PART
THIRTY-ONE
The
Wiltshire Somerset Line 1850 to 2000
Updated September 2024
This
is the second section of this family line
The
early married years for the couple were spent in London, initially at Putney
where their first child was born, and later at Hoxton just north of
Shoreditch. Like many of the Collett men
in this family line, William was a carpenter and joiner and it was his work
that then took him to Birmingham, where the couple’s third child was born. From the later census in 1911 is in now known
that the couple had a fourth child who did not survive. By 1881 William and his family had left
Birmingham and were then living at 84 Warrington Road in Prescot near St Helens
in Lancashire. He was 33 and was working
as a joiner. His wife Harriet was 40 and
their three children were Annie Collett who was 10, Helen Collett who was eight
and Minnie Collett who was seven years of age
Although
no record of the family has so far been located in
1891, William and Harriet left Prescot sometime during the twenty years after
1881 and had moved to the Manchester area.
That move, like those before, may have been as a
result of William securing new work.
By the end of the century all the couple’s three daughters were married
and had moved out of the family home, leaving their parents living alone at
Salford in Manchester. In the 1901
Census for Salford, William was 52 and a timber joiner from Monkton Farleigh,
while his wife Harriet was 60 and of Islington in London. On the day of the next census in April 1911,
William Collett from Monkton Farleigh near Bradford in Wiltshire was a visitor
at 123 Henry Street in Church near Blackburn in Lancashire, the home of his
youngest married daughter Minnie Heys and her husband James Henry Heys. William Collett was married and a joiner at
the age of 62. On that same day
William’s wife Harriet Collett from London was 70 when she was visiting her
eldest married daughter Annie Jackson and her husband Fred at 10 Davy Street in
Accrington. The census return described Harriet as the mother-in-law of Fred
Jackson, who had been married for forty years, during which time she had given
birth to four children, three of them still living. It is established that Harriet Collett was a
widow when she died in 1934
31Q24
– Annie A H Collett was
born in 1870 at Putney, London
31Q25
– Helen Collett was born in 1872 at Hoxton, London
31Q26
– Minnie Collett was
born in 1873 at Birmingham
Frederick
Thomas Collett [31P18]
was born at Bubble Heep in Monkton Farleigh early in 1852 and was baptised
there on 14th March 1852, another son of William Collett and Ellen
Cottle. The premature death of Frederick
Thomas Collett was recorded at Bradford-on-Avon (Ref. 5a 99) during the second
quarter of 1853, when he was one year old
Thomas Collett [31P19] was born at Monkton Farleigh in 1853 and
was eight years old in the April census of 1861 when he and his family were
living at Rubble Heep in the village. By
the time of the next census in 1871 Thomas was no longer living with his family
and, after a further ten years, he was listed in the census of 1881 as being a
bachelor at the age of 27. The census
record also confirmed that his place of birth had been Monkton Farleigh. On that occasion in his life, Thomas working
as a butler in the service of Justice of the Peace for Wiltshire Horatio N
Goddard at his home at The Manor, Clyffe Pypard south of Wootton Bassett. Seven other servants were employed at the
house supporting Horatio and his wife, their daughter
and her husband, and their two grandchildren children
During
the next few years Thomas married Mary, as confirmed by the census in 1891,
when Thomas was 40 (sic) and Mary, described in error as May Collett aged 41
and from Spalding in Lincolnshire who were living within the St Augustine
district of Bristol. According to the
next census in 1901 Thomas Collett from Bradford-on-Avon was head of the
household at Bristol St Paul when he was described as an ex-butler at the age
of 47. His wife Mary Collett was 53 and
again her place of birth was named as Spalding in Lincolnshire
Ellen Helena Collett [31P20] was born at Monkton Farleigh in 1856,
her birth recorded at Bradford-on-Avon (Ref. 5a 12) during the first three
months of that year. Helen Collett was
four years old at the time of the 1861 Census, when she was living with her
family at Rubble Heep, while attending the village school in Monkton
Farleigh. It was as Ellen Collett, aged
15, that she was still attending school, when she was recorded with her parents
in the next census for Monkton Farleigh in 1871. As with her younger sister Mary Jane (below),
no record of Ellen or Helena Collett has so far been found
George Collett [31P21] was born at Monkton Farleigh in 1858,
his birth recorded at Bradford-on-Avon (Ref. 5a 128) during the first quarter
of that year. He was baptised at Monkton
Farleigh on 14th February 1858, the youngest son of William Collett
and Ellen Cottle. He was three years old
and living at Rubble Heep in Monkton Farleigh with his family in 1861. Upon completing his schooling, he joined his
father and old brothers in the family carpentry business, as confirmed in the
next census of 1871, when George was 12 years of age and already working as a
carpenter when he was still living with his family at Rubble Heep or Bubble
Heep in Monkton Farleigh. By 1881,
George Collett was a bachelor at the age of 22, when he was still living with
his parents William and Ellen Collett at Bubble Heap in Monkton Farleigh, when
his occupation was again that of a carpenter like his father and his older
brothers Edwin, Whyatt and William (above)
Four
and a half years after that census day, the marriage of George Collett and
Elizabeth (Ann) Jane was recorded at Bath (Ref. 5c 1127) during the last
quarter of 1885. Elizabeth Ann Jane was
born in Cornwall, her birth recorded at Truro (Ref. 5c 201) during the second
quarter of 1856, following which she was baptised there on 6th May
1856, the daughter of George John Jane and his wife Elizabeth Jane. In the census of 1861, Ann Jane, aged five
years and born at St Clement, just south-east of Truro, where she was one of
seven children living there with her parents.
Tragically, within the next nine months, her millwright father died at
St Clement, his death recorded at Truro during the final quarter of 1861, at
the age of 39
Towards
the end of that decade, and on leaving school, Elizabeth Ann Jane left her
family in Cornwall, when she was taken into the care of her late father’s
married sister Jane Fussell from Truro and her husband George Fussell from
Bath. They had no children of their own,
but managed a greengrocer’s shop in the Walcot area of Bath, where Elizabeth
was trained to become a greengrocer. That
situation was confirmed in the census of 1871, when coachman George Fussell
from Bath was 48 – a greengrocer with his wife in 1861, Jane Fussell from Truro
was 49 and a greengrocer, and their niece Elizabeth A Jane from Truro was 14
and a greengrocer’s assistant.
Elizabeth’s mother, together with four of Elizabeth’s siblings, were all
still living in the St Clement area of Cornwall on that same day
It
was at Monmouth Street in Walton (Bath) that the three of them were living and
working in 1871 and again in 1881, when it was exactly the
same situation. George was
continuing his work as a coachman, while Jane and Elizabeth continued to manage
the greengrocery business. Unmarried
Elizabeth A Jane from Truro was 24 on that occasion, with her marriage to
George Collett only four years away
In the end,
George and Elizabeth were married for just four years, when the premature death
of George Collett was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 393) during the
last three months of 1889, at the age of only 31. Over four months later, the probate process
of his Will was concluded at Bath on 14th April 1890, the sole
beneficiary being his widow, Elizabeth Ann Collett. One year later, Elizabeth A Collett from
Cornwall was 34 and a widow who was still managing the business of being a
fruiterer and a greengrocer in the St Paul’s district of Bath. Living there with her, was her mother elderly
mother, Elizabeth Jane, aged 74, and two of her siblings, George Jane who was
41 and Louisa Jane who was 32, all three of them born in Cornwall, with the two
siblings described as greengrocer’s assistants
After a further
ten years, Elizabeth A Collett was described as a widow of 44 from Truro, in
the Bath census of 1901, by which time she still had premises within the St
Paul’s area of Bath, but as a fruiterer and a florist. Supporting her, as an assistant, was Alice
Bryant from Downend in Gloucestershire who was 31. Something happened in 1909, when Elizabeth
gave up the business, perhaps selling it as a going concern, because after that
date she embarked on a return journey to the United States of America. Who, or where, she visited is not known, but
by 1911 she was back living in Bath St Michael at 6 Norfolk Buildings, the home
of Harry Pym who passed away in 1912
The
census return completed by widow Elizabeth Ann Collett from Truro aged 54,
mentioned her trip to America and that she had been a fruiterer and a florist
at 14 Monmouth Street in Bath up until 1909, when she no long had an
occupation. An additional handwritten
note at the bottom of the form reads “I am in favour of women’s suffrage on
principle, if qualified to pay rates and taxes”.
Staying there with Elizabeth that day, and maybe even for the rest of
their lives, was her sister-in-law Ann (Cottle) Collett (above), the
older unmarried sister of Elizabeth’s late husband George. It is the fact that both ladies died at Bath
during 1931, which possibly indicates that they lived together until the end. The death of Elizabeth Ann Collett Bath took
place on 24th March 1931, when she was 74. An obituary was printed in the Bath Chronicle
on 28th March which confirmed that she was the widow of George
Collett, deceased, and a resident of Bath St Michael. Probate was granted to Elizabeth Mary Bowden,
a spinster, at Bristol on 29th June 1931, the sole beneficiary of
her personal effects valued at Ł2,536 5 Shillings and 1 Penny
Mary Jane Collett [31P22] was born at Monkton Farleigh in 1860,
her birth recorded at Bradford-on-Avon (Ref. 5a 99) during the third quarter of
the year. On the day of the census in
the following year, Mary Collett was one year old, the youngest child of
William Collett and his wife Ellen Cottle.
After ten more years, Mary Collett of Monkton Farleigh was 11 years of
age, when she was again living there with her family in 1871. What happened to her after that time is still
not known
William
Thomas Collett [31P23]
was born at Portsea Island, Portsmouth, in 1862, his birth recorded there
(Ref. 2b 387) during the third quarter of that year. He was the first of two sons born to Urbane
Collett and Thirza Sophia Redman of South Wraxall. Within a few months of being born, his
parents moved to Bath, possibly on the retirement of his father from the navy,
where William’s brother (below) was born. When his brother was only a few months old,
the family moved again, on that occasion to High Ongar in Essex. It was there, that during the summer of 1865,
that William’s father died, leaving him and his brother living with their
widowed mother at High Ongar in 1871. On
the census day that year, William Collett was eight years old and was confirmed
as having been born at Portsea. However,
no obvious record of him has been found anywhere in Britain after that day
Arthur
Collett [31P24] was
born at Bath, near the end of 1864, and after his parents had moved there from
Portsmouth. It was there also that his
birth was recorded during the first quarter of 1865 (Ref. 5c 755), the second
and last known child of mariner Urbane Collett and his wife Thirza. Not long after his birth, the family
travelled across the country to High Ongar in Essex, where Arthur’s father died
when he was around nine months old. And
it was at High Ongar that six-year-old Arthur Collett from Bath was living with
his mother and older brother (above) in 1871
Upon
leaving school in High Ongar, Arthur secured work as a cashier in the City of
London, while staying at the home of Henry and Rhoda Cooper in Gresham Street,
not far from St Paul’s Cathedral. Arthur
Collett, from Bath, was 16 years old in 1881 when he was described as the
nephew of the Cooper family, most likely through Rhoda Cooper who was 47 and
born at South Wraxall, and therefore possibly his mother’s sister. Whilst no record of Arthur has been found
within the census of 1891, it was during the third quarter of the following
year, that the marriage of Arthur Collett and Edith Mary Barltrop was recorded
at Ongar register office (Ref. 4a 447), the death of his mother recorded there
two years earlier. Edith had been born
at High Ongar in 1866, the daughter of farrier Henry Barltrop and his wife
Susannah. By the time of the next census
in 1901, Arthur and Edith were still residing in High Ongar, where Edith had
given birth to their son seven years earlier
On
that day, Arthur Collett from Bath was 35 and a solicitor’s clerk, Edith M
Collett was 33 and Basil A Collett was seven years of age, both
of them confirmed as having been born at High Ongar. A decade later, the same family group was
living at Chipping Ongar, just west of High Ongar. Once again Arthur Collett was employed as a
solicitor’s clerk, at the age of 46, Edith Mary Collett was 43, and Basil
Arthur Collett was 17 and a clerk with a local gas company. Arthur Collett died on 11th
February 1922, his death recorded at Ongar register office (Ref. 4a 717) during
the first quarter of 1922, when he was 56.
Probate was proved at Essex on 25th April 1922 in favour of
his widow Edith Mary Collett. Twenty
years after being widowed, the death of Edith Mary Collett was recorded at the
Essex Epping register office (Ref. 4a 336) during the fourth quarter of 1942,
when she was 76 years old. At the time
she passed away, Edith was living at Rosedale on Castle Street in Ongar, Essex,
although it was at 42 The Plain in Epping where she died on 12th
December 1942. Administration of her
personal effects of Ł717 16 Shillings and 6 Pence was conducted at Llandudno on
8th February 1943 in favour of Basil Arthur Collett, a member of His
Majesty’s Armed Forces
31Q27
– Basil Arthur Collett
was born in 1893 at High Ongar, Essex
Thomas Emanuel Collett [31P25] was born at South Wraxall in 1876, the
son of Thomas Collett and Martha Legg.
It was as Thomas Emanuel Collett that he was baptised at South Wraxall
on 14th May 1876 when his parents were confirmed as Thomas and
Martha. However, he was described in
error as Thomas Jonathan Collett aged four years in the Lower Wraxall census of
1881 when he was living there with his parents and where his father was the
parish clerk. He was still there ten
years later when, simply as Thomas Collett, he was 14 years old while, within
the following decade, he travelled north to Yorkshire. By the time of 1901 Census he was a lodger
with the Haywood family at Wombwell, just south of Barnsley, where he was 24
and was working as a railway goods guard, with South Wraxall confirmed as his
place of birth
It
was three years after that when he married the widow (1) Emily Gill, nee
Wheeler, who already had three daughters and two sons by her first husband
William Henry Gill. It was around that
time in his life that he began referring to himself by his baptised name of
Thomas Emanuel Collett. In fact, he
signed his name as Thomas Emanuel Collett in the census of 1911, by which time
he and his wife and her Gill family were residing at Farm Lea, 60 Long Lane in
Hollinwood, one mile south of Chadderton to the west of Oldham in
Lancashire. The census return confirmed
that Thomas from South Wraxall near Bradford-on-Avon was 34 and a gardener and
a labourer employed by Oldham Corporation who had been married to Emily for
seven years. Emily was 55 and had been
born at West Bromwich. She had been
married previously for twenty-two years, during which time she had given birth
to eight children, five of whom were still living with Thomas and Emily. They were twins Ethel and May Gill who were
21, Florrie Gill who was 20, and twins Herbert and Horace Gill who were 18, all
of them born at Darley Dale in Derbyshire
Curiously there were four
other Colletts living in Wombwell in March 1901, two of whom were also working
on the railway. They were Thomas J
Collett, aged 45 of Bidford–on-Avon who was the station master, his wife Emily
H E Collett, aged 48 of Stonehouse in Gloucestershire, and their two sons
Martin who was 21 and a college student, and Walter 18 who was a railway
clerk. The details of Thomas James and
Emily Harriet Elizabeth Collett, and their family, can be found in Appendix 1
within Part 56 – The Alcester &
Bidford-on-Avon Line under Ref. 56o1
Being
over twenty years older than Thomas, it was not surprising that Emily Collett,
aged 61 and of 16 Knowl Street in Hollinwood, died on 25th November
1916, her death recorded at Oldham register office (Ref. 8d 819). Three days later she was buried at Hollinwood
Cemetery on 28th November 1916.
Nearly eighteen months after losing his first wife, Thomas Emanuel
Collett, a widower, married Catherine Curran on 12th
April 1918 at St Charles Chapel in Glasgow.
The marriage certificate not only confirmed that the father of the groom
was Thomas Collett, a farmer labourer, but also that he was deceased. In fact, Thomas’ stepmother had passed away
nine years earlier, while his father only died towards the end of 1919 at South
Wraxall. It is therefore possible that
father and son had not been in contact with each other since Thomas had left
Wiltshire over thirty years ago
During the First
World War, Thomas Emanuel Collett served as a Corporal with the Royal Artillery
Medical Corps and, on the day of his wedding to Catherine, his address was
stated as being the War Hospital in Crookston, Glasgow, where he may have been
working or convalescing from some injury sustained during the campaign. Catherine Curran had been born in Glasgow
during 1888 and was a spinster, whose occupation was that of a hospital
laundress. It was therefore possible
that they met while Thomas was working there or as a patient in the
hospital. Six years after they were
married, Catherine presented Thomas with their only child, their daughter Mary
Collett who was born in Leeds on 6th December 1924. On that day, the pair of them were living at
Kirby Wiske in North Yorkshire, from where Thomas was employed as a gardener at
the nearby Sion Hill Hall. And it was at
Kirby Wiske that he died at the end of 1960, the death of Thomas E Collett,
aged 84, recorded at Thirsk register office (Ref. 1b 1062) during the first
three months of 1961
31Q28
– Mary Collett was born
in 1924 at Leeds
Henry Collett [31P26] was born at South Wraxall in 1877 and
was three years old in 1881 when he was living with his parents at Lower
Wraxall where his father was the parish clerk.
He was still living there in 1891 and in 1901, at the age of 23, he was
working as a groom while living at Bradford-on-Avon Without Entire
Alice Collett [31P27] was born at South Wraxall in 1879, her
birth recorded at Bradford-on-Avon (Ref. 5a 144) during the first three months
of that year, following which she was baptised at South Wraxall on 16th
February 1879, the daughter of Thomas Collett and Martha Legg. She was two years old in 1881 and was living
with her family at Lower Wraxall where she was also living ten years later at
the age of 12. A search for her,
following her absence from the next census in 1901, has revealed that Alice Collett
died at Violet Bank Farm, Widcombe Hill in Bath, the home of her uncle Henry
Collett (Ref. 31O19), and was buried at South Wraxall on 22nd
February 1901. She was only twenty-two
years of age and, at that time in her life, Alice was presumably working for or
with her grandfather
William Collett [31P28] was born at South Wraxall either at the
end of 1880 or early in 1881, with his birth recorded at Bradford-on-Avon (Ref.
5a 134) during the first three months of 1881.
He was subsequently recorded as being three months old on the third of
April 1881, the census day that year. At
the age of ten years, he was still living at Lower Wraxall with his parents
but, like his older brother Thomas (above), he too moved north to
Yorkshire to seek work around the turn of the century. According to the 1901 Census he was a boarder
at a large boarding house on West Street in Normanton near Wakefield where, at
the age of 20, he was working as a railway horse driver. Ten years later he was
still unmarried, when he was a railway engine shunter with the Midland Railway
at Altofts, just north of Normanton
It would appear that William continued to work on the railway since,
in the 1939 Register, he was recorded as being a married man who was still
living at Normanton. The only occupants
at the property in Normanton, simply referred to as No. 3, were William
Collett, whose date of birth was recorded as being 21st December
1880, and his wife Elizabeth. At that
time in his life, William was employed as a shunter with the London, Midland
& Scottish Railway Company. This
valuable information has enabled his marriage record to be unearthed. In fact, it was at Altofts, where he was
living in 1911, that he was married to Sarah Elizabeth Craven three years later
at the Church of St Mary Magdalene in Altofts on 14th February
1914. The church register confirmed that
groom was a bachelor and a shunter, the son of Thomas Collett, deceased, a
gardener, and that Sarah was a spinster of Altofts and the daughter of George
Craven, a plate layer. William was 33
years of age and Sarah was 37 and their wedding day was recorded at Wakefield
register office (Ref. 9c 2). No record
of any children has been found. The
death of Sarah E Collett was recorded at Pontefract register office (Ref. 2c
424) during the third quarter of 1955, when she was said to be 79 years of age
Alice Elizabeth Collett [31P29] was born at Bath in 1876 not long after
her parents Henry Collett and Elizabeth Drew were married. Her birth was recorded at Bath (Ref. 5c 598)
during the third quarter of the year.
She was four years old in the census of 1881 and, at that time, the
family was living at 2 Yew Cottages in the Lyncombe-with-Widcombe district of Bath. By
the turn of the century Alice was still a spinster at the age of 24, when she
was continuing to live with her parents and two younger brothers in the Bath
sub-district of Lyncombe. She was not
credited with a job of work in 1901, but was very likely making plans to be
married later that same year. The
marriage of Alice Elizabeth Collett, aged 25 and daughter of Henry Collett, and
Frank Eacott took place on 9th September 1901 at St Peter’s Church
in Twerton and was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 1075) during the
third quarter of the year. Frank was the
son of James and Elizabeth Eacott
Three
children were born to the couple during the next ten years, with the family of
five residing within the Lyncombe area of Bath in 1911. Frank Eacott was 33 and a carpenter working
in the building trade, Alice Eacott was 34, Gwendoline Eacott was nine, Dorothy
Eacott was six, and Marjorie Eacott was four years old. All five members of the family were recorded
as having been born at Bath. During the
following year Alice presented Frank with their last child, when the birth of Vera
G Eacott was recorded at Bath (Ref. 5c 886) during the third quarter of
1912, her mother’s maiden-name confirmed as Collett. Alice Elizabeth Eacott, nee Collett, died in
1936 at the age of 60, when her death was recorded at Bath register office
(Ref. 5c 487) during the third quarter of the year. Just over thirty years after being widowed,
the death of Frank Eacott was also recorded at Bath (Ref. 7c 4) during the
second quarter of 1967, when he was 89 years of age
Thomas Henry Collett [31P30] was born at Bath in 1877, his birth
recorded there (Ref. 5c 614) during the third quarter of the year. Three years later he was living with his
family at 2 Yew Cottages in Lyncombe-with-Widcombe, just one-mile south-east
from the centre of Bath. The whole
family was still together twenty years later when Thomas was 23 and a farmer’s
son, who was working with his father Henry at Violet Bank Farm on Widcombe
Hill, just south-east of Bath. It was
later that same year that Thomas married (1) Florence Buck on 26th
December 1901 with whom he had three daughters over the following four
years. It was during that period in his
life when his mother Elizabeth Collett nee Drew died, so Thomas and his wife
and their family remained living with Thomas’ father to help him run the farm
By
April 1911, the family was confirmed as still living with Thomas’ father, the
widower and farmer Henry Collett at Violet Bank Farm, Widcombe Hill. Thomas Henry Collett, aged 33 and born at
Widcombe, was described as a farmer and the son of Henry Collett. His wife of nine years was Florence Collett,
aged 34 and of Widcombe, who was described as daughter-in-law. Living with them were their three daughters
Gladys Winifred Collett who was seven, Kathleen Florence Collett who was six
and Margery Millicent Collett who was five years old, and all three of them
listed as having been born at Widcombe.
Three more children were added to their family over the following years,
although it is likely others may have been born between 1905 and 1913, but did
not survive, with youngest son Kenneth dying in dramatic circumstances
When
their youngest child was eight years of age, Florence Collett, nee Buck, passed
away when she was 48, her death recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 578)
during the second quarter of 1925.
Around eighteen months later, the second marriage of Thomas H Collett
and (2) Miriam Cunningham was recorded at Bath (Ref. 5c 1200) during the third
quarter of 1927. After sixteen years
with Miriam, the death of Thomas Henry Collett was recorded at Bath register
office (Ref. 5c 555) during the second quarter of 1943, when he was 65. The later death of Miriam Collett was also
recorded at Bath (Ref. 7c 83) during the last three months of 1965, when she
was 85 years old
31Q29
– Gladys Winifred Collett
was born in 1903 at Widcombe, Bath
31Q30
– Kathleen Florence Collett
was born in 1904 at Widcombe, Bath
31Q31
– Margery Millicent Collett
was born in 1905 at Widcombe, Bath
31Q32
– Esme V Collett was
born in 1913 at Widcombe, Bath
31Q33
– Kenneth Henry Collett
was born in 1914 at Widcombe, Bath
31Q34
– Eileen M Collett was
born in 1917 at Widcombe, Bath
Frank Albert Collett [31P31] was born at Bath in December 1880, his
birth recorded at Bath (Ref. 5c 603) during the first few weeks of 1881. Shortly after he was born the family was
recorded as living at 2 Yew Cottages in the Bath district of Lyncombe-with-Widcombe. The 1881 Census gave his age as being just
three months. Like his older brother
Thomas (above), Frank also worked with his father when he left school
and, in 1901, he was 19 and was described as a farmer’s son, when he was still
living with his family at Violet Bank Farm, Widcome Hill in Bath. During the second quarter of 1905, Frank
married Ada Alice Stennard who was born at Bath on 4th November
1878, the event recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 1105). Their marriage produced four children,
although the second of those four children did not survive and had already died
by 1911
According
to the census that year, the family of three was living at Lyncombe Vale Farm
in Bath, where Frank Albert Collett aged 30 was a dairyman. Living there with him was his wife Ada who
was 31 and his four-year-old son Henry.
Frank Albert Collett was residing at ‘Byculla’ in Lyncombe Vale, Bath,
when he passed away on 13th April 1938, his death recorded at Bath
register office (Ref. 5c 557) when he was 57 years old. It was on 24th June that year when
probate of his estate was resolved at Bristol in favour of Ada Alice Collett,
his widow, when his estate was valued at Ł772 8 Shillings and 3 Pence. Ada survived for many years and was in her
nineties when she died at Bath, where her death was recorded (Ref. 7c 728)
during the spring of 1969
New
information received from Frank’s granddaughter Margaret Williams nee Collett
(Ref. 31R32) from Prudhoe in Northumberland during May 2021, provides a more
personal view of her grandfather. She
writes, “Grandad liked a drink and always end up in the White Hart after
finishing the milk round. His faithful horse
hauled to the home gate where Grandma, strict chapel, helped him to bed. His party piece was sewing plates to the pub
ceiling. Ceilings were then made of
plaster and horse hair. He was a member
of The Grand Order of Buffaloes.”
31Q35
– Frank Henry Collett
was born in 1906 at Bath
31Q36
– Margaret Alice Collett
was born in 1908 at Bath
31Q37
– Cyril T H Collett was
born in 1912 at Bath
31Q38
– Reginald Arthur E
Collett was born
in 1915 at Bath
Mary Ann Collett [31P32] was born at Llanelly in 1863, the eldest
child of John Collett and Mary Hannah Jenkins, her birth recorded at
Crickhowell (Ref. 11b 138) during the second quarter of that year. As Mary A Collett she was eight years of age
and 18 years old when she was living at Slopes, Llanelly Hill in Llanelly in
1871 and 1881, and by the latter census she was working as a general
labourer. Her marriage to William James
Williams was recorded at Crickhowell (Ref. 11b 114) with whom she had a son Thomas
John Williams and a daughter Mary Ann Williams. The family lived at Llanelly Hill and it was
during January 1942 that Mary Ann Williams nee Collett passed away. Her daughter married Thomas Miles and it was
in Birmingham that they raised their three children John Miles, Clifford Miles and Edna Miles
John David Collett [31P33] was born at Llanelly in 1865, his birth
recorded at Crickhowell (Ref. 11b 142) during the first quarter of the
year. In 1871 he was simply recorded in
the census that year as John Collett aged six years when his family was settled
at Slopes, Llanelly Hill in Llanelly, where he was also living in 1881, by
which time he was 16 and a coal miner.
No record of him has so far been found in 1891, but in the next census
in 1901 he was back living with his widowed father, his mother having died two
years earlier. By that time unmarried
John D Collett was 36 and a coal miner and a hewer. He was once again living with his father at
Llanelly in 1911 when, as John David Collett, he was still a bachelor at the
age of 46 and was still working as a coal miner and hewer. The census return
that year, also confirmed that his father John Collett was dependent on his son
John David. He was 73 when he died, the
death of John D Collett recorded at Crickhowell register office (Ref. 11b 100)
during the second quarter of 1938
William Collett [31P34] was born at Llanelly towards the end of
1867 and was the second son and third child of John and Mary Collett. His birth was recorded at Crickhowell (Ref.
11b 123) during the final quarter of the year.
He only survived for twenty-one months and passed away at Llanelly on 24th
September 1869. He was then the first to
be buried in the family plot at the Church of St Elli in Llanelly where he was
later joined by his sister Jane (below) and both of his parents. A single headstone with their four names
engraved on it marks the grave
Jane Collett [31P35] was born at the family home in Slopes,
Llanelly Hill in Llanelly during the second quarter of 1870. She was still living there with her family at
the time of the census in 1871 when she was eleven months old. It was less than two years later when Jane
Collett, the fourth child of John and Mary Collett, died at Slopes on 25th
January 1873 when she was recorded as being two years and nine months old, her
death recorded at Crickhowell (Ref. 11b 100) during the first quarter of the
year. She was then buried with her
brother William (above) in a grave at St Elli Church in Llanelly where
her parents were also later buried
Sephorah Rosser,
who was 23 on her wedding day, which was recorded at Crickhowell (Ref. 11b
123), was the daughter of John Rosser and Jane Rees and was born on 15th
October 1872. The Rosser family grave
can be found in the grounds of St Elli Church in Llanelly where a single
headstone includes the names of John Rosser who died on 28th October
1907 aged 77, Jane Rosser who died on 7th January 1915 at the age of
81, and their son Thomas Rosser who died on 19th June 1893 when he
was only 37. The last name on the
headstone is that of Rosser Rosser who passed away on
6th September 1943. Rosser was a coal hewer who died of pneumonia
at Waenlapra in Llanelly Hill at the age of 65 yrs. It was his niece Beattie Jane Smith of 8
Cromwell Road in Abertillery who informed the register office of his passing
In
March 1901 William was 28 and a coal miner and a hewer living at 31 Princess
Street with his wife who was 27 and their daughter Ethel May Collett was one
year old. Sephorah was well into the
pregnancy for her second child on the day of the census, with their son being
born within the next three months. The
couple’s third child was added to the family six years later, and by April 1911
the family was living at Ty Bryn, 68 Duke Street in Abertillery. The census that year listed the family as
William and Sephorah who were both 38, and their children as Ethel May Collett
who was 11, John Gordon Collett who was nine and Evelyn Collett who was three
years old. Just like ten years earlier
Sephorah was again expecting the birth of their fourth child and last child on
that day, her third daughter being born just over three months later
William
was a coal miner all his life, a job he really loved and enjoyed, and he and
Sephorah, together with their youngest daughter Beattie, remained living at 68
Duke Street in Abertillery for the rest of the lives. His current family have a
number of safety certificates associated with his work, starting with a
mining certificate for examiners to fire shots made out on 13th July
1912. That same year, on 16th
December, he was awarded a second certificate of qualifications for a fireman
examiner or deputy. The next three
certificates relate to Vivian Pit: a certificate for an officer, fireman and
shot-man; a certificate for a fireman dated 21st March 1929; and two
certificates for a fireman dated 14th July 1937 and 2nd
January 1945
On
19th May 1925 William Collett completed an Unemployment Insurance
Act 1920 form for the Employment Exchange, when his home address was confirmed
as 68 Duke Street in Abertillery, the same form confirming his place and date
of birth, together with the names of his parents, including his mother’s maiden-name. Twenty-nine years later Sephorah Collett nee
Rosser died on 3rd September 1954 at 68 Duke Street and was buried
in the grounds of the Church of St Elli in Llanelly when she was referred to as
the beloved wife of William Collett of Abertillery
A
lengthy obituary for Sephorah Collett was printed in the South Wales Gazette on
8th October 1954 which ran over two columns of the newspaper. It opened with the words “The death has occurred of Mrs Sephorah Collett, the wife of William
Collett of 68 Duke Street in Abertillery.
Mrs Collett was a member of one of the most highly respected families in
the district and held in high esteem by a large circle of friends. The funeral
took place at Llanelly Churchyard following services at Ebenezer Baptist Church
and Llanelly Church. The mourners were:
Messrs William Collett, widower; John Gordon Collett, son; H B Collett, nephew;
Frank Collett, cousin” plus many others.
The mourners at home included: “E
M Bainton, E Rogers and B J Collett, daughters; E Collett, daughter-in-law;
Miss M Collett, niece” plus many others
It
was just over five years after losing his wife that William Collett died in
Tredegar Hospital on 12th February 1961 at the age of 88 and,
following a funeral service at Ebenezer Baptist Church on 15th
February, he was buried with Sephorah where a single headstone marks their
joint grave. The family home at 68 Duke
was then inherited by the couple’s youngest child Beatrice Jane Collett. The local newspaper printed the following
tribute in respect of the late William Collett.
It read as follows: “The death has
taken place of William Collett, and again the church has lost a most loyal and
faithful member. He was a winsome
character, ever ready with a smile, whose interest was in God’s house, the
success of the Gospel and the praise and songs of Zion. Our deepest sympathy is extended to the son,
daughters – one of whom is Mrs E M Bainton, secretary of the church – and the
rest of the family”
31Q39
– Ethel May Collett was
born in 1899 at Abertillery
31Q40
– JOHN GORDON COLLETT
was born in 1901 at Abertillery
31Q41
– Evelyn Collett was
born in 1907 at Abertillery
31Q42
– Beatrice Jane Collett
was born in 1911 at Abertillery
Their
marriage produced seven children, although only two of them survived. The first two of those children had already
died by the time of the census in March 1901.
Henry Collett, who was 25 and coal miner and a hewer by then, was living
at 20 Cromwell Street in Abertillery with his wife Mary H Collett who was
26. Both of them
were recorded as having been born at Llanelly.
Over the next decade Mary gave birth to five more children and sadly it
was only the last two who survived. That
was confirmed in the Abertillery census of 1911, when the four members of the
family were confirmed as Henry Collett who was 35 and a coal miner hewer, Mary
Hannah Collett who was 36, Henry Byron Collett who was three and Marion Augusta
Collett who was one year old
Henry
Albert Collett was 66 when he died on 22nd November 1941 at 20
Cromwell Street in Abertillery and was buried at the Church of St Elli in
Abertillery. After six years as a widow
Mary Hannah Collett nee Evans passed away on 13th March 1948 at the
age of 73, following which she was buried with her husband. Her death was recorded at Crickhowell
register office (Ref. 11b 137), when the family home passed to the unmarried
daughter Marion. The obituary for Henry
Albert Collett was printed in the local newspaper, as follows: “The death has taken place of Mr Henry
Collett of 20 Cromwell Street who was a native of Llanelly Hill and came to
Abertillery forty years ago. He worked at the Vivian Colliery during most
of that time. The mourners were Messrs H
Byron Collett, son; William Collett, brother; and nephews T I Watkins, Wilfred Rogers and Albert Bainton.
At the house was Mrs M H Collett, widow; Miss Marion A Collett,
daughter; Mesdames R Meredith and W Collett, sisters-in-law; and nieces E
Roger, E Bainton, and Miss Beatrice Collett”
31Q43
– Elizabeth May Collett
was born in 1899 at Abertillery
31Q44
– Gertrude Collett was
born in 1900 at Abertillery
31Q45
– Lily Collett was born
in 1902 at Abertillery
31Q46
– May Collett was born
in 1903 at Abertillery
31Q47
– Reginald Clifford Collett
was born in 1905 at Abertillery
31Q48
– Henry Byron Collett
was born in 1908 at Abertillery
31Q49
– Marion Augusta Collett
was born in 1909 at Abertillery
Henry Thomas Collett [31P39] was born at South Wraxall in 1855 and is
assumed to be the base-born son of unmarried Jane Collett by an unknown
father. In the census of 1861, he was
recorded as Tom Collett aged five years, the grandson of William Collett whose
daughter Jane was also living at the dwelling in Upper Street in South Wraxall
with Tom’s younger brother John (below).
Following the death of his grandfather, Tom and his mother Jane left
South Wraxall when they moved to Llanelly to live with Jane’s married brother
John Collett and his family. And it was
with that family that Tom H Collett, aged 15 and a coal miner from Wraxall, was
living in 1871, when his mother Jane was living nearby in Llanelly. In 1881, when his brother was staying with
their mother Jane at Llamarch in Llanelly, Henry T Collett from South Wraxall
was a bachelor aged 25 who was still working as a coal miner, when he was a
lodger in the Ystradyfodwg home of Rees James at 80 Dumfries Street in Llanelly. Seven years later Henry Tom Collett married
Mary Rebecca Hughes during the first three months of 1888. The marriage was recorded at Crickhowell
register office (Ref. 11b 155) when the witnesses were Joseph John Maynard and
Caroline Palmer. Mary was born at
Llanelly and later presented Henry with three children before his untimely
death in 1892. Just prior to the next
census the birth of their daughter Lily Jane Collett was recorded at
Crickhowell register office (Ref. 11b 112) during the first quarter of 1890
Henry
T Collett from South Wraxall was residing at Old Road in the village of
Aberbaiden within the parish of Llanelly in 1891 when he was 35 and a colliery
timber-man. His wife Mary Rebecca was
25, their son Idris Thomas Collett was three and their daughter Lily Jane
Collett was fifteen months old. Living
with the family was Mary’s widowed grandmother Mary Ann Hughes who was 74. On the day of the census Henry’s wife was
expecting the birth of their third child who was born later that same
year. Twenty years prior to that Mary R
Hughes, aged five years, was living with her grandmother, while in 1881 Mary
Rebecca Hughes was 15 and a domestic servant living and working at the Old Road
home in Aberbaiden of her widowed grandmother Mary Ann Hughes. It is likely that the young Collett family
was living in the same dwelling in Old Road during 1891
Living just four dwellings
away from the family in 1891 was another Collett family, that of James Collett
(Ref. 1P51), a coalminer of 31 from Clydach, Llanelly. His wife was Sarah Ann Collett who was 33 and
their son Beignalt James Collett who was
one year old. The details of that family
can be found in Part 1 – The
Gloucestershire Main Line 1830 to 1880
Tragically,
Henry Thomas Collett was killed while working underground in Abertillery, as
result of a mining accident in 1892, following which his death was recorded at
Newport register office (Ref. 11a 141) during the second quarter of that year. By then Mary had presented Henry with their
second son, while two years after the death of her husband Mary gave birth to a
daughter, the father of which is not known.
By March 1901, Mary was described as Rebecca Collett a widow at 35, with
no occupation, when she and her family were living at Station Road in Clydach,
Llanelly – four dwellings from Clydach Station.
Missing from the family at that time was her eldest daughter Lily Jane
Collett who was 11 and was living with the family of her uncle John Thomas at 2
Hope Street in Aberystruth. Still living
with Mary were her three other children.
Idris Collett was already a coal miner and a hewer at the age of 13,
while the two other children were still attending school and they were William
Collett who was 10 and Mary Collett who was six years old
The
birth of Mary Ann Collett was recorded at Crickhowell (Ref. 11b 100) during the
first three months of 1895 and, therefore, she could not have been the daughter
of Henry Thomas Collett, as he had died at least two years earlier. One year after the census in 1901, the
marriage of Mary Rebecca Collett and William Phipps was recorded as Crickhowell
register office (Ref. 11b 153) during the first quarter of 1902. By 1911 Mary Rebecca Phipps had living with
her at Clydach, her daughter Alice May Phipps, who was eight, together with her
two unmarried sons Idris Collett who was 23 and his younger brother William
Henry Collett who was 19. Their sister
Mary Ann Collett was 17 and she was living and working in nearby Abergavenny. Ten years earlier, William Phipps, a coal
miner and hewer who was 36, was still living with his elderly widowed mother
Mary Phipps at Station Road in Clydach, where the Collett family was also
living at that time. His absence from
his wife and daughter in 1911 was because he was again visiting his aging
mother in Clydach, when he was described as being 46,
a married man, who was a timberman working underground in a nearby coal mine
31Q50
– Idris Thomas Collett
was born in 1887 at Aberbaiden, Llanelly
31Q51
– Lily Jane Collett was
born in 1890 at Aberbaiden, Llanelly
31Q52
– William Henry Collett
was born in 1891 at Aberbaiden, Llanelly
31Q53
– Mary Ann Collett was born in 1895 at Aberbaiden, Llanelly (father unknown)
William John Collett [31P40] was born at South Wraxall in 1858 the
younger of the two likely sons of Jane Collett.
He was known as John Collett, aged two years in 1861, when he and his
brother Tom (Henry Thomas above) were with their mother Jane at the home of her
William Collett at Upper Street in South Wraxall. His grandfather died during the 1860s at
which time his mother and older brother Tom travelled to Llanelly to be with
Jane’s married half-brother John and his family. Ten years later, when his mother and his
brother were confirmed to be living in Llanelly, William J Collett was 13 and a
general servant for Elizabeth Fielding, a widow and retired publican at her
home on Pippet Street in Bradford-on-Avon.
On that occasion the census enumerator entered ‘birthplace unknown’ on
the census form
Ten
years later, at the time of the next census in 1881, Jane Collett, aged 45, was
living at Llanmarch in Llanelly with her coal miner son William J Collett who
was 22. Rather curiously Jane and
William were both listed as having been born at Bradford-on-Avon. Around seven of eight months later, the
marriage of William John Collett and Emma Williams was recorded at Crickhowell
(Ref. 11b 233) during the last quarter of 1881.
Their marriage provided at least six known over the next twelve years,
although his wife was named as Emily Collett in all the records. It was as John William Collett, aged 32 and
from Wiltshire, that he was listed in the Llanelly census of 1891 when he and
the family was living on Butchers Row, from where John was a coal miner. His wife Emily Collett was 33 and their four
children were Flora Jane Collett who was eight, Frank Henry Collett who was
six, Ernest Tom Collett who was three and Frederick William who was two years
old. Serving the family was domestic
servant Elizabeth Puddle who was 16. On
that day, Emily was pregnant with the couple’s fifth child, while two years
later their family was completed with the birth of a sixth child
The
census of 1901 confirmed that William John Collett from Bradford-on-Avon was 42
and was he was living at Abertillery where he was a coal miner and a
grocer. His wife Emily from Llanelly was
43, while just four of their six children were still living with the
couple. They were Frank Hy Collett who
was 16 and a coal miner and a hewer, Frank (Fred) Wm Collett who was 11, Mary
Ann Collett who was nine and Frances Emily Collett who was seven years
old. The couple’s eldest daughter,
Florrie Collett who was 18, was still living in the Llanelly area, where she
was working as a shop assistant, and it was also in Llanelly that their son
Ernest was living at the age of 13, perhaps even with his sister
During
the first few years of the new century, the three eldest children were
married. By April 1911 the children
still living with their parents at Clydach were the three youngest ones. William John Collett was a grocer aged 52, as
was his wife Emily, while the three children were Frederick William Collett who
was 21, Mary Ann Collett who was 19 and Frances Emily Collett who was 17 and a
milliner working for Thomas & Sons.
It is very likely that, although born at South Wraxall, William was very
young when he settled in Bradford-on-Avon which caused him to say he was born
there in every census after 1871.
William was 66 when he died, the death of William J Collett recorded at
Crickhowell register office (Ref. 11b 130) during the third quarter of 1924
31Q54
– Flora Jane Collett
was born in 1882 at Llanelly
31Q55
– Frank Henry Collett
was born in 1884 at Llanelly
31Q56
– Ernest Tom Collett
was born in 1887 at Llanelly
31Q57
– Frederick William Collett
was born in 1889 at Llanelly
31Q58
– Mary Ann Collett was
born in 1891 at Llanelly
31Q59
– Frances Emily Collett
was born in 1894 at Llanelly
Edith
Jane Collett [31P41]
was born at Guisborough in 1874 and was the eldest child of William Collett and
Emma Jane Storey. Her birth was
registered at Guisborough (Ref. 9d 539) during the third quarter of the year. For whatever reason, perhaps just prior to
being confirmed in church, Edith was baptised when she was 14 years old at
Guisborough on 20th March 1889, the baptism record also gave her
date of birth as 20th August 1874.
By 1881 Edith J Collett was six years of age when living with her family
at 25/27 Redcar Road in Guisborough, where they were again living in 1891 when
she was 16. As simply Edith Collett aged
26, she was unmarried and working in domestic service as a cook when she was
again still living with her family but within the Westgate district of
Guisborough on the day of the census in 1901
Not
long after that day Edith Jane Collett married John Dilworth, a coal miner from
South Wales. By 1911 Edith Jane Dilworth
from Guisborough was 36 and was residing at Oxhill, in Durham. John Dilworth from Abergavenny in
Monmouthshire was 34 and a colliery labourer working above ground
George William Collett [31P42] was born at Guisborough, where his birth
was registered (Ref. 9d 545) during the second quarter of 1877. He was the second child and eldest son of
William Collett and Emma Jane Storey and was four years old in the Guisborough
census of 1881, when he was living with his parents at 25/27 Redcar Road. He was still living in Guisborough with his
family ten years later at the age of 14, where he had left school and was
employed as a tailor’s apprentice. It
was on 6th August 1899 that the banns of marriage for George and his
future wife were published in Guisborough, following which their wedding
ceremony was conducted at St Mawnan Church in Cornwall on 28th
August 1899, Mawnan being three miles from Falmouth. The marriage of George William Collett from
Guisborough and Eliza Eddy from Durgan was recorded at Falmouth register office
(Ref. 5c 275) during the third quarter of 1899.
The bride and the groom were both 22 years of age, and George was
confirmed as the son of William Collett, a painter, with William Eddy named as
the father of the bride
Elizabeth
Eddy was born at Durgan on 26th February 1877 and was baptised at St
Mawnan on 25th March 1877, the daughter of William Eddy, a gardener
and labourer, and his wife Mary Ann Eddy.
Her birth was recorded at Falmouth (Ref. 5c 192) during the first
quarter of 1877. According to the census
return completed by the family in March 1901, George
and his wife and their first child were still residing in Guisborough, but at
Chaloner Street, not far from where his widowed mother was recorded at 16
Chaloner Street. George W Collett from
Guisborough was 24 and a tailor, his wife Eliza Collett from Falmouth in
Cornwall was also 24, and their son Harold Collett had been born at Guisborough
and was seven months old
It
is likely further children were added to their family during the first ten
years of the new century, even though only two children were living with the
couple in 1911. By that time, the family
was still living in Guisborough where tailor George William Collett was 34 and
his wife Eliza Collett, from Mawnan, was also 34. The couple’s eldest son Harold William
Collett was 10, while the other male child had only just been born and had yet
to be given a name. He was simply
referred to as ‘baby Collett’ and had been born just over two weeks
earlier. Sadly, the couple’s eldest son
suffered a premature death in 1923.
Eight years later George’s widowed mother passed away at Guisborough,
when George William Collett, a tailor, was named as joint executor of her
estate with his brother Arthur who was a draper
After
a further four years, the death of George W Collett was recorded at Guisborough
register office (Ref. 9d 585) during the fourth quarter of 1935, when he was 58
years old. It was at 16 Chaloner Street
in Guisborough where he died on 21st October 1935, after which his
Will was proved at Durham on 9th March 1936, when his widow Eliza
Collett was named as the executor of his estate, initially valued at Ł1,715 5
Shillings and 9 Pence, but re-sworn as Ł1,771 5 Shillings and 9 Pence. Following that sad event, the 1939 Register,
compiled at the start of the Second World War, recorded his widow and surviving
son still residing in Guisborough, when Eliza Collett was 62 and carrying out
unpaid domestic duties. Nineteen years
later, the death of Eliza Collett was recorded at Middlesbrough register office
(Ref. 1b 716) during the last quarter of 1958, at the age of 81. She passed away on 29th December
1958, when she was a patient at The General Hospital in Middlesborough, at a
time in her life when her home address was 11 Hollymead Drive in
Guisborough. Her Will was proved at York
on 11th February 1959, when her son Ronald Collett, a moulder,
inherited Ł1,689 5 Shilling and 8 Pence
31Q60
– Harold William Collett
was born in 1900 at Guisborough
31Q61
– Ronald Collett was
born in 1911 at Guisborough
Maud
Mary Collett [31P43]
was born at 25/27 Redcar Road in Guisborough on 9th July 1880, when
her birth was registered at Guisborough (Ref. 9d 522). And just like her older sister Edith (above),
Maud’s baptism was delayed and conducted when she was twelve years old on 22nd
February 1893 at Guisborough, another child of William and Emma Collett. In the two census
return in 1881 and 1891, Maud M Collett was living with her family at Redcar
Road in Guisborough when she was one year old and eleven years of age
respectively. No record of her has been
found after 1891
Ethel Collett [31P45] was born at 25/27 Redcar Road in Guisborough
in 1885, the daughter of William Collett and Emma Jane Storey. She was five years old in the Guisborough
census of 1891, again at Redcar Road, and was 15 when she was still living at
Guisborough with her family in 1901. The
family moved to Stockton-on-Tees during the next few years, and it was there
that Ethel Collett, aged 25, was still living with her elderly parents in 1911
although they returned to live in Guisborough once again shortly
thereafter. Ethel was married five years
later at the age of thirty. A record of
the marriage was made at the Guisborough register office (Ref. 9d 897) during
the fourth quarter of 1916 when Ethel Collett became Ethel Phelps
Evelyn
Collett [31P46] was
born at 25/27 Redcar Road in Guisborough on 16th May 1888, another
daughter of William and Emma Collett. It
was also at Guisborough that Evelyn was baptised on 12th June that
same year. Her birth was also registered
at Guisborough (Ref. 9d 522) following which she was two years of age and
living at Redcar Road with her family in 1891.
Sometime after the birth of her younger brother Arthur (below),
the family moved to the Westgate area of Guisborough where Evelyn was 12 years
old in 1901. Another family move
happened during the first decade of the new century, with them recorded at
Stockton-on-Tees in 1911, when Evelyn was one of only two children still living
at the family home. Just over a year
later the death of Evelyn Collett was recorded at Stockton-on-Tees register
office (Ref. 10a 63) during the third quarter of 1912 at the age of 24
Arthur
Collett [31P47] was
born at 25/27 Redcar Road in Guisborough on 8th January 1891, the
last child of William Collett and Emma Jane Storey, whose birth was recorded at
Guisborough register office (Ref. 9d 513) during the first quarter of that
year. He was quickly baptised at
Guisborough on 21st January 1891 and was almost three months old in
the census of 1891, when he and his family were still living at Redcar Road. Ten years later, Arthur was 10 years old still
living with his family in Guisborough. By
1911 he had left the family home and was 20 years of age and one of nine male lodgers
at the boarding house of Annie Atkinson in Sunderland. At that time in his life, the occupation of
Arthur Collett from Guisborough was that of a draper’s assistant. Twenty years later, and following the death
of his mother in 1931, the probate process regarding her personal effects,
valued at Ł869 9 Shillings and 9 Pence, was granted at Durham
and named her two sons as joint executors.
They were George William Collett, who was a tailor, and Arthur Collett
who was a draper. No record of a
marriage has been found, while the death of Arthur Collett, who was born at
Guisborough in 1891, was recorded at Sheffield register office (Ref. 2d 19)
during the first three month of 1955, when he was 64
Sidney Collett [31P48] was born at Tottenham in London during
1862, the only child of William Henry Miles Collett and his first wife who died
around the same time he was born. In
1871 he was nine years old when he was living with his father in Tottenham who,
by that time had been married three times.
Sidney had left the family home after a further ten years and, on
finishing his education, it seems likely he entered into
domestic service. The census in 1881
confirmed that he was working as a waiter at a hotel in London, while residing
at 19 Smithfield, in the St Sepulchre without Newgate district of the
city. He was recorded as Sidney Collett
who was 19 and a lodger who had been born in London. However, no record of him or any member of
his family has been found after that time, while it is known that his father
died in 1897
William Henry Miles
Collett [31P49] was born at Tottenham in London while
his birth was recorded at Edmonton register office (Ref. 3a 142) during third
quarter of 1864. He was baptised at Holy
Trinity Church in Tottenham on the 7th August 1864, the son of
William Henry Miles Collett and his second wife Elizabeth Page who were married
nine months before he was born.
Tragically, he only survived for around twelve months, when the death of
William Henry Miles Collett was recorded at Edmonton (Ref. 3a 103) during the
third quarter of 1865
Elizabeth Collett [31P50] was born at Tottenham in 1865, the
daughter of William Henry Miles Collett and Elizabeth Page, who sadly died not
long after she was born. According to
the census in 1871 Elizabeth was not living with her family on that day, nor
has her whereabouts been discovered at that time. However, she was back living with her father
and his third wife Mary Ann in 1881, when she was 15 years old and the only one
of William’s children living with them at 2 Cambrian Cottages, Markfield Road
in Tottenham
Ada Miles Collett [31P51] was born at Tottenham in 1868 the first
of the two children of William Henry Miles Collett and Mary Ann Herbert, his
third wife. She was three years old in
the census of 1871 and was 13 in 1881.
By that time Ada was a milkmaid living with her grandparents, dairyman
William Batten Collett of South Wraxall and his wife Sarah Penelope Collett, at
their home The Poplars, 9 Markfield Road in Tottenham. Ten years later, according to the Tottenham
census of 1891, Ada Collett, aged 21 and from Tottenham who had no stated job
of work, was describe as the niece of perfumer James Watson, with whose family
she was living, James being the husband of Amy Charlotte Miles Collett, Ada’s
father’s younger sister. It was two
years later, on 20th March 1893 at St Faith’s Church in Stoke
Newington, that Ada Miles Collett married Edmund Cuttriss Clark, the son of
John Clark. Edmund was 35, while Ada was
only 25, and named as the daughter of William Henry Miles Collett
In
1891, bachelor Edmund C Clark was 31 and a coal inspector who was the only
member of his family still living with his widowed mother Elizabeth Clark, aged
71 and living on her own means, at the family home of 90 Brighton Road in Stoke
Newington. On being married, Edmund and
Ada made their home there, with Edmund taking over the role of head of the
household. Upon the later death of his
mother, Edmund inherited the property, where he and Ada lived for the rest of their
lives. The next census in 1901,
confirmed that Edmund was head of the household when he was 42 and a glass
packer, with Ada M Clark from Tottenham being 32. Their three children were Edmund junior who
was eight, Sidney who was six, and Ada junior who was one year old. Still living with the family at 90 Brighton
Road was 83-year-old Elizabeth M Clark, who was being visited by her elderly
friend Martha A Morris, a 72-year-old widow from Wellingborough, who was also
living on her own means
According
to the census in 1911 Ada Miles Clark from Tottenham was 42 when she was living
at 90 Brighton Road in Stoke Newington with her family. The census return that year confirmed that
she had been married for 19 years to Edmund Cuttriss Clark who was 52. The three children living with them were Edmund
Miles Clark who was 17, Sidney Herbert Clark who was 15 and Ada
Elizabeth Cuttriss Clark who was 11.
During the next few years Ada was made a widow by the death of her older
husband and at the time of her death on 11th March 1929, Ada Miles
Clark nee Collett was still living at 90 Brighton Road in Stoke Newington. Administration of her personal effects was
resolved in London on 31st July 1929 and was granted jointly to her
son Edmund Miles Clark, a sorter with the General Post Office, and her married
daughter Ada Elizabeth Cuttriss Elkin nee Clark. It was ten years earlier that Edmund Cuttriss
Clark had died at 90 Brighton Road on 24th June 1919, having been
born at Southwark during the summer of 1858
The
couple’s eldest child Edmund Miles Clark was born at 90 Brighton Road on 21st
April 1893 and died on 26th April 1960 while living at 66 Eastcote
Lane in South Harrow. He had married
Ethel Maud Zeeck (1891-1979), the daughter of Arthur and Mary Zeeck, on 19th
June 1915 at St Mark’s Church in Dalston, just south of Stoke Newington. Edmund and Ada’s daughter Ada Elizabeth
Cuttriss Clark was born on 1st March 1900 at 90 Brighton Road and she
died at Barnet during the month of December 1965, having married Joseph Elkin during
September 1922 at Hackney in London
William
Herbert Collett [31P52]
was born in 1869 at Tottenham, with his birth registered at Edmonton (Ref. 3a
184) during the last quarter of the year.
It was also during the same three months of 1869 that his death was also
recorded there (Ref. 3a 120).
Henry Miles Collett [31P53] was born at Tottenham in 1871, the
youngest child of William Henry Miles Collett by his third wife Mary Ann
Herbert. His birth was registered at
Edmonton (Ref. 3a 189) during the first three months of the year, and was under
three months old on the day of the Tottenham census that same year. Sadly, around the age of six-to-nine months
he died, with his death recorded at Edmonton (Ref. 3a 132) during the third
quarter of 1871
Elizabeth Louisa Miles
Collett [31P54] was
born at Hoxton in London on 31st December 1877, the first-born child
of Francis James Miles Collett and Elizabeth Jane Atkinson, whose birth was
recorded at Hackney (Ref. 1b 490) during the first three months of that
year. It was at St Leonard’s Church in
Shoreditch that she was baptised on 27th January 1878. Tragically, just one year later, the death of
Elizabeth Louisa M Collett, aged one year, was also recorded at Hackney (Ref.
1b 350) during the first quarter of 1879
Francis William Miles
Collett [31P55] was
born at Hoxton on 3rd September 1879, his birth recorded at Hackney
(Ref. 1b 484) during the fourth quarter of the year. Under his full name he was baptised at St
Leonard’s Church in Shoreditch on 21st September 1879, another son
of Francis and Elizabeth Collett. Unlike
his older sister (above), who had died at the start of that year,
Francis only survived for a few days, when his death was recorded at Hackney
(Ref. 1b 341) during that same quarter of 1879
Florence Amy Miles Collett
[31P56] was born at Hoxton on 29th
November 1880 and was baptised at St Leonard’s Church in Shoreditch on 19th
December 1880. She was four months old
in the census of 1881 when she and her parents, Francis James Miles Collett and
Elizabeth Jane Atkinson, were living at 12 Bridport Place in Hoxton. The family then moved to Tottenham, where
Florence was ten years old in 1891. By
1901 she was 20 and was still living with her parents in Tottenham, although
she may have been supporting her mother as she had no stated occupation at that
time. However, during the next few years
Florence Amy Collett did leave home, most likely for work reasons, and was 30
years old in the Hackney census of 1911 when her place of birth was recorded as
Tottenham. The address at which she was
living and working as a domestic servant was 13 Gloucester Road in Finsbury
Park, the home of William and Elizabeth Gamble and their three children. William was a director of an electrical and
mechanical engineering works
During
the previous year, Florence Amy Miles Collett was bound over for unlawfully
obtaining One Pound from her post office account by erasing a withdrawal from
her savings book, as reported on page 8 of the Tottenham & Edmonton Weekly
Herald. Many years later, according to
the 1939 Register, unmarried Florence was living with her sister Matilda Ellen
Miles Ballard, nee Collett (below) and her husband Arthur Ballard at 180
The Avenue in Walthamstow. It was
eighteen years later that the death of spinster Florence A M Collett, aged 77,
was recorded at Essex register office (Ref. 4a 206) in 1957, when she was
living in Colchester. Previously,
there was the possibility that Florence had married Reginald L. Foster, whose
wedding recorded at Coventry register office (Ref. 6d 2224) during the second
quarter of 1942, but she was Florence Alice M Collett who was born on 20th
December 1910, whose birth was recorded at the Warwickshire Meriden register
office just after the start of 1911, who died in 1991
William
John Miles Collett [31P57] was born at Hoxton in 1883, and was the
fourth child of Francis and Elizabeth Collett.
His birth was registered as William John M Collett at Shoreditch (Ref.
1c 48) during the third quarter of the year and was immediately followed by his
baptism at St John’s Church in Hackney on 26th August 1883. He was still under one year old when he died
at Hoxton in the following year, his death recorded at Shoreditch (Ref. 1c 90) during
the second quarter of 1884. His was the
third child death in the family
Matilda Ellen Miles
Collett [31P58] was born at Tottenham in London on 1st
April 1885, the daughter of Francis and Elizabeth Collett, her birth registered
at Edmonton (Ref. 3a 299). Matilda was
six years old in the Tottenham census of 1891 and in 1901 she was 16 and living
with her family at 28 Steele Road in Tottenham.
She was still unmarried in 1911, when Matilda was 26 and employed as a
palm-needle hand, the oldest child still living with her family at
Tottenham. It was also at Tottenham just
over three years later that she married Arthur Charles Ballard on 1st
August 1914 at All Hallows Church.
Arthur was a clerk of 42 Elsdon Road, off Bruce Grove in Tottenham, and
the son of George Ballard, deceased, a packing case maker, who was born on 10th
July 1880. His sister Jane Ballard
married Matilda’s younger brother Leslie William Miles Collett (below). In 1939 the Ballard family was recorded at
180 The Avenue in Walthamstow, when Matilda’s sister Florence Amy Miles Collett
(above) was living with them. Matilda
Ellen Miles Ballard, nee Collett, was living at 26 Severn Road in
Clacton-on-Sea when she died on 4th July 1967, with her death
recorded at Essex register office (Vol. 4a 472) at the age of 82. Following the earlier death of her husband
Arthur, also at 26 Severn Road, on 2nd February 1967, the estate of
his widow Matilda was bequeathed to her younger married sister Alice Elizabeth
Miles Monk, nee Collett (below)
Leslie William Miles
Collett [31P59] was born at the home of his grandparents
at 9 Markfield Road in Tottenham on 24th December 1888 and was
baptised at All Hallows Church on 10th March 1889, the third child
and only son of Francis James Miles Collett and Elizabeth Jane Atkinson. It was as Leslie Colletts aged two years that
he was listed with his family in the Tottenham census of 1891, and it was at 28
Steele Road in Tottenham that Leslie Wm Collett was still living with his
parents when he was 12. He was also
still living at the family home in Tottenham in 1911 when he was 22 and a cabinet
maker’s assistant, learning the trade alongside his father. During the following year Leslie emigrated to
Brisbane in Australia and it was at Brisbane on 28th October 1912
that he married Jane Ballard, the sister of Arthur Ballard, who later married
Leslie’s sister Matilda (above).
Jane was born on 2nd May 1882 at 35 Suffolk Road, Haggerston
within the London Borough of Hackney, and had sailed to Brisbane separately
from Leslie on the SS Otway, leaving England on 13th September
1912. Their marriage produced two
children, with no information currently available relating to their daughter,
apart from her name. Tragically, their
son, Victor George Collett, who was born at Oxley on 12th December
1915, was only three years of age when he died there during 1919
The
year after they were married, Leslie William Miles Collett was recorded within
the 1913 Electoral Rolls for the Brisbane suburb of Oxley in Queensland,
Australia, where the family was still residing in 1925. A quarter of a century later, the death of
Leslie William Miles Collett was recorded at Brisbane register office on 29th
December 1949 when his parents were confirmed as Francis and Elizabeth Collett,
but with his mother’s maiden-name written in error as Aitkenson. His widow survived him by just over sixteen
years when Jane Collett nee Ballard died on 3rd March 1966. Their daughter Rita had two daughters, Cathy
(1859-1988) who married Mark, and Margaret who had twin girls in 1992. It is known that one of the older sisters of
Leslie William Miles Collett, either Matilda or Florence (above) was
deaf, an affliction also suffered by their great grandfather William Collett as
recorded in 1851, plus his two eldest children
31Q62
– Victor George Collett was born at Oxley, a suburb of Brisbane, Australia
31Q63
– Rita Collett was born at Oxley, a suburb of Brisbane, Australia
May Edith Miles Collett [31P60] was born at Tottenham on 22nd
May 1891, the fourth of the six daughters of Francis and Elizabeth
Collett. Her birth, under her full name,
was recorded at Edmonton register office (Ref. 3a 313). As Edith May Collett, she was nine years old
in 1901 when she and her family were residing at 28 Steele Road in Tottenham,
where they were still living in 1911 when May Collett was 19 and employed as a
milliner. With the prospect of her
becoming a married woman during the following decade, it was a 24-year-old May
Collett who was baptised at the Church of St Martin-in-the-Fields on 27th
June 1915. Three years later the marriage
of May Edith Miles Collett and George Alfred James Carney took place at Holy
Trinity Church in Tottenham on 28th August 1918, when May was 27 and
George was 26. The bride’s father was
confirmed as Francis James Miles Collett, while the father of the groom was
named as James Carney. The witnesses at
the wedding were Matilda Ballard, and he husband Arthur Ballard, May’s sister and brother-in-law (above). George had been born in 1892 and was a clerk
residing at 42 Abbotsford Avenue in Tottenham
Over
the following years May presented George with three children, whose births were
al recorded at Edmonton register office, where their mother’s maiden-name was
confirmed as Collett. They were Joyce
M H Carney who was born in 1921, Moira E Carney who was born in
1925, and Geoffrey G F Carney who was born in 1927, who later lived on
the Isle of Wight. The two youngest
children both suffered with hearing difficulties, an ailment suffered by
previous generations of this family. Within
the 1939 Register just one child was living with the couple at Morton Way in
Southgate, four miles north-west of Tottenham, and she was Joyce M Carney whose
date of birth was recorded as 1st February 1921. It is understood that she never married and
died in Reading on 29th May 2017 at the age of 96. George Alfred James passed away on 28th
August 1965 when the couple was living at 71 Mount Park Avenue South, Croydon,
Surrey. Fifteen years after being made a
widow, May Edith M Carney was still living at 71 Mount Park Avenue South in
Croydon where she died on 8th April 1980, when her death was recorded
at Croydon register office (Vol. 11 1734) at the age of 89
Lilian Penelope Miles
Collett [31P61] was born at Tottenham on 12th
April 1894, the daughter of Francis and Elizabeth Collett, when her birth was recorded
at Edmonton (Ref. 3a 872). As Lilian
Penelope Collett, she was six years old in 1901 when she and her family were
recorded at 28 Steele Road in Tottenham, where she was still living in 1911,
simply as Lilian Collett, when she was noted in error as being only 14 years
old and a cashier working at a restaurant.
Eight years later Lilian P M Collett married William Robert Taylor at
West Ham on 19th April 1919, where the event was also recorded (Ref.
4a 477). William was born at Hackney
during the second quarter of 1894. Sometime
after they were married, the couple moved to Herefordshire where, according to
the 1939 Register, they were residing at Lloyds Bank Chambers in Hereford. William R Taylor was 45 and a bank messenger,
while his wife Lilian was also 45 and an assistant supervisor of bank cash. The only other known fact about Lilian is
that she died on 9th October 1973 at the Herefordshire village of
Burghill, her death recorded at Hereford register office (Ref. 9a 71), with the
earlier death of her husband recorded there in the summer of 1965
Alice Elizabeth Miles
Collett [31P62] was born at Tottenham on 17th
June 1898, the ninth and last known child of Francis James Miles Collett and
Elizabeth Jane Atkinson, whose birth was recorded at Edmonton register office
(Ref. 3a 406). It was as Alice Elizabeth
Collett that she was two years old in the census of 1901 when she was recorded
with her family at 28 Steele Road in Tottenham and where she was attending
school in 1911 aged 12 years. It was at
Tottenham on 23rd November 1932 that she married Frederick Augustus
Monk, their wedding also recorded at Edmonton register office. Once married the couple was recorded in the
electoral register as residing at Eagle Avenue in Tottenham. Frederick was over twenty years older than
Alice, having been born on 14th May 1877, and had been married
before, to Miriam Olivia Parker (1887-1931) by whom he had at least three sons
and a daughter. He had also seen active
service during the Great War with the RAOC. Seven years after their wedding day, the 1939
Register identified just Alice Monk living in Tottenham, where she was working
as a milliner. Eight years later,
Frederick and Alice were listed in the electoral roll for Tottenham, at which
time their home address was 2 Pembury Road, Bruce Grove, just two streets from
where her Alice’s older married sister Matilda
Ellen Miles Ballard nee Collett was living at Elsdon Road, Bruce Grove
Alice
and Frederick had only been married for sixteen years when Frederick Augustus
Monk died at Walthamstow on 26th August 1949. Alice Elizabeth Miles Monk, nee Collett, was
living at Clacton-on-Sea when she died on 21st December 1983, where
her aforementioned sister Matilda had died in 1967, when
Alice had been the sole beneficiary of Matilda’s Will. As a result of her husband’s war-time
service, Alice applied for and appears to have obtained a widow’s pension upon
his passing. Probate of her Will
confirmed the date that she died and also her home
address was 23 Tewkesbury Road in Clacton-on-Sea, leaving an estate with an estimate
value not greater than Ł40,000
William Andrew Collett [31P63] was born at 31 Homer Road in Homerton
(South Hackney), his birth recorded at Hackney (Ref. 1b 604) during the last
three months of 1879. For some reason,
he was absent from the family home in 1881 when he would have been one years
old. Three years before the death of his
father John in 1894, the census in 1891 placed William Collett, aged 11, living
with his parents and his three younger siblings in the West Hackney district of
London. Following the death of his
father, his mother married John Cook in 1896.
At the age of 21 years William Collett was a glass blower living at 1
Suther Street in Hackney with his widowed mother Sarah and his stepfather John
Cook. Also living there were William’s
sister Sarah, and his three brothers John, Henry, and Frank (below),
together with his two half-brothers Robert and Thomas Cook and half-sister
Harriet Cook
In
April 1911 William Collett from Hackney was 31 and was still earning a living
as a glass bottle maker while living at the home of his re-married mother Sarah
Cook and her family at 32 White Post Lane near Victoria Park in Hackney Wick. Around eighteen months later, the marriage of
William A Collett and Elisa Elizabeth Lloyd was recorded at Hackney (Ref. 1b
1210) during the third quarter of 1912.
They only had one child, their son Peter Collett, whose birth was
recorded at Wandsworth register office (Ref. 1d 1144) during the first three
months of 1913, when the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Lloyd. Tragically, the death of Peter Collett was
recorded at Chelsea register office (Ref. 1a 408) during the third quarter of
that same year. The only other known
fact is, that William A Collett died less than two years after his son, his
death recorded at Poplar (Ref. 1c 596) during the first quarter of 1915, when
he was only 35. With no apparent
involvement in military service, it is possible that he may have been a
civilian casualty of the Great War
31Q64
– Peter Collett was born in 1913 at Wandsworth, London; died in 1913
Sarah Matilda Collett [31P64] was born at 31 Homer Road in South
Hackney on 30th December 1882, the daughter of John Robert Collett
and Sarah Elizabeth Sharpington. Her
birth was notified to the South Hackney register office on 9th
February 1883 by her mother, who made the mark of a cross. In 1891 she was eight years old, and by the
time of the census in 1901, Sarah Collett, aged 18, was a Gladstone bag maker
living with her mother Sarah Cook and stepfather John Cook. Also living at 1 Suther Street in Hackney
were her four brothers and the three children from her mother’s second marriage
Five
years later in 1906 she married George Perkins at Hackney. According to the next census conducted in
April 1911, Sarah and her new family were living in the three-roomed dwelling
that was 19 Abbotsford Avenue in Tottenham within the Edmonton registration
district of London. George Perkins was a
housepainter from Bethnal Green who was 28, as was his wife of five years Sarah
Matilda Perkins from Hackney. During
those five years Sarah had given birth to two children and they were Doris
Perkins who was three and Ivy Velina Perkins who was one year
old. The couple’s first child had been
born in Hackney, while the second was born after the family had settled in
Tottenham. Sarah was with-child on the
day of the census, with her only son born later that same year
Tragically,
it was just six years later that Sarah Matilda Perkins nee Collett died during
1917 when she was only around thirty-four years of age, around the same age as
her brother William (above) who had died two years earlier. Her daughter Ivy Velina Perkins (1909 to
1988) later married Albert William Townsend, and it was her son, Brian Townsend
in Wales, who kindly provided some details about his ancestors. Of her two other children, Doris May Perkins
(1907 to 1996) was married three times, the first marriage producing two
children, while her son George Alfred John Perkins (1911 to 2000)
married Enid Roberts
John George C Collett [31P65] was born at 25 Homer Road in the
Homerton suburb of Hackney, where his birth was recorded (Ref. 1b 600) during
the third quarter of 1887, the son of John and Sarah Collett. He was three years old in the West Hackney
census of 1891 when he was living there with his family. John was six years old when his father died
in 1894, following which his mother married John Cook in 1896. According to the census in 1901, John Collett
was 14 and was still attending school, while he was living at 1 Suther Street
in Hackney with his mother and his stepfather and their three Cook children,
plus the other four members of his Collett family
Ten
years later, at the start of 1911, the marriage of John G C Collett and
Elizabeth Davenport was recorded at Poplar register office (Ref. 1c 631) during
the first three months of 1911. On the
day of the census that year, John George Collett, aged 23 and born at Hackney,
was still living in the Hackney area of London, just after he married
Elizabeth. It was also later that same
year, in September, that the couple’s first child was born when the family was
living at 30 Marsh Hill, near Hackney Marsh, when John was working as a
horsekeeper (a groom). That first child
was followed by a further three children over the next six years although,
tragically, the last of them died when he was just one year old. The couple’s youngest child was born early in
1917, by which time his father was a rifleman and Private John G Collett,
service number 323979, serving with the 6th Battalion of the London
Regiment in France. He may therefore not
have seen his youngest child, when he was killed in action at Arras on 21st
May 1917, at the age of 29. His military
record confirmed that his widow was Elizabeth Collett
31Q65
– John George Collett
was born in 1911 at Hackney, London
31Q66
– William Henry F Collett
was born in 1913 at Hackney, London
31Q67
– Sarah Elizabeth Collett
was born in 1915 at Hackney, London
31Q68
– Frederick Collett was
born in 1917 at Hackney, London
Henry Francis Collett [31P66], who was also known as Harry, was born at
Hackney on 8th March 1890 and was baptised at the Church of St
Barnabas in Homerton on 23rd January 1891, the son of John Robert
Collett and Sarah Elizabeth Sharpington.
It was as Henry Collett that he was recorded in the West Hackney census
of 1891 when he was one year old and living with his family. Three years after that his father died and
two years later his mother married John Cook in 1896 with whom she had three
children before 1901. On the day of the
census in March that year Henry Collett from Hackney was 12 and was still
attending school when he was living at 1 Suther Street in Hackney with his
mother and her new husband, their three children, and Henry’s brothers and
sister
Henry
was still living with his mother and stepfather ten years later in April 1911
who, by then, were living at 32 White Post Lane near Victoria Park in Hackney
Wick. Stepson Henry Collett from Hackney
was 21 and was employed as a printer’s joiner on that occasion. However, another eighteen years would pass
before he married Gladys Rose Wood in 1929, by which time he was forty years
old. Gladys may have been of a similar
age, since no children arising from the marriage have been found
Henry
Francis Collett later married Metabella Robinson who were both listed in the
Electoral Roll for 1939. At that time in
their life, they were residing at 47 Southdown Road in Eltham in Kent, and it
was at that same address that they were both living when they passed away. Whatever his occupation, Harry must have been
very successful because, at the proving of his Will he was credited with a
considerable fortune, including two other adjacent properties in Eltham. Henry Francis Collett died on 2nd
May 1945 at 25 Egerton Drive in Hale, Cheshire, when probate was granted to his
widow Metabella Robinson Collett for his estate valued at Ł30,194 9 Shillings and
4 Pence. The same report confirmed the
couple’s home address was at 47 Southwood Road in Eltham and that Henry also
owned the properties at 387 and 389 Footscray Road in Eltham, South London. Today
Footscray Road is the A211 running from Eltham to Sidcup
It
is known that his widow survived him by over twenty years since she was
recorded in the Electoral Roll for 1965, when Metabella R Collett was still
living at 47 Southwood Road in Eltham within the Parliamentary Constituency of
Woolwich West
Frank Collett [31P67] was born at Hackney in 1894, the
youngest child of John Robert Collett and Sarah Elizabeth Sharpington. His birth may have taken place just before,
or just after, his father died in January 1894.
Two years later his mother re-married and by the census in 1901, Frank
Collett aged six years was living at 1 Suther Street, the home of John Cook and
his wife Sarah, Frank’s mother. Also
living there were Franks’ four siblings, and with the three Cook children of
his mother. He was still living with
them at 32 White Post Lane near Victoria Park in Hackney Wick in 1911 when he
was 17 and was working with his brother Henry (above) as a printer’s
layer-on. Just eleven years after that,
Frank Collett married Mabel E Lutterloch at Poplar (Ref. 1c 883) during the
third quarter of 1922, with whom they had two children. Sadly, the youngest child was only two years
old when Frank Collett died in 1934 at the age of only 41, his death recorded
at Woolwich register office (Ref. 1d 1111) during the second quarter of that
year. Mabel Elizabeth Lutterloch was
born at Bow, with her birth recorded at Poplar register office (Ref. 1c 558)
during the second quarter of 1897, the third daughter of Arthur and Lily
Lutterloch of Bow. Sometime after the
death of Frank Collett, Mabel and her two sons moved away from London, and
would appear to have settled in the county of Oxfordshire, where the death of
Mabel E Collett, born in 1897, was recorded as Henley register office (Ref.6b
809) during the third quarter of 1964, when she was 67 years of age
31Q69
– Frank Collett was
born in 1923 at Poplar, London
31Q70
– Gerald Collett was
born in 1932 at Romford, Essex
Sarah Amelia Lifford [31P68], who was often referred to as Amelia, was
born on 12th December 1877 at Shoreditch – as recorded in the 1881
Census. However, at the time of
registration of the birth, and perhaps because of problems after her birth,
Sarah Amelia (and presumably her mother) was living at the home of her
grandfather Andrew William Collett at 31 Homer Road in the Homerton area of
Hackney. That appears to have been only
a temporary arrangement since by 1881 she and her parents, together with her
younger sister Agnes were listed as living at 32 Union Street in
Shoreditch. Ten years later she and the
family were living at 11 Bower Road in Hackney.
Sarah left the family home in the Spring of 1898 when she married (1)
William John Challis in Poplar. William
was born in 1876 but tragically died shortly after they were married. He died between October and December 1899 at
St Olaves in Bermondsey. According to
the census of 1901, Amelia Challis at 23 was a widow living at 12 Bower Road in
Hackney and her occupation was given as being a carpet sewer, that being the
same occupation as her mother who was still living at 11 Bower Road in Hackney
After
four and a half years as a young widow Sarah married (2) William Charles Pocock
on 23rd July 1904 at the Parish Church of St Mark in Victoria Park,
Poplar. At the time of the wedding
Sarah’s address was curiously given as 11 Bower Road in Poplar rather than in
Hackney. That might also indicate she
was living with her mother, rather than at 12 Bower Road. William’s address was given as 1 Salter
Street in Poplar. However, by the end of
1904 Sarah and William were living at 18 Finnisen Road in North Finchley, as
confirmed by the registration of the birth of their first child in December
that year. Further changes of address
were recorded for the birth of the couple’s other children and they were 2
Frederick Place at Friern Barnet in North Finchley in June 1906, 13 Fifth
Avenue in Enfield in August 1907, and 155 Bynes Road in South Croydon in February
1910
The
census of 1911 confirmed that the family living at Bynes Road was made up of
William Pocock, aged 28, Amelia Pocock, aged 33, and their children William
Pocock who was six, Amelia Pocock who was four, Walter Pocock who was three and
Charley Pocock who was just one year old.
By 1912 the family had moved a few doors along the street to 131 Bynes
Road from where the couple’s remaining children were born. They were Richard Pocock (26.03.1912),
Elizabeth Pocock (02.08.1914), Jane Pocock (25.05.1916), Mary Ann Pocock
(23.09.1919), Molly Pocock (08.07.1921) and Henry Pocock (05.09.1923). It was also there that Sarah Amelia died on
13th March 1934 and where William died two years later
on 7th February 1936
William
Pocock was born on 22nd April 1882 and was the son of Charles Pocock
and Mary Ann Crittle. His parents were
living at Stone Street Farm in Crockham Hill, Westerham near Sevenoaks in Kent,
at the time of his birth. In 1891 he and
his parents were living at Station Approach in Oxted, Surrey and ten years
later they were living at 8 Stanhope Road in Finchley. His occupation at the time of his marriage to
Sarah Amelia Challis was that of a general labourer. In 1907 he was working for a stonemason but
returned to being a general labourer until around 1918 when he was employed by
the local corporation, gaining promotion to road foreman in the late 1920s
The eldest child, William Charles Pocock,
who was referred to as
Bill, was born on 26th December 1904 at 18 Finnisen Road in North
Finchley. He married Sarah Gladys Dyer
on 25th December 1931 at St Augustine’s Church in Croydon. At that time, he was a scaffolder living at
141 Bynes Road in Croydon just a few doors along the road from where his
parents lived at 155 Bynes Road. His
wife Sarah was born on 20th September 1904 and she was the daughter
of Albert James Dyer and Mary Murrell.
It is interesting to note that Sarah and her family lived at 141 Bynes
Road in Croydon, the same address given by William at the time of their wedding
Following
their wedding day William C Pocock and Sarah G Dyer lived the whole of their
lives as residents of Bynes Road, although it was from 147 Bynes Road that
William Pocock died on 21st January 1975, followed by his wife Sarah
on 24th October 1978.
William’s death certificate recorded that he was a retired painter and
decorator and that he died of chronic bronchitis and pulmonary emphysema. The
second child of Sarah Amelia Lifford and William Charles Pocock, Amelia Pocock,
was born on 1st June 1906 and she married Lionel Ernest
King. The couple was known within the
family as Millie and Ernie and they were the grandparents of Ian King of
Plymouth who kindly provided details for this family line
Richard Pocock was the fifth child of
Sarah Amelia Lifford and William Charles Pocock who was born on 26th March
1912 in the family home at 131 Bynes Road in Croydon. However, after a bout of measles which lasted
for twelve days, following by three days of croup, Richard died on 24th
April 1915 after eight hours of convulsions
Henry Pocock was born on 5th September
1923 in the family home at 131 Bynes Road in Croydon. He was the last child of Sarah Amelia Lifford and William Charles
Pocock, and was a clerical officer in the general register office in
Croydon. He never married and died on 15th
March 1994 while living at 147 Bynes Road in Croydon. The cause of death resulted from a ruptured
abdominal aortic aneurysm, atherosclerosis, and chronic obstructive airways
disease. His final address perhaps
suggests that he lived with his much older brother William Pocock and his wife
Sarah or that he inherited or took over the property when William and Sarah
died in 1975 and 1978 respectively
Emily Collett [31P69] was born at Clapton in London during
1883 but shortly after she was born her parents moved to 229 Wick Road in
Hackney. On leaving school she took up
the work of a tailoress and was living with her parents at 222 Morning Lane in
Hackney in 1901 at the age of 17.
Sometime during the years following 1901 Emily’s mother died and by
April 1911 unmarried Emily, who was 27, was living at West Ham with her father
and all of her sisters
Isabella Collett [31P70] was born at 229 Wick Road in Hackney in
1887. At the age of 13 she had left
school and was working as a boot beader while living in the family home at 222
Morning Lane in Hackney. By April 1911
Isabella Collett of Hackney was 23 and was living in the West Ham area of
London with her widowed father William Collett and her four sisters
Harriet Louise Collett [31P71] was born at 229 Wick Road in Hackney
during 1889, the third of the five daughters of William Andrew Collett and
Emily Smith. By 1901, when Harriet was
11, she and her family were living at 222 Morning Lane in Hackney. It would appear that her
mother died during the next decade, since in 1911 Harriet at 21 was living with
her father and her four sisters in the West Ham area of London. Just over four years later she married Ernest
Edward Cockett at St Mary’s Church in West Ham on 28th August
1915. Their marriage produced two children, one of
whom was Olive Margaret Cockett, who was born in 1920, who died in
1995. The other child is presumed to
have been alive in 2013
Edith Maud Collett [31P72] was born at 229 Wick Road in Hackney
during 1896, the daughter of William and Emily Collett. According to the census in 1901 Edith was
four years old when she and her family were recorded at 222 Morning Lane in
Hackney, shortly after which, perhaps prompted by the death of her mother, the
family moved to West Ham. In the West
Ham area census of 1911 Edith Collett was 14 years old when she was living
there with her father and all four of her sisters. Edith Maud Collett married Victor Wright at
West Ham during 1924
Rose Collett [31P73] was born at 229 Wick Road in Hackney
during 1899, the last of the five children of William Andrew Collett and his
wife Emily Smith. By 1901 the full
family was living at 222 Morning Lane in Hackney where Rose was two years
old. During the next few years her
mother passed away and in 1911 Rose and her family were living in West Ham when
she was 12 years old. Rose later
married Leonard G Lloyd at West Ham in 1923 with whom she had two children, Patricia
Lloyd who was born in 1931 and Maureen Lloyd who was born in 1937
Sarah
Collett [31P74] was
born at Hackney in 1895, where her birth was recorded (Ref. 1b 577 839) during
the first quarter of that year, the eldest of the seven children of Henry John
Collett and his wife Marion Rider. She
was six years old in the Stoke Newington census of 1901 and was 16 in 1911,
when she was working as a daily servant, while still living with her widowed
mother and the rest of her family. She
was twenty-one years old when the marriage of Sarah Collett and Theophile
Hallemans was recorded at Hackney register office (Ref. 1b 839) during the last
three months of 1916
Marion
Amelia Collett [31P75]
was born at Hackney on 11th August 1896 and it was there that
her birth was recorded (Ref. 1b 486) during the third quarter of the year. She was four years old and 14 years of age in
the two censuses conducted in 1901 and 1911.
She never married and, at the end of her life she was residing in the
Hendon area of North London, where her passing was recorded (Ref. 13 0615)
during the spring of 1974
Edith
Charlotte Collett [31P76]
was born at Stoke Newington in 1897, where she was simply Edith Collett
aged three years in the census of 1901.
No record of her birth or baptism has been found but, tragically for her
family, the death of Edith Charlotte Collett, aged eight years, was recorded at
Hackney register office (Ref. 1b 351) during the fourth quarter of 1905
Henry
C Collett [31P77] was
born at Stoke Newington in 1898, the four child and eldest son of Henry and
Marion Collett. Curiously, no record of
his birth, baptism, marriage or death has been found,
despite the fact he was living with his family in 1901, when he was two years
of age, and again in 1911, when Henry C Collett was 12 and still attending
school
Andrew
Collett [31P78] was
born at Stoke Newington in 1899, where he was living with his family in 1901,
aged one year, and in 1911 when he was 11 and at school. As far as in known, he never married and
passed away in 1961 and the age of 60, his death recorded at Stepney register
office (Ref. 5d 486) during the third quarter of that year
Frank
Edwin Collett [31P79]
was born at Homerton in 1903 with his birth recorded at Hackney register
office (Ref. 1b 585) during the third quarter of the year. By the time of the next census, his father
had died and as Edwin Frank Collett was eight years old and living with his
widowed mother and the rest of his family.
However, it was as Frank E Collett that his marriage to Alice Moffat was
recorded at Hackney register office (Ref. 1b 727) during the first three months
of 1937. After around only five years
being a married man, the death of Frank Collett was recorded at Hackney (Ref.
1b 487) during the first quarter of 1942, when he was 39
Eleanor
Victoria Collett [31P80]
was born at Homerton in 1905, her birth recorded at Hackney register office
(Ref. 1b 530) during the second quarter of the year, the last child born to
Henry John Collett and Marion Rider. She
was twenty-two when she married Joseph Haggerty, the event recorded at Hackney
(Ref. 1b 483) during the first three months of 1927
Henry
Collett [31Q5]
(aka Harry Hayward Collett) was born at Bradford-on-Avon in 1868, where his
birth was recorded (Ref. 5a 125) during the third quarter of that year. He was the second of the three known children
of Arthur Henry Collett (aka Arthur William Collett) and his much older
wife Harriet Hayward. Early in his life
he used the name Harry, as in the census of 1881, when Harry Collett was 12
years of age and was living in Bradford with his mother and younger sister
Sarah, by which time their mother had been a widow for four years. Not only had the family lost their father,
just prior to that census day, Henry’s older brother died and was buried with
their father at Bradford-on-Avon. On
completing his education, Henry enlisted with the British Army and in 1891 he
was unmarried Private Harry Collette from Wiltshire who was 23 years old and
attached to the 1st King’s Dragoon Guards based at Canterbury
It would appear that since joining the army, he used the Collette
spelling of his surname and, later on in 1891, he adopted his mother’s maiden-name
as a second forename. It was during the
fourth quarter of 1891, that the marriage of Harry Hayward Collette and Amy
Husband was recorded at the Woolwich register office in London (Ref. 1d 1932). Amy was the same age as Harry and was born at
Canterbury in 1868, the daughter of Henry and Mary Ann Husband, who was
baptised there on 29th November 1868. Eight months earlier, Amy Husband was an
unmarried dressmaker, who was living with her parents in Canterbury at the age
of 23. The couple had fled to London to
be married for the single reason that Amy was already expecting the birth of
their first child, who was born early in 1892
Whether
Harry had already finished his military service by then, or finished sometime
during 1892, it was certainly at Canterbury that the birth of their son Harry
George Collette was recorded. However,
upon the occasion of the birth of their second child, the young family was
residing in the Ramsgate area of Kent, but later, settle at 113 Brookdale Road
in Catford, within the London Borough of Lewisham, where two more children were
born. The Polling Registers for Catford
placed Harry Collette, from at least 1899, through to 1905, at 113 Brookdale
Road, after which, no record of the family has been found, and not even in the
census of 1911, except that is for the couple’s eldest daughter
The
Catford census in 1901 confirmed the family living at 113 Brookdale Road, from
where 32-year-old Harry H Collett was an agent for a life insurance company,
who had been born at Bradford-on-Avon in Wiltshire. The other members of his family were his wife
Amy Collette from Canterbury who was also 32, Harry G Collette who was nine and also born at Canterbury, Elsie Collette who was six and
from Ramsgate, Margery N Collette who was four years old and born at Catford,
and Leslie N Collette who was still under one year old and born at 113
Brookdale Road. Three years later, Amy
presented Harry with their last child, when the family was again residing at
113 Brookdale Road in Catford
Sometime
after the birth of daughter Maisie, her father’s work in insurance resulted in
the family travelling to South Wales, with the family recorded in Aberdare on
the day of the census in 1911. Assurance
inspector Harry Hayward Collette from Bradford-on-Avon was 42, and his wife Amy
from Canterbury was also 42. The
children still living with the couple were Harry George Collette who was 19 and
an assurance agent who had been born at Canterbury, Margery Norah Collett from
Catford who was 14 and helping her mother, Leslie Newing Collett who was ten,
and Maisie Collette who was six years old, both of them
also born at Catford in south-east London. Absent from the family group that day was the
couple’s eldest daughter Elsie Collette who was 16 and a pupil at Christ’s
Hospital School on Fore Street in Hertford, where her place of birth was
confirmed as Ramsgate
Two
years later, the name of Harry Hayward Collette was amongst those listed in the
Chelsea Pensioners’ Service Records published in 1913, with a note that he was
born in Wiltshire in 1868. Twenty-four
years later, Harry and Amy were living in Essex, where Harry Hayward Collette
died on 1st April 1937, after which his Will was proved there on 29th
May 1937, the main beneficiary being his widow, Amy Collette. Eleven years later, Amy Collette died at
Kings Lynn on 12th September 1948, where her passing was recorded at
the age of 79 (Ref. 4b 372). Her Will
was proved at Norwich on 26th February 1949, when the beneficiary
was George William Barker. Three of the
couple’s children have been carried forward to the next generation of the
family. For the remainder, their only known
details are as follows: the birth of Elsie Collette was recorded at Thanet
register office (Ref. 2a 964) during the first quarter of 1895; with the birth
of Maisie Collett recorded at Lewisham register office (Ref. 1d 1216) during
the first three months of 1905
31R1
– Harry George Collette
was born in 1892 at Canterbury, Kent
31R2
– Elsie Collette was born in 1895 at Ramsgate, Kent
31R3
– Margery Norah Collette
was born in 1897 at Catford, London
31R4
– Leslie Newing Collette
was born in 1900 at Catford, London
31R5
– Maisie Collette was born in 1905 at Catford, London
Sarah Collett [31Q6]
was born at Bradford-on-Avon in 1874, the only known daughter and youngest
child of Arthur Henry Collett and Harriet Hayward. Her birth was registered at Bradford-on-Avon
(Ref. 5a 121) during the third quarter of the year. Following the premature death of her father
when she was just two years of age, six-year-old Sarah Collett was living with
her widowed mother in Bradford, together with her older brother Harry (above)
and half-sister Emily Hayward in 1881.
After a further ten years, Sarah Collett of Bradford was 16 and a quill
binder, the only person living at Ashley Road in Bradford with her 60-year-old
mother Harriet Collett, who was described as a retired laundress and a widow
born at Bradford-on-Avon. Seven years
later, and just like her surviving brother, Sarah had added an E at the end of
her surname, with the marriage of Sarah Collette and Herbert John Dainton was
recorded at Bradford-on-Avon register office (Ref. 5a 165) during the first three
months of 1898. The birth of Herbert
John Dainton had been registered at Bradford-on-Avon (Ref. 5a 135) during the
quarter of 1874
During the next three years Sarah gave
birth to two sons, with the four members of the family residing at Huntingdon
Place in Bradford-on-Avon on the day of the census in 1901. Herbert John Dainton was 26 and an engine
driver employed at a local cloth mill, Sarah was also 26, and their two
children were Charles Herbert Dainton (1899-1965) who was two, and George
Vivian Dainton (1901-1905) who was two months old. Every member of the household had been born
in Bradford. Sometime during the next
four years, Herbert was offered another job of work, which resulted in the
family leaving Bradford and moving ten miles south to Frome in Somerset, where
the couple’s two daughters were born
According to the census in 1911, the
family was recorded within the Adderwell area of
Frome, where Herbert Dainton was 36 and a stationary engine man employed in the
manufacture of rubber, wife Sarah was 36, when only three of their children
were recorded with them. They were
Charles Dainton who was 12 and still attending school, Alice Emily Dainton
(1904-1959) was six, and Vera Lilian Dainton (1908-1990) was two years
of age. The earlier death of son George
Vivian Dainton had been recorded at Frome register office (Ref. 5c 282) during
the fourth quarter of 1905, aged four years.
No further children were added to their family after that census day
The later death of Sarah Dainton, born
at Bradford-on-Avon in 1874, was recorded at Somerset register office (Ref. 7c
156) during 1949, at the age of 75. By
the time widower Herbert died, he was living in the Wells area of Somerset,
where his death was recorded (Ref. 7c 220) during the last three months of
1955, when he was 81. Daughter Alice
Emily Dainton married Sidney W Lewis in 1929 in Frome, and a year later Vera
Lilian Dainton married Cyril J Candy at Frome in 1930
Florence Mabel Hannah
Collett [31Q9] was born at Yatton Keynell in 1891, the
eldest of the four children of Job Collett and Alice Sheppard, her birth
recorded at Chippenham (Ref. 5a 71) during the second quarter of 1891 when her
name was recorded as Florence Mabel H Collett.
Shortly thereafter Florence Mabel Hannah Collett was baptised at Yatton
Keynell on 31st May 1891, the daughter of Job and Alice
Collett. By the time of the next census
in 1901, Florence’s father had died and her widowed mother had married George
Hayes, with whom she gave birth to a further seven children at Biddestone,
although two of them did not survive.
All four children of the late Job Collett were recorded with their
stepfather’s surname at Biddestone on that census day, including Mabel Hayes
who was 10 years of age. Nineteen years
later, the marriage of Florence M H Collett and William G Butt was recorded at
Chippenham (Ref. 5a 187) during the fourth quarter of 1920. She was only married for just over six years,
when the death of Florence M H Butt was recorded at Chippenham register office
(Ref. 5a 102) during the first three months of 1927, when she was 35 years old
Edward Wilfred Collett [31Q10] was born at Yatton Keynell either late
in 1892 or early in 1893, whose birth was registered at Chippenham (Ref. 5a 69)
during the first quarter of that year.
It was on 26th February 1893 that he was baptised at Yatton
Keynell, the eldest son of Job and Alice Collett. Sadly, he was only two years old when his
father died and his two younger brothers were born at Yatton Keynell. A few years later his mother married George
Hayes from Chippenham, following which the family settled in Biddestone, where
Alice gave birth to seven more children.
At the time of the census in 1901, Edward and his three Collett siblings
recorded in error with the Hayes surname.
Like his sister (above) and his youngest brother (below),
Edward was included on the census return using his second forename, when
Wilfred Hayes from Yatton Keynell was eight years old. After the birth of the last of his mother’s
Hayes children, the family left Biddestone when they moved to Long Dean, to the
west of Yatton Keynell, where they were living in 1911. On that occasion Edward was working alongside
his stepfather, both of them employed as farm
labourers, when he was described as Wilfred H Collett aged 18. This raises the questions, was the H the
start of the writing of the surname Hayes, before the name was corrected as
Collett
Presumably
Edward saw active service during the First World War and certainly survived the
ordeal since, it was as Edward W Collett that he married Amelia Blanche
Whiting. The wedding was recorded at the
Chippenham register office (Ref. 5a 183) during the second quarter of 1919,
although it was very likely the wedding service was conducted at the Church of
St Margaret in Yatton Keynell. However,
by that time Amelia had already given birth to a base-born daughter Enid who
may or may not have been the child of Edward Collett. Amelia herself was born at Lacock near
Chippenham in 1887, the eldest daughter and second child of James Whiting of
Yatton Keynell and his wife Louisa Whiting, who were living at Yatton Keynell in
1901, where James was a carter on a farm.
By that time, and at the age of only 13, Amelia was living and working
as a domestic servant in Chippenham. Ten
years later, Amelia Blanche Whiting was the only one of that surname
who was living and working at a dwelling in Bath, when she was unmarried at 23
years of age
It
was during the year following their marriage that Amelia presented Edward with
their second child. The birth was
recorded at Chippenham register office (Ref. 5a 109), where the child’s
mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Whiting.
The family lived out most of their life at Yatton Keynell, but in 1942
Edward W Collett and his wife Amelia B Collett were living at 8 Mount Pleasant
in Chippenham, when they received the sad news of the death of their married
daughter Enid Hawkins who had died at her home during a German bombing raid on
the City of Bath. It was ten years later
that Amelia Blanche Collett nee Whiting died on 5th April 1952 when
she was 64. After a further seven years
Edward Wilfred Collett died during the second quarter of 1959 when he was 66,
his passing being notified to the Registrar at the Bath Register Office, where
the death was recorded for Edward W Collett.
Both of them were buried in a single grave in
the grounds of St Margaret’s Church in Yatton Keynell where their combined
headstone has the following inscription:
“In Loving Memory of Amelia Blanche Beloved Wife of Wilfred Collett died April 5th
1952 aged 64 Rest in Peace - Also of Wilfred
Collett died May 31st 1959 aged 66 In
Gods Keeping”
31R6
– Enid K Collett was
born in 1918 at Yatton Keynell
31R7
– Reginald Graham George
Collett was born in 1920 at Yatton Keynell
Alfred Job Collett [31Q11] was born at Yatton Keynell in 1894 and
was the twin brother of Ernest William Collett (below). His birth was recorded at Chippenham (Ref. 5a
59) during the fourth quarter of the year.
It was also there, during that same quarter of that year, that the
premature death of his father was recorded.
The combined baptism of Alfred Job Collett and his twin brother was
conducted at Yatton Keynell on 30th December 1894, when they were
confirmed as the sons of Job and Alice Collett.
His widowed mother then married George Hayes and by 1901 Alfred and his
three Collett siblings were living with their mother and stepfather in
Biddestone, where Alfred was recorded in error as Alfred Hayes aged six years
and from Yatton Keynell. Towards the end
of the next decade Ernest’s mother and stepfather moved to nearby Long Dean
and, on the day of the census in 1911, the twins were still together but living
at Roundway in Devizes, where Alfred Job Collett and William Ernest Collett
from Yatton Keynell were both 17 years of age
Ernest William Collett [31Q12] was born at Yatton Keynell in 1894, the
twin brother of Alfred Job Collett (above). His birth entry recorded at Chippenham (Ref.
5a 60) followed that of his brother during the last quarter of the year. He was baptised with his brother at Yatton
Keynell on 30th December 1894, the sons of Job Collett (deceased)
and his wife Alice Sheppard. By the time
he was baptised, his father had already died and, not long after, his mother
married George Hayes, with whom the family was living at Biddestone in
1901. On that occasion Ernest was
incorrectly recorded as William Hayes who was six years old. Ten years later William Ernest Collett and
his twin brother were living at Roundway in Devizes at the age of 17. Just over fourteen years after that day, the
marriage of Ernest W Collett and Frances M Lewis was recorded at Calne register
office (Ref. 5a 197) during the last three months of 1925, while no record of
any children has so far been found
William Herbert Collett [31Q13] was born at Bath, where his birth was
recorded (Ref. 5c 621) during the last three months of 1874, the eldest child
of Edwin Collett and Mary Ann Jones. It
was as William H Collett that he was recorded in the census of 1881 when he was
six years old and living with his family at 7 Dover Terrace within the Walcot
district of Bath. Ten years later, and
following the death of his father, William had left school and was already a carpenter’s
apprentice at the age of 16, when he and his widowed mother and his young
siblings were residing at 2 Myrtle Place in Walcot. When he was 21 years of age, William Herbert
Collett married Clara Maud Witcombe, the event recorded at Bath (Ref. 5c 1113)
during the second quarter of 1896.
Shortly thereafter, Clara presented William with the first of their
three children. By the end of March in
1901, William H Collett was 28 and his occupation was that of a joiner. He was still living in the Walcot area of
Bath on that occasion, at Upper Mount Pleasant, and living there with him was
his wife Clara M Collett who was 24, and four-year-old son Edwin H Collett,
when all three of them were confirmed as having been born at Bath
Ten
years later the family was still living in Bath, but at 4 Hanover Place in the
Kensington district of the town. All
four occupants of the premises were confirmed as having been born at Bath, and
they were William Collett, who was 37 and a carpenter, his wife C Collett who
was 30 (sic), their son Harry Collett who was 13 and their daughter Ethel
Collett who was seven years of age. Just
less than three years later a third child was added to the family with the
arrival of Dorothy May Collett in February 1914. Many years later, a certain William H E
Collett died at Bath, where his death was recorded (Ref. 7c 29) during the
first three months of 1954, when he was 79 years old
31R8
– Edwin Harry Collett
was born in 1897at Bath
31R9
– Ethel Maud Collett
was born in 1902 at Bath
31R10
– Dorothy May Collett
was born in 1914 at Bath
Edwin George Collett [31Q14] was born at Bristol, where his birth was
recorded (Ref. 6a 24) during the fourth quarter of 1876. As Edwin G Collett from Bristol, he was four
years old in the census of 1881 when he and his family were living at 7 Dover
Terrace in Walcot (Bath). Towards the
end of the century, the marriage of Edwin George Collett and Lily May Flower
was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 1071) during the third quarter of
1899. Lily May was the daughter of
Joseph and Mary Flower and was born at Wellow, just south of Bath, in
1878. She and Edwin had five daughters
and all of them were born while the family was living in the Walcot area of
Bath. According to the Bath census of
1901, the couple’s first child had already been born. Edwin G Collett from Bristol was 24 and his
occupation was that of a plumber and a gas fitter. His wife Lily M Collett from Wellow (Bath)
was 22 and their daughter Violet M Collett was one year old
Ten
years later in 1911, the family was still living at Walcot and the census that
year recorded their address as 5 Dover Terrace in Walcot in Bath. It also confirmed that Edwin and Lily had
been married for twelve years. Edwin
George Collett, aged 34 and from the St Pauls district of Bristol, was still
working as a plumber and a gasfitter.
His wife Lily May Collett was 33 and their five children were Violet May
Collett who was 11, Gladys Mary Collett who was nine, Kathleen Lily Collett who
was seven, Hilary Edith Collett who was four, and Georgina Daisy Collett who
was two years old. Also living with the
family at that time was ‘step-brother’ George William Batch who was 13 and from
Compton Martin near Cheddar. In addition
to him, seventy-one-year-old widower James R Hooper of Bath and ‘of independent
means’ was also living with the family on that occasion
Two
more children were added to the family, George in the summer of 1912 (Ref. 5c
904) and Doris possibly at the end of 1913, the birth of Doris E Collett
recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 837) during the first three months of
1914, when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Flower. Her father’s military discharge record,
completed in 1919, stated that Edwin George Collett from Somerset, was 42 years
old and had been a member of the 5th Battalion of the Royal Army
Medical Corps. Edwin was 70 years old,
when the death of Edwin G Collett was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 7c
25) during the third quarter of 1947.
His widow survived for another eighteen years, when the death of Lily M
Collett was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 7c 54) during the third
quarter of 1965, at the age of 87
31R11
– Violet May Collett was born in 1899 at Walcot, Bath
31R12
– Gladys Mary Collett was born in 1901 at Walcot, Bath
31R13
– Kathleen Lily Collett was born in 1903 at Walcot, Bath
31R14
– Hilary Edith Collett was born in 1906 at Walcot, Bath
31R15
– Georgina Daisy Collett was born in 1908 at Walcot, Bath
31R16
– George E Collett was born in 1912 at Walcot, Bath
31R17
– Doris E Collett was born in 1913 at Walcot, Bath
Reginald Harry Collett [31Q15] was born at 7 Dover Terrace, Walcot in
Bath in 1880, his birth recorded at Bath (Ref. 5c 610) during the third quarter
of the year. And it was at 7 Dover
Terrace where he and his family were living on the day of the census in 1881,
when Reginald H Collett was said to be ten months old, meaning he was born at
the end of the second quarter of 1880.
Just less than two years later, the death of Reginald Harry Collett was
recorded at Bath (Ref. 5c 473) during the first three months of 1893, when he
was two years of age
Arthur Thomas Collett [31Q16] was born at Bath, where his birth was
recorded (Ref. 5c 627) during the first quarter of 1883, and most likely at 7
Dover Terrace in the Walcot area of the city where his family had been living
two years earlier. He was the youngest
of the four sons of Edwin Collett and Mary Ann Flower and, following the death
of his father when he was only a few years old, Arthur T Collett aged eight
years was living with his widowed mother and two older brothers at Walcot in
1891. At the age of 18, he was still
living with his widowed mother Mary at the family home in Bath, when his
occupation was that of a leather renderer.
While no record of him has been found so far in the census of 1911, it
was at Bath where Arthur Thomas Collett married Beatrice E Owen, the event
recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 1088) during the third quarter of
1912. Beatrice Ella Owen was a draper’s
assistant and was born at Bath on 2nd January 1888, the daughter of
Frederick and Louise Owen. As far as can
be determined Arthur and Beatrice had just one child, Joyce Beatrice Louise
Collett, whose birth was recorded during the second quarter of 1914 at the Bath
register office (Ref. 5c 669), when the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as
Owen
When
he was around thirty years old, he joined the British army to fight for King
and Country. He was Private T/205129
with The Queen’s Royal West Surrey Regiment and was tragically killed during
The Third Battle of Ypres on 4th October 1917, aged 34. At that time, he was married to Beatrice E
Collett of 26 Belgrave Crescent in Bath.
The details recorded at the time of his death confirmed that he was the
son of Mrs M A Collett of 6 Highbury Terrace in Bath, and that corresponds to
Mary A Collett, a milliner, who was married to Edwin Collett and was living at
7 Dover Terrace in Walcot in 1881.
Arthur’s name appears on the Tyne Cot Memorial (Panel 14 to 17, 162)
which is situated north-east of Ieper.
It is one of four memorials to those missing in the Belgian Flanders
area of the Ypres Salient. The memorial
bears the names of 35,000 officers and men whose graves are not known. His widow was 83 years old, when the death of
Beatrice Ella Collett, nee Owen, was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 7c
754) during the spring of 1971
31R18
– Joyce Beatrice Louise Collett was born in 1914 at Bath
Edgar William Collett [31Q17] was born at Atworth in 1874 and his
birth was registered at Bradford-n-Avon (Ref. 5a 129) during the last quarter
of that year, the first-born child of Whyatt Collett and Jane Goldstone. The Bishop’s Transcript confirmed that he was
baptised at Monkton on 8th November 1874, the child of Whyatt
Collett, a carpenter residing at Atworth.
Shortly after he was born, he and his parents moved from Atworth to live
at Monkton Farleigh, north of Bradford-on-Avon and three miles east of
Bath. The move there only lasted a few
years before the family moved again to Larkhall in Bath, where Edgar was
recorded as being six years old in the 1881 Census. At that time, the family was living at 8
Lambridge Street in Larkhall (within the Bath Walcot registration district)
but, five years later in 1886, the family moved house again, that time to the
west side of Bath, to settle in Twerton (on-Avon). Ten years later Edgar and his family were
still living at West Avenue in Twerton, where Edgar W Collett was 16 and a
draper’s assistant
It
was during the summer of 1900 that Edgar became a married man, when the
marriage of Edgar William Collett and Ellen Elizabeth Holborrow was recorded at
Tetbury register office (Ref. 6c 797) in Gloucestershire, during the third
quarter of that year. Ellen had been
born at Westonbirt in Gloucestershire in 1876 and, immediately after they were
married, the couple moved north to Lancashire.
By the end of March in 1901, Edgar had followed in his father’s
footsteps and was a journeyman carpenter and joiner aged 27, and it was his
work that had taken him and his new bride to the Old Trafford district of
Manchester. The pair of them were
residing at Collins Street within the Hulme, Chorlton census registration
district, when Edgar’s wife was confirmed as Ellen Collett who was 24 and from
Westonbirt near Tetbury. Ellen may well
have been with-child on the census day, since it was later that year when their
first child was born. Within the
following year the family of three travelled south and, in 1903, they were
living in Swindon, where the second of their two daughters was born
Not
long after that, Edgar and Ellen returned to Bath, where they were recorded in
April 1911 when living at 196 Coronation Avenue in Twerton. Edgar William Collett was 36 and he gave his
place of birth as being the Wiltshire village of Monkton Farleigh near Bath. His occupation at that time was still that of
a journeyman carpenter, who was employed by a house builder. The census also confirmed that the couple had
been married for ten years. Edgar’s wife
was listed as Helen Elizabeth Collett, aged 34 and from Westonbirt, and their
two daughters were nine-year-old Helen Elizabeth Collett from Manchester, and
Dorothy Melinda from Swindon who was seven years of age. Just two years later, the death of Edgar W Collett
was recorded at Wells register office (Ref. 5c 490) during the third quarter of
1913, when he was just 38 years of age.
The body of Edgar William Collett was laid to rest in Twerton Cemetery
in Bath, following his passing on 15th July 1913
31R19
– Helen Elizabeth L Collett
was born in 1901 at Manchester
31R20
– Dorothy Melanda Jane Collett
was born in 1904 at Swindon
Frances Eliza Collett [31Q18] was born at Frankleigh near
Bradford-on-Avon in 1876 and it was at the latter where her birth was recorded
(Ref. 5a 138) during the second quarter of the year. However, like her older brother Edgar (above),
she was baptised at Monkton Fairleigh on 4th June 1876, the daughter
of Whyatt and Jane Collett. She was
recorded in the 1881 Census as being five years old, when she was living at 8
Lambridge Street in Walcot with her family. Ten years later Frances and her family
were living at Twerton where she was 15 years of age. While no record of Frances has been found
within the next census 1901, it was just over four years later that the
marriage of Frances Eliza Collett and Alfred Small was recorded at Bath
register office (Ref. 5c 1194) during the fourth quarter of 1905. Alfred had been made a widower in 1898 when
his wife Ada had died during the birth of their second child. By 1911 Frances had given birth to two
children, with all six members of the family residing in Twerton. Alfred Small was 42, Frances Small was 35,
Charles Small was 14, Irene Small was 11, Dorothy Small was five and Charlotte
Small was three years of age
Whyatt Collett [31Q19] was born at Frankleigh in 1877, his
birth recorded at Bradford-on-Avon (Ref. 5a 136) during the second quarter of
that year, the third child of Whyatt Collett and Jane Goldstone. He was three years of age in April 1881, when
he and his family were living at Walcot, and was 12 years old in 1891 after the
family has settled in nearby Twerton. He
took up work as a painter and glazier and in 1901 was living with his parents
at Twerton. His place of birth on that
occasion was given as Bath and his age was 23.
Although he was recorded as being a married man in the next census of
1911, he was still living with his elderly parents at their house at 106 West
Avenue in Twerton. Whyatt Collett was 33
and a house painter and decorator and his place of birth was confirmed as
Frankleigh. It was three years earlier,
when the marriage of Whyatt Collett and Florence Honor Raggatt was recorded at
Bristol register office (Ref. 6a 234) during the third quarter of 1908
The
birth of Florence Honor Raggatt was recorded at Barton Regis in Bristol (Ref.
6a 89) during the first three months of 1879, the third child and eldest
daughter of William Raggatt and Harriet Goldstone. At the age of 12 years, Florence was the only
person living with her elderly maternal grandmother Eliza Goldstone, who was
74, at her home in Churchill Batch within the Somerset parish of
Winscombe. It seems likely she had already
left school and was waiting on her grandmother, possibly as her housekeeper. Ten years earlier, widow Eliza Goldstone was
living with Florence’s family at Higham Road in Bedminster, to the south of
Bristol. Eliza was also, not only
Florence’s grandmother, she was also the maternal grandmother of Whyatt
Collett, being the mother of Jane Goldstone who married his father, who was
living with the Collett family Twerton in 1901.
Eighteen months later, the death of Eliza Goldstone was recorded at Bath
during the summer of 1902
When
Whyatt was visiting his parents at 106 West Avenue in Twerton on the day of the
census in 1911, his wife and their first child were visiting her parents in
Bristol. The census return
for Twerton confirmed that Whyatt had been born at Frankleigh, that he was 33,
and was a painter and house decorator. On
that same day, his wife and their son were staying with William Raggatt, who
was 58 and a circular distributor from Oxford, his wife Harriet Raggatt, who
was 63 and from Churchill in Somerset.
Their married daughter Florence Collett from Montpelier in north Bristol
was 33, and their grandson was one-year-old Whyatt Collett had been born at
Bath
In all probability Florence Collett was staying with her
parents in 1911 because she was already with-child and, within the next six
months of that year, she gave birth to the first of her two daughters. The five-year gap between those two children
may have been the result of Whyatt’s absence during the first years of the
Great War. Both girls were possibly born
at Twerton, with their births recorded at Bath register office, Hilda H Collett
(Ref. 5c 830) in Q4 1911, and Gladys M Collett (Ref. 5c 867) in Q2 1916. The couple’s youngest daughter was 29 years old
when the death of Whyatt Collett was recorded at Somerset register office (Ref.
5c 642) during the last three months of 1945, when he was 67 years old. Following his passing on 17th
October 1945, Whyatt Collett was buried at the Haycombe Cemetery and
Crematorium in Bath. His widow survived
him by nearly twelve years, when the death of Florence H Collett, nee Raggatt,
was also recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 7c 38) during the third quarter
of 1957, when she was 78
31R21
– Whyatt Collett was
born in 1909 at Bath
31R22
– Hilary Harriet Collett was born in 1911 at Bath
31R23
– Gladys M Collett was
born in 1916 at Bath
According
to the Twerton census conducted in 1901, Frederick J Collett from Larkhall Bath
was a stonemason aged 21 who was still living there with his parents. Just six months after that census day
Frederick John Collett married Rhoda Mills, who was also born at Bath in 1879,
the event recorded at Bath (Ref. 5c 1103) during the fourth quarter of
1901. The couple remained living in Bath
and it was there also that their four children were born and where the family
was living in April 1911. The census
that year confirmed the family was living at 49 Lower Bristol Road where
Frederick John Collett, aged 33, was a mason and a builder who had been born in
Bath and who had been married for ten years.
His wife was Rhoda Collett aged 33 and their children were Florrie
Collett who was eight and Emily Collett who was two years old
The
family group photograph (above) was taken in the back garden of their
Bath home during 1924, when Frederick’s and Rhoda’s youngest child was one year
old. From left to right, the picture
shows the couple’s three daughters: 16-year-old Emily Collett (standing);
22-year-old Florence Collett (seated); and Ivy Collett (holding a book). Standing behind them is the suited Frederick
John Collett himself, who would have been in his mid-forties and seated in
front of him and holding their baby son Edgar, is his wife Rhoda Collett nee
Mills. Frederick was 83 when he passed
away when he was still living in the Bath area of Somerset. The death of Frederick J Collett was recorded
at Bath register office (Vol. 7c 15) during the first three months of 1963
31R24
– Florence Jessie Collett
was born in 1902 at Bath
31R25
– Edith May Collett was
born in 1906 at Bath
31R26
– Emily Collett was
born in 1908 at Bath
31R27
– Ivy Collett was born
in 1913 at Bath
31R28
– Edgar William Collett
was born in 1922 at Bath
Sydney James Collett [31Q21] was born at 8 Lambridge Street within
the Larkhall district of Bath in 1882, with his birth registered at Bath (Ref.
5c 611) during the fourth quarter of the year.
In 1881 his parents were living at 8 Lambridge Street in Walcot, where
he may have been born. He was eight
years old in 1891 when he was living with his family in nearby Twerton at West
Avenue. On leaving school he joined the
Royal Navy and in 1901 he was 17 and was serving with the navy at Devonport
(Plymouth, where he was described as Sidney James Collett having been born at
Larkhall, a boy first class, a boy under training. No record of Sydney or Sidney has been found
in 1911, when he may have been serving overseas. However, he later returned to Bath, where the
marriage of Sidney J Collett and Elizabeth Anthony was recorded (Ref. 5c 853)
during the first quarter of 1924.
Tragically, it was exactly eight years later that Sidney died, his death
recorded at Bath (Ref. 5c 789) as Sidney J Collett during the first three
months of 1932, when he was said to be 49 years old
Four
years after that day, the marriage of Albert Edward Collett, the son of Whyatt
Collett, and Florence Annie Ethel Ferris, the daughter of William Ferris, took
place at Wootton Bassett on 7th August 1905, when the bride and the
groom were both 21 years of age. Their
marriage was recorded at Cricklade register office (Ref. 5a 115). By April 1911, Albert Collett from Bath was
26 and a carpenter and a joiner working in the building industry, when he was
living at Eglwysilan, Caerphilly in Glamorganshire, South
Wales. With him that census day was his
wife Florence Collett from Dauntsey – a few miles west of Wootton Bassett, who
was also 26, and the couple’s first child, two-month-old Ellen Collett who had
been born in Caerphilly. Four years
later their son was born at Caerphilly, where he was baptised at the Church of
St Martin, when the family was residing at 9 Southern Street in
Caerphilly. The births of both children
were recorded at Pontypridd register office, Ellen during the first month of
1911 and Sidney during the third quarter of 1915
Florence
Annie Ethel Ferris was born on 16th November 1885, the youngest
child of farm labourer William Ferris and his wife Emily, and was baptised at
Dauntsey on 20th December 1885, with her birth having been
registered at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 53). At
the end of her life, Florence was in Middlesex, where her death was recorded
during 1978 (Vol. 13 0649)
31R29
– Ellen Collett was born in 1911 at Caerphilly
31R30
– Sidney James Collett
was born in 1915 at Caerphilly
Helen Edith Collett [31Q23] was born at Twerton in Bath on 19th
January 1887, the last child of Whyatt Collett and Jane Goldstone. It was at Bath that her birth was recorded
(Ref. 5c 555) during the first quarter of 1887.
It was at West Avenue in Twerton where she was living with her parents
in 1891, when she was four years old, and again in 1901 when Helen was still
attending the local school at the age of 14.
Seven years after that day, Helen Edith Collett married Alick Percy
Viles, the event recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 897) during the
first three months of 1908. Helen gave
birth to two daughters before the next census, the first born at
Bradford-on-Avon, the second at Bath, while it was at Twerton that the family
of four was residing in 1911. Alick
Viles from Bradford-on-Avon was 25, his wife Ellen Viles from Bath was 24, Iris
Amelia Viles was two years of age and Doris Edith Viles was not yet
one-year-old. Two sons were added to
their family at Twerton in the following years and they were Roy A Viles
and Cyril P Viles whose births were recorded at Bath register office
(Ref. 5c 826 in Q4 1913) and (Ref. 5c 693 in Q4 1918) when, in each case, the
mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett.
After a long life living in the Bath area, it was there that her death
was recorded (Ref. 22 0218) during the spring of 1974, when she was 87
Annie A H Collett [31Q24] was born at Putney in London during
1870, the eldest of the three surviving daughters of William and Harriet
Collett. Although no record of the
family has been discovered in the census of 1871, it is established that her
parents had travelled from London to Birmingham by 1873, where her sister
Minnie (below) was born that year.
Their time in Birmingham seems limited since, according to the census in
1881, Annie Collett from Putney was 10 years old when she was living with her
family at 84 Warrington Road in Prescot near St Helens in Lancashire. Once again, the family has not been
identified in 1891 and in March 1901 her parents had settled in the Manchester
area of Lancashire, by which time Annie had already married Fred Jackson. Annie A H Jackson from Putney was 30 and a
waitress who was living in Accrington with her husband Fred Jackson who was 29
and a house painter. Ten years later the
childless couple was still residing in Accrington at 10 Davy Street where Annie
Jackson from Putney was 40 and Fred Jackson was 39. Staying with them on the day of the census in
1911 was Annie’s mother Harriet Collett from London who was 70, while on the
same day Annie’s father William was visiting Annie’s youngest married sister
Minnie in Blackburn
Minnie Collett [31Q26] was born at Birmingham in 1873 after her
parents, William and Harriet, moved there from London,
while during the following years the family continued to travel northwards and,
by 1881, they were recorded in Lancashire.
At that time in her life Minnie Collett from Birmingham was seven years
old and living at 84 Warrington Road in Prescot with her family. Unfortunately, the whereabouts of Minnie and
her family has not yet been unearthed in the next census on 1891, but during
the latter half of the following decade Minnie Collett married James Henry Heys,
with whom she had a son. The census in
March 1901 confirmed that Minnie Heys from Birmingham was 27, with no
occupation, when she was recorded at Church near Blackburn, Lancashire with her
son John H Heys who was two years old and born at Church. On that day Minnie’s husband may have been
working away from home or perhaps he was a member of the armed forces. However, the three of them were together for
the 1911 census when Minnie Heys aged 38 and her husband James Henry Heys aged
44 and their son John Heys, who was 12, were recorded living at 123 Henry
Street in Church. Visiting the family
that day was Minnie’s father William Collett from Monkton Farleigh who was a
joiner aged 62
Basil Arthur Collett [31Q27] was born at High Ongar,
Essex, at the end of 1893, the only known child of Arthur Collett from Bath and
Edith Mary Barltrop from High Ongar. His
birth was recorded at Ongar register office (Ref. 4a 396) during the first
three months of 1894. He was seven years
old in the Chipping Ongar census in 1901 and was 17 in 1911 when he was a clerk
with a gas company. Three years later he
joined the army and served with 7th Battalion of the Essex Regiment
when his age was incorrectly recorded as 22, and later with 54th
Battalion of the Machine Gun Corps. Two
years after the Great War, on 29th February 1920, the marriage of
Basil A Collett and Ethel Willett was recorded at Dunmow in Essex (Ref. 4a
1390) during the first three months of 1920, with their only known child born
during the summer of the following year.
The birth of Barbara M Collett was recorded at Epping register office
(Ref. 4a 886) during the third quarter of 1921, when the mother’s maiden-name
was confirmed as Willett. Just over twenty
years later Basil’s mother was living at Rosedale on Castle Street in Ongar
when she died at 42 The Plain in Epping on 12th December 1942. Her personal effects, amounting to Ł717 16
Shillings and 6 Pence, were left to Basil Arthur Collett, a member of His
Majesty’s Armed Forces. After a further
twenty years, the death of Basil Arthur Collett was recorded at Essex register
office (Ref. 5a 658) during the final quarter of 1962, when he was 68
31R31
– Barbara M Collett was born at Epping, Essex on 18th June 1921
Mary Collett [31Q28] was born at Leeds on 6th
December 1924, the only child of Thomas Emanuel Collett and Catherine Curran,
whose birth was recorded at Leeds register office (Ref. 9b 637), when her
mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Curran.
Mary left the family home when she was 14 years of age
and worked as a nursery maid and later as an assistant nurse at a TB hospital
in South England. She was eventually
taken on as a trainee nurse at the Derby Royal Infirmary during 1942. Ten years later she married David Bertram
Sugden, a doctor at the DRI, the event recorded at Thirsk in Yorkshire (Ref. 1b
1419) during the last three months of 1952.
Mary Sugden, nee
Collett, passed away on 17th November 2010 and was buried at St
Martin's Parish Church in Alfreton, Derbyshire.
The couple’s only child, Ruth E Sugden, was
born on 19th April 1963, the birth recorded at Mansfield register
office (Ref. 3c 225) in Nottinghamshire.
It was at Chesterfield that the marriage of Ruth E Sugden and Michael A
Bacigalupo was recorded (Ref. 6 604) during the spring of 1988. And it was Ruth who generously provided all of the new details regarding her mother and her
grandfather T E Collett in 2017. Ruth is
trying to trace the families of her grandfather’s siblings, one of which was
her mother’s cousin Violet May Collet in Australia, with whom she corresponded
during the 1960s and 1970s. It is
understood that Violet’s married name may have been Bose
Gladys Winifred Collett [31Q29] was born at Widcombe
near Bath on 19th May 1903, the eldest of the three daughters of
Thomas Henry Collett and his wife Florence Buck, whose birth was recorded at
Bath (Ref. 5c 316). In 1911 Gladys
Winifred Collett was seven years of age when living at Violet Bank in Widcombe
Hill. Gladys was known within the family
as Winnifred and she married Arthur Reginald F Chapman on 17th
December 1926, Arthur having been born on 23rd June 1901. The marriage is known to have produced at
least one child, Martin H Chapman of Cheltenham, who kindly provided the
information for the May 2012 update of this family line. Gladys Winifred Chapman nee Collett died on
11th June 1963, while her husband survived for a further fourteen
years when he died on 2nd July 1977
Kathleen Florence Collett [31Q30] was born at Widcombe in 1904, her birth
was recorded at Bath (Ref. 5c 497) during the third quarter of that year, the
second child of Thomas and Florence Collett.
She was six years old in 1911 when her family was residing at Violet
Bank in Widcombe Hill near Bath.
Kathleen was twenty-five when she married William L Silcox, their
wedding recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 1331) during the fourth
quarter of 1930. The first of their
three children Allan Lewis Silcox was born towards the end of the
following year and six years later Kathleen presented William with the second
those three children, when the birth of Roger W Silcox was recorded at
Bath (Ref. 5c 532) during the last three months of 1937. The birth of their daughter, Margaret K
Silcox, was also recorded at Bath (Ref. 5c 1577) during the first quarter
of 1940. On each occasion, the
children’s mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett. The birth of their eldest son was also
recorded at Bath (Ref. 5c 93) who was 25 years old when his marriage to Cicely
B Ball was recorded at Bathavon register office (Ref. 7c 59) during the first
three months of 1957. Allan Lewis Silcox
was 79 when he died in 2019
Margery Millicent Collett [31Q31] was born at Widcombe in 1905, with the
birth recorded at Bath (Ref. 5c 479) during the first three months of that
year, and it was at Violet Bank in Widcombe Hill that Margery was five years
old in 1911. The marriage of Margery M
Collett and Kenneth S Burgess was recorded at Bath (Ref. 5c 1322) during the
third quarter of 1933
Esme V Collett [31Q32] was born at Widcombe Hill near Bath in
1913 and it was at Bath register office where her birth was recorded (Ref. 5c
836) during the first quarter of the year, when her mother’s maiden-name was
confirmed as Buck, the fourth daughter of Thomas and Florence Collett
Kenneth Henry Collett [31Q33] was born at Widcombe Hill in 1914, his
birth recorded at Bath (Ref. 5c 808) during the last three months of that year,
when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Buck. It was also at Bath that his tragic death, at
the age of four years, was recorded (Ref. 5c 518) during the third quarter of
1919. Thanks to Gary Parsons, it is now
known that Kenneth and a young visitor friend were playing with a gun, which
was loaded. The death certificate states
that Kenneth Henry Collett, infant child of Thomas Henry Collett, a farmer and
dairyman, died as a result of misadventure from a gun
accident, his skull being blown to pieces.
The inquest into the death on 16th August 1919 at Violet Bank
Farm, Lyncombe, Somerset, was conducted on 18th August that year
Eileen M Collett [31Q34] was born at Widcombe, perhaps at the end
of 1917, the last known child of Thomas Collett and Florence Buck. Her birth, like those of her older siblings,
was also recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 630) during the first
quarter of 1918 when, once again, her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as
Buck. She was twenty-three years old
when she married Roy L Luxton, the event recorded at Bath (Ref. 5c 1927) during
the second quarter of 1941. After three
years, their son Anthony R Luxton was born, his birth recorded at Bath
(Ref. 5c 765) during the second quarter of 1944, when the mother’s maiden-name
was confirmed as Collett
Frank Henry Collett [31Q35] was born at Bath on 1st
December 1906, where his birth was recorded (Ref. 5c 463) during the first
three months of 1907, the eldest child of Frank Albert Collett and Ada Alice
Stennard. He may have been born at
Lyncombe Vale Farm in Bath, where Henry Collett aged four years was living with
his parents in 1911, where his father was a dairyman. He was still living within the Bath area of
Somerset in 1936 when he married Isabel Short, the event recorded there (Ref.
5c 1333) during the second quarter of 1936.
As far as can be determined, their marriage produced two daughters and,
in both cases, the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Short. The death of Frank Henry Collett was recorded
at Bath register office (Ref. 22 0002) during the spring of 1982. His daughter Margaret provided the
information that Harry, as Frank was known, was a member of the Household
Cavalry and rode behind King George V and Queen Mary for the celebration of
their Silver Jubilee on 6th May 1935. Afterwards, having stood down in a side
church behind the church, Harry plucked a chicken for the family dinner. Margaret also added that she was named after
her father’s younger sister Margaret (below), who did not survive beyond
infancy
31R32
– Margaret Collett was
born in 1938 at Bath
31R33
– Marion Collett was
born in 1939 at Bath
Margaret Alice Collett
[31Q36] was born at Southview Terrace in Bath
and was baptised on 21st June 1908, the daughter of Henry Collett, a
farmer, and his wife Ada Alice Collett, nee Stennard. Her birth was recorded at Bath register
office (Ref. 5c 495) during the second quarter of 1908 while, less than three
years later the death of Margaret A Collett, aged two years, was also recorded
at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 396) during the first three months of 1911
Cyril Thomas H Collett [31Q37] was born at Bath in 1912, with his birth
recorded there (Ref. 5c 888) during the third quarter of the year, when his
mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Stennard.
He was known as John and was a skilled carpenter and joiner. He was still residing within the Bath area of
the country when he married Gwendoline M Broom in 1936, since it was at Bath
that the event was recorded (Ref. 5c 1389) during the final three months of the
year. No record of the birth of any
children for the couple has been found
Reginald Arthur E Collett [31Q38] was born at Bath on 23rd June
1915, where his birth was recorded (Ref. 5c 760) during the third quarter of
the year. He was the youngest of the
three sons of Frank Collett and Ada Stennard.
Thanks to his niece Margaret Williams nee Collett, it is now established
that he was married and had a son. It
was at Warminster register office in Wiltshire (Ref. 5a 3) during the last four
months of 1943, when Reginald A E Collett married Charlotte E Mansbridge, who
was known as Joy. One year after their
wedding day, the birth of their only child, Edward Collett, was recorded at
Salisbury register office (Ref. 5a 124) during the fourth quarter of 1944, when
his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Mansbridge. Reginald Arthur E Collett, was again living
in Somerset when he died during November 1995, his death recorded at Bath
register office (Ref. 3001a), when he was 80 years old
31R34
– Edward Collett was
born in 1944 at Salisbury
Ethel
May Collett married Albert Edward Bainton from Blaina at St Michael’s Church in
Abertillery on 18th June 1923 with whom she shared a very long
life. The marriage was recorded at
Bedwelty register office (Ref. 11a 144), while the birth of Albert was recorded
at Swansea (Ref. 11a 979) during the third quarter of 1900, the son of the late
Mr & Mrs John Bainton. Albert was
Under-Manager at the Arreal Griffin Pit for twelve years and a Relief
Under-Manager for the No 6 Area, including Abertillery, and ultimately became
Under-Manager of the Six Bells Colliery.
Ethel and Albert never had any children and lived in a Coal Board owned
house just across from the Six Bells Lancaster Colliery at 1 Cefn Bryn on Six
Bells Road in Abertillery. It was on 31st
July 1958 when Albert Edward Bainton died at the age of 58
Ethel
May Bainton was a widow for forty years and was ninety-nine years of age when
she died on 30th July 1998, the colourful headstone at her grave in
the Church of St Elli in Llanelly confirming that she was the eldest daughter
of William and Sephorah Collett of Abertillery.
Her obituary read as follows: “Bainton:
On Thursday 30th July at The Chestnuts Nursing Home in Llangattock,
Ethel, devoted wife of the late Albert (formerly of Six Bells,
Abertillery). Funeral service at
Ebenezer Baptist Chapel, Abertillery, on Monday 10th August at 1.30
pm prior to interment at Llanelly Church”
Gordon
later married Evelyn Harris of 9 Griffin Street, Six Bells in Abertillery who
was born on 16th May 1903, one of the five daughters of William
Harris (real name William Collins) and his wife Eva Giles. It was on 6th August 1928 at the
Presbyterian Church on Alexandra Road in Abertillery that Gordon and Evelyn
were married. The newspaper report of
their wedding read as follows: “A Wedding
at Six Bells – a very pretty wedding was celebrated on Monday morning, the
contracting parties being Miss Evelyn Harris, daughter of Mr & Mrs William
Harris of Six Bells, and Mr Gordon Collett of Llanbradach, son of Mr & Mrs
Collett of Duke Street. The ceremony was
performed by the Rev. W Thomas at the Presbyterian Church, Six Bells. The service was fully choral, Mr Bert Powis
being at the organ. The bride was given
away by her father, and was attended by three bridesmaids and a page boy. She was attired in beige crepe-de-Chine and a
picture hat to match. The bridesmaids,
who wore Georgette dresses, large hats and silver
shoes, were Miss Anita Williams, Miss Evelyn Collett – sister of the groom, and
Olwen Harris – sister of the bride. Over
forty guests sat down to breakfast which was laid in the vestry of the church,
reference being made to the useful work the bride had rendered on behalf of the
church. The bride was an assistant
mistress at the Six Bells Infant’s School and a member of the Six Bells Tennis
Club”
Prior
to being married Gordon lived in a tent in his parents’ garden in order to save for his wedding expenses instead of paying
for rent elsewhere, Evelyn was still living with her mother at Griffin Street
in Abertillery. After their marriage the
couple rented a house in Llanbradach.
Gordon eventually left the coal mining industry and his first job after
leaving the pits was to become a bookkeeper for the East India and China Tea
Company Limited at the Llanbradach Branch.
And it was at 18 Garden Street in Llanbradach, Glamorgan, where his
daughter and only child Barbara Jean Collett was born on 26th April
1929 and where his wife Evelyn was a teacher at the local Infants & Primary
Elementary School
The
family moved to Mablethorpe in Lincolnshire during the month of August in 1937
where Gordon opened shops for the firm of Lewington's Stores, one being on
Mablethorpe High Street. Once they were
established Gordon went into business for himself as a grocer, also selling
wines and spirits, while Evelyn taught at Mablethorpe Primary School from 1940
to 1948. During the Second World War,
when Gordon was 41, he was called up to work as a Manager for the NAAFI in
1942. He later transferred to No 48 Unit
of the Graves Registration Corps, 21st Army Group and landed in
France six days after D-Day. He reached
the rank of Supply Corporal, keeping the burial records ledger books from the
Normandy Beaches all the way up to Arnhem.
After the war he received the Battle of Britain 1939-45 Star, the
Atlantic Force & Germany Star, and Oak Leaf War Medal 1939-1945
After
the war the family moved to Ramsgate in Kent where another grocery shop was
opened while Evelyn continued to teach at Margate Primary and Canterbury
Primary Schools. Evelyn's sister Olwen
(Harris) Watkins and her husband Thomas (Tom) Watkins were long-time residents
of Ramsgate before the Collett family moved there. After Gordon and Evelyn retired, they bought
and moved into a house on 6th December 1966 at 67 Summerfield Avenue
in Tankerton near Whitstable in Kent.
They later sold the property and moved into a flat at 4 Frobrisher Court
on Hereson Road in Ramsgate
John
and Evelyn died within two years of each other, with Evelyn Collett nee Harris
passing first on 16th December 1991 while at Margate Hospital. Following the loss of his wife Gordon moved
out of their flat not long after, primarily for health reasons. It was therefore as a resident at the Ogden
Home for the Blind in Ramsgate that John Gordon Collett died on 6th
June 1993. Evelyn was cremated on 23rd
December 1991 at Thanet Crematorium where her ashes were scattered, with Gordon
being buried on 21st July 1993 at the burial ground of St Elli’s
Church in Llanelly where a headstone has been erected by their children which
includes the name of Evelyn Collett and confirms that John Gordon Collett was
the only son of William and Sephorah Collett of Abertillery
An
obituary for Gordon was published in the local Mablethorpe newspaper as
follows: “The death has occurred, at the
age of 92, of Mr Gordon Collett.
Mablethorpe’s older residents will remember him well, and with
affection. Mr Collett was born in South
Wales in 1901, moving to Mablethorpe in 1937, where he and his family made
their home in St Andrew’s Road. He began
working for Levington’s, the grocers on Mablethorpe’s High Street, and remained
with them until 1943. It was in this
capacity that many will remember him, a small man with sparkling eyes and full
of fun. On one occasion, whilst loading
the delivery van during the war, a German aircraft opened fire straight above
him in the High Street. Pushing his
young assistant to safety in an alley way, Mr Collett quickly followed and the
two of them escaped unscathed. Mr
Collett was an ambulance driver with the Red Cross before joining the Royal
Army Service Corps and working for the NAAFI during World War II. His wife Evelyn was a teacher at Mablethorpe
Primary School. After the war, they
moved to Margate where Mr Collett opened a small grocers and off-licence and
Mrs Collett carried on her teaching career at the junior school. Their daughter, Jean, attended Louth Grammar
School and later went on to college in London.
She became a teacher there before leaving to live in America. After retiring, Mr Collett and his wife went
to live in Whitstable, later returning to the Margate and Ramsgate area”
31R35
– Barbara Jean Collett
was born in 1929 at Llanbradach
Ev,
as she was known, continued to teach at Cwmtillery School in Abertillery until
she finally retired. After the war Wilf entered into, and eventually retired from, local County
School Administration. Their marriage produced no children for the couple, who
were long time Rotary Club members, with Wilf being very active as an officer
for the local football club. Evelyn
Rogers nee Collett died while she was residing in a local nursing home on 24th
February 1986. Both Eveline and her
husband were cremated, with their ashes being scattered at Gwent Crematorium
And
68 Duke Street was her home address at the time of her death on 9th
April 1987, when she was patient at the Nevill Hall Hospital in
Abergavenny. Following her passing, her
funeral service took place at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Abertillery, after
which she was cremated on 14th April 1987 at Gwent Cwmbran
Crematorium
Elizabeth May Collett [31Q43] was very likely born during November
1898, since she was fifteen months old when she died on 7th February
1900. Her name, together with that of
her sister Gertrude (below), was included on the headstone of their
grandparents
Gertrude Collett [31Q44] was born on 31st May 1900 but
died on 2nd June 1900 aged just two days. Her name, together with that of her sister
Elizabeth May (above), was included on the headstone of their
grandparents
Lily Collett [31Q45] was born in 1902, her birth recorded at
Bedwelty register office (Ref. 11b 92) during the third quarter of the year,
the same quarter that her death was recorded there (Ref. 11a 50)
May Collett [31Q46] was born in 1903, her birth recorded at
Bedwelty register office (Ref. 11a 103) during the second quarter of the year,
the same quarter that her death was recorded there (Ref. 11a 55)
Reginald Clifford Collett [31Q47] was born during July 1905, his birth
recorded at Bedwelty register office (Ref. 11a 85) during the third quarter of
the year, the same quarter that his death was recorded there (Ref. 11a 52)
The
death of Henry B Collett was recorded at Bedwelty register office (Ref. 8c 25)
during the last three months of 1963, when he was 55. Later in her life his widow Marjorie Collett
nee Green was living at 11 Thurber Road in Worthing, Sussex, where she died
during August 1985. The obituary for
Henry Byron Collett printed in the local newspaper read as follows: “The funeral took place at new cemetery of
Mr Henry Byron Collett of 1 Windsor Road, Six Bells. The mourners were Mr M Blosse, stepson;
Messrs W E Evans, J G Collett, W Rogers, T Watkins, cousins; R Green,
brother-in-law; G Green, nephew. Among
the mourners at the house were Mrs M Collett, widow; Miss M Collett, sister;
and cousins Miss B Collett and Miss G Collett”
She
never married and lived with her parents at 20 Cromwell Street in Abertillery,
and it was at that same address that she was still living in 1978 following the
deaths of both her father and her mother in 1941 and 1948. Upon her death on 11th December
1984 at the age of 74, her estate passed to Joan Kingham of Dursley in
Gloucestershire. Both
of them had graduated from Stockwell College of Teachers and Joan had
been evacuated to Wales during the Second World War. Marion was a member of the Tabernacle Congregational
Chapel
Idris Thomas Collett [31Q50] was born at Aberbaiden, Llanelly, in the
family home at Old Road, possibly at the end of 1887 or within the first few
weeks of 1888. His birth, as Idris Tom
Collett, was recorded at Crickhowell (Ref. 11b 117) during the first three
months of 1888, the eldest child of Henry Thomas Collett and Mary Rebecca
Hughes. He was three years old in the
census of 1891 when he and his family were still living at Old Road. After his father died in 1892, when he was
five years old, he was still living with his widowed mother at Station Road in
Llanelly in 1901, when he was 13. By
that time, he was already working as a coal miner and a coal hewer. Ten years later, Idris Collett was still
living with his widowed other at Clydach, where he was 23 and a colliery
timberman working at a nearby coal mine.
Other members of the family were his brother William Henry Collett and
Alice May Phipps. Curiously, every
member of the household was credited as having been born at Clydach
The
records at Crickhowell (Ref. 11b 116) confirm that Idris T Collett married
Elizabeth Jane Williams during the first quarter of 1912. Four years later, the couple’s only known
child was born, the birth of Idris R J Collett recorded at Crickhowell register
office (Ref. 11b 138) during the first quarter of 1916, when his mother’s maiden-name
was confirmed as Williams. Idris Tom
Collett senior was residing at 7 Bath Row in Llanelly when he died on 27th
December 1942. His death at the age of
54 was recorded in Monmouthshire at Bedwelty register office (Ref. 11a
57). Following his passing the
administration of his personal effects of Ł652 1 Shilling was granted to
Elizabeth Jane Collett
31R36
– Idris R J Collett was born in 1916 at Crickhowell
Lily Jane Collett [31Q51] was born at Old Road in
Aberbaiden during the first three months of 1890, her birth recorded at
Crickhowell register office (Ref. 11b 112).
It was also at Old Road that she was living with her family for the
census of 1891 when she was fifteen months old.
When Lily Jane Collett was 11 years old, she was living with her uncle
John Thomas at 2 Hope Street in Aberystruth, rather than her own family, which
may have been something to do with the fact that her father had died nine years
earlier in the spring of 1892. By the
time of the census in 1911 Lily Jane Collett from Clydach, the daughter of
Henry Thomas Collett and Mary Rebecca Hughes was a married lady with two
children. She was listed as Lily Jane
Jenkins, aged 21, when she was living at Old Road in Clydach near Abergavenny
in Monmouthshire with her husband of three years James Jenkins who was 23, her
son Emrys James Jenkins who was three and her daughter Irene May
Jenkins who was one year old. It was
during the second quarter of 1908 when Lily was most likely already carrying
her first child that she married William James Jenkins. The marriage was recorded at Crickhowell
register office (Ref. 11b 166), when the witnesses were named as Edward
Richards and Elizabeth Walker
William Henry Collett [31Q52] was born at Aberbaiden
towards the end of 1891, his birth having been recorded at Crickhowell register
office (Ref. 11b 98) during the last three months of the year. He was around six months old when his father
died, following which he was 10 years old and still attending school in the
March census of 1901, when he was living at Station Road in Clydach, Llanelly,
with his widowed mother and his older brother Idris (above) and
half-sister Mary Ann Collett who was born two years after the death of his
father. He was still living with his
mother in 1911 who, by then was Mary Rebecca Phipps, the wife of William
Phipps. At that time in his life William
Henry Collett from Clydach was 19 and a coal miner and hewer
Thirty
months after that, the marriage of William H Collett and Eliza A Edmunds was
recorded at Crickhowell register office (Ref. 11b 184) during the last quarter
of 1913. Over the following thirteen
years Eliza gave birth to six children, all their births recorded at
Crickhowell, when the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Edmunds. The birth of the couple’s first child was
recorded in the third quarter of 1914 (Ref. 11b 176) and their last child
during the third quarter of 1926 (Ref. 11b 142). No further record of either of them has been
found. The death of William H Collett
was recorded at Crickhowell register office (Ref. 11b 78), at the age of 55,
during the second quarter of 1946
31R37
– William Henry T Collett was born in 1914 at Crickhowell
31R38
– Lewis M Collett was
born in 1916 at Crickhowell
31R39
– Ivy Collett was born
in 1918 at Crickhowell
31R40
– Agnes S Collett was
born in 1921 at Crickhowell
31R41
– Emrys Norman Collett
was born in 1923 at Crickhowell
31R42
– Idris T Collett was born in 1926 at Crickhowell
Flora Jane Collett [31Q54], who was known as Florrie, was born at
Llanelly in 1882 and was the eldest child of John William Collett and Emily
(Emma) Williams. Her birth was recorded
at Crickhowell (Ref. 11b 118) during the last quarter of the year. It was also at Llanelly that she was living
with her family in 1891 when she was eight years old. During the next few years her family moved to
Abertillery and, on leaving school, Flora started work as a shop
assistant. That was confirmed by the
census in 1901 when, as Florrie Collett, aged 18, she was still living in
Llanelly with just her younger brother Ernest (below) living with her
Flora Jane Collett [31Q54], who was known as Florrie, was born at
Llanelly in 1882 and was the eldest child of John William Collett and Emily
(Emma) Williams. Her birth was recorded
at Crickhowell (Ref. 11b 118) during the last quarter of the year. It was also at Llanelly that she was living
with her family in 1891 when she was eight years old. During the next few years her family moved to
Abertillery and, on leaving school, Flora started work as a shop
assistant. That was confirmed by the
census in 1901 when, as Florrie Collett, aged 18, she was still living in
Llanelly with just her younger brother Ernest (below) living with her
Four
years later, Florrie Jane Collett married David Samuel Davies during the fourth
quarter of 1905, the event recorded at Crickhowell register office (Ref. 11b
212). According to the next census in
1911, the childless couple was living at Clydach where they were both recorded
as being aged 28 and listed in the census under their full names
Frank Henry Collett [31Q55] was born at Llanelly on 3rd
November 1884, the eldest son of John and Emily Collett, his birth recorded at
Crickhowell (Ref. 11b 109). He was six
years old in 1891 and was 16 in 1901, by which time he and his family were
living at Abertillery where he was working as a coal miner and a hewer. It was towards the end of the next decade
that Frank married Mary Elizabeth Eynon, the wedding recorded at Crickhowell
(Ref. 11b 137) during the first quarter of 1908. The marriage had produced two children for
the couple prior to the next census in 1911.
By then the family was living at Llanelly, where Frank H Collett had
been born, who was 26 and still working as a coal miner and hewer. His wife Mary E Collett was also 26, and
their two children were Lily M Collett who was two years old and Edna M Collett
who was only five months old, all of them also born at Llanelly. Two more children were added to their family
but sadly, in 1912/1913, the middle two children suffered infant deaths
When
the 1939 Register was compiled, at the start of the Second World War, Frank H
Collett was 59 and living at Waenllapria in Llanelly Hill, to the east of
Brynmawr, in a dwelling immediately adjacent to his younger brother Frederick
William Collett (below). His
occupation was that of a colliery hewer working below the surface – like his
brother, when his wife was Mary Elizabeth Collett who was undertaking unpaid
domestic duties. The only child still
living there with them was Masie Evelyn Collett who was nearly 23 and an
unmarried, who was employed at a local hat manufacturer. Just over one year later, the death of Mary E
Collett, nee Eynon, was recorded at Crickhowell (Ref. 11b 270) during the final
quarter of 1940. Nearly thirty years
later, Frank H Collett passed away at the age of 75, his death recorded at
Crickhowell (Ref. 8a 166) during the summer of 1969
31R43
– Lily M Collett was
born in 1909 at Llanelly
31R44
– Edith M Collett was
born in 1910 at Llanelly
31R45
– Ernest T Collett was
born in 1912 at Clydach
31R46
– Maisie Evelyn Collett
was born in 1916 at Clydach
Ernest Tom Collett [31Q56] was born at Llanelly on 29th
May 1887, the third child of John and Emily Collett, whose birth was recorded
at Crickhowell (Ref. 11b 116) during the third quarter of that year. He was three years old when he was living at
Llanelly with his family in 1891. During
the 1890s his family moved to the Abertillery area, while Ernest remained in
Llanelly, at Llanmarch, with his older sister Flora (above) since, in
the census of 1901, Ernest Collett was 13, when Florrie was a shop assistant
Just
over eight years later, when he had reached the age of twenty-one, he became a
married man, the marriage of Ernest Tom Collett and Frances Rhoda Wallbank was
recorded at Crickhowell register office (Ref. 11b 191) during the second
quarter of 1909. After a further two
years, Frances had already given birth to a son, with the family of three
recorded within the next census as residing at Llanelly, where Ernest Tom
Collett from Llanelly was 23 and a coal miner hewer, his wife Frances Collett
was 22 and from Coumlin in Monmouthshire, and their son William John Collett
was seven months old, recorded in error as Weigian John Collett. His birth, as William J Collett, was recorded
at Crickhowell register office (Ref. 11b 93) during the last quarter of
1910. Tragically, the death of William J
Collett was also recorded there during the first three months of 1912 (Ref. 11b
167)
Five
further children were born into the family over the next twelve years, with
their births at Llanelly also recorded at Crickhowell register office, where
their mother’s maiden-name was confirmed at Wallbank. The first of them sadly died before the birth
of the last child, with the birth of Nancy Collett recorded during the fourth
quarter of 1912 (Ref. 11b 163), who was eight years old when her death was also
recorded at Crickhowell (Ref. 11b 135) during the second quarter of 1921. The details for the next four children are
provided under their individual names.
The much later death of Ernest Tom Collett was recorded at Glamorgan
register office (Vol. 28 0013) during 1976, confirmed his date of birth as 29th
May 1887. For the last three years of
his life Ernest was a widower, following the death of Frances Rhoda Collett
during the summer of 1973, when her date of birth was recorded as 14th
June 1888, with her passing recorded at Crickhowell register office (Ref. 8a
207)
31R47
– William John Collett was born in 1910 at Llanelly; died in 1912
31R48
– Nancy Collett was born in 1912 at Llanelly; died in 1921
31R49
– Frank H Collett was
born in 1914 at Llanelly
31R50
– Howis E Collett was
born in 1916 at Llanelly
31R51
– Ernest R Collett was
born in 1919 at Llanelly
31R52
– William J Collett was
born in 1923 at Llanelly
Frederick William Collett [31Q57] was born at Llanelly on 6th
April 1889, the son of John and Emily Collett, his birth recorded at
Crickhowell (Ref. 11b 113) during the second quarter of the year. It was at Llanelli that Frederick William
Collett was two years old in 1891, whereas by 1901 he and his family were
living in Abertillery when Fdk Wm Collett was 11 years of age. After a further ten years Frederick William
Collett, aged 21 and a coal miner and hewer employed by T & E Williams, was
still with his family which was then residing in Clydach in 1911. Three years later Frederick W Collett married
Mary Jane Powell, as recorded at Crickhowell (Ref. 11b 112) during the first
three months of 1914. And it was also at
Crickhowell register office that the births of all of
their children were recorded
In
an earlier version of this family line, it had stated that Frederick and Mary
left Wales, when they crossed the Atlantic Ocean to settle at Bedford in
Indiana in the United States of America, but that their daughters were still
living in Great Britain during the war years.
A review of the 1939 Register has therefore confirmed that Frederick and
his family were still living in Wales in September that year, and right next
door to his older brother Frank H Collett (above). It was at Waenllapria in Llanelly Hill, just
east of Brynmawr, that the family was residing, where Frederick William Collett
was a coal hewer, working below surface.
His wife Mary Jane Collett was carrying out unpaid domestic duties, and
their three daughters were recorded as Myra I Collett, an unpaid shop
attendant, Ada Collett, a student, and Annie Collett who was still at school
As
far as can be determined, it was only the couple’s eldest child who was born
and died in Wales. Of the next three
children, no record of any of them has been found in Great Britain after the
day of their respective marriages, while no record at all of
the couple’s fifth child has been born after the record of his birth. So, there is some speculation that some, or
all of them, moved to America after the Second World War, where Frederick and
Mary visited them in the early 1950s.
The reason for saying this, is that the couple sailed into Southampton
from New York on 15th July 1953.
The ship’s passenger list included Frederick and Mary Collett, both 63
years old, whose home destination was Waenllapria in Llanelly Hill, with
Frederick described as being retired
31R53
– Myra Irene Collett
was born at Clydach in 1915
31R54
– Ada Collett was born
at Clydach in 1917
31R55
– Edwin J Collett was
born at Clydach in 1919
31R56
– Annie Collett was
born at Clydach in 1924
31R57
– Wilfred H Collett was
born at Clydach in 1926
Mary Ann Collett [31Q58] was born at Llanelly in 1891, with her
birth recorded at Crickhowell (Ref. 11b 107) during the third quarter of the
year, the daughter of John and Emily Collett.
She and her family were residing in Abertillery for the census in 1901
was recorded at Crickhowell (Ref. 11b 101) during the second quarter of the
year when she was recorded under her full name at the age of nine years. It was also using her full name that she was
19 years old and working as a dressmaker, when she was still living with her
parents but at Clydach by the time the census was conducted in 1911. Ten years later, the marriage of Mary A
Collett and William L Emery was recorded at Crickhowell register office (Ref.
11b 185) during the third quarter of 1921.
Despite all those records, she was known within the family as Polly
Frances Emily Collett [31Q59] was born at Llanelly in 1894, the last
child of John Collett and Emily Williams, whose birth was recorded at
Crickhowell (Ref. 11b 101) during the second quarter of that year. She was seven years of age in the census of
1901 and was 17 and a milliner employed by Thomas & Sons in Clydach in
1911, when she was still living there with her family. Just over five years later, the marriage of
Frances Emily Collett and Alfred R Thomas was recorded at Crickhowell register
office (Ref. 11b 157) during the last three months of 1916. Their sons Alfred J Thomas and Alfred
L Thomas were born in 1917 and 1923, with their daughters Frances Y
Thomas and Megan Thomas born in 1922 and 1928, with all their births
recorded at Crickhowell when their mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as
Collett
Harold
William Collett [31Q60]
was born at Guisborough, where his birth was recorded (Ref. 9d 540) during
the third quarter of 1900, the first of the two known children of George
William Collett and Eliza Eddy. As
Harold Collett, he was around six months old in the Guisborough census of 1901
and as Harold William Collett he was 10 years of age in 1911. Tragically, he was only 23 when he died, his
death recorded at Guisborough register office (Ref. 9d 551) during the last
three months of 1923, as Harold W Collett
Ronald
Collett [31Q61] was
born at Guisborough on 13th March 1911, the second child of George
and Eliza Collett. Just over two weeks
later, he had still not been named by his parents and was simply listed as baby
Collett in the census return for that year.
It was a few weeks later that the birth of Ronald Collett was recorded
at Guisborough register office (Ref. 9d 517) during the second quarter of
1911. No record has been found to
suggest he was married. His father died
at 16 Chaloner Street in Guisborough in 1935, and it is established that he was
still living with his widowed mother in 1939, when Ronald Collett was 28 years
of age, a bachelor, employed as a heavy worker and steel moulder. He may also have been living with his mother
at 11 Hollymead Drive in Guisborough when she died in Middlesborough hospital
in 1958. Many years later, when he was
90 years old, it was at the Redcar and Cleveland register office (Ref. 3491a
a91) that his death was recorded during the summer of 2001. Redcar is just a few miles north of
Guisborough
John
George Collett [31Q65]
was born at 30 Marsh Hill near Hackney Marsh on 24th September
1911, approximately nine months after the marriage of his parents John George C
Collett and Elizabeth Davenport. It was
there also that he was baptised on 29th October 1911. By 1939 John G Collett was a wood machinist
living at Walthamstow with his wife Maria C Collett. The death of John George Collett was recorded
at the Middlesex Enfield register office (Ref. 12 0692) during the early months
of 1975, when he was 63 years old
William
Henry F Collett [31Q66]
was very likely born at 30 Marsh Hill, where his family was living in
1911. His birth was recorded at Hackney
register office (Ref. 1b 988) during the first quarter of 1913, when his
mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Davenport. It was possibly as William H Collett, aged
18, that he married Jane Vagg in 1931, the event recorded at Hackney (Ref. 1b
517), although no children have so far been credited to the couple. Certainly,
the death of William H Collett was recorded at Hackney register office (Ref. 5c
654) during the second quarter of 1964, when he was 51
Sarah
Elizabeth Collett [31Q67]
was born in 1915, her birth was recorded at Hackney register office (Ref.
1b 837) during the third quarter of that year, when his mother’s maiden-name
was confirmed as Davenport. She was
twenty-two years of age when she married Philip J Bradford, their wedding day
recorded at Poplar register office (Ref. 1c 870) during the third quarter of
1937
Frederick
Collett [31Q68] was
born early in 1917, the last child of John George C Collett and Elizabeth
Davenport. His birth was recorded at
Hackney register office (Ref. 1b 810) during the first three months of the
year, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Davenport. It is likely that Frederick never got to meet
his father, since John G C Collett was killed in action in France in May that
same year. Even if his father had
returned home safely after the war, father and son would never have met each
other, since the death of Frederick Collett, aged one year, was recorded at
Hackney register office (Ref. 1b 1087) during the last three months of 1918
Frank
Collett [31Q69] was
born on 26th March 1923, the eldest of the two known sons of Frank
Collett and Mabel E Lutterloch, who were married at Poplar in 1922. The birth of Frank Collett junior was also
recorded at Poplar register office (Ref. 1c 677), where his mother’s maiden-name
was confirmed as Lutterloch. Perhaps,
because of the Second World War, his widowed mother eventually took Frank and
his younger brother to live in Oxfordshire, and it was at Kidlington where
Frank Collett was buried on 7th May 1996, his death recorded at the
Bicester Ploughley register office (Ref. 7031 16c)
Gerald
Collett [31Q70] was
born at Romford, Essex in 1932, his birth recorded there (Ref. 4a 798) during
the first quarter of that year. He was
only two years old when his father suffered a premature death, after which his
mother, together with Gerald and his older brother, settled in Oxfordshire,
where his mother Mabel died in 1964 and his brother passed away in 1996
Harry
George Collette [31R1]
was born at Canterbury in Kent during in 1892, the eldest of the five children
of Henry Collett (later known as Harry Hayward Collette) and Amy
Husband. The birth of Harry George
Collette was recorded at Canterbury (Ref. 2a 821) during the first three months
of 1892. By the time Harry was two years
old his family was living in Ramsgate and, two years after that, they were
residing at Catford within the London Borough of Lewisham, where they were
possibly still living ten years later.
The Catford census in 1901 recorded the family at 113 Brookdale Road
where Harry G Collette from Canterbury was nine years of age
After
the birth of Harry’s youngest sibling in 1905, his family moved to Aberdare in
Glamorganshire, where the incomplete family living in 1911. At that time in his life, Harry from
Canterbury was 19 and appears to have been working, for or with his father, as
an assurance agent, his father being an assurance inspector. What happened to him after that day is still
being investigated, although it is possible that as Harry G Collett, he may
have married Charlotte P Patterson in 1922, the wedding recorded at the Hendon
register office in Middlesex, London (Ref. 3a 924) during the third quarter of
that year. Their marriage produced four
children, with the birth of the first two recorded at Barnet – Eileen P
Collett in 1924, and Joan S Collett in 1925, the next two at Hendon
– Robert H Collett in 1932, and Royston G Collett in 1937. The lack of the E at the end of the surname
raises some doubt that this is the family of Harry Collette. At the time of his death in 1944, when he was
52 years of age, he was residing in Lincolnshire, where his passing was
recorded (Ref. 7a 738), but under the name George H Collette
Margery
Norah Collette [31R3]
was born in 1897 at 113 Brookdale Road in Catford, within the London Borough of
Lewisham, where her birth was recorded (Ref. 1d 1132) during the second quarter
of the year. She was the third child of
Henry and Amy Collette, and was four years old in the Catford census of
1901. After the birth of her young
sister at 113 Brookdale Road, the family left Catford and moved to Aberdare in
Glamorganshire, where Margery from Catford was 14 and undertaking domestic
duties. Eight years later, Margery was
again in Glamorganshire, where she was married.
The wedding of Margery Norah Collette and John W Jones was recorded at
Merthyr Tydfil register office (Ref. 11a 2070) during the third quarter of
1919. It was also at Merthyr Tydfil that
the birth of their son Kenneth W Jones was recorded during the first
three months of 1922 (Ref. 11a 1596). Margery
was only 48 years old when she died, with her death recorded at the Chatham
register office in Kent (Ref. 2a 1125) during the second quarter of 1945
Leslie
Newing Collette [31R4]
was born on 20th April 1900 at 113 Brookdale Road in Catford, with
his birth recorded at Lewisham register (Ref. 1d 1178) during the second
quarter of the year, another son of Henry and Amy Collette. He was almost one year old in the Catford
census of 1901 when he and his family were again living at 113 Brookdale Road,
where they were still living in 1905.
Shortly thereafter, the majority of the family
moved to South Wales, and was living at Aberdare in 1911 where Leslie, from
Catford, was ten years old age. The later
marriage of Leslie N Collette and Rosina A M Buttenshaw was recorded at Medway
(Kent) register office (Ref. 2a 2365) during the third quarter of 1928. Rosina was born at Gillingham with her birth
recorded at Medway register office (Ref. 2a 2365) the eldest child of Royal
Navy warrant office and gunner William Charles Buttenshaw and his wife
Elizabeth Ann. Once married, the couple
travelled north to Leeds in Yorkshire, where their four children were born,
when Buttenshaw was confirmed as the mother’s maiden-name. Leslie was 83 years old when he died in
Yorkshire, with the death of Leslie Newing Collette was recorded at Pontefract
register office (Vol. 05 1067) during the third quarter of 1983. After seven years as a widow, the death of
Rosina Alice Maud Collette was recorded at Yorkshire register office (Vol. 5
855) in 1990, when her date of birth was recorded as 13th June 1904
31S1
– Margaret L Collette
was born in 1929 at Leeds, Yorkshire
31S2
– Peter H Collette was
born in 1931 at Leeds, Yorkshire
31S3
– Barbara D Collette
was born in 1933 at Leeds, Yorkshire
31S4
– Michael J Collette
was born in 1935 at Leeds, Yorkshire
Enid K Collett [31R6] was born in 1918, although no record of
her birth or baptism has been found. She
was possibly born at Chippenham, or at Yatton Keynell where her parents were
married in the second quarter of the following year. She was therefore the base-born daughter of
Amelia B Whiting, while it is not known if her father was Edward W Collett, the
husband of Amelia. Two years into the
Second World War she married Royal Navy Petty Officer Edwin Hawkins, as
pictured here on her wedding day. The
wedding of Enid K Collett and Edwin C Hawkins was recorded at Bath register
office (Ref. 5c 1777) during the last quarter of 1941, after which they settled
in Bath
Reginald Graham George
Collett [31R7] was born at Yatton Keynell on 24th
September 1920, his birth recorded at Chippenham register office (Ref. 5a
109). He was the son of Edward W Collett
and his wife Amelia B Whiting who were married in 1919. Like his older sister Enid (above),
Reginald also settled in Bath, where two of his three marriages were
recorded. It is thanks to his
granddaughter Lesley Anne Reed nee Collett, in Pennsylvania, that we now know
that he was married three times in his life.
The
first marriage of Reginald G G Collett to (1) Vera M
Hancock was recorded at Chippenham register office (Ref. 5a 131) during the
first three months of 1941. However,
that marriage ended in divorced after Reginald discovered his wife had been unfaithful
to him during his absence in the war years.
He later married Elizabeth Lillian Morris, who was born at Shoreditch in
London on 17th May 1926. The
marriage of Reginald G G Collett and (2) Bessie L
Morris was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 7c 43) during the last three
months of 1948. It was Bessie who
presented Reginald with their two children, both of whom were born in Bath
During
his working life Reginald was a policeman in Bath, as shown in the photograph
here.
31S5
– Graham William Collett
was born at Bath in 1949
31S6
– Georgina Blanche Collett
was born at Bath in 1951
Edwin Harry Collett [31R8] was born at Upper Mount Pleasant in Bath
during the second quarter of 1897 where his birth was recorded (Ref. 5c 531)
and it was at that address that he was living with his family as Edwin H
Collett in 1901 when he was four years of age.
By the end of that decade, his family was living at 4 Hanover Place
within the Kensington district of Bath, when Harry Collett was 13 with no
occupation
Ethel Maud Collett [31R9] was born at Upper Mount Pleasant in Bath
in 1902, her birth also recorded at Bath (Ref. 5c 496) during the fourth
quarter of that year. Ethel Collett was
strangely recorded as seven years old in 1911, perhaps an error for nine, when
she and her family were living in Bath at 4 Hanover Place, in the Kensington
area of the town. She was nearly thirty
years of age when she married Alex R Hillman at Bath (Ref. 5c 1163) during the
third quarter of 1932
Dorothy May Collett [31R10] was born at Bath on 26th
February 1914, the third and last child of William Herbert Collett and Clara
Maud Witcombe. It was during the first
quarter of 1938 that the wedding of Dorothy May Collett and Ernest J Davidge
was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 973). Their marriage produced a daughter Gillian
M Davidge (born in 1941) and a son Anthony P C Davidge (born in
1951), their births recorded at Bath, when their mother’s maiden-name was
confirmed as Collett. Anthony married
Susan A Stoffols in the summer of 1975, and it was Tony Davidge who kindly
provided the information about his mother’s family. Dorothy May Davidge nee Collett died on 6th
December 1996, as recorded at Bath register office
Helen
Elizabeth L Collett [31R19]
was born at Manchester in 1901, her birth recorded at the Lancashire
register office in Chorlton-cum-Hardy (Ref. 8c 903) during the last three
months of 1901, following which she was baptised as Helen Elizabeth L Collett
at the Church of St Michael in nearby Hulme on 3rd November 1901,
the older of the two daughters of Edgar William Collett and Helen Elizabeth
Collett
Dorothy
Melanda Jane Collett [31R20]
was born at Swindon in 1904, after her parents had moved there from
Manchester, with her birth recorded at Swindon register office (Ref. 5a 31)
during the second quarter of 1904. She
later married Lester Rogers in Dorset, the wedding taking place in the village
of Broadwindsor, just north-west of Beaminster, on 1st October
1925. Lester was 25 and the son of
Charlie Rogers and Dorothy Melanda Jane was 21 and the daughter of Edgar
William Collett
Whyatt Collett [31R21] was born at Bath on 22nd
October 1909, where his birth was recorded (Ref. 5c 455) during the final three
months of that year. He was the eldest
of the three known children of Whyatt Collett and Florence Honor Raggatt and,
by the time he was baptised at the end of the year, his parents were living in
the Knowle area of Bristol, where the church service took place on 30th
December 1909. Just fifteen months later
Whyatt’s father was working in Bath as a house painter and decorator, while
mother and son were staying with Florence’s parents in Bristol, where Whyatt
Collett junior was one year old. Whyatt
was 24 years old when he married Dorothy P Blank, their wedding day recorded at
Bath register office (Ref. 5c 1305) during the last quarter of 1933. Over the next ten years Dorothy presented
Whyatt with three children, the births of all of them recorded at Bath register
office, with their mother’s maiden-name confirmed as Blank. The birth of daughter Joyce was recorded
there during the first quarter of 1943 (Ref. 5c 689). Whyatt appears to have lived all of his later life in Bath, since it was there that his
death was recorded (Vol. 22 0102) during the summer of 1974, when he was 63
31S7
– Kenneth J Collett was
born at Bath in 1935
31S8
– Brian A Collett was
born at Bath in 1938
31S9
– Joyce M Collett was born at Bath in 1943
Gladys M Collett [31R23] was born at Bath in 1916, the youngest
of the three children of Whyatt Collett and Florence Honor Raggatt, her birth
recorded there (Ref. 5c 867) during the second quarter of the year. It was towards the end of 1938 that the
marriage of Gladys M Collett and Charles W Chivers was recorded at Bath
register office (Ref. 5c 1480) during the last quarter of that year
Florence Jessie Collett [31R24], who was known as Florrie, was born at
Bath in 1902, the eldest of four children of Frederick John Collett and Rhoda
Mills. Her birth was recorded at Bath
register office (Ref. 5c 475) during the last three months of 1902. It was as Florrie Collett aged eight years
and from Bath, who was living there at 49 Lower Bristol Road with her family in
1901. The marriage of Florence J Collett
and Sidney G Fry was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 1246) during the
third quarter of 1927. Their marriage
produced two daughters, the first of them was Olive L Fry, whose birth
was recorded at Bath (Ref. 5c 642) during the first quarter of 1928, when her
mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett.
She later married Colin E Martin, from Stokesley in North Yorkshire,
their wedding day recorded at Bath (Ref. 7c 17) during the last quarter of
1958. Olive was still living at Bath in 2014 and it was her son Paul Martin,
that year, who kindly provided the new information on the family and children
of Frederick John Collett and his wife Rhoda Mills. The second daughter of Florence and Sidney
Fry was Eileen E J Fry, whose birth was recorded at Bath (Ref. 5c 587)
during the first three months of 1933, and it was during 1955 that she married
Dennis S R Britton at Bath (Ref. 7c 17).
Edith May Collett [31R25] was the second child of
Frederick and Rhoda Collett who was born and died at Bath prior to the census
of 1911. It was there that her birth and
death was recorded, the first during the third quarter of 1906 (Ref. 5c 466),
and the second during the first quarter of 1910 (Ref. 5c 371), when she was
three years of age
Ivy Collett [31R27] was born at Bath in 1913, where her
birth was recorded (Ref. 5c 847) during the second quarter of the year. The photograph on the right shows Ivy in 1929
when she was around sixteen years of age.
This head-shot was extracted from a larger family group picture which
also included Ivy’s older sister Emily Collett (above), her brother
Edgar Collett (below), and her niece Olive, the first child of her elder
married sister Florence (above).
The marriage of Ivy Collett and William Foy was recorded at Bath register
office (Ref. 7c 42) during the first quarter of 1949
Edgar William Collett [31R28] was born at Bath on 5th
August 1922, the only son of Frederick John Collett and Rhoda Mills. His birth as Edgar W Collett was recorded at
Bath register office (Ref. 5c 809), when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed
as Mills. This snapshot of Edgar has
been extracted from a larger group photograph that was taken of him and his two
sisters (above) around 1929, when he was about seven years old
31S10
– William Edgar Collett
was born at Bath in 1947
Sidney
James Collett [31R30]
was born at Caerphilly on 7th July 1915, the younger of the two
children of Albert Edward Collett and Florence Annie Edith Ferris. His birth was recorded at Pontypridd register
office (Ref. 11a 1019) during the third quarter of the year, where his mother’s
maiden-name was confirmed as Ferris. The
baptism of Sidney James Collett, the son of Albert and Florence of 9 Southern
Street, was conducted at St Martin’s Church in Caerphilly later that same year. He was 25 years old when the marriage of
Sidney James Collett and Matilda Nixon, aged 19, took place at North Seaton in
Northumberland on 8th October 1940.
The groom’s father was confirmed as Albert Edward Collett, with the
bride’s father was recorded as William Nixon.
The birth of Matilda Nixon was recorded at the Northumberland Morpeth
register office (Ref. 10b 961) during the third quarter of 1921, when her
mother’s maiden-name was recorded as Osborne
Whilst
it is known is that Matilda presented Sidney with two children when the couple
was still living in the north of England, it is possible the family
subsequently moved south sometime thereafter.
The births of those two children were recorded at the Northumberland
South register office during the second quarter of 1944, and (Ref. 1b 561)
during the last three months of 1946 when, on both occasions, the mother’s
maiden-name was confirmed as Nixon. Three
years later at Westminster and then at Wood Green in Middlesex, three other
children were born to parents Collett and Nixon. They were Eric (Ref. 5c 570) Q1 in 1949,
Colin (Ref. 5f 529) Q3 in 1951, and (Ref. 5f 536) Q3 in 1952. Those three children were more than likely the
later offspring of Sidney and Matilda, since it was also at Wood Green that the
couple’s eldest son was married in 1963.
By that time Sidney and Matilda were divorced, with Sidney eventually
leaving London for Warwickshire. He was
around 75 years of age when he died in 1991, with the death of Sidney James
Collett, who had been born on 11th July 1915, recorded at
Warwickshire register office (Vol. 33 380)
No
record of the death of Matilda Collett, nee Nixon, has been found and that was
because, after she was divorced from Sidney, the second marriage of Matilda
Collett to Norman R Bainbridge was recorded at Wood Green register office (Ref.
5f 1471) during the first three months of 1963.
Six months later, the marriage of her eldest son Robert A P Collett was
also recorded at Wood End. At the end of
her life, the death of Matilda Bainbridge was recorded at Cumberland register
office in 2002, although the informant reported the date of her birth as being
7th June 1923, instead of 1921
31S11
– Robert A P Collett
was born in 1944 at Northumberland
31S12
– Shirley Collett was born in 1946 at Northumberland
31S13
– Eric N Collett was born in 1949 at Westminster, Central London
31S14
– Colin Collett was born in 1951 at Wood Green, North London
31S15
– Doreen Collett was born in 1952 at Wood Green, North London
Margaret
Collett [31R32] was
born in 1938, her birth recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c 584) during
the second quarter of the year, the older of the two daughters of Frank Henry (Harry)
Collett and Isabel Short. She was just
twenty years old when she married Maurice Williams at Bath (Ref. 7c 63) during
the first three months of 1958. In 2021
Margaret Williams was living in the town of Prudhoe in Northumberland, from
where she generously provided new details of her immediate family
Marion
Collett [31R33] was
born in 1939 and her birth was also recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 5c
851) during the third quarter of that year, when her mother’s maiden-name was
confirmed as Short. It was also during
the first quarter of 1958 that the marriage of Marion Collett and Stafford H R
Carey was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 7c 80), just after the wedding
day of her older sister (above).
Very shortly after they were married, Marion gave birth to a son, Stephen
M Carey, whose birth was recorded at Bath during the second quarter of that
same year, but tragically died a few days later. Less than two years later, the couple’s
second son was born, the birth of Paul R L Carey also recorded at Bath
register office during the first three months of 1960. On both occasions, the mother’s maiden-name
was confirmed as Collett. According to
Marion’s sister Margaret (above), a third son was born after Paul,
although the birth of Andrew Carey has not been located
Edward
Collett [31R34] was
born near the end of 1944, his birth recorded at Salisbury register office
(Ref. 5a 124) during the fourth quarter of that year, when his mother’s maiden-name
was confirmed as Mansbridge. He was the
only child of Reginald A E Collett and Charlotte E Mansbridge who were married
at Warminster in Wiltshire near the end of the previous year. In 1970, the marriage of Edward Collett and
Dorothy Irene Buttling was recorded at St John the Baptist Church in Hinton,
Essex, both confirmed as being single.
Dorothy was slightly older than Edward, with her birth recorded at
Ilford in Essex during the second quarter of 1944, when her mother’s maiden-name
was Strang. Once married, the couple
left Essex and settled in the Bristol area, where their three children were
born, and where their mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Buttling, the
second two children being twin brothers
31S16
– Phillipa Collett was born in 1972 at Bristol
31S17
– Alexander John Collett was born in 1974 at Bristol
31S18
– James Anthony Collett was born in 1974 at Bristol
BARBARA JEAN COLLETT [31R35] was born at 18 Garden Street in
Llanbradach on 26th April 1929, the daughter of John Gordon Collett
and Evelyn Harris. She was eight years
old when her parents settled at Mablethorpe in Lincolnshire in August
1937. Jean, as she is known, was
evacuated to 68 Duke Street in Abertillery during the Second World War, the
home of her paternal grandparents William and Sephorah Collett. She also spent some time with her maternal
grandmother Eva Harris at 9 Griffin Street at Six Bells in Abertillery. After the war she received a scholarship to
King Edward VI Grammar School for Girls in Louth and became Deputy Head Girl
In
all, Jean gave birth to three children, her daughter being the first of
them. Carol Lyn Davis was born in
1953 at West Palm Beach in Florida and her father was Robert Lee Davis of the
United States Air Force Air Sea Rescue Services, the son of Walter Davis of
Florida and Mary Elizabeth Davis nee Davis from Freshwater in Newfoundland. Carol is currently the Museum Manager at
White Settlement Historical Museum in White Settlement, Texas. Jean and Robert’s son Grant Lee Davis was
born in 1957 at Augsburg in West Germany while his father was stationed with
the 101st US Army Airborne.
Grant, who married Texas-born Mary Margaret Womack Sherrod, a real
estate agent, on 4th November 1995 at Nisbett Plantation in Nevis,
BWI, currently works within the U S Food and Drug Administration. Like his sister Carol, Grant and his wife are
also residents of Fort Worth in Texas.
Jean’s youngest child is Gordon Scott Davis who was born in 1960
at Fort Campbell in Kentucky who has been estranged from the family since the early
1990s
Barbara
Jean Davis nee Collett of Fort Worth in Texas passed away in the early hours of
Friday morning, 10th July 2015, from complications of congestive
heart failure and blood pressure issues.
According to her daughter Carol, Barbara had been so happy to have been
included with her family members in the Collett Family History website and
surprised to hear of so many other Colletts around the world via the website
and the monthly Collett newsletters, copies which were read out to her as her
cataracts condition had caused her to stop reading. She grew up thinking she was the only Collett
around in her area, other than immediate family members, when she had been
living in Llanbradach, Mablethorpe, Abertillery and Margate, before moving to
America. It was her dying wish that she
be returned to Wales to be buried at St. Eli Church in Llanelly, Gilwern,
Gwent, where the vast majority of her family were
buried, including her father John Gordon Collett, her grandparents William
Collett and Sephorah Rosser Collett, and her great-grandparents John Collett
and Jane Rees Collett. Her former
husband, and the father of her children, Robert Lee Davis, passed away on 31st
May 2017
Lewis M Collett [31R38] was born in 1916, the second child of
William Henry Collett and Eliza A Edmunds.
His birth was recorded at Crickhowell register office (Ref. 11b 136)
during the first three months of the year, when his mother’s maiden-name was
confirmed as Edmunds. The later marriage
of Lewis M Collett and Megan Lewis was also recorded at Crickhowell (Ref. 11b
200) during the last three months of 1942.
The couple’s first child was born within six months of their wedding
day, suggesting that Megan was already with-child on that day. Two more children were added to the family,
with the birth of all three children recorded at Crickhowell register office,
when the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Lewis. The birth of Keith Collett was recorded there
during the second quarter of 1944 (Ref. 11b 81) and the birth of Dianne Collett
was recorded there during the first three months of 1947 (Ref. 8a 50). Lewis M Collett died in 1969, when his death
was recorded at Crickhowell (Ref. 8a 57) during the first few months of 1969, when
he was 53 years old
31S19
– Lily M Collett was
born at Crickhowell in 1943
31S20
– Keith Collett was born at Crickhowell in 1944
31S21
– Dianne Collett was born at Crickhowell in 1947
Ivy Collett [31R39] was born in 1918 and her birth was
recorded at Crickhowell (Ref. 11b 152) during the second quarter of the year,
when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Edmunds. She was twenty-one when she married Trevor
Alexander in 1939, the event recorded at Crickhowell register office (Ref. 11b
341) during the final quarter of that year.
Their only known child Roy G Alexander was born in 1946, the
birth recorded at Crickhowell (Ref. 11b 82) during the first three months of
the year, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett
Agnes S Collett [31R40] was born in 1921 and her birth, like
those of her siblings, was recorded at Crickhowell (Ref. 11b 151) during the
first quarter of that year, when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as
Edmunds. It was during the second
quarter of 1943 that her marriage to Gwynedd R Evans was recorded at
Crickhowell register office (Ref. 11b 167).
The marriage provided the couple with four children, all
of their births recorded at Crickhowell.
They were Norman G Evans (Q3 1944), Gwynedd C Evans (Q3
1945), Heather Evans (Q3 1948) and Vernon I Evans (Q4 1952), when their
mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett each time
Emrys Norman Collett [31R41] was born on 16th May 1923,
with his birth also recorded at Crickhowell (Ref. 11b 171) during the second
quarter of the year, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Edmunds, he
being one of the four sons of William Henry Collett and Eliza A Edmunds. It was during the summer of 1942 that he
became a married man, when the marriage of Emrys N Collett and Beryl E Purslow
was recorded at Bedwellty register office in Monmouthshire (Ref. 11a 243)
during the third quarter of that year.
Little is known about the family except that the births of their three
known children were recorded at Crickhowell register office, where the
children’s mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Purslow. Emrys Norman Collett was 67 when he died,
with his death recorded at Monmouthshire register office (Vol. 28 34) during
1990
31S22
– Sheila C Collett was
born at Crickhowell in 1946
31S23
– Emrys Norman Collett
was born at Crickhowell in 1948
31S24
– Jeanette E Collett
was born at Crickhowell in 1954
Lily M Collett [31R43] was born at Llanelly in either late 1908
or early in 1909, the eldest of the four children of Frank Henry Collett and
Mary Elizabeth Eynon, her birth recorded at Crickhowell register office (Ref.
11b 86) during the first quarter of 1909.
She was two years old in the Llanelly census of 1911 and it was twenty
years later when the marriage of Lily M Collett and William L Thomas was
recorded at Crickhowell register office (Ref. 11b 152) during the third quarter
of 1932
Edna M Collett [31R44] was born at Llanelly during the month of
November 1910 and was five months old in 1911 when she and her family were
living in Llanelly. Her birth, like
those of her three siblings, was recorded at Crickhowell (Ref. 11b 98). Nine months later, the death of Edna M
Collett was recorded at Crickhowell register office (Ref. 11b 162) during the
first three months of 1912
Ernest T Collett [31R45] was born at Clydach in 1912, the only
son of Frank and Mary Collett, with the birth recorded at Crickhowell register
office (Ref. 11b 173) during the third quarter of that year, when the mother’s maiden-name
was confirmed as Eynon. Six months
later, his death was also recorded there (Ref. 11b 153) during the first
quarter of 1913
Maisie Evelyn Collett [31R46] was born at Clydach on 9th
November 1916, the last of the four children of Frank Henry Collett and Mary
Elizabeth Eynon. Her birth was later
recorded at Crickhowell register office (Ref. 11b 137) during the first weeks
of 1917. Maisie was twenty-two when her
marriage to James S Allport was recorded at Crickhowell (Ref. 11b 327) during
the last three months of 1939. Just
prior to their wedding day, Masie E Collett was still living with her parents
at Waenllapria in Llanelly Hill, near Brynmawr, when she was 23 and a roller
machine operator at a nearby fur and felt hat factory. Although no children have been identified, it
is very interesting that twenty years later, at Pontypool register office (Ref.
8c 382), the birth of Sarah C J Collett was recorded during the first three
months of 1959, when the mother’s maiden-name was Allport
Frank
H Collett [31R49] was
born at Llanelly, the third child of Ernest Tom Collett and Frances Rhoda
Wallbank, whose birth was recorded at Crickhowell register office (Ref. 11b
168) during the third quarter of 1914.
Although there were two men with the name Frank H Collett of South Wales
in this family line, it is more likely that it was this Frank H Collett who
married Hannah Matthews in 1947, when their marriage was recorded Crickhowell
register office (Ref. 8a 155) during the second quarter of that year. No record of any issue has been found
Howis
E Collett [31R50] was
born at Llanelly in 1916, the fourth child of Ernest and Frances Collett, but
only their second child to survive. His
birth, like those of his siblings, was recorded at Crickhowell register office
(Ref. 11b 157) during the last three months of the year, when his mother’s
maiden-name was confirmed as Wallbank.
His later marriage to Vivian J Burt was recorded at Birmingham register
office (Ref.9c 749) during the second quarter of 1952. With his brother Ernest (below) also
married in Birmingham, it is likely that they left South Wales together to seek
employment in the Birmingham area.
Ernest
R Collett [31R51]
was born at Llanelly in 1919, another son of Ernest and Frances Collett, whose
birth was recorded at Crickhowell register office (Ref. 11b 1370 during the
first three months of the year, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as
Wallbank. Ernest and his brother Howis
must have travelled north to the West Midlands, since they were both married in
Birmingham within a few years of each other.
The marriage of Ernest R Collett and Margaret Lloyd was recorded at
Birmingham register office (Ref. 9c 150) during the third quarter of 1957. One year later their first child was born,
with his birth, and those of all of the couple’s
subsequent children, recorded at the same Birmingham register office, where the
mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Lloyd.
They were Michael E (Ernest?) Collett (Ref. 9c 887) in the third
quarter of 1958, twin daughters Susan A Collett and Sheila A Collett (Refs. 9c
1046 & 9c 1047) in the third quarter of 1961, Christopher Neil J Collett
(Ref. 9c 682) in the second quarter of 1967, and Debra Sharon J Collett (Ref.
9c 821) in the first quarter of 1969.
31S25
– Michael E Collett was born in 1958 at Birmingham
31S26
– Susan A Collett was born in 1961 at Birmingham
31S27
– Sheila A Collett was born in 1961 at Birmingham
31S28
– Christopher Neil J Collett was born in 1967 at Birmingham
31S29
– Debra Sharon J E Collett was born in 1969 at Birmingham
William
J Collett [31R52] was
the last child of Ernest Tom Collett and Frances Rhoda Wallbank and was born at
Llanelly in 1923. His birth was recorded
at Crickhowell register office (Ref. 11b 171) during the second quarter of that
year, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Wallbank. He continued to live in Wales where he was
later married. The marriage of William J
Collett and Cynthia M Devonald was recorded in Pembrokeshire at Haverfordwest
register office (Ref. 8c 691) during the second quarter of 1960. By the end of that same year, their marriage
had already produced the first of the couple’s three children. All three children’s births were recorded at
Haverfordwest, and confirmed that their mother’s maiden-name was Devonald. The details for Mark are (Ref. 8c 454) during
the last three months of 1960, for Maria (Ref. 8c 519) during the second
quarter of 1963, and for Sarah (Ref. 8c 2078) during the third quarter of 1972
It
was also at Haverfordwest register office that the marriage of daughter Sarah
Louise Collett and Martin D Thomas was recorded (Vol. 819 0563) during May
1996. Seven years later Sarah gave birth
to a daughter Jasmine Louise Thomas whose birth was recorded at the
Pembrokeshire register office during November 2003, with the mother’s
maiden-name was confirmed as Collett.
31S30
– Mark A Collett was born in 1960 at Haverfordwest
31S31
– Maria J Collett was born in 1963 at Haverfordwest
31S32
– Sarah Louise Collett was born in 1972 at Haverfordwest
Myra Irene Collett [31R53] was born at Clydach on 27th
August 1915, the first child of Frederick William Collett and Mary Jane Powell
who were married in 1914. At the age of
24, Myra I Collett was still living with her parents at Waenllapria in Llanelly
Hill, near Brynmawr, from where she was working as an unpaid shop attendant, as
confirmed by the 1939 Register. Eight
years later, on 22nd September 1947, Myra I Collett married Frank J
Stratton of The Briars at Maesgywartha, near Gilwern, the event recorded at
Crickhowell register office (Ref. 8a 147) during the third quarter of
1947. Their daughter, Anita Stratton,
later married M. Withers to become Anita Withers. They lived at Pontypool in Gwent and had two
children, Benjamin Withers who was born in 1981, and Rachel Withers who was
born in 1982. Myra and Frank, who was
born in 1905, owned the Wool Shop in Brynmawr, near Clydach. Myra Irene Stratton nee Collett died on 29th
November 2005 at Monmouth in Wales and Frank J Stratton passed away two years
later in June 2008
Ada Collett [31R54] was born at Clydach on 13th
May 1917, another daughter of Frederick and Mary Collett. Her birth was recorded at Crickhowell
register office (Ref. 11b 163) during the second quarter of the year, when her
mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Powell.
On completing her time at secondary school, Ada embarked on a course of
further education and at the age of 22 years, she was described as a student in
the 1939 Register. At that time in her life,
she was one of the three sisters living with their parents at Waenllapria in
Llanelly Hill. Just after the Second
World War, on 12th August 1946, Ada Collett married Ronald G Howell,
their wedding recorded at Crickhowell (Ref. 8a 118) during the third quarter of
1946. No further record of the couple
has been revealed in Great Britain after that day, and the reason maybe that
they emigrated to America
Edwin J Collett [31R55] was born at Clydach in 1919, and his
birth was also recorded at Crickhowell (Ref. 11b 149) during the third quarter
of that year. He was the fourth of the
six children of Frederick and Mary Collett.
On the day the 1939 Register was compiled, Edwin was not living with his
family at Waenllapria in Llanelly Hill, most likely because he may already have
been involved in the war effort. Four
years later, with the Second World War still ongoing, the marriage of Edwin J
Collett and Dora E Birt was recorded at Abergavenny register office (Ref. 11a
83) during the second quarter of 1943.
Just like his sister Ada (above, no record of Edwin and or his wife has
been discovered in Great Britain after that day, and the reason maybe that they
emigrated to America
Annie Collett [31R56] was born at Clydach on 12th
December 1924, although it was at Crickhowell that her birth was recorded (Ref.
11b 146) during the first three months of the year, her mother’s maiden-name
confirmed as Powell. Annie was fourteen
years of age and still attending school, when she was included with her family
at Waenllapria in Llanelly Hill, in the 1939 Register. Four years later, when she was still only
nineteen, the marriage of Annie Collett and Harry B Duncan was recorded at
Crickhowell register office (Ref. 11b 160) during the first quarter of
1944. Once again, as with two of her
older siblings, no record of Annie and Harry Duncan has been found after that
day, leading to the idea that they may have emigrated to America
Wilfred H Collett [31R57] was born at Clydach in 1926, the last
child of Frederick William Collett and Mary Jane Powell, whose birth was
recorded at Crickhowell register office (Ref. 11b 150) during the third quarter
of the year. The life of Wilfred H
Collett remains a mystery, since his was not living with his family at
Waenllapria in Llanelly Hill in 1939, when he would have been 13 years old, nor
has any record of his death or marriage been found
Margaret
L Collette [31S1] was
born at Leeds in Yorkshire in 1929, the first-born child of Leslie Newing
Collette from Catford in London and Rosina Alice Maud Buttenshaw from
Gillingham in Kent. Her birth was
recorded at Leeds Register office (Ref. 9b 414) during the first quarter of
that year. Tragically, it was during a
visit to London that she died aged five years, her premature death recorded
there (Ref. 1a 14) in 1934
Peter
H Collette [31S2] was
born at Leeds in 1931, where his birth was recorded (Ref. 9b 373) during the
first three months of the year, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as
Buttenshaw. Peter was 24 years of age
when his marriage to June M Gen was recorded at Sheffield register office (Ref.
2d 260) during the fourth quarter of 1955.
Five years later the couple was living in the Wortley area of Leeds
where the birth of their first child was recorded, followed by two more, all
three births confirmed that the mother’s maiden-name was Genn: Penelope during
the third quarter of 1960 (Ref. 2d 863); Clare during the first three months of
1962 (Ref. 2d 1014); and Lucy during the last quarter of 1969 (Ref. 2d 2339)
31T1 – Penelope J Collette was born in
1960 at Wortley, Leeds
31T2 – Clare H Collette was born in 1962
at Wortley, Leeds
31T3 – Lucy Margaret Collette was born
in 1969 at Wortley, Leeds
Barbara
D Collette [31S3] was sole
surviving daughter of Leslie and Rosina Collett, whose birth was recorded at
Leeds register office (Ref. 9b 501) during the third quarter of 1933, when her
mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Buttenshaw. Barbara was 23 years old when her marriage to
John Clifford was recorded at the Yorkshire Hemsworth register office (Ref. 2b
1385) during the third quarter of 1957.
It may have been John’s job of work that resulted in the births of their
three children being at different locations, perhaps even a member of the Royal
Navy. The birth of Nigel R Clifford
was recorded at Gosport in Hampshire (Ref. 6b 460) during the third quarter of
1959, the second Adrian N Clifford at Northumberland South (Ref. 1b 593)
during the third quarter of 1963, and Jane C Clifford at Portsmouth
(Ref. 6b 853) during the last three months of 1965. In each case, the mother’s maiden-name was
confirmed as Collette
Michael
J Collette [31S4] was the
youngest child of Leslie Newing Collette and Rosina Alice Maud Buttenshaw. His birth was also recorded at Leeds register
office (Ref. 9b 521) during the summer of 1935.
The only record of a marriage for a Michael J Collette was at Penzance
in Cornwall (Ref. 7a 207) during the second quarter of 1964, when the bride was
named as Cynthia E Daniels. Whether this
was Michael from Leeds has still to be determined
Graham William Collett [31S5] was born at Bath on 31st July
1949, the eldest of the two children of Reginald Graham George Collett and his
wife Bessie Lillian Morris. The birth
was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 7c 28) when the child’s mother’s
name was confirmed as Morris. Graham
later married (1) Rosemary Anne Small during the spring of 1976 and the
marriage produced three children for George and Rosemary. The pair were later divorced, following which
Graham W Collett married (2) Anna Kimmins, the event recorded at Bath register
office (Vol. 22 183) during the month of June 1989
31T4
– Lesley Anne Collett
was born in 1976 at Bath
31T5
– Shaun Aaron Collett
was born in 1978 at Bath
31T6
– Annette Marie Collett
was born in 1981 at Bath
Georgina Blanche Collett [31S6] was born at Bath on 11th May
1951 and was the daughter of Reginald and Bessie Collett. Her birth was recorded at Bath register
office (Ref. 7c 50) during the second quarter of 1951, when her mother’s maiden-name
was confirmed as Morris. Twenty-six
years later, she married Roger Allen with whom she had two children, their
marriage recorded at Bath register office (Vol. 22 0002) during the spring of
1977. Eighteen months after that event,
Georgie gave birth to a daughter who was named after her maternal grandmother
Amelia Whiting. The birth of Amelia
Claire Allen, who prefers to be known as Amy, was recorded at the Sussex
Crawley register office (Vol. 18 924) towards the end of 1978. A second child followed and, sometime around
the second half of the 1980s, Georgie and her husband, and their two children,
left England to live in America
It
was in New Jersey that she was living in April 2011, when she passed away after
a four-year battle with cancer. During
the years between arriving in America and her death, Georgina Blanche Allen
changed her name back to Collett, perhaps on the break-up of her marriage,
which was the name under which her death was recorded. Her daughter Amelia (aka Amy) also
changed her surname to Collett and she served in the US Army and later went on
to work at a Texas prison as a guard, achieving the rank of sergeant. She worked as a prison guard for thirteen
years, but like her mother, was diagnosed with bowel cancer which eventually
spread to other parts of her body, causing her death at Texas on 17th
July 2018
Kenneth J Collett [31S7] was born at Bath in 1935, the eldest of
the three children of Whyatt Collett and Dorothy P Blank, his birth recorded at
Bath register officer (Ref. 5c 631) during the third quarter of that year, when
his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Blank. He was 21 years old when he married Julia M
Day, the event recorded at Bath (Ref. 7c 23) during the third quarter of
1956. Five years later the couple was
blessed with the birth of a son, whose birth was also recorded at Bath register
office (Ref. 7c 61) during the third quarter of 1961. The register confirmed that the child’s
mother’s maiden-name was Day
31T7
– Geoffrey D Collett was born in 1961 at Bath
Brian A Collett [31S8] was born at Bath in 1938, his birth
recorded at Bath (Ref. 5c 542) during the third quarter of the year, when his
mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Blank.
It was during the third quarter of 1961 when the marriage of Brian A
Collett and Joan V Wootten was recorded at Bath register office (Ref. 7c
27). It was also there that the births
of their two children were recorded, Carole 1966 and Stephen in 1970 when, in
both cases, the records confirmed that their mother’s maiden-name was
Wootten.
31T8
– Carole Ann Collett
was born in 1966 at Bath
31T9
– Stephen John Collett
was born in 1970 at Bath
William Edgar Collett [31S10] was born at Bath in 1947, where his
birth was recorded (Ref. 7c 62) during the second quarter of the year, when his
mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Richmond.
He was the only son of Edgar William Collett of Bath and Gladys R
Richmond from the West Midland.
Throughout his life he has been known as Billie Collett and in 2010 he
was living in the village of Priston, to the south-west of Bath
Robert
A P Collett [31S11] was
born in Northumberland during 1944, the first child of Sidney James Collett and
Matilda Nixon. His birth was recorded at
the Northumberland South register office (Ref. 10b 531) during the second
quarter of 1944. After the birth of his
sister in 1946, the family travelled south to London, where a further three
children were added to the family, the birth of the last two being recorded at
Wood Green. It was also at Wood Green
register office where the marriage of Robert A P Collett and Sandra E Tilley
was recorded (Ref. 5f 1453) during the third quarter of 1963, the same year and the same place that his divorced mother married for
a second time. Their two children were
born ten years apart and at two different locations; the birth of the first
recorded at Islington register office, the second at Colchester register office,
in each case the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Tilley
31T10
– Mark A Collett was
born in 1965 at Islington, London
31T11
– Abigail Rachel Collett
was born in 1975 at Colchester, Essex
Lily M Collett [31S19] was born in 1943 and her birth was
recorded at Crickhowell register office (Ref. 11b 76) during the first three
months of the year. Her mother’s maiden-name
was confirmed as Lewis, being the eldest child of Lewis Collett and Megan
Lewis. She was twenty years old when she
married John D Wall, their wedding day recorded at Crickhowell (Ref. 8a 115)
during the first quarter of 1963
Sheila
C Collett [31S22] was
born at Crickhowell in 1946, the eldest child of Emrys Norman Collett and Beryl
E Purslow, whose birth was recorded there (Ref. 11b 80) during the first three
months of the year. The birth record
also confirmed that her mother’s maiden-name was Purslow. It was around the time of Sheila’s twentieth
birthday that she was married, when the wedding of Sheila C Collett and Malcolm
Paynter was recorded at Pontypool register office in Monmouthshire (Ref. 8c 767)
during the first three months of 1966. The first of their two sons, Andrew Darren
Paynter, also had his birth recorded at Pontypool (Ref. 8c 384) at the
start of 1967, twelve after the couple was married. During the next five years the family of
three moved to Bedwellty ten miles west of Pontypool, where the birth of Simon
Lee Paynter was recorded (Ref. 8c 473) during the second quarter of 1972. Both boys were confirmed as the sons of a
mother whose maiden-name was Collett
Emrys
Norman Collett [31S23] was
born on 30th April 1948 with his birth recorded at Crickhowell
register office (Ref. 8a 67), the son of Emrys and Beryl Collett, when his
mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Purslow.
He was twenty-one years old when the marriage of Emrys N Collett and (1)
Hilary Jones was recorded at Pontypool register office (Ref. 8c 625) during the
last three months of 1969. Once married
the couple settled within the Bedwellty area of Monmouthshire, ten miles west
of Pontypool, where their first two children were born. Seventeen years after the birth of their
second son, the birth of couple’s third and last child was recorded back at
Pontypool. However, it would appear, but
not proved, that Emrys and Hilary had been divorced within the previous year
and, on the day that Ashley was born Hilary had been married to Robert E Sharp
for three or four months, their marriage recorded at Pontypool (Vol. 28 801)
during September 1988
Divorced
Emrys Norman Collett later married (2) Maureen E Griffiths, their wedding day
was also recorded at Pontypool register office (Vol. 28 603) during the month
of June in 1989, with their only child born three years after. It was only thirteen years after his father
and namesake passed away, that the death of Emrys Norman Collett, the younger,
was recorded at Monmouthshire register office in 2003, at the age of 52. The birth details for his four children are
as follow: Jason (Ref. 8c 311) during the second quarter of 1971; Paul (Ref. 8c
38) during the first quarter of 1971; Ashley (Vol. 28 1203) during the second
quarter of 1971; and Jackie (Vol. 28 1397) in July 1992
31T12
– Jason Norman Collett was born in 1971 at Bedwellty, Monmouthshire
31T13
– Paul Anthony Collett was born in 1973 at Bedwellty, Monmouthshire
31T14
– Ashley Andrew Collett was born in 1989 at Pontypool, Monmouthshire
The
following is the only child of Emrys Norman Collett and his second wife Maureen
E Griffiths:
31T15
– Jackie Louise Collett was born in 1992 at Pontypool, Monmouthshire
Jeanette
E Collett [31S24] was
born during the first quarter of 1954, her birth recorded at Crickhowell (Ref.
8a 39), when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Purslow. It is also established that Jeannette E
Collett married Leslie J Luce in 1971, the event also recorded at Crickhowell
(Ref.8a 189) during the third quarter of that year. Their sons were Dean Leslie Luce who
was born at Bedwellty in 1972, Lee Mark Luce who was born at Pontypool
in 1974, as was Nicholas John Luce in 1979
Lesley Anne Collett [31T4]
was born at Bath on 22nd
July 1976, the eldest of the three children of Graham William Collett and his
wife Rosemary Anne Small. Her birth was
recorded at Bath register office (Vol. 22 37) when her mother’s maiden-name was
confirmed as Small. Lesley married
Martyn L Reed during March 2003, the wedding recorded at the South & West
Dorset register office (Vol. 432 0323) and they have three children. And it was Lesley who provided all of the details relating to her family which were added
to this family line in March 2012.
During 2015, Lesley Anne and her family emigrated to America and
initially settled in California, eventually moving to Pennsylvania, where they
were residing in 2019
Shaun Aaron Collett [31T5] was born at Bath on 20th May
1978, the son of Graham and Rosemary Collett, whose birth was recorded at Bath
register office (Vol. 22 56) when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as
Small. He has been married twice, both
wives being a Gemma. It was the first
marriage to (1) Gemma Strickland that resulted in the birth of his son William,
whose birth was recorded at the Bath and North-Eastern Somerset register office
(Vol. 3001d d9d). That record confirmed
that his mother’s maiden-name was Strickland.
Shaun later married for a second time around 2010 and that produced two daughters
for the couple
31U1
– William Graham Collett was born at Bath on 10th September 2005
31U2
– Kiara Collett was born 2011
31U3
– a daughter Collett
Annette Marie Collett [31T6] was born at Bath in the spring of
1981. She was the youngest of the three
children of Graham William Collett and Rosemary Anne Small, whose birth was
recorded at Bath register office (Vol. 22 345), when her mother’s maiden-name
was confirmed as Small. It was during
the month of May in 2003 that the marriage of Annette Marie Collett and Patrick
J Viney was recorded at North Somerset register office (Vol. 307 0659). Sixteen years later, Annette was residing in
Melksham
Carole
Ann Collett [31T8] was
born at Bath in 1966, the first of the two children of Brian A Collett and Joan
V Chamberlain. Her birth was recorded at
Bath register office (Ref. 7c 90) during the second quarter of 1966, with her
mother’s maiden-name confirmed as Chamberlain. Many years later, the marriage of Carole A
Collett and Martin A Kiely was also recorded at Bath register office (Vol. 22
171) during the second quarter of 1988. Within a few months of their wedding day,
Carole gave birth to a daughter Louise Kiely, whose birth was recorded
at Bath during August 1988. Just under
four years later, their family was completed when the birth of Samuel Thomas
Kiely was also recorded at Bath register office during February 1992
Stephen
John Collett [31T9] was
born at Bath in 1970, with his birth recorded there (Ref. 7c 637) during the
third quarter of the year, the son of Brian A Collett and Joan V Wootten. It is possible, but not yet verified as
Stephen John Collett, that the marriage of Stephen J Collett and Katherine J
Chamberlain was recorded at Bristol register office (Vol. 301 0240) during July
1994, where the births of the couple’s three sons were also recorded, when
their mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Chamberlain
31U4
– Thomas James Collett was born in September 1995 at Bristol
31U5
– Jack Robert Collett was born in June 1998 at Bristol
31U6
– Daniel George Collett was born in October 2001 at Bristol
Mark
A Collett [31T10] was
born at Islington in London during 1965, where his birth was recorded (Ref. 5c
1095) during the third quarter of the year, the older of the two children of
Robert A P Collett and Sandra E Tilley.
By the time he was ten years old, he and his family were residing in
Essex, and it was there at the Braintree register office that the marriage of
Mark A Collett and Julie D Lyons was recorded (Vol. 465 0776) in September 1999
Abigail
Rachel Collett [31T11]
was born at Colchester, Essex, in 1975 and was the daughter of Robert A P
Collett and Sandra E Tilley. Her birth
was recorded at Colchester register office (Vol. 9 3106) during the second
quarter of the year. In 1999 her brother
(above) was married at Braintree, where the marriage of Abigail Rachel
and Mark Sampson was recorded (Vol. 465 0546) during April 2004. Two years later, the birth of Jorja Sydney
Sampson was recorded at Chelmsford register office (Vol. 4681a a139g)
during September 2006, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett