q46 – William Collett was born in 1895 at Aberdeen, Scotland
18Q47 – Maggie Collett was born in 1899 at Aberdeen,
Scotland
William
Collett [18P78] was
born at Mettingham on 13th July 1853, and was baptised there on 2nd
September 1854, the son of William and Mary Ann Collett. He was eight years old in 1861 when living at
Mettingham with his family. By 1871 the
family was living at Burgh Castle where William was 17 years old. It was four years later that William married
Elizabeth Jackson by the reading of banns at All Saints Church in Wheatacre on
2nd March 1875, the event recorded at Loddon in Norfolk (Ref. 4b 341). The bride and the groom were both 21 years
old and residents of Wheatacre, William being a sailor and the son of labourer
William Collett, and Elizabeth being the daughter of marshman James
Jackson. The witnesses were Alice
Jackson and William Harling. Elizabeth
was born at Reedham in Norfolk, her birth recorded at Blofield (Ref. 4b 171)
during the third quarter of 1853, after which she was baptised at Yarmouth on
26th September 1853, the daughter of agricultural labourer James
Jackson and Mary Ann Sales. She was also
the sister of John William Jackson who married William’s sister Charlotte
Collett (above)
Once married, the couple spent the first few
years of their life together living at Wheatacre, between Beccles and
Lowestoft. And it was there that their
first two children were born, although it was only the second child who was
baptised at All Saints Church in Wheatacre when the baptism record revealed
that William’s occupation was that of a fisherman. The young family later moved to Lowestoft
where two further children were born before 1881. By the time of the census that year William,
aged 28, was employed as a fisherman and was living with his family at 2 Hervey
Street in Lowestoft. His wife was 27 and
their four children at that time were their two sons Thomas who was five and
Frank who was three, both born at Wheatacre in Norfolk, and their daughters
Frances Beatrice Collett who was one year old, and Dinah Daisy Collett who was
just three months old. Both girls had
been born after the family had moved to Lowestoft. Tragically it would appear that Frances
Beatrice died shortly after 1881, since the very next child born into the
family was also named Beatrice Collett
A total of five children were born into the
family during the 1880s, so by the time of the census in 1891 Elizabeth Collett
was 38 and was then living at 26 Trafalgar Road in West Gorleston with her
eight surviving children. They were
Thomas W Collett 14, Frank Collett 13, Daisy Collett who was nine, Beatrice
Collett who was eight, Ethel Collett who six, George Collett who was five,
Louis Collett who was four, and Albert Collett who was one year old. No record has been found of her husband
William in 1891 so, as a fisherman, he may well have been at sea on the day of
the census in 1891, since he was back with his wife and family at Gorleston for
the census in March 1901. At the age of
47, William Collett of Mettingham was working as a skipper at the local
seaman’s mission in Gorleston, while he and his family were residing at 150
Bells Road in Gorleston. His wife
Elizabeth was 47 and from Reedham, and the children still living with their
parents were Ethel 16, George 15, Lewis 13, all three of them born at
Lowestoft, and Albert 11, and Jessie who was nine, both of them born at
Gorleston. Ten years later in 1911 the
family was still living in Gorleston, where William and Elizabeth were both 57,
and the only children still living with them on that occasion were Lewis 23,
Albert 21, and daughter Jessie who was 19
Fourteen years after that census day, Elizabeth
Collett was 71 years old when her death was recorded at Yarmouth register
office (Ref. 4b 48) during the first quarter of 1925. After a further fourteen years, widowed
William Collett and his daughter Ethel Collett were living in Lothingland,
Suffolk, just a short distance from his two unmarried daughters Dinah and
Beatrice who were also living on New Road.
William Collett was 86 years old and a retired fisherman, with Ethel M
Collett acting as his housekeeper. Three
years later, the death of William Collett was recorded at Yarmouth register
office (Ref. 4b 5) during the third quarter of 1942, at the age of 89. Upon being buried, he was described as a
retired seaman, whose home address was recorded as 123 Lowestoft Road in
Gorleston, which was subsequently the home of his three unmarried daughters
Dinah, Beatrice and Ethel
18Q48 – Thomas William Collett was born in 1876 at
Wheatacre
18Q49 – Frank Ernest Collett was born in 1877 at
Wheatacre
18Q50 – Frances Beatrice Collett was born in 1879 at
Lowestoft
18Q51 – Dinah Daisy Collett was born in 1880 at
Lowestoft
18Q52 – Beatrice Collett was born in 1882 at
Lowestoft
18Q53 – Ethel Mary Collett was born in 1884 at
Lowestoft
18Q54 – George Collett was born in 1885 at
Lowestoft
18Q55 – Louis James Collett was born in 1887 at
Lowestoft
18Q56 – Albert Charles Collett was born in 1889 at
Gorleston
18Q57 – Jessie Collett was born in 1891 at
Gorleston
Sarah
Collett [18P79] was
born at Mettingham on 18th December 1855 and was recorded as being
six years old in the Mettingham census of 1861 where it is known she and her
family were living up to 1866. Unlike
her siblings, no registration of her birth has been found to date. In the years after 1866 the family moved to
Burgh Castle, but perhaps because of the cramped living conditions, Sarah and
her older sister Harriet left home to enter domestic service in Great
Yarmouth. The 1871 census for the
Yarmouth southern district listed Sarah Collett, aged 15 and from Mettingham,
as a servant living and working at the King Street home in Yarmouth of house
builder James Howard and his wife Bessie.
It was just over seven years after that day, at Burgh Castle on 21st
July 1878, when Sarah Collett, aged 22, a spinster of Burgh Castle, and the
daughter of cement burner William Collett, was married by banns to James
Moore. He too was 22, and a railway
porter, from Islington in London, the son of Thomas Moore, a labourer. They both signed the register in their own
hand, when the witnesses were siblings William Collett (above) and Dinah
Collett (below). By 1881 the
couple was residing in St Pancras, London, at 11 Newmarket Terrace, where James
was 24 and a railway checker from Hampshire and Sarah was 25 and from
Mettingham, who had only recently given birth to daughter Ellen M Moore who was
five months old. It was at Ropley in
Hampshire where James had been born and where he was baptised on 7th
September 1856
Their first child Ellen Maude Moore was born on 11th
November 1880 and a month after was baptised at St Mary’s Church in Islington
on 19th December 1880. The
baptism record gave the family address as 11 Newmarket Terrace and her father
occupation as a goods clerk (with the railway).
Just over a year later Sarah gave birth to a son and another year after
that a second daughter, although neither of them survived. On both of those occasions the family home
was 37 York Road in Islington and it was again at St Mary’s Church in Islington
where they were baptised. Charles Edward Moore was baptised on 5th
February 1882, with his sister Alice Moore baptised there on 8th July 1883, the parish register
confirming that she had been born a month earlier on 6th June 1883. Their father’s occupation was recorded as a
railway servant and a railway checker.
Two years prior to the next census the birth of Agnes Gertrude Moore was recorded at St
Pancras (Ref. 1b 143) during the second quarter of 1889
According to the next
census in 1891, the family had been enlarged with the birth of a second
daughter, when the family was still living in St Pancras, but at 37 Agnes
Road. James was 34 and still working as
a railway checker, Sarah was 35, when their two children were Ellen M Moore who
was 10 and Agnes G Moore who was two years of age. After a further ten years, neither daughter
was living with their parents in 1901, by which time James 44 and Sarah 45 were
living alone at 2 St Pancras Crescent in St Pancras. On that day daughter Agnes, aged 12 and from
St Pancras, was a visitor at 57 Hilldrop Road in Islington, where Sarah’s
younger sister Jemima Collett (below) was the cook. It was the same situation in 1911 except by
then, the couple was living at 25 Marquis Road in Cantelowes, Camden Town, just
north of St Pancras, where 54-year-old James Moores was still employed by the
Midland Railway Company. The sad story
for the couple, was that 55-year-old Sarah Moore had given birth to a total of
six children during their thirty-two-years together, only two of whom had
survived and were still alive in 1911. During
the following twenty-eight-years, the pair of them had moved out of London and
on the day the 1939 Register was compiled they were residing at 30 Bunyan Road
in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. James was a
retired railway servant who had been born on 7th July 1856, and
Sarah was undertaking unpaid domestic duties.
The death of James Moore six years later was recorded at Hitchin
register office (Ref. 3a 1201) during the last three months of 1945 when he was
89
Henry
Collett [18P80] was
born at Mettingham six weeks into 1856, his birth recorded at Wangford (Ref. 4a
662) during the first quarter of the year.
He was then baptised one month later on 21st March 1856, another
son of William and Mary Ann Collett.
Tragically, it was exactly two weeks later that he was buried there on 4th
April 1856 at just seven weeks old. The
death of Henry Collett was recorded at Wangford (Ref. 4a 443)
Dinah
Collett [18P81] was
born at Mettingham in 1857, with her birth recorded at Wangford (Ref. 4a 683)
during the second quarter of that year.
She was later baptised at Mettingham on 8th November 1857,
the daughter of William and Mary Ann Collett.
Dinah was five years old in the Mettingham census of 1861, following
which her family moved to Burgh Castle in the late 1860s, where Dinah was 13 at
the time of the Burgh Castle census of 1871.
Dinah later joined up with her sister Jemima (below) and the two
of them headed for London to find work, where their older sister Matilda was
already gainfully employed. Matilda was
working in the Islington area of London and it may have been Matilda who
arranged for her two younger sisters to enter into domestic service in that
area. By 1881 Dinah Collett, aged 23 and
of Mettingham, was working as a nurse to four-year-old Cecil J Benson at the
home of his parents Joseph and Rebecca Benson at 57 Hilldrop Road in Islington,
where her sister also worked. Joseph
Benson was a Baptist Minister, while both he and his wife were credited as
being the managers for a firm of coal merchants. Dinah Collett aged 33 was still being
employed by the Benson family as a housemaid ten years later in 1891, and again
at their home which was 57 Hilldrop Road.
On that day, and working for the Benson family as their cook, was
Dinah’s youngest sister Jemima Collett who was 28. So far, no record of Dinah Collett has been
found within the census returns for 1901, which was very close to her wedding
day
The marriage of Dinah Collett and Richard
Dowsing was recorded at the Nottinghamshire Basford register office (Ref. 7a
489) during the second quarter of 1901. Both
of them were passed the age when they could have children and in 1911 the pair
of them were living alone in a six-roomed property at 40 Skegby Road in
Annesley Woodhouse, just south of Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire. Richard from Wighton in Norfolk was 57 a coal
miner and loader, while Dinah from Mettingham was 53 and had been married for nine
years, having had no children. In the
end, their marriage had endured for a total of twenty years, when Richard died
and his death was recorded at Basford register office (Ref. 7b 144) during the
second quarter of 1921, when he was 67 years old. After nine years as a widow, Dinah was living
in London when she passed away, the death of Dinah Dowsing recorded at Edmonton
register office (Ref. 3a 442) during the third quarter of 1930 when she was 73. The processing of her Will revealed that she
died at 40 Harringay Park in Middlesex on 13th August 1930, while her
actual place of residence was 18 Crouch Hall Road in Crouch End,
Middlesex. Her Will was proved at London
on 27th August 1930 to Enos Allchurch, a cabinet maker, her personal
effects valued at £510 6 Shillings and 3 Pence
George
Collett [18P82] was
born at Mettingham in 1858, with his birth recorded at Mutford (Ref. 4a 672). It was also at Mettingham that he was baptised
on 14th November 1858, the son of William and Mary Ann Collett. George was two years old in the 1861 Census
for that village and was living there with his parents. He was still with his parents ten years later
when he was 12, by which time the family was living at Burgh Castle. Burgh Castle overlooks Breydon Water on the
eastern edge of the Norfolk Broads and close to the North Sea, so it made sense
that George’s occupation was that of a fisherman. It was at Burgh Castle on 29th
August 1880 that he married Eliza Kerrison.
She was born at Belton, her birth recorded at Mutford (Ref. 4a 680) in
1858, and was baptised at Belton on 21st May 1858, the daughter of
George and Eliza Sarah Kerrison. The
wedding of George and Eliza was recorded at Mutford (Ref. 4a 1161). According to the 1881 Census, fisherman
George Collett and his wife Eliza were both 22 and were living less than two
miles north of Belton in Burgh Castle at 3 High Road. Also living in Burgh Castle at that time were
George’s parents William and Mary Ann Collett, and his brothers Benjamin and
Joseph (above). On that census
day, Eliza was well into the pregnancy for the first of her three children when
the couple was still living at the High Street in Burgh Castle. Eliza may have been with her parents when she
gave birth to her second child at Belton, while the couple’s last known child
was born at Gorleston. Very shortly
after the birth, George Collett suffered a premature death, with his passing
being recorded at Mutford (Ref. 4a 493) during the second quarter of 1888, when
he was 29
The death of her husband prompted Eliza to
return to her own family home in Belton and, it was there at St Johns Road,
that she and two of her three children were living, with Eliza’s parents in
1891. The census that year confirmed
that Eliza Collett was a widow at 31, when she was living with Margaret M
Collect, who was six, and George Collect, who was three, at the home of her
father and mother, George and Sarah Kerrison who were 68 and 69 respectively. Eliza’s mother died during the 1890s and, by
March 1901, she and her son were still living with her widowed father, and her
brother George Kerrison, at St Johns Road in Belton. Eliza Collett was 42 and from Belton, and was
described as a laundress and a washer, having her own account at home. Her son George Collett, who was 13, was
listed as having been born at nearby Gorleston.
Later that same year Eliza’s father, who had been a gardener, passed
away and was buried at Belton on 6th August 1901. Following the death of her father, Eliza was
perhaps forced to leave the dwelling at St Johns Road and, by April 1911, she
and her son were residing at 68 Suffield Road in Gorleston, where Eliza Collett
of Belton was 52 and George B Collett of Gorleston was 23
Eliza Collett, nee Kerrison, was 65 years old
when her death was recorded at Yarmouth register office (Ref. 4b 40) during the
final three months of 1923. She was
buried at Great Yarmouth Cemetery, but not in a consecrated grave according to
the parish register which confirmed the following details. Firstly, that Eliza had been living at 22
Stradbroke Road in Gorleston-in-Sea where she died, and after which she was
buried on 3rd December 1923
18Q58 – Eliza Collett was born in 1881 at
Burgh Castle
18Q59 – Margaret Matilda Collett was born in 1884 at
Belton
18Q60 – Benjamin George Collett was born in 1888 at
Gorleston
James
Collett [18P83]
was born at Mettingham in 1860 with his birth recorded at Wangford (Ref. 4a
596) during the fourth quarter of that year.
It was also at Mettingham where he was baptised on 14th
October 1860, the son of William and Mary Ann Collett. He was listed as being under one year old in
1861 and was 10 years old in 1871 when, for the later census, he was living
with his family at Burgh Castle. No
record of him has been found in 1881 when, like some of his siblings, he may
have been a fisherman out at sea on the day of the census that year. Despite his absence in 1881, it was just over
two years later that he married Hannah Priscilla Adams at Burgh Castle on 17th
May 1883, the event recorded at Mutford (Ref. 4a 1113). Hannah was born on 17th February 1863,
with her birth recorded at Yarmouth during the first quarter of 1863, where she
was baptised on 7th May 1866, the daughter of sailor John Adams and
his wife Harriet of Row 108. The
witnesses at the wedding were Hannah’s father John Adams and Jemima Collett,
James’ younger sister (below).
The first five years of their married life together was spent in
Gorleston, but thereafter the family lived for a few years in West Hartlepool
where the couple’s fourth and fifth children were born. Around the middle of the decade, Hannah
temporarily returned to Suffolk for the birth of her sixth and last child,
shortly after which she rejoined her family in the north of England. The birth of their first child was recorded
at Mutford (Ref. 4a 900) in the second quarter of 1884, the second child’s
birth was recorded there (Ref. 4a 933) in the third quarter of 1887, and her
third child during the third quarter of 1889 (Ref. 4a 921). The birth of all six children confirmed the
mother’s maiden-name as Adams
So, it was, in the April census of 1891, that
the family was living at 1 Belgrave Terrace in the
Stranton district of West Hartlepool, not far from James’ two younger
brothers, the unmarried Cornelius Collett and the married Henry Collett (both
below). James Collett was 30 and a
labourer at a cement works, his wife Hannah P Collett from Yarmouth was 27, and
their four children on that occasion were James E Collett who was seven, Edward
J Collett who was three, Maude M Collett who was one year old, and Cecil H
Collett was just a few months old. After
the birth of their last two children the family was living in South Shields by
1901, as confirmed by the census that year.
However, head of the household James Collett was absent from the family
home at 12 Beethoven Street – see below. The census in 1901 listed the family as
Priscilla Collett, who was 38 and from Yarmouth, James Edward Collett aged 17
who was a steward on a trawler, John Edward Collett aged 13 who was a draper’s
errand boy, Maud M Collett who was 11, Cecil H Collett who was 10, Arthur B
Collett who was eight, and Alice B Collett who was five years of age. The census also confirmed that four of the
children had been born at Gorleston, with the other two born at West Hartlepool
Thanks to David Elias, of Perth in Western
Australia, we now know that the family left the British Isles three years
later, bound for Cape Town in South Africa.
It is also now established that, one year prior to the census in 1901,
when James Collett was 38, he sailed to South Africa from Southampton (in
steerage for the 65-day journey), leaving Southampton on 14th April
1900, one of the two-hundred passengers on board the Castle Line vessel King
Anne Castle. That would have been an
initial exploratory visit, with a second sea trip made by James and his two
eldest sons, James and Edward, prior to the remainder of the family travelling joining
them there 1904, although no passenger list for that second journey for the
three men has been unearthed. His wife Hannah
Priscilla Collett, together with their four youngest children, travelled south on
board the SS Galacian of the Union Castle Line on 26th March 1904 to
be reunited in Cape Town with James and her two sons. The four younger children were confirmed as
Maud May Collett, Cecil Henry Collett, Arthur Benjamin Collett and Alice Beulah
Collett. The family is known to have
lived in Cape where, eventually the deaths of both James and Hannah were
recorded. James Collett from England was
66 and a naval captain when he died on 9th April 1926. At that time in his life he was residing at
Highfield Road in Green Point, Cape Town, when the cause of death was mitral
stenosis. The death certificate
indicated an intention for James to be buried at Maitland Cemetery on
Voortrekker Road, Maitland in Cape Town.
Sixteen years after being widowed, Hannah Priscilla Collett, nee Adams,
passed away at the age of 79, when she was living at ‘Allview’ Vesperdene Road,
Green Point in Cape Town. It was on 10th
January 1942 that she died of a cerebral thrombosis and general arteritis and
was also buried on 12th January at Maitland Cemetery with James, who
had been buried there on 11th April 1926. A large headstone marks their grave, having a
very impressive large ship’s anchor craved on the upper half of the stone
18Q61 – James Edward
Collett was born in 1884 at
Gorleston
18Q62 – John Edward
Collett was born in 1887 at
Gorleston
18Q63 – Maud May
Collett was born in 1889 at
Gorleston
18Q64 – Cecil Henry Collett was born in 1889 at
West Hartlepool
18Q65 – Arthur Benjamin Collett was born in 1892 at
West Hartlepool
18Q66 – Alice Beulah Collett was born in 1895 at
Gorleston
Jemima
Collett [18P84] was
born at Mettingham on 6th September 1862 and her birth was recorded
at Wangford (Ref. 4a 634) during the third quarter of that year. She was baptised at Mettingham on 12th
October 1862, the youngest daughter of William Collett and Mary Ann Bradnum. Her parents moved to Burgh Castle in the late
1860s and it was there she living with her family in 1871 aged eight
years. Sometime during the 1870s Jemima
and her sister Dinah (above) followed their older sister Matilda into
London for the purpose of seeking work.
Both girls were lucky enough to be taken on by coal merchant and baptist
minister Joseph Benson and his wife at their home at 57 Hilldrop Road in
Islington. Jemima was listed as being
aged 18 in 1881 and from Mettingham when she was employed as a domestic
servant. Two years after that she
returned to Burgh Castle for the wedding of her older brother James Collett (above)
who was married there in May 1883 when Jemima Collett was named as one of the
two witnesses. After that wedding day,
Jemima returned to her place of work in London, as confirmed in the census of
1891, when Jemima Collett from Mettingham was 28 and the cook for the Benson
family at 57 Hilldrop Road (Holloway) in Islington, where her older sister
Dinah Collett was the housemaid
Joseph and Rebecca Benson were away from their home
on the day of the census in 1901, so there was no head of the household
recorded at 57 Hilldrop Road in Islington.
Instead, it was their son Cecil John Benson who was 24 and a merchant’s
clerk, who had with him Jemima Collett aged 38 and a cook, plus 12-year-old
Agnes Moore, a visitor from St Pancras.
She was Agnes Gertrude Moore, Jemima’s niece, being a daughter of her
older sister Sarah Moore (above) and her husband James Moore. The Benson family’s home at 57 Hilldrop Road
was an 11-roomed property, as described in the 1911 Census, when Jemima Collett,
aged 48, was still employed there by Joseph and Rebecca Benson as their cook,
one of two live-in domestic servants listed with the four members of the Benson
family. Many years later, unmarried
Jemima Collett was 77 years old and living at 12 Crouch Hall Road in Hornsey,
London, when the 1939 Register was put together. It was three years later when Jemima Collett
of 1 Bryanstone Road in Hornsey was 80 when she died on 24th
February 1943 as a patient at Hornsey Hospital.
Administration of her personal effects of £818 11 Shillings and 10 Pence
was granted to her unmarried niece Matilda Mary Collett, the eldest daughter of
Jemima’s youngest brother Henry Collett (below). Jemima was laid to rest at Camden Cemetery on
25th February 1943
Cornelius
Bradnum Collett [18P85] was born at Mettingham on 18th February 1864, when
the recording of his birth at Wangford (Ref. 4a 722) during the first three
months of 1864, gave his name simply as Cornelius Collett. It was also at Mettingham that he was baptised
on 10th April 1864, another son of William Collett and Mary Ann
Bradnum. During the late 1860s the
family moved to Burgh Castle near Great Yarmouth where he was listed as being
seven years old in 1871. On leaving
school he joined the crew of the ‘Joseph & Henry’ a fishing boat sailing
out of Great Yarmouth, as recorded in the 1881 Census when he was 16 years
old. A little while later he gave up
being a fisherman and made the long journey north to Durham with his brother
Henry (below) and was recorded as living with him and his wife Mary and
their first child at 21 Wards Terrace in the Stranton area of West Hartlepool
in 1891. Cornelius was 27 and described
as a boarder. Also living nearby in West
Hartlepool in 1891 was his other brother James Collett (above) with his
wife and their first four children. It
was also after he had moved to the north of England that he met his future
wife. A short while after that, during
the third quarter of 1892, the marriage of Cornelius Bradnum Collett and
Elizabeth Taylor was recorded at South Shields (Ref. 10a 1007). Elizabeth was born at Crook in County Durham,
her birth recorded at South Shields (Ref. 10a 730) during the third quarter of
1872, and was baptised there on 19th March 1873 at the Primitive
Methodist Chapel, the daughter of coalminer John Taylor and his wife
Elizabeth. Their marriage produced five
children, the first of which was born at Gorleston, but was baptised seventeen
months later at Kirkley, near Lowestoft.
There then followed a family move and a long journey north, back to
Hartlepool, as confirmed by the census in 1901, when Cornelius Bradnum Collett,
aged 37 and from Mettingham, was recorded as being a man-in-charge of a
wheeling steel works in West Hartlepool, while he and his family were living at
38 Winter Street. However, by that time,
Elizabeth had given birth to three more children after arriving there, the
first of which, did not survive
Cornelius’ wife was confirmed as Elizabeth
Collett, aged 28 and from Crook in County Durham and, shortly thereafter, she
gave birth to her last child, who sadly died with a few months that same
year. The couple’s three surviving
children were Elizabeth Collett, who was seven and who had been born at
Gorleston, Grace Collett, who was three, and Mary Collett who was two years
old, both of them born at West Hartlepool.
Working with Cornelius, at the steel works, was his nephew George
William Collett [18Q35], who was a steel millwright and the son of Benjamin
Collett (above). It was as George
Collett, aged 23 and from Burgh Castle, that he was lodging with Cornelius’
brother Henry Collett (below).
During the next decade, the family left West Hartlepool and moved to
Tynemouth registration district where Cornelius resumed his former occupation
as a fisherman. And it was at 25 Princes
Street in North Shields that Cornelius and his family were residing in April
1911. Cornelius B Collett of Mettingham
was 47, his wife Elizabeth of Crook was 39, and just two of their daughters
were recorded with them. They were Grace
and Mary who were 13 and 12 and both of them confirmed as born at West
Hartlepool. The couple’s eldest daughter
had already started work by then and was listed in the census across the River
Tyne in South Shields, where she was noted as being 17 and from Gorleston. Cornelius Bradnum Collett was still living in
the Tynemouth area when he died in 1934, his death recorded at Tynemouth
register office (Ref. 10b 218) during the third quarter of that year, at the
age of 70. His wife survived him by just
over seventeen years when the death of Elizabeth Collett nee Taylor was
recorded at Tynemouth (Ref. 1b 560) during the first three months of 1952
18Q67 – Elizabeth Julie Collett was born in 1893 at
Gorleston
18Q68 – Cornelius William Collett was born in 1895 at
West Hartlepool
18Q69 – Grace Hilda Collett was born in 1897 at
West Hartlepool
18Q70 – Mary Ann Collett was born in 1898 at
West Hartlepool
18Q71 – Cornelius Collett was born in 1901 at
West Hartlepool
Henry
Collett [18P86] was
born at Mettingham on 24th November 1865, his birth recorded at
Wangford (Ref. 4a 631). He was baptised
on 11th February 1866 at Mettingham, the youngest son and last of
the twelve surviving children of William Collett and Mary Ann Bradnum. Sometime after he was born his family moved
to Burgh Castle where he was recorded as five years old in the 1871
Census. In 1881 Henry was the only child
still living with his parents at 14 Butt Way in Burgh Castle. At the aged 15, he was working as a general
labourer and the place of his birth was confirmed as having been at
Mettingham. Towards the end of the 1880s
Henry travelled north to Durham with his brother Cornelius (above) and
they both settled down to live at West Hartlepool. It was there that Henry met Mary Tims
Mitchell, whom he married during the second quarter of 1890, when the event was
recorded at Hartlepool (Ref. 10a 242).
By the time of the census in 1891, their marriage had produced their
first child. The birth of Mary Tims
Mitchell on 24th August 1870 at West Hartlepool was recorded at
Hartlepool (Ref. 10a 171) during the third quarter of 1870. As Mary Timms Mitchel, she was baptised at
Christ Church in West Hartlepool on 18th September 1870, the
daughter of block and mast maker Thomas Mitchell and his wife Eliza. The census return for West Hartlepool in 1891
placed the family living at 21 Wards Terrace in the Stranton area of West
Hartlepool. General labourer Henry
Collett, from Suffolk, was 25, his wife Mary T Collett from Durham was 20, and
their baby daughter Matilda M Collett was just three weeks old. Living with the young family, as a boarder,
was Henry’s brother Cornelius Collett (above), also from Suffolk and,
living nearby in the same registration district, was Henry’s older brother
James Collett (above). Over the
next eight years a further four children were added to the family although,
sadly, one of them, the couple’s second daughter, Maud Mary, did not survive
and died towards the end of 1896
Ten years later, according to the March census
of 1901, the family of six was still living at Stranton in West Hartlepool, but
at 26 Bentley Street. Henry Collett,
aged 35, was employed as a jobbing bricklayer, and his place of birth was
confirmed as Mettingham and his wife Mary was 30 and her place of birth was
confirmed as West Hartlepool in Durham.
All four of their children were also recorded as having been born there,
and they were Matilda Collett who was ten, William Collett who was eight,
The family later moved to Stockton-on-Tees in
County Durham, where all of their children were married. It was also there that Henry (Harry) Collett
was living in 1936 when he died at the age of 71, his death recorded at
Stockton register office (Ref. 10a 103) during the final three months of that
year. The Will of Henry Collett was
proved in London on 18th March 1937 to Mary Tims Collett, widow, and
Matilda Collett, spinster, his eldest daughter.
His personal effects were valued at £640 8 Shillings and 2 Pence. The probate documents confirmed that Henry
was living at 31 Stavordale Road in Stockton-on-Tees when he died on 26th
December 1936. Three
years after the loss of her husband, Mary T Collett was recorded as a widow who
was still living at Stockton in the 1939 Register, when her date of birth was
confirmed as 24th August 1870, making her 69 years old, undertaking
unpaid domestic duties. At that time in
her life, Mary was living at the home of her daughter-in-law Aileen Anderson
Collett and grandson Alan Collett at 6 Studley Road in Stockton, whose husband,
Mary’s son George Richard Collett had already signed up with the army
Tragically, just nine months later, son George
Richard Collett was killed off Dunkirk Beach in 1940 while serving with the
Royal Engineers during the Second World War.
His parents, and his wife Aileen, were all named within his military
records, which confirmed that Harry and Mary Collett lived at
Stockton-on-Tees. After a further seven
years, Mary Tims Collett nee Mitchell passed away in 1947 aged 76, the event recorded
at Durham South-East register office (Ref. 1a 570) during the second quarter of
that year. In January 2011 new
information about this family, and their youngest son Cecil Benjamin Collett,
was received from Sue Hammler nee Collett, Cecil’s daughter. The source of the information was the Family
Bible which she holds, together with a conductor’s baton inscribed with the
name of her grandfather Henry Collett.
The baton, decorated in silver and inscribed with the words
"Presented to Mr H Collett in 1889" was handed down to Sue from her
father, who indicated that it had been given to his father by an orchestra from
either Philadelphia or Pittsburg. In
addition to being a bricklayer, Henry Collett may have also been an
accomplished musician. However, it seems
unlikely that he was presented with the baton in America during the year prior
to his marriage to Mary Tims Mitchell, so it is more likely that the orchestra
was visiting England at that time
18Q72 – Matilda Mary Collett was born in 1891 at
West Hartlepool
18Q73 – William Henry Collett was born in 1893 at
West Hartlepool
18Q74 – Maud May Collett was born in 1894 at
West Hartlepool
18Q75 – John Arthur Collett was born in 1896 at
West Hartlepool
18Q76 – Charles Albert Collett was born in 1899 at
West Hartlepool
18Q77 – Albert Edward Collett was born in 1902 at
West Hartlepool
18Q78 – George Richard Collett was born in 1907 at
Hartlepool
18Q79 – Cecil Benjamin Collett was born in 1909 at
Hartlepool
Mary Ann
Collett [18P87] was
born at Shipmeadow according to the census in 1851, just seven months after her
parents were married at Mettingham, with her birth recorded at Wangford (Ref. xiii
514) during the second quarter of 1843.
She was baptised at Mettingham on 14th April 1843, the eldest
child of Henry Collett and Maria Myall, and was eight years old in 1851 when
she was living with her family at Low Road in Mettingham. With her sister Maria suffering an infant
death, and her next sister Ellen being too young, it must have been Mary Ann
who gave birth to a base-born daughter at Shipmeadow towards the end of 1860
who, five months later, was living with Mary Ann’s father Henry Collett and his
second wife at Mettingham. Six years
later the death of Mary Ann Collett was recorded at Wangford (Ref. 4a 442)
during the second quarter of 1867
18Q80 - Emma Collett was born in 1860 at
Shipmeadow
Maria
Collett [18P88] was
born at Mettingham towards the end of 1844 when her birth was recorded at
Wangford (Ref. xiii 412) during the last three months of the year. She was baptised at Mettingham on 29th
December 1844, the second daughter of Henry and Maria Collett. Sadly, Maria did not reach her first
birthday, when she died on 3rd October 1845 and was buried at
Mettingham two days after, at the age of 10 months. Her death was subsequently recorded at
Wangford (Ref. xiii 311)
Ellen
Collett [18P89] was
born at Mettingham possibly near the end of 1846, although it was during the
first quarter of 1847 when her birth was recorded at Wangford (Ref. xiii 527). It was also as Ellen Collett that she was
baptised at Mettingham on 7th February 1847, the only surviving
daughter of Henry and Maria Collett. In the
Mettingham census of 1851, Ellen was recorded with her parents and her sister
Mary Ann (above) and her brother James (below) at Low Road in
Mettingham, when she was four years old.
Following the death of her mother in February 1854, Eleanor continued to
live with her father, who married for a second time four months later. By the time of the census of 1861, she was
living with her father and her stepmother and her brother James (below)
at Great Road in Mettingham, where Ellen was recorded in error as Eleanor
Collett at 13 years of age, when she had already started work as a silk
weaver. Also living with the family in
1861 was Maria Collett who was seven.
She was Ellen’s cousin, the base-born daughter of her aunt Susan
Collett, the younger sister of her father Henry Collett. It seems likely that Ellen was married by the
time of the census in 1871, since no record of her has been located in her maiden-name. It is important to point out that Eleanor
Collett, born in 1846 who died in 1933, was the wife of Robert Collett [18O72]
of Yarmouth Road in Broome where they were living with their five children in
1891
James
Collett [18P90] was
born at Mettingham in 1849 and his birth was recorded at Wangford (Ref. xiii
543). He was the only surviving son of
Henry Collett and Maria Myall and was baptised at Mettingham on 10th
March 1850. In the following year, and
at the time of the census in 1851, James Collett was one year old while living
at Low Road in Mettingham with his family.
Upon the death of his mother, when James was four years old, his father
remarried and, in the census of 1861, James was 12 and was living at Great Road
in Mettingham with his father, his stepmother, his sister Eleanor, and his
cousin Maria. It is not known at this
time what happened to James after 1861, but no record of him has been located
in any of the census returns after that date
Walter
Collett [18P91] was
born at Mettingham during the month of May in 1851, his birth recorded at
Wangford (Ref. xiii 591) during the second quarter of the year. It was also at Mettingham that Walter was
baptised on 29th June 1851, the son of Henry and Maria Collett. Tragically, James lost his life only six
months later, following which he was buried at Mettingham on 4th
January 1852 when he was only seven months old.
The death of James Collett was recorded at Wangford (Ref. xiii 371)
during the first quarter of 1852
George
Collett [18P92] was
born at Mettingham around the end of July 1853, his birth recorded at Wangford
(Ref. 4a 562) during the third quarter of the year. the last child born to Henry Collett and
Maria Myall. Sadly, he died at
Mettingham during the first week of October that same year, and was buried
there on 9th October 1853 at the age of 10 weeks. The death of George Collett was recorded at
Wangford (Ref. 4a 413) during the last three months of 1853
Emma
Porter [18P93] was
born at Ilketshall St Andrew on 11th July 1857, her birth recorded
at Wangford (Ref. 4a 619), after which she was baptised at Ilketshall St Andrew
on 9th August 1857, the daughter of James Porter and Mary Ann
Collett. On leaving school, Emma was
employed as a domestic servant by carpenter John Barber in his home at 10
Arnold Street in Lowestoft, as confirmed in the census of 1871 when she was 13
years of age. It is possible that it was
through the Barber/Collett connection that she met her future husband. It was her cousin Henry (Harry) Collett (above)
who Emma married at St Margaret’s Church in Toft Monks on 27th
September 1881, their wedding day recorded at Loddon (Ref. 4b 349) during the
third quarter of 1881. Harry was the
oldest son of Mary Ann’s brother Robert Collett and his wife Eliza Barber. The village of Toft Monks, just north of
Beccles, was where Emma’s parents were living at that time. During the year before she was married Emma,
at the age of 23, was working as a cook at the Parsonage House in Hellesdon,
the home of the Curate of Hellesdon and Drayton, thirty-eight-year-old Charles
A Hope from Tasmania and his Suffolk born wife Louisa Hope
The photograph below was taken on the occasion
of Emma’s 90th birthday during the summer of 1947. In the picture directly behind Emma is her
eldest son Robert James Collett [18Q81], next to him to the right is his only
son also Robert Collett [18R60] who was always known as 'Bobs', like his
father. In front of him, seated, is his
mother Bessie (Elizabeth Teresa Collett nee Hamblin), while next to him is
Emma’s second son William Walter Collett [18Q82] – the grandfather of Mary Ann
Dunn who kindly provided the photograph.
Standing next to William on the far right is Mary Ann’s father Philip
Robert Walter Collett [18R61] with his wife Babs [May Lillian Collett nee Read]
seated in front of him. Next to Babs,
and seated in front of William, is his wife Florence Maud Collett nee Death
William
Charles Porter [18P94] was at Ilketshall St Andrew during 1860, and it was there
also that he was baptised on 8th July 1860, the fourth child and
second son of James Porter of Ellough and Mary Ann Collett of Mettingham. In the census conducted during the following
year, nine-month-old William Porter was living with his family at Tooks Common
in Ilketshall St Andrew. Around five
years later his family moved to Ringsfield near Beccles where two more children
were added to the family, before moving to 16 High Road in nearby Worlingham,
where they were recorded as living at the time of the census in 1871 when
William was ten years of age. Between
1873 and 1880 William’s parents moved the three miles north of Beccles to the
village of Toft Monks, where they finally settled and where they were recorded
as living at 7 Bull’s Green in 1881 when agricultural labourer William Porter
was 20 years old. And it was at Toft
Monks during the following year that William Charles Porter married (1)
Georgiana Sutton on 17th October 1882, the daughter of Charles
Sutton and Mary Ann Snowling. The
witnesses were Charles Grimmer and Alice Sutton, with the wedding recorded at
Loddon (Ref. 4b 587). Eighteen months
earlier, Charles L Grimmer of Burnt House Farm in Haddiscoe, one mile north of
Toft Monks, was recorded in the census of 1881 as a veterinary surgeon and a
farmer of 171 acres employing six men and two boys. Supporting his family was domestic servant
Georgiana Sutton, aged 18, from Gillingham in Norfolk
Georgiana was born at Gillingham near Beccles,
her birth recorded at Loddon (Ref. 4a 204) during the last quarter of 1863. According to the census in 1891, the family
was living at Rant Score in East Lowestoft and, by then, the couple’s nine-year
marriage had already produced four children.
At that time the family comprised general labourer William Porter 30,
his wife Georgiana Porter 28, William C Porter who was nine, Ethel Porter who
was six, Beatrice Porter who was three, and John Porter who was one year
old. Rant
Score is still a thoroughfare in Lowestoft today. Later that same year Georgiana presented
William with a third daughter, Alice Jane Porter who was born on 22nd
October 1891, who was baptised at Christ Church in Lowestoft on 18th
November 1891. Exactly two years after Alice
was born, the couple’s final child and their third son, Charles James Porter
was born in October 1893, both children being born while the family was still living
at Rant Score in Lowestoft. Sadly, it
was during the birth of their last child, that Georgiana Porter died in
Lowestoft, and it was on 9th October 1893 at Toft Monks, that
William buried his wife, her death at the age of 28 recorded at Mutford (Ref.
4a 601). It was nearly eight years later
that widower William Charles Porter married (2) Richanda Duffield of 4 Eastern
Square in Lowestoft. She was the widow
of James Thomas Duffield, and was formerly Richanda Blowers, the illegitimate
daughter of Emma Blowers and John Mobbs, who was born at Oulton on 2nd
April 1866, her birth recorded at Mutford (Ref. 4a 720). The wedding ceremony took place at the
Sailors & Fishermen Bethel in Lowestoft on 20th July 1901 and
was recorded at Mutford register office (Ref. 4a 2072). Four months earlier, widower William Porter,
aged 40, was a watchman serving on board the fishing boat Emblem, sailing out
of Lowestoft Harbour. Historical note: The ‘Emblem’ from Lowestoft was captured by a
German submarine on 25th July 1915 and was destroyed
Only four of his five children have been
identified in the 1901 Census, and the absence of son John may indicate he had
already died by then. William (Charles)
Porter of Toft Monks was 20 and an agricultural labourer at Carlton Colville,
Ethel (Elvina) Porter was 16 and a general domestic servant at the home of
Samuel Read at 112 London Road in Kirkley, near Carlton Colville, while
Beatrice (Georgiana) Porter was 13 and was still attending school in Toft
Monks, while living there with her uncle Harry Porter. Of the two youngest children, Alice Porter of
Lowestoft was nine years old and may have been suffering with poor health,
since she was living as a boarder with sick nurse Jemima Allen at her home at 8
Wesley Street in Lowestoft, while her brother Charles J Porter, age seven and
from Lowestoft, was living at Toft Monks with his late mother’s parents, that
is his Sutton grandparents. Following
his marriage to Richanda Duffield, the couple initially lived at Kirkley near
Carlton Colville, where Richanda presented William with the first of their two
children. Edith Laura Porter was born at
Kirkley on 17th February 1902, was baptised at St Peter’s Church in
Kirkley on 23rd May 1902, but died before the end of June that same
year. By the time of the birth of their
second child, William and Richanda were living at 6 Fir Terrace in Fir Lane in
Lowestoft, where Herbert William Porter was born on 20th January
1905. It was also at that same address
that the family was living in April 1911
The record of the family in that year’s census
return was curious to say the least.
William Porter was a boat owner’s labourer, but he gave his age as 53,
instead of 50, and his place of birth as Toft rather than Ilketshall. His wife was listed as Richanda Porter who
said she was 45 and not married, and living with them was Charles Porter aged
16, William’s youngest son from his first marriage, and Bertie Duffield, aged
six years, who was actually Herbert William Porter, together with Maud
Duffield, aged 15, a child from Richanda’s first marriage, who was described as
William’s niece, rather than his stepdaughter.
William Charles Porter was still living at 6 Fir Terrace in Fir Lane,
Lowestoft when he died on 15th December 1914 at the age of 56, his
death recorded at Mutford register office (Ref. 4a 1212). Many years later, the death of Richanda
Porter was recorded at Lothingland register office (Ref. 4a 1228) during the
second quarter of 1937 when she was 71
Their eldest son, William Charles Porter, is of
particular interest. Firstly, he married
Frances Matilda Duffield at St Margaret’s Church in Lowestoft on 14th
January 1908. Frances was born at
Pakefield on 5th December 1889, the daughter of the aforementioned
James Thomas Duffield and Richanda Blowers, the latter by then being married to
William’s father. William was born at
Toft Monks on 31st January 1884, where he was baptised on 23rd
March 1884 at Lowestoft Primitive Methodist Church, which raises the question
as to why his parents recorded him as being nine years old in 1891, and why he
said he was 20 in 1901. His wife Frances
died at Lowestoft on 31st May 1959, at the age of 70, when her death
was recorded at Lothingland register office (Ref. 4b 825). The later death of William Charles Porter was
recorded at Deben register office (Ref. 4b 2121) during the summer in 1973. The Will of William Charles Porter of 20
Church Green, St Margaret’s Road in Lowestoft, who died on 14th
August 1973, was proved at Ipswich on 3rd October 1973
Twenty years prior to the death of his wife,
the couple and four of their children were recorded within the 1939 Register as
living at 95 Cambridge Road in Lowestoft.
William C Porter was a sea fisherman, Frances M Porter was undertaking
unpaid domestic duties, George H Porter was a wood working machinist, Harry E
Porter was a motor-coach builder and finisher, Edna Gwendoline Porter was net
mender, and Eric D Porter was still at school.
From one of their children came a grandson for the couple, Robert Porter
who, in 2010 was a tour guide at Adnam’s Brewery in Southwold where he met
Brian Collett, to whom he generously provided all of the details regarding the
Porter family and their earlier connection with the Collett family
Harry
Porter [18P95] was
born at Ringsfield on 19th January 1867, where he was baptised on 17th
March 1867, the youngest surviving son, and eighth of the nine children of
James Porter and Mary Ann Collett. By
the time of the census in 1871 Harry was four years old and was living with his
family at 16 High Road in Worlingham, near Beccles. During the next decade his family moved to 74
Bull’s Green in Toft Monks where he was 14 in 1881, when he was living there
with his parents and his older brother William Porter. Harry, and his brother, and his father, were
all employed as agricultural labourers at that time. Ten years later, the family was again living
at 74 Bulls Green when Harry Porter was 24 and an agricultural labourer who was
the only child still living there with his parents. It would appear that he followed the example
set by his sister Emma (above) by marrying one of his cousins. It was at the Parish Church in Toft Monks on 7th
April 1896 that Harry Porter married Alice Edith Collett (below) by the
reading of banns. In addition to being
his cousin, Alice Edith Collett was also his sister-in-law, she being the
sister of Henry Collett who married Harry Porter’s sister Emma Porter (above). The wedding was recorded at Loddon register
office (Ref. 4b 433) with the parish register providing the following details. Harry was 29 and a dealer, the son of labourer
James Porter, who was residing in Tofts Monk and who signed the register in his
own hand. Alice also signed the
register, was a spinster at 28, who was living at Tofts Monk, the daughter of
labourer Robert Collett
Once married, Harry and Alice Porter settled in
the village of Toft Monks, where a total of eight children were born to the
couple, although only five of them survived.
And it was there that the family was living at the time of the census in
March 1901, when Harry Porter was a dealer in fowls. According to that year’s census return, Harry
was 34 and from Ringsfield, while his wife Alice was 33 and from
Mettingham. By then only two children
were living with them, their first-born child Charles, having already died. The two surviving children were Mary Ann
Porter who was three and James Porter who was only one year old, both of them
confirmed as having been born at Toft Monks.
During the next decade five more children were added to the family but
only three of them survived. So, by the
time of the next census in April 1911, the family at Toft Monks near Beccles
was made up of Harry Porter aged 44, Alice Porter aged 43, Mary Ann Porter
who was 13, James Porter who was 11, John Porter who was nine, Robert
Frederick William Porter who was five, and William Ernest Porter who
was two years old. In addition to this,
the same census return stated that the couple had been married for fifteen
years and included the names of the three children who had died even though
they were ruled through. They were Charles Porter (born 1897), and Harold
Porter (born 1903) and George Porter (born 1905) who were the
couple’s fifth and sixth children
In the 1939 Register for Bulls Green in Loddon,
Toft Monks, Harry Porter was 72 and a retired fisherman, when Alice E Porter
was 71 and undertaking unpaid domestic duties.
Two years later Harry Porter died at Toft Monks, where he was buried on 2nd
December 1941, his death recorded at Norwich register office (Ref. 4b 263), at
the age of 74. His wife survived him by
fifteen years, when the death of Alice E Porter was recorded at Norwich
register office (Ref. 4b 650) when she was 88 years old, after which the body
of Alice Edith Porter of Raveningham (just north-west of Toft Monks) was
buried at Toft Monks with her husband on 22nd October 1956
Maria
Elizabeth Collett [18P96] was the base-born daughter of Susan Collett and was born at
Mettingham, either at the end of 1853 or early in 1854, with her birth recorded
at Wangford (Ref. 4a 614) in the first quarter of 1854. In order avoid the shame brought on her
family, the child was taken from Susan and placed in the care of the family of
her older married brother Henry Collett (above), who had lost a baby
daughter called Maria some years earlier, plus a baby son in the previous
year. It was while in his care that
Maria Elizabeth Collett was baptised at Mettingham on 16th April
1854. Three years later her mother
married Edward Mayes and, by the time of the census in 1861, Maria was living
with the Mayes family at Low Road in Mettingham, where she was recorded Maria E
Mayes who was seven years old. Edward
Mayes died near the end of that decade, when Maria’s mother and five of her
children were inmates at the Shipmeadow Union Workhouse. On that same day in 1871, Maria was living
nearby in Shipmeadow, when she was working at the home of elderly sisters Mary
Ann Draper and Hannah Draper. The sisters
were unmarried and described as retired farmers and money lenders from
Mettingham. Their housekeeper was 21
years old Rosa Roe from Bungay, while Maria Collett from Mettingham was 18, and
was employed as the domestic indoor servant.
During the following years it is anticipated that she was married, as no
record of her as Maria Elizabeth Collett has been found in 1881, by which time
her mother Susan Mayes was living in Bungay, where she died just after the
census day in 1911
Albert
Collett [18P97] was
born at Mettingham in 1857, his birth recorded at Wangford (Ref. 4a 612) during
the last three months of that year. He
was first-born child of Robert Collett and his first wife Eliza Barber. Sadly, Albert died shortly after he was born,
his death also recorded at Wangford (Ref. 4a 451) during the same three months
of the year, after which he was buried at Mettingham on 11th
November 1857
Henry
Collett [18P98] was
born at Mettingham in 1859, his birth recorded at Wangford (Ref. 4a 686) during
the second quarter of the year. It was
also at Mettingham that he was baptised on 12th June 1859, the
eldest surviving son of Robert and Eliza Collett. Henry was one year old by the time of the
census in 1861, although he was better known as Harry. And it was as Harry Collett that he was
listed in the census returns for 1871, 1881 1891, and 1901, although he was
Henry Collett in the April census of 1911.
Harry Collett was 11 in 1871 and ten years later, at the age of 21, his
occupation was that of a railway porter.
At that time, he was a lodger at the Mutford Bridge home in Oulton,
Suffolk, of coal porter George Ratcliffe and his wife Elizabeth. Six months later on 27th September
1881, Harry married his cousin Emma Porter (above) at Toft Monks, just
two miles north of Beccles. Emma was
born in 1857 and was baptised at Ilketshall St Andrew on 9th August
1857, the daughter of James Porter and Mary Ann Collett. Harry gave his occupation on that occasion as
being a railway signalman. The witnesses
to the marriage were Emma’s father James Porter, who made his mark, and Alice
Porter, with the event recorded at Loddon (Ref. 4b 349) during the third
quarter of 1881. Following their wedding
the couple spent a short time living south of the Stour estuary at Mistley in
Essex, but later moved north to Ipswich with their children, where they appear
to have spent the rest of their lives together.
By the time of the Ipswich census of 1891 the family comprised Harry
Collett, aged 31, his wife Emma Collett, who was 32, and their four children,
who at that time were Robert Collett, who was seven, William W Collett, who was
six, Beatrice E Collett, who was four, and Mabel M Collett who was one year old
According to the next census in 1901, the
family was living in the St Mary Stoke area of Ipswich. Harry was confirmed as being 41 and born at
Mettingham, while he was employed as a ticket collector. His wife Emma was 42 and from Ilketshall St
Andrew, and their eldest son Robert, aged 17, had been born while the couple was
living at Mistley. All of the couple’s
younger children had been born after the family moved to Ipswich, and they were
William W Collett, aged 16, Beatrice E Collett, aged 14, Mabel M Collett, who
was 11, and Dorothy A Collett who was five years old. By April 1911 the family was still living
within the Ipswich area, where Henry Collett of Mettingham was 51 and his wife
Emma was 53. Three of their children had
left home by that time and they were Robert James, who was living nearby in
Ipswich, although recorded in error as Robert James Collett from Mistley,
William Walter who was married by then, and Beatrice Emma who was living and
working in the Sudbury area of Suffolk.
The two children still living at Ipswich with their parents were the two
youngest girls, Mabel May Collett, who was 21, and Dorothy Alice Collett who
was 15
Henry (Harry) Collett survived for another six
years after that census day, when the death of Henry Collett was recorded at
Ipswich register office (Ref. 4a 851) during the third quarter of 1917 at the
age of 58. At the time that he died, on
17th September 1917, his occupation was that of a railway ticket
collector. When his Will for £129 1
Shilling and 10 Pence was proved at Ipswich on 3rd November 1917,
there was no mention of his wife, instead the Will was proved to Edward
Cattermole, another railway ticket collector. Whether Edward was the son of Selina Margaret
Collett [18Q34] and Frederick Cattermole who emigrated to Canada in 1906, is
still not known. Twenty-two years after
being widowed, Emma Collett was 82 years old when she and her unmarried
daughter Beatrice were living at 45 Burrell Road in Ipswich, as confirmed in
the 1939 Register which stated that Emma had been born on 11th July
1857. Both of them were described as
undertaking unpaid domestic duties. Her
daughter and companion Beatrice died at Ipswich in 1946, while it was four year
later that 93-year-old Emma Collett, nee Porter, passed away at Ipswich, her
death recorded at Ipswich register office (Ref. 4a 605) during the third
quarter of 1950. The Will of Emma
Collett of 14 Springfield Lane, Ipswich, who died there on 30th July
1950, was proved at Ipswich on 16th September 1950 to Robert James
Collett, a retired commercial clerk, and Walter Arthur Ramsey, civil servant,
the executors of her estate of £679 6 Shillings and 2 Pence. See photograph (above) of Emma
surrounded by her family at her 90th birthday party in the garden of
her son William at Ipswich in 1947
18Q81 – Robert James Collett was born in 1883 at
Mistley, Essex
18Q82 – William Walter Collett was born in 1884 at
Ipswich
18Q83 – Beatrice Emma Collett was born in 1886 at
Ipswich
18Q84 – Mabel May Collett was born in 1889 at
Ipswich
18Q85 – Dorothy Alice Collett was born in 1895 at
Ipswich
Alice
Edith Collett [18P99] was born at Mettingham on 18th January 1868, the
year before her mother died, with her birth recorded at Wangford (Ref. 4a 686). By the time of the census of 1871, Alice and
her family were living at Broome. Alice
was listed as being three years old and was living with her father Robert
Collett, her stepmother Ellen, her brother Harry (above), and her
half-sisters Clara and Ellen (below).
Ten years later, at the time of the census of 1881, the Alice and her
family were living at the Black Horse Inn at Ditchingham, to where the family
had moved from Broome in 1872. Alice was
listed as being 13 and born at Mettingham in Suffolk, and by that time she had
left school and was working as a silk winder.
In 1891 Alice was 23 and was unmarried, while living within the Beccles
& Wangford census registration district of Suffolk. Just over five years later, at the Parish
Church in Toft Monks, near Beccles, Alice Edith Collett was married by banns to
her cousin Harry Porter on 7th April 1896. Harry was the younger brother of Emma Porter
who married Alice’s brother Henry Collett (above), Harry being the son
of Mary Ann Collett and James Porter. For
more details of their family see Harry Porter (above)
Clara
Elizabeth Collett [18P100] was born at Broome, near Bungay, on 19th
February 1869, the first child of Robert Collett by his second wife Ellen
Beckett, who were only married five months earlier at Denton, near Bungay, on 14th
September 1868. Clara and her family
were still living in Broome at the time of the census in 1871, when she was two
years old, but during the following year the family moved to Ditchingham near
Bungay. Clara’s father took over the
running of the Black Horse Inn at Ditchingham, and it was there that the family
was living in 1881, by which time Clara was twelve and was still attending
school although she was also described as a silk winder, like her older sister
Alice (above). Nine years later,
during the third quarter of 1890, Clara married Alfred Elden with whom she is
reputed to have had around thirteen children, even though only twelve of them
are listed below. Their wedding was
recorded at Loddon (Ref. 4b 359) and took place at the Parish Church in Broome
on 22nd September 1890, when Clara and Alfred were both 21 and
residing in Broome. The marriage
register recorded that Clara was a domestic servant and the daughter of Robert
Collett, a labourer, and that Alfred was a builder, the son of George Elden, a
builder. The bride and the groom both
signed the register in their own hand, with the witnesses being Henry Bird and Florence
Collett who was Clara’s younger sister (below), who were married during
the following year
Within the census returns Alfred’s occupation
was that of a bricklayer, the son George and Rachel Elden of Broome, where
Alfred was also born on 31st May 1869, his birth recorded at Loddon
(Ref. 4b 199) during the second quarter of 1869. Around the time that Alfred was ten years old,
his mother died, possibly during childbirth.
Alfred was twelve years old in 1881 and was living with his widowed
father and his three brothers and younger sister at Broome. Two older sisters had already left the family
home by then, or had not survived. In
1871 the Elden family of Broome comprised George aged 34, Rachel aged 31,
Caroline Elden who was eight, Edward Elden who was six, Susannah Elden who was
five, and Alfred who was one year old.
Ten years later George was 43, Edward was 17, Alfred was 12, Eleanor was
10, Jeffrey George was five, and Bertie Joseph was four years old.
Six months after their wedding day, Alfred and
Clara were still living at Broome in 1891 where, over the next seven years,
three of their surviving children were born.
Alfred Elden was 21 in 1891, while his wife Clara E Elden was 22. It was after the birth of their fourth child
at Broome in 1896, that the family left Norfolk and moved south to Ipswich,
where the couple’s remaining children were born, and where they were living in
1901 and 1911. The census of 1901
recorded the family as Alfred and Clara who were both 31, and their six
children Donald who was nine, Margaret who was eight, Alfred who was four,
Bertie who was three, Reginald who was one year old, and baby Horace who was
under one year old. Missing that day was
the couple’s third child Harold Robert Elden who was born on 29th
August 1894, his birth recorded at Loddon (Ref. 4b 223) – see below. Over the next decade a further three children
were added to the family. By April 1911,
the family comprised Alfred and Clara Elizabeth who were 42, and their nine
children. They were Donald Edward
Elden aged 19 from Broome – his birth recorded at Loddon (Ref. 4b 234)
during the second quarter of 1891, Margaret Kate Elden aged 18 from
Broome – her birth recorded at Loddon (Ref. 4b 212) during the last quarter of
1892, Alfred George Elden aged 14 – who was born at Broome on 15th
May 1896, his birth recorded at Loddon (Ref. 4b 226), Bertie Arthur Elden
aged 13, - his birth recorded at Ipswich (Ref. 4a 935) during the first quarter
of 1898, Reginald James Elden aged 12 - his birth recorded at Ipswich
(Ref. 4a 987) during the second quarter of 1899, Horace Redvers Elden
aged 10 - his birth recorded at Ipswich (Ref. 4a 982) during the last quarter
of 1900, Arthur Sydney Elden who was seven - his birth recorded at
Ipswich (Ref. 4a 1040) during the fourth quarter of 1903, and Frank Ernest
Elden who was six years old - his birth recorded at Ipswich (Ref. 4a 1047)
during the second quarter of 1905
Although Clara was 42 years of age in 1911, it
was a few weeks after that she gave birth to Stanley Sylvester Elden
whose birth was recorded at Ipswich register office (Ref. 4a 1014) during the
second quarter of 1911. Just immediately
prior to the next census day in 1911, Clara had suffered the loss of the
couple’s last two children, a girl and a boy.
One of the couple’s children, absent from the family home in 1901, was
Harold Robert Elden who was 16 and a baker’s assistant, who was living at
Ipswich in 1911, at the home of Clara’s stepmother, her father’s second wife,
the former Ellen Beckett. The first of
the two ‘missing children’ of Clara and Alfred Elden was Clara Eleanor Elden,
whose birth was recorded at Ipswich (Ref. 4a 1039) during the last quarter of
1906, who was three years old when her death was recorded at Ipswich register
office (Ref. 4a 606) during the first three months of 1910. The second child also died at Ipswich early in
1910, and he was Sydney Albert Elden, whose birth was recorded at
Ipswich (Ref. 4a 1029) during the first quarter of 1909, who was one year old
when his death was recorded at Ipswich register office at the same time as his
sister Clara, his passing also under the same reference number, (Ref. 4a 606)
It was at 68 Britannia Road in Ipswich that
Alfred and Clara were residing on the day of the survey for 1939 Register was
conducted, at a time in their lives when their 40-year-old unmarried son
Reginald was living there with them.
Alfred Elden’s date of birth was confirmed as 31st May 1869,
when he was still working as a bricklayer in the building industry. Clara E Elden was undertaking unpaid domestic
duties at the age of seventy, while her son Reginald J Elden was a bricklayer’s
labourer, working alongside his father. His date of birth was recorded as 3rd
April 1899. Clara’s husband Alfred Elden
died in 1946 at the age of 77, his passing recorded at Ipswich during the
second quarter of the year (Ref. 4a 1068).
His widow lived a very long life before she died in 1963 when she was 94
years of age. The death of Clara
Elizabeth Elden was recorded Ipswich register office (Ref. 4b 864) during the three
months of that year
Ellen
Elizabeth Collett [18P101] was born at Broome in 1870, her birth recorded at Loddon (Ref.
4b 222) during the second quarter of that year.
Some months later, she was baptised at Ditchingham on 28th
August 1870, the daughter of Robert and Ellen Collett. By 2nd April 1871 she was less
than one year old and, in the census return, she was referred to as Elizabeth,
while living with her father Robert, her mother Ellen and her three siblings
Harry, Alice, and Clara (above).
At the age of ten years, and as Elizabeth, she was living with her
family at the Black Horse Inn at Ditchingham where her father was the beer
retailer. By 1891 she was listed as
Ellen E Collett aged 20 and born at Broome, where she was living with her
parents at that time. Tragically, just
over two years after that census day, Ellen Elizabeth Collett died at Broome on
2nd August 1893 at the age of 23, her death recorded at Loddon (Ref.
4b 151)
Horace
Collett [18P102]
was born at Broome on 14th May 1871, when his birth was recorded at
Loddon (Ref. 4b 210) during the second quarter of the year. It was over a year later, and after the
family had moved to Ditchingham, when he was baptised there on 26th
September 1872 in a joint ceremony with his younger sister Florence (below),
the third and fourth children of Robert Collett and his second wife Ellen
Beckett. Horace was nine years old in
April 1881 when he was living with his family at The Black Horse Inn in
Ditchingham. By 1891 Horace Collett of
Broome was 18 and a driver with the Royal Artillery based at Farnborough in
Hampshire, and that fact may also be the reason why he was not recorded in the
census of 1901, when he could have been serving overseas with the army. Curiously,
there was one other Collett living in the same area in 1891, and that was Owen
Collett, who was 19, about whom nothing further is known, as no other record of
him has been found either before or after 1891. According to the census of 1911, unmarried
Horace was thirty-nine and was once again living at the home of his widowed
mother Ellen, who had since moved to Ipswich with her two youngest sons Arthur
and Sidney (below). On that day,
Horace Collett from Ditchingham was employed as a labourer at an iron foundry,
while staying with the family was Harold Robert Elden, the 16-year-old son of
Horace’s married sister Clara Elizabeth Elden (above)
The 1939 Register included Horace Collett
living at 25 Ringham Road in Ipswich where he was working as a car washer at
the age of 68. With him that day was his
wife Ellen Collett whose date of birth was 10th July 1873, who was
described as undertaking unpaid domestic duties. Ellen had been born at Beccles and was the
eldest child of Henry and Anne Batterbury whose family was living at Beccles in
1881, where Ellen was seven years of age and her father was a farm
labourer. The birth of Ellen Batterbury
was recorded at Wangford (Ref. 4a 702). Thirty
years later the enlarged family was still residing in Beccles, when Ellen was
37, a dressmaker, and the eldest of the five children still living there with
their parents. The marriage of Horace
Collett and Ellen Batterbury was recorded at Ipswich register office (Ref. 4a
2633) during the last three months of 1934.
It was four years after the 1939 Register was produced, that the death
of Ellen Collett, nee Batterbury, was recorded at Ipswich register office (Ref.
4a 1049) during the second quarter of 1943, when she was 69. By the time Horace passed away at Ipswich, he
was 82 years old, when his death was recorded at Ipswich register office (Ref.
4b 754) during the second quarter of 1954
Florence
Collett [18P103]
was born at Broome, like her brother Horace (above), with whom she was baptised
in a joint ceremony at Ditchingham on 26th September 1872, after the
family had moved there almost immediately following the birth of Florence,
whose birth was recorded at Loddon (Ref. 4b 195) during the third quarter of
the year, another daughter of Robert and Ellen Collett. By the time of the 1881 Census Florence was
aged 8 and was living with her parents at the Black Horse Inn at
Ditchingham. She was also still living
with her parents ten years later at their home in Broome at the age of 18. However, it was during the previous year, at
the Parish Church in Broome on 22nd September 1890, that Florence
was one of the witnesses at the wedding of her older sister Clara Elizabeth
Collett (above) and Alfred Elden, the other witness being Florence’s future
husband Henry Bird who were married fifteen days after the census day in 1891. Florence married Henry Bird at the parish
church in Broome on 29th March 1891.
The parish register confirmed that Henry Bird of Ditchingham was 21 and
a labourer, while Florence was 19 and a domestic servant from Broome whose
father was labourer Robert Collett. The
witnesses at the church were Robert Collett and Rose Saws
The first child of Henry and Florence was William
Bird who was born at Ditchingham on 12th June 1892, and was
followed by two daughters Marion Bird whose birth was recorded at Loddon
(Ref. 4b 241) during the third quarter in 1895, and Ellen Bird, before
Henry and Florence appear to have parted company. Henry Bird was recorded living at Broome from
1895 through to 1915, his name listed in the electoral rolls for those twenty
years. Rather strangely in the census
for Broome in 1901, Henry Bird and two of his three children were living at
Stone Lane, Yarmouth Road in Broome, where Henry from St Lawrence was 31 and
working as a horseman, who informed the census enumerator that he was a
widower. The two children were William
Bird who was eight, and Marion Bird junior who was five. His daughter may have been referred to in
that way, because Henry’s unmarried sister was Marion Collett from St Johns,
aged 28, a dressmaker living at Ditchingham with Henry’s parents, Edward and
Elizabeth whose place of birth was also St Lawrence. The third and youngest child, three-year-old
Ellen Bird, was staying nearby in Broome with her maternal grandmother Ellen
Collett
However, despite having the martial status of a
widower, on that same census Henry’s wife was residing at Highbury Station Road
in Islington within census registration district of the London Borough of West
Ham, with Henry’s brother George. On
that day Florence Bird, aged 29 and from Broome, was recorded as married and
the wife of head of the household George Bird from Ditchingham who was 30 and a
carpenter’s labourer. Listed with the
couple in the census return was their one-year-old daughter Alice M Bird
who was born in Islington. That
situation would appear to indicate that her marriage to Henry Bird had only
lasted for about seven years, following which she had ‘runaway’ to London with
his brother. Four further children were
added to the family over the next ten years and, by April 1911, the larger
family was living at 25 Poplar Walk in Lambeth.
George Bird was a gardener aged 39 from Norfolk, his wife Florence from
Norfolk was 38, and their five children were Alice Bird who was eleven, George
Henry Bird who was nine, Gladys Bird who was six, Ivy Maude Bird
who was three, and Grace Amelia Bird who was one year old. The first three children had been born at Highbury
Islington, the next at East Dulwich, and the last at Norwood
Kate
Collett [18P104] was
born at Ditchingham in 1874 and was baptised there on 6th March
1874, the daughter of Robert Collett and his second wife Ellen. At the time of the census in 1881 Kate was
seven years old and living with her family at the Black Horse Inn at
Ditchingham. During the next decade her
family left Ditchingham and moved to Broome where they were living in 1891, but
with Kate absent at that time. Kate was
around 24 years of age when she married Charles Bloomfield, the wedding taking
place at Broome and recorded at Loddon register office in Norfolk during
1898. Charles was born on 4th
September 1871 and was the subject of an adult baptism at Waltham Cross on 4th
September 1898 just prior to his church wedding, when he was confirmed as the
son of Ephraim and Jane Bloomfield. The
couple initially lived at Broome where their first child was born, before
moving to 5 Small Lea Cottages in Cheshunt, just north of Waltham Cross in
Hertfordshire. The move to Hertfordshire
was very likely the result of Charles taking up employment as a carman with the
London & North Eastern Railway, having a station on the main line at both
Cheshunt and Waltham Cross
As regards
Arthur Charles Bloomfield, his birth was recorded at Loddon register office
(Ref. 4b 211) during the last quarter of 1899, following his birth on 14th
October 1899 at Broome. Very shortly
after he was born his father’s work took the family to Cheshunt and Waltham
Cross in Hertfordshire, and it was there at St Lawrence’s Church in Waltham
Cross that he was baptised 17th December 1899. He volunteered for the army in 1915 but,
being below the minimum age, he said he was older in order to be accepted. He joined a Norfolk Regiment and gained the
crossed guns emblem of a marksman. In
1916, he was sent to France and was given the role of a Lewis Gunner in
trenches. During the Battle of the Somme
in August that same year, Arthur sustained a serious shrapnel injury to the
head which resulted in his return to England for recuperation and his ultimate
retirement from the army. It was a few
years late, during the second quarter of 1923, that Arthur Bloomfield married
Winifred Jackson, their wedding recorded at Edmonton register office (Ref. 3a
1353), with whom he had two children.
Their first child was Audrey Winifred Bloomfield, whose birth was
recorded at Edmonton during the last three months of 1923, who died in
1979. It was around the birth of the
second child that sadly Winifred died.
Dorine Bloomfield was born during the third quarter of 1928, her birth
also recorded at Edmonton register office, just prior to the death of her
mother, following which Arthur returned to live in Suffolk with his two
daughters. Majuba Cottage in Beccles,
where Arthur and the girls settled, had previously been owned by the late Henry
Keable, Arthur’s uncle through marriage to his aunt Maria Bloomfield. Upon the death of Henry Keable in 1924, the
property was purchased by Mr H Theobald for £580 and was eventually rented by
Arthur Bloomfield from 1928
At the time of the sale in 1924, Majuba
Cottage, at Swines Green, off Ingate Place in Beccles was described as being ‘A well-built freehold dwelling house
containing 2 sitting rooms, kitchen and 3 bedrooms, with offices in rear,
stable, cart shed, piggeries, granary, fowl houses, and other outbuildings AND
valuable enclosure of productive land, the whole containing 3 roods and 35
perches, well adapted for a Poultry Farm, Market Garden or Building Purposes,
having a frontage of 252 feet upon the High Road’. It was
built in 1901 of bricks made from clay from the Beccles brick kilns. Arthur’s mother Kate also lived with the
family at Majuba Cottage, where she acted as mother to her two granddaughters. That arrangement continued for a further five
years, until the passing of Kate Bloomfield nee Collett while she lay in her
bed at Majuba Cottage in 1933 at nearly 60 years of age. Her son Arthur Bloomfield was 75 years old
when he died in 1974. All of this
information has been kindly provided by Steve Keeble who was born in 1960, the
son of Dorine Bloomfield and Stanley Charles Keeble who were married in
1959. Sadly, Dorine Keeble nee
Bloomfield passed away in hospital, following a very brief illness, on Saturday
30th June 2012 at the age of 84
Robert
Collett [18P105] was
born at Ditchingham on 17th March 1876, the very same day that he
was baptised there, a son of inn keeper Robert Collett and his wife Ellen. His birth was later recorded at Loddon (Ref.
4b 214) during the second quarter of the year.
He was most likely born at the Black Horse Inn in Ditchingham where his
family was living in 1881, when Robert was six years old. His birth was recorded at Ditchingham (Ref.
26 103) when his parents were named as Robert and Ellen Collett. By the time he was 16, he was a brick
labourer, living with his family at Woodton, just north-west of Bungay. No trace of Robert Collett has been found so
far in the 1901 Census, nor have any details been unearthed about him at any
time thereafter. What became of him is
not known at this time if, in fact, he did survive beyond his teenage years
Jessie L
Collett [18P106] was
born at Ditchingham in 1877, mostly at the Black Horse Inn where her father was
the inn keeper. Her birth was recorded
at Loddon as Jessy Collett (Ref. 4b 209) during the third quarter of 1877. It was at Ditchingham where she was baptised
as Jessie Collett on 24th August 1877, the daughter of Robert and
Ellen Collett. She was three years old
in 1881 when living with her family at the Black Horse Inn in Ditchingham. Upon leaving school, she entered into
domestic service and by 1901 she was living and working in the St Margaret’s
district of Ipswich where, at 23 years of age, she was employed as a parlour
maid, at which time she was referred to as Jessie. Two years later Jessie Collett married Edwin
Abbott during the final quarter of 1903, the event recorded at Ipswich (Ref. 4a
1966), and by April 1911 she had given birth to three children. The census that year placed the family at 28
Upland Road in the St John's district of Ipswich. Jessie Abbott from Ditchingham was 33 and had
been married to Edwin, also 33, for seven years. Their three children were named as Florence
Abbott who was six, Olive Abbott who was four and Monica Abbott who was two
The birth of Florence Mary Abbott was
recorded at Ipswich (Ref. 4a 1029) during the third quarter of 1905, and a year
later the birth of Olive Edna Abbott was recorded at Ipswich (Ref. 4a
1071) during the third quarter of 1906.
The birth of Monica Audrey Abbott was recorded at Ipswich (Ref.
4a 1062) during the third quarter of 1908.
The earlier birth of their father Edwin Abbott was recorded at Loddon
(Ref. 4b 218) during the second quarter of 1878, after which he was baptised at
Ditchingham on 25th July 1878, the son of carpenter’s labourer John
Abbott. It was on 16th August
1927, and at the age 49, that he died while at the Royal South Hants Hospital
in Southampton. His home address at that
time was 28 Upland Road in Ipswich, and his Will for £262 15 Shillings and 5
Pence was proved at Ipswich on 24th September 1927 to Jessie Abbott,
widow. Twelve years later, it was as
Jessie L Abbott, aged 61, that her death was recorded at Ipswich register
office (Re. 4a 1504) during the first three months of 1939
Arthur
Collett [18P107] was
born at Ditchingham on 12th April 1883, his birth recorded at Loddon
(Ref. 4b 236) during the second quarter of the year. It was at the parish church in Ditchingham
that he was baptised on the 11th June 1883, the son of labourer
Robert Collett and his wife Ellen. Sometime
before 1889, his family left Ditchingham and moved the short distance to
Broome, where they were living in 1891, when Arthur was seven years old. Ten years later, at the age of 17, Arthur was
working as a railway porter when he living with his widowed mother, Ellen
Collett, and his youngest brother Sidney (below) at her home in
Broome. In April 1911, Arthur was still
not married at the age of 27, when he was still living with his mother Ellen
who had settled in Ipswich by that time.
On that census day, Arthur Collett from Ditchingham, was employed by the
Ipswich Borough Council as a tramway motor man
Just over twelve months after that census day
the marriage of Arthur Collett and Jane Alethea Offord was recorded at the
Essex Tendring register office (Ref. 4a 1450).
The birth of Jane Alethea Offord was recorded at (Ipswich) Bosmore (Ref.
4a 688) during the third quarter of 1881, having been born on 30th
July 1881. Arthur’s military record for
the First World War, provided his place and date of birth, and confirmed that
his next-of-kin was his wife Jane Alethea Collett. The service date was 24th May 1918
and as an airman with the Royal Air Force his service number was 188373. It was only on 1st April 1918 that
the Royal Flying Corps had been renamed as the RAF. Twenty years later, according to the 1939
Register, the pair of them were living in Ipswich, where Arthur Collett, aged
56, was a depot clerk with the Ipswich corporation and Jane A Collett was 58
and undertaking unpaid domestic duties. Three
years later, the death of Jane Alethea Collett was recorded at Ipswich register
office (Ref. 4a 993) during the third quarter of 1942, when she was 60 years
old. The Will of Jane Alethea Collett of
32 Rushmere Road in Ipswich, wife of Arthur Collett, was proved at Ipswich on
21st September 1942 to Arthur Collett, a trolley bus depot clerk in
the sum of £466 2 Shillings and 6 Pence.
The probate documentation also confirmed Jane died on 29th
July 1942, while at the East Suffolk and Ipswich Hospital. Widower Arthur Collett was 80 years old when
he died, his death recorded at Ipswich Samford register office (Ref. 4b 799)
during the third quarter of 1963.
Sidney
Walter Collett
[18P108] was born at Broome on 29th
January 1889, with his birth recorded at Loddon (Ref. 4b 224) during the first
months of the latter. He was the
youngest child of Robert Collett, a labourer, and his wife Ellen Beckett, and
was baptised at Broome on 31st March 1889. It was also at Broome that he was living with
his widowed mother Ellen in 1901 at the age of 12. Also still living in the family home at
Broome was Sidney’s older brother Arthur (above). By the time of the census of 1911, Sidney
Collett was 22 when he and his mother and two brothers, Horace and Arthur, were
residing in the Ipswich area of Suffolk.
Also living there with them was Sidney’s nephew Harold Elden from
Broome, the child of his married sister Clara Elizabeth Elden. At that time in his life Sidney Collett from
Broome was employed as a domestic chauffeur.
It was just four years after that day, when Sidney became a married man,
with the marriage of Sidney W Collett and Ethel M Mallett recorded at Ipswich
register office (Ref. 4a 2619) during the second quarter of 1915. Ethel May Mallett had been born at Ipswich on
12th April 1889 (Ref. 4a 848), the fourth child of Joseph T Mallett
and Jessie Mallett. Their marriage
produced two sons for Sidney and Ethel, the birth of both boys recorded at
Ipswich, where their mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Mallett. One year after his wedding day, and following
the birth of their first child, Sidney Walter Collett, an airman with the Royal
Flying Corps, began his military service on 20th June 1916, service
number 33333, when his next-of-kin was named as Ethel May Collett.
The 1939 Register identified
the four member of the family living at 18 Ringham Road in Ipswich, where
Sidney W Collett was 50 and a garage forename, his wife Ethel was also 50 and an
unpaid domestic worker, Ralph E Collett was an agricultural clerk aged 23, and
Sidney V Collett was 18 and a cigarette machine operator. Ralph never married and, following the death of
Sidney Walter Collett on 19th August 1950 at the Borough General
Hospital in Ipswich, Ralph and his brother Sidney, together with their mother
were residing at 17 Ringham Road in the town.
His death was recorded at Ipswich register office (Ref. 4b 643), when he
was 61 years old, with the Will of Sidney Walter Collett proved at Ipswich on
29th September 1950, when the two beneficiaries of his estate,
amounting to £1,952 6 Shillings, were Ethel May Collett, widow, and Ralph Edwin
Collett a commercial clerk. Ethel May
Collett survived her husband by nearly twenty-seven years, when her death was
recorded at Ipswich (Ref. 10 2396) in the spring of 1977. However, she had suffered the loss of her
eldest son five years earlier when he was 55
18Q86 - Ralph Edwin
Collett
was born in 1916 at Ipswich
18Q87- Sidney Victor
Collett
was born in 1921 at Ipswich
George
Collett [18P109] was
born at Mettingham in 1859 and was baptised there on 29th May 1859,
the eldest child of Christopher Collett of Mettingham and his wife Lucy
Jones. His birth was recorded at
Wangford (Ref. 4a 686). George was one
year old in the Mettingham census in 1861 when he was living there with his
parents. He was still with his parents
ten years later when the family was living at Wrentham, north of Southwold,
when he was 11 years old. When George
was in his early-to-middle teenage years his younger brother Walter Henry
Collett died when he was around three or four years old and that tragic event
may have been the reason why his family moved north to Lancashire shortly
thereafter. By the time of the census in
1881, George Collett, aged 22 and from Mettingham, was living at 65 Rowbotham
Street in Manchester. He was a boarder
at the home of Henry Cooper who was a railway porter, while George himself was
a railway ticket collector. It was at
Barton-upon-Irwell (Ref. 8c 705) during the first quarter of 1884 that George
Collett, aged 24 and the son of Christopher Collett, married (1) Martha Jane
Higginbottom at Christ Church in Patricroft on 28th January 1884. She was born at Morton Green in Patricroft
(Eccles) in 1856, with her birth as Martha Jane recorded at Barton-upon-Irwell
(Ref. 8c 399), the daughter of boiler maker Joseph Higginbottom and his wife
Mary Ann. It was at Eccles that she was baptised
on 2nd March 1856. The
marriage of George and Martha produced three children prior to the next census
in 1891, when the family was living at 24 New York Street in the Pendleton area
of Salford and comprised George Collett from Mettingham, who was 32 and a
ticket collector, his wife Martha J Collett, who was 34, and their children
Florence M Collett who was six, George Collett who was two, and Walter Collett
who was under one year old. At the time
of the birth of son Walter, George was a rail ticket collector living at
Seedley Road in Pendleton
Within a couple of years of the census George’s
wife presented him with their fourth and last child while they were still
living at Pendleton. However, during the
next few years the family moved to 86 Church Street in Pendleton, as confirmed
in the census of 1901, when George’s place of birth was confirmed as Mettingham
in Suffolk. George Collett was 42 and
was a bus man for a railway company, and his wife Martha J Collett from Morton
Green, Lancs, was 45 and a hardware dealer.
All four of their children were living with them at that time, and they
were Florence Collett aged 16, George Collett aged 12, Walter Collett aged 10,
and Ernest Collett who was seven. All
three boys were still attending the local school. Another family move seems to have taken place
during the first decade of the new century, most likely after their daughter
gave birth to a daughter of her own, out of wedlock
By the time of the next census in 1911, the
family was living at South Shore in Blackpool, not far from Fylde, where the base-born
child had been born. George of
Mettingham was 53 and a railway porter, his wife Martha Jane was 55 and from
Morton Green, and their unmarried children were Florence Mary who was 26 from
Patricroft who was a mother’s helper, George who was 22 and working for a local
newspaper, Walter who was 20 and a house painter, and Ernest Victor who was 17
and working as a shop assistant for a grocer.
All three of George’s sons were confirmed as having been born at
Pendleton. Also listed with the family
was six-month-old Gertrude Lucy Collett, the first grandchild for George and
Martha. Just over ten years after that
census day, Martha Jane Collett died at Blackpool on 11th November
1921, her passing recorded at Fylde register office (Ref. 8e 750) when she was
65. Her Will was proved at Blackpool on
26th January 1922, the beneficiaries being named as George Collett
and George Collett, her husband and eldest son
A year after the death of his wife, the second
marriage of George Collett to (2) Rosetta Hough was recorded at Fylde register
office (Ref. 8e 1388) during the last three months of 1922. The registration of their wedding day at the
Parish Church in South Shore confirmed the following details. The date they were married was 11th
December 1922 when George Collett, widower, was 63 and a railway inspector of
39 Rothwell Street in South Shore and the son of Christopher Collett, deceased,
a labourer. His bride Rosetta Alberta
Hough was a 45-year-old spinster of 43 Saville Road, South Shore, and the
daughter of Richard Henry Hough, deceased, an accountant. Five years later, the death of George Collett
was also recorded at Fylde register office (Ref. 8e 878) during the first
quarter of 1928, when he was 68. By the
time the 1939 Register was released, Rosetta Alberta Collett from Prestwich was
residing on Ansdell Road in Blackpool from where she was a shop assistant in
fancy goods, while her date of birth was 10th December 1877, when
she was 61 years old. It was during the
third quarter of 1963 when Rosetta Collett married Frederick C Brevitt, the
event recorded at Blackpool register office (Ref. 10b 992). Three years after, the death of Rosetta A
Brevitt was recorded at Blackpool (Ref. 10b 403) when she was living at 86 Park
Road in Blackpool, where she passed away on 19th August 966, her
Will proved at Lancaster on 13th September to Lena May Danson, a
married woman in the sum of £255
18Q88 - Florence Mary Collett was born in 1884 at
Patricroft, Eccles
18Q89 - George Collett was born in 1888 at Pendleton, Salford
18Q90 - Walter Collett was born in 1890 at Pendleton, Salford
18Q91 - Ernest Victor Collett was born in 1893 at Pendleton, Salford
Ann
Catherine Collett [18P110] was born at Chediston in 1862, the second child and eldest
daughter of Christopher Collett and Lucy Jones, but was not baptised
there. Her mother was born at Chediston
and it is therefore highly likely that Ann was born at the home of her maternal
grandparents, since she was the only child of Christopher and Lucy to be born
there. Not long after she was born her
family was living at Cuckholds Green in Wrentham near Southwold, and around the
time of the death of her brother Walter Henry Collett (below) in 1873,
Ann and her family moved to Lancashire.
The move was confirmed in the census of 1881 when the family was living
at 33 King Street in Barton-upon-Irwell.
Ann was recorded as Catherine Collett, aged 18, who by that time had
entered into domestic service upon leaving school. However, whilst her occupation was stated as
being that of a general domestic servant, she was also described as being
unemployed at that time. Her father died
at the end of 1882 and six years after that her mother remarried to become Lucy
Bower, and with no trace of her in 1891 it is assumed that she was married by
then
Frederick
Christopher Collett
[18P111] was born at Wrentham near
Southwold on 24th July 1866, his birth recorded at Blything (Ref. 4a
623). Just five days later he was
baptised at Wrentham on 29th July 1866, the son of Christopher and
Lucy Collett. And it was at Cuckholds
Green in Wrentham that Frederick C Collett, aged four years, was living with
his family in 1871, and was already attending the village school. Around 1874 the family travelled to
Lancashire where they were living in 1881.
By then Fred C Collett, aged 14, had left school and had begun work as a
domestic groom, while still living with his family at 33 King Street in
Barton-upon-Irwell. His father died
towards the end of 1882 and, six years later, his mother was remarried to
become Lucy Bower. So, by the time of
the next census in 1891, the only Colletts still living in the
Barton-upon-Irwell area were Frederick, together with his two brothers Henry
and Walter William (below). For
whatever reason, at that time in their lives, both Frederick and brother Walter
took up using their second names, so in the census return Frederick was
recorded as Christopher Collett from Wrentham who was 24
It was just over four years later, during the
last three months of 1895 that the marriage of Frederick Christopher Collett and
Margaret Jane Challoner was recorded at Barton-upon-Irwell register office
(Ref. 8c 863). Margaret was born at Bryn
Polyn, St Asaph, Flintshire, in North Wales, with her birth recorded during the
third quarter of 1870 at St Asaph (Ref. 11b 373). On being baptised at Bryn Polyn on 12th
December 1870, the daughter of bricklayer Joseph Challoner and his wife
Elizabeth, the family was living at Forge Street in Bryn Polyn. It was at Christ Church in Patricroft where
the couple was married on 9th October 1895, when Frederick, the son
of Christopher Collett was 26. Shortly
after they were married, the couple settled in Wigan where their children were
born. By the time of the census in 1901
the marriage had produced their first children.
The census returned confirmed that Frederick C Collett, aged 33, was a green
grocer living at 39 Darlington Street in Wigan
At that time his wife Margaret J Collett was
30, and their daughter Fanny Collett was four years old. During the following year the family was
expanded by the birth of a second daughter while the family was still living in
Wigan, and before they moved to the Ormskirk area of Lancashire. And it was at Hoscar Lathom, three miles
north-east of Ormskirk, that the family was living at the time of the April
census in 1911. Frederick Collett was
44, Margaret Collett was 40, Fanny Collett was 14, and Clara Collett was eight
years old, both confirmed as born at Wigan.
The death of Margaret J Collett was recorded at Ormskirk register office
(Ref. 8b 948) during the last quarter of 1935 when she was 65. After just over three years as a widower, Frederick
Christopher Collett was living at West View in Hoscar Lathom when he died on 6th
February 1939, his death being recorded at Ormskirk register office that same
quarter. Probate was completed less than
a month later at Liverpool on 1st March, when his unmarried daughter
Fanny Collett was named together with canal toll clerk Thomas Barrow. His estate was valued at £448 14 Shillings and
6 Pence. The reference to the canal is
very interesting since Hoscar Lathom sits of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal
18Q92 - Fanny Collett was born in 1896 at Wigan
18Q93 - Clara Collett was born in 1902 at
Wigan
Walter Henry
Collett [18P112] was
born at Wrentham in 1869, his birth recorded at Blything (Ref. 4a 664) during
the second quarter of that year. He was
over two years old when he was baptised in a joint ceremony with his baby
brother Alfred (below) on 10th July 1870, the sons of
Christopher and Lucy Collett. That was
confirmed in the Wrentham census of 1871, when Walter H Collett was two years
old. His delayed baptism may have had
something to do with Walter being a poorly child because, two years after his
family had move north to Lancashire, Walter Henry Collett died at Winton in
Eccles, his death at the age of seven recorded at Barton-upon-Irwell (Ref. 8c
354) during the second quarter of 1876
Alfred
Collett
[18P113] was born at Wrentham in
1870, where he was baptised in a joint ceremony with his two-year-old brother
Walter (above) on 10th July 1870, the sons of Christopher and
Lucy Collett. The birth of Alfred
Collett was recorded at Blything (Ref. 4a 719) during the second quarter of
1870. He was one year old in the
Wrentham census of 1871 when he was living at Cuckholds Green with his
family. Towards the middle of the 1870s
his family moved north to Manchester, and in 1881 they were living at 33 King
Street in Barton-upon-Irwell where schoolboy Alfred was 11. His father died at the end of the following
year and, it is also there eight years later, that Alfred Collett was another
victim of whatever had killed his father and his older brother Walter (above),
with the death of Alfred Collett recorded at Barton-upon-Irwell (Ref. 8a 394)
during the third quarter 1890, when he was just 20 years of age
Henry
Collett [18P114] was
born at Wrentham on 28th May 1872 and his birth was recorded at
Blything (Ref. 4a 705) during the third quarter of the year. He was another son of Christopher and Lucy
Collett, for whom no baptism record has been found at Wrentham, unlike his
older brothers. Henry was one year old
when his brother died, and at that time his parents had swapped living in
Suffolk for a new life in Lancashire. It
was at 33 King Street in Barton-upon-Irwell that Henry Collett was eight years
old in the census of 1881, when he was living there with his family and
attending the local school. Following
the death of his father in 1882, his mother married Samuel Bower in 1888, and
in 1891 Henry Collett of Wrentham was 18 when he was working as a carter while
he was a lodger at the home of labourer Richard Atkinson and his wife Sarah at
5 Dudley Street in Barton-upon-Irwell.
Also, a member of the Atkinson family was their daughter Catherine who
was 19 in 1891, and it was with her that Henry began a friendship which
resulted in them being married during the following year
It was during the third quarter of 1892 that
the marriage of Henry Collett and Catherine Atkinson was recorded at
Barton-upon-Irwell (Ref. 8c 956). Catherine
was born at Bolton towards the end 1871, her birth recorded there during the
last three month of that year (Ref. 8c 345).
She was baptised at St Mark’s Church in Bolton-le-Moors on 18th
October 1871, the daughter of Richard and Sarah Atkinson. Over the next eight years Catherine presented
Henry with four children and, according to the census in 1901, three of them
were born at Patricroft in Eccles, within the Barton-upon-Irwell registration
district. The census return that year
listed the family as living at 12 Hampton Groves in Eccles. Henry and Catherine were both 28, and at that
time in his life Henry from Wrentham was a house painter and decorator. Their children were recorded as Bertha
Collett who was six, Christopher Collett who was five, and Elsie Collett who
were two years old. During the next year
the couple’s last child was born at Winton, whereas on the occasion of the
census in 1911 the place of birth of all four of the children was stated as
being Winton in Eccles, which was where Henry’s parents had originally settled
after their move from Suffolk, and where his youngest brother Walter William
Collett (below) was born, together with his two children
The census return in April 1911 placed the
family living at 54 Liverpool Road in Eccles, within the Barton-upon-Irwell
registration district where it comprised Henry and Catherine, who were both 39,
and their five children. Bertha Collett
was 16, Christopher Collett was 15, Elsie Collett was 12, while Dora Collett
was eight years old. At that time in his
life Henry was continuing to work as a house painter. Staying with the family on the day of the
census was Alfred Collett, aged 12 and from Winton, who was Henry’s nephew,
being the son of his brother Walter William Collett (below). Nothing much is known about the family after
1911 which was recorded in the Pre-War Register of 1939 residing at 7 Brentwood
Drive in Eccles, when Henry Collett was a metal merchant and a scouring stone
manufacturer aged 67. Living there with
him was his wife Catherine, whose birth was confirmed as 4th October
1871, and the couple’s youngest child, single Dora Collett who was a typist
aged 36. The later death of Henry Collett
was recorded at Barton register office (Ref. 10b 255) during the last three
months of 1952, when he was 80 years old.
A few months after losing her husband, Catherine Collett nee Atkinson, a
widow, died during the first three months of 1953 with her death also recorded
at the Barton registration office.
Sadly, her husband’s Will was slow to be proved with their deaths being
so close together. In the end, the Will
of Henry Collett was proved at Manchester on 2nd April 1953, after
Catherine had passed away, when the two executors were named as Bertha Collett,
spinster, and Christopher Henry Collett, a rubbing stone manufacturer. Henry was still living at 7 Brentwood Drive
in the Monton suburb of Eccles to the west of Manchester when he died, but
actually passed away at the Park Hospital in Davyhulme (Urmston), Manchester on
7th December 1952
18Q94 - Bertha
Collett was born in 1894 at Patricroft, Eccles
18Q95 - Christopher
Henry Collett was born in 1896 at Patricroft, Eccles
18Q96 - Elsie
Collett was born in 1898 at Patricroft, Eccles
18Q97 - Dora
Collett was born in 1903 at Winton, Eccles
Walter
William Collett [18P115] was born at Winton in Eccles on 10th October 1874,
after which his birth recorded at Barton-upon-Irwell (Ref. 8c 579) during the
last quarter of the year. It was at
Winton Chapel, when he was one month old, that he was baptised on 11th
November 1874, the youngest son of Suffolk couple Christopher Collett of
Mettingham and Lucy Jones of Chediston.
His parents had only just moved to Lancashire when he was born, and that
move also happened following the death of his older brother Walter Henry
Collett, after whom he was named.
Following a short period living in Winton the family moved from there to
33 King Street in Barton-upon-Irwell before 1881, since it was there that they were
living at the time of the census that year.
Walter Collett was six years old by then and was attending the local
school. That reference to him in the
census of 1881, appears to be the last occasion in his life when he was noted
in public records as Walter Collett.
From the subsequent records thereafter, it looks as though, as an adult,
that he opted to use his second name of William instead. His father died at Barton-upon-Irwell towards
the end of 1882, and in 1888 his mother married Samuel Bower. By the time of the census in 1891, William
Collett aged 16 was working as a labourer at a timber merchant, while he was
living with his mother Lucy Bower at the home of Samuel Bower at 9 Elizabeth
Street in Barton-upon-Irwell
It was less than four years later that William
Collett married Eda Jones who was born at Salford on 2nd June 1869,
the daughter of Francis Jones, a clerk at a paint works, and his wife
Sarah. The marriage was recorded at
Barton-upon-Irwell register office (Ref. 8c 754) during the first quarter of
1895. Once they were married William and
Eda lived much of their early life together in Winton in Eccles. The marriage produced just two children for
the couple at Winton, and the four members of the family were living at 22
Worsley Road in Eccles by March 1901.
William Collett of Winton was 26 and a salesman at a timber yard, his
wife Eda from nearby Salford was 31, their daughter Lillian Collett was four,
and their son Alfred Collett was two years old.
Things were slightly different ten years later, perhaps because
William’s mother, Lucy Bower, had died at Barton-upon-Irwell just a few weeks
prior to the census and, following her death, his stepfather Samuel Bower, aged
66, was staying with the Collett family in early April 1911. In order to accommodate Samuel, William’s son
Alfred was staying with his brother Henry (above). At that time the family was living at 5 Byron
Street in the Patricroft area of Eccles, where William Collett was 36 and a
house painter, Eda Collett was 40, and Lillian Collett was 14. However, on that occasion their son was not
living with the family but, later on, he joined his father in the family
business of W Collett & Son, Painters & Decorators, who certainly
worked together up until the Second War World.
The 1939 Register,
compiled just as the war with Germany was expected to start, listed four
members of the Collett family living at 7 Lynwood Avenue in Eccles, the home of
William’s son Alfred and his wife Mary, where William Collett was 65 and a
master decorator, and his wife Ada Collett was 70 years old and performing
unpaid domestic duties for the three working members of the household. Less than four years after that, the death of
William Collett was recorded at Barton-upon-Irwell register office (Ref. 8c
587) during the second quarter of 1943, when he was 68. Two years later, William’s widow was reported
in a local newspaper, printed in 1945, to be residing at Lynwood Avenue in
Patricroft, in an article about the promotion of her son Alfred to
Lieutenant-Colonel. It was near the end
of that same year, when the death of Ada Collett, aged 76, was recorded at
Stockport register office (Ref. 8a 57) during the last three months of 1945
18Q98 - Lillian
Collett was born in 1896 at Winton, Eccles
18Q99 - Alfred
Collett was born in 1898 at Winton, Eccles
Alfred
Ernest Collett [18P116] was born at Brooke, near Loddon in Norfolk during 1854, his
birth recorded at Loddon (Ref. 4b 187), the eldest child of Charles Collett and
Ellen Rix, who was baptised at Brooke on 23rd October 1854. Not long after he was born, his father’s work
as a domestic servant took the young family to Hampstead in London, where they
lived until around 1862, as confirmed by the Hampstead census in 1861 when
Alfred E Collett was six years old.
Following the birth of his second brother at Hampstead, the family
returned to Brooke, where another brother was added to his family. Two more children were born into the family
after it had moved into Norwich around 1865 but, tragically, after that,
Alfred’s mother died and, for a short while, the young children were looked
after by their father within the Parish of St Margaret in the West Wymer
district of Norwich. It was there that
they were living in 1871 when Alfred Collett from Brooke was 17. Ultimately though, it would appear that the
family was eventually split up and, by 1881, Alfred from Brooke was 26 and
working as a brewer’s servant, while residing at Bartholomew Street within the
Holy Sepulchre area of Norwich.
It was during the last quarter of 1888, when
the marriage of Alfred Ernest Collett and the older Sophia Nobbs, a widow, was
recorded at Norwich (Ref. 4b 387), whose age varied from census to census. The former Sophia Knight had married William
Nobbs at Ipswich during the summer of 1866.
In 1891 the childless couple was living at Heigham Street in the West
Wymer district of Norwich when Alfred Collett from Brooke was 37 and a
gardener’s labourer, and Sophia Collett from Suffolk was 45 and a general
storekeeper. Being that much older than
Alfred, there never was any chance of children and, in 1901, it was just the
two of them still living in Norwich, but at 38 Exeter Street, where Alfred
Collett from Brooke was 46 and a gardener, while Sophia Collett from Knodishall
near Saxmundham was 56 with no stated occupation. After a further decade they were still living
in the West Wymer area of Norwich, at 38 Exeter Street, where Alfred from
Brooke was 56 and a gardener who had been married to Sophia aged 69, for
twenty-two years. By 1913/14, their home
address was 12 Ashbourne in Norwich, when the electoral roll also stated that
they still had a qualifying and successive property at 38 Exeter Street
The couple was still residing at that address
when first Sophia passed away, followed eleven years after by her husband. Sophia Collett of 12 Ashbourne Street in
Norwich and the wife of Alfred Ernest Collett died on 23rd March
1927, her death recorded at Norwich register office (Ref. 4b 190) when she was
85. Curiously administration of her
personal effects valued at £122 11 Shillings and 5 Pence was granted to Horatio
William Nobbs, a corporation labourer, which raises the question, was he a son
from her previous marriage? The death of
Alfred E Collett aged 83 was recorded at Norwich register office (Ref. 4b 141)
during the second quarter of 1938. It
was eighteen months after he died, that administration of his personal estate
of £174 14 Shillings and 11 Pence was granted at Norwich on 27th
January 1940 to Charles Collett, a retired general labourer, presumably his
brother (below). The administration
document also confirmed that Alfred Ernest Collett died on 18th June
1938 at the Poor Law Institution on Bowthorpe Road in Norwich
Charles
George Collett [18P117] was born at Hampstead in London on 15th January
1858, the second child of Charles and Ellen Collett. It was also at Hampstead (Ref. 1a 497) where
the birth of Charles George Collett was recorded during the first three months
of 1858. In the Hampstead census of 1861
Charles G Collett was three years old.
After the death of his mother around 1868 when the family was living in
Norwich, Charles and his five siblings were living in West Wymer, Norwich in
1871, when he was 14 and his place of birth was confirmed as London. Charles was only one of two children still
living with his father at the Jolly Butchers Inn on Ber Street in Norwich in
1881, when he was incorrectly recorded as Charles Collett junior aged 21 and
born at Brooke, rather than being aged 23 and from Hampstead. Also, in error, his younger brother Herbert (below)
was said to have been born at Hampstead when, in fact, it was he who had been
born at Brooke, both of them working as agricultural labourers. A little while later Charles married Jessie
who was born at Devonport in Plymouth around 1860. Curiously, in the Norwich & Conisford
census of 1891, the childless couple gave the census enumerator incorrect ages
when they said they were 29 and 28 respectively, when in fact they were nearer
32 and 30, and Charles was working as a bricklayer and Jessie’s county of birth
was recorded as Kent.
More accurate ages were offered at the time of
the next census in 1901. On that
occasion Charles Collett from Brooke was 42 and was employed as a bricklayer’s
labourer, while his wife Jessie was 40 and was described as a charwoman. The next Norwich census in 1911, raises a
major question. Charles G Collett was 52
and a bricklayer’s labourer, who said he was born at Brooke, obviously where he
was raised from an early age. However,
instead of his status being married or widowed, he was recorded as being single. That was also his marital status on the day
of the 1939 Register, when simply as Charles Collett, with no stated
occupation, he was living within the County Borough of Norwich at the age of
81. Upon the death of his older brother
Alfred Ernest Collett during the previous year, the administration process for
his estate of £174 14 Shillings and 11 Pence, it was retired general labourer
Charles Collett who named as the sole executor.
Around six months later, the death of Charles George Collett was recorded
at Norwich register office (Ref. 4b 356) during the third quarter of 1940, at
the age of 82
Herbert Albert Collett [18P119] was born at Brooke, near Loddon in Norfolk, following
which his birth was recorded at Loddon (Ref. 4b 197) during the third quarter
of 1863, as Herbert Collett. He was
seven years old in the West Wymer Norfolk census of 1871, when his birthplace
was confirmed as Brooke. With two older
brothers born at Hampstead in London, it is perhaps not surprising that the
census return completed in 1881 gave the birth place of Herbert Collett, aged
16, as Hampstead, rather than Brooke or Loddon.
At that time in his life, he was employed as an agricultural labourer,
when Herbert, his widowed father Charles, and older brother Charles junior (above)
were boarding at the Jolly Butchers Inn at Ber Street in Norwich. Tragically, just four years after that day,
the premature death of Herbert Albert Collett, aged 21, was recorded at Norwich
(Ref. 4b 92) during the second quarter of 1885.
This was the only occasion when Albert had been added to his name
George
Collett [18P120] was
born at Norwich in 1866, the fifth child of Charles and Ellen Collett. He was only a couple of years old when his
mother died and for a few years he was raised by his father, with whom he was
living in Norwich in 1871 when he was four years old. However, by the time of census in 1881,
George was 15 and a servant at the home of gardener Jonathan Hall and his wife
at Eaton Park in Eaton St Andrew in Norwich.
On that occasion his place of birth was recorded as Earsham, near Bungay,
where his father was born, so it seems likely that it was his father who
arranged for him to be with the elderly couple.
No census record has been found in 1891 that included George Collett
from Norwich, who would have been around 25 years of age. However, it was on 5th October
1891 that bachelor and coach-smith George Collett aged 24, living at 3 Marsden
Street in Haverstock Hill, London, and the son of Charles Collett, deceased, a
garden, was married by banns to Ellen Wise Humbley
of Kentish Town, at the Parish Church of St Andrew Haverstock Hill. The event was recorded at St Pancras (Ref. 1b
77) during the last three months of 1891.
Ellen was born on 30th October 1868 but was not baptised until
17th May 1885, the daughter of labourer John Humbley, and his wife
Sarah, with whom she was living earlier in 1891 at the age of 22, when she was
a dressmaker. The couple’s first child
was born at Kentish Town, the next at Wood Green north of Haringey, and the
third at Manor Park in the East Ham area of London, the
birth of Charles Leslie Collett recorded at West Ham register office (Ref. 4a
255) during the last quarter of 1900.
Just a few months later the family was living at Manor Park in 1901,
when George Collet from Norwich said he was 33, instead of 35, when his occupation
was that of a coach-smith. His wife
Ellen W Collett was 31, when Herbert R Collett was nine, Margaret P Collett was
two, and Charles L Collett was only four months old
Five years later, on 11th March
1906, the whole family sailed across the Atlantic Ocean on the SS Pomeranian, out
of London and bound for Halifax, and then Hamilton in Canada, from where they
made the long overland trek to Calgary in Alberta. George Collett from Norfolk was 36 and a
blacksmith, housewife Ellen W Collett was 34, scholar Herbert R Collett was 14,
Margaret Collett was seven, and Charles Collett was five, all born in
Norfolk. Three years after arriving in
Canada, Ellen gave birth to another daughter Fern Alma Collett in Alberta who
was 17 years old and living with George and Ellen at Acadia in Alberta in
1926. Fifteen years earlier, the Calgary
census in 1911 recorded the Collett family from England as Quakers, comprising
George Collett aged 41, Ellen Wise Collett aged 39, Herbert Robert Collett aged
19 and an operator in a laundry, Margaret Priscilla Collett who was 12, Charles
Leslie Collett who was 10, and Jesse Alma Collett from was born in Alberta and
was two years of age. The dates of birth
of the four children corresponded with their age, but that was not the case
with George and Ellen
The next census in 1921 listed the Quaker family
at Colholme in Alta Province as George Collett who was 51 and a farmer with his
own farm, his wife was 50, his two son Herbert and Charles both working on
their father’s farm aged 28 and 20 respectively, daughter Margaret who was 22,
and Fern who was 12. The family living
at Arcadia in 1926 was made up of George Collett who was 56, Ellen Wise Collett
who was 54, when their unmarried son Herbert Robert Collett was 34, and
completing the family was seventeen-year-old daughter Fern Alma Collett. Just over a year later, Ellen Wise Collett
died at Youngstown in Alberta on 1st November 1927, when she was 59
years old. Her obituary read as follows,
courtesy of The Plainsdealer, published at Youngstown on 10th
November 1927:
“Mrs George Collett, a pioneer of Mellom
district, living about twenty miles south of Youngstown, was found dead by her
husband Saturday evening, November 4, 1927.
Mr Collett and son Herbert had been working on threshing outfit for some
time, leaving Mrs Collett at home. When
Mr Collett went home on Saturday, for the weekend, he found his wife sitting in
a chair in front of the kitchen stove, dead.
A post mortem examination disclosed that the unfortunate woman had died
of pneumonia three days earlier. The
body was taken to Calgary and funeral was held there on 8th November
1927. In addition to her husband and son
living on the farm, Mrs Collett leaves a son and two daughters in Calgary. She was 60 years of age and the family had
been living in the Youngstown district for some thirteen year”
George Collett was 89 when he died on 14th
May 1955 at Calgary, Alberta, after which his obituary was published in the
Calgary Herald on 16th May 1955, as follows:
“George Collett, 88, of 838 18th
Avenue N. W, died Saturday in the General Hospital after a short illness. Mr Collett was born in Norwich, England,
moved to Hamilton in 1906. He was a
member of the Society of Friends, London, England. He moved to Youngstown district in 1915 and
homesteaded there until moving to Calgary 27 years ago. He was one of the original shareholders in
the Citadel Ornamental Ironworks in Calgary.
His wife Ellen Wise died in 1927.
He is survived by two sons Herbert in Calgary, and Charles in Fairview
Alberta, two daughters Mrs George (Margaret) Furness in Calgary, and Mrs Joseph
(Fern) Hetherington in Bowness, 9 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren.” He was buried at Burnsland Cemetery, Spiller
Road in Calgary, on Wednesday 18th May 1955. It is of interest, that his married daughter
Margaret Priscilla Furness was living at the Collett family home at 838 18th
Avenue N. W. at the time of the death of her husband George Furness
18Q100 - Herbert Robert
Collett was born in 1892 at Kentish Town
18Q101 - Margaret
Priscilla Collett was born in 1898 at
Wood Green, London
18Q102 - Charles Leslie
Collett was born in 1900 at
Manor Park, East Ham
18Q103 – Fern Alma
Collett was born in 1909 at
Alberta, Canada
Eliza
Collett [18P121] was
born at Norwich in 1868, the last of the six children born to Charles Collett
and Ellen Rix. Tragically, her mother
died, either during the birth or shortly thereafter and, by 1871, Eliza aged
two years was living with her father and her five brothers in Norwich. During the years that followed her father
appears not to have been able to care for his children, resulting in the family
being broken up. By 1881, Eliza Collett
from Norwich, was 12 years old and was living with John and Susan Waites, and
their daughter Rosina, at their home in Russell Street in Norwich Higham. No record of her has been found after that
time, so it is likely that she was married by 1891
Sarah Ann
Collett [18P122] was
born at Fressingfield in 1843. While the
Suffolk Marriage Records show that her parents Benjamin Collett of
Fressingfield and Sarah Ann Spalding of Earl Soham were married at
Fressingfield on 26th December 1843, Sarah Ann Collett was baptised
there on 9th July 1843.
Therefore, there is a strong possibility that Sarah Ann Spalding, the
base-born child of Sarah Ann Spalding who was born or baptised at Fressingfield
on 23rd December 1842, was the same child as Sarah Ann Collett,
since only one of them has been identified in the census of 1851. On that occasion, Sarah Ann Collett was eight
years old and was living with her parents at their home in New Street in
Fressingfield. Ten years later in 1861, Sarah
Ann Spalding from Fressingfield was 18 and a servant at the Rumburgh home of
farmer Jonathan Fairload. One year later
in 1862, Sarah Ann’s father died and during the following year the marriage of
Sarah Ann Spalding and William Brundish of Fressingfield was recorded at Hoxne
(Ref. 4a 747). William was born there on
14th December 1844, the son of Charles Brundish and Cecilia Celia
Mayhew, his birth recorded at Hoxne (Ref. xiii 421), after which he was
baptised at Fressingfield on 3rd May 1846. The couple’s first four children were born
while they were still living at Fressingfield as confirmed by the census in
1871 which listed the family as William 29 and an agricultural labourer, Sarah
Ann 28, Mary Brundish who was seven, William Brundish who was five,
George Brundish who was four, and Jane Brundish who was two years
old
Shortly after 1871 the Brundish family left
Suffolk when they moved to the south of England and settled at Erith in Kent
where the couple’s next two children were born.
By the time of the next census in 1881 the family was living at 25
Bottle Road in Erith. By that time,
Sarah Ann’s mother, Sarah Collett, aged sixty-two was living with the
family. William Brundish, at 39 was head
of the household and a general labourer, while Sarah Collett of Fressingfield
was 62 and a washer-woman, who was referred to as his mother-in-law. His wife Sarah Ann Brundish was 38, and their
children that day were listed as William Brundish who was 15 and a newsagent’s
errand boy, George Brundish who was 13 and a baker’s errand boy, Kezia
Brundish who was 12, Benjamin Brundish who was nine, James Brundish who was
six, Lily Brundish who was four, and Katy Brundish who was approaching one year
old.
Twenty years later, according to the census in
March 1901, Sarah A Brundish was 58 and William Brundish was 59, both of them from
Fressingfield, who were still living in Erith, but at Yeddo Cottage, on Halt
Robin Road, Crayford, Belvedere in Kent, where the couple was still living in
1916. where William was working as a general labourer. Just three children were still living there
with them, and they were Benjamin who was 29 and plaster’s labourer, Florence
M Brundish who was 18, and Ruth Brundish who was 15 and a
dressmaker’s apprentice. Ten years after
that, Yeddo Cottage was described as a six-roomed dwelling. At that time in 1911, William was 69 and
employed by Erith Urban District Council as a labourer. His wife of 47 years, Sarah was 68, both of
them born at Fressingfield, who had given birth to ten children, nine of them
still living that census day, with only seven of them identified above. Five years later, the death of Sarah Ann
Brundish was recorded at Dartford register office (Ref. 2a 843) during the
first three months of 1916 at the age of 73.
Her burial record in the Parish of Erith confirmed she was still living
at Yeddo Cottage, Halt Robin Road, when she died and was buried on 4th
March 1916. Just over eight years later,
the death of William Brundish was recorded at Guildford register office (Ref.
2a 122) during the third quarter of 1924 when he was 82
Samuel
Collett [18P123] was
born at Fressingfield during September 1844, the first son of Benjamin Collett
and Sarah Ann Spalding. Tragically he
only survived for a few months, when he died and was buried at Fressingfield on
17th May 1845 as Sam Collett aged eight months
Jane
Collett [18P124] was
born at Fressingfield in 1845, her birth recorded at Hoxne (Ref. xiii 447), and
was baptised at Fressingfield’s St Peter’s & St Paul’s Church on 30th
November 1845, the daughter of Benjamin and Sarah Collett. Unlike her brother Samuel (above) who
suffered an infant death before she was born, Jane survived for a few years
when she died at Fressingfield during November in 1848, where she was buried on
19th November 1848, aged three years, her death also recorded at
Hoxne (Ref. xiii 296)
Sam
Collett [18P125] was
born at Fressingfield in 1846 and was baptised as Sam Collett the son of
Benjamin and Sarah Collett on 15th March 1846. His absence from the census of 1851, coupled
with the absence of his three immediately adjacent siblings perhaps indicates
that all four of them suffered infant deaths
Matilda
Collett[18P126] was
born at Fressingfield during August 1847, her birth recorded at Hoxne (Ref.
xiii 407), and was baptised at Fressingfield on 31st October
1847. The baptism record at St Peter’s
and St Paul’s Church confirmed she was the daughter of Benjamin and Sarah Ann
Collett. Matilda was the couple’s third
known child to suffer an infant death, when she died at Fressingfield and was
buried there on 25th February 1849 at the age of one year and six
months, her death also recorded at Hoxne (Ref. xiii 347)
Edward
Collett [18P127] was
born at Fressingfield in 1849 and it was there that he was baptised on 13th
March 1849, the son of Benjamin and Sarah Collett. Sadly, he only survived for less than a week
after he was baptised, when he died and was buried at Fressingfield on 19th
March 1849, his death recorded at Hoxne (Ref. xiii 348), immediately after the
entry for his sister Matilda (above)
Harry
James Collett [18P128] was born at Fressingfield on 14th October 1850, his
birth recorded at Hoxne (Ref. xiii 449), after which he was baptised at Fressingfield
on 20th July 1851, the son of Benjamin and Sarah Collett. According to the census in 1851 Harry
Collett, who was four months old, was living with his parents and his sister
Sarah at New Street in Fressingfield.
Sadly, it later that same year that Harry James Collett died at
Fressingfield, where he was buried on 21st December 1851 aged just
one year, his death recorded at Hoxne (Ref. xiii 324)
Jane
Collett [18P129] was
born at Fressingfield in 1852, where she was baptised on 14th August
1853, the daughter of Benjamin and Sarah Collett. Jane was seven years old by the time of the
census in 1861 when she was living there with her parents. Her father died at Fressingfield during 1862
so by 1871, and at the age of 19, she was still living there with her widowed
mother and her brother Anthony (below).
Jane continued to live at Fressingfield until the mid-1870s when she
became a married woman. The married of
Jane Collett and Henry Day was recorded at Depwade (Ref. 4b 425) during the
second quarter of 1873. Henry’s birth
was recorded at Depwade (Ref. xiii 52) after which he was baptised at Stratton
St Michaels on 26th April 1849, the son of Robert and Maria Day. In the Norfolk census of 1901, Jane Day from
Fressingfield was 49 and living at Barnham Broom near Wymondham with her
husband Henry Day who was 51 and an ordinary agricultural labourer from
Stratton St Michael. With them that day
were their two sons Edward John Day who was eleven, and Frederick
Leonard Day who was seven
During the following decade, the family moved
south to Essex where they were living in 1911 at Ashfield in Little Baddow, to
the east of Chelmsford. Henry Day from
Stratton St Michael in Norfolk was a farm labourer aged the age of 62. His wife Jane from Fressingfield was 61 (sic)
and had been married for 38 years and had given birth to ten children, seven of
whom were still alive. Three of the
seven were still living with the couple, and they were Maud Day who was 28 and
born at Trimley, near Felixstowe, Edward John Day who was 22 and born at
Stratton St Michael who was working as a farm labourer, and Frederick Leonard
Day who was 18 and a grocer’s assistant from Stratton St Michael. Completing the household was boarder Fred
Lloyd who was another farm labourer aged 43.
Nine years later the death of Henry Day was recorded during the first
three months of 1920 at West Ham register office (Ref. 4a 67) aged 71. Thirteen years after being made a widow, the
death of Jane Day was also recorded at West Ham register office (Ref. 4a 265)
during the first three months of 1933, when she was 79 years old. Jane Collett was the great great grandmother
of Glen Dersley who kindly provided some of the details regarding Jane’s father
and her grandfather
Keziah
Collett [18P130] was
born at Fressingfield in 1856, her birth recorded at Hoxne (Ref. 4a 459), and
was baptised at Fressingfield on 10th August 1856, the youngest
daughter of Benjamin and Sarah Collett.
According to the census in 1861, Keziah was four years old while living
with his parents in Fressingfield. During
the following year her father died, but before that and just after Christmas in
1861, Keziah Collett died at Fressingfield, where she was buried on 29th
December 186, her death recorded at Hoxne (Ref. 4a 32)
Anthony
Harry Collett [18P131] was born at Fressingfield on 18th February 1858
when his birth was recorded at Hoxne (Ref. 4a 570) another son of Benjamin and
Sarah Collett. It was over four years
later when he was baptised at Fressingfield on 14th September 1862
in a joint ceremony with his brother William (below). In the Fressingfield census of 1861, Anthony
was two years old when living there with his family. It was during the following year that his
father Benjamin Collett died, so in the census of 1871 when Anthony was 12
years of age, he was still living at Fressingfield with his widowed mother
Sarah and his older sister Jane (above).
No further record of Anthony or Harry Collett has been found after that
time
William
Collett [18P132] was
born at Fressingfield on 3rd June 1862 and his birth recorded at
Hoxne (Ref. 4a 550). It was also during
the same year that his father died. He
was baptised at Fressingfield in a joint ceremony with his older brother
Anthony (above) at the church of St Peter’s and St Paul’s on 14th
September 1862, the last of eleven children of Benjamin and Sarah Collett. However, just like five of his siblings
before him, William Collett died on 21st March 1863 and was buried
at Fressingfield during the following day, when he was described as being nine
months old, his death recorded at Hoxne (Ref. 4a 391)
Henry
Collett [18P133] was
born at Westport, County Mayo in Ireland in 1848, the first of five children of
William and Ann Collett. His father was
a private with the Dragoon Guards and when Henry was around one year old, he
was transferred from Ireland to Wales and was based at Brecon Barracks in
1851. Henry was two years old by that
time and was living with his mother and baby sister Bethia in the St Mary
district of Brecon. Within the next ten
years his father was retired from the guards and during that decade the family
moved from Brecon to Dartmoor, from Dartmoor to Fressingfield, and finally to
Whitehaven. It was at St Bees in
Whitehaven that Henry, aged 12, was living with his family in 1861. Following the death of his father during the
1860s, Henry eventually left his family to take up the occupation of a joiner,
and by 1871 he was living and working in Kendal where he appears to have spent
the rest of his life. It was also during
the first quarter of the previous year that Henry Collett, aged 22 and the son
of William Collett, married (1) Isabella Bousfield at Kendal on 5th
May 1870, their marriage recorded there (Ref. 10b 841). It was also at Kendal where Isabella was
baptised on 16th February 1851, the daughter of Robert and Ann
Bousfield, having been born there on 18th February 1849
The newly married couple was recorded in the
Kendal census of 1871 when Henry Collett and his wife Isabella Collett were
both 22. By the time Isabella was very
likely pregnant with their first child.
During the next two decades Isabella presented Henry with at least six
children, although there was a gap of ten years between the fifth and the sixth
child. Within that time period, other
children may have been added to the family, but did not survive. In 1881 the family was confirmed in that
year’s census as living at 10 Serpentine Road in Kendal. Henry Collett from Ireland was 32 and a house
carpenter, his wife Isabella from Kendal was also 32, and by that time they had
five of their children with them, and all of them born at Kendal. They were Ann Collett who was nine, Mary E
Collett who was seven, Maggie Collett who was five, William H Collett who was
four, and Robert Collett who was one year old.
Also living with the family as a boarder, was unmarried Sarah Armstrong,
aged 24, a woollen weaver from Kendal
On the day of the Kendal census in 1891, Henry
and Isabella were expecting the imminent birth of their ninth and last child,
although only three of them survived to live a full life. In fact, four of the nine children passed
away in 1892 and 1893. However, in 1891,
the family living in Kendal comprised, joiner Henry Collett and Isabella
Collett, both 42 years old, and six of their children, Ann Collett who was 19,
Mary E Collett who was 18, Margaret Collett who was 16, William H Collett who
was 14, Robert B Collett who was 11, and John F Collett who was one year
old. Where missing daughter Isabella was
that day has still not been determined, since it was in 1893 that she was
buried in Cumbria. Not long after that
census day, Isabella gave birth to another daughter, who died in 1893, and
herself passed away during the following year, with the death of Isabella
Collett recorded at Kendal (Ref. 10b 445) during the first quarter of 1894,
when she was 45. One year later, during
the first quarter of 1895, widower Henry Collett married (2) Mary Alice Foster,
a widow, the event recorded at Leeds (Ref. 9b 561). Mary came into the marriage with three
children, Edith Foster who was 12 and born at Bradford, Eleanor Foster who was
10 and Robert Foster who was seven, both of them born at Leeds. In 1891 widow Mary was a lodging house keeper
when she and her three children were living at 14 St John Street in Scarborough. Mary Alice Lancaster had been born at
Scarborough in 1859, the eldest daughter of William and Emma Lancaster. Curiously, for her previous marriage in 1881,
it was as Mary Alice Robson that she wed John Henry Foster, the event recorded
at Scarborough (Ref. 9d 697) during the last quarter of 1881
That second marriage for Henry, produced a
further son for him, who was born at Kendal during the following year. Just after the start of the new century,
Henry and Mary were still living in Kendal, at Stricklandgate on Sandes Avenue,
when the three members of Mary’s Foster family and three of Henry’s Collett
family were still living with them. Henry
Collett from Ireland was 52 and a joiner and a carpenter, his wife Mary A
Collett from Scarborough in Yorkshire was 42, and her three children were Edith
F Foster who was 18 and a costume and mantle maker, Nellie F Foster who was 17,
and Robert Henry Foster who was 13 and a solicitor’s clerk. William Henry Collett was 24, Robert B Collett
was 21, and Henry and Mary’ s child was Harold Collett who was four years old. The brothers William and Robert Collett were
joiners, most likely working with their father, but tragically it was Robert
who suffered a premature death within the next two months.
By April 1911, Henry’s son William was himself
a married man, leaving his only other surviving son Harold, still living at
Kendall with Henry and Mary. The census
that year listed the three of them as Henry Collett from Westport in County
Mayo, Ireland, who was 63 and a joiner, Mary Alice Collett from Scarborough who
was 53, and Harold Collett from Kendal who was 14 and already working as a shop
assistant for an ironmonger. One of
Mary’s Foster children was again living there with them, and that was Nellie
Foster from Leeds who was 27 and a machinist in the production of horse
clothing. The death of Henry Collett was
recorded at Kendal register office (Ref. 10b 1045) during the first three
months of 1931, at the age of 82. He was
buried on 23rd March 1931 and his Will was proved at Carlisle on 26th
May 1931, which confirmed he passed away on 20th March and that the
main beneficiary was his widow Mary Alice Collett, together with a second
beneficiary, Thomas Farran. Almost
exactly seven years later, when Mary Alice Collett was residing at 7 Sandes
Avenue in Kendal in Westmorland, she died on 21st March 1938 at St
Joseph’s Hospital, Mount Street in Preston, at the age of 79 and was buried on
24th March 1938. Her Will was
processed at Carlisle on 26th April 1938, when the sole beneficiary of
her £825 7 Shillings and 7 Pence estate was her son Robert Henry Foster
18Q104 - Ann
Collett was born in 1871 at Kendal
18Q105 - Mary Elizabeth Collett was born in 1872 at Kendal
18Q106 - Margaret
Collett was born in 1875 at Kendal
18Q107 – William
Henry Collett was born in 1877 at Kendal
18Q108 - Robert
Bousfield Collett was born in 1880 at Kendal
18Q109 - Edward
Compston Collett was born in 1883 at Kendal
18Q110 - Isabella
Collett was
born in 1887 at Kendal
18Q111 - John
Frederick Collett was born in 1889 at Kendal
18Q112 - Ruth
Bousfield Collett was born in 1891 at Kendal
The following is the child of Henry Collett and
his second wife Mary Alice Foster:
18Q113 - Harold
Collett was
born in 1896 at Kendal
Bethia
Ann Collett [18P134] was
born at Mullingar, the county town of Westmeath in Ireland, during 1850. She was the eldest daughter of William and
Ann Collett, and it was originally believed that she may have been named after
her paternal grandmother Bertha Philpot.
However, it is now known that her name was Bethia. At one year old she was living with her
mother and brother Henry (above) at St Mary Brecon, while her father was
billeted with the Dragoon Guards in the Brecon Barracks, when her name was
recorded as Bethiah Collett on that occasion.
Over the next few years, the family moved around England as a result of
her father’s service with the army. In
1861 the family had settled in St Bees in Whitehaven when, as Bethia Ann
Collett, she was ten years old. And it
was also as Bethia Ann Collett that she was recorded in the census of 1871 when
she was living at 103 Scotch Street in St Bees with her widowed mother and
three of her younger siblings. At that
time, she was 21 and was working as an assistant stationer. It was on 25th December 1872 at
the Church of St John the Baptist in the Parish of Skelsmergh in Westmorland
that Bethia Ann Collett married John William Tanner who was born at Kendal in
Westmorland on 10th December 1849.
Their wedding was recorded at Kendall (Ref. 10b 1223). John was a cloth finisher of Skelsmergh aged 23,
who had been born at Kendall (Ref. xxv 501) on 10th December 1849
and baptised there on 10th March 1850, the son of Thomas Tanner who
was a bobbin turner and his wife Eleanor.
Bethia was also 23 and of St Thomas, Kendal, the daughter of William
Collett deceased. The witnesses were
Joseph Smallwood Tanner and Isabella Wilkinson and the marriage was registered
at Kendall. It was also in Kendal that
Bethia’s brother Henry Collett had been married two years earlier and where he
living with his wife from that day forward
By the time of the census in 1881 railway
porter John Tanner, aged 31, and his wife Bethia, who was also 31, were
residing at West Gate Cottage in Barrow-in-Furness with their children Albert
V Tanner who was eight, Walter K Tanner who was six, Edith A
Tanner who was four, John W Tanner who was two and Francis H
Tanner who was just ten weeks old.
John’s occupation as a railway porter was again confirmed two years
later at the birth of the couples’ seventh child Beatrice Tanner in 1883. However, it was only four years later, and
after the birth of her eighth child, that the death of Bethia Ann Tanner nee
Collett was recorded at Barrow-in-Furness (Ref. 8e 613) during the fourth
quarter of 1887, at the age of only 37.
It seems likely that she died in childbirth, since it was at that same
time when her ninth child, her son Edwin Tanner, was born who also did
not survive the ordeal. According to the
next census in 1891 railway porter John Tanner was a widower living at 28
Settle Street in Barrow-in-Furness with his five surviving children. They were Albert V tanner who was 18
and a billiards marker, Edith A Tanner who was 14 and a nurse/domestic
servant, John W Tanner who was 12 and a milk boy, Beatrice E Tanner
who was seven and Fredrick J Tanner who was six years of age. To help John look after his family was
servant Agnes E Clarke who was 23, and it was she who John married later that
same year. Agnes Eleanor Clarke was born
at Ulverston in Lancashire in 1868
It was also six months after the census day in
1891, when John William Tanner married (2) Agnes Eleanor Clarke on 12th
September 1891, the event recorded at Ulverston (Ref. 8e 1328). In 1901 railway porter John W Tanner was 51,
Agnes E Tanner was 33, son John W Tanner was 21, Beatrice E Tanner
was 17, Frederick J Tanner was 16, Margaret J Clarke was 10, Hilda F
Tanner was four, Henry Tanner was two, and Harold T K Tanner was under one year
old. By the next census in 1911, John
and Agnes were living at Barrow-in-Furness, where John William Tanner was 52
and an assistant store keeper with the USA Naval Construction Works. Agnes Eleanor Tanner was 45 and a wife and
housekeeper, Margaret Jane Tanner was 19, Hilda Fawcett Tanner was 14 – both in
domestic service, Henry Tanner was 13, and Victor Tanner was eight years
old. Three years later, on the occasion
of the marriage of his daughter Beatrice in 1914, John Tanner was employed as a
shipyard storekeeper, and it was twelve years after that when John William
Tanner passed away in 1926 at the age of 77, his death recorded at
Barrow-in-Furness register office (Ref. 8e 975) during the fourth quarter of
that year. Agnes died in 1939, her death
recorded at Barrow-in-Furness register office (Ref. 8e 948) during the second
quarter of the year, when she was 73 years old
The Collett Tanner children were: Albert
Vernon Tanner [18Q114] was
born in 1873 at Kendall; Walter Kitchen
Tanner [18Q115] was born in
1874 at Barrow-in-Furness; Edith Ann
Tanner [18Q116] was born in
1876 at Kendall; John William Tanner [18Q117] was born in 1878 at
Barrow-in-Furness; Francis Henry Tanner
[18Q118] was born in 1880 at
Barrow-in-Furness; Arthur Henry
Tanner [18Q119] was born in
1881 at Barrow-in-Furness; Beatrice
Eleanor Tanner [18Q120] was
born in 1883 at Barrow-in-Furness; Frederick
James Tanner [18Q121] was
born in 1884 at Barrow-in-Furness; and Edwin
Smallwood Tanner [18Q122]
was born in 1887 at Barrow-in-Furness
John
Collett [18P135] was
born at Dartmoor in Devon during 1851, the son of William Collett from
Fressingfield and Ann Vernon from Ravensglass.
It was five years later, perhaps when his father was visiting his
Collett family in Suffolk, that John Collett was baptised at Fressingfield with
his younger brother William (below) on 30th March 1856, the
sons of William and Ann. By the time of
the census in 1861 John’s father had retired from serving with the Dragoon
Guards and the family was then living in St Bees in Whitehaven, where John from
Devon was nine years old. After a
further ten years, and following the death of his father prior to 1871, John
was living at 103 Scotch Street in St Bees with his widowed mother and three of
his siblings, where he was 19 and an unemployed grocer. Where nothing was previously known about John
Collett after 1871, it is thanks to Brian Eddleston that, it is now established
that John married Isabella Landell, their wedding recorded at Berwick (Ref. 10b
695) during the last three months of 1874. One year later Isabella presented John
with a son whose birth was also recorded at Berwick (Ref. 10b 410) during the
last quarter of 1875, with the child baptised at Berwick-on-Tweed in
Northumberland on 5th December 1875, father John Collett, mother
Isabella. Within the next three months
John Collett suffered a premature death, his death recorded at Berwick (Ref.
10b 262) during the first three months of 1876, when he was only around
twenty-five years of age. According to
the census in 1881 John’s widow Isabella Collett from Hawick in Northumberland
was 30 and a servant at the home of worsted spinner Walter Walker and his wife
Margaret E Walker at 22 Highfield Terrace in Halifax. On that same day her son William Collett from
Berwick-on-Tweed was five years old when he was living with his paternal
grandmother, the widow Ann Collett, at her home at 41 Hawke Street in
Barrow-in-Furness. William was described
as her grandson, while also recorded at that address was William’s uncle,
William Collett, his late father’s younger unmarried brother
Within the next six months the widow Isabella
Collett married Job Barker, the event recorded at Halifax (Ref. 9a 552) during
the third quarter of the year and, a year later, she gave birth to a daughter,
Martha E Barker who was born at Halifax in 1882. That situation was confirmed in the next
census of 1891, by which time Isabella’s son William had returned to live with
his mother and stepfather in Halifax.
Job Barker was 39 and worsted mill worker, Isabella was 40, their
daughter Martha was nine, and job’s stepson was William Collett who was
15. During the second half of that
decade Isabella’s son left home to be married, and he was replaced by the
arrival of two of her nieces, the daughters of her first husband’s sister
Elizabeth. So on the day of the census
in 1901 Job and Isabella were residing within the Queensbury-Halifax
registration district where their daughter Martha E Barker aged 19 was a
worsted spinner, as was niece Elizabeth Creber who was 15 and from Barrow,
while her sister Annie Creber also from Barrow was 11 who was still attending
school. On that occasion Isabella from
Berwick was 49, as was Job Barker who was a warehouseman at a local worsted
mill. The later death of Isabella Barker
was recorded at Halifax register office (Ref. 9a 603) during the second quarter
of 1912 at the age of 61. Fifteen years
after his loss, the death of Job Barker was also recorded at Halifax (Ref. 9a
505) during the third quarter of 1927 when he was 75
18Q123 - William
Collett was born in 1875 at Berwick-on-Tweed
William
Collett [18P136] was
born at Fressingfield in 1855, when his birth was recorded at Hoxne (Ref. 4a 525)
during the first three months of the year. It was at Fressingfield that he was baptised
on 30th March 1856 in a joint ceremony with his older brother John (above),
the sons of William Collett of Fressingfield and his wife Ann. In 1861 William was five years old when he
was living with his family at St Bees in Whitehaven. Ten years later according to the census in
1871, and following the death of his father, William was 15 and was living with
his widowed mother and his family at 103 Scotch Street in Whitehaven. During the following decade his mother moved
to live at Barrow-in-Furness and it was with her at 41 Hawke Street in Barrow
that William was living in 1881 when he was 25 and a labourer at a local
foundry. In addition to his mother Ann,
aged 52, four other people were staying at that address, the first of which was
William’s nephew William Collett from Berwick-on-Tweed, the five-year old son
of William’s late brother John Collett.
The other three were all married boarders, and they were Charles
Littlewood, Job Roberts and Agnes Irving.
It was eighteen months later, during the third quarter of 1882, when
William Collett married Frances Nelson at Barrow-in-Furness, where their
wedding was recorded at Barrow-in-Furness (Ref. 8e 1258) that year. Frances had been born at Whitehaven, where her
birth was recorded (Ref. 10b 485) during the last quarter of 1861. During the following year Frances gave birth
to a daughter who sadly died when she was only three years old, by which time
she also had a son.
Over the following four years, Frances
presented her husband with two more sons, all of the children born while the
couple continued to live in Barrow-in-Furness.
By the time of the census in 1891, when William Collett said he was 33,
although he was actually 35, he was employed as a railway porter while living
at Barrow-in-Furness with his wife Frances who was 29. Living there with them were their two sons,
John W Collett who was four and Thomas H Collett who was two years old. Not long after the census day that year
Frances gave birth to her last child.
The complete family of five was recorded in the Barrow census of 1901
living at Back Hartington Street North.
William Collett from Fressingfield was 44 and a railway checker, his
wife Frances from Whitehaven was 38, and their three children were John W
Collett aged 14, Thomas H Collett aged 12 and Robert Collett who was nine years
old. Their eldest son John had already
left school by then and was working as a railway clerk. Staying with the family that day in 1901,
were two of Frances’ family, they being John B Nelson aged 54 and William
Nelson who was 44, both born at Whitehaven and, although they were described as
‘uncles’, they may have been the older brothers of Frances
The same five members of the Collett family
were still living together in Barrow ten years later in April 1911, but at the
Bay Horse public house. William Collett
was 53 and a goods checker on the railway, his wife Frances Collett was 49 and
a beer-house keeper at the inn, and their three sons were recorded as John
William Collett aged 24, Thomas Henry Collett aged 22, and Robert Collett who
was 19. Frances employed a barman, while
staying at the inn were three seamen with the Royal Navy. It is interesting that William from Suffolk
and Frances from Whitehaven were described as being married for twenty-six
years, during which time Frances had given birth to four children, with only
three surviving, a confirmatory reference to their late daughter Elizabeth. Just over twenty years after that census day,
the death of Frances Collett was recorded at Barrow-in-Furness register office
(Ref. 8e 931) during the second quarter of 1932 when she was 70 years old
18Q124 - Elizabeth
Ann Collett was
born in 1883 at Barrow-in-Furness
18Q125 - John
William Collett was
born in 1886 at Barrow-in-Furness
18Q126 - Thomas
Henry Collett was
born in 1888 at Barrow-in-Furness
18Q127 - Robert Collett was born in 1891 at
Barrow-in-Furness
Elizabeth
Collett [18P137] was
born at St Bees in Whitehaven in 1857, her birth recorded at Whitehaven (Ref.
10b 467), the youngest child of William Collett of Fressingfield and Ann Vernon
from Ravenglass in Cumberland. She was
three years old in 1861 and sometime in the following few years her father
died, so by 1871 she was 13 and living at 103 Scotch Street in St Bees with her
widowed mother and three older siblings.
It was during the last three months of 1876 that the marriage of Elizabeth
Collett and Elijah Creber was recorded at Barrow-in-Furness (Ref. 8e 1205),
Elijah having been born at Dudley in Worcestershire in 1856 (Ref. 6c 163). Shortly after they were married Elizabeth
gave birth to the first of their children, while the couple was still living in
Barrow. It was also in Barrow, at 30
Cook Street, that the family was living at the time of the census in 1881, not
far from where Elizabeth’s mother Ann was living at that time. Elijah Creber was 24 and a labourer at the
local ironworks, his wife Elizabeth was 23, and by then they had two children,
Sarah Ann Creber who was four, and William Creber who was one year old and born
at Dudley
Five more children were added to the family
during the next decade, so by 1891 the family living at Barrow was made up of
Elijah Creber 34, Elizabeth Creber 33, Sarah Ann Creber 14, William Creber 11,
James who was nine, Elijah who was seven, Elizabeth who was five, John who was
three, and Annie B Creber who was just one year old. Just under eight years later Elizabeth Creber
nee Collett died during the first three months of 1899, her death recorded at
Barrow-in-Furness (Ref. 8e 636) when she was 41. Two years after that sad event widower Elijah
Creber was still living in Barrow according to the census in March 1901 but the
only two of his children still living there with him were his son Elijah
junior, who was 17 and a brass dresser at the nearby shipyard, and daughter
Hannah Creber who was six years old
On that same day two of Elizabeth’s daughters
were staying with Elizabeth’s sister-in-law Isabella Barker whose first husband
John Collett – Elizabeth’s eldest brother (above) - had died in
1876. The census in 1901 placed the two
girls, Elizabeth Creber aged 15 and a worsted spinner and her sister Annie
Creber, who was 11, living in the Halifax home of Job and Isabella Barker,
where they were described as their nieces.
From the website www.cumbriabmd.org.uk it is now known that
Elizabeth Creber Collett had a total of ten children, two more than those named
in the census returns for 1881 and 1891, the full list being as follows, with
all births recorded at Barrow-in-Furness.
Sarah Ann Creber (born in1877), Elizabeth Creber (born in
1880, who died in 1880), William Creber (born in 1880), James Creber
(born in 1881), Elijah Creber (born in 1883), Elizabeth Creber
(born in 1885), John Henry Creber (born in 1887), Annie Blakley
Creber (born in 1889), Levi Creber (born in 1891, who died in 1891)
and Hannah Stanley Creber (born in 1894; who died in 1905 aged 10 years)
Harry
Collett [18P138] was
born at Fressingfield on 26th October 1862 when, during the last
three months of that year, his birth as Harry Collett was recorded at Hoxne
(Ref. 4a 493). It was also as Harry
Collett that he was baptised at Fressingfield on 26th July 1863, the
eldest child of George Collett and Harriet Cracknell, and it was in the census
of 1871 that Harry Collett was eight years of age. By the time of the 1881 Census, he had left
the family home in Fressingfield and, at the age of 19, Harry Collett was
living and working at Weybread, between Fressingfield and Harleston. He was described as an industrial farm
servant, employed at the home of John and Emily Anness. The farm holding was one hundred acres, for
which John Anness employed eight men and one boy, the latter presumably
referring to young Harry. It was at
Cratfield on 17th April 1883 that Harry Collett married Elizabeth
Randall, the daughter of labourer William Randall of Laxfield and his wife Mary
Ann (Marian) from Bungay. Their
wedding was recorded at Blything (Ref. 4a 1047). Elizabeth was born during the fourth quarter
of 1854 with her birth recorded at Hoxne (Ref. 4a 427), and was therefore some
years older than her husband. On
different occasions during her life, her place of birth was recorded as
Cratfield and Laxfield, both in close proximity of each other. Two years before they were married, Elizabeth
Randall from Cratfield was 26 and was living there with her parents at the time
of the census in 1881. Over the twelve
years after they were married, Elizabeth presented Henry with five sons and a
daughter. The first three boys, and her
daughter, were all born while the couple was still living at Cratfield
By 1891, the family had already left Cratfield
and had moved to 26 Bungay Road in Redenhall-with-Harleston, where the couple’s
last two sons were born. However, on the
day the census forms were completed, Harry was at 26 Bungay Road with three of
his Cratfield born children and his mother-in-law, when his wife Elizabeth,
together with their eldest son, was visiting her father at Bell Lane in
Cratfield. That situation meant that
Elizabeth was recorded twice in the 1891 census, with both her father AND her
husband informing the census enumerator of her presence. Therefore, the census return that year recorded
the family at Redenhall as ‘Henry’ Collett from Fressingfield who was 28 and an
agricultural labourer, his wife Elizabeth Collett from Laxfield who was 36, Harry
Collett junior who was six, Maria Collett who was four, and George Collett who
was three. Living with the family, but
described as a widow (sic), was Elizabeth’s mother Marian Randall from Bungay
who 54. The couple’s eldest son William
Collett, aged seven, were staying at the home of his grandfather sixty-year-old
William Randall at Bell Lane in Cratfield.
Also recorded there was William’s married daughter, Elizabeth Collett
aged 36, and her daughter Maria Collett aged four years, both of them said to
be in two places at the same time. Not
long after the census day in 1891 Elizabeth gave birth to another son, the
first of two boys to be born while the family was living at Redenhall
By 1901 the family was together again, Henry
and Elizabeth were living at Clintergate Cottage in
Redenhall, but by that time their daughter Maria had already left the
family home, and was the only child missing on that occasion. The full census details revealed that Harry
Collett from Fressingfield was working with horses as a teamster of a farm at
the age of 38. On that occasion his wife
Elizabeth gave her age as being 42 (sic) and confirmed that she had been born
at Laxfield. Living with the couple were
their five sons, the oldest three possibly working on the same farm as their
father, since each of them was described as being an ordinary farm
labourer. The five boys were William who
was 17, Harry who was 15, George who was 12, Charles who was nine, and Ernest
who was seven years old, the first three born at Cratfield and the last two at
Redenhall
Ten years later the April census of 1911
confirmed that he and his family were still living at Redenhall-with-Harlston, but
‘By Clintergate’ a reference used in the electoral roll when their dwelling was
by Clintergate Farm where, presumably, Henry Collett was employed. It was also as Henry Collett that the
electoral roll placed him at the same address through to 1914. In 1911 Harry Collett of Fressingfield was 49,
and his wife Elizabeth Collett of Laxfield was 52 (sic). The only children still living with them were
the two youngest Charles Collett who was 19, and Ernest Collett who was
18. Sons William, Harry and George were
all married by then, but were still living nearby, William in Redenhall, with
Harry and George in Harleston. Also
married by then, with a family of her own, was Harry’s daughter Maria, when she
and her family were also living at Redenhall at that time. It was around eight months after that census
day, when the death of Elizabeth Collett was recorded at Depwade register
office (Ref. 4b 264) during the last three months of 1911, when she was 56. It was as Elizabeth Collett of Clintergate in
Redenhall, that she was buried in the grounds of the parish church at
Redenhall—with-Harleston & Wortwell.
Some years later, widower Harry Collett was offered the chance of a room
in a council house, which was where he was living when the 1939 Register was
compiled. It was at Hartismere, within
the Parish of Wingfield and just west of Fressingfield, that Harry Collett aged
77 was the seventh member of the household at the home of Henry Kemp and his
wife Rosalie, that was Council House No. 5.
By that time in his life, Harry was simply described as retired and an
old age pensioner
Harry lived a long life, when the death of Harry
Collett was recorded at Blyth (Ref. 4b 731) during the last three months of
1952, when he was 90 years old. Upon
being buried with his late wife, at Redenhall-with-Harleston-and-Wortwell, the
parish register recorded that he had died in Blythburgh Hospital and was buried
on 23rd December 1952. His
youngest child, Ernest Collett was 23 when he died in the summer of 1916, his
death recorded at Depwade register office (Ref. 4b 229), following his birth being
recorded there (Ref. 4b 228) during the third quarter of 1893. On being buried with his late mother at
Redenhall-with-Harleston & Wortwell on 21st July 1916, the
parish register stated that it was a special service, sanctioned by the Bishop,
for an unbaptised person. Four years
later, widower Harry suffered a third death in the family, when the death of
Charles Collett was recorded at Depwade (Ref. 4b 238) during the second quarter
of 1920, aged 28. His birth was also
recorded at Depwade (Ref. 4b 234) during the second quarter of 1892. Charles was also buried in the family grave
at Redenhall-with-Harleston-and-Wortwell on 12th April 1920. Tragically, Charles was only married for less
than twelve months, when the marriage of Charles Collett and Mary Annie Hanner
had been recorded at Depwade register office (Ref. 4b 657) during the second
quarter of 1919
18Q128 - William Collett was born in 1883 at Cratfield
18Q129 - Harry Collett was born in 1885 at Cratfield
18Q130 - Maria Collett was born in 1886 at Cratfield
18Q131 - George Collett was born in 1888 at Cratfield
18Q132 - Charles Collett was born in 1892 at Redenhall
18Q133 - Ernest Collett was born in 1893 at Redenhall
Mary Ann
Collett [18P139] was
born at Fressingfield on 21st June 1864, her birth recorded at Hoxne
(Ref. 4a 519) during the third quarter of the year, the eldest daughter of
George and Harriet Collett. She was later
baptised at Fressingfield on 29th April 1866 in a joint ceremony
with her brother Benjamin (below), all of which was confirmed by the
census in 1871 in which she listed as Mary Ann Collett aged six years. However, within a year of the census day she
died at Fressingfield, where she was buried on 4th February 1872
aged seven years, the death of Mary Ann Collett recorded at Hoxne (Ref. 4a 371)
Benjamin
Collett [18P140] was
born at Fressingfield on 16th March 1866, when his birth was
recorded at Hoxne (Ref. 4a 558) during the second quarter of the year. He was then baptised at Fressingfield on 29th
April 1866 in a joint ceremony with his sister Mary Ann (above). He was five years old in 1871 and was 15 by
the time of the 1881 Census when he was living with his family at Catchpool
Gardens in Fressingfield. It was on 7th October 1890 at Metfield that he
married Emily Emma Poppy, the daughter of farmer Robert Poppy
and his wife Emily. Emily Emma Poppy was
born on 18th October 1869, her birth recorded at Hoxne (Ref. 4a 545)
and was baptised at Metfield on 1st May 1870, and her marriage to
Benjamin was recorded at Hoxne (Ref. 4a 1465) during the last quarter of
1890. By the time of the next
census in 1891 Benjamin Collett, aged 24, and his wife Emily Emma Collett, aged
22, were living at St James South Elham where their only child was born during
the weeks and months after the census day that year. And it was at St James South Elham that their daughter, Emily Emma Collett was born and baptised on
6th September 1891
Sometime after the birth, the family of three
moved to Thetford and in 1901 they were living in the village of Barnham near
the River Little Ouse. The census that
year recorded that Benjamin Collett, aged 35 and from Fressingfield, was a
teamster on a local farm, just like his older brother Harry (above), his
wife Emily Emma Collett from Metfield was 30, while their daughter was
incorrectly recorded as Emma Emily Collett who was 10 years old. It was very likely Benjamin’s work with
horses that took the family to the Loddon area of Norfolk over the next few
years. Since it was there that the
family was living in 1911. Benjamin
Collett was 43 and a foreman on a farm, his wife Emily Emma Collett was 41, and
once again their daughter was named as Emma Emily Collett who was 19. It was just fifteen years later, that the
death of Emily Emma Collett, nee Poppy, was recorded at the Norfolk Henstead
register office (Ref. 4b 185) during the second quarter of 1926, when she was
56. Thirteen years after being widowed,
Benjamin Collett, aged 73, was staying at the home of the Medler family of
George and Emma at 36 Grenstein Cottages, when he was still working as an
agricultural labourer, Emma being his married daughter. The later death of Benjamin Collett was
recorded at East Dereham register office (Ref. 4b 336) during the second
quarter of 1948, when he was 82
18Q134 -
Emily Emma Collett
was born in 1891 at St James South Elham
Keziah Collett [18P141] was born in 1868 at
Fressingfield, possibly at the end of 1868 or just after the start of 1869,
with her birth recorded at Hoxne (Ref. ) during the first quarter of the latter. She was the fourth child and eldest surviving
daughter of George and Harriet Collett, and was two years old in the
Fressingfield census of 1871. It was at
Catchpool Gardens in Fressingfield where 12-year-old Keziah was living with her
family in 1881. Six years later young
Keziah Collett married William Osborne, the event recorded at Hoxne (Ref. 4a
1371) during the last three months of 1887.
The birth of William Osborne at Wilby, within the Brundish area if
Suffolk, was recorded at Hoxne (Ref. 4a 580) during the first quarter of
1864. He was born on 23rd
February 1864, the son of William and Ann Osborne and was three years old when
he was baptised at Wilby on 30th June 1867. The first years of their life together were
spent at Laxfield, where their first two children were born, as confirmed in
the census of 1891, by which time the family of four had moved west to
Redlingfield. The family’s home was then
2 Rookery Cottage when William Osborne from Brundish (Wilby) was 25 and an
agricultural labourer, his wife Keziah was 23 and from Fressingfield, and the
two children were Ishmael Osborne who was two years of age, and George
Osborne who was not yet one month old.
Staying with the family that day, as a boarder, was Keziah’s younger
brother Esau Collett ages 17 and from Fressingfield who was another
agricultural labourer
It would appear to have been a very short time
that the family was at Redlingfield, with the next three children born at
Fressingfield which, for the census in 1901, was also the place of birth of son
George, and not Laxfield. In the end,
after seven years there, the family moved again following the birth of their
fifth child. That move took the family
to Mendham where, at 73 Holly Trees, they were recorded in 1901. William Osborne from Wilby was a farm’s horseman
aged 34, Keziah was 33, when their four Fressingfield born children were George
who was ten, Elsa Osborne who was nine, Ernest Osborne who was
six, and Hessel Osborne who was three years of age. Missing that day was the couple’s eldest son
Ishmael, who would have been 12 years old, while it was during the following
year that Keziah gave birth to the couple’s last child. Just less than three years after that census
day, Keziah Osborne suffered a premature death at the age of 35, when her death
was recorded at Hoxne register office (Ref. 4a 570) during the first three
months of 1904. Upon helping the next
census enumerator to complete the form, William Osborne signed the form with
the mark of a cross, when he and three of his children were residing at
Hartshall Cottage in Walsham-le-Willows, ten miles north-east of
Bury-St-Edmunds. William was still
employed as a horseman on a farm in 1911, when he was 50 and a widower. With him that day was 18-year-old Elsie May
Osborne from Redlingfield who was performing the role of housekeeper, Hessel
Osborne who was 15 and a farm labourer from Fressingfield, and Anthony Clarence
Osborne who was nine, attending school, and born at Mendham.
In the 1939 Register, retired William Osborne
was 75 and living at Chevington Road in Thingoe, Suffolk, the home of his
married son Hessel B Osborne and his wife Norah M Osborne. Hessel was 43 and a cowman, his date of birth
being 25th April 1896. Norah
was 41 and undertaking unpaid domestic duties, her date of birth being 1st
February 1898. Within the next nine
months William passed away, his death recorded at Bury-St-Edmunds register
office (Ref. 4a 2016) during the second quarter of 1940 at the age of 76
George
Collett [18P142] was
born at Fressingfield in 1870, his birth recorded at Hoxne (Ref. 4a 527) during
the last quarter of the year, and was baptised at Fressingfield on 27th
November 1870, the son of George and Harriet Collett. He was living at Catchpool Gardens in
Fressingfield with his family in 1881 when he was ten years old. Although his family then moved to Stradbroke,
George was not living with them in 1891.
It was on 14th October 1892 at Fressingfield that George
Collett married Eliza Pearce, the daughter of horseman Frederick Pearce, whose
birth was also recorded at Hoxne (Ref. 4a 564) during the third quarter of 1873. Their marriage was recorded at Hoxne (Ref. 4a
1543) and produced just one son for Eliza and George who was born in the
village of Metfield to the north-east of Fressingfield. However, it was around the time of the birth
of the child that George may have died, with the death of George Collett at
Metfield recorded at Hoxne register office (Ref. 4a 441) during the second
quarter of 1898, when he was only 27 years of age. Following the premature death of her husband,
the young widow Eliza Collett married the much older bachelor Thomas Woolnough
at Metfield on 20th July 1899, who was an agricultural labourer from
Metfield. Their wedding was recorded at Hoxne
(Ref. 4a 1621). William’s birth was
again recorded at Hoxne (Ref. 4a 486) during the third quarter of 1857, following
which he was baptised at Metfield on 16th August 1857, the son of
Charles and Sarah Woolnough
By the time of the Metfield census in 1901,
Thomas Woolnough was 43 years of age, Eliza Woolnough from Fressingfield was
29, while living with the couple was Thomas’ stepson and Eliza’s son George
Collett from Metfield who was two years old.
Not long after the census day that year, Eliza gave birth to the first
of her two known children with Thomas Woolnough, with the second child born two
years after the first one. That
situation was confirmed in the next census in 1911, when the family was still
living in Metfield, but without Eliza’s first-born child Frederick George
Collett who had left the family by then.
Thomas was 53, Eliza was 38, Ruth Woolnough was nine and Charles
Woolnough was seven years of age. Ruth’s
birth was recorded at Hoxne register office (Ref. 4a 987), where her Charles’
birth was also recorded (Ref. 4a 1022). The
death of William Woolnough was recorded at Hartismere register office (Ref. 4a
870) during the second quarter of 1927, when he was 69. His widow was still
alive in 1939, who was living at The Street in Hartismere when her date of
birth was recorded as 15th June 1873, and living with her was a
certain Charles Collett, a schoolboy who was born on 3rd March 1928. He was the third of four grandchildren from
her son Frederick George Collett and his wife Florence Churchyard. Eleven year later, the death of Eliza
Woolnough was recorded at Ilford register office (Ref. 5a 361) in the East End
of London, during the last three months of 1950, age the age of 77
18Q135 -
Frederick George Collett was born in 1898 at Metfield
William
Collett [18P143] was
born at Fressingfield during 1872, where he was baptised on 27th
October 1872. The birth of William
Collett was recorded at Hoxne (Ref. 4a 575) during the third quarter of that
year. It was barely sixteen months later
when he died, his death also recorded at Hoxne (Ref. 4a 387) during the first
quarter of 1874, after which she was buried at Fressingfield on 2nd
March 1874, where the burial register recorded that he was one year and nine
months old
Esau
Collett [18P144] was
born at Fressingfield in 1874 with his birth recorded at Hoxne (Ref. 4a 605)
during the second quarter of that year, after he was baptised at Fressingfield on
28th March 1874, just twenty-six days after his brother William (above)
had been buried there. Esau, the son of
George Collett and Harriet Cracknell, was six years old in 1881 when he was
living there with his family at Catchpool Gardens. Upon leaving school, Esau also left the
family home to seek work, and by 1891, at the age of 17, he was living and
working at Redlingfield as an agricultural labourer. Ten years later Esau Collett from
Fressingfield was 26 and a boarder at the home of Harry and Fanny Frampton and
their family within the Hackney parish of St Matthew in London. Unmarried Esau was described as a
horse-keeper when he was still a bachelor, who was presumably preparing for the
day he would be married. Also, at the
same address were brothers George and William Cracknell, who may well have been
Esau’s cousins through his mother’s family and whose sister was most probably
his future wife. Just four months after
that census day Esau Collett, aged 27 and the son of George Collett, married (1)
Mary Ann Cracknell, aged 25 and the daughter of William Cracknell, on 5th
August 1901 at the Church of St Michael & All
Angels in Stoke Newington within the London Borough of Hackney. The wedding was recorded at Hackney register
office (Ref. 1b 1133). Like her husband,
the birth of Mary Ann was also recorded at Hoxne (Ref. 4a 633) during the
second quarter of 1876. Their married
resulted in the birth of six children, all born at Upper Clapton and
baptised there at St Matthew’s Church, with their births recorded at Hackney
register office, when the parish register recorded the family as living at 32
Detmold Road in Upper Clapton, where Esau was a horse-keeper. Also living at that same address was Esau’s
brother William Collett (below), another horse-keeper
It was also within the London Borough of
Hackney that the family was living in 1911.
According to the census return, Esau Collett from Fressingfield was 36
and a platelayer with the G E Railway, his wife Mary Ann Collett from Horham was
35, and their six Clapton born children were Mary Collett who was eight, George
Collett who was seven, Edith Collett who was five, Charles Collett who was
four, John Collett who was one year old, and baby Frank who was just two months
old. Fourteen years later, the death of
Mary Ann Collett was recorded at Hackney register office (Ref. 1b 421) during
the second quarter of 1926, when she was 50 years old. During the following year, in July and then
September, Esau’s two eldest children were married, when the family’s home
address was 44 Aveley Road in Upper Clapton.
Four years after being widowed, Esau married (2) Elizabeth Haddon, the
event recorded at Chelsea register office (Ref. 1a 1209) during the third
quarter of 1930
After a further nine years, the family was
recorded within the 1939 Register at 44 Aveley Road,
Upper Clapton within the London Borough of Hackney. Esau was 65 and a retired railway platelayer
and Elizabeth was 47, doing unpaid domestic duties, and had been born on 6th
November 1892. It would appear that the
head of the household was in fact Elizabeth’s son Frederick Haddon, an
unemployed insurance agent who had been born at Chelsea on 8th April
1913. Two other people were also
recorded there and they were mother and daughter May Elizabeth Reay a laundry
worker born on 9th March 1913, and Joyce E Reay who was attending
school and born on 4th January 1933. The very next entry in the 1939 Register was
the family of Esau’s son George William Collett, which comprised George W
Collett aged 36 and a railway porter, his wife Doris Collett who was 35, and
their son George F Collett who was eleven years old and attending school. The later death of Elizabeth Collett, at the
age of 62, was recorded at Hackney register office (Ref. 5c 564) during the
third quarter of 1954. Esau Collett was
84 years old when he passed away in 1958, his death recorded at Hackney
register office (Ref. 5c 725) during the final three months of that year
18Q136 - Mary Ann Collett was born in 1902 at Upper
Clapton (Hackney)
18Q137 - George William Collett was born in 1903 at Upper
Clapton (Hackney)
18Q138 - Edith Jane Collett was born in 1905 at Upper
Clapton (Hackney)
18Q139 - Charles Esau Collett was born in 1907 at Upper
Clapton (Hackney)
18Q140 - Albert John Collett was born in 1909 at Upper
Clapton (Hackney)
18Q141 - Frank Martin Collett was born in 1910 at Upper
Clapton (Hackney)
William
Collett [18P145] was
born at Fressingfield on 6th September 1875 and was named after his
late brother. His birth was recorded at
Hoxne (Ref. 4a 563) during the last three months of that year. He was the son of George and Harriet Collett
and was baptised at Fressingfield on 27th February 1876. He was four years old and living with his
family at Catchpool Gardens in Fressingfield in 1881. He was still living with his parents ten
years later in 1891 when he was 15, but by then the family was recorded at St
Cross South Elmham. After the turn of
the century, when William Collett was 25, he was still a bachelor living with
his parents, but at Stradbroke, where his occupation was that of a non-domestic
groom. Not long after that census day,
William Collett aged 26 and a stableman from Upper Clapton in London, married
Lydia Frances Jarvis, aged 25, the daughter of Francis Jarvis deceased, who was
residing in Haverland. The wedding
service took place at the Parish Church in Haverland (Haveringland) on 27th
November 1901, when the groom’s father was confirmed as George Collett, with
the event recorded at the Norfolk St Faith’s register office (Ref. 4b
279). Lydia was born on 2nd
May 1876 at Corpusty in Norfolk, with her birth recorded Aylsham (Ref. 4b 79)
during the second quarter of 1876. Once
they were married the couple headed for Upper Clapton in London where all six
of their children were born, with all of the births recorded Hackney, but with
their first child baptised at Haverland, the remainder baptised at St Matthew’s
church in Upper Clapton
Up to around 1905, the family was residing at
32 Detmold Road in Upper Clapton, but just after they were living at 7 Detmold
Road, as confirmed by the parish register on the occasion of the baptism of
their children. 32 Detmold Road was the
home of William’s older brother Esau (above), hence why William’s family
eventually moved to another property in the same road. By the time of the census conducted at the
start of April in 1911 the family of six was residing at 7 Detmold Road in
Clapton just a few yards from Clapton Railway Station. The three-roomed accommodation was occupied
by William Collett from Fressingfield in Suffolk, who was 34 and a general
labourer employed by London City Council Tramways, his wife of nine years Lydia
Frances Collett who was also 34, Mabel Lydia Collett who was nine, Walter James
Collett who was six, Grace Maria Collett who was four and Annie May Collett who
was one year old. Living with the young
family was their cousin Bertha Crackwell, aged 24, a domestic cook from Stradbroke,
and a work colleague of William’s, Thomas Wilding who was 43 and another
general labourer working for London City Council Tramways. William was still
employed by the LCC in 1915 and again in 1920, as confirmed at the baptism of
his last two children, as a conduit cleaner in the latter, while in 1929 he was
a motor driver. According to the much
later 1939 Register, the Collett family was living at 11 Southwold Road in
Hackney. William Collett was a jobbing
gardener aged 64, Lydia F Collett was 63 and undertaking unpaid domestic
duties, Mabel L Collett was 37 and a shop manageress at a laundry, and Agnes S Collett
was 24 and a PBX telephonist. The
subsequent death of William Collett was recorded at Blyth register office (Ref.
4b 648) during the second quarter of 1950, when he was 74. Two years after being widowed, the death of
Lydia Frances Collett was recorded at Hartismere register office (Ref. 4b 679)
during the second quarter of 1952, at the age of 76
18Q142 – Mabel Lydia Collett was born in 1902 at Upper Clapton (Hackney)
18Q143 – Walter James Collett was born in 1904 at Upper Clapton (Hackney)
18Q144 – Grace Maria Collett was born in 1906 at Upper Clapton (Hackney)
18Q145 – Annie May Collett was born in 1909 at Upper Clapton (Hackney)
18Q146 – Agnes Sarah Collett was born in 1915 at Upper Clapton (Hackney)
18Q147 – Ernest William Collett was born in 1915 at Upper Clapton (Hackney)
Sarah
Collett [18P146] was
born at Fressingfield in 1878, her birth recorded at Hoxne (Ref. 4a 653) during
the second quarter of the year. She was
two years old in April 1881 when she was living with her family at Catchpool
Gardens in Fressingfield. Ten year later
in 1891 she 12 years old. When her
parents moved to Stradbroke after 1891 Sarah moved with them and, at the age of
22, she was still living with them at Stradbroke, from where she was employed
as a domestic housemaid. She never
married and sadly suffered a premature death which was recorded at Hoxne
register office (Ref. 4a 465) during the second quarter of 1905, when she was
only 27 years old
James George
Collett [18P147] was
born at Cratfield towards the end of 1881, after his parents moved there from
Fressingfield, his birth recorded at Blything (Ref. 4a 830) during the first
three months of 1882 as simply James Collett.
It was as James George Collett that he was baptised at St John’s Church
in Lowestoft on 1st January 1882, the son of seaman George Collett
and his wife Harriet who, by then, were living at Burgh Castle. Also baptised with him that day was Dinah
Daisy Collett [18Q51] daughter of seaman William and Elizabeth Collett of
Lowestoft. James was Dinah’s uncle
two-steps removed, their common ancestor being William Collett [18M22]
1759-1846, who was Dinah’s great great grandfather, and James’ great
grandfather. The time spent by James’ family at Cratfield lasted only around
five years, since by 1891 his family was living within the Wangford &
Bungay registration district, where James was nine. A further family move took place after that,
with the family living at Stradbroke in 1901, when James was 19 and an ordinary
farm labourer. Less than two years
later, age the age of 21, the death of James Collett was recorded at Hoxne
register office (Ref. 4a 525) during the first quarter of 1903
May
Collett [18P148] was
born at Cratfield on 23rd May 1885 and, like her brother James (above),
her birth was also recorded at Blything (Ref. 4a 839) during the second quarter
of that year. She was the youngest child
of George Collett and Harriet Cracknell, and was five years old in the Wangford
& Bungay census of 1891. Ten years
later she had left the family home, which by then was a Stradbroke. Instead, May Collett, aged 15 and from
Cratfield, was a general domestic servant at
Fressingfield-cum-Withersdale. The
census return in 1911 listed May Collett from Cratfield as 25, who was living
and working at 9 Blakesley Avenue in Ealing, within the Brentford area of
Middlesex, as a domestic cook at the home of Theresa Beatson from Montreal,
Canada, and her son medical student Basil Frazer Beatson of Paddington, London. Many years later, according to the 1939
Register, May Collett aged 54 when she was living at Mayhew’s Corner in
Stradbroke, Suffolk, the only person listed at the property. It was three years after that when May died,
with the passing of May Collett recorded at Ipswich register office (Ref. 4a
1539) during the second quarter of 1942, when she was 57 years old. It was on 14th June 1942 at the
East Suffolk County Hospital in Ipswich that she died, while her home address
was still Mayhew’s Corner in Stradbroke.
The Will of May Collett was proved at Norwich on 26th August
1942 to George Leonard Briggs, a farmer, and Mabel Lydia Collett, a spinster,
when the estate was valued at £149 7 Shillings.
Mabel was the last child born to May’s older brother William Collett (above)
Elizabeth
Collett [18P149] was
born at Cawnpore in India on 8th June 1861 and was baptised there on
23rd June 1861. Elizabeth and
her sister Sarah (below) were the daughters of Mary Penney and Private
John Collett of Ilketshall St Andrew who was serving in India with the 54th
Regiment at the time of their birth. In
May 1873 the family returned to England and to Ilketshall St Andrew where
Elizabeth’s mother Mary died in 1874, as was followed the next year by her
father who had only just remarried. Upon
the death of her mother Elizabeth and her two siblings were taken into the family
of their father’s brother William Collett, but by April 1881 Elizabeth was
living and working in the Streatham area of South London. By then she was 20 and her place of birth was
confirmed as Cawnpore. She was employed
as a parlour maid at Matlock Lodge in Streatham which was the home of
Almost exactly ten years later, when Elizabeth
was thirty, she married Charles Henry Howard at Camden Town in London on 28th
March 1891, with whom she had five daughters and two sons, although two of them
did not survive. Their wedding was
recorded at St Pancras (Ref. 1b 9) and eight days after, the census in 1891
recorded the couple living in rooms at 33 Goldington Street in St Pancras where
other parts of the property were home to the four members of the Green family,
and a single lady. Charles H Howard was
23 and a painter from Portsmouth in Hampshire where he was born in 1868, and
Elizabeth Howard was 28 and from India. According
to the next census in 1901, Elizabeth Howard of India was 39 when she was
living at Queen Street in St Pancras with her family. Charles H Howard was 32 and a general
labourer, Elizabeth J Howard was nine, Ellen F Howard was seven, Charles H
Howard was five, Daisy W Howard was three, Annie A Howard was one year old, and
a very young baby who had not yet been given a name who did not survive. Shortly after that the family moved out of
London and settled in Walton near Felixstowe in Suffolk, and it was there, at
53 Kings Street, that they were living in March 1903 when the couple’s second
son was born. Sadly, the marriage only
survived for twelve years when Elizabeth Howard died of exhaustion at the age
of 42, leaving Charles with a young family to raise. That tragic event was recorded at Woodbridge
register office (Ref. 4a 511) during the third quarter of 1903, when the family
was still living at 53 Kings Street in Walton, and occurred around six months
after she gave birth to her second son Richard Howard, who was born on 10th
March 1903. However, having five
daughters to look after, son Richard was taken by
Elizabeth’s married sister, Sarah Smith nee Collett (below) to live in
London with her and husband William Saunders Smith
The birth certificate for Richard Howard
confirmed the following details. That he
was born on 10th March 1903 at 53 Kings Street in Walton, and that
it was registered at Woodbridge under the sub-district of Colneis. His father was Charles Henry Howard, a
general labourer, and his mother was Elizabeth Howard formerly Collett, and
that it was she who registered the birth on 18th April 1903. A further tragedy struck the family six years
later when Charles’ daughter Annie Amelia Sarah Howard died from
diphtheria on 15th January 1909 at nine years of age. On that occasion widower Charles and his
daughters were still living at 53 Kings Street in Walton, and the same house
was still there in 2008
The Walton census in 1911 recorded the Howard
family as head of the household Charles Henry Howard aged 42 and a widower, Elizabeth
Jane Howard aged 19 and the housekeeper, Ellen Frances Howard aged
18 and a domestic servant, Charles Henry Howard junior aged 16 and a
general labourer, Daisy Winifred Howard aged 13 and still attending
school. The death of Charles Henry Howard
was recorded at the London Edmonton register office (Ref. 3a 984) during the
first three months of 1932, when he was 63, following four years of bitter
exchanges with William Saunders Smith over his adoption of Charles’ son Richard
Howard
Sarah
Collett [18P150] was
born at Moradabad in India on 19th December 1862, and was baptised
there on 11th January 1863, another daughter of John and Mary
Collett. She returned to England with
her family in May 1873 and settled in Ilketshall St Andrew, where she was
orphaned by the deaths of her mother in 1874 and that of her father in
1875. Initially Sarah and her sister
Elizabeth (above) and brother John (below) lived with their uncle
William Collett at Ilketshall St John, but it was at Hornsey in North London
that she was living and working by the time of the census in April 1881. Sarah was confirmed as being 18 and born in
India. The address where she was working
as a general servant was 23 Upper Tollington Park which runs from Finsbury Park
to the Hornsey Road (A103) which is still there today. That was the home of Charles W Leach of
Wakefield, who was described as a mantle warehouseman. Five years later, on 3rd April
1886, Sarah Collett married William Saunders Smith at St Lukes Marylebone in
London, the event recorded at St Marylebone (Ref. 1a 967). His birth recorded in North Devon at South
Molton (Ref. 5b 439) during 1857. By
March 1901, the childless couple was living at Great College Street in St
Pancras, where William Smith was 43 and a bricklayer from South Molton, and his
wife Sarah aged 39 was recorded as being born at Moradabad in India. Staying with the couple that census day and
recorded as a visitor, was five-year-old Alice Collett from Yoxford in Suffolk,
who was still with the couple ten years later.
She was Alice Mary Collett the eldest daughter of Sarah’s brother John
Christian George Collett (below). Just over two years later, and upon the death
of her married sister, Elizabeth Howard nee Collett (above), Sarah and
William took over the care of her youngest child Richard Howard who was only
six months old in the autumn of 1903. As
a result of that, to all intent and purposes, he was raised as Richard Howard
Smith, the son of Sarah and William, and sadly it was not until he was in his
mid-twenties that he discovered the identity of his real parents, and that he
had five sisters, although only four of them survived beyond childhood
By April 1911, the Smith family was living at 172 Sirdar Road, Noel Park, in the Wood Green and Tottenham
area of London. The census that month
recorded the occupants of the four-room dwelling as William Smith, aged 53 and
from South Molton in Devon, who was a railway inspector, his British wife of 27
years Sarah Smith, who 49 and was born at Moradabad in India, their niece Alice
Collett, aged 16, who was born at Reydon in Suffolk, and their nephew Richard
Howard who was eight years old and from Walton in Suffolk. Alice Mary Collett was the eldest daughter of
Sarah’s brother John Christian George Collett (below) and, although she
knew who her parents and her siblings were in Westleton, she too referred to
Sarah and William as Mum and Dad. It was
at that same address that Sarah and William continued to live until the day
they died, at which time Richard Howard Smith took over the property and lived
there with his wife and their son.
Richard was the grandfather of Louisa Rickett, and it was his son who
was her father. Richard Howard Smith
died in 1968 while still living at 172 Sirdar Street. Many years before his passing Richard had
made contact with his sister Elizabeth Jane Howard, with whom he became very
close, and who sent flowers and a card on the day of his funeral
However, between 1928
and 1932 there were some very bitter exchanges between Charles Howard and
William Saunders Smith, as details in letters held by Louisa Rickett. Charles Howards had written his letter
himself, while William Saunders Smith had instructed a solicitor to reply. From the exchange of correspondence, it seems
that Sarah and William were allowed to take Richard to live with them in 1903
on the understanding that he should be brought up to know he had a father and
siblings still living. But it seems that
the Smiths did not fulfil that promise.
In addition to which the Howard family was furious that William Smith
had signed himself as Richard’s father on his marriage certificate. When challenged on this, the Smiths claimed
they had Richard’s surname changed by a Justice of Peace and that everything
was above board
The 1939 Register identified William and Sarah
stilling residing at 172 Sirdar Street, Tottenham, where William S Smith was a
retired bricklayer whose date of birth was 28th February 1858, and
where his wife Sarah Smith was undertaking unpaid domestic duties. Also listed with the couple at the same
address, was their adopted son Richard Howard Smith and his young family. Richard was a bricklayer who had been born on
10th March 1903, his wife Louisa Smith had been born on 26th
December 1904, their daughter Bessie E S Smith had been born on 14th
December 1930, and their son Alan R W Smith had been born on 14th
June 1934, both of them at school. A few months later, the death of William S
Smith was recorded at Edmonton register office (Ref. 3a 1715) during the first
three months of 1940, at the age of 84
John Christian George Collett [18P151] was
born at Fort William, Hastings, Calcutta in India on 21st December
1864, the only known son of John Collett and Mary Penney, who was baptised on 9th
January 1865.
According to the 1901 Census John C G Collett,
aged 37, had been born at Fort William in Calcutta. He was employed as a yardman working on a
farm at Yoxford midway between Blythburgh and Saxmundham with his wife Annie
aged 26 of Earl Soham and their five children.
The children at that time were John W G Collett who was seven and from
Wrentham, Alice Collett aged five who was born at Yoxford but was a visitor
at Great College Street in St Pancras, London, on the day of the census, the
home of John’s married sister Sarah Smith nee Collett (above), Annie E
Collett who was four, William S Collett who was two, and Elizabeth C Collett
who was not yet one year old. Also
living with the family in March 1901 was a cook and domestic servant by the
name of Kate Collett who was aged 26 and born at Great Malvern in
Worcestershire. Who she was, and where
she fits into the wider Collett family, has still to be determined. It was around the middle of the first decade
of the new century that the family travelled two-miles to the east, when they
settled in Westleton. On the day of the
census in 1911, the family living at Westleton was recorded as John Collett
from Port William in Calcutta who was 48 and a farm labourer, his wife Annie
who was 39 and from Earl Soham, John who was 17 and from Wrentham, Annie who
was 14, William who was 12, Cissie who was 10, Francis who was nine, Violet who
was eight, Ivy who was four, Robert who was two, and Lillian who was under one
year old
Twenty-eight years after that census day the
remnants of the family were still living in Westleton, as confirmed by the 1939
Register for the Blyth Rural District Council area. The three members of the family were living
at Old Mill Cottage, where John C Collett was 74 and still working on a farm as
a general labourer, his wife Anna Collett was 65, and their son Robert C
Collett was 30 and as tractor driver on a local farm. Just less than two years
later, it was also at Westleton, when John Christian George Collett died on 14th
June 1941, his death recorded at Blyth register office (Ref. 4a 2321) during
the second quarter of the year when he was 76.
After a further eleven years, the death of Anna Collett was also
recorded Blyth register office (Ref. 4b 725) during the fourth quarter of 1952,
at the age of 79
18Q148 - John
William George Collett was born in 1893 at Wrentham
18Q149 - Alice
Mary Collett was
born in 1895 at Yoxford
18Q150 - Annie
Elizabeth Collett was
born in 1897 at Yoxford
18Q151 - William
Saunders Collett was
born in 1898 at Yoxford
18Q152 - Elizabeth
Cissie May Collett was
born in 1900 at Yoxford
18Q153 - Francis Ernest James Collett was born in 1901 at
Yoxford
18Q154 - Violet
Hazel Collett was
born in 1903 at Yoxford
18Q155 - Ivy Sarah
Collett was
born in 1906 at Westleton
18Q156 - Robert
Charles Collett was
born in 1908 at Westleton
18Q157 - Lillian
Emma Collett was
born in 1910 at Westleton
18Q158 - Claude
Victor Collett was
born in 1912 at Westleton
18Q159 - Louisa
May Collett was
born in 1913 at Westleton
18Q160 - Dorothy
Vera Collett was
born in 1914 at Westleton
Harriet
Collett [18P152] was
born at Ilketshall St Andrew in 1877, her birth recorded at Wangford (Ref. 4a
727) during the third quarter of that year.
That happened nearly two years after her mother’s late husband John
Collett passed away, her father not identified.
Harriet Collett was then baptised at Ilketshall on 12th
August 1877, when the parish register described her as the illegitimate
daughter of Charlotte Collett nee Carver.
From the time of the death of Charlotte’s husband John Collet, his three
children from his first marriage had been cared for by the family of John’s
younger brother William Collett. It
therefore probably made sense for Harriet to be placed in the care of another
family to enable her mother Charlotte to leave Ilketshall, perhaps in disgrace,
to seek work elsewhere. Because Harriet
was not the child of John Collett, she was placed with an apparently unrelated
family, as confirmed by the census in 1881 when, at the age of just three
years, Harriet Collett was described as a boarder and lodger at the home of
farm labourer William Howlett at Black Common in Ilketshall St Andrew. Ten years later in 1891 Harriet Collett, aged
13, was still living with William Howlett who, by then, was a widower, with
Harriet working as his housekeeper. No
record of her has been found in March 1901, by which time she was very likely
married
George
Collett [18P153] was
born at Reedham on 21st April 1858, with his birth recorded at
Wangford (Ref. 4a 590). Shortly after
that, his family left Reedham when they moved to Oulton near Lowestoft, where
he was baptised on 9th May 1858, the eldest of the two sons of
Charles Collett and Mary Ann Ellis. It
was also there that he was living with his parents in 1861, when George Collett
was three years old. Three years later,
and following the birth of his brother Charles (below), George Collett,
aged six years, was once again baptised, that time in a joint ceremony with his
baby brother which took place at Oulton on 28th August 1864. The boys’ parents were confirmed as Charles
and Mary Collett. George was 13 at the
time of the census in 1871, when he and his family were living at 4 Common
Lane, Southtown in Great Yarmouth. Ten
years later, according to the census in 1881, George Collett, aged 23, had left
his east coast home and was a seaman with the vessel ‘Robert & Mary’
sailing out of Littlehampton in Sussex, on the south coast of England. On that occasion he gave his place of birth
as Oulton where he was living just after he was born and where his brother
Charles (below) had been born. The
premature death of George Collett was recorded at Mutford (Ref. 4a 493) during
the second quarter of 1888, when he was 29 years old. The nature of his job of work, and the risks
involved, could mean that he was the victim of an accident at sea
Charles
George Collett [18P154] was born at Oulton near Lowestoft in 1864, the second of
two sons of Charles Collett and Mary Ann Ellis.
He was only a few months old when he was baptised at Oulton in a joint
ceremony with his older brother George (above) on 28th August
1864. It was also simply as Charles
Collett, aged seven, that he was listed in the census of 1871, by which time he
and his family were living at 4 Common Lane, Southtown in Gorleston, and it was
at that same address that he and his parents were living in 1881, when Charles
was a general labourer at the age of 16.
Three years later, on 30th January 1884 at the Parish Church
in Gorleston, when he was a dairyman aged 20 of Southtown, Charles Collett was
married by licence to the much older Lavinia Anna Howlett aged 29 and a
dressmaker of Gorleston, the daughter of dairyman William Howlett. The two witnesses were William Howlett and
Kate Howlett. The couple’s wedding day
was recorded at Mutford (Ref. 4a 1003) and, with the occupation of Charles’
father (Charles) also being that of a dairyman, it may have been a result of
the two fathers knowing each other through their work, that Charles and Lavinia
met. Lavinia was born at Bungay, her
birth recorded at Wangford during the second quarter of 1852, the daughter of
gardener William and Sarah Howlett. It
may have been out of embarrassment of their 12-year age difference that Lavinia
only admitted to being six years older than Charles in the subsequent census
returns. Certainly in 1861, as the
eldest child in her family, Lavinia Howlett was confirmed as being nine years
old. It would appear that the first
child of Charles and Lavinia may have been a honeymoon baby, as the birth was
recorded at Mutford during the last quarter of the same year in which they were
married. A further three children were
added to the family before the next census in 1891, all born at Southtown when
their baptism records at the parish church of Gorleston-with-Southtown gave
their father’s occupation as a cow keeper.
However, on the day of the census, the family was living at 8 Common
Lane, Southtown in Great Yarmouth, the same road in which Charles’ parents were
living in 1901, where they had two of Charles’ sons, Lionel and Bertie, living
there with their grandparents, while in 1891 it was just son Lionel (recorded
in error as George) who was five years of age who was living with his
grandparents in 1891 at East Marsh Road in Burgh Castle
As a result of that fact, the census return for
1891 confirmed that Charles’ family comprised, himself aged 26 and a dairyman,
Lavinia Collett who said she was 32 rather than her actual age of 38, Sara Mary
Collett who was six years old, Bertie H V Collett who was three, and Albert Edward
Sydney Collett who was not yet one year old.
It was two years later that the couple’s fifth and final child was
born. Eight years later, in March 1901,
Charles Collett from Oulton was working at Barking in Essex, while his wife and
five children were living at the High Street in Great Yarmouth. Charles was 36 years of age and was employed
as a general labourer at a chemical works in Barking. His wife Lavinia Collett, a dressmaker, said
she was 42 instead of 48, and confirmed she had been born at Bungay. Their children were listed as Laurina who was
16, with no occupation, Albert who was listed as Sidney aged 10, and Grace who
was eight years old, both born at Southtown.
By April 1911 the family was residing at 21 Burnt Lane in Southtown and
comprised Charles Collett from Oulton who was 47 and a riverside labourer, his
wife Lavinia from Bungay was 56 and a dressmaker, together with just two of
their five children, Albert Edward Sidney Collett from Gorleston, Great
Yarmouth was 20, and Grace Nellie Kate Collett who was 18. Charles George Collett died at Southtown
sometime between 1911 and 1915, and was followed by his wife Lavinia Ann
Collett nee Howlett whose death was recorded at Yarmouth register office (Ref.
4b 59) during the first three months of 1915, following which she was buried on
18th January 1915 at the Parish Church of
Gorleston-with-Southtown. The burial
record gave her home address as 21 Burnt Lane in Gorleston and her age as 62
years
18Q161 - Laurina
Sarah Mary Collett was
born in 1884 at Southtown
18Q162 - Lionel
Charles George Collett was born in 1886 at Southtown
18Q163 – Bertie Herbert Victor
Collett was
born in 1887 at Southtown
18Q164 - Albert
Edward Sydney Collett was born in 1890 at Southtown
18Q165 - Grace
Nellie Kate Collett was
born in 1893 at Southtown
Sarah
Collett [18P155] was
born at Ilketshall on 2nd February 1866, with her birth recorded at
Wangford (Ref. 4a 731) during the first three months of the year. She was baptised at Ilketshall St Andrew on 18th
March 1866, the daughter of William and Emma Collett. Upon leaving school she entered into domestic
service and at the age of 15 she was a housemaid at The Rectory of St John the
Baptist Church in Ilketshall St Andrew.
Sarah’s employer was the Rector
In 1908 the family was still living at 17 Queen
Anne’s Road, but for the two years leading up to 1911, the family home was at
52 Albany Road in Southtown. The
electoral roll in 1911 recorded the family at 74 Lichfield Road in Yarmouth,
when a second property was owned by Charles at 52 Albany Road. The census that same year provided the full
names of the children of the family.
Charles and Sarah were 46 and 45 respectively, while their children were
listed as Sidney Charles Minister who was 20 (born in 1891), Ernest
Arthur Minister who was 18 (born in 1892), Mabel Emma Minister who
was 16 (born in 1894), and Oscar William Minister who was 13 years of
age (born in 1897). Sarah’s place of
birth was recorded as St Andrews, with the other members of her family all
having been born at Thurlton, their birth recorded at Loddon. Missing daughter Beatrice Miriam Minister
(born in 1893) was 17 years of age and living and working in Norwich at the
home of inspector of schools Robert F Betts and his family, when her place of
birth was also confirmed as Thurlton. In
1915 the family of Charles Isaiah Collett was still living at 74 Lichfield Road
in Yarmouth. It was during March 1932,
when the death of Charles Isaiah Minister was recorded at Yarmouth register
office (Ref. 4b 56), after which he was buried on 31st March 1932 at
Gorleston. Seven years after, according
to the 1939 Register, Sarah Minister was a widow aged 73, when she was living
at 9 Church Street in Southwold. That
was the home of retired groundsman John Collett, a widower and Sarah’s younger
brother (below). The third member
of the household was Bessie Grimble who was 76 and a member of staff and a maid
working in a hotel
John
Collett [18P156] was
born at Ilketshall St Andrew on 26th October 1867, his birth
recorded at Wangford (Ref. 4a 631). He
was also baptised two months later at Ilketshall St Andrew on 28th
December 1867. The baptism record
confirmed that he was the son of William Collett and Emma Rackham. According to the census of 1881, John was 13
and an agricultural labourer when he was living with his parents at Ilketshall
St
By the turn of the century Louisa had presented
John with the first four of their eight children. The 1901 Census placed the family as living
at 42 Church Street in Southwold. John
was 33 and his occupation was that of a corporation carter, presumably meaning
that he was employed by the local council.
Louisa his wife was listed as being 32 and born at Reydon one mile north
of Southwold. The four children living
with the couple in 1901 were Lily aged eight, Ellen aged seven, John aged six,
and Edith who was five years old. The
first three children had been born while the family was living at Easton
Bavents, while the fourth was born after they had moved into Southwold
18Q166 - Lilian Emma Collett was born in 1892 at
Easton Bavents
18Q167 - Ellen Louisa Collett was born in 1893 at
Easton Bavents
18Q168 - William John Collett was born in 1895 at
Easton Bavents
18Q169 - Edith
Florence Collett was
born in 1896 at Southwold
18Q170 - Agnes Bessie Collett was born in 1903 at
Southwold
18Q171 - Dorothy Mary Collett was born in 1905 at
Southwold
18Q172 - Daisy Evelyn Gertrude Collett was born in 1907 at
Southwold
18Q173 - Roland Sidney George Collett was born in 1909 at
Southwold
William
Collett [18P157] was
born in the village of Ilketshall St Andrew in 1869 with his birth recorded at
Wangford (Ref. 4a 656) during the third quarter of the year. He was baptised at the Church of St John the
Baptist on 24th September 1869, the son of William Collett and his
wife Emma Rackham. Sadly, he died there
at the age of three weeks and was buried at St John the Baptist Church on 7th
October 1869, the death of William Collett recorded at Wangford (Ref. 4a 457)
William
Collett [18P158] was
born at Ilketshall St Andrew during the month of January in 1871, his birth
recorded at Wangford (Ref. 4a 736) in the first quarter of that year. He was around one-month-old when he was
baptised at the Church of St John the Baptist on 5th February 1871,
the second son of that name born to William and Emma Collett. The Ilketshall census in 1871 recorded
William Collett as being two months old, although tragically he suffered the
same fate as his namesake and brother two years earlier, when the death of
William Collett was also recorded at Wangford (Ref. 4a 432) at the end of
1871. On being buried the Church of St
John-the-Baptised on 14th December 1872 he was recorded in the
parish register as being just 23 months old
Robert
Collett [18P159] was
born at Ilketshall St Andrew towards the end of 1863, the only surviving child
of Robert Collett and Lydia Ann Brighton.
His birth was recorded at Wangford (Ref. 4a 651) during the fourth
quarter of that year. Tragically his
father and his baby sister died while he was still very young, so by 1871, and
at the age of only seven years, he was living at Ilketshall St Andrew with his
widowed mother Lydia Ann Collett, and his widowed grandmother Mary Brighton. It may be of interest that, in his later
years, Robert gave his place of birth as Shipmeadow, a village approximately
two miles north of Ilketshall St Andrew.
Upon leaving school he became a fisherman like his father, and in early
1881 it would appear that he set sail out of Pakefield near Lowestoft on board
the fishing boat ‘Au Revoir’. By the
third of April in 1881 the boat was moored at Falmouth in Cornwall. According to the census return that day,
fisherman Robert Collett of Ilketshall St Andrew was 17, and was one of eight
fishermen employed by master fisherman Daniel Colby Adams of Pakefield. Upon giving up his occupation as a fisherman,
Robert became a groom employed at Carlton Colville, where it is very likely
that he met his future wife. Also, by
that time Robert’s widowed mother, Lydia, was living at Carlton Colville and
had married widower William Artis, following the death of his first wife Amy
Girling. It is therefore significant
that Robert Collett was married after the reading of banns to Lois Girling at Carlton Colville
on 5th February 1889, the marriage being registered at Mutford (Ref.
5a 73) during the first quarter of that year
On that
day, Robert Collett of Carlton Colville was 24 and a labourer, the son of
mariner Robert Collett, with Lois also being 24 and of Carlton Colville, the
daughter of a labourer, when the witnesses were John Collett and Catherine
Girling. John was very likely Robert’s cousin (above). Lois was born at Ilketshall St Lawrence on 13th
October 1864, with her birth recorded at Wangford (Ref. 4a 646) during the last
quarter of 1864. She was later baptised
as Louisa Girling on 16th April 1865, the daughter of agricultural
labourer Henry Girling and his wife Eliza, Henry being the brother of the late
Amy Artis nee Girling. It was prior to
her wedding day that Lois Girling had given birth to a base-born son who
continued to carry his mother’s maiden-name, although nothing more is known
about the child at this time, except that he was the grandfather of Brian
Girling
Lois Girling was the fifth child of
agricultural labourer Henry Girling and his wife Eliza Barber. Henry was born at Westhall, near Halesworth
in 1824, while his wife was from Ilketshall St Margaret, where she was born in
1831. The couple’s first two children,
William and Robert Henry, were born at Ilketshall St Andrew, while the
remainder of their children were all born at Ilketshall St Lawrence. In the Ilketshall St Lawrence census of 1871,
Lois Girling was six years old when she was living there with her parents and
her six siblings. An eighth child was
added to the family during the following few months, but by 1881 three of the
children had left the family home in Ilketshall St Lawrence to make their own
way in the world. They were the eldest
son William Girling, who was 25 and married to Eliza with whom he already had
four children while living at Mutford Bridge in Oulton, from where William was
employed as a railway carman; Charlotte Girling, aged 18, who was a kitchen
maid at Bramford Hall near Ipswich, the home of Lieutenant Colonel Frank Scott;
and Lois (Louisa) Girling, aged 17, from Ilketshall St Lawrence who was a
domestic servant at Lorne Villa in Carlton Colville, the home of farmer Elijah
Lee and his wife.. It was around six years after that, when Lois found she was
with-child, and in 1888 she gave birth to a son out of wedlock, who was
baptised as Henry Robert Girling at Ilketshall St Lawrence on 13th
May 1888. By the time Lois married
Robert Collett at Carlton Colville her base-born son had been taken into the
care of her older brother Robert Henry Girling, gamekeeper, and his wife Susan,
at Ilketshall St Margaret, with whom he was the only child living there with
the couple in both 1891 and 1901, when he was three years of age and 13 years
old respectively
It was while Robert Collett and his wife Lois
were still living at Carlton Colville that their first child was born there
during the month of August in 1890.
Following the birth of Francis their son, Robert and Lois, moved to
Lancashire, very likely for work purposes, since it has been established that
the couple was living at 15 Carno Street in the Wavertree district of Liverpool
West Derby by the time of the census in 1891.
The census return confirmed that Robert Collett from Shipmeadow in
Suffolk was 27 and that, at that time in his life, he was employed as a railway
porter. His wife Lois Collett from St
Lawrence, Suffolk was 26, and their eight-month-old son Francis W C Collett had
been born at Carlton Colville in Suffolk.
Lodging with the family were two other men who were also employed on the
railway, and both of them came from Suffolk.
In addition to the Collett household, it is interesting that all of the
occupants of the two adjoining houses in Carno Street had also been born within
the North Suffolk area, perhaps indicating a mass exodus to the north of
England for the promise of work. It was
while Robert and his family were still living at 15 Carno Street in Wavertree
that Lois presented her husband with the couple’s second child, who was born
during the following year. During the
next year or two, the family left Wavertree when they moved the four miles
south to Garston on the east bank of the Mersey River between Liverpool and
Widnes. That move may have coincided
with a change of occupation for Robert.
It was also at Garston that a further three children were added to the
family
By 1901 Robert Collett, aged 37 and from
Shipmeadow, was living at 68 King Street in Garston, very close to the docks
where he was employed as a dock labourer.
Living at the house with him was his 36 years old wife Lois Collett of
Ilketshall St Lawrence, together with four of their five known children. They were William Collett who was 10 years
old and born at Carlton Colville near Lowestoft, Ethel Collett who was five,
Albert Collett who was two, and Florence Collett who was 11 months old. Absent from the family that census day in
1901 was the couple’s eldest daughter Nora Collett from Wavertree who was eight
years of age and staying with her grandmother Lydia Ann Collett, nee Brighton,
and her second husband William Artis, following the earlier death of Norah’s
grandfather Robert Collett. Tragically,
two years after the census in 1901, Robert Collett died just when his wife was
due to give birth to the couple’s last child, who was given the name Robert. The death of Robert Collett, aged 39, was recorded
at West Derby (Liverpool) register office (Ref. 8b 410) during the second
quarter of 1903, following his passing on 20th June 1903. Sadly, he never saw or held his last child,
who was born one month later and given the name Robert, with his father Robert
laid to rest in Garston on 25th June 1903. The Administration of his personal effects,
amounting to £15 5 Shillings, was granted at Liverpool on 9th July
1903 to Lois Collett, widow
At that time in his life, the family’s home
address was 31 Salt Dock Cottages in Garston, although
when he died he was a patient at Garston Cottage Hospital. The family’s new arrival Robert Collett,
together with his two older siblings William Collett and Albert Collett, were
the only children still living with their widowed mother at Garston in
1911. On that occasion Lois Collett from
Suffolk was 45 and a cleaner at the local library, employed by the municipal
authority in Garston. As regards her
other children, nothing has found of daughter Ethel Maude Collett, while her
two other daughters, Norah Collett and Florence May Collett, had returned to
Suffolk and were living at the home of their paternal grandmother Lydia Ann
Artis, formerly Lydia Ann Collett nee Brighton in 1911
It is known
that sometime after being widowed, Lois and the remaining members of her family
moved to 97 Chesterton Street in Garston, which was certainly the family home in
1913 until 1943, as confirmed at the time of the weddings of four of her
children; William in 1913, Albert in 1928, Florence in 1921, and Robert in 1933. By the time of the
1939 Register, widow Lois Collett was 75 years old and described as a retired
office cleaner who was living alone at 97 Chesterton Street in Garston. Just under four years later, the death of
Lois Collett was recorded at the Liverpool South register office (Ref. 10d 530)
during the second quarter of 1943, when she was said to be 82. The Liverpool Corporation Register of Burials
stated that Lois Collett was buried at Allerton Cemetery on 28th
April 1943, a widow of 84 from 97 Chesterton Street, who was laid to rest in a
private grave, number 185, already
the place of rest of her late husband and her first three children
18Q174 - Francis
William Charles Collett was born in 1890 at Carlton Colville
18Q175 - Norah
Collett was
born in 1892 at Wavertree, Liverpool
18Q176 - Ethel
Maude Collett was
born in 1895 at Garston, Liverpool
18Q177 - Albert
Collett was
born in 1897 at Garston, Liverpool
18Q178 - Florence
May Collett was
born in 1900 at Garston, Liverpool
18Q179 - Robert Collett was born in 1903 at Garston, Liverpool
Mary Anne
Collett [18P160] was
born at Ilketshall St Andrew in 1866, the only known daughter of Robert Collett
and his wife Lydia Ann Brighton. Her
birth was recorded at Wangford (Ref. 4a 681) during the last quarter of that
year. Tragically, Mary Anne Collett died
at Ilketshall St Andrew when she was only eight months old, her death recorded
at Wangford (Ref. 4a 442) during the second quarter of 1867, after which she
was buried on 29th June 1867 at the Church of St John-the-Baptist at
Ilketshall. It was also around that time
when her father also passed away, although no burial record for him has so far
been found
Ruth
Collett [18P161] was
born at Norwich in 1883 after which her birth was recorded there (Ref. 4a 138)
during the third quarter of the year.
She was the oldest of the three children of
David
Collett [18P162] was
born at Norwich in 1884, where his birth was recorded (Ref. 4b 154) during the
last three months of the year. Upon the
birth of his younger brother Philip (below), when David who only two
years old, his mother Amy died.
According to the next census in 1891 David Collett, aged six years, was
living at 43 Mill Street in Lakenham, Norwich, with his father and his two
siblings, where his grandmother Lucy Collett was the housekeeper for the
family. Following the death of David’s
grandmother, David’s father George married for a second time, his new wife Catherine
with, him together with his three children, when they were living at Gordon
Road in Norwich in 1901. By then David
was 16 and was working as a labourer at a starch factory. Sadly, his stepmother died not long after
that census, with the result that his father was married for a third time in
1905. That was confirmed in the next
census of 1911 when David who was 26 and a labourer, together with his brother
Philip, were recorded as living at Norwich with their father and new step-mother
Hannah. With the war starting in Europe,
David joined the 1st Battalion Norfolk Regiment in which he was
Private Collett 6531. Sadly, not long
after the start of the Great War, David was killed in action during the Battle
of Loos. He died on 18th
October 1914 and his name is one of the 13,000 listed on the Le Touret Memorial
which commemorates those soldiers killed at the Battle of Loos who have no
known grave. The name of David Collett
can be found in Panel 8. David’s army
record confirmed that his father and next-of-kin was George Collett of 40
Harford Street, in Lakenham, Norwich, and that his mother had been Amy Collett
Philip
Collett [18P163] was
born at Norwich on 26th November 1887, with his birth recorded at
Norwich (Ref. 4b 160) during the first quarter of the following year. Tragically, either at the time, or just after
the birth, his mother Amy passed away, leaving Philip and his two older
siblings (above) in the care of their father George and his widowed
mother, the elderly Lucy Collett.
According to the census in 1891, the family was residing at 43 Mill
Street in Lakenham, Norwich, when Philip was three years old. Over the next few years his grandmother died
in her late seventies and by March 1901 Philip’s widowed father was married for
a second time to Catherine. That year
Philip was 13 and Norwich was confirmed as his place of birth, like his two
older siblings and younger sister Naomi, when the family was residing at Gordon
Road in Norwich. It was during the next
few years that Philip’s father was widowed for a second time and was married
for a third time to Hannah in 1905, and by April 1901, when Philip was 23, he
was still living at Norwich with his father George and stepmother Hannah, and
brother David (above), when Philip Collett was a plate layer employed by
the Great Eastern Railway. Where he was
in 1911 remains a mystery, while two years later the marriage of Philip Collett
and Annie (Peggy) Cringle took place at Wells-next-the-Sea and was recorded
just south of Wells at Walsingham register office (Ref. 4b 604) during the
third quarter of 1913. Annie Cringle was
born at Wells-next-the-Sea in 1886, the daughter of fisherman Thomas and Maria
Cringle of Boughs Yard in Wells. Later
that same year, the birth of their son Jack, at Wells-next-the-Sea, was
recorded at Walsingham register office (Ref. 4b 480) during the fourth quarter
of 1913, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Cringle. It was at Wells that the family was living in
1914
On 1st September 1914, Philip
Collett was accepted as a new recruit for the 8th Battalion of the
Norfolk Regiment, as a private, service number 12889. His next-of-kin was his wife Annie Collett of
Dogger Lane in Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk, with whom he already had a son Jack
Collett. It was at Norwich that he
signed up, when he was 28 years and 279 days old, whose occupation was that of
a stoker, being 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighing 127 pounds. He only served for 64 days, when he was
discharged for misconducted, when he was described as a very bad character. The discharged sheets stated “It is not
thought that this man misconducted himself with a view to discharge. His conduct is a very bad example to the men
of the New Army”. It was at
Colchester Camp that he was based when he was discharged on 7th November
1914. Of those 64 days, 14 were spent in
detention, with two lots of 10 confined to barracks, for being drunk and
absence for parade and duties, while on another occasion he was fined
half-a-crown for damages
Two more son were added to the family, the
births of both of them recorded at Walsingham register office, when their
mother’s maiden-name was again confirmed as Cringle. The first of them during the second quarter
of 1915 (Ref. 4a 455), and the second during the first three months of 1920
(Ref. 4b 590). Nineteen years later, the
1939 Register identified Philip Collett living at 1 Greenhill Place, London
Road in Thrupp, near Stroud in Gloucestershire, the home of Walter and Frances
Parsons. Philip Collett was 51 and a
carpenter and a rigger, was recorded as a married man, while column 11 of the
form said that he was an RAF pensioner 337547
18Q180 - Jack Collett
was born in 1913 at Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk
18Q181 - David
Collett was born in 1915 at Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk
18Q182 – Edward D
Collett was born in 1920 at Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk
Naomi Collett [18P164] was born at Norwich in
1889, the last of the four children of George Collett and Amy London. Her birth was recorded at Norwich (Ref. 4b
150) during the second quarter of that year.
She was one year old when her mother died and, with her father having
four children to care for, it was baby Naomi who was initially taken in the
Rosary Road, Norwich home of George’s older married sister Eliza Giles, nee
Collett, where she was two years of age in 1891. Following her father’s second marriage in
1892, Naomi returned to the family home in Norwich, where she was 12 years old
in 1901. Upon leaving school she took up
work in domestic service and adopted the forename of her late mother, and it
was as Amy Naomi Collett from Norwich, aged 22, that still was living and
working in London at the Lambeth School of Lina Simpson Baibie, the head
mistress of a private girls school at 126 128 Hounslow Park Road in Dulwich,
where Amy was a parlour maid
Two years later the marriage of Naomi Collett
and George Edward Wilks was recorded at the Essex Orsett register office (Ref.
4a 836) during the first three months of 1913.
Naomi was 23 and the daughter of George Collett, when the wedding was
conducted at the Church of St Margaret of Antioch in Stanford-le-Hope on 23rd
January 1913. The birth of George Edward
Wilks was recorded at Billericay (Ref. 4a 397) in Essex during the third
quarter of 1889, and it was at Christ Church in Great Warley where he was baptised
on 20th October 1889, the son of John and Marian Wilks. He suffered a premature death when, at the
age of only 39 he died with his death recorded at Rochford register office
(Ref. 4a 496) during the third quarter of 1929.
The Will of George Edward Wilks of 2 Bull Lane in Raleigh, Essex, was
proved at London on 26th September 1929 to Naomi Wilks, widow, to
the value of £210 12 Shillings and 9 Pence, following his death on 3rd
July 1929. The later death of Naomi
Wilks, at the age of 47, was recorded at Rochford register office (Ref. 4a 669)
during the second quarter of 1936
Annie
Collett [18P165] was
born in 1866, with her birth recorded at Brentford in Middlesex (Ref. 3a 41)
during the second quarter of that year, the daughter of Hammond Collett and
Mary Bradford, who had been married during the spring of the previous year. She was not listed with her family in 1871,
although ten years later, Annie Collett from Brentford was 16 and a servant at The
Butts, New Brentford home of builder William Ball and his family. After a further decade, Annie Collett was
correctly recorded as 24 years old when she was working as a cook at Egliston
Road in Putney, the home of hydraulic engineer Thomas Wheatley and his family. It is interesting that by 1901, living with
and working for the Wheatley family at Egliston Road, was Sarah Collett aged 35
and from Twickenham who was the cook that year
Hammond
Isaac Collett [18P166] was born at Strand-on-the-Green in Chiswick on 3rd
August 1868 and his birth was also recorded at Brentford (Ref. 3a 91) during
the third quarter of the year. He was
the eldest son of Hammond Collett and his wife Mary Bradford and was baptised
at Chiswick on 30th August 1868, curiously that was the only
occasion that his father was referred to as Hammond Isaac Collett. As Hammond I Collett, he was two years old in
1871, and was 12 in the Chiswick census of 1881 when he was living with his
family at Back Lane. He was 21 when he
was married by banns to Jessie Elizabeth Draper aged 18, on 22nd
June 1890 at the parish church for Turnham Green-with-Gunnersbury. Their wedding was recorded at (Ref. 3a 118)
during the second quarter of 1890. Jessie
Eliza had been born at Brisbane, Queensland in Australia on 11th
January 1873, and the marriage certificate named her father as William Draper,
an engineer, and her mother as Eliza Smith who was a witness and made her
marked with a cross. The male witness
was H Collett, presumably Hammond’s father, both father and son described as
labourers. The same address was given
for both Hammond and Jessie, that being Turnham Green. Around nine months after their wedding day,
Hammond and Jessie were the only one residing in a dwelling on Kew Bridge Road
in Ealing, at what appears to be Star Court.
Hammond was 22 and a labourer from Strand-on-the-Green, and Jessie was
18 and from Australia, who may have already been anticipating the birth of their
first child. The couple lived the early
days of their married life in Brentford, where their first two children were
born. It was after they were born, and
around the middle of the 1890s, that Hammond and his family settled in the
Chiswick area, near to where his parents were still living, and where the
couple’s next five children were born.
Towards the end of the century Hammond entered the service of the
British Army, initially with the 2nd Battalion Middlesex Regiment,
although he later transferred to the Queens Mounted Infantry. It was during his time with the latter
regiment that he saw action in the Second Boer War at Cape Colony from October
to December 1899 and the following year in February at Tugela and the Relief of
Ladysmith. He was also involved in the
final battle of the War at Transvaal in April 1902
However, he may have been on leave at the end
of March in 1901 as the census recorded the family living at Chiswick as
Hammond Collett, aged 32 who was working as a labourer navvy, his wife Jessie
from Brisbane who was 27, and their four sons Hammond Collett (junior) who was
nine, William Collett who was eight, John J Collett who was four and Harry
Collett who was two years old. It seems
highly likely that Jesse was with-child at the time of the census since latter
that same year she gave birth to the couple’s fifth child, and their first of
the couple’s three daughters, and all of them born while the family was still
living at Chiswick. It was at 3 Bond Street in Chiswick that the whole family was
living in April 1911. Hammond was 41,
his wife Jessie Elizabeth was 38, and their children were Hammond Alexander who
was 19, William Alfred who was18, John Isaac who was 14, Jessie Elizabeth who
was nine, Rosetta who was six, Rene Rebecca who was four and Albert who was one
year old. Five years later, at the time
of the wedding of his eldest son, Hammond Isaac Collett was described as an
engineer. Jessie Elizabeth Collett nee
Draper was living in the Brentford area when she passed away in 1938, her death
recorded at Brentford register office (Ref. 3a 357) at the age of 65 during the
first quarter of that year. Eighteen
months later Hammond I Collett was living at 3 Bond Street in
Brentford-with-Chiswick in the 1939 Register.
He was 71 and a general labourer who had living with him his younger
unmarried sister Ada E Collett who was 61 and described as being incapacitated,
the word ‘invalid’ having been crossed out. During the next twelve years Hammond continued
to live in London, when the death of Hammond I Collett was recorded at
Wandsworth register office (Ref. 5d 726) during the second quarter of 1951,
when he was 82
18Q183 - Hammond
Alexander Collett was
born in 1891 at Brentford
18Q184 - William
Alfred Collett was
born in 1893 at Brentford
18Q185 - John Isaac
Collett was
born in 1897 at Chiswick
18Q186 - Harry
Collett was
born in 1899 at Chiswick
18Q187 -
Jessie Elizabeth Collett was born in 1901 at Chiswick
18Q188 - Rosetta
Collett was
born in 1904 at Chiswick
18Q189 -
Irene Rebecca Collett was born in 1906 at Chiswick
18Q190 - Albert Collett was born in 1909 at Chiswick
Mary Ann
Collett [18P167] was
born at Chiswick in 1870 when her birth was registered at Brentford (Ref. 3a
92) during the first three months of that year.
It was at Chiswick where she was baptised on 20th February
1870, another daughter of Hammond and Mary Collett. She was one year old at the time of the
Chiswick census on 1871. She was still
living with her parents at Back Lane in Chiswick in 1881, when she was 11, and
again ten years after that, when Mary A Collett was 21. Her absence from the census in 1901, as Mary
Collett, very likely indicates that she was married by then
Alfred
Lewis Collett [18P168] was born at Chiswick around 1871, with his birth registered
at Brentford (Ref. 3a 88) during the last quarter of the year. He was nine years old when living with his
family at Back Lane in Chiswick in 1881.
He was still living there in 1891 when he was 19 and was working as a
bargeman’s mate on the River Thames at Brentford. Like his two brothers Hammond Isaac (above)
and Robert (below), Alfred served as a professional soldier from June
1891 with the 2nd Battalion Middlesex Regiment. On 22nd February 1892 he sailed
from Waterford in Ireland to India on board HMS Crocodile. It was while he was serving at Ahmednagar in
India that he was hospitalised on five occasions, suffering with malaria,
between 1892 and 1894. It was many years
later, on 2nd December 1899, that he sailed with the regiment from
Southampton aboard the SS Avondale Castle for South Africa where they arrived
at Cape Town on Boxing Day. During the
period from December 1899 to 31st May 1901, while fighting in the
Second Boer War, Private Alfred managed to write a diary of his experiences and
this can be found on the website: www.muralartist.co.uk/diary/diary.htm. Once he was back at home in England, Alfred
married spinster Rose Punter on 25th December 1902 in Christ Church
at Turnham Green in Chiswick, the event recorded at Brentford register office
(Ref. 3a 274) at the end of the year.
Rose was born on 17th December 1880, her birth registered at
Kingston-on-Thames (Ref. 2a 315) during the first quarter of 1881 as Rosa
Punter, the daughter of James Punter and Mary Ann Huggins. Their marriage produced a total of five children,
the births of all of them recorded at Richmond register office, when the family
home was at 21 Cambridge Cottages in Kew Green from 1906 onwards. It was at that address that Alfred, Rose and
their first two children, were living in 1911, just a short distance from 15
Cambridge Cottages, the home of Alfred’s brother Robert Collett (below). Alfred Lewis Collett from Chiswick was 39 and
a general labourer working in the building industry, his wife Rose was 30 and
from Kingston, and their two children were Alfred Lewis Collett junior who was
seven and Freda Collett who was three years old, both of them born said to have
been born at Richmond, where their births were certainly recorded
Three more children were added to their family
at 21 Cambridge Cottages in Kew Green, although the last of them suffered an
infant death. Arthur Collett was born on
4th November 1916, his birth recorded at Richmond register office
(Ref. 2a 819), when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Punter, and it
was there also, where his death was recorded (Ref. 2a 770) during the first
quarter of 1918, when he was one year old.
Three years earlier, just after the start of the First World War, Alfred
Lewis Collett of that address was 43 years 6 months when he enlisted with the
army on 28th April 1915 at Hornsey.
He was described as being five feet six inches, with a tattoo of a ship
on his chest. His wife was confirmed as
Rose Punter, while the full names for their five children were also included on
the enlistment form. It was on 24th
June 1915 that he was made Private 38186 and assigned to 19th
Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment, the Pioneers and, on 16th July
1917, he was transferred to the Suffolk Regiment. However, while it was on 29th
March 1918 that he was discharged from duty, being no longer physically fit for
war service. His military service record
therefore stated that, by that time, he had completed two years and three
hundred-and thirty-six-days service.
Most of that time was spent ‘in the field’ but, for a few days, at the
end of March and the beginning of April in 1917, he was sick and had returned
to England.
Curiously, for some reason, the baptism of the
couple’s two youngest children was conducted at St Mary’s Church in West
Horsley, midway between Guildford and Leatherhead in Surrey on 3rd
February 1915 and 23rd November 1916 respectively, where the parish
register confirmed the parents as Alfred Lewis and Rose Collett. It would appear that those two events,
twenty-six miles south of Kew Green, were part of a temporary arrangement for
the family, perhaps because of the danger of being in South London during the
Great War. However, upon the tragic
death of one-year-old son Arthur in early 1918, the family was already back in
Richmond, where his death was recorded.
Furthermore, it was certainly at 24 Kew Green in Richmond, that the
family was living at the start of the Second World War. The 1939 Register listed the six members of
the extended family as: Alfred L Collett an old age pensioner of sixty-eight
years; Rose Collett aged 58; Alfred F Knight, son-in-law, Freda R M Knight,
married daughter, Joyce Knight, granddaughter; and Ronald Knight,
grandson. After the Second World War,
Alfred and Rose were living at 21 Cambridge Cottages in Kew Green, where Alfred
passed away at the age of 83, the death of Alfred Lewis Collett recorded at the
Surrey Northern register office (Ref. 5g 424) during the second quarter of
1955. It was there also, eight years
after being made a widow, that the death of Rose Collett was recorded (Ref. 5g
777) during the first quarter of 1963, when she was 83
18Q191 -
Alfred Lewis Collett was
born in 1903 at Richmond
18Q192 - Freda Rose Mary Collett was born in 1907 at
Kew Green (Richmond)
18Q193 -
John Collett was
born in 1912 at Kew Green (Richmond)
18Q194 - Marjorie Collett was born in 1915 at
Kew Green (Richmond)
18Q195 - Arthur Collett was born in 1916 at
Kew Green (Richmond)
ROBERT
COLLETT [18P169] was
born at Chiswick on 16th August 1875, his birth registered at
Brentford (Ref. 3a 99) during the third quarter of the year. He was baptised at Chiswick on 24th
October 1875, another son of Hammond and Mary Collett. He was five years of age and 15 years old in
the Chiswick census returns for 1881 and 1891.
He married Edith Martha Sykes on 26th December 1903 at
Brentford, and their wedding recorded at Brentford register office (Ref. 3a
309). Edith was born on 14th
October 1884, the daughter of John Sykes and Maria Harper, her birth registered
at Fulham (Ref. 1a 187), and it was at Hammersmith St Peter’s Church that she
was baptised on 4th November 1884.
In 1891 Robert was a labourer, an occupation that he continued with for
those parts of his life when he was not in military service. As with his two older brothers Hammond and
Alfred, Robert was a member of the 2nd Battalion Middlesex Regiment
and saw active service during the Second Boer War. At some point during his military career, he
transferred to the Queens Mounted Infantry of the Middlesex Regiment, as did
his brother Hammond Collett (above).
It is generally known, within the family, that he fought at Klerksdorp
in 1901 and was awarded the Victoria South Africa Medal 1901 with clasps (below
left) for the campaigns at Transvaal, Orange Free State, Relief of Ladysmith,
Tugela Heights and Cape Colony. He also
received the King Edward VII South Africa Medal with 1901 and 1902 clasps
(below right). Robert also served with
the British Army during the First World War
|
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Both medals carry the inscription “Private 4998
H Collett” which would appear that they were given to Hammond Collett. However, the present-day family are convinced
that they were presented to Robert Collett who, curiously, also had the service
number 4998. An independent
investigation by an expert in military history has been undertaken to try to
resolve this matter, and these are his findings. “I found an H Collett, number 4998, in
both the King's and the Queen's medal rolls being listed with 2nd
Battalion Middlesex in the Queen's, but no battalions were given in the
King's. There was also in the Queen's an
R Collett, but his number was also given as 4998. He was with the Mounted Infantry Company of
the Middlesex. The numbers for Robert
Collett in the WWI medal rolls are 3429 (Middlesex Regiment) and 21367 (Labour
Corp). I also found in the WWI medal
rolls, Hammond Collett no 42708 (Royal Field Artillery) as a Gunner and a
Bombardier.”
According to the census of 1911 the family was
still living in Chiswick, where Robert Collett from Chiswick was 35 and a
gardener and general labourer, Edith Martha Collett from Hammersmith was 27,
and their two children at that time were Robert John Collett who was six, and
William Hammond Collett who was one year old, both of whom had been born at
Chiswick. Also living with the family on
that occasion was Robert’s elderly widowed mother Mary Collett from Kingston,
who was seventy years old. Edith was due
to give birth to the couple’s third child before the end of that year, with the
birth of the first of their two daughters.
Robert’s brother Alfred (above) lived at 21 Cambridge Cottages in
Kew Green from 1906, with Robert and his family moving into 15 Cambridge
Cottages not long after 1911, where their last child was born. Between the two world wars, Robert resumed his
job as a labourer, securing a position with the Port of London Authority. It was certainly at 15 Cambridge Cottages
where Robert lived for the remainder of his life. Living close by at 21 Cambridge Cottages was
his brother Alfred Collett who had moved there in 1906. It is also understood within the family that
Robert took up arms again during the First World War but, so far, no military
records have been found to confirm that happened
On the occasion of the marriage of his second
son at Chiswick in 1932, the groom’s father was described as Robert J Collett,
a labourer with the Port of London Authority.
Which may have been an error, since all of the records only give his
name as simply Robert Collett. Where
there may be confusion, is with the fact that it was William’s older brother
Robert John Collett who signed the marriage register as one of the witnesses. By 1939, the Register that year identified
Robert and Edith living at 15 Cambridge Cottages in Richmond, where Robert was
a general labourer undertaking heavy work at the age of 64, and Edith M Collett
was 55. Their daughter Alice A Collett
was still living with them and was employed as a domestic servant. Residing at 9 Cambridge Cottages was Robert’s
nephew John Collett [18Q193] a milk salesman, and his wife May Alexandra
Collett. Robert Collett died during July
1954, his death recorded at Surrey North register office (Ref. 5g 358) during
the third quarter of 1954, at the age of 78.
Sixteen years after being widowed, Edith Martha Collett died at Richmond
in Surrey on 25th December 1970, her death recorded at Richmond
register office (Ref. 5d 1935) when she was 87
18Q196 - ROBERT
JOHN COLLETT was
born in 1904 at Chiswick
18Q197 -
William Hammond Collett was born in 1910 at Chiswick
18Q198 -
Alice Ada Collett was
born in 1911 at Chiswick
18Q199 - Winifred
Rose Collett was
born in 1915 at Kew
Ada Emily
Collett [18P170] was
born at Chiswick on 17th October 1877, her birth registered at
Brentford (Ref. 3a 83) during the fourth quarter of 1877. She was baptised at Chiswick on 18th
November 1877, daughter of Hammond and Mary Collett. She was three years old and 12 years of age
in the next two Chiswick census returns.
Ten years later in March 1901, Ada was 23, when she was still living
with her parents and younger sister Rosella (below) at Chiswick. By 1911, Ada Collett was recorded in the
census that year as a boarder at 16 Geraldine Road, Strand-on-the-Green in
Chiswick, the home of Benjamin and Lilian Nicholls, when she said she was 31
and born at Kew Bridge. She never
married and, at the start of the Second World War, Ada E Collett was living at
the home of her eldest brother, Hammond I Collett, a widower, at 3 Bond Street
in Brentford-with-Chiswick, when the 1939 Register noted that she was
incapacitated. Three years later the
death of Ada Emily Collett was recorded at Brentford register office (Ref. 3a
225) during the third quarter of 1942, when she was 63
John
Collett [18P171] was
born at Back Lane in Chiswick on 21st September 1880 when his birth
was recorded at Brentford (Ref. 3a 75) during the last three months of that
year. It was at Chiswick that he was
baptised on 17th October 1880, a son of Hammond and Mary
Collett. He was six months old on the
day of the census in 1881, when he was living at Back Lane with his
family. By 1891 he was 10 years old and
still living with his parents in Chiswick, but by 1901 at the age of 20, he was
a private with the 3rd Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment. Although not listed on the Commonwealth War
Graves Commission website, it is understood that John Collett of the Middlesex
regiment died during the Battle of the Somme
Rosetta
Collett [18P172] was
born at Back Lane in Chiswick on 1st January 1883, her birth
registered at Brentford (Ref. 3a 112) during the first three months of
1883. She was baptised at Chiswick on 28th
January 1883, the last child of Hammond Collett and his wife Mary
Bradford. She was eight years old in
1891 and was 18 at the time of the 1901 Census, when her occupation was that of
a domestic servant. On that day she was
working at a lodging house ‘Zachery’ at 70 Strand-on-the-Green in Chiswick and
not far from her parents. Two years
later, the marriage of Rosetta Collett and Richard Edgar Miller Sheldrick was
recorded at Brentford register office (Ref. 3a 203) during the second quarter
of 1903. Their wedding, after the
reading of banns during the Sunday church service over the three previous
weeks, took place at Chiswick on 1st June 1903. On the day of the census in 1911, the
childless couple was residing at 17 Treport Street in Wandsworth, where Richard
Sheldrick from Camden Town was 31 and a private drayman employed at a local
brewery, and his wife of eight years was Rosetta Sheldrick from Chiswick who
was 28. The couple was still together in
1939, when they were living at 12 Coliston Road in Wandsworth, where Rosetta
was 56 and Richard was 60 and working as a milk roundsman. His date of birth was recorded in the 1939
Register as 10th April 1879.
Thirty years after that, the death of Rosetta Sheldrick was recorded at
Wandsworth register office (Ref. 5e 1304) during the second quarter of 1969,
when she was 86. For the last fifteen
years of her life, she had been a widow, following the death of Richard, which
was also recorded at Wandsworth register officer (Ref. 5d 684) during the
second quarter of 1954 at the age of 74
John
Collett [18P173] was
born at Chelsea on 20th December 1866, the eldest child of John
Collett of Wilby, Suffolk and Sarah Mallett of Pimlico. Not long after the birth of his brother
Ephraim (below), his parents moved out of London when they settled in
Wilby, where all of the remaining siblings were born. That was confirmed in the census of 1871 when
John was three years old. By 1881 he was
13 and he and his family were living on the Framlingham Road in Wilby, and ten
years after that he was 23 and still living there with his family. It was towards the end of the following year
that John married Ellen Muttock at Wilby on 3rd November 1892, the
event recorded at Hoxne (Ref. 4a 1567).
Ellen was born in the nearby town of Eye, and before the end of the
century she had presented John with three children. The first two children were born at Wilby,
with the third born after the family had moved to Shotley near Harwich. At the time of the 1901 Census, the family
was living at Shotley across the River Stour from Harwich. John 33 was an ordinary agricultural
labourer, Ellen was 32 and their children were Ernest Collett who was six,
Emily Collett who was four, and John Collett who was one year old. During the following year, another son was
added to the family while they were still living at Shotley. It was also at Shotley, the couple’s last
child was born, but suffered an infant death.
Like their previous children, the birth of Charlotte Collett was
recorded at Samford register office (Ref. 4a 1007) during the second quarter of
1905, as was her death (Ref. 4a 479) during that same three-month period
Shortly after that tragic event, the family
left Shotley and moved inland to Bury-St-Edmunds where they were living in
1911. John was 43 and his wife Ellen was
44, and both of them said that they were from Wilby, like their oldest
son. Only three of their four children
were listed with them, and they were Ernest Collett 16, John William Collett
11, and Herbert George Collett who was eight years old. By that time, the couple’s daughter Emily had
left school and was recorded working at the home of the large Cobbald family in
Bury-St-Edmunds, where she was listed as Emily Collett from Wilby who was 14
years of age and employed as a domestic maid.
In the 1939 Register John and Ellen were living at Great Green in Thedwastre,
near Bury-St-Edmunds, and still had living with them was their son John W
Collett who was unmarried at the age of 39.
John Collett was 62 and employed as a yardman on a farm, while Ellen
Collett was also 62, her date of birth being 17th May 1867. The death of Ellen Collett was recorded at
Bury-St-Edmunds register office (Ref. 4a 1366) during the first three months of
1944 when she was said to be 74 instead of 76
18Q200 - Ernest Collett was born in 1894 at
Wilby
18Q201 - Emily Collett was born in 1896 at
Wilby
18Q202 - John William Collett was born in 1900 at
Shotley
18Q203 - Herbert George Collett was born in 1902 at
Shotley
18Q204 - Herbert George Collett was born in
1905 at Shotley
Ephraim
George Collett [18P174] was born at Chelsea in 1870 where his birth was recorded
(Ref. 1a 253) during the second quarter of the year and, just after he was born
his family moved to Wilby, where he was baptised on 28th May
1870. It was at Framlingham Road in
Wilby that the family was living in 1871 and 1881, where Ephraim was living
with his family at the age of one year and eleven years respectively. Ten years later in 1891, Ephraim Collett was
21 when he was a bachelor living and working at Walsham-le-Willows to the north
of Stowmarket. It was two years after
that day, when the marriage of Ephraim George Collett and Alice Louisa Mulley
was recorded at the Suffolk Stow register office (Ref. 4a 1163) during the
third quarter of 1903. The birth of
Alice from Elmswell, just five miles south of Walsham-le-Willows, and midway
between Bury-St-Edmunds and Stowmarket, on 19th February 1876 was
also registered at Stow (Ref. 4a 587) during the first quarter of 1876. And it was at Elmswell that the couple settled
and where all of their children were born, although sadly, two of their sons
only lived for a very short time. By
March 1901 Ephraim G Collett, aged 31 and from Chelsea, was a bricklayer at
Elmswell. His wife was Alice L Collett,
aged 25, and their three surviving children at that time were Edith May Collett
who was seven, Ephraim Geo Collett who was five, and Bessie A Collett who was
only one year old. Four more children
were added to the family during the next decade, although one suffered an infant
death, so by April 1911 the family still living at Elmswell comprised Ephraim
George Collett 43, Alice Louisa Collett 35, and their six children. Edith May Collett was 17, Ephraim George
Collett was 15, Bessie Amelia Collett was 11, Walter Herbert Collett was eight,
Cyril Charles Collett was seven, and Gladys Dorothy Collett was two years
old. All occupants of the house, except
Ephraim, were confirmed as having been born at Elmswell. The lost child was William Orby Collett whose
birth and death were recorded at Stow register office during the first six
months of 1907, the birth in the first quarter (Ref. 4a 961) and his death in
the second quarter (Ref. 4a 481)
The birth of their son Walter Herbert Collett
was recorded at the Stow, Suffolk register office (Ref. 4a 959) during the
second quarter of 1902, while it was at Hackney register office in London (Ref.
1b 396) that his death was recorded during the fourth quarter of 1935, at the
age of 33. Four years later, the 1939
Register included Alice Louisa Collett, with her youngest daughter Katherine,
and daughter-in-law Lily, the wife of Alice’s son Cyril who was working in
London at that time. All three of them were
described as having no occupation but undertaking unpaid domestic duties. Alice was 63, Katherine was 27, and Lily was
29, when they were residing at Rose Lane in Thedwastre (Bury-St-Edmunds). Where Alice’s husband was on that day has
still to be discovered
The later death of Ephraim George Collett was
recorded at Cuckfield register office (Ref. 5h 177) in West Sussex during the
second quarter of 1953, when he was 83.
A marble headstone marks his grave, which also includes his wife and
their son Walter, who suffered an early death.
The elaborate grave has the following inscription: “In Loving Memory
of Walter Herbert Collett who passed away Oct 22nd 1935 aged 33
years - In the prime of years I was cut down, no longer could I stay, because
it was my saviours will, to call me hence away.
Till we meet again. Also of
Ephraim George Collett who passed away June 18th 1953 aged 83 years
at rest. Also of his wife Alice Louisa
who died June 24th 1968 aged 92 years. Reunited”
The death of Alice Louisa Collett was recorded at Bury-St-Edmunds
register office (Ref. 4b 1073)
18Q205 - Edith May Collett was born in 1893 at
Elmswell
18Q206 - Ephraim George Collett was born in 1895 at
Elmswell
18Q207 -
Henry James Collett was born in 1897 at Elmswell
18Q208 - Bessie Amelia Collett was born in 1899 at
Elmswell
18Q209 - Walter Herbert Collett was born in
1902 at Elmswell
18Q210 - Cyril Charles Collett was born in 1904 at
Elmswell
18Q211 - William Orby Collett was born in 1907
at Elmswell
18Q212 - Gladys Dorothy Collett was born in 1908 at
Elmswell
18Q213 – Katherine G Collett was born in 1912 at
Elmswell
Robert
Collett [18P175] was
born at Framlingham Road in Wilby in 1871, his birth registered at Hoxne (Ref.
4a 533) during the fourth quarter of the year.
It was also at Wilby where he was baptised on 17th November
1871, the third son of John and Sarah Collett.
He was nine years old and 19 years old respectively in the Wilby census
returns for 1881 and 1891, when he was living with his family at Framlingham
Road. Tragically, Robert Collett died
four years later, his death recorded at Hoxne register office (Ref. 4a 485)
during the third quarter of the year, and was buried at Wilby on 30th
June 1895 aged 23
Alfred
Louis Collett [18P176] was born at Framlingham Road in Wilby in 1872, his birth
recorded at Hoxne (Ref. 4a 589) during the third quarter of that year. He was around six months old when he was
baptised at Wilby on 13th April 1873, the fourth son of John and
Sarah Collett. He was eight years old at
the time of the 1881 Census when he was living with his family at Framlingham
Road in Wilby. Ten years later he was
still living there with his family at the age of 18. Alfred was still a bachelor in March 1901
when he was 28 and working as an agricultural labourer while still living at
Wilby with his parents. It was nearly
eight years later, when the marriage of Alfred Louis Collett and Elizabeth Anne
Clark was recorded at Hartismere register office (Ref. 4a 1887) during the
final quarter of 1908. It was simply as
Elizabeth Clark that she was born on 13th May 1868, with her birth
registered at Hartismere (Ref. 4a 535) during the second quarter of 1868. By 1911 the family of three was living at
Dennington, just north of Framlingham, and staying with them was Alfred’s
younger brother Charles (below) and their widowed father John
Collett. The full Dennington census
return listed the occupants of the house as Alfred Louis Collett of Wilby who
was 38 and a farm labourer, his wife of two years Elizabeth Anna Collett was 43
and from Bury-St-Edmunds, their niece Emily Amelia Collett who was eight and of
Wilby, Alfred’s unmarried brother Charles Collett of Wilby who was 32 and a
roadman labourer, and his father John Collett, also of Wilby, who was 67 and a
bricklayer. Alfred’s niece was the
base-born daughter of Emily Collett, his youngest surviving sister. The later death of Alfred Louis Collett was
recorded at Bury-St-Edmunds register office (Ref. 4a 1008) during the second
quarter of 1938 when he was 65. On the
day of the 1939 Register, Elizabeth A Collett, a widow, was a lodger at 387
Scot Lane in Wigan, the home of James Berry and his wife. The subsequent death of Elizabeth Anne
Collett was recorded at Wigan register office (Ref. 8c 50) during the first
three months of 1944, at the age of 76
Harry
Collett [18P177] was
born at Framlingham Road in Wilby in 1874, his birth registered at Hoxne (Ref.
4a 609) during the second quarter of the year.
It was also at Wilby that he was baptised 27th September
1874, and there too that he died a year later and was buried there on 29th
August 1875, the fifth son of John Collett and Sarah Mallett. He was listed as being one year old in the
burial record at Wilby, when his premature death was recorded at Hoxne (Ref. 4a
338)
James
Collett [18P178] was
born at Framlingham Road in Wilby in 1875 with his birth registered at Hoxne
(Ref. 4a 623) during the second quarter of that year. He was baptised at Wilby on 30th
May 1875, another son of John and Sarah Collett. He was five years old in the census of 1881
and was 16 years of age in the Wilby census return for 1891 when he was still
living there with his large family. It
was just over two years later that he died there, his death recorded at Hoxne
(Ref. 4a 431) during the second quarter of 1893, when he was buried at Wilby on
12th April 1893 aged 17
Charles
Collett [18P179] was
born at Framlingham Road in Wilby in 1876, when again, like those of his
siblings, his birth was registered at Hoxne (Ref. 4a 609) during the third
quarter of the year. He was baptised at
Wilby on 20th August 1876, the seventh child of John and Sarah
Collett. Charles was four years old and
15 years old while living at the family home in Framlingham Road in Wilby in
1881 and 1891. Sometime later he
travelled to London to seek work and in 1901 was living in Chelsea where his two
oldest brothers had been born and where at 25 years of age he was employed as a
labourer in a distillery. Ten years
later Charles was still a bachelor at 32 when he was a roadman labourer who was
living in Dennington at the Suffolk home of his older married brother Alfred
Louis Collett (above) and his family.
Also living there with them was Charles and Alfred’s widowed father John
Collett
Sarah Ann
Collett [18P180] was
born at Framlingham Road in Wilby in 1878, her birth registered at Hoxne (Ref.
4a 659) during the second quarter of the year.
Her baptism was conducted at Wilby on 21st April 1878, the
first daughter and eighth child of the thirteen children of John and Sarah
Collett. Sarah was three and 13 in the
next two Wilby census returns, but by the time of the March census in 1901 she
had left the family home and was working as a general domestic servant at
Mellis, south of Diss, where she was 23
Amelia
Betsy Collett [18P181] was born at Framlingham Road in Wilby in 1879 with her
birth registered at Hoxne (Ref. 4a 663) during the second quarter of the
year. She was quickly baptised at Wilby
on 1st June 1879 and tragically died a week later, when her death
was recorded at Hoxne (Ref. 4a 397) and she was buried at Wilby on 8th
June 1879
Emily
Collett [18P182] was
born at Framlingham Road in Wilby during September in 1880, her birth
registered at Hoxne (Ref. 4a 634) in the last quarter of that year. and was six months old at the time of the
1881 Census. She was living with her family
at Framlingham Road and had been baptised at Wilby at three months old on 12th
December 1880. Following the premature
deaths of her three younger siblings (below), Emily was the youngest
child of John and Sarah Collett still living with them at Wilby in 1891 when
she was 10 years old. It seems likely
that she moved to London with her older brother Charles (above), since
in 1901 she was a domestic servant aged 20, who was working and living in the
Kensington district of the city. Towards
the end of the following year, Emily returned home and gave birth to a
base-born daughter at Wilby, the birth of Emily Amelia Collett recorded at
Hoxne register office (Ref. 4a 968) during the last three months of 1902. It is likely that mother and child continued
to live in Wilby with her father, until her older brother Alfred Louis Collett (above)
was married towards the end of 1908, when daughter Emily was given to him and
his wife to raise. In the Dennington
census of 1911, both Emily’s widowed father John Collett and her eight-year-old
daughter Emily Amelia Collett were recorded with Alfred and his wife Elizabeth
Anna Collett. It is possible that it was
this Emily Amelia Collett who married Charles S Payne at the Suffolk Stow
register office (Ref. 4a 2391) during the fourth quarter of 1927
Perhaps it was the embarrassment of having a
child out of wedlock, that resulted in Emily leaving Suffolk and moving to
London to seek work there. It was there,
south of the River Thames, in the Woolwich area of the city, that the marriage
of Emily Collett and Ernest Leonard Stroud was recorded (Ref. 1d 1649) during
the first the months of 1910. The couple
was married by banns at Holy Trinity Church in Woolwich on 15th
February 1910, when Emily was 27 and a domestic servant living at 37 Gough
Street, the daughter of John Collett, a bricklayer. Ernest was 23 and a labourer living at 19
Gough Street, the son of labourer Henry Stroud.
They both signed the register in their own hand, while the two witnesses
were Evan and Caroline McCrae. Leonard’s
birth was registered at Croydon (Ref. 2a 216) during the first quarter of 1887,
following his birth on 24th December 1886 and was baptised on 24th
August 1887, the son of labourer Henry Stroud and his wife Sarah of 2 Edith
Cottages, Parchmore Road in Thornton Heath, Surrey. It was during the third quarter of 1967, when
he was 80, that the death of Henry George Stroud was recorded at Greenwich
register office (Ref. 5b 349). His Will
was proved at Lewes in Sussex on 15th August 1967 to Harry Purkiss,
an omnibus driver for £625. The probate
process also revealed that he had been residing at 20 Admiral Seymour Road at
Eltham in the London Borough of Greenwich, but passed on 10th July
1967 at Brook Hospital in Greenwich
18Q214 - Emily Amelia Collett
was born in 1902 at Wilby
Mary Ann
Collett [18P183] was
born at Framlingham Road in Wilby in 1882 and her birth was registered at Hoxne
(Ref. 4a 672) during the third quarter of the year. She was baptised at Wilby on 21st
January 1883, but died six weeks later and was buried at Wilby on 7th
March 1883, aged seven months, her death recorded at Hoxne (Ref. 4a 414)
Ernest
Collett [18P184] was
born at Wilby in 1884 with his birth registered at Hoxne (Ref. 4a 719) during
the second quarter of the year. He was
then baptised at Wilby on 21st May 1884, the twelfth child of John
Collett and his wife Sarah Mallett.
Tragically, he was ten months old when he also suffered an infant death,
like other members of the family, when his death was recorded at Hoxne (Ref. 4a
489) during the first quarter of 1885.
Ernest Collett was then buried at Wilby on 30th January 1885
at the age of just ten months
Arthur
Collett [18P185] was
born at Wilby in 1885, the last child of John and Sarah Collett, and their
seventh child to die while still an infant.
His birth was registered at Hoxne (Ref. 4a 726) during the final three
months of the year, after which he was baptised at Wilby on 25th
October 1885. Sadly, he was nearly one
year old when he died with his death also recorded at Hoxne (Ref. 4a 422) and
was buried at Wilby on 12th September 1886
Cornelius
Collett [18P186] was
born at Wilby on 11th October 1874, his birth registered at Hoxne
(Ref. 4a 573) during the last two months of that year. It was also at Wilby, where he was baptised
on 1st November 1874, the son of Alfred Collett of Wilby and his
wife Caroline Smith from Brundish. At
the time of the census in 1881, Cornelius Collett was six years old and the
eldest child of the family living with his parents at Framlingham Road in
Wilby. In 1891 Cornelius was 16 and a
drover like his father, when he was still living at the family home with his
parents in Wilby. Some years later his
work took him north to Yorkshire.
According to the census in 1901, Cornelius Collett from Wilby in
Suffolk, was a bachelor aged 27, and was living at Pocklington in the East
Riding of Yorkshire where he was employed as a domestic ostler. Later that same year, the marriage of
Cornelius Collett and Elizabeth Tennison was recorded at Pocklington register
office (Ref. 9d 176) during the fourth quarter of 1901, with whom he had three
children by 1905. The birth of Elizabeth
was registered at Beverley (Yorkshire) during the last quarter of 1873 (Ref. 9d
91), and was baptised at Hull on 4th February 1874, the daughter of
William and Hannah Tennison
Initially, the couple lived at Pocklington,
where their first child was born, before moving to Cadeby Road in Sprotbrough
on the west side of Doncaster, where they were living in April 1911. The three-roomed dwelling had six members of
the Collett family living there. They
were Cornelius Collett from Stradbroke who was 39 and a shepherd on a farm, and
his wife of nine years Elizabeth Collett from South Cave near Hull who was also
39. She had given birth to four
children, the last of which was included on the census form with a note that
she had already died sixteen days after she was born, whose details were
crossed out. The three surviving
children were Caroline Collett who was eight and born at Pocklington, Alfred
Collett who was seven, and Florence Collett who was five years old, both of
them born at High Melton two miles west of Sprotbrough. The child who did not survive was Martha
Collett, whose birth was recorded at Doncaster register office (Ref. 9c 844)
during the last quarter of 1909, with her death sixteen days later also
recorded there (Ref. 9c 426) during the same quarter of 1909
During the second quarter of 1934, Cornelius
was widowed when the death of Elizabeth Collett was recorded at Doncaster
register office (Ref. 9c 838) at the age of 62.
Five years after the loss, Cornelius Collett working as a cowman at
Kilham Farm just south of Doncaster, when he was 65. He was 81 years old when the death of
Cornelius Collett was recorded at Yorkshire register office (Ref. 2d 138)
during the third quarter of 1954
18Q215 -
Caroline Collett was born in 1902 at Pocklington
18Q216 -
Alfred Collett was born in 1903 at High Melton, Doncaster
18Q217 -
Florence Elizabeth Collett was born in 1905 at High Melton,
Doncaster
18Q218 - Martha
Collett was born in 1909 at Sprotbrough, Doncaster
David Collett [18P187] was born at Wilby in
1876, with his birth registered at Hoxne (Ref. 4a 631) during the second
quarter of that year. He was also
baptised at Wilby on August 1876, the second child of Alfred and Caroline
Collett. By the time he was five years
of age, David and his family were living at Framlingham Road in Wilby, where he
may have been born. After a further ten
years, he and his family had moved to Laxfield Road in Stradbroke where, David
Collett was 15 years old in the census of 1891.
By that time, he had left school and was already working as an
agricultural labourer. No record of him
has been found after that day
Elizabeth Collett [18P188] was born at Wilby near
the end of 1877, with her birth registered at Hoxne (Ref. 4a 600) during the
last three months of that year. It was a
few months later when she was baptised at Wilby on 21st April 1878,
the eldest daughter of Alfred and Caroline Collett. Elizabeth was two years of age in 1881, when
living at Framlingham Road in Wilby, and was 14 years old and helping her
mother in 1891, but at Laxfield Road in nearby Stradbroke. Seven years later, the marriage of Elizabeth
Collett and George William Cunningham took place at Wilby and was recorded at
Hoxne register office (Ref. 4a 927) during the first three months of 1898. As George William Cunningham his birth was
registered at Ipswich (Ref. 4a 571) during the last quarter of 1871. Perhaps at the end of that year, or early in
1899, Elizabeth gave birth to the first of her two children who, both suffered
a premature death, although they were both living with the couple in 1901. Both children had been born at Wilby, like their
mother, but in 1901 the family of four was living at Flowton Road in Elmsett,
north-west of Ipswich. William was 27
and an ordinary agricultural labourer, Elizabeth was 24, and the two children
were Maria Jane Cunningham (born 1899) who was two and Alfred William
Cunningham (1900-1902) who was not yet one year old. Those two children were replaced by another
two young children by the time of the census in 1911. By that time the family was residing in
Saxtead where William Cunningham was 40 and a labourer on a farm, Elizabeth
Cunningham was 33, and the two newcomers were Robert Percy Cunningham
(born in 1905) who was three and Caroline Violet Cunningham (born 1910)
who was one year old, both of them born at Wilby like their mother. The later death of William Cunningham was
recorded at Norwich register office (Ref. 4a 124) during the second quarter of
1946 at the age of 76. Just was just
under ten years later that the death of Elizabeth Cunningham was recorded at
Essex South-Western register office (Ref. 5a 234) during the first three months
of 1956, when she was 78
Annie Collett [18P189] was born at
Framlingham Road in Wilby in 1880, her birth as Annie Collett registered at
Hoxne (Ref. 4a 654) during the third quarter of the year. She was baptised at Wilby 5th
September 1880 and, as Anna, she was nine months old in the Wilby census of
1881. After a further ten years Anne
Collett was said to be 12 years of age.
The fact that her older sister Elizabeth (above) was married just
after the start of 1898, it must be assumed that it was unmarried Annie Collett
who gave birth to a base-born daughter around that same time. It is also possible that Annie did not
survive the ordeal, since no record of her has been found in the census of
1901, when her baby girl had been taken into the care of Annie’s parents, where
Ethel Minnie Collett was three years of age at Stradbroke, who was still living
with her paternal grandparents in 1911 as Ethel Collett who was 13 and still
attending school
18Q219 - Ethel Minnie Collett was born in 1897 at
Stradbroke
Dinah
Collett [18P190] was
born at Stradbroke during in the summer 1882 and was baptised there on 21st
January 1883, the daughter of Alfred and Caroline Collett. Sadly, she died there and was buried at
Stradbroke on 24th April 1883 at the age of only nine months. The birth of Dinah Collett was registered at
Hoxne (Ref. 4a 665) in the third quarter of 1882, where her death was also
recorded (Ref. 4a 409)
Kate
Collett [18P191] was
born at Stradbroke in 1884, the youngest surviving child Alfred Collet of Wilby
and his wife Caroline Smith of Brundish.
Her birth was registered at Hoxne (Ref. 4a 719) during the first three
months of that year. She was possibly
born at Laxfield Road in Stradbroke, where she was living with her family in
1891, where Katy Collett was seven years old.
Ten years later, in 1901, she was the only child still living with her
married mother and head of the household at Wootten Green near Stradbroke,
while her father was working away in Ipswich.
Kate Collett, aged 18 and from Stradbroke, was working as a general
domestic servant at that time. The only
other person living at the address was the granddaughter of Kate’s mother and
therefore the base-born child of her late sister Annie Collett (above)
Thomas
Tomlin Collett [18Q0] whose birth was registered at Hackney (Ref. 1b 369) during
the second quarter of 1866, was born at Upper Clapton within the London Borough
of Hackney, the eldest child of Thomas Trusson Collett and his cousin Georgiana
Collett. His second forename was his
paternal grandmother’s maiden-name. It
was also at the Parish Church of St Matthews in Hackney that he was baptised on
15th May 1866, when his parents were confirmed as Thomas Trusson
Collett of Upper Clapton, a merchant, and his wife Georgiana. Tragically, as their first child, he died
prior to the birth of the couple’s second son, who was simply named as Thomas
Collett in his honour. The death of
Thomas Tomlin Collett was registered at Hackney (Ref. 1b 221) during the second
quarter of 1867, before reaching the age of one year, following which, he was
buried on 17th April 1867 in the Collett family grave at the Church
of St Mary the Blessed Virgin in Woodnesborough in Kent, where his father was
born and baptised
Thomas
Collett [18Q1] was
born at Upper Clapton in Hackney in 1867, another son of Thomas Trusson Collett
and his cousin Georgiana Collett, whose birth was registered at Hackney (Ref.
1b 377) during the fourth quarter of that year, and later confirmed in his
college records at Cambridge. The
baptism of Thomas Collett, as distinct from his late brother Thomas Tomlin
Collett (above), also took place at St Matthew’s Church in Hackney on 28th
November 1867, when his father was described as a gentleman. He was three years of age in the Hackney
census of 1871, when he and his family were again residing in Upper
Clapton. While still a young child,
Thomas’ parents eventually left London around 1873-1874, following the birth
his brother Francis (below) at Upper Clapton, but prior to his infant
death near the end of 1874, to set up home at Woodnesborough in Kent, where his
father had been born and baptised.
However, according to the 1881 Census Thomas was the only member of his
family living in the United Kingdom at that time. What the census does reveal was that Thomas
Collett from London, Middlesex, aged 13, was attending The Lines Private School
at Sutton Valence in Kent as a boarder, when it is known that the rest of his
family was living at Woodnesborough, where Thomas’ sibling Trusson Collett was
born, died, and was buried around the time of the census day in 1881
Sadly, it was just over four months later that
Thomas’ father died during the month of August that year. Five years later, on 9th October
1886, Thomas entered Clare College at Cambridge, but for some reason he must
have been withdrawn after a few years, because the university records indicate
that he was re-admitted on 17th January 1891. Just over two months later Thomas Collett,
aged 23 and an under-graduate at Cambridge, was living at Ringleton,
Woodnesborough in Kent with his widowed mother Georgiana and his three younger
siblings, William, Charles, and Katharine (below), as recorded in the
census of 1891. The Clare College
re-entry record for 1891 confirmed that Thomas was the son and heir of Thomas
Trusson Collett of Ringleton (House) in Kent, and that he was born in 1867. The record also stated that he had
matriculated in 1886, gained his BA in 1892, and been awarded an MA in
1896. Between the latter two dates, he
was ordained as a deacon in 1894, and became a priest at Exeter in Devon during
1895. He was the Curate at St Jude’s
Church in Plymouth from 1894 to 1899, when he took up the post of Vicar of St
Mary’s Church in Doncaster which he held for ten years until 1909
It was while Thomas was living in Devon that he
met and it was at Plymouth register office (Ref. 5b 349) that the marriage of
Thomas Collett and Agnes Maude Bewes was recorded during the first three months
of 1896. Agnes had been born at Plymouth
on 9th May 1867, with her birth registered at nearby Plympton (Ref.
5b 242) during the second quarter of 1867 and was the daughter of Charles
Theodore Bewes of Mannamead in Plymouth.
It was while Thomas and Agnes were living at Plymouth that their first
two children were born. Shortly after
the birth of their second child, Thomas and Agnes moved north to the West
Riding of Yorkshire and to the village of Wheatley, where the two youngest
girls were born. The 1901 Census stated
that Thomas Collett, aged 33 and from Upper Clapton, was a Church of England
clergyman living at St Mary’s Road in Wheatley with his wife Agnes Maud
Collett, who was also 33, and their first two children Thomas Theodore Collett
who was four, and Kathleen Maude Collett who was one year old, who died in
1903. Employed by Thomas that day were
three domestic servants, a cook, a parlourmaid, and a nurse. It was two years earlier that Thomas had
become the Vicar of St Mary’s Church, Doncaster, so after a further eight years
there, Thomas made his final move to Scotby, to the east of Carlisle in 1909,
where he was living at the time of the census in 1911. However, by that time his wife Agnes was not
living there with him, instead she and the couple’s two youngest children were
living (or visiting) Agnes’ hometown of Plymouth
The census in April 1911 recorded Thomas
Collett, aged 43 and from Upper Clapton, London, living at Scotby in the Parish
of Wetheral, Carlisle, where he was referred to as the Reverend Thomas Collett,
Vicar of Scotby, a Clerk in Holy Orders and a Clergyman of the Established
Church. His wife Agnes Maude Collett,
aged 43 and born at Plymouth, was living there with her daughters Florence Mary
Collett aged eight years, and Evelyn Margaret Collett who was five, both of
them born in Yorkshire. Of their other two
children, only their son Thomas has been identified in the census of 1911. He was recorded as Thomas Collett, aged 14
from Plymouth, who was attending a boarding school at Whitehaven in Cumberland,
so he was approximately thirty miles away from his father in Scotby,
Carlisle. No record at all has been
found for their daughter Kathleen, so it seems likely she did not survive to
reach her eleventh birthday. Thomas
Collet died while he was visiting Eastbourne on 3rd December 1913 at
the age of 46, following which he was buried at Scotby, together with his
sister Katherine (below) who had died two years earlier at Scotby
Vicarage, their headstone at Scotby also including the details of his son
Thomas Theodore who died and was buried in France in 1918. It was also at Eastbourne register office
(Ref. 2b 96) in Sussex that his death was recorded at the end of 1913. Four-years later, at the time of the death of
his son Thomas Theodore Collett in 1917, his military record described him as
the son of the late Reverend Thomas Collett of Scotby and his wife Maude
Collett. Also, by that time Thomas’
widow Agnes Maude Collett had left Plymouth and was living in Sussex, as
confirmed by her son’s military records, which gave her address on the occasion
of his death as 12 Garden Road in Tunbridge Wells. Just prior to the start of the Second World
War, the 1939 Register identified Agnes Maude Collett, born on 9th
May 1867, at a private convalescence home on Garden Road in Royal Tunbridge
Wells, when she was a widow living on private means. Visiting her that day was her unmarried
daughter Evelyn Margaret. Less than a
year later, Agnes Maude Collett nee Bewes was residing at Heather Patch in Groombridge
in Kent when she died on 23rd June 1940, her death recorded at
Sussex Uckfield register office (Ref. 2b 358) at the age of 73. Her Will was proved at Llandudno on 2nd
November 1940 when her two surviving daughters were confirmed as the executors
of her estate of £5,759 2 Shilling and 4 Pence.
They were Florence Mary Warren, the wife of the Reverend Max Alexander
Cunningham Warren, a clerk, and Evelyn Margaret Collett, a spinster
18R1 - Thomas
Theodore Collett was
born in 1897 at Plymouth
18R2 - Kathleen
Maude Collett was
born in 1899 at Plymouth
18R3 - Florence
Mary Collett was
born in 1902 at Wheatley, Yorkshire
18R4 - Evelyn
Margaret Collett was
born in 1905 at Wheatley, Yorkshire
William
George Collett[18Q2] was
born at Upper Clapton in Hackney on 2nd June 1869, his birth
registered at Hackney (Ref. 1b 390). A
month later he was baptised at St Matthews Church in Hackney on 1st
July, the son of Thomas Trusson Collett, gentleman, and his wife
Georgiana. No record of William or his
parents has been found within the census of 1881, but it is known that during
August that same year his father Thomas Trusson Collett died. William was educated at Sutton Valence School
in Kent and, following his matriculation, he was accepted for a place at Corpus
Christi College in Cambridge on 1st October 1888. William Collett of Middlesex, the third son
of Thomas Trusson Collett of Ringleton (House) in Kent obtained his BA in 1891
and his MA in 1895. He was an assistant
master at Oxford Military College from 1892 to 1897, after which he was
appointed as a master at Wellington College at Crowthorne in Berkshire, where
he worked from 1897 to 1929. In the
census of 1891, William G Collett was 21 and an under-graduate at Cambridge,
when he was living with his widowed mother Georgiana and his two brothers and
one sister at Woodnesborough in Kent.
Ten years later, at the time of the 1901 Census, William was listed as
being aged 31 and an assistant master clergyman at Wellington College in
Crowthorne. It was while working at
Wellington College that he met his future wife to whom he was married in
1903. The wedding of William George
Collett and Ruth Lilian Kempthorne, the daughter of the Reverend P H Kempthorne
of Wellington College, was recorded at Easthampstead register office (Ref. 2c
941) during the second quarter of that year.
Easthampstead lies midway between Crowthorne and Bracknell in
Berkshire. Ruth was born at Crowthorne
on 2nd June 1882, her birth also recorded at Easthampstead (Ref. 2c
436) during the second quarter of that year, and was therefore thirteen years
younger than William. In 1901 Ruth was
still single at the age of only 18 years, so her marriage to William probably
took place when she was around twenty in 1903.
William lived a long life and died in 1956 and was buried at Crowthorne
It seems very likely that all of the children
of William and Ruth were born at Crowthorne, since certainly the first three
were, as confirmed by the census of 1911.
At that time William George Collett, aged 41 and from Upper Clapton, and
was described as an ‘Assistant Master at a public school’ that was Wellington
College. The actual home address for
William, his family, and their four servants, on that occasion was given as Quatre
Bras, Wellington College Station, Berkshire in the district of Easthampstead,
sub-district Sandhurst, and the parish of Crowthorne. William’s wife of seven years was recorded as
being Ruth Lillian Collett from Crowthorne who was 28. The couple’s three children living with them
on that occasion were Charles Trusson Collett, who was six years old, George
Kempthorne Collett who was five, and Helen Elizabeth Collett who was two years
old. Visiting the family on the day of
the census was Mrs Florence Mary Tyler who was 40 and born at Tabulpor in
India. The four servants were single
ladies, the oldest being Fanny Loader at 41, the others being Fanny Hunt who
was 30, Winifred Annie Martin 19, and Alice May Fowler who was just 15 years
old. During the First World War, William
George Collett served as a major with the Rifle Brigade
During the last few months of the Great War,
William George Collett, a schoolmaster, was named as the second executor for
the Will of George Collett of Dane Park House in Ramsgate, the first named
executor being Ann Friend Collett, his father’s younger sister, George Collett
being Ann’s younger brother. The fact
that he ceased to be a master at Wellington College in 1929, may suggest that
he had simply retired at that time in his life.
Certainly, that was the case when his mother died early in 1933, when it
was William George Collett, a retired schoolmaster who proved the Will in
London on 28th April 1933, as it was again in the later Will of Ann
Friend Collett, aged 99, who died at the end of May in 1941. She was his maiden aunt, being his father’s
younger sister. Two years earlier,
William George Collett, a retired schoolmaster was 70 and also listed in the
1939 Register as a special constable.
His wife Ruth Lilian Collett was 57 and undertaking unpaid domestic
duties, the pair of them residing at Woodhill in Crowthorne, within the
Easthampstead Rural District. The third
member of the household was Patrick Wall who was at school. Seventeen years later, the couple was still living
at Woodhill, where William George Collett died on 27th April 1956,
his death recorded at Windsor register office (Ref. 6a 162), during the quarter
of 1956, at the age of 86. His Will was
proved at London on 3rd October 1956 to Charles Trusson Collett, a
retired Royal Navy Commander, and Frank Ainslie Collett, company official, when
his personal effects were said to be £44,138 11 Shillings and 1 Penny. After sixteen years as a widow, Ruth died
during the summer of 1972, with her death recorded at Easthampstead register
office (Ref. 6a 47) when she was 90 years old.
The Will of Ruth Lilian Collett, who died at Ringleton in Crowthorne on
10th July 1972, was proved at London on 5th October 1971,
when her estate amounted to £23,743
It is
interesting to note that in the Easthampstead census of 1911 another Collett
was also living there, and he was George Collett of Alvescot in Oxfordshire,
with his wife Mary from Wantage, who are listed in Part 28 – The Faringdon Line
(Ref. 28O54)
18R5 - Charles
Trusson Collett was
born in 1904 at Crowthorne
18R6 - George
Kempthorne Collett was
born in 1906 at Crowthorne
18R7 - Helen
Elizabeth Collett was
born in 1908 at Crowthorne
18R8 - Frank
Ainslie Collett was
born in 1911 at Crowthorne
18R9 - John
William Collett (twin) was born in 1915 at Crowthorne
18R10 - Gillian
Ruth Collett
(twin) was born in 1915 at Crowthorne
18R11 - Ann
Kathleen Collett was
born in 1923 at Crowthorne
Caroline Collett [18Q3] was born at Clapton
Road in Upper Clapton, her birth registered at Hackney (Ref. 1b 391) during the
third quarter of 1871 and, like her two older brothers, she was also baptised
at the Parish Church of St Matthews in Hackney on 26th September
1871. Her baptism recorded confirmed
that her parents were Thomas Trusson Collett, a gentleman, and his wife
Georgiana. She was four years old when
she died, but in Kent, where her death was recorded at Eastry (Ref. 2a 515)
during the last quarter of 1875. As with
three of her other siblings, following their premature deaths, it was at the
Church of St Mary the Blessed Virgin in Woodnesborough, that she was buried on
21st October 1875
Francis Collett [18Q4] was born at Clapton
Road in Upper Clapton on 18th April 1873, his birth registered at
Hackney (Ref. 1b 413). He too was
baptised at St Matthew’s Church in Hackney on 6th June 1873, the
fifth, but fourth surviving, child of Thomas Trusson Collett, gentleman, and
Georgiana Collett. During that same
year, or maybe 1874, the family left London when they moved south to
Woodnesborough in Kent, where Francis’ father had been born. The family then went through the ordeals of
the birth of the couple’s next son Trusson Collett, the same last quarter of
the 1875 that the deaths of Caroline Collett (above) and Francis Collett
were recorded at Eastry in Kent (Ref. 2a 516).
He was then buried at Church of St Mary the Blessed Virgin in
Woodnesborough, nine days after his sister Caroline (above) with whom he
was laid to rest 30th October 1875
Charles
Collett [18Q5] was
born at Ringleton House, Woodnesborough in Kent on 20th October
1875, but was baptised at nearby Woodnesborough on 25th November
1875, around the time his two siblings Caroline and Francis died and were
buried there. Those events may be the
reason why the birth of Charles Collett at Eastry (Ref. 2a 908) was not
recorded there until the first quarter of 1876.
No record of him or his parents has been located in the census of 1881
even though it is established that they were at Woodnesborough for the birth
and burial of Charles’ youngest sibling, and for the death of his father in
August that same year. In 1891 Charles
Collett was 15 years old when he was attending school and living at Woodnesborough
with his widowed mother Georgiana Collett, his brothers Thomas and William (above),
and his sister Katharine (below).
Three years later, on 1st October 1894, Charles Collett of
Kent entered Corpus Christi College in Cambridge, as had his two older
brothers; Thomas in 1886 and William in 1888.
The admission papers confirmed his date of birth, and that he was the
son of Thomas Trusson Collett, gentleman of Ringleton (House) in Kent. The college records also refer to the fact
that his two older brothers Thomas and William also attended Corpus
Christi. His earlier education had been
completed at Kent’s Sutton Valence Grammar School, from where he matriculated
in 1894. Whilst at Cambridge he was
awarded his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1897.
Four years later, at the time of the census in 1901, Charles Collett was
25 and was living at Suffield Park, near North Walsham in Norfolk, where he was
working as a schoolmaster
Two years later in 1903, he was tragically
killed in a bicycling accident, when the death of Charles Collett was recorded
at the Norfolk Erpingham register office (Ref. 4b 46) in mid-September. It was a traditional practice that members of
his Collett family were buried in the family plot at the Church of St Mary the
Blessed Virgin at Woodnesborough where, already his father and four of his
siblings were buried. Because of that,
the body of Charles Collett was transported to the church, where he was buried
on 28th October 1903. The Wil
of Charles Collett of Ringleton in Woodnesborough was proved at London on 16th
January 1904 to Georgiana Collett, a widow, for his personal effects valued as
£4,724 10 Shillings and 1 Penny. Probate
also confirmed that it was at Cromer in Norfolk, where he died on 25th
October 1903
Katharine
Collett [18Q6] was
born at Woodnesborough on 28th December 1878, her birth registered
at Eastry (Ref. 2a 919). She was
youngest daughter of Thomas Trusson Collett of Ringleton (House) and his wife
Georgiana Collett of Monkton who was also his cousin. It was at Woodnesborough where Katherine
lived for all of her life, and it was there that she was baptised on 24th
January 1879. Not record of the family
has been found in 1881, when they were known to be living at Woodnesborough,
while in 1891 Katherine was 12, and was 22 in 1901, and 32 in 1911. On each occasion she was living at Ringleton,
Woodnesborough, with her widowed mother, a lady of private means, when
unmarried Katherine was not credited with having any occupation. Just over six months after that census day,
unmarried Katherine was visiting her brother Thomas Collett in the very north
of England when she died, her death recorded at Carlisle register office (Ref.
10b 604) during the last three month of 1911, when she was 32 years of age. Her Will was proved at London on 2nd
November 1911 to the Reverend Thomas Collett, a clerk (in Holy Orders)
and William George Collett, a schoolmaster, her personal estate worth £10,927 1
Shilling. The probate process revealed
that she died at The Vicarage at Scotby, Carlisle, on 30th September
1911.
A large ornate headstone marks her grave, which
also includes other members of the family.
The inscription reads as follows:
“Katherine Collett second daughter of Thomas
Trusson Collett Esq. and Georgiana his wife of Ringleton, Kent who died
September 30th 1911 in her 33rd Year. Also of Thomas Collett for four years Vicar
of Scotby who died December 3rd 1913 in his 47th Year son
of the above Thomas Trusson Collett.
Also of Thomas Theodore Collett only son of the above Thomas Collett who
died in France of wounds received in action on February 1918 aged 20 Years”
Trusson Collett [18Q7] was born
at Woodnesborough either near the end of 1880 or within the first week of 1881,
since it was there that he was baptised on 11th January 1881. He was last of the eight children of Thomas
Trusson Collett and his wife and cousin Georgiana Collett, although only four
of them survived to adulthood. The birth
of Trusson Collett was registered at Eastry (Ref. 2a 959) during the first
quarter of 1881. It was during the
second quarter of that same year, that the death of Trusson Collett was also
recorded at Eastry (Ref. 2a 499). It is
perhaps not surprising that the family have not been located within the census
conducted at that same time that year.
In fact, it was one week after the census day that the little body of
baby Trusson Collett was laid to rest in the grounds of the Church of St Mary
the Blessed Virgin at Woodnesborough on 7th April 1881, where his
older siblings Thomas Tomlin Collett, Caroline Collett, and Francis Collett
were buried, most likely in the family grave, where they were joined by their
father in August 1881
George
Clemson Collett [18Q8] was born at Camberwell in London on 6th July
1882, the eldest child of George Alfred Collett of Monkton and Georgina Ching
Clemson who was also born at Camberwell.
However, his birth was registered at Thanet in Kent (Ref. 2a 619) during
the third quarter of 1882, after his family settled in Ramsgate not long after
he was born. It was also in Ramsgate
that George Clemson Collett was baptised on 12th September 1882 at
the Church of St Laurence-in-Thanet. In
1891 he was eight years old and, ten years later, he was working on the land at
Monkton with his father, both of them being described as farmers, when George
Clemson Collett was 18, although his place of birth was recorded in the census
of 1901, as being St Laurence, Ramsgate, where his brother Alfred and his
sister Dorothy (both below) had been born.
By April 1911 George’s father had died, following which George and his
sister Dorothy left Monkton when they moved into the Kensington area of London,
where George Clemson Collett was 28. His
living companion was recorded as unmarried Dorothy Collett of Ramsgate who was
25. Three years later, during the first
three months of 1914, the marriage of George Clemson Collett and (1) Elizabeth
Mary Arkcoll was recorded at Paddington register office (Ref. 1a 40), with whom
it is established he had at least two children.
George was 31 when he married Elizabeth, aged 32, on 24th
February 1914 at Holy Trinity Church in Paddington. The register there confirmed the groom’s
father was George Alfred Collett, while the father of the bride was William
James Arkcoll, whose wife was Priscilla.
The birth of Elizabeth Mary Arkcoll was recorded at Macclesfield (Ref.
8a 145) during the third quarter of 1881, when she was baptised at Rainow in
Cheshire on 18th September 1881, having been born on 20th
August 1881
It was on 2nd May 1918 that George,
aged 36, entered into military service with the Rifle Brigade, service number
50186, when he and his young family were living at 1 Bassett Road in North
Kensington. At that time in his life George
had been working as an insurance agent, while his next-of-kin was named as
Elizabeth Mary Collett of 1 Bassett Road in Notting Hill. (Bassett
Road actually lies midway between North Kensington and Notting Hill). In the end George was discharged on 2nd
September 1918 after just 122 days.
During a medical he was stated to be in good general health but unable
to keep still for any length of time. He
was also shown to have had jaundice and since then had been unable to handle
any hard work without the fear of a nervous breakdown. With the threat of the Second World War
looming on the horizon, the 1939 Register was organised, within which the four
members of the family were listed as living at 1 Bassett Road in North
Kensington. They were George C Collett,
an insurance agent aged 57, Elizabeth M Collett who was 58, Rita E Collett who
was 24 and a shorthand typist, and George R Collett who was 23, a former
insurance official, and a sergeant with the Royal Air Force
That was not a good time for the family, since
George was widowed in October that same year, and less than a year after
joining the air force, his son’s Spitfire was shot down. The death of Elizabeth Mary Collett was
recorded at Kensington register office (Rf. 1a 168) during the last three
months of 1939 at the age of 58 and was buried there on 23rd October
1939, while nine months later George received the tragic news that his son had
been killed in action. By that time,
perhaps because of the bombing of London, George and his daughter were living
in Luton, following which his daughter was married at the start of 1941. Administration of the personal effects of
Elizabeth Mary Collett amounting to £574 6 Shillings was resolved at London on
18th November 1939 to George Clemson Collett, an insurance
official. The documentation also
confirmed that she died at 1 Bassett Road in North Kensington on 20th
October 1939
After being a widower for the next ten years,
George married (2) Winifred Lindsay nee Davey, their wedding recorded at
Peterborough register office (Ref. 4a 1563) during the last three months of
1949. She was the widow of George Davey,
a master plumber and decorator, with whom she was living in 1939 when he was
already a widower, and who were subsequently married in 1941, when George was
60 and spinster Winifred was 48. George
Clemson Collett and his second wife were still living in Peterborough, at 37 Grange
Road, when he died there on 21st July 1954 at the age of 72, with
his Will proved at London on 13th October 1954. The probate process confirmed that the estate
of George Clemson Collett at £3,565 7 Shillings and 1 Penny was placed in the
hands of Barclays Bank. Winifred had
been born at Peterborough on 12th November 1892 and died there at 37
Grange Road on 14th November 1978, two days after her eighty-sixth
birthday, with her death recorded at Peterborough (Ref. 9 1210). She died having a personal state of £13,752
as revealed when her Will was proved at Ipswich on 24th January
1979.
18R12 - Rita
Eileen Collett was
born in 1914 in Kensington, London
18R13 - George
Richard Collett was
born in 1916 in Kensington, London
Alfred
Collett [18Q9]
was born at Ramsgate in 1883, his birth registered at Thanet (Ref. 2a 921)
during the last three months of that year.
Like his older brother (above), Alfred was also baptised at St
Laurence’s Church on 14th December 1883, another son of George
Collett and Georgina Ching. After the
birth of his sister (below) at Ramsgate, the family left St
Laurence-in-Thanet when they settled in nearby Monkton in Kent. Again, as Alfred Collett, he was seven years
old and at school on the day of the Monkton census in 1891, when he was living
on the family farm with his parents at Monkton Road. He was later sent to a boarding school in
Margate, and it there at Edgar Street in 1901 that Alfred Collett from Ramsgate
was a student/pupil aged 17. Attending
the same school on Edgar Street were his two younger brothers, Harold Collett
who was 14 another student/pupil, and Percy Collett who was 12 and simply
described as a pupil (below).
Five years later Alfred Collett aged 22, and his brother Harold W Collett
aged 19, both in farming, sailed second class from Liverpool on 22nd
March 1906 to Halifax, Nova Scotia in Canada onboard the ‘Virginian’, when
their ultimate destination was noted as Indian Head. During the next year,
Harold made the return crossing on hearing the news of the death of his father
at Monkton in 1907. After the funeral,
it was youngest brother Percy Collett who joined Alfred in Canada, where they
made their permanent home. The two
brothers were subsequently recorded as residing at Plaster Rock, New Brunswick
in Canada. In 1916, when brother Percy
enlisted with the Canadian Expeditionary Force, it was Alfred Collett of Maple View in Victoria County, New Brunswick, who was named
as the family contact in the case of injury to Percy during the war, who was
notified of his death towards the end of 1917. Alfred lived the remainder of his life in New Brunswick, at
Plaster Rock, and was later buried there at the Plaster Rock Community Cemetery
following his death in 1948, where a red marble headstone marks the grave
In error, it was previously believed that
Alfred Collett was actually Alfred Alexander Collett [18Q9X]. However, it is now established that he was
born at Camberwell, where his birth was registered (Ref. 1d 783) during the
third quarter of 1889. He became a married
man on 31st March 1913, when the marriage by banns of Alfred
Alexander Collett and Lydia Matilda Annie Perigow took place at Christ Church,
Camberwell in London, the event recorded at Camberwell register office (Ref. 1d
1130). Bachelor Alfred was 25 and a
sawyer, residing at 40 Bridson Street, the son of John Collett [18P9X],
a dock labourer. The bride was simply
referred to as Annie Perigow of Bridson Street, a spinster aged 32 with no
occupation, and the daughter of labourer John William Perigow deceased, whose
widow was Mary Ann Cruttenden. Her
birth, under her full name (above) was registered at Hastings (Ref. 2b 14)
during the second quarter of 1877. The
much later death of Lydia M A Collett was recorded at Dartford register office
(Ref. 5b 464) during the second quarter of 1961 at the age of 86. Prior to that, Annie Collett was living at
‘Mayfair’, Hever Road in Dartford in the 1939 Register, with her married
daughter Violet Lamb who was born on 1st May 1906, when their
marital status was that of married women
According to the census in 1901, and as simply
Alfred Collett from Camberwell, he was 12 years old when he was living Sharratt
Street in Deptford with his father John Collett who was 47 and a general
labourer from Kensal Green. While his
father was still described as being married, it was just two of Alfred’s
siblings who completed the household, and they were Charles Collett who was 20,
and Emily Collett who was 14, both of them also born at Camberwell. Ten years later, and two years before their
wedding day, and during the first three months of 1911, Alfred Alexander
Collett became the father of a son Alfred Alexander junior whose birth was
recorded at Camberwell register office (Ref. 1d 876). He died in London in 1975 and was born on 13th
January 1911 so was nearly three months old on the day of the census in 1911,
when the family was living at 40 Bridson Street, off the Old Kent Road, in the
Camberwell/Peckham area of South London
Alfred Collett from Kent was 23 and working as
a sawyer at a local timber saw mill, when his wife (sic) was Annie Collett who
was 30 and born at Hasting. Of the four
children living with the couple, the first two were the children of Annie
Perigow by two different fathers, but were given the Collett surname after
Annie gave birth to her first child by Alfred Collett. The four children were Doris Collett who was
six and born at Lewisham, Violet Collett was three and born at Lewisham, Gladys
Collett who was one year old and born at Greenwich, and Alfred Collett who was
two months old and born at Old Road in Camberwell. The census return also stated that Alfred and
Annie had been married for six years.
Two years later, on the day of their wedding, Annie was nearing the end
of the pregnancy of the couple’s fifth and last child, the birth of Agnes
Collett recorded at Camberwell during the second quarter of that same year,
when the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Perigow
The work of trying to identify the father of
Alfred Alexander Collett, has revealed a number of men by the name of John
Collett who were born in London around 1853, who of them being the son of John
Collett, a labourer from Bradford-on-Avon and his wife Ellen from Kent, the
birth of whose children were recorded at Chelsea. See Part 31 – The New Wiltshire Somerset Line
(Ref. 31N32). In addition to all of
this, it is now known that Private Alfred Alexander Collett of 17 Battalion,
Machine Gun Corps, service number 159019, of 40 Bridson Street, Old Kent Road
in London, was discharged from the army after the First World War, with
defective vision, on 21st May 1919, having been first posted for
duty on 8th September 1914.
His military record also confirmed the date he was married and the dates
of birth of four children. The first two
children were Alfred and Agnes (below), whose births were recorded at
Camberwell, as was the first of the two previously unknown offspring Robert
A Collett born on 12th February 1915, when his mother’s name was
Collett instead of Perigow. As regards
the second 1st May 1918, nothing has so far been found
18R14 - Daisy Collett was born in 1905 at
Lewisham – not the child of Alfred A Collett
18R15 - Violet Collett was born in 1907 at
Lewisham – not the child of Alfred A Collett
18R16 - Gladys Marie Collett was born in 1909 at
Greenwich
18R17 - Alfred Alexander Collett was born in 1911 at
Peckham
18R18 -
Agnes May Collett was born in 1913 at Peckham
Dorothy
Collett [18Q10] was
born at Ramsgate in 1885, her birth registered at Thanet (Ref. 2a 911) during
the third quarter of that year. She was
baptised at St Lawrence’s Church in Ramsgate on 12th August 1885,
the only daughter of George and Georgina Collett. Very soon after she was born, her parents
moved to nearby Monkton, where her father was a farmer and where, in 1891,
Dorothy Collett was five years of age.
The family was still living at Monkton in 1901, when Dorothy was
15. Following the death of her father in
1907, Dorothy and her older brother George (above) left Kent and moved
to Kensington in London, where they were still living in April 1911. Dorothy was 25 and was unmarried, her place
of birth confirmed as Ramsgate when, on the census return, under occupation,
was a note that she was living on private means. On the occasion of her younger brother Percy (below)
entering the Great War from his home in Canada, it was Miss Dorothy Collett of 7 Grove Mansion, The Grove in
Hammersmith, London, who was named as his next-of-kin. She was also named as the sole beneficiary
under the terms of his Military Will, sign at the end of 1916. Dorothy was still living at that same address
during the earlier 1920s, when she would have received the two medals he had
won during his active service in France, and Belgium where he was killed at the
end of October 1917. Dorothy Collett never married and was living
at 103 Chesterton Road in Kensington, London, when she died on 14th
January 1967 at the age of 80, with her death recorded at Kensington register
office (Ref. 5c 753). Administration of
her estate of £3,890, supported by her Will, was settled at London on 21st
April 1967 for Westminster Bank Limited
Harold
Willis Collett [18Q11] was born at Monkton in 1887, where he was baptised on 23rd
April 1887, another son of George and Georgina Collett. His birth was registered at Thanet (Ref. 2a
909) during the first quarter of that year.
Harold W Collett was four years old in the Monkton census of 1891 and
after another ten years, Harold Collett was 14 when he was attending at
boarding school in Margate with his brothers Alfred and Percy, as confirmed in
the Margate census of 1901. Five years
later, Harold and his older brother Alfred, sailed from Liverpool to Halifax,
Nova Scotia in 1906, only for Harold to return the following year for the
funeral of his father in 1907. As a
result, Harold was again living with his family at Monkton when his father
passed away. That sad event led to the
family leaving Monkton and going their separate ways. Four years after the death of his father,
Harold Willis Collett of Monkton in Kent was living at Wargrave in Berkshire,
north-east of Reading, where he was still a bachelor at the age of 24. Under occupation, it simply read ‘gentleman’
and on that census day in 1911 he was a visitor at the home of elderly
Elizabeth Emma Coley Bromfield. Tragically,
it was less than three years later, that Harold Willis Collett died on 8th
January 1914 at the age of 26, his death recorded at Paddington register office
(Ref. 1a 43). Probate of his estate of
£536 18 Shillings and 4 Pence was granted in London to George Clemson Collett,
his eldest brother (above) on 27th January 1914. At that time in his young life Harold was
residing at 26 Westmorland Road in Bayswater and following his death he was
buried at Kensal Green Cemetery in London, where Isambard Kingdom Brunel was
also laid to rest
Percy
Stapleton Collett [18Q12] was born at Monkton in 1888, the son of George Alfred
Collett and his wife Georgina Ching Clemson.
His birth was registered at Thanet register office (Ref. 2a 893) during
the last three months of that year, and he was baptised at Monkton on 17th
December 1888, the last of the five children of George and Georgina
Collett. It was at Monkton that he was
living in 1891 when Percy S Collett was two years old. When he was old enough, he was sent away to a
boarding school in Margate, where his two older brothers were already pupils
where, in 1901, Percy Collett from Monkton was 12 years of age. Five years after the census day, Percy’s two
older brothers Alfred and Harold (above) sailed to Canada in 1906, with
Harold returning in 1907 for the funeral of their father. It may have been what Harold told Percy of
their visit to the new world, plus the death of both of his parents in 1907 and
1910, that persuaded Percy should join his brother Alfred in Canada. It was on 6th May 1911, that Percy
Collett, a farmer aged 22, sailed out of the Port of London on board the SS
Pretorian of the Allan Steamship Line, in a third-class cabin, bound for Quebec
and Montreal. He eventually settled in
Plaster Rock, News Brunswick, where he was joined a few years later by his
brother Alfred
With the outbreak of war in Europe, Percy
Stapleton enlisted with the Canadian Overseas
Expeditionary Force (CEF), when his attestation form, completed on 3rd
March 1916 at St John in New Brunswick, revealed the following details. That he was born on 22nd October
1888 at Monkton in Kent, England, and was residing at Maple View in New
Brunswick, where he was a farmer. His
next-of-kin was Miss Dorothy Collett (sister) of 7 Grove Mansion, The Grove in
Hammersmith, London. An additional note
on the form stated that, in case of casualty, notify Alfred Collett (brother)
of Maple View in Victoria County, NB.
Tragically, eighteen months later, Percy Stapleton Collett was serving as
Private 817913 with the Eastern Ontario Regiment of Princess Patricia’s Light
Infantry when he was killed in action on 30th October 1917 at the
age of 29. His military record confirms
that he was the son of the late George Alfred Collett and that his name appears
on Panel 10 of the Menin Gate Memorial at Ypres in West Flanders, Belgium. Percy’s
name also appears on the cenotaph in the village of Plaster Rock, and a short
biography of him is included in a book entitled ‘Written in Stone’, about all
of the local men in New Brunswick whose lives were lost in both in WWI and WWII
Amongst
his military records are some additional details, which are very
interesting. First of them is that his
unit sailed from Halifax, Canada on 25th September 1916 aboard the
SS Corsican, arriving at Liverpool on 6th October. Then, on 9th December 1916, the
tear-out page (2C) of his pay book provided this important information. “Perforated sheet for Will from Pay Book of
Reg. No. 817913 - Name P S Collett - Unit Royal Canadian
Regiment - Military Will In the event of my death I give the
whole of my military property and effects to my sister Dorothy Collett, 7 Grove
Mansions, The Grove, Hammersmith, London.
Signature P S Collett - Rank and Regt Private Royal Canadian
- Date December 9th 1916” - That was written up five days
before he entered the theatre of war in France on 14th December 1916
On 15th
February 1917, he was on the frontline with 140th Battalion of the
Canadian Expeditionary Force and was taken by 4th Canadian Field
Ambulance to the Corps Rest Station, suffering with acute bronchitis. Eleven days later, he was discharged from the
CRS on 6th February 1917, when he returned to frontline action. Eight months and four days later, Percy was
in Belgium when he was killed in action in the field, as confirmed in a report
written at Rouen on 12th November 1917. After the war, in the early 1920s, further
another document headed Medals & Decorations confirmed that Percy was
posthumously awarded the Victory Medal and the British War Medal. On the same page was listed the name and
address of his sister Dorothy, together with the first mention of another
brother George C Collett of 1 Bassett Road, Notting Hill, London, England
Twenty years after his death, the Will of Percy
Stapleton Collett of New Brunswick in Canada was proved in London on 19th
June 1937. The full account stated that
Percy Stapleton Collett of Maple View, Lorne in Victoria County, Province of
New Brunswick, died in France with administration of his Will being granted to
George Clemson Collett his eldest brother (above), an insurance official
and the attorney of Alfred Collett his second oldest brother. His personal effects were valued at £272 19
Shillings and 9 Pence
Margaret
Marion Collett Mason [18Q14] was born in Buenos Aires in Argentina on 16th
June 1888 where she was baptised on 13th July 1888 at St John’s
Cathedral. She was the eldest of the
five children of James Collett Mason and Jessie Susette Collett who, in the
Argentina census in 1895, was seven years old and living on the family farm, albeit
named as Daisy Marion. Towards the end
of 1907, Margaret, then aged 19, and her mother travelled back to England,
arriving in Southampton on 4th January 1908. They later returned to Argentina, but in 1910
the whole family minus son William, made their final sea journey back to
England, arriving at Southampton on 2nd July 1910. By the start of April in 1911, her mother and
Margaret’s two surviving sister were living at The Hoo in Aspley Guise,
Bedfordshire. The Clovelly, North Devon,
census in 1911, recorded a Margaret Mason, aged 22 and born in Argentina, a
British subject by parentage and living on private means, was staying with the
farming family of Perry Kenyon Stanley, which included two student sons who
were also born in Argentina. The year
before she was married, her future husband was a lieutenant and a temporary
captain of the Royal Army Medical Corps.
She married Philip Adams Opie on Saturday 26th January 1918,
which was advertised the previous day in The Times newspaper. The notice under ‘Marriages’ read as follows:
Captain P. Opie and
Miss Collett-Mason
A marriage is arranged and will take place
tomorrow (Saturday) between Captain Philip Opie D.A.D.M.S, Cairo, eldest son of
Mr Ernest Opie J.P. of Willand, Cullompton in Devon and Margaret Collett,
eldest daughter of Mr J.C. Collett Mason J.P. and Mrs Collett-Mason of Nieuport
Hall, Eardisley in Herefordshire. The
wedding ceremony was conducted by the Reverend Baghot de la Bere, T.C.F. at the
Citadel Garrison Chapel in Cairo, Egypt, where Philip Adams Opie was a Captain
with the Royal Army Medical Corps. This
information was extracted from the Supplement to the British Medical Journal
published on Saturday 23rd March 1918
The marriage of Margaret and Philip, who was
born on 7th January 1886, his birth registered at Plympton (Ref. 5b
230), produced one son for the couple, he being Peter Mason Opie who was born
on 25th November 1918, and died on 5th February 1982 at
Westfield House in West Liss, Hampshire, leaving an estate valued at
£239,861. Margaret accompanied her
husband Philip on a trip across the Himalaya Mountains and, by so doing wrote
herself into the history books as the first white women to cross the
range. In addition to all of this,
Margaret Opie was the grandmother of Avryll Sixtus nee Opie of New Zealand who
provided valuable information relating to this family line. Avryll’s father was the aforementioned Peter
Mason Opie, the son of Margaret Marion Collett Mason, who was named in the
probate process for the considerable estate of William Wallis Collett Mason (below)
when he was described as an author.
Philip Adams Opie was the Surgeon to the Governor of Bombay when he died
on 6th October 1936, and was recorded in the India records as Opie,
Major P A, Royal Army Medical Corps. He
was fifty-years-old when he was buried at Poona in Bombay on 7th
October 1936. The Will of Philip Adams
Opie of Government House, Bombay, care of Messrs Glyn Mills & Company,
Holts Branch, Kirkland House, Whitehall, Westminster was proved at London on 11th
November 1936 to Messrs Holt and Company Trustees for £6,982 12 Shillings and 2
Pence
Six days later, his widow set out from London
on board the ‘Cathay’ a ship of the P&O Steam Navigation Company bound for
Brisbane, although Margaret Opie, aged 45, of 7 De Vere Gardens in South
Kensington London would be vacating her first-class cabin on reaching
India. De Vere Gardens lie opposite the
Queen Victoria Statue in the south-west corner of London’s Hyde Park. Her first-class return to London aboard the
SS Uruguay Star of the Blue Star Line disembarked on 10th September
1957, by which time her forward address was Flat 6, Kelso Place, Queensgate,
Kensington, just a-stones-throw from De Vere Gardens. It was at 52 Godfrey Street, Brompton,
London, a couple of miles south-east of Kelso Place, where she died on 26th
July 1974, following which her Will for £49,919 was proved at London on 23rd
November 1974, while the death of Margaret Marion Opie was recorded at the
Hampshire Petersfield register office (Ref. 20 0407) during the third quarter
of 1974
Ascelin
Frances Collett Mason [18Q15] was born in Argentina on 8th April
1890 and was baptised on 27th April 1890 at St Bartholomew’s Church
in Rosario, the daughter of James Collett Mason and Jessie Susette
Collett. When Ascelein was around three
and a half years old she was given a present by her aunt Sarah Mason, possibly
her father’s sister. It was a copy of
the book Aesop’s Fables, inside which was written “to Ascelein Frances Collett Mason with the love of her affection, Aunt Sarah Mason,
October 3rd 1893". In
2011, the book is the property of William (Bill) Ebden who received it from his
father. On the day of the 1895 Census in
Argentina, Ascelin Frances Collett Mason was five years of age. It was four years later that the family left
Buenos Aires and arrived back in England at the start of 1910, when Ascelin’s
father, mother, and her two surviving sisters returned to England. According to the census the following year,
Ascelin Francis Collett Mason from Argentina was 20, when she was living with
her mother Jessie and sister Kathleen Lucy Collett Mason (below) at The
Hoo in Aspley Guise, Bedfordshire. Over
the following years the two sisters added a further ‘Collett’ forename to their
birth names, as confirmed when they were married
It was around the time that the gift was
presented to Ascelein that Sarah Ann Mason married into the Stag family, which
owned and ran the Stag Garage Company in Ipswich. Six years later it is established that Ascelin
Frances Collett Collett-Mason was married by licence to Captain Edward George
Hay, of the Devonshire Regiment, on 13th November 1917 at the Church
of St Philip in London, with the event recorded at St George’s Hanover Square
(Ref. 1a 1060). The couple’s marriage
certificate described Edward as being 38, a bachelor, a Captain with 8th
Devons, residing at Palace Parade in Walthamstow, and the son of George Hay, a
Major General with 2nd Army.
His younger bride was 27 and a spinster having no occupation, the
daughter of James Collett Collett-Mason, a gentleman, when the witnesses were
Ascelin’s father J C C Mason, and A Hay, mother of the groom. Edward was born on 21st October
1879, the fifth son of William Hay of Duns Castle in Berwickshire, J.P, Colonel
of Militia and Convenor of Berwickshire, and was baptised at Mysore in Madras,
India on 28th November 1879.
On that occasion, his parents were named as Alexander Charles Hay and
Annie Hay. Many years after the war, the
marriage produced a daughter for Ascelein and her husband, Nora Margaret Hay,
who was born on 24th July 1922, and she married John Robertson
Campbell on 15th August 1942 with whom she had seven children. The 1939 Register identified George and
Ascelin living at ‘Silkwood’ in Ampthill, Bedfordshire, when George said her
was a retired farmer in Argentina, with Ascelin living on private means. Six years later, the death of Edward George
Hay was recorded at Bournemouth register office (Ref. 2b 936) during the last
quarter of 1945, when he was 65. After
fifteen years as a widow, the death of Ascelin Frances Collet Hay was recorded
at the Hove register office (Brighton) during the first quarter of 1960 (Ref.
5h 460), at the age of 69. did not live
long enough to see her last three grandchildren, when she died on 8th
October 1945. These details about her
and her family have been taken from page 1194 of the 1963 version of Debrett,
and page 1138 of the 1976 version which, in the case of Edward’s father’s name,
contradicts his name on their marriage certificate, and his Indian baptism
record
Curiously,
there was an Asline Collett Mason listed in the Service Records of the National
Archives of Australia as someone who supported the effort during the Great War
of 1914 to 1918 by serving at a depot in Australia. However, the entry would also indicate that
Asline was a male since the next-of-kin was listed as his wife Mrs Mason. It is also interesting that within the
Victorian Law Reports of 1884 there is the mention of a probate case in
Australia involving Asline Collett Mason.
It now transpires that he was the son Henry Ward Mason who was born at
Beverley in 1812 (see Ref. 18M7) and his wife Anne Lightfoot. Asline Collett
Mason was born at East Barnet in Hertfordshire on 29th January 1858,
where he was baptised on 10th March 1858. It was after his arrival in Victoria, and
during 1889, that Asline Collett Mason married Annie Rae Nesbitt Welshman who
was born at St Kilda in Victoria during 1865.
Their marriage produced three children at Shepparton, they being Asline
Claude Mason who was born in 1890, Dorothy A Mason who was born in 1892, and
Clive Collett Mason who was born in 1901.
It was also at Shepparton in Victoria that he died during 1921 at the
age of 63
Kathleen
Lucy Collett Mason [18Q16], who was known as Kay, was born in Argentina on 23rd
March 1892 and was baptised at St Bartholomew’s Church in Rosario on 30th
June 1892. In the Argentina census of
1895, Kathleen Lucy Collett Mason was three years old. Five years later, she and her two older
sisters (above), escorted by their parents, returned to England in early
1910 and The Hoo at Aspley Guise became their new home. It was there, where Kathleen Lucy Collett
Mason was 19 in the Bedfordshire census of 1911, where she living with her
mother Jessie and her sister Ascelin.
Both sisters were confirmed as having been born in Argentina. It was nearly eight years after that census
day when the marriage of Kathleen Lucy Collett Collett-Mason and (1) Kenneth
Herbert Metcalfe Davison was recorded at Weobly register office in
Herefordshire (Ref. 6a 1399) during the first three months of 1919. Kenneth had been born on 20th
January 1890 and he received his first commission on 29th January
1910 when he reached the rank of lieutenant with the British Officers of the
106th Pioneers with the Indian Army.
The couple are known to have had two sons, both of whom later married
the same woman in Kenya. They were born
during the first five years of the marriage of Kenneth and Kay, with Herbert
suffering a premature death on 18th November 1925, the same day that
he was buried at Pach Marchi in Bengal, at the age of only 35. His residence at that time was the Small Arms
School at Pach Marchi Central Provinces in India, whilst it was at the British
Station Hospital in Pach Marchi that he died.
The Administration (with Will) of his estate of
£1,748 was proved at London on 14th June 1926 to Kathleen Lucy
Collett Davison, widow. After six years
as a widow, the marriage of Kathleen Lucy Collett Davison and (2) Hugh Charles
Stephen Minchin was recorded at Newport Pagnell register office (Ref. 3a 2634)
during the last three months of 1931.
Hugh had been born in India on 5th January 1893 and was
baptised that same day at Belgaum in Bombay, the son of Hugh and Frances
Caroline Minchin. Kay was widowed for a
second time in 1957, when the death of Hugh C S Minchin was recorded at
Tonbridge (Kent) register office (Ref. 5b 936) during the first quarter of that
year when he was 64. It was 9 Molyneux
Court in Tunbridge Wells where he was living with Kay just before died, while
it was at 39 Molyneux Park Road in Tunbridge Wells that he actually passed away
on 11th March 1957.
Administration of his personal effects of £2,257 4 Shillings, was
granted at London on 25th April 1957 to Kathleen Lucy Collett Minchin,
widow. Kay lived a very long life, at
the latter part of which she was cared for at a nursing home that was
previously Malvern Priory. At the age of
one-hundred-years, she died on 6th May 1992 at Perrins House,
Doveham, Graham Road in Malvern. The
Will of Kathleen Lucy Collett Minchin was proved at Llandaff on 22nd
September 1992 and was valued at £55,650
William
Wallis Collett Mason [18Q18] was born in Argentina on 25th
August 1895 and was baptised at St Bartholomew’s Church in Rosario on 10th
December 1895. He was the youngest child
of James Collett Mason and Jessie Susette Collett and he inherited everything
from his father to the detriment of his siblings. At the time of the census in 1911, he and his
family had returned to England, and on that occasion, when his mother and two
of his sisters were living at Aspley Guise, William Wallis Collett-Mason, aged
15 and from Argentina, was attending a school in the Thanet area of Kent. It was only during the first three months of
1911 that the family surname was changed to Collett-Mason. It was later that he staked his fortune on a
game of cards and lost the entire inheritance including the family home. That may have taken place in America since,
on 3rd February 1923 he arrived at Plymouth from New York on the SS
De Grasse of the French Shipping Line, when he was said to be 34 (sic) and an
artist bound for Ashurst Place in Langton Green. Ashurst Place still is a large detached property
set in 23 acres of parkland and fields in the village of Langton Green, three
miles from Tunbridge Well.
Six years later he made the return sea voyage, when he left Liverpool on
8th November 1929 on the Steam Ship Samaria bound for New York. Curiously on the ship’s passenger list, he
was again stated to be 34-year-old and an artist. It would appear that he often crossed the
Atlantic Ocean, and was recorded at 32 De Vere Gardens near Hyde Park in the
1939 Register where, his married sister Margaret Marion Collett Opie was living
at 7 De Vere Garden in the following year
The 1939 Register confirmed his date of birth
and that his occupation was that of a traveller and a single man who was also
temporarily attending the Chiswick Police Hospital formerly of the 8th
Hussars. However, whatever it was that
he subsequently did in America, he was worth a small fortune when he died on 28th
August 1957. Also, by that time William
Wallis Collett Collett-Mason was once again living in England, with his death
recorded at Tonbridge register office (Ref. 5b 778). His Will was proved at London on 29th
October 1957 to David Drummond, a solicitor, Kenneth Forbes Davison, a farmer,
and Peter Mason Opie, an author, when his personal estate was valued at £72,795
7 Shillings and 8 Pence. The latter of
the two was William’s nephew, the only child of his sister Margaret Marion
Collett Collett-Mason (above) and her late husband Philip Adams
Opie. The probate process also revealed
that William’s residence was at 71a Mount Ephraim in Royal Tunbridge Wells, but
that he died while at the Calverley Hotel in Royal Tunbridge Wells
Phillis
Anne Collett [18Q19] was
born in India during 1922, the eldest daughter of Arthur Preston and Sheila
Collett, who returned to England in April 1926.
At the outbreak of World War Two Phillis joined the Women’s Royal Naval
Service and became a Wren with the land-based HMS St Angelo. Their headquarters were in London and that
was the main administration centre for the Royal Navy activities in the
Mediterranean Sea. The wrens that worked
there were billeted at Whitehall Mansions.
Towards the end of the war Phillis reached the rank of Petty Officer
Wren 11235 and it may have been her elevation to that level of responsibility
which took her from the relative safety of London into action in the
Mediterranean arena. With the war over
and peace declared, Phillis’ parents received the tragic news at Felixstowe
that she had died on 30th August 1945 at the age of 23. Sadly, Phillis never made it home and was
buried at the Mazargues War Cemetery in Marseilles – Grave 31, Row A, Plot
11. The Will of Phillis Anne Collett of
The Lodge at Hollesley, Woodbridge in Suffolk, a spinster, who died on 30th
August 1945 while on war service, was proved at Llandudno on 14th
March 1946 to Arthur Preston Collett of no occupation, and his wife Sheila
Collett, for her personal estate of £10,591 9 Shillings and 2 Pence
Anthony
Farquar Charles MacKinnon Collett [18Q20] was born in Bengal, India on 18th
October 1924, the son of Arthur Preston Collett and his wife Sheila
MacKinnon. During the Second World War
the home address for Anthony and his parents was Brackenbury Lodge on Cliff
Road in Felixstowe and it was there in 1945 that they received the tragic news
of the death of Anthony’s sister Phillis (above). It was also that address which was used in
1947 when Anthony sailed back to India, when his occupation, at the age of 23,
was given as a tea planter. Under his
full name Anthony Farquar Charles Mackinnon Collett
he sailed out of Southampton on 21st November 1947 on board the
Strathmore bound for Bombay
Sheila
Candace Collett [18Q21] was born in India on 18th January 1926, the
third child and second of the two daughters of Arthur Preston Collett and his
wife Sheila MacKinnon. It was as Sheila
C Collett aged three months that she returned to England from Bombay on 1st
April 1926. On leaving school Sheila
became a physiotherapist and travelled the world. On 11th November 1950 she sailed
in a first-class cabin on the SS Manchester City of Manchester Liners Limited
bound for Montreal in Canada, when the home address of Miss Sheila Candace
Collett, aged 24, was 80 St John’s Road in Oxford, and her occupation was
within physiotherapy. It would appear to
be a small ship as there were only twelve adults and one child on board, which
included a crew of four. At the end of
the following she returned to England, possibly because of father father’s
failing health. The ship ‘Manchester
Merchant’ sailing out of Montreal disembarked on 4th December 1951
in Manchester, with Miss Candace Collett from Canada was 24 and her onward
address was Brackenbury Lodge, Cliff Road in Felixstowe, when she was still
working in physiotherapy. It was just
over two years later that her father died at Brackenbury Lodge on Cliff Road
near the end of March 1954. Nine months
later, on 21st December 1954, when her address was confirmed as
Brackenbury Lodge and her occupation that of a physiotherapist, she travelled
to India to be reunited with her brother Anthony (above), who had
settled there seven years earlier, where he and Sheila had been born. Sheila Candace Collett aged 28, was still a single
lady in a first-class cabin aboard the ship ‘Chusan’ of the P&O Line
sailing from London to Yokohama via Penang and Singapore, but stopping at
Bombay. For her first-class return
journey to England, she was on the P&O SS Strathmore from Brisbane,
Australia, boarding at Colombo in Ceylon, which arrived in London on 28th
May 1955
Six months later, after receiving a proposal of
marriage from tea planter Philip John Austin, who was born at Southwold in
Suffolk on 14th February 1926, Sheila made another sea journey, that
time to Singapore. It was on 25th
November 1955, that she sailed out of Southampton bound for Singapore on the MS
Willem Ruys of the Royal Rotterdam Lloyds Line, on that occasion in a
second-class cabin. Her home address was
still recorded as Brackenbury Lodge in Felixstowe and with the same occupation
as before. Once married, Sheila gave
birth to a daughter, after which the three members of the family sailed to
England on the MS Willem Ruys, but in a first-class cabin, arriving at the Port
of London on 22nd January 1957.
The passenger provided the following details for the three of them. Philip J Austin was an Englishman whose
permanent place of residence was Malaya, where he was a planter, who was
intending to only be a visitor to England for a maximum of six months, the same
condition applying to his wife and child.
The onward destination for housewife Sheila C Austin, and her family,
was again Brackenbury Lodge, Cliff Road in Felixstowe, the home of her elderly
mother, where baby Sheila C A Austin would meet her grandmother for the
first time, having only just been born in Singapore on 31st December
1956. Philip is likely to have returned
to Singapore within the six-month visit period, although his wife and daughter
stayed on for another year, when they left Southampton on the ‘Hannover’ of the
Hamburg & Amerika Line on 12th June 1958, bound for
Singapore. At the end of his life,
Philip John Austin was 82 when he died at Southwold on 31st December
2008, his daughter’s fifty-second birthday
Nora Collett [18Q22] was born at
Chorlton-cum-Hardy in Manchester during 1887, possibly at Keppel Road where the
family was living in 1891, her birth registered there (Ref. 8c 687) during the
last quarter of the year. However, by
the time of her baptism, which perhaps surprisingly took place at Rustington in
Sussex on 31st December 1887, she was named as Nora Pyemont Collett,
the eldest child and only daughter of Edward Pyemont Collett of Leicester and
Aurora Beatrice Landi from London. Still
only recorded as Nora Collett, she was three years old in the
Chorlton-cum-Hardy census of 1891, after which she and her brother were sent
away to boarding school. By the age of
13, Nora was attending a school in Sussex, when her place of birth was
confirmed as Chorlton-cum-Hardy.
Although no record has been found so far, it is believed that Nora
married John Cooke and that they lived at Tynemouth in Northumberland
Henry
Robert Pyemont Collett [18Q23] was born at Keppel Road in Chorlton-cum-Hardy
on 23rd December 1890, the second child and only son of dentist
Edward Pyemont and Aurora Beatrice Collett.
His birth, as Henry Robert Pyemont Collett, was registered at Chorlton
(Ref. 8c 734) during the first quarter of 1891.
He was then baptised at the Church of St Clement in Chorlton-cum-Hardy
on 5th April 1891, the very same day of the national census that
year. In the census return, he was
recorded with his family at Keppel Road as Henry R P Collett aged three
months. His parents were still living in
Chorlton-cum-Hardy in 1901, when Robert Collett, aged 10 and from there, was
attending a private school in Harrogate.
During the next decade, and on completing his education, Henry Robert
Pyemont Collett, aged 20, was once again living with his family which, by April
1911 was residing in Bucklow, near Knutsford, in Cheshire. It was also at Bucklow in Cheshire, in 1913,
that the marriage of Henry R P Collett and (1) Irene Findlater was recorded
(Ref. 8a 374) during the last three months of that year. Irene was the eldest child of Thomas
Findlater and was born on 14th March 1893 who, by the 16th
September 1908 was a pupil at the Macclesfield Girls’ High School, at Jordon
Gate House in Cheshire. Her birth day
been recorded at Prestwich register office (Ref. 8d 469) during the second
quarter of 1983. It was on 19th
May 1893, that she was baptised at Christ Church in Blackpool, when her parents
were confirmed at Thomas and Alice Steele Findlater. It would appear that there were no children
produced from their marriage, and unfortunately during 1918, the death of Irene
Collett was recorded at Salford register office (Ref. 4d 49) during the third
quarter of 1918
Two years prior to the census in 1911, Henry
Robert Pyemont Collett was a member of The Lancashire Fusiliers, with whom he
was promoted to Second Lieutenant with the 8th Battalion on 20th
March 1909. However, despite his time in
the army, at the outbreak of the Great War, Henry joined the Royal Flying Corp,
where he eventually became a lieutenant with the 21st Balloon
Company, having initially enlisted as a student officer with the 49th
Balloon Section of the RFC. As a
flight-lieutenant with 49th he was twice mentioned in
despatches. There is a story written
about him under the title “A Balloonatic in Palestine: being the Travels of 49
Balloon Section in the Wilderness and Judea" a tale of Lieutenant H R P
Collett RAF. It was during the war years
that the RFC became the RAF
The 21st
Balloon Company, in which Collett was an observer officer and whose two
sections, 49 and 50, included many men who were past middle-age and had an Army
medical category of C2 or C3, arrived in Egypt in July 1917. Collett, who was serving with 49 Section,
explains their routine and how the balloon was operated and emphasises the
difference between the temperature on the ground in the desert and in the
balloon at some 3000 feet. The Section's
principal responsibility was to spot for the artillery batteries in the
vicinity: Collett notes that from their "letting up" position at
Sheikh Shabasi he could see every house in Gaza 12000 yards away. Many Royal Artillery officers, however, were
prejudiced against balloons and believed that their own observation posts were
quite adequate for spotting. The Section
remained at Sheikh Shabasi until the time of the final successful attack on
Gaza and they then moved forward to a camp at Saris, just off the road leading
north towards Jerusalem. The balloons had already been fired at by Turkish
aircraft and artillery and shortly before the surrender of Jerusalem one was
shot down. After Jerusalem had fallen,
writes Collett, "things were very quiet in the Section... and it was hard
to kill time" and the narrative dwells on the good living conditions and
amenities which the officers and men were able to enjoy. Their next excitement came in February 1918,
at a new "letting-up" position at Attara, when a German aircraft was
shot down after attacking the balloon in which Collett was observing. The following month the Section moved to a
camp near the coast at Hadrah which, as it was well in the rear area, was only
very occasionally shelled. From here, on
13 April, Collett did his first night ballooning and on 9 May he had to
parachute to safety after his balloon had been shot down by an aircraft flown
by a Bulgarian NCO, but Collett only sustained a few minor injuries. After a quiet summer, all three of the
balloons were aloft when the major Allied offensive began on 17 September, but,
records Collett, "... before long, the tide of battle had swept away
beyond our vision" to the north.
The Section advanced with the armies for a short time, but they then
withdrew to Kantara and Collett was posted back to Home Establishment just
before the Armistice. His narrative is a pleasant, but somewhat episodic,
record of an unusual aspect of the Palestine campaign
Ten years after peace in Europe was declared,
the second marriage of Henry R P Collett and (2) widow Winifred Gill was
recorded at the Manchester South register office (Ref. 8d 359) during the
fourth quarter of 1928. Eleven years
later, according to the 1939 Register, Henry R P Collett was 48 and a dental
surgeon who, for the coming war, was also noted as being an ambulance
driver. His wife Winifred was three
years older than Henry, her date of birth recorded as 18th November
1887. The third person at the address in
Altrincham was private secretary Barbara W Gill aged 25, Winifred’s unmarried
daughter by her first husband James P Gill.
Other than this, all that is so far known about him after the war is
that Henry Robert Pyemont Collett, BA, became the Vicar of Islington in Norfolk
while, at the time of his death in 1958, he was married and was living at 26
Newton Road in Failsworth, Lancashire.
He died at the Monsall Hospital in Manchester on 13th June
1958, when administration of his personal effects, amounting to £2,668 7
Shillings and 5 Pence, was granted to his widow Winifred Collett. It was also in Manchester register office
that his death was recorded (Ref. 10e 371) during the second quarter of 1958,
when he was 67 years old
Selina
Benson [18Q24] was
born at Glasgow on 3rd June 1908, the first-born child of Walter and
Ada Benson from Hull, who was two years old in the Blackley Manchester census
of 1911, when Selina and her family were living at 11 Walton Road. Selina was thirty-years-old when she married
William Gibson, the wedding recorded at the Manchester North register office
(Ref. 8d 1051) during the second quarter of 1938. It was also at Manchester that Selina Gibson
died in 1990 at the age of 81
Ernest
Walter Benson [18Q25] was born at 11 Walton Road, Blackley in Manchester on 3rd
May 1910, his birth was recorded at Prestwich register office (Ref. 8d
352). Ernest was eleven months old in
the Blackley census of 1911 but, within the next few months, the family moved
again to 34 Turkey Lane, Queens Park in Manchester. It was from that address that Ernest and his
twin-siblings (below) were baptised at St James Church in nearby
Collyhurst on 21st August 1912, when their father Walter was a
musician, their mother was Ada Benson.
Ernest Walter Benson later married Winifred Sybil Barnett at Manchester
in the summer of 1940, while it was at 991 Christchurch Road in Boscombe, East
Bournemouth on 7th June 1982 that he died, leaving an estate of
£6,904
Francis
William Benson [18Q26], who was known as Billy,
and his twin sister Edna (below)
were born at 34 Turkey Lane, Queens Park in Manchester on 19th July
1912, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Wright. It was one month later that the twins and
their two-year-old brother Ernest (above) were baptised together at St
James’ Church in Collyhurst, adjacent to Queens Park on 21st August
1912. Just prior to the Second World War
Billy married Mary Cockett at St Anne’s Church in Manchester on 21st
June 1939. Mary was born on 20th
September 1911 and was also baptised at St James’ Church, Collyhurst on 22nd
October 1911, the daughter of Thomas Henry Cockett, a salesman living at 20 Ash
Street in Collyhurst with his wife Mary Hannah Cockett. Just prior to their wedding day Mary Cockett
was the manager of a shop at Hale in Cheshire.
Once married Billy joined Mary and they lived over the shop in
Hale. The couple’s first child was born
in North Manchester Hospital near to the home of Billy’s mother where Mary was
staying at that time due to the fact her husband was away with the British
Army. It was also thought that the shop
at Hale was not the most convenient or suitable place for Mary to give
birth. The family continued to live at
the shop in Hale until 1954 when they moved to Hale Barns, followed in 1960 by
a further moved to Bowdon near Altrincham.
The couple’s two sons were born in a Maternity Home in Bowden. Later moves saw the family living at
Cuddington in Cheshire and at Manchester with just their son Phil. A final move took place during the 1970s when
the couple retired to Gloucestershire.
And it was at Woolstrop House in Quedgeley, just south of the city of
Gloucester, where Billy died on 1st February 2003 aged 90. He was cremated at the Gloucester Crematorium
and his ashes scattered elsewhere. Mary
died four years later at Stroud in Gloucestershire on 27th May 2007
when she was 96, after which her ashes were scattered at the same place as her
husband
18R19 - Elizabeth
Mary Benson was born in 1941
18R20 - David
William Benson was
born in 1942
18R21 - Philip
Martin Benson was
born in 1953
Edna
Maria Benson [18Q27] was
a twin with her brother Francis (above) who were born at 34 Turkey Lane,
Queens Park, Manchester on 19th July 1912. It was on 21st August 1912, that
Edna and Francis were baptised in a combined church ceremony with their older
brother Ernest (above) at St James’ Church in Collyhurst. Edna Maria Benson later married Thomas Murphy
in Manchester towards the end of 1940.
Edna was still living in the Manchester area when she died in the summer
of 1997, at the age of 85
Hector
Benson [18Q28] was
born at 34 Turkey Lane, Queens Park in Manchester on 21st October
1913. It was during the first quarter of
1940 when Hector Benson married Eva Willis and his later death was recorded at
Manchester in the summer of 1975. Eva
Willis was born on 29th January 1916, and was 79 when she died in
Manchester during November 1995
Myra Benson [18Q29] was born at 34 Turkey Lane, Queens Park in
Manchester on 18th March 1917.
Myra married Frank Betney during the last quarter of 1940, their wedding
recorded at Manchester register office.
Frank had been born on 4th May 1914 and he passed away at
Manchester in the summer of 1998
Elizabeth May Collett [18Q30] was born at 316
Foxhall Road in Ipswich on 29th August 1910, the eldest of the two
surviving children of Charles Frederick W Collett from Sunderland and Hull, and
his wife Emma Matilda Woodward of Sproughton near Ipswich. Her birth was recorded at Ipswich register
office (Ref. 4a 942). Elizabeth was
seven months old in the Ipswich census of 1911, with the first of her two
brothers born the following year, but who suffered an infant death, so grew up
with her surviving brother who was also born at Ipswich in 1915. After a further twenty years, the marriage of
Elizabeth May Collett and Herbert William Coe was recorded at Ipswich register
office (Ref. 4a 2955) during the second quarter of 1935. After four years together, they were living
at 22 St David’s Road in Ipswich, when Herbert W Coe was a heavy worker a brass
turner using a capstan lathe, his date of birth recorded as 13th
September 1910, with his wife Elizabeth M Coe undertaking unpaid domestic
duties. They were living at 35 Sherborne
Avenue in Ipswich when Herbert died on 1st May 1995 at the age of
84. His Will was proved at Ipswich on 14th
June 1995, the value of his estate being less than £125,000. Elizabeth enjoyed a very long life, when
Elizabeth May Coe died at Ipswich on 8th October 2004, at the age of
94
Temple Charles Collett [18Q32] was born at Ipswich in
1915, the sole surviving son of Charles Frederick W Collett and Emma Matilda
Woodward, whose birth was recorded at Ipswich register office (Ref. 4a 1915)
during the second quarter of that year, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed
as Woodward. It was during the fourth
quarter of 1939 that the marriage of Temple Charles Collett and Nellie
Protheroe was recorded at Llanelly register office (Ref. 11a 3453). The couple was residing at 23 Selkirk Road in
Ipswich, where Temple died on 10th December 1980 at the age of
75. Administration of his estate of
£5,255 was granted at Ipswich on 8th January 1981. His widow survived him by seventeen years
when Nellie, who had been born at Swansea in South Wales on 5th
November 1913, passed away at the age of 83 at Ipswich near the start of 1997
George
James Collett [18Q33] was born at Gorleston towards the end of 1881, his birth
being registered by his unmarried mother Matilda Collett, aged 34, at Mutford
(Ref. 4a 862) during the last quarter of that year. Following the birth, George and his mother
went to live with his grandparents at Porter’s Lane in Burgh Castle, where
George was nine years old in the census of 1891. Sadly, for whatever reason, George died at
Burgh Castle, where he was buried on 7th August 1900 at the aged of
18, perhaps as a result of a work-related accident. His death was later recorded at Yarmouth
register office (Ref. 4b 22) during the third quarter of 1900
Selina
Margaret Collett [18Q34] was born at Burgh Castle, possibly at the end of 1874 or
the beginning of 1875, with the birth being registered at Mutford (Ref. 4a 783)
during the first three months of 1875.
She was the eldest of the six children of Benjamin Collett and his wife
Emily Turvey Pearson and was baptised at Burgh Castle on 11th April
1875. She was six years old at the time
of the census in 1881, when she was living with her family at 12 Manor House in
Burgh Castle. Upon leaving school,
Selina entered domestic service and, in the census of 1891, she was a servant
at the Burgh Castle home of elderly farmer William Jackson and his wife
Lucy. It was six years later when Selina
was living and working in London that she married Frederick George Cattermole
at St Thomas’ Church in Finsbury Park on 14th August 1897, the event
recorded at Islington register office (Ref. 1b 432). Frederick was 21 and a milk carrier, the son
of pensioner Isaac Cattermole, while Selina was 22 and her address at that time
was given as 143 Green Lanes in Finsbury Park.
The earlier birth of Frederick George Cattermole took place at Willesden
on 20th September 1875, registered at Hendon (Ref. 3a 127), and
baptised at Willesden on 8th June 1876, the son of policeman Isaac
Abraham Cattermole and his wife Eliza
Once married the couple initially settled in
the Hampstead area of London, at Greville Road in Kilburn, where Selina
Cattermole from Burgh Castle was 26, and her husband Frederick Cattermole was
25 and from Willesden in Middlesex, was a domestic coachman. By that time, the census return for 1901,
confirmed that Selina had already given birth to a daughter, with two-year-old
Jessie Cattermole having been born at Kilburn.
It was as Jessie Selina Cattermole that her birth was recorded at
Hampstead register office (Ref. 1a 642) during the first three months of
1899. In the end, Jessie was seven years
old, and her sister Hilda May Q V Cattermole was three, (her birth
also recorded at Hampstead 1a 607 during the second quarter of 1902), when
they and their parents travelled north to Liverpool, where they boarded the
Dominion Line ship ‘Kensington’ on 1st March 1906 on their way to a
new life in Canada, arriving at Halifax two weeks later. On the passenger list Frederick and Selina
were both 30 years old, with Frederick having the occupation of a farmer. That seems odd because, on the birth of the
couple’s third daughter Ivy Irene Cattermole on 3rd May 1909
at the Kingston Division of Frontenac County, he was once again working as a
coachman. Whether Frederick got to see
his youngest daughter is not yet know, except to say, that it was that same
year that he suffered a premature death
As a result of her loss, no more children were
added to their family which, in the census of 1921, was still living in
Kingston, Ontario, at 65 Johnson Street.
On that day the head of the household was Margaret Cattermole aged 45
and having no occupation. With her, were
her three daughters Jessie who was 23 and a book-keeper at an office, Hilda who
was 19 and married (as Hilda Gee), and Ivy who was 12 and a student. Staying with the family was Emily Collet from
England who was 69 and the mother of Selina Margaret Cattermole. Eleven years later, Selina’s mother Emily
Collett nee Turvey, a widow from England, was still living with the family at
303 Earl Street in Kingston, County of Frontenac, where she died during 1932. The informant for her death was Mrs S
Cattermole of 303 Earls Street, following which her mother was buried at
Cataraqui Cemetery in Kingston. Selina
Margaret Cattermole died in 1966 and a simple stone marks her grave as 1875 -
1966. A much older headstone marks the
grave of her late husband with the dates 1876 - 1909
George
William Collett [18Q35] was born at Burgh Castle on 19th September 1877,
the birth being registered at Mutford (Ref. 4a 779) during the final quarter of
that year. He was baptised on 18th
October 1877, the son of Benjamin Collett and his wife Emily Turvey Pearson,
and was three years old in April 1881, when he was living with his parents at
12 Manor House in Burgh Castle. Ten
years later, and following the death of his father, George was 13 and already
working as a farm labourer, when he was living in the High Street at Burgh
Castle with his mother and his two younger siblings, Jessie and Louis (below). Sometime after leaving school, in the
mid-1890s, George moved north to seek work with his uncle Cornelius Bradnum
Collett [18P85] at West Hartlepool. By
the time he was 23 years old, according to the census in 1901, his occupation
was that of a millwright at the local steel works, where his uncle was a
manager. However, at that time in his
life, he was lodging with another uncle, that being Henry Collett [18P86], at
his home at 26 Bentley Street in West Hartlepool
It was also at Hartlepool register office (Ref.
10a 179), during the second quarter of 1910, that the marriage of George
William Collett and dressmaker Sarah Margaret Elder was recorded. Sarah had been born on 5th April
1883 at West Hartlepool (Ref. 10a 140), who was baptised at St James’ Church in
Hartlepool on 2nd May 1883, the eldest child of sailor Joseph Elder
and his wife Harriet J Elder. The
following year, the census of April 1911, recorded George William Collett of
Burgh Castle living at 10 Hurworth Street in West Hartlepool, when he was 33
and a bricklayer’s labourer. His wife
was confirmed as Sarah Margaret Collett who was 27 and, by that time, their
marriage had already produced a daughter for the couple, Vera Margaret Collett
who was just under one month old
By the time of the 1939 Register was drawn up,
George W Collett was living at Costa Drive in Middlesbrough, where he was 62
and described as having something to do with the supply of electricity,
although the notes are not clear. Living
there with him was his wife Sarah M Collett, whose date of birth was recorded
as 8th April 1883. It was
eight years later that George William Collett died, his death recorded at the
Middlesbrough register office (Ref. 1b 746) during the first three months of
1948, at the age of 70. After ten years
as a widow, the death of Sarah Margaret Collett was recorded at Middlesbrough
register office (Ref. 1b 907) during the first quarter of 1958, when she was
74. Administration of her estate of
£1,216 16 Shillings and 8 Pence was granted at Durham on 25th April
1958 to her married daughter Vera Margaret Beadle, the wife of Raymond Douglas
Beadle. The notice of her passing
reported that her last place of residence was 58 Harrow Road, Linthorpe,
Middlesbrough, but that it was at the Middlesbrough General Hospital where she
died on 16th March 1958
18R22 -
Vera Margaret Collett
was born in 1911 at West Hartlepool
Jesse
Benjamin Collett [18Q36], who was known as Jessie, was born at Burgh Castle in
1878. The birth was registered at
Mutford (Ref. 4a 836) during the fourth quarter of the same year. He was therefore around three months old when
he was baptised at Burgh Castle on 2nd March 1879. It was also at Burgh Castle where he was
living with his family at 12 Manor House in 1881, when he was two years
old. The family was still at Burgh
Castle ten years later when they were residing in a property in the High Street,
where Jessie was 12. It is now
established that Jesse Collett spent some time in his early years in South
Africa, where he may have been 1901, when no record of him has been found in
Great Britain. So, there is a chance
that he was a soldier with the British Army involved in the Boer War. However, it was around eighteen months later
that he was once again back in England, and had settled in County Durham, to
where other members of the Collett family had previously migrated. It was there at South Shields register office
(Ref. 10a 1286a) during the third quarter of 1902, that the marriage of Jesse
Benjamin and Mary Ann Seales was recorded.
Mary’s birth had also been registered at South Shields (Ref. 10a 746)
during the second quarter of 1883, the fourth child of fish-salesman Matthew
Seales and his wife Harriet. After they
were married, the couple must have sailed to South Africa, where Mary presented
Jessie with the first of their three children
When the child was one month old, the family of
three left Cape Town on the ‘Kildonan Castle’ bound for Southampton, where they
disembarked on 9th March 1907.
The passenger list confirmed that Mr Benjamin Collett was 28 years of
age and a fisherman, Mrs Mary Ann Collett was 24, and that their infant child
has been born at Cape Colony. Once the
family was back in England, the couple’s second child was born at South Shields
and, much later, after a gap of ten years, Mary gave birth to their last
child. It is highly likely that during
those years, Jesse had been on military duty for the duration of the war. Prior to the start of the war, and according
to the South Shields census of 1911, the young Collett family had been lodging
with Jesse’s parents-in-law at 69 Imeary Street in the village of Westoe. Head of the household was Matthew Seales who
was 54, his wife Harriet Seales was 52, and their children were Susan Seales
who was 23, Annie Seales who was 20, and Robert Seales who was 18. Jesse Collett from Burgh Castle was 32 and a
skipper of a fishing boat, most likely working for his fishmonger
father-in-law. His wife Mary Collett
from South Shields was 28, and their two sons were Benjamin Collett who was
four and born at Woodstock, Cape Town, South Africa, and Clifford Collett who
had been born at South Shields, just six months earlier. Ten years later Mary Ann presented Jesse with
their last child, another son
Upon the death of Jesse Benjamin Collett at
North Shields on 28th September 1930, it was his widow Mary Ann
Collett who was granted administration of his personal effects of £404 4
Shillings and 6 Pence at Newcastle on 6th January 1931. At the time of his passing, Jesse and Mary
were residing at 47 Kitchener Terrace in North Shields, while their two eldest
sons were living in South Africa, where they were reunited with their younger brother
after the Second World War. The obituary
of Jesse Benjamin Collett was published in the North Shields newspaper, as
follows. “A North Shields trawler
arrived in the Tyne yesterday with her flag at half-mast and landed the dead
body of the skipper, Jesse Collett, who had been taken suddenly ill and died
the previous night when the vessel was about 70 miles off the port. Collett complained of illness while
preparations were being made for shooting the trawl gear. He went below to rest, but gradually grew
worse. The gear was stowed and a dash
made for port, but Collett grew rapidly worse and died. He was a native of Yarmouth”
Nine
years after the sad death of her husband, his widow Mary Ann Collett, whose
date of birth was recorded in the 1939 Register as 20th March 1883,
was residing at 45 Hulne Avenue, Tynemouth in North Shields. The only person living with her at that time
was her youngest son Edward Arthur Collett who was 18 years old and an
apprentice engineer and fitter, working on ships’ engines.
18R23 -
Benjamin Louis Collett was born in 1907 at Woodstock, Cape Town
18R24 -
Clifford Collett
was born in 1910 at South Shields
18R25 - Edward Arthur Collett was born in 1921 at
Tynemouth
Arthur
Herbert Collett [18Q37] was born at Burgh Castle at the start of 1881, the son of
Benjamin Collett and Emily Turvey Pearson.
His birth was registered at Mutford (Ref. 4a 857) during the first three
months of 1881 and he was baptised at Burgh Castle on 7th February
1881. It was just six weeks later when
he died, his death recorded at Mutford (Ref. 4a 530) also during the first
quarter of 1881, following which he was buried at Burgh Castle on 21st
March 1881
Louis
Arthur Collett [18Q38] was born at Burgh Castle in 1882, the youngest child of
Benjamin Collett and his wife Emily Turvey Pearson. The birth was registered at Mutford (Ref. 4a
861) during the final quarter of 1882, he given the second forename after his
deceased brother. It was also at Burgh Castle that he was baptised on 10th
December 1882. By the time of the Burgh
Castle census of 1891, Louis was eight years old when he was living at High
Street with his widowed mother, following the death of his father shortly after
he was born. Ten years later in March
1901, he was still living with his widowed mother Emily at Holly Cottage on the
High Street in Burgh Castle, from where he was working as a milkman on a local
farm, at the age of 18. It was on 8th
December 1906 that Louis Arthur Collett, aged 24, married the much older
Elizabeth Artherton at Lakenham in Norfolk, when the event recorded at
Walsingham register office (Ref. 4b 773).
Walsingham lies five miles north of Hempton, where Elizabeth had been
born on 2nd May 1870 and was baptised on 2nd June 1870,
the daughter of Philip and Anna Maria Artherton. By April 1911 the marriage had produced two
children for the couple, at which time the family was still residing at a
dwelling on the High Street in Burgh Castle.
Louis was 28, his wife Elizabeth from Hempton was 33 (sic), and their
two daughters were Queenie who was three, and Mabel who was two years old. Also, still living with Louis and his family
was his mother Emily Collett who was 58, while Elizabeth was expecting the
birth of the couple’s third child, with the couple’s last child born two years
after. The census return confirmed that
Louis was employed as a cowman, and that he and his mother and his two
daughters were all born at Burgh Castle
At the outbreak of war, Louis Arthur Collett
joined the 1st Norfolk Regiment as Private Collett 16810, with his
Report on Enlistment dated 23rd November 1914 describing him as 32
years and 2 months, at 5 feet 6 inches, whose next-of-kin was his wife Mrs
Elizabeth Collett of Burgh Castle, Suffolk.
Her maiden-name was Artherton and they were married at Lakenham,
Norfolk, on 8th December 1906.
Their children were listed as Queenie Blanche, Mabel Jessie, Ivy Selina,
and Phyllis Emily Collett. Tragically,
he was killed in action on 4th June 1916 on the Western Front at
Festubert in France, a village north of Arras that was virtually destroyed by
the Battle of Festubert in May 1915. The
Arras Memorial bears his name on Bay 3.
The next record of his widow was in the 1939 Register, when Elizabeth
Collett, a widow, was living at Lawn View Terrace, Walsingham, with her
youngest daughter. Phyllis E Collett was
26 and working in a grocery shop as a saleswoman. On that day Elizabeth would have been 69,
while it was eleven years later that she passed away at the age of 80, her
death recorded at East Dereham register office (Ref. 4b 363) during the second
quarter of 1950
18R26 - Queenie
Blanche Collett was
born in 1907 at Burgh Castle
18R27 - Mabel
Jessie Collett was
born in 1908 at Burgh Castle
18R28 - Ivy
Selina Collett was
born in 1911 at Burgh Castle
18R29 - Phyllis
Emily Collett was
born in 1913 at Burgh Castle
Joseph
Thomas Collett [18Q44] was born at Gorleston in 1888, the son of Joseph Collett
and Elizabeth Penrose nee Lack, his birth registered at Mutford (Ref. 4a 959)
during the first three months of the year.
It may have been at 2 Back Wall Reach in Gorleston that he was born, as
it was there that he and his family were living in 1891, when Joseph Thomas was
three years of age. His father was a
fisherman and was away at sea on the day of the census in 1891and in 1901 when
he was fishing off the north coast of Scotland.
For whatever reason the whereabouts of Joseph, his mother and the rest
of his family, has not been identified from the census in 1901. However, towards the end of the following
decade Joseph Thomas Collett married Mary Jane Bruce. On the day of the census in 1911, Joseph
Thomas Collett, aged 23 and from Yarmouth, was a married man who was working as
the third hand on the fishing boat T S Saturn at Great Grimsby. On that same day, when her husband was away
at sea, his wife Mary Collett, aged 31, was preparing herself for the birth of
their first child, when she was boarding with the Rouse family in the Old Clee
area of Grimsby. Later that same year,
the first of the couple’s three children was born at Grimsby. However, it is likely that the young Collett
family was visiting Joseph’s elderly parents at Newhills in Aberdeen in 1914,
where Joseph and Mary’s middle child was born.
Although, it was back at Grimsby where the couple’s last child was born,
Joseph was again in Newhills, Aberdeen, when his father died there in 1925,
with Joseph T Collett of 119 Hilda Street in Grimsby being the informant of his
demise. It was twenty-four-years later
when Joseph Thomas Collett died in Grimsby at the age of 61, his death recorded
at Grimsby register office (Ref. 3b 209) during the second quarter of
1949. His widow continued to live in
Grimsby, where the death of Mary Jane Collett was recorded (Ref. 7 0481) near
the end of 1980, when her date of birth was confirmed as 16th
November 1880
18R30 - Joseph
William Collett was
born in 1911 at Grimsby
18R31 - Frederick
Bertrand Collett was
born in 1914 at Aberdeen
18R32 -
Willemina Cumming Collett was born in 1916 at Grimsby
William Collett [18Q46] was born at Aberdeen,
Scotland, in 1895 and was the eighth child and youngest son of Joseph Collett
and Elizabeth Lack. He was six years old
in 1901, when he and his family was living at 1A Castlehill in West Aberdeen. No record of any member of his family has
been identified with the next census of 1911, but it was on 2nd
October 1914, and under twenty years of age, that he married Jennie Farquhar in
Aberdeen. From that day forward the
young couple lived at Roslin Street in Aberdeen, which was their address when
he enlisted with the army. His military
Report on Enlistment gave his age as 20 years and 11 months, and that he was
just under 5 feet tall. By that time
Jennie had presented William with a daughter, Elizabeth Collett who was born at
Aberdeen on 19th August 1915.
Curiously, the only other note on his service record, states that he
served at home from 14th December 1916 until 5th April
1917
18R33 - Elizabeth Collett was born in 1915 at
Aberdeen
Thomas
William Collett [18Q48] was born at Wheatacre All Saints in Norfolk on 16th
May 1876, the eldest child of William Collett of Mettingham and his wife
Elizabeth from Reedham. His birth was
registered at Loddon (Ref. 4b 201) in the third quarter of that year but, as
yet, no baptism record for him has been found.
He was five years old in 1881 when living at 2 Hervey Street in
Lowestoft with his parents. He was still
living with his family ten years later in 1891 when he was 14, although by
then, they had moved the seven miles north to 26 Trafalgar Road, West
Gorleston, where he was already working as a greengrocer’s assistant. During the final quarter of 1898, at Yarmouth
(Ref. 4b 79), Thomas William Collett married Sarah Anna Jackson of Somerleyton,
where she was born on 3rd October 1874, the daughter of platelayer
John William Jackson and his wife Charlotte Collett [18P74], the sister of
Thomas’ father, thus making them first cousins.
The marriage produced four children for the couple, the first two being
born prior to the census in 1901.
According to the census that year, Thomas aged 24 was living 2 Station
Terrace in Gorleston, when his occupation was that of a fishermen’s store
keeper. Living with him was his wife
Sarah from Somerleyton, not far from Wheatacre, where Thomas was born, and
their two children Gladys who was one year old and another baby daughter who
had only just been born and was still unnamed.
Both children were recorded as having been born at Southtown
Two further children were added to the family
after a move to 47 Elsie Road in Southtown, where they were born, before
another move to 40 Hill Mill Road, where the family lived from 1908 to at least
1915, according to the electoral roll.
The full family was described in the Southtown census of 1911 as, Thomas
Collett who was 34 and a factory hand working for an oilskin manufacturer,
Sarah who was 35, and their three daughters, Gladys who was 11, Mary who was
10, Isa who was seven, and their son William who was four years of age. By 1939 it was just Thomas and Sarah who were
living at 6 Sefton Lane in Great Yarmouth, where Thomas William Collett was 73
and an assistant departmental manager of and oil-skin factory. Sarah Anna Collett was carrying out unpaid
domestic duties. Thomas lived a long
life in Norfolk and was 80 years old when he died there, the death of Thomas
William Collett recorded at East Dereham register office (Ref. 4b 413) during
the last three months of 1956. Four
years later, Sarah Anna Collett was in Gloucestershire when she died at the age
of 86, her death recorded at Stroud register office (Ref. 7b 475) during the
third quarter of 1960
18R34 - Gladys Jessie Collett was born in 1899 at
Southtown, Yarmouth
18R35 - Miriam May Collett was born in 1901 at
Southtown, Yarmouth
18R36 - Isa Irene Collett was born in 1903 at
Southtown, Yarmouth
18R37 - Thomas William Harcourt Collett was born in 1906 at
Southtown, Yarmouth
Frank
Ernest Collett [18Q49] was born at Wheatacre All Saints, where he was baptised on
22nd November 1877, the second child of William and Elizabeth
Collett. Curiously, his birth was
registered at Loddon (Ref. 4b 212) during the last quarter of 1877 and, during
his life, he gave different places where he was born. Not long after he was born, his family moved
to nearby Lowestoft, where they were living at 2 Hervey Street in 1881, when
Frank was three years old. He was still
living with his family in 1891, by which time they had moved the short distance
to Gorleston, and were residing at 26 Trafalgar Road in West Gorleston, where
Frank was 13. By March 1901 Frank E
Collett was 23 and was a visitor at the Church Road, Brightlingsea, Essex, home
of Thomas Godhard, a retired mariner. On
that occasion he was single and described as a Primitive Methodist Missionary
from Lowestoft. Up until 2020, no
positive identification of Frank Ernest Collett from Wheatacre had been found
in the next census in 1911. However, by
that time in his life he was married, with four children, and was living at
Banham in Norfolk, midway between Attleborough and Diss, when the electoral
roll identified him residing at New Buckenham Road, where he and his wife had
been living since 1906. Prior to that,
Frank and his wife had lived at Heath Road in Banham, following their wedding
in 1903
It was during the first three months of that
year, that Frank Ernest Collett married Alethea Rasberry from Gayton in
Norfolk, the event recorded at Kings Lynn register office (Ref. 4b 513). From the day of their wedding, until the
census in 1911, Alethea gave birth to four children. That was confirmed in the census return for
New Buckenham Road in Banham, when Frank Collett from Somerleyton was 33 and an
insurance agent with the Prudential Insurance Company, Alethea Collett from
Gayton was 32, Freda B Collett was seven, as was the next child who was
recorded as Hugh Collett, Frank C Collett junior was three, and Olive E Collett
was one year old. Around eighteen months
later, the family was completed with the birth of the couple’s last child, who
was only five years old when her father suffered a premature death at the age
of 39. The death of Frank Ernest Collett
was recorded at Norwich register office (Ref. 4b 158) during the third quarter
of 1917, following which he was buried at Banham on 18th August 1917. Alethea Rasberry was the daughter of James
and Mary Elizabeth Rasberry and was born at Kings Lynn, her birth registered at
Freebridge (Ref. 4b 315) during the last three months of 1878 who, in 1901, was
an evangelist at the age of 22 when she was a visitor at the Ovington, Norfolk,
home of the Stubbings family of farmers.
Eight years after being widowed, Alethea also suffered an early death,
which was recorded at Yarmouth register office (Ref. 4b 43) during the first
three months of 1926, after which she was buried (not in consecrated ground)
at Great Yarmouth on 22nd March 1926, at the age of 47. Whatever had been her cause of death, appears
to have affected her youngest child, who died shortly after Alethea passed away
18R38 Freda Jessie B Collett was born in 1903 at
Banham, Norfolk
18R39 James William Hughbourne Collett was born in 1904 at
Banham, Norfolk
18R40 Frank Christian Clowes Collett was born in 1907 at
Banham, Norfolk
18R41 Olive Elizabeth Hagan Collett was born in 1909 at
Banham, Norfolk
18R42 Ida Alethea Mary Collett was born in 1912 at
Banham, Norfolk
Frances
Beatrice Collett [18Q50] was born at Lowestoft in 1879, her birth registered at
Mutford (Ref. 4a 810) during the last three months of that year, and shortly
after her parents moved there from Wheatacre.
She was the eldest daughter of William and Elizabeth Collett, and her
birth was registered at Mutford. She was
one year old in the census of 1881 when she was living with her family at 2
Hervey Street in Lowestoft. Within six
weeks of the census day, she had died and, simply as Beatrice Collett, she was
buried at St Margaret’s Church in Lowestoft on 16th May 1881 at the
age of one year. Her death was recorded
during the second quarter of that year at Mutford (Ref. 4a 474)
Dinah
Daisy Collett[18Q51] was
born at 2 Hervey Street in Lowestoft in December 1880. Her birth was registered at Mutford (Ref. 4a
835) during the first three months of 1881, but after she was baptised at St
John’s Church in Lowestoft on 1st January 1881, the daughter of
seaman William and Elizabeth Collett of Hervey Street. Also baptised with Dinah that same day was
James George Collett [18P147] the son of seaman George and Harriet Collett of
Burgh Castle. James
was Dinah’s uncle two-steps removed, their common ancestor being William
Collett [18M22] 1759-1846, who was Dinah’s great great grandfather, and James’
great grandfather. Dinah Collett was
three months old in the census of 1881, when she and her family were again
recorded at 2 Hervey Street in Lowestoft.
It was as Daisy Collett aged nine years, that she was recorded with her
family in 1891, by which time her parents had taken the family to live at 26
Trafalgar Road in West Gorleston. No
record of her has been found in 1901, while ten years later, at the age of 30,
Daisy Dinah Collett from Lowestoft was a domestic servant in the employ of
elderly widow Marian Cochrane at 34 Alexander Road in Kingston-upon-Thames,
Surrey. Also living and working in
Kingston that day was her younger sister Ethel (below)
In 1911, another of Dinah’s sister Beatrice (below)
was also living and working in Surrey, and sometime later the settled down to
live together, both being unmarried. On
the occasion of the 1939 Register, they were together and living and working at
the home of retired coal merchant Jasper Burwell, and his wife Emily, at ‘Toits
Rouge’ on New Road, Lothingland in Suffolk.
Dinah D Collett was 58 and a municipal midwife, with Beatrice being the
elderly couple’s housekeeper. Further
along New Road were living Dinah’s father and younger sister Ethel (below)
who, before 1942, moved to Gorleston and set up home at 123 Lowestoft Road,
where they were joined by Dinah and Beatrice.
With the death of their father in 1942, the three sisters continued to
reside at 123 Lowestoft Road. Seven
years later, and following the death of her sister Beatrice at the address at
the end of 1949, Daisy Dinah Collett and Ethel Mary Collett, spinsters, at the
same address, were named as joint executors of the estate of Beatrice Frances
Collett the following year. Two years
after that, and upon the death of sister Ethel Mary Collett of 123 Lowestoft
Road in 1951, it was Daisy Dinah Collett who was named as the sole executor for
her Will. It was fifteen years after
that, when the death of Dinah Daisy Collett was recorded at Acle register
office (Ref. 4a 445), to the west of Great Yarmouth, during the third quarter
of 1966, when she was 85. The Will of
Dinah Daisy Collett “otherwise Daisy Dinah Collett” was proved at Norwich on 3rd
November 1966 to Albert Charles Collett, a retired gas meter fitter, and Jessie
Blake, widow, the estate valued at £4,886.
The death notice also confirmed that at the time of her passing, Daisy
had been living at 123 Lowestoft Road in Gorleston, but that she died on 13th
September 1966 while in the St Andrews Hospital on Thorpe Street in the St
Andrews area of Norwich
Beatrice
Collett [18Q52] was
born at 2 Hervey Street in Lowestoft on 27th August 1882, the fifth
child of William and Elizabeth Collett, her birth registered at Mutford (Ref.
4a 841), simply named as Beatrice, during the third quarter of that year. She was again named as just Beatrice Collett
when she was baptised at the Church of St John in Lowestoft on 25th
February 1885, when her father William was a fisherman still living at 2 Hervey
Street in Lowestoft with his wife Elizabeth.
Yet again, she was Beatrice Collett aged eight years in the census of
1891, by which time she and her family were living at 26 Trafalgar Road in West
Gorleston. On completing her schooling
in Lowestoft, she entered the world of domestic service and by 1901 had secured
a position of housemaid at Elgin Road, Wallington in Surrey, when Beatrice
Collett from Lowestoft was 19. That was
the home of the three unmarried Goatley siblings, head of the household was
Richard, a woollen agent, and with him, his two older sisters Ada and Emily
both described as school keepers
It was during the following decade when
Beatrice appears to have used Frances as a second forename, the name possibly a
tribute to her older sister Frances who died just before Beatrice was
born. Ten years later she was still
unmarried and was still living in Wallington, Surrey, but at the home of
spinster Hannah E Grummant. On that
occasion she was recorded (temporarily it seems) as Beatrice F Collett,
aged 28 and from Lowestoft, who was a general domestic servant. Also living in Surrey on that day was her
older unmarried sister Dinah Daisy Collett, who decided to live together
thereafter. That was confirmed in the
1939 Register, when spinster Beatrice Collett was the housekeeper for retired
Jasper and Emily Burwell at ‘Toits Rouge’ on New Road, Lothingland in
Suffolk. Beatrice was 57 and her sister
Dinah was 58. At the same time and
living close by in Lothingland was the father of the two sisters, with their
younger sister Ethel (below).
Just prior to the death of their father, he moved to 123 Lowestoft Road
in Gorleston, his three daughters joining him there. He died there in 1942 and, after a further
seven years, Beatrice Collett of 123 Lowestoft Road died on 13th
December 1949, her death as only Beatrice Collett was recorded at Yarmouth
register office (Ref. 4b 449) when she was 67.
Probate of her estate of £526 11 Shillings and 2 Pence was granted at
Norwich on 8th May 1950 to her two sisters Daisy Dinah Collett and
Ethel May Collett, both spinsters themselves.
On being buried, her name was again confirmed as simply Beatrice Collett
Ethel
Mary Collett [18Q53] was
born at 2 Hervey Street in Lowestoft on 12th June 1884 when her
birth was registered at Mutford (Ref. 4a 880) during the third quarter of the
year. It was at St John’s Church in
Lowestoft where she was baptised on 6th August 1884, the daughter of
sailor William Collett and his wife Elizabeth.
It was simply as Ethel Collett that she was listed in the census of
1891, when she was six years old and was living with her mother and her family
at 26 Trafalgar Road in West Gorleston, her father being absent on that
occasion because he was a fisherman and most likely away at sea on that
day. Ten years later in March 1901,
Ethel Collett, aged 16, was still living with her parents, who were then
residing at 150 Bells Road in Gorleston.
However, ten years after that, according to the census in April 1911,
she was living and working in the Kingston-on-Thames in Surrey, where she was
recorded as Ethel Maude Collett from Lowestoft who was 27 and a housemaid for
the Knight family
Like her two older sisters (above),
Ethel Mary Collett never married and also like them, Ethel at the age of 55,
was living at New Road in Lothingland in the 1939 Register, with her elderly
father William, for whom she was his housekeeper. Within a year or so, Ethel and her two
sisters Dinah and Beatrice, together with their father, moved to 123 Lowestoft
Road in Gorleston, where they were all living when their father passed away in
1942. Eight years later in 1950, Ethel
Collett, spinster, was named as one of the two executors for the estate of her
sister Beatrice Collett of 123 Lowestoft Road, Gorleston. Ethel was the second of the third sisters to
pass away during the following year, the death of Ethel M Collett recorded at
Yarmouth (Ref. 4b 393) at the age of 66.
The Will of Ethel Mary Collett of 123 Lowestoft Road, who died there on
21st April 1951, was proved at Norwich 25th July 1951 to
Daisy Dinah Collett, spinster, for her estate of £401 14 Shillings and 3 Pence
George
Collett [18Q54] was
born at Lowestoft on 29th November 1885, with his birth registered
at Mutford (Ref. 4a 942) during the first three months of 1886, another son of
William Collett and Elizabeth Jackson.
It was on 26th November 1886 that he was baptised at St
John’s Church in Lowestoft, when his family was living at 2 Heavey Street and
where his father was a fisherman. He was
five years old at the time of the 1891 Census and was living at 26 Trafalgar
Road in West Gorleston with his mother and other members of his family. Ten years later he had left school and at 15
years of age he was living at the family home which was at 150 Bells Road in
Gorleston, from where he was working as a grocer’s apprentice. By the time of the census of 1911, unmarried
George Collett, aged 24 and from Lowestoft, was living and working at Great
Grimsby in Lincolnshire, where he was a waiter employed at an institute. It is likely that he saw active service
during the Great War, although no records have so far been found
Towards the end of the war, George Collett
married Ethel May Shepherd at the Church of St Mary and St James in Great
Grimsby, the event recorded there (Ref. 7a 1456) during the third quarter of
1918. Ethel was nearly ten years younger
than George, having been born on 8th April 1894, the daughter of
Arthur and Mary Ann Shepherd of Grimsby, her birth recorded at Rotherham (Ref.
9c 672). Over the following years, Ethel
presented George with three children, the births of which were all recorded at
Grimsby register office, when their mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as
Shepherd. According to the 1939
Register, two of the couple’s three children were still living with them,
although one of entries was redacted and the record officially closed due to
the individual still being alive when the Register was made available for
public viewing. The four members of the
family were living at 102 Ainslie Street in Grimsby, where George Collett was
53 and a heavy worker, being a lumper with a fish company, a person who loads
and unloads crates of fish. His wife
Ethel M Collett was 45, and their youngest child was Norman G Collett, a
15-years-old schoolboy who was also an Air Raid Patrol scout messenger. The death of George Collett was recorded at
Sleaford register office (Ref. 3b 340) in Lincolnshire near the end of 1970,
when he was around 85 years of age. The
last four years of his life was spent as a widower, following the death of his
wife during the spring of 1976 which was recorded at Lincoln register office
(Ref. 7 1738) at the age of 82
18R43 - William A Collett was born in 1919 at
Grimsby
18R44 - Eileen Nora Collett was born in 1921 at
Grimsby
18R45 - Norman George Collett was born in 1924 at
Grimsby
Louis
James Collett [18Q55] was born at Lowestoft on 21st April 1887, while
his birth was registered at Mutford (Ref. 4a 985) in the second quarter of that
year. As far as can be determined, it
was only at the time of his birth and that of the 1891 census, that his name was
recorded as Louis. Thereafter it was
recorded as Lewis. Just after he was
born his parents left Lowestoft when they moved the family to Gorleston. By the time of the census in 1891, Louis
Collett aged four years was living at 26 Trafalgar Road in West Gorleston with
his family, and ten years after that, as Lewis Collett, aged 13, he was living
with his parents at 150 Bells Road in Gorleston. After a further ten years, the census in
April 1911, stated that bachelor Louis Collett was 23 and that he was still
living with his family at Gorleston, when his place of birth was once again
confirmed as Lowestoft. Five years later
the marriage of Lewis James Collett and Ethel May Hicks was recorded at Mutford
register office (Ref. 4a 2171) during the first three months on 1916, which
produced two children for the couple.
The birth of Ethel May Hicks was recorded at Romford in Essex (Ref. 4a
431) during the second quarter of 1893.
The births of the two children were recorded at Yarmouth register office
and confirmed their mother’s maiden-name was Hicks (Refs. 4b 66 & 4b 42)
respectively.
Both of the children were listed with the
couple when the 1939 Register was compiled, but like other entries, the one for
their son was redacted and officially closed due to him being alive when the
document was released to the general public.
At that time in their life, the family was residing at 33 Bells Road in
Great Yarmouth, where Lewis J Collett was a grocery and provisions dealer aged
52. His wife Ethel M Collett was 46
having been born on 9th March 1893, and their daughter Marjorie J
Collett was 19 and an insurance clerk.
Lewis was 80 years old, when the death of Lewis J Collett was recorded
at Yarmouth register office (Ref. 4b 774) during the first three months of
1968, when he was living at 42 Lower Cliff Road in Gorleston. Curiously after he passed away, his body was
transported two-hundred miles south-west to Winchester in Hampshire, where his
body was buried on 18 January 1968. The
Will of Lewis James Collett was proved at Norwich on 26th February
1968 for £283 and referred to the day he died as 12th January 1968
Apart from what is written above, the only
other details unearthed regarding his daughter are that she was born within the
catchment area of Great Yarmouth on 9th December 1919, and that her
death was recorded there in 1998 when she was 78. Her record at Great Yarmouth Crematorium in
Gorleston stated that she died on 27th May 1998 while in the James
Paget Hospital, her home address being 14 Clement Court in Gorleston, and that
the cremation service was held on 4th June 1998
18R46 – Marjorie Joan Collett was born in 1919
at Yarmouth
18R47 - Leslie James Collett was born in 1924 at
Yarmouth
Albert
Charles Collett [18Q56] was born at Gorleston-on-Sea on 29th June 1889,
just after his family had arrived there from Lowestoft, with his birth
registered at Mutford (Ref. 4a 923). He
was the youngest son of William Collett of Mettingham and his wife Elizabeth
Jackson from Reedham. Albert was one
year old at the time of the Gorleston census of 1891, when he and his family
was living at 26 Trafalgar Road in West Gorleston. He was 11 years old in the Gorleston census
of 1901 when he was still living there with his parents but at 150 Bells Road
in Gorleston, and was once again living with his parents after a further ten
years, in 1911, when he was 21. It was
on 4th February 1915 when Albert Charles Collett was 25 that he
enlisted with the British Army. His
attestation form for four years’ service included the following details. His address was 9 South Road in Gorleston
when he was assigned to the 2-6th Cyclist Battalion of the Suffolk
Regiment, service number 2244, with the rank of private. His next-of-kin was his father William
Collett of 9 South Road aforesaid. He
had only served King & Country for a total of 130 days when he was
discharged on 13th June 1915 because “of not likely to become an
efficient soldier”, even though he was described as being a very good
character. It was on medical grounds
that he was reject, having a cardiac weakness, being very debilitated, with a
poor physique, and suffering with epilepsy.
After the war, when the army were trying resolve whether or not he was
entitled to a pension, his address was recorded at 56 Suffield Road in Gorleston-on-Sea,
running between Lowestoft Road and Middleton Road
It may well have been from that address that
Albert Charles Collett married Eva Annie Sayer; their wedding recorded at
Yarmouth register office (Ref. 4b 45) during the first three months of
1918. Just over three years after the
wedding day, Eva gave birth to a daughter, whose birth was recorded at Yarmouth
register office (Ref. 4b 48) during the second quarter of 1921, when the
mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Sayer.
Eva Annie was born on 9th June 1892 and was baptised at
Gorleston on 6th July 1892, the daughter of Charles Coburg Sayer, a
baker, and his wife Elizabeth.
Previously written here there was doubt as to the correct identification
of Albert Charles Collett, with a reference to one such gentleman of that name
whose death was recorded at Norfolk register office (Ref. 4b 17) in 1927 at the
age of 30. However, we now know that the
son of William and Elizabeth was still alive in 1966, when he was one of the
executors of the Will of his older sister Dinah Daisy Collett (above). Albert Charles Collett was described as a
retired meter fitter, while the second executor was Albert’s sister Jessie
Blake (below), a widow, when Dinah’s estate was valued at £4,886
The earlier Register of 1939 identified Albert
and Eva living at 184 Bells Road in Gorleston, from where Albert C Collett,
aged 50, was working as an electric meter fitter and repairer. His wife Eva A Collett was 47 and the third
member of the household, their eighteen-year-old daughter, had her details
redacted and officially closed. The
death of Albert Charles Collett was recorded at Great Yarmouth register office
(Ref. 10 1229) during the second quarter of 1974 at the age of 85. According to the cremation record at Great
Yarmouth he was 84 when he died on 28th May 1974, one day short of
his 85th birthday. He was
cremated on 3rd June 1974 when his home address was 184 Bells Road
in Gorleston-on-Sea. The Will of Albert
Charles Collett was proved at Ipswich on 5th August 1974, when his
estate had a value of £1,222. Five years
after losing her husband, the death of Eva Annie Collett was also recorded at
Great Yarmouth register office (Ref. 10 1143) during the second quarter of 1979
when she was nearly 87. Her cremation
record stated that she was still living at 184 Bells Road in Gorleston where
she died on 22nd April and was cremated on 27th April
1979
18R48 – Betty E Collett was born in 1921 at
Yarmouth
Jessie
Collett [18Q57] was
born at Gorleston-on-Sea on 4th October 1891, the youngest child of
William Collett and his wife Elizabeth Jackson.
Her birth was registered at Yarmouth (Ref. 4b 32) during the final
quarter of 1891. Jessie was nine years
old by the time of the census in 1901, when she was living at 150 Bells Road in
Gorleston with her parents, and she was still living at the family home in
Gorleston ten years later in 1911, when she was 19. It was just over five years later that she
married Robert Stanley Blake at Yarmouth where their wedding was recorded (Ref.
4b 41) during the last three months of 1916.
Robert’s birth had been recorded at Ely (Ref. 3b 569) in Cambridgeshire
during the second quarter of 1889, where he was also baptised on 10th
June 1889, the son of Arthur Ephraim and Agnes Blake. By the time of the 1939 Register, the couple
was living at 10 Palmar Road in Maidstone, where Robert S Blake was the chief
clerk at an electricity works, his date of birth being 23rd March
1889. Three other people were listed at
the address, the first being his wife Jessie Blake who was 47, the second name
being redacted, and the third being 14-year-old school girl Sheila K Brown,
whose date of birth was 1st June 1925
During the second quarter of 1964 Robert
Stanley Blake died, with his death recorded at Maidstone register office (Ref.
5b 608) at the age of 75. It was at the
West Kent General Hospital in Maidstone where he passed away on 8th
April, following which his body was taken to Great Yarmouth where he was buried
on 13th April 1964. The Will of Robert Stanley Blake of 10 Palmar
Road, Maidstone, was proved at London on 12th June 1964 to Jessie
Blake, widow, in the sum of £3,361. Two
years later, widow Jessie Blake was one of the two executors of the Will of her
older unmarried sister Dinah Daisy Collett (above), following her death
at Gorleston in 1966. The later death of
Jessie Blake was recorded at Kingston-upon-Thames in Surrey (Ref. 5c 2344)
during the last three months of 1969, when she was 78
Eliza Collett [18Q58] was born at Burgh
Castle during the middle of June 1881, where she was baptised on 22nd
June 1881, the eldest daughter of George Collett and Eliza Kerrison. Her birth was registered at Mutford (Ref. 4a
861) during the second quarter of 1881, and it was there also that her death
was recorded (Ref. 4a 459) the third quarter of 1881, after which Eliza Collett
was buried at Burgh Castle on 9th July 1881. Another Eliza Collett also had her birth
recorded at Mutford (Ref. 4a 827) during the third quarter of 1881, but
tragically, she too suffered an infant death which was recorded at Mutford
(Ref. 4a 457) during the third quarter of 1882
Margaret
Matilda Collett [18Q59] was born at Belton on 21st August 1884, possibly
at the home of her maternal grandparents, as her parents had been living at
Burgh Castle in 1881. The birth was
registered at Mutford (Ref. 4a 913) during the third quarter of 1884, when her
parents were named as George and Eliza Collett.
Margaret was just over three years of age when her father died,
following which her mother took Margaret and her younger brother George (below)
to live at Belton with her parents. The
Mutford & Gorleston district census of 1891 recorded the three members of
the Collett family under the name of Collect, and they were Eliza Collett who
was 31, Margaret M Collett who was six, and George Collett who was three years
of age. Eliza’s parents, with whom they
were living at St Johns Road in Belton, were listed as George Kerrison, aged
68, and Sarah Kerrison, who was 69.
After leaving school, towards the end of the century, Margaret may have
left her grandparents’ home in Belton to secure work. Certainly, at the time of the census in 1901,
Margaret M Collett, aged 16 and from Belton, where visiting the Norfolk home of
Charles and Edith M Holland at Turner’s Green in the village of Garvestone near
East Dereham. Charles was 34 and an
ordinary agricultural labourer who was born at Garvestone, Edith was 27, and
with then were their two children young Ernest and Ellen. Whether the Holland family was in some way
related to Margaret is not currently known, but ten years later she was living
at 21 Albermarle Road in Gorleston, the home of Edith Bullock who was 27. By that time in her life the unmarried
daughter of George and Eliza Collett was listed as Margaret Matilda Collett,
aged 26, who had been born at Belton.
After that, it might be that she travelled to London, since it was there
that she was married
Six years later, during the third quarter of
1917, the marriage of Margaret Matilda Collett and Henry Stark was recorded at
West Ham register office in London (Ref. 4a 487). Their wedding ceremony was conducted at All
Saints Church in West Ham on 1st August 1917, when the bride was 32
years of age and confirmed as the daughter of George Collett. Their son Albert David Stark was born
two years later, his birth recorded at West Ham register office (Ref. 4a 60)
during the third quarter of 1919. After
a further twenty years, Margaret M Stark, aged 55, was still located within the
West Ham area of East London in 1939, when she was a married woman and a
housekeeper at 108-110 The Grove, adjacent to Grove Crescent Road in the
Borough of West Ham, the home of elderly widow Mary L Beck who, together with
her unmarried daughter, were partners in a pawn broking business. Where Margaret’s husband was that day has yet
to be discovered. What is known is that
on 21st August 1984 she received a letter from Queen Elizabeth II to
celebrate her one-hundredth birthday.
Sadly, it was just after that happy day when she died, the death of
Margaret Matilda Stark was recorded at the Hasting & Rother register office
in East Sussex (Ref. 18 899) during October 1984