PART THIRTY-ONE

The Somerset Appendix

(a Somerset branch of the family with its origins in Gloucestershire)

Updated February 2024

The information in this file was previously in appendices within the original Part 31 – The Wiltshire and Somerset Line. At the end of 2019, that file was substantially updated, following receipt from Stephen Carpenter of the Wiltshire Family History Society, of transcribed parish records for the County of Wiltshire. That work provided a confirmed link between the main body of the file and the details previously included in Appendix One and Appendix Two. Merging those three elements into one, coupled with lots of new details obtained from the parish records, has resulted in the new file, renamed Part 31 – The New Wiltshire Somerset Line, being too large to retain the third appendix. This, therefore is a revamped version of that remaining appendix, which would be a shame to lose.

	THE FAMILY OF WILLIAM THOMAS COLLETT OF BATH
	When searching for William Thomas Collett (Ref. 31P23), who was living in Bath shortly after he was born to parents from South Wraxall, another William Thomas Collett was discovered, who does not appear anywhere on the Collett Family History website. Therefore, he and his family have been included here in the hope that his actual lineage might be later identified. To start, we know his father was also William Collett, but from Marshfield in South Gloucestershire, near the county boundary with Somerset and not far from Bath.
31o1	William Collett was possibly born around 1826 within the Bath area of Somerset, who was working at an early age in nearby Marshfield, just north of Bath in South Gloucestershire. So far, no record of his birth or baptism has been found, nor is it known who his parents were because, it would appear, from around the age of ten, he was very likely living with Thomas and Hannah Holder at their home in Marshfield. Certainly, it was with them and their young son that he was living and working as an agricultural labourer in 1841. By that time in his life William Collett was 15, when Thomas (born in 1813) and Hannah Holder (born in 1808) were recorded with the same rounded age of 25 (sic), and their son Robert Holder was three years old. From then on, his place of birth was recorded as Marshfield, with only the census in 1881 giving his place of birth as Bath. In addition to William Collett, two other young men were living with the Holder family, and they were William Jeffries 20, and Charles Staple 15, working as agricultural labourers, as was Thomas Holder.
	What is known about the Holder family is that Hannah and her son were both born at Marshfield Gloucestershire in 1808 and 1838 respectively. Thomas Holder was not born in the county and he died in the village of Mountain Bower in Wiltshire and was buried at North Wraxall on 14^th June 1846 at the age of only 33 (Bishop’s Transcript). Prior to that Hannah gave birth to a second son at Marshfield, and then a daughter who was born after moving to North Wraxall. Widowed, and with three children, Hannah Holder was 39 and a pauper, agricultural labour in 1851, when she was residing in North Wraxall with Robert Holder aged 12 and an ag lab, Joseph Holder another ag lab who was 10 also born at Marshfield, and Mary Ann Holder aged five years who was born at North Wraxall.
	What is known for sure is that just prior to the census in 1851, William Collett married Margaret Sarah Lephard (Leppard) who was born at Hungerford in Berkshire, with their wedding recorded at Bath (Ref. xi 9) during the first quarter of that year. A few weeks later, the couple was recorded in the census that year at Midsummer Buildings in the Walcot area of Bath, where the first of their children was born two years later. On that census day, William Collett from Marshfield was 26 and a farm labourer, and Margaret S Collett from Hungerford was also 26.
	After the Walcot birth of their first the couple’s first-born child, the family made their home at nearby Bathwick, where all their remaining children were born and baptised, with the births registered in Bath. According to the census conducted in 1861, the family was residing at Villa Fields in Bathwick-with-Woolley, where William Collett from Marshfield was 34 and a mason’s labourer and his wife Margaret S Collett from Hungerford was 36. The five children with them that day were recorded as Margaret E Collett from Walcot who was eight, Louisa Collett who was five, William T Collett who was three, and the twins Richard and Robert Collett who were both two years old.
	More children were added to the family over the next decade, although they had to suffer the loss of son Robert, who died in November 1867. It was also at Villa Fields, Bathwick-with-Woolley, that the enlarged family was still living in 1871. William was 44 and a labourer who said he had been born at Bathwick, where all his children had been born. His wife Margaret S Collett was 46 and from Hungerford, while their five children were William T Collett aged 13 and still at school, as was Richard who was 12, James who was nine, Francis G Collett who was seven and Mary E Collett who was four years of age. The couple’s two eldest daughters had already left home by then.
	Perhaps it was the premature death of his son Robert that had a bad effect on head of the household William Collett because it was in the years leading up to the next census day, that he walked out on his family. On that day in 1881, he was a lodger at the home of the Barton family in nearby Twerton at Dorset Street, when William Collett from Bath was 53 and a married man, whose occupation was that of a mason. On that same day, and just two or three miles away, his estranged wife Margaret S Collett from Hungerford in Berkshire was head of the household at Villa Fields in Bathwick-with-Woolley. She was 56 and working as a cook and she confirmed that she was still a married woman. Living there with her, were her two sons, Richard who was 21, and Francis who was 17.
	It is not clear what happened to William after 1881, since no obvious record has been found for him. On the day of the next Bathwick census in 1891, Margaret Collett from Berkshire was again recorded as being the married, and head of the household at Villa Fields, aged 66, but with no stated occupation. The only child still living with her, was her son Richard Collett who was 31 and, as a labourer, he was the bread-winner for him and his mother. It was four years later that the death of Margaret Sarah Collett was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 399) during the second quarter of 1895, when she was 70.
	31p1	Margaret Eliza Collett	Born in 1853 at Walcot, Bath
	31p2	Louisa Collett	Born in 1855 at Bathwick, Bath
	31p3	William Thomas Collett	Born in 1857 at Bathwick, Bath
	31p4	Richard Collett twin	Born in 1859 at Bathwick, Bath
	31p5	Robert Collett twin	Born in 1859 at Bathwick, Bath
	31p6	James Collett	Born in 1861 at Bathwick, Bath
	31p7	Francis George Collett	Born in 1863 at Bathwick, Bath
	31p8	Mary Elizabeth Collett	Born in 1867 at Bathwick, Bath
31p1	Margaret Eliza Collett was born at Walcot in Bath in 1853 and was baptised at St Saviour’s Church in Bath on 29^th May 1853, the first-born child of William Collett and Margaret Sarah Leppard. Her birth was recorded at Bath (Ref. 5c 716) during the second quarter of the year. She was eight years old in 1861 and, on completing her education, she left Bathwick to make her own way in the world. Where she was in 1871 has not yet been discovered, while in 1881, Margaret Eliza Collett was 26 and the domestic cook at the house of Martin Henry Whish and his wife Ellen at Alderley within the Chipping Sodbury area of South Gloucestershire. Also employed at the same address was her sister Louisa (below) who was a housemaid for the couple, and their youngest sister Mary Elizabeth who was helping her older sisters.
	Nine years later, the marriage of Margaret Eliza Collett and William Hulance was recorded at the Chipping Sodbury register office (Ref. 6a 249) during the first quarter of 1889. One year later, Margaret gave birth to the couple’s only child. By that time Margaret already had a daughter who was four years old, as confirmed in the Alderley census of 1891. William Hulance was 37, Margaret E Hulance was 36, and daughter Margaret E Hulance was one year of age. The family was again residing in Alderley in 1901, where William Hulance was 45 and a domestic gardener, Margaret Eliza Hulance was 47, and daughter Margaret Ellen Hulance was 11. Staying with the family was Margaret’s younger sister Mary Elizabeth Collett (below).
	Where the family was in 1911 is not known, although it is confirmed that the death of Margaret Eliza Hulance, nee Collett, was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 578) during the last three months of 1922, at the age of 69.
31p2	Louisa Collett was born in 1855 at Bathwick, just east of Bath, where she was baptised at St Mary’s Church on 12^th August 1855, another daughter of William and Margaret Sarah Collett. She was five years old in 1861, but was not living at the family home in Bathwick-with-Woolley in 1871. That year, Louisa Collett was 15 and a servant at the Widcombe home of Joseph Chinnock, aged 74, and his much younger wife Jane who was 45. Ten years later, she was reunited with her older sister Margaret (above), when they were working together in the service of the Whish family at the Alderley (Chipping Sodbury) when Louisa from Bath was 24 and a domestic servant and housemaid.
	Louisa was still working for widowed Martin Whish in 1891 at the age of 35, but on that occasion, one of the other two servants was her younger sister Mary E Collett (below). She was still unmarried at the end of the century when she was still a servant at the Alderley home of Martin Henry Swish who was 85, when Louisa Collett from Bathwick was 45. As a loyal servant of Martin Whish for most of her working life, she was a named beneficiary under the terms of his Will which, after he passed away, enabled her to retired to Torquay, where she was living in 1911, in the St Marychurch district of the town. Unmarried Louisa Collett was 55 and living on private means. Just over ten years later, the death of Louisa Collett was recorded at Newton Abbott register office (Ref. 5b 141) during the last three months of 1921, when she was 66.
31p3	William Thomas Collett was born at Bathwick in 1857, the third child and eldest son of William Collett and Margaret Sarah Leppard. His birth was recorded at Bath (Ref. 5c 631) during the third quarter of 1857, following which he was baptised at St Mary’s Church in Bathwick on 9^th August 1857 and was three years old in 1861. By 1871 William was 13 years old and still attending school, while living with his family at Bathwick-with-Woolley. The later marriage of William Thomas Collett and Catherine Mary Deverill was recorded at Bath during the fourth quarter of 1880 (Ref. 5c 1033). Catherine (or Caroline – see later) was born at Hinton Charterhouse in Somerset, with her birth recorded at Bath (Ref. 5c 708) during the second quarter of 1859 as Caroline Mary Deverell. By 1871, Catherine Deverill, from Hinton Charterhouse, was a servant aged 12 years at Norton St Philip, just south of Hinton Charterhouse, the home of octogenarian Susan Withers and her elderly son Charles Withers.
	In the neighbouring county of Wiltshire, Elizabeth Deverill (1785-1865) was the wife of William Collett (Ref. 31N3) of South Wraxall near Bradford-on-Avon, not far from Bath.
	Within six months of her wedding day, Catherine was named as Mary Collett in the census of 1881, when she and two of her younger siblings were living at Twerton Hayes Buildings in Twerton (Bath), with her husband William T Collett, aged 23 and a plumber’s labourer from Bath. Mary Collett from Hinton Charterhouse was 22, Daniel Deverill was 16, and Maria Deverill was eight years old who also had been born at Hinton Charterhouse. As far as can be determined, Catherine presented William with four children while the couple was living at Twerton, the first three of them being born during the first ten years of their married life.
	By 1891 the family was still living at Twerton, where William T Collett was 35 and again working as a plumber’s labourer. His wife, named as Caroline Mary Collett was 32 and had presented William with three children. William Henry Collett was nine, Margaret Elizabeth Mary Collett was six, and Martin Richard Charles Collett was four. Staying with the family was William’s younger brother James Collett (below), who was 29, and uncle James Palmer from Suffolk, aged 48, who was a widower and a jobbing gardener. Ten years later, the Bath census return completed in 1901, included plumber William T Collett who was 43, his wife Kate Mary Collett who was 42, and sons Martin Collett and Alfred Collett, who were 14 and five years of age respectively, when their place of birth was recorded as Twerton, where all of William and Kate’s children were born.
	Nine years after that census day, the death of William’s wife was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 275) during the third quarter of 1910, when she was 51 years old. Curiously, like the census in 1891, she was listed as Caroline M Collett. In addition to that, it is very interesting that the eldest daughter of her son William, was also given the name Caroline Maud Mary Collett, Maud being the name of his wife. Her demise was confirmed in the census of 1911, when William Thomas Collett from Bathwick was a widower at the age of 54, whose occupation was that of a labourer and a plumber. Looking after him, his son Alfred, and his brother Richard (below), was his unmarried daughter Margaret Collett, who was described as a domestic cook.
	At the time of his death, his stated age was incorrectly recorded as being 63, rather than 69, when the death of William Collett was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 590) during the final three months of 1926.
	31q1	William Henry Herbert Collett		Born in 1881 at Twerton, Bath
	31q2	Margaret Elizabeth Mary Collett		Born in 1884 at Twerton, Bath
	31q3	Martin Richard Charles Collett		Born in 1886 at Twerton, Bath
	31q4	Alfred James L Collett		Born in 1895 at Twerton, Bath
31p4	Richard Collett was born at Bathwick in 1859 and was the twin brother of Robert (below). They were baptised together at Bathwick on 10^th April 1859, the second and third male children of William and Margaret Collett. The birth of Richard Collett was recorded at Bath (Ref. 5c 733) during the first three months of 1859 and he was two years old in the Bathwick-with-Woolley census of 1861. Four years after the death of his twin-brother, Richard was again living with his family at Bathwick-with-Woolley in 1871 at the age of 12 years. However, in 1881, Richard Collett from Bathwick was living at Villa Fields in Bathwick with his just mother and his brother Francis, when he was 21 and a labourer.
	He never married and, at the age of 31, he was again working as a labourer in 1891, when he was the only child still living at Bathwick with his mother who, by then, had been separated from his father for over ten years. Where Richard was in 1901 has not been determined, but by 1911 he was a mason’s labourer working in the building trade, when he was 52, unmarried, and born at Bathwick, staying at the Bath home of his widowed older brother William Thomas Collett. Twenty-five years later, the death of Richard Collett of Bathwick was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 605) during the second quarter of 1936 when he was 77.
31p5	Robert Collett was born at Bathwick in 1859 and was the twin brother of Richard (above) whose joint births were recorded at Bath (Ref. 5c 733). They were baptised together at Bathwick on 10^th April 1859, the second and third male children of William and Margaret Collett. Robert was two years of age in 1861, when he and his family were residing in Bathwick-with-Woolley. Tragically, he was only eight years old, when he died at Bathwick, the death of Robert Collett recorded at Bath (Ref. 5c 408) during the fourth quarter of 1867. He was then buried at Bathwick on 21^st November 1867.
31p6	James Collett was born at Bathwick in 1861 and just after the census day that year, with his birth recorded at Bath (Ref. 5c 732) during the second quarter of the year. He was a few months old when he was baptised at Bathwick on 14^th July 1861, another son of William and Margaret Collett. It was at Bathwick-with-Woolley that he was living with his family in 1871, when James was nine years old. After leaving school, he also left Bathwick and in 1881 he was working as a servant and domestic gardener at a dwelling in the Gloucestershire village of Northleach, when James Collett from Bath was 19. Ten years later, on the day of the census in 1891, James Collett was staying with the family of his older brother William Collett (above), at Twerton, when he was still unmarried at the age of 29, and employed as a plate layer on the Midland Railway.
	A little over four years after that day, the marriage of James Collett and (1) Rebecca Tessa Leppard was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 1052) during the fourth quarter of 1895, Leppard also being his mother’s maiden name. Two year later, Rebecca presented James with a son who was born at Bath, where the three of them were living in 1901. James Collett was a general labourer of 39, his wife Rebecca Teressa Collett from Canada was 37, and their son was Albert James Leppard Collett who was three years of age. Tragically, Rebecca died during the following year, most likely at the time of the birth of the couple’s second child, who also did not survive. The death of Rebecca Teressa Collett was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 311) during the third quarter of 1902, when she was 39.
	In 1901, his brother Francis (below) was a married man with a family living in Bath where, staying with them was his sister-in-law, unmarried Anna S Snell, aged 28, who was a confectioner’s shop assistant. One year after losing his first wife, the marriage of widower James Collett and spinster (2) Anna Selina Snell was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 1098) during the third quarter of 1903. Anna was the daughter of Thomas and Ann Snell and was born in 1872, being ten years older than James. What is strange, is that no record of James, Anna, or James’ son Albert, has been identified anyway in 1911, so it has not been possible to discover if James had any children with Anna during the first eight years of their marriage.
	What is known, is that Geoffrey W G Collett was born at Bath in 1914, when his mother’s maiden name was confirmed as Snell. The later death of James Collett of Bathwick was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 520) during the third quarter of 1934 when he was 73. His obituary was published in the Bath Chronicle & Herald on 7^th July 1934, included the surname of Chancellor, possibly the name of his solicitor. Being so much younger than her husband, it was nearly twenty years after losing her husband, when the death of Anna S Collett was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 7c 39) during the last quarter of 1953, at the age of 81.
	31q5	Albert James Leppard Collett		Born in 1897 at Bath
	31q6	Geoffrey W G Collett		Born in 1914 at Bath
31p7	Francis George Collett was born in 1863 at Bathwick, where he was baptised on 13^th March 1864, the seventh child of William and Margaret Collett. His birth was recorded at Bath (Ref. 5c 672) during the last three months of the previous year and as Francis G Collett, he was seven years of age in the Bathwick-with-Woolley census of 1871. He was 17 in the Bathwick census of 1881, one of only two sons still living there with his mother at Villa Fields, when he was employed as a porter. It is not known where he was in 1891, but four years later he married Rosina Snell, daughter of daughter of Thomas and Ann Snell, whose younger daughter Anna later became the second wife of James Collett (above).
	The marriage of Francis George Collett and Rosina Snell was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 823) during the first quarter of 1895, when the groom was 32. Francis was a butcher who was living in Bath in 1901, at the age of 37. By then, he and Rosina, aged 31 and from Castle Combe, had three sons, all of them born in Bath. Reginald Collett was five, Harold Collett was four and Leonard Collett, who was not yet one year old. Staying with the family was Rosina’s younger sister Anna S Snell who was 29 and born at Castle Combe who, two years later married Francis’ brother James.
	The couple’s final child was also born in Bath, before the family moved to nearby Widcombe, just south of Bathwick, where they were living in 1911. George Collett was 47, a butcher, and Rose Collett was 41, when only three of their four sons was living with them, following the death of son Leonard at Bath in 1904. The surviving three sons were Reginald 15, Harold 14, and new arrival Leslie was four years old. Once again, one of Rosina’s younger sisters was living with them, and she was Rachel Snell from Castle Combe who was 22.
	Francis and Rosina died just three years apart, their deaths recorded at Bath register office. The passing of Francis George Collett was recorded there during the last three months of 1937 (Ref. 5c 589), when he was 73, and it was during the same period in 1940, that the death of Rosina Collett was recorded there (Ref. 5c 1490) at the age of 70.
	31q7	Reginald George William Collett		Born in 1895 at Bath
	31q8	Harold James L Collett		Born in 1897 at Bath
	31q9	Leonard John Collett		Born in 1900 at Bath
	31q10	Leslie Collett		Born in 1906 at Bath
31p8	Mary Elizabeth Collett was born at Bathwick, possibly at the end of 1866 or during the first weeks of 1867, with her birth recorded at Bath (Ref. 5c 392) during the first quarter of 1867. She was baptised at Bathwick on 10^th February 1867, the last child of William Collett and his wife Margaret Sarah Leppard. She was four years old in the Bathwick-with-Woolley census of 1871 while, at the age of 13 in 1881, she was already a domestic helper in Alderley, at the same address where her two older sisters Margaret and Louisa were employed as servants to the Whish family. In 1891 Mary E Collett was 24 when she was working alongside her older sister Louisa (above) as domestic servants at the Alderley home of widower Martin Whish. After another decade, unmarried Mary Elizabeth Collett, aged 34 and from Bathwick, was a visitor at the Alderley home of her married sister Margaret Eliza Hulance, when her occupation was that of a domestic servant in 1901.
31q1	William Henry Herbert Collett was born at Twerton sometime after the day of the census in 1881, with his birth recorded at Bath (Ref. 5c 564) during the third quarter of that year. He was the eldest of the four known children of William Thomas Collett and Catherine Mary Deverill who, as William Henry Collett was nine years old in the Twerton census of 1891. A few days before the next census in 1901, the marriage of William Henry H Collett and Maud Mary Carter was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 791). Then, on the day of the census that year, William H Collett from Bath was 21 (sic) and a book-binder, with his wife Maud M Collett recorded as 20 (sic), also born in Bath, who had no job of work.
	Maud Mary Carter was born at Walcot during the first months of 1883, making her only eighteen years old when she married nineteen-year-old William. It is believed that their marriage produced at least three children born at Bathwick, with all three recorded with the couple on the day of the Bath census in 1911 in the Weston district of the town. By that time, William H Collett from Twerton was 29, when his occupation was that of a machinist in the printing trade. Maud M Collett from Walcot was 28 and their three children were Caroline M M Collett who was nine, Dorothy L G Collett who was six and Ernest W H Collett who was two years of age, all three confirmed as having been born at Bathwick.
	Just over fifty years after that day, the death of William H H Collett was recorded at Wells register office (Ref. 7c 209) during the third quarter of 1962, when he was 80 years old. Two years prior to his passing, he had been widowed following the death of Maud M Collett, which was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 7c 20) during the last three months of 1960, at the age of 77.
	31r1	Caroline Maud Mary Collett		Born in 1901 at Bathwick, Bath
	31r2	Dorothy Louisa G Collett		Born in 1904 at Bathwick, Bath
	31r3	Ernest William Herbert Collett		Born in 1909 at Bathwick, Bath
31q2	Margaret Elizabeth Mary Collett was born at Twerton on 19^th July 1884, her birth recorded at Bath (Ref. 5c 573) during the third quarter of the year, the second child of William and Catherine Collett. She was recorded using her full name in the Twerton census of 1891, when she was six years old. After leaving school she entered domestic service and in 1901 she was described simply as Margaret Collett who was 18 and a parlourmaid living and working at the Bath home of Sicilian born Thomas Ninmo, a Major General with the Indian Staff Corps, and his family.
	Following the death of her mother in 1910, Margaret returned to the family home in Bath, where she was living with her widowed father and her youngest brother Alfred (below), who had living with them Margaret’s uncle Richard Collett, her father’s younger brother. Once again, she was simply included in the census of 1911, as Margaret Collett from Twerton who was 27 and a domestic cook.
	Three years later, the marriage of Margaret E M Collett and John H Tucker was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 1215) during the last quarter of 1914. John Henry Tucker was born at Bath in 1881, the son of Edward and Catherine Tucker. The marriage provided the couple with a daughter and a son, the record of their births confirmed their mother’s maiden name was Collett. The birth of Margaret G Tucker was recorded at Bath register office during the last three months of 1916 (Ref. 5c 770), where the birth of Ronald J Tucker was recorded (Ref. 5c 649) during the second quarter of 1919. The death of Margaret Elizabeth M Tucker was recorded at Bath during the first weeks of 1976 (Ref. 22 0290), when she was 91.
31q3	Martin Richard Charles Collett was born at Twerton, Bath in 1886 with his birth recorded at Bath (Ref. 5c 588) during the third quarter of that year. As with his sister (above), Martin was also listed in the Twerton census of 1891 under his full name, when he was four years of age. After a further ten years, Martin Collett had completed his schooling and, at the age of 14, was already working as a barber, while still living with his parents in Bath. Rightly or wrongly, it has been assumed that Martin left Great Britain during the first decade of the new century, since no record of him has been found in the census of 1911, nor that of a marriage or death.
31q4	Alfred James L Collett was born at Twerton in 1895 and was the last child born to William Thomas Collett and Catherine Mary Deverill. His birth, like his older siblings, was recorded at Bath registry office (Ref. 5c 513) during the fourth quarter of 1895. Sometime after he was born his family moved to Bath, where they were living in 1901, when Alfred Collett from Twerton was five years old and one of only two children still with their parents. Following the death of his mother in 1910, Alfred had left school and was working as an antique dealer’s messenger at the age of 15, when he was living with his widowed father and unmarried sister Margaret, together with his uncle Richard Collett.
	It was in the second quarter of 1920 that Alfred J L Collett married Hilda B Mortimer, the event recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 1491). Over the following years Hilda gave birth to four children, which was followed by the premature death of her husband, when the death of Alfred J Collett, aged 38, was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 729) during the first quarter of 1934.
	31r4	Betty K Collett		Born in 1921 at Bath
	31r5	Enid M Collett		Born in 1923 at Bath
	31r6	Hazel M Collett		Born in 1926 at Bath
	31r7	Eric J Collett		Born in 1931 at Bath
31q5	Albert James Leppard Collett was born at Bath on 7^th September 1897, where his birth was recorded (Ref. 5c 508) during the last three months of 1897. He was the only known child of James Collett and Rebecca Tessa Leppard who was three years of age in the Bath census of 1901. Albert was four years old when his mother died and was five years old when his father married his sister-in-law, the sister of his brother Francis’ wife. Although no record of Albert, his father, or his stepmother, has been found, it was during the third quarter of 1924 when, at the age of 27, he married Edith M Blyth, the event recorded at Bath (Ref. 5c 1165). No record of any children has been found and in 1975 the death of Albert J L Collett was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 22 0231) early in that year.
31q6	Geoffrey William G Collett was born at Bath on 23^rd June 1914, the son of James Collett by his second wife Anna Selina Snell, his birth recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 834) during the third quarter of 1914, when his mother’s maiden name was confirmed as Snell. He never married and he was still living in the Bath area when he died in the spring of 1986 at the age of 71, his death recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 22 83).
31q7	Reginald George William Collett was born at Bath on 1^st August 1895, where his birth was recorded (Ref.5c 569) during the third quarter of the year. He was the eldest of the four sons of Francis George Collett and Rosina Snell and was five years old in the Bath census of 1901. By 1911 the family was residing in the Widcombe area of Bath, just south of Bathwick, when Reginald had already left school and was working as a watchmaker at the age of 15. It was fourteen years later, as Reginald George W Collett, that his marriage to Gladys M Farley was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 1166) during the third quarter of 1925. After being married for four years Glady gave birth to a son whose birth was recorded at Bath. The family appear to have lived their life at Bath, where the death of Reginald George Collett was recorded (Ref. 7c 803) during the spring of 1973, when he was 77.
	31r8	Kenneth Reginald Collett		Born in 1929 at Bath
31q8	Harold James L Collett was born at Bath in 1897 with his birth recorded there (Ref. 5c 529) during the second quarter of the year. As simply Harold Collett, he was four years old in the Bath census of 1901 and was 14 in 1911 when he and his family were living in Widcombe, from where Harold was already working as a printer. Like his older brother Reginald (above), Harold was also married in 1925, but earlier in the year, when the marriage of Harold J L Collett and Ethel Schickel was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 1188) during the second quarter of that year. The marriage produced two children for the couple, both recorded at Bath register office, where the later death of Harold J L Collett was also recorded at Bath (Ref. 7c 398) during the first quarter of 1968, when he was 71.
	31r9	David James L Collett		Born in 1931 at Bath
	31r10	Kathleen Mary R Collett		Born in 1935 at Bath
31q9	Leonard John Collett was born at Bath towards the end 1900, with his birth recorded there (Ref. 5c 501) during the last three months of that year. He was only a few months old in the Bath census of 1901, while it was just over three years later, that the death of Leonard John Collett was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 304) during the third quarter of 1904.
31q10	Leslie Collett was born at Bath in 1906, the last of the four sons of Francis George Collett and Rosina Snell. His birth was also recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 474), during the third quarter of the year and by 1911, when he and his family were residing in the Widcombe area of south Bathwick, when Leslie was four years old. It seems that he never married and lived all his life in the Bath area, where his death was recorded (Ref. 7c 53) during the third quarter of 1957, when he was 51.
31r1	Caroline Maud Mary Collett, who was known as May, was born at Bathwick on 30^th July 1901, with her birth recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 613) during the third quarter of the year. She was the eldest child of William Henry Herbert Collett and Maud Mary Carter and was nine years old in the Lower Weston (Bath) census of 1911. She was around 28 years of age when she married Ernest Edward V Perrett, their wedding day recorded at Bath (Ref. 5c 1272) during the third quarter of 1929. Ernest was born in Bath on 16^th December 1902, although his birth was not recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 498) until the first quarter of 1903
	Once they were married, May and Ernest initially resided in a rented house at 63 Rudmore Park in the Newbridge district of Bath, not far from the River Avon. Their marriage did not provide them with any children and, it would appear, that the couple was still living in Bath when Ernest died. The death of Ernest Edward V Perrett was recorded at Bath register office (Vol. 22 0246) during the summer of 1974. Being the last member of the family living on her own in Bath, it was her brother Ernest (below) who found her a flat to rent in the village of Creech-St-Michael, three miles from Taunton, to be near him and his wife Betty. After fifteen years as a widow, the later death of Caroline Maud M Perrett was recorded at Taunton Deane register office (Vol. 23 1462) not long after the start of 1990.
31r2	Dorothy Louisa G Collett was born at Bathwick near the end of 1904 and her birth was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 487) during the first months of 1905. It was in 1927, as Dorothy L G Collett, that her marriage to Walter L Wilkins was recorded at Bath (Ref. 5c 1258) during the second three months of that year. Dorothy gave birth to the couple’s only known child nine months later, when the birth of John L Wilkins was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 653) during the last months of that same year, his mother’s maiden name confirmed as Collett. Her son was only three years old when his mother died, possibly giving birth to her second child, who also did not survive the ordeal. The death of Dorothy L G Wilkins was recorded at Bath (Ref. 5c 734) during the first quarter of 1931, at the age of 26.
31r3	Ernest William Herbert Collett was born at Bathwick on 19^th February 1909, the only son of William Collett and Maud Carter, whose birth was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 453). It was as Ernest W H Collett aged two years, that he was living with his parents and two older sisters at Lower Weston in Bath in 1911. On leaving school in the early 1920s, Ernest worked for Thomas Cook, Travel Agents, at their branch in Bath. He was later transferred to their Oxford branch and then onto the branch in Cambridge. It was while he was in Cambridge that he lodged at 46 Marshall Road in Cambridge, at the home of widow Elizabeth Sarah Kirk, the great aunt of June Coxhead, Ernest’s daughter who kindly provided new family details at the start of 2024.
	It was during that time in his life at Cambridge, that he met Aphra (Afra) Betty Florence Stalley who was living with her mother at 84 Regent Street in Cambridge. Betty’s brother Gerald Thomas Stalley was living with their aunt Elizabeth Sarah Kirk at 46 Marshall Road, Elizabeth being the former Elizabeth Sarah Stalley, their father’s sister. The birth of Aphra B F Stalley was recorded at Elham register office in Kent (Ref. 2a 2232) during the second quarter of 1913, when her mother’s maiden-name was Butler. Her brother Gerald Thomas Stalley was born when Aphra was nearly four years old, with his birth also recorded at Elham (Ref. 2a 1838) at the start of 1917. From these details, we know their parents were Thomas Esau Stalley and Florence Tilley Butler whose wedding was recorded at Elham register office (Ref. 2a 1791) early in 1910. Just over one year later Thomas from Cambridge was 29 and a grocer’s assistant living in Folkestone, Kent, where his wife Florence, aged 32, had been born.
	Through that initial meeting in Cambridge, Ernest and Betty fell in love but, during their courtship, Ernest was transferred back to the Thomas Cook office in Oxford, where he lived in rented accommodation at 55 Henley Road, Sandford-on-Thames on the southern outskirts of the city. When that happened, they kept in contact by letter between occasional visits. The subsequent marriage of Ernest William Herbert Collett, aged 23, and Aphra Betty Florence Stalley who was 19, was recorded at Cambridge register office (Ref. 3b 1249) during the third quarter of 1932. Aphra was born on 2^nd April 1913 and was baptised at Christ Church in Folkestone on 8^th June 1913, when her parents were confirmed as stated above.
	Following their wedding day, Betty joined Ernest in Oxford, along with her mother, and eventually they purchased 23 Bowness Avenue in the Headington area, north-east of the city centre. Bowness Avenue runs between Headley Road and Eden Drive. Around the time of their seventh wedding anniversary, World War Two was looming on the horizon and, when the war started, Thomas Cook closed, with Ernest then going to work at the Booking Office in Oxford Railway Station. He also joined the home guard, rising through the ranks, and it was because of this that he was not conscripted until later in the war. Ernest enlisted with the Royal Air Force and was trained as an Armourer (of aircraft) as a Corporal, because of his rank in the home guard.
	It was on Christmas Day that same year that Carol Betty Collett was born at the Radcliffe Infirmary on Woodstock Road in Oxford, and was followed two and a half years later by June Mary Collett. Carol was only three months when 617 Squadron was formed in March 1943, comprising Lancaster Bombers, when Ernest was assigned to the ‘top secret’ unit, later known as the Dambusters. Their secret base was at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire although, at that time, Betty had no idea where he was stationed. She also told Carol that Guy Gibson, the Commanding Officer of the 617 “Dambuster” Squadron held her as a baby. It is not sure when that happened but possibly, when she was six months old, in the summer of 1943, after the success raid on two German dams.
	Another war-time story told within the family, was that during a German bombing raid on the airfield, Ernest raced to an unexploded bomb, that had landed on the aerodrome, which he straddled and held the pin in place until bomb disposal arrived. As a result, his name is included in the King’s Birthday Honours List for 1943 and as Corporal Ernest W Collett he was mentioned in despatches and was presented with an oak leaf.
	After the war, during 1947-1948, Ernest and Betty bought Victoria Nursery at 63 Victoria Street, Belvedere, in Kent (now part of Greater London) and moved the whole family there. There they ran a successful nursery together, suppling local shops and customers, until they took early retirement in 1966. At that time the nursery was compulsory purchased by the local council and is now a small housing estate. The couple’s youngest daughter was married that same year, so it was only their eldest daughter who accompanied them to settle at 3 Dillons Road in Creech-St-Michael near Taunton in Somerset.
	Eight years later, in 1974, Ernest and Betty were still living in the village of Creech-St-Michael, three miles to the east of Taunton. That year Ernest's brother-in-law Ernest Edward V Perrett, the husband of his eldest and only surviving sister May, passed away in Bath. With May having no children and no reason to continue living alone in Bath, Ernest arranged for her to move into a rented flat in Creech-St-Michael, to be close to him and Betty. Either at the end of 1989 or just after the start of 1990, Ernest’s sister Caroline Maud Mary (May) Perrett died, leaving Ernest as the last surviving sibling. So, during the summer of that year, Ernest, and Betty, together with daughter June, her husband, and their daughter, set out to enjoy a day trip to Teignmouth, which sadly ended in tragedy.
	That day, the group witnessed Betty falling down some steps, which required her to be taken to Torbay Hospital where she had a hip operation, and later died. The death of Afra Betty Florence Collett was recorded at Devon register office (Vol. 21 2278) in 1990 at the age of 77. Having suffered the loss of two close family members, Ernest left the family home on Dillons Road when he moved into a home for senior citizens in Taunton, where he died in 1994 at the age of 85. The passing of Ernest William Herbert Collett was recorded at Somerset register office (Ref. 7241b b59b) during the early months of that year.
	31s1	Carol Betty Collett		Born in 1942 at Headington, Oxford
	31s2	June Mary Collett		Born in 1945 at Headington, Oxford
31r4	Betty K Collett was born at Bath in 1921, where her birth was recorded (Ref. 5c 888) during the third quarter of the year, when her mother’s maiden name was confirmed as Mortimer. Her marriage to Ernest H Reeves was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 7c 26) during the first three months of 1947.
31r5	Enid M Collett was born at Bath in 1923, her birth recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 774) during the first quarter of that year, when her mother’s maiden name was confirmed as Mortimer. She was 21 when she married William A Gibbs in 1944, the event recorded at Bath (Ref. 5c 1089) during the last three months of the year.
31r6	Hazel M Collett was born at Bath in 1926 and her birth, like those of her two older sisters, was recorded there during the second quarter of the year (Ref. 5c 739), her mother’s maiden name being Mortimer. She married Dennis H Davies at Bath, where their marriage was recorded (Ref. 7c 34) during the second quarter of 1948.
31r7	Eric James Collett was born at Bath in 1931, where his birth was recorded (Ref. 5c 638) during the last three months of that year, the last child of Alfred James L Collett and Hilda B Mortimer. He had only just celebrated his second birthday, when his father suffered a premature death. Raised by his widowed mother, it seems that he never married, with the death of Eric J Collett being recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 7c 12) during the second quarter of 1965, when he was only 33 years old.
31r8	Kenneth Reginald Collett was born in Bath on 16^th June 1929, the only known child of Reginald George William Collett and Gladys M Farley. His birth was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 644) during the third quarter of 1929, when the mother’s maiden name was confirmed as Farley. No record of a marriage had been found, while the death of Kenneth Reginald Collett was recorded at Bath & North East Somerset register office (Ref. 300/1 c8d) during the first months of 2004, at the age of 74.
31r9	David James L Collett was born at Bath in 1931, the older of the two children of Harold James L Collett and Ethel Schickel. His birth was recorded at Bath during the second quarter of that year (Ref. 5c 690), when his mother’s maiden name was confirmed as Schickel. David was twenty-seven when he married Valerie A Nicholls, their wedding recorded at Bristol register office (Ref. 7b 99) during the first quarter of 1959.
31r10	Kathleen Mary R Collett was born at Bath on 21^st December 1934, where her birth was recorded (Ref. 5c 587) during the first three months of the following year, her mother’s maiden name confirmed as Schickel. It was during the third quarter of 1957, when the marriage of Kathleen M R Collett and John H G Chitson was recorded at the Bath register office (Ref. 7c 13), the marriage producing two sons. David A J Chitson was born during the second quarter of 1960, his birth recorded at Weymouth register office (Ref. 7c 1088), when his mother’s maiden name was confirmed as Collett. He later married Fleur J S Roper in Bournemouth during 1986.
	Kathleen’s second child was Jeremy Chitson, also born at Weymouth, whose birth was recorded there (Ref. 7c 1195) during the second quarter of 1962. It was during the summer of 1984 that he married Nichola J Watton at Bath (Ref. 22 275). The later death of Kathleen Mary Chitson, nee Collett, was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 3001c c52c) during the summer of 1995, at the age of 60.
31s1	Carol Betty Collett was born at Oxford on 25^th December 1942 in the Radcliffe Infirmary, the eldest of the two daughters of Ernest William Herbert Collett and Aphra Betty Florence Stalley of 23 Bowness Avenue in Headington. Carol was around five years of age when her parents purchased a nursery in Kent, where they ran a thriving business at 63 Victoria Street in Belvedere, South London, until they retired in 1966. After that Carol travelled with her parents when they settled in the village of Creech-St-Michael, near Taunton, at 32 Dillons Road. After some years in the village living with her parents, Carol eventually bought a place of her own in Creech-St-Michael where she was living in 1980, when she married and where she was still living in 2024.
31s2	June Mary Collett was born at 23 Bowness Avenue in Headington, Oxford on 24^th June 1945, the youngest daughter of Ernest and Betty Collett. The Declaration of Peace in Europe was signed six weeks earlier on 5^th May. Two or three year later, June’s parents took over the management and running of a successful nursery business at 63 Victoria Street in Belvedere, Kent which in 1966 was the subject of a compulsory purchase order, acquired for a housing development. That was when her parents retired to Taunton in Somerset. It was also in 1966 that June was married and later adopted son Ian who was born in 1975. She married again in 1981 and has a daughter Nicola who was born in 1983. In 2024, it was June Coxhead, nee Collett, who kindly provide all the additional information about her family that resulted in this family line being updated.