PART FOUR

The Great Western Line

Updated April 2022

No history of the Collett family would be complete without the inclusion of the internationally renowned master of steam railway locomotive design Charles Benjamin Collett [4N28]. He was, and still is, better known simply as C B Collett, the man who brought glamour into the world of railway transportation with his Kings and Castles Classes of steam engines. He was also the man that had the forward vision of the future, involving the early diesel trains. Although a married man, his marriage unfortunately never produced any children. It can therefore be said that, upon his death, it really was the end of the line.

My father, William Henry John Collett (Ref. 1Q11), often talked about the great man with affection, and had many treasured memories of those days when he was a young boy playing outside the Engineer’s house at the end of Bathampton Street, in which he also lived. One of his proudest possessions was the Great Western Railway Apprenticeship Certificate signed by C B Collett himself. Why was that so special? Apparently, it was most unusual for the Chief Engineer to sign the certificates, so that particular one was very much a collector’s item.

The early information used in the construction of the initial family tree was kindly supplied by the late Margaret Chadd, nee Collett. In addition to which, many pleasant hours were spent browsing through library books and visiting the railway museums at Swindon, Didcot and York where, at the time, there was a large photograph of C B Collett proudly displayed in the main hall in York.

Further information was subsequently provided by Judith Ann Stichbury [4P2] of New Zealand relating to the Blundell family of Luton and Suffolk. The information for the updated version in February 2010 was gratefully received from Don Norris, who is an acknowledged authority on the history of Hemel Hempstead, and Alan Freer relating to the family of William Rickford Collett the Member of Parliament for Lincoln 1841 to 1847.

This family line begins with the link to Part One, that being Henry Collett (Ref. 1F18), while the ancestral line to C B Collett is indicated by the names in bold capital type.

HENRY COLLETT [4F1] was baptised at Broadwell on 4^th November 1558 and was the last of five children presented to John Collett by his wife Marion Jakes. Following the death of his mother shortly after he was born, Henry’s father married Katherine Sanders with whom he had a further five children. The discovery of the Will of Henry’s father has provided new information which suggests that Henry already had two sons by the time of the death of his father in 1597. From that, it must be assumed that Henry was first married prior to that date, in addition to him being married for a second time around 1610. Henry Collett was first married by licence to (1) Elizabeth Insil at Upper Slaughter on 22^nd May 1593. According to the parish register for Upper Slaughter, Elizabeth Insil was the daughter of John Insil. It was that marriage which produced the two sons named in the 1597 Will of John Collett, and they were Thomas Collett (Ref. 1G15) and John Collett (Ref. 1G16). Sometime after the birth of her two boys it would appear that Elizabeth died, leaving Henry to take a much younger second wife some years later, with whom he had a further five children. In order to avoid a major reorganisation of the layout of this family line, and that of Part 1 – The Main Line, Henry Collett’s first marriage to Elizabeth Insil has been retained in Part 1 and it is there that the family line of their eldest son Thomas Collett (Ref. 1G15) is continued

Upon the death of his father in 1597, Henry was referred to in his Will as Henry Collett the elder to distinguish him from Henry Collett the younger, his half-brother and the eldest son of Katherine Sanders and John Collett (see Will in Legal Documents). Within the terms of the Will, Henry the elder received two strikes of corn, and his two sons Thomas Collett and John Collett were to be given half a guinea between them. The bulk of his father’s estate was to be divided between his two half-brothers Henry Collett the younger and Anthony Collett. It was after that, and following the death of his first wife, when Henry married (2) Elizabeth Goodwin of Lower Dorsington in the Parish of Welford-on-Avon. That event possibly took place around 1610 and 1612 when Henry was already in his fifties. Two of the couple’s five children were baptised at Dorsington, while the other three were born in the area around Stow-on-the-Wold. Henry Collett died in 1647 at Broadwell, just north of Stow-on-the-Wold, and his Will was proved in 1648, wherein all of the children listed below were named. For the continuation of the line of Thomas Collett (born 1594) and John Collett (born 1596) the two earlier sons of Henry Collett from his first marriage to Elizabeth Insil, go to Part 1 – The Main Gloucestershire Line

The following are the children of Henry Collett by his second wife Elizabeth Goodwin:

4G1 – Elizabeth Collett was born in 1613 at Naunton

4G2 – Mary Collett was born in 1616 at Dorsington

4G3 – THOMAS COLLETT was born in 1619 at Naunton

4G4 – John Collett was born in 1620 at Broadwell

4G5 – Alice Collett was born in 1622 at Dorsington

Elizabeth Collett [4G1] was baptised at Naunton on 20^th February 1613 when her father was confirmed as Henry Collett. She married T Hyatt of Chipping Norton in whose Will there were references to Warwick and Ascott in Warwickshire. Elizabeth died in 1641 and her Will was proved that same year, although the year may well have been 1647, since it was that year that Elizabeth was named as the executor of the Will of Alice Collett, her youngest sister

Mary Collett [4G2] was baptised at Dorsington on 23^rd October 1616, the daughter of Henry Collett. She later married John Holtham who was Yeoman of Welford-on-Avon. That union may be significant insofar that Thomas Collett (Ref. 11J1) and Mary Holtham, both of Welford-on-Avon, were married there on 15^th July 1711, with Thomas having been born at Welford around 1686. For the continuation of the line of Thomas and Mary Collett see Part 11 – The Welford-on-Avon Line

THOMAS COLLETT [4G3] was born at Naunton in 1619. He married Elizabeth Mason on 4^th March 1644 at Upper Slaughter and he died just fourteen years later during 1658. He was referred to as the eldest son in his father’s Will of 1648. Thomas’ and Elizabeth’s only known son was born and baptised at Broadwell

4H1 – Thomas Collett was born in 1654 at Broadwell

John Collett [4G4] was born around 1620 at Broadwell, the son of Henry Collett and his second wife Elizabeth Goodwin. John later married Sarah, although it is not yet known if they had any children

Alice Collett [4G5] was baptised at Dorsington on 12^th March 1622 and was the daughter of Henry Collett. Alice was only around twenty-five years of age when she died at Stow-on-the-Wold in 1647. Her sister Elizabeth (above) was sole executor of the Will, which was proved in 1647. Something is not quite right here since, according to the entry for Elizabeth Collett (above), she had already died in 1641. However, that could simply be an error in transcription and perhaps it should be 1647. If so, 1647 was a tragic year for the family with no less than three deaths; father Henry Collett (Ref. 4F1) and the two daughters. There may have been a plague or illness or disease that caused those deaths. Certainly, it would have been unusual for young ladies aged 25 and 33 to have written a Will. It therefore points towards the fact that perhaps they knew they were going to die and had written Wills to cover that eventuality

THOMAS COLLETT [4H1] was born in 1654 at Broadwell and he married Hannah around 1678. He was described as Yeoman of Longborough when he died in 1720. Hannah, who was born in 1652, died in 1725 and was buried in a tomb in Longborough Churchyard. Her Will was proved in 1733 and that document identified her children’s names, all of whom may have been born and baptised at Longborough, a village less than two miles from Broadwell, just north of Stow-on-the-Wold

4I1 – Thomas Collett was born in 1680 at Longborough

4I2 – JOSEPH COLLETT was born in 1684 at Longborough

4I3 – John Collett was born at Longborough

4I4 – Hester Collett was born at Longborough

Thomas Collett [4I1] was born at Longborough in 1680, the first child of Thomas and Hannah Collett. He died in 1711, probably whilst he was still at Longborough, where his father died nine years later and where his mother died five years after that

JOSEPH COLLETT [4I2] was born in 1684 at Longborough. He married (1) Hannah Williams around 1705 at Cote in Oxfordshire, which was where their daughter was born during the following year. Tragically just ten days after the birth, Hannah died at Cote on 15^th July 1706 at the age of 26. Joseph’s first marriage to Hannah Williams was the first of five unions between members of the Collett and Williams families included here in this family line. A few years after the death of his first wife Joseph married (2) Mary Plater around 1710, with whom he had another eight children. All of their children were born at Cote and were baptised there at the Baptist Chapel. The village of Cote which lies to the east of Bampton, midway between Faringdon and Witney. All of the birth records recorded the place name as Coate in Oxfordshire and the children’s father as Joseph Collett. During his life Joseph Collett was referred to as the Reverend Joseph Collett of Cote, a title he acquired at the age of 18. It was later in his life that he was referred to as Joseph Collett, Minister of Cote and Longworth, a title he held until his death in 1741. The Will of Joseph Collett was made on 17^th August 1738 and was proved in London on 17^th May 1744, and read as follows:

I Joseph Collett of Cote in the County of Oxon, gent being of sound mind memory and understanding moved with a desire to settle my worldly and family affairs do therefore make publish and declare this my last Will and Testament in manner and form following that is to say I do give will and devise all and singular messuages lands tenement and hereditaments situate lying and being in Cote aforesaid in Broadwell in the County of Gloucester and enclosed in the County of Worcester or any or either of them with their and ever of their appurtenances and the revertion or revertions remainder and remainders thereof unto my faithful trust friend Mr Isaac Wane of Fairford in the County of Gloucester aforesaid Mercer and to Mary my loving wife their heirs and assigns forever. And also I do give and bequeath unto the said Isaac Wane and my said wife all and singular my goods chattels rights credits and personal estate whatsoever [except my household goods] and utensils of household stuff which I do hereby give unto my said wife for her own disposal upon and in trust nevertheless that they the said Joseph Wane and Mary my said wife and the survivor of them and the heirs executors administrators and assigns respectively of such survivor do and shall by and with my said personal estate and the rents and profits and by sale of freehold and the inheritance of my said real estate or any part thereof maintain provide for educate and bring up all my children until they shall respectively attain their several ages of twenty-one years and to put out any or either of them apprenticed at the discretion of my trustees and executors herein named and all the rest residue and remainder of my said real and personal estate my said trustees from time to time deducting thereout all manner of reasonable charges and expenses

I do will and appoint to go unto and be equally divided between all my children their heirs executors and administrators respectively share and share alike except as to my eldest son Joseph Collett who has already had of me one hundred and fifty pounds which shall be accounted as part of his part and share as the same only to be made up equal with the others of my said children and only on condition he from time to time voluntarily join up with my said trustees in the sale and conveyance of my said real estate as the same or any part thereof shall be sold but if he refuses so to do the remainder part of his said share shall be divided amongst my other children equally and my express will is that my said trustees shall and may from time to time make such dividends of my said real and personal estate and monies arising by such sale as aforesaid to such of my children that shall be from time to time of the age as one and twenty years as they my said trustees in their discretions shall think fit so as they retain sufficient in their hands to answer the purposes mentioned above and in the conclusion to make all my said children’s portions of my above mentioned real and personal estates equal share and share alike [except as above excepted]. Also I do hereby make and appoint the said Isaac Wane and Mary my said wife executor and executrix and also trustees of this my last Will and Testament. Also I do appoint them and the survivor of them guardians of my children until my said children shall respectively attain their several ages of twenty-one years. And lastly I do hereby utterly revoke and make void to all intents and purposes whatsoever all former and other Wills by me made and do publish and declare this only to be my last Will and Testament in witness whereof I the said Joseph Collett testator have hereunto set my hand and seal this seventeenth day of August one thousand seven hundred and thirty-eight

The Will was signed sealed published and declared by the above-named Joseph Collett testator as and for his last Will and Testament in the presence of us who subscribe our names as witnesses hereunto in the presence and at the request of the said testator and in the presence of each other. Benjamin William, Martha Williams, and S Marsome. The Will was proved at London before the Right Worshipful John Bellesworth Doctor of Law Master Keeper or Commissary of the prerogative Court of Canterbury lawfully constituted the seventeenth day of May in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and forty-four by the oath of Mary Collett widow the relict of the deceased and one of the executors named in the said Will

The following is the only known child of Joseph Collett and his first wife Hannah Williams:

4J1 – Hannah Collett was born on 5^th July 1706 at Cote, Oxon

The following are the children of Joseph Collett by his second wife Mary Plater:

4J2 – Mary Collett was born on 21^st December 1712 at Cote, Oxon

4J3 – Esther Collett was born on 25^th January 1714 at Cote, Oxon

4J4 – Abiah Collett was born in 1716 at Cote, Oxon

4J5 – JOSEPH COLLETT was born in 1718 at Cote, Oxon

4J6 – Anna Collett was born in 1723 at Cote, Oxon

4J7 – Thomas Collett was born in 1724 at Cote, Oxon

4J8 – John Collett was born on 26^th February 1729 at Cote, Oxon

4J9 – Hannah Collett was born in 1731 at Cote, Oxon

John Collett [4I3] was very likely born at Longborough where his siblings were born, another son of Thomas and Hannah Collett. All that is known about John is that he married Ruth Collett (Ref. 14J10) from Upper Slaughter who was born in 1697, a daughter of Henry and Alice Collett. The parish record described John Collett as being from Loughborough, the son of Thomas Collett Yeoman of Longborough. The family of Ruth Collett can be found in Part 14 – The John Kyte Collett Line

Abiah Collett [4J4] was born at Cote, to the east of Bampton in Oxfordshire, on 10^th November 1716, the daughter of Joseph Collett. Around the mid-to-late 1740s she married Ebenezer Williams who was born on 30^th July 1714 at Bampton, two miles to the west of Cote, the son of Richard Williams and Deborah Dancer. Abiah’s youngest sister Hannah (below) married Ebenezer’s brother John Williams of Cote around five years later. The two brothers were very likely the nephews of Hannah Williams who married Abiah’s father Joseph Collett. The marriage of Abiah and Ebenezer produced just one known son for the couple who was born and baptised at Bampton. Abiah Williams nee Collett died in 1790

4K1 – Richard Williams was born in 1749 at Bampton, Oxon

JOSEPH COLLETT [4J5] was born at Cote, near Bampton, on 24^th March 1718, the eldest son of Joseph Collett. Later in his life his occupation was that of a draper in Hemel Hempstead, where he lived with his wife and where all of their eight children were born. Joseph Collett died early in 1771 and his Will was proved on 7^th May 1771. Near the end of 2019, Marcia Nicholson (see below) from Queensland, Australia, provided information regarding the Will of Joseph Collett which mentions his eldest daughter as Sarah and eldest son as Thomas. The first of those two children was previously missing from the original list of children named below, but who has now added. Marcia also confirmed that the marriage of Joseph Collett of Bampton (Oxon) and Sarah Smith of Hemel Hempstead (Herts) took place at Albury, within the Oxfordshire parish of Tiddington-with-Albury, on 19^th October 1737. His widow died twenty years after losing Joseph, when Sarah Collett passed away during 1791. Prior to his death Joseph Collett, the draper of Hemel Hempstead, was eligible for service with the Militia between the years 1758 and 1762

The picture above is a painting of Sarah Collett nee Smith, the photograph of which was originally supplied by Judith Stichbury, the 3x great granddaughter of her youngest child Elizabeth Collett. However, new information received from Marcia Nicholson nee Collins in February 2015 reveals that the miniature painting came from the home of Arthur Oscar Blundell [4N34] who died in New Zealand in 1925. Many years later, and following the death of his youngest brother Hugh King Blundell [4N39] in 1976, the painting passed into the hands of Marcia’s mother Shirley Taplin Lane (1917-2001), the wife of Bevin Collins. It is possible the image of Sarah was painted around the time of the death of her husband Joseph Collett

4K2 – Sarah Collett was born in 1740 at Hemel Hempstead

4K3 – Anne Collett was born in 1743 at Hemel Hempstead

4K4 – Thomas Collett was born in 1745 at Hemel Hempstead

4K5 – William Collett was born in 1749 at Hemel Hempstead

4K6 – Samuel Collett was born in 1751 at Hemel Hempstead

4K7 – EBENEZER JOHN COLLETT was born in 1755 at Hemel Hempstead

4K8 – Benjamin Collett was born in 1757 at Hemel Hempstead

4K9 – Elizabeth Collett was born in 1761 at Hemel Hempstead

Anna Collett [4J6] was born at Cote on 1^st May 1723, the daughter of Joseph Collett. She was later married when she became Anna Tooley of Wantage in Berkshire

Thomas Collett [4J7] was born at Cote on 27^th January 1724, the son of Joseph Collett. At some time in his short life he had moved to High Wycombe, perhaps for work purposes, because at his death in 1746, at the age of 21, he was referred to as a Gentleman of High Wycombe

Hannah Collett [4J9] was born at Cote on 15^th January 1731, the youngest child of Joseph Collett by his second as younger wife Mary Plater. It was also at Cote where she married John Williams, also of Cote, around 1754. John Williams was born on 14^th August 1725 and was the brother of Ebenezer Williams who married Hannah’s older sister Abiah Collett (above), and was the son of Richard Williams and Deborah Dancer. Hannah was the first of three wives of John Williams who is believed to have brought with her Poole House as a dowery. After Hannah Williams, nee Collett, died in 1775, Poole House was passed to his third wife Mary Ridge, who survived him and died in 1837, aged 92. John Williams who lived in Cote and Old Shifford, a hamlet in the same Oxfordshire parish and born in 1725, died in 1801. It was Peter Williams, a son of John Williams by his second wife Mary Selman, who later married Ruth Collett at Bampton on 5^th August 1796, Ruth having been born at Notgrove in 1777. Ruth’s parents are believed to have been the Reverend William Collett of Old Shifford and his wife Jane. Ruth Williams, nee Collett, died in 1811 at the age of 34, but not before she gave birth to a number of children, five of whom reached adulthood. Ruth was buried in the graveyard of Cote Baptist Church, where a headstone marks her grave and confirms she was the daughter of William and Jane Collett. There is a strong feeling that William, husband of Jane, was somehow a descendent of Joseph Collett and Mary Plater, most likely a grandson of the couple

Richard Williams [4K1] was born at Bampton in 1749, the only known child of Ebenezer Williams and his wife Abiah Collett. He later married his cousin Anne Collett (below) who was born in 1743 and who died in 1819

Sarah Collett [4K2] was born at Hemel Hempstead sometime between her parents’ wedding day in 1737 and the birth of the couple’s second child in 1743. In the 1771 Will of Joseph Collett, Sarah Collett was named as the eldest daughter of Joseph and his wife Sarah Smith. It was at the end of that same year when spinster Sarah Collett, of Hemel Hempstead, was married by licence to (1) Charles Thorpe, a widower from St Mary Overy in Southwark London, on 24^th December 1771 at the Church of St Mary in Hemel Hempstead. Seven witnesses signed the parish register, including Ann Collett and separately, Thomas Collett, they being two of Sarah’s younger siblings. The parish register also confirmed that Charles Thorpe had presented the curate with three guineas, as recorded in the left-hand margin of the entry page. All we currently know about their marriage, is that they had a daughter, later referred to as Miss Thorpe when she accompanied her mother and stepfather on a visit to Bath in 1792 – see below. Following the death of Charles Thorpe towards the end of 1789, his body was laid to rest at Southwark in London on 3^rd December 1789. Sarah Thorpe and her two younger brothers, Ebenezer and Benjamin (below) were in business together as hop and seed merchants. That also may have been the business of her late husband since, on the return to England from America of Sarah’s brother Ebenezer he went into business as a hop merchant in Southwark, in partnership with Samuel Thorpe, who may have been the brother of Charles Thorpe

On 22^nd April 1789, at The Old Bailey, Thomas White was charged with theft and grand larceny, and was indicted for stealing on the 4th March that same year, 84 pounds weight of seed, called clover seed, value at 20 Shillings, the property of Sarah Thorpe, Benjamin Collett and Ebenezer John Collett, the seed being delivered to Mr Collett in the Borough (of Southwark). Twenty-eight years later, the 1817 Borough High Street Directory for Southwark included the entry 82 The Borough of Collett E J Merchant M P, of Thorpe & Collett Hop and Seed Merchants

After eight years as a widow, it was at Hornsey, within the London Borough of Haringey that Sarah Thorpe married (2) John Reynolds on 23^rd December 1790. John Reynolds was born during 1739 and on 1^st November 1797, after which he was buried at Highgate Cemetery near Hornsey on 9^th November 1797. The headstone inscription states “Sacred to the Memory of John Reynolds of Highgate Gent Surgeon to the late 92 Regiment of Foot”. Sarah Reynolds was 70 years old when she died in December 1812 and was buried at Bunhill Fields Burial Grounds for Dissenters on 15^th December 1812, when she had been living at Little Pultney Street in Soho. Five years prior to being widowed for a second time, Sarah Reynolds, her husband, and a daughter from her first marriage, referred to as Miss Thorpe, accompanied Elizabeth Collett (Sarah’s youngest sister, below) on a trip to the city of Bath. An article published in the Bath Chronicle & Weekly Gazette on Saturday 6^th November 1915 revealed that Elizabeth Collett had written a diary in 1785, under the headline “A Lady’s Diary of 130 Years Ago”. One of the contributors was a piece by Henry Collett [4N29] which was entitled “A Visit to Bath in 1792 from Elizabeth Collett's Diary” in which he states that she travelled with her married sister and her husband, Mr and Mrs Reynolds and her niece Miss Thorpe

Sarah Thorpe (1778-1848) of the Barbican, married Henry Waymouth at Cripplegate Church on 21^st August 1799, witnessed by Sarah Reynolds (her mother) and Margaret Collett and five others. Sarah and Henry had only one child Sarah Thorpe Waymouth (1803-1878) who married James Hamilton Story on 1^st June 1826 at St Marys Bryanston Square, Marylebone, London. Under the terms of the 1815 Will of Benjamin Collett (below), both Sarah Waymouth, his niece, and her only child Sarah Thorpe Waymouth received legacies. Margaret Collett, the witness at the wedding, was very likely Sarah Reynolds sister-in-law, who only a few years earlier married Sarah’s brother Ebenezer John Collett (below)

Anne Collett [4K3] was born at Hemel Hempstead in 1743 the eldest child of Joseph and Sarah Collett. It was later that she married her cousin Richard Williams (above). She died in 1819

Thomas Collett [4K4] was born in 1745 at Hemel Hempstead, where he also married Susannah Cole. Thomas was a draper like his father Joseph before him, and is was as Thomas Collett, draper of Hemel Hempstead, that he was eligible for service with the Militia between 1768 and 1786. At the time of his death in 1814 he was referred to as a Gentleman of Hemel Hempstead, and his Will was proved on 9^th December 1814. During his life Thomas Collett had been one of five committee members in a project to construct ‘more commodious structures’ on the site of the old Butcher’s Shambles in Hemel Hempstead. First the old buildings were demolished and the reconstruction phase started in 1798. The work was to be financed by voluntary subscriptions, but these were not forthcoming and so, by 1800, the committee had to borrow thirty pounds from Thomas Collett in order to pay the contractor William Harvey. The loan was for four years and attracted interest of thirty shillings for each of the four years. Thomas Collett, together with his brother William Collett (below) and his brother-in-law Joseph Hight (below), was named in the Act of 1806 as one of the twelve Trustees of the Boxmoor Trust, which oversaw the construction of the Grand Union Canal across Boxmoor at Hemel Hempstead

William Collett [4K5] was born in 1749 at Hemel Hempstead. He was a grocer of Hemel Hempstead and he married Ann Crawley, although one source says that it was Mary Crawley whom he married. During the following years William’s wife presented him with three daughters. Records held at Hemel Hempstead confirm that William was another member of his family who was eligible for service with the Militia. Within the records he was listed as William Collett, grocer of Hemel Hempstead, who was available for service between 1768 and 1786, the same as his brother Thomas Collett (above). It is highly likely that Ann Crawley was a relative of Mary Crawley who married John Hight [see 4K9], and even possibly her sister. William Collett died in 1811 and his Will was proved on 7^th November 1811. According to the Victorian County History for Hertfordshire, William Collett operated his grocery business from Collett’s Yard on the east side of the High Street in Hemel Hempstead. Upon his death, the grocery business was taken over by the Orchard family, when the location was renamed Orchard’s Yard. Even later still, it became known as Austin’s Yard

Samuel Collett [4K6] was born at Hemel Hempstead in 1751. According to records held at Hemel Hempstead, farmer Samuel Collett of Hemel Hempstead and Two Waters was eligible for service with the Militia between the years 1772 and 1786, just like his father Joseph and his two brothers Thomas and William (above). Samuel Collett died in 1803 but, just two years prior to his death, a petition was placed before the authorities which read as follows: “We, whose names are hereunder written, do desire that a dwelling-house and barn adjoining at Two Waters, in the parish of Hemel Hempstead, now in the occupation of Mr. Samuel Collett, may be registered as a place of religious worship for Protestant Dissenters, pursuant, etc., April 29^th 1801.” It was signed by John Geard, Thomas Button, and William Button

EBENEZER JOHN COLLETT [4K7] was born at Hemel Hempstead on 22^nd May 1755, the fourth son of Joseph Collett and Sarah Smith. He was initially baptised simply as John Collett, but adopted the name Ebenezer by deed poll later in his life when he was possibly in his twenties. Certainly, by the spring of 1789 he was Ebenezer John Collett. At some time in his early life he sailed to America, where he was Consul at Charleston. On his return to England he became a hop merchant at Southwark in London, and worked in the business with his brother Benjamin Collett (below) in partnership with Samuel Thorpe. On 22^nd April 1789, a court case at The Old Bailey sentenced Thomas White to seven years transportation for grand larceny. He was caught ‘red handed’ on 3^rd March that year, stealing 84 pounds of clover seed worth twenty shillings from Ebenezer John Collett, his brother Benjamin Collett and their partner Samuel Thorpe. The incident happened at Galley Quay while fifteen bags of seed belonging to Mr E J Collett and his partners were being loaded onto a cart for delivery to ‘Mr Collett in the Borough’ by William Haynes and George Simmonds

Six years after that event Ebenezer married Margaret Alsagar on 13^th June 1795, when the witnesses were Mary Alsagar, John Jacob Zornlin and his wife Elizabeth (Alsagar) Zornlin, and Ann Alsagar. Ebenezer was 40 years of age at the time of his marriage to Margaret, who was nearly half his age at only 22. The marriage produced eight children for the couple and, after initially settling in Southwark, where their first two children were born, the family moved to Hemel Hempstead where the couple’s remaining children were born. Margaret was the daughter of Thomas Alsagar, a cloth merchant of Newington in Surrey. She was born on 5^th August 1773 and was baptised at St Mary’s Church in Newington Butts on 16^th March 1774. Her mother Mary and her sisters Elizabeth and Mary were all christened there on that same day, in a joint family ceremony. In addition to her sisters, Margaret Alsagar also had two eminent brothers

Thomas Massa Alsagar (1779–1846) was part owner of the Times Newspaper and founded the Times Financial Page, while Richard Alsagar (1781-1841) was in the service of the East India Company and was Captain of their ship Waterloo. In 1835 Richard became Member of Parliament for East Surrey, but tragically died during his second term of office. Almost ironically, Newington, where Margaret Alsagar lived prior to her marriage to Ebenezer Collett, was just across the River Thames from the Houses of Parliament, which may have been an influential factor in his future political career or simply a coincidence, although it was only in July 1814 that he first became an MP, as detailed below. Two years into their marriage, Ebenezer personally subscribed £1,000 to the loyalty loan, with a further £2,000 given from his company business the same year, in 1797. The loyalty loan was the method by which the Prime Minister William Pitt raised funds during the period of the French Revolution. However, it was also in 1797 that Margaret gave birth to the couple’s first child at Southwark. With their second child born there during the following year, and Margaret then pregnant again shortly after with their third child, Ebenezer purchased a larger house for his growing family in 1799. The property was Lockers House in Hemel Hempstead and it was Ebenezer who converted the 16^th century hunting lodge into a gentlemen’s residence

The picture above left shows Lockers House as it was in 1906. Sometime after the First World War, and possibly in the late 1920s, it was taken over and converted into a school for young ladies, where Miss Simmonds was installed as The Principal. It was later used by Cavendish School as a sixth form annex before, more recently, being sold to developers for conversion into flats. It would appear that Ebenezer had offered rooms within the large house to his younger brother Benjamin Collett (below) since, upon his death in 1811, he was referred to as Benjamin Collett of Lockers House. Ebenezer John Collett was Member of Parliament for Grampound, near Truro in Cornwall, from 1814 to 1818, before the constituency ceased to exist for reasons of corruption, although Ebenezer still continued to work in the field of politics. In 1819 he became Member of Parliament for Cashell in Tipperary, at a time when Ireland was part of Britain. He later had his own coat of arms drawn up in 1824 which was similar in design to that of Sir Henry Colet (Ref. 18C5) the Lord Mayor of London in 1486. It was on 7^th March 1826 that Ebenezer’s wife Margaret died at Lockers House at the age of 51. The memorial tablet (on the right above) can be found inside the Church of St Mary’s in Hemel Hempstead and was erected by her children. The inscription reads: “In memory of Margaret, wife of Ebenezer John Collett Esquire of Lockers House, who died March 7^th 1826 aged 51 years”

Within the churchyard grounds there used to be a large altar tomb of white marble, enclosed within iron railings, on which was written the two following inscriptions; the first on the west side, and the second on the east side. “Sacred to the memory of Margaret, wife of E. J. Collett, Esq, M.P., of Lockers House, who departed this life March 7^th, 1826, in the 51^st year of her age” under which was “Also Thomas Collett, son of E. J. Collett, Esq., and Margaret his wife, who departed this life December 25^th 1841 in the 36^th year of his age”. “In memory of Samuel Sandars, Esq, of Lockers House, who died June 1^st, 1862, aged 73” - the son-in-law of Ebenezer Collett and the husband of his eldest daughter Mary - “In memory of Mary, wife of Samuel Sandars, Esq, of Lockers House, who died December 26^th, 1869, in her 73^rd Year. Also of Richard, son of the Above, who died July 7^th, 1871”

Following the death of his wife, Ebenezer continued to work as a member of parliament up until 1830. For more details about events in his political life at Parliament, see the appendix at the end of this line. During his life he was a captain with the Surrey Yeomanry and became lame after a fall from his horse while on an exercise with them. Ebenezer John Collett died at Lockers House on 31^st October 1833 at the age of 78, after which he was buried ‘at sunrise in his wood’, having previously quarrelled with the local rector over the expense of his wife's funeral. His Will was proved on 26^th November 1833 in which his total estate was valued at £300,000. Each of his sons inherited £40,000 and each of his children received £10,000 to be given to them on the event of their marriage

4L1 – Mary Collett was born in 1797 at Southwark, London

4L2 – John Collett was born in 1798 at Southwark, London

4L3 – Margaret Collett was born in 1800 at Hemel Hempstead

4L4 – Sarah Collett was born in 1803 at Hemel Hempstead

4L5 – Thomas Collett was born in 1806 at Hemel Hempstead

4L6 – Elizabeth Collett was born in 1807 at Hemel Hempstead

4L7 – William Rickford Collett was born in 1810 at Hemel Hempstead

4L8 – BENJAMIN COLLETT was born in 1812 at Hemel Hempstead

Benjamin Collett [4K8] was born in 1757 at Hemel Hempstead, where he also married Miss Clarke. It would seem that during his life Benjamin Collett of Lockers House in Hemel Hempstead, a Gentleman of Hemel Hempstead and Downing Street was involved in government work like his older brother Ebenezer John Collett (above). He was very likely employed at one of the Downing Street addresses in either a ministerial capacity or as a supporting civil servant. It has been recorded that Ebenezer John Collett bought Lockers House in Hemel Hempstead in 1799, where Benjamin was given rooms in the large house by his older brother. It is believed that he died while working at 10 Downing Street, but was later buried at Hemel Hempstead. It has also been revealed that he was blind by the time he made his Will in May 1813. The Last Will and Testament of Benjamin Collett described him as being of Downing Street in Westminster and deprived of sight, in which he left a sum of money to provide pensions for four blind persons, preference being given to residents in or near Hemel Hempstead. From that document Benjamin Collett's Charity for the Blind was thus founded. Following his death in 1815 at the age of 58, Benjamin Collett of Downing Street was buried in the Protestant Dissenters burial ground at Popes Lane in Hemel Hempstead on 15^th August 1815. Curiously, it was also stated that the burial of Benjamin Collett took place on 12^th August 1815, but at Kings Walden in Hertfordshire, midway between Luton and Stevenage. It was subsequently after that when his Will revealed that the dividends arising from £500 Navy five per cent stock was to be used for the benefit of four indigent and blind persons in the parish or neighbourhood of Hemel Hempstead, the legacy being represented by £472 10 Shillings for the official trustees. Also mentioned in the Will, were a legacies for #1 Sarah Waymouth, his niece the former Sarah Thorpe (1778-1848) a daughter of Sarah Collett (above) and Charles Thorp, and #2 her daughter Sarah Thorpe Waymouth (1803-1878)

Elizabeth Collett [4K9] was born in 1761 at Hemel Hempstead, the daughter of draper Joseph Collett and his wife Sarah Smith. By 1792, when Elizabeth was unmarried at the age of thirty-one, she had been keeping a record (a diary) of her life, which she had started in 1785. That included a visit to the City of Bath in Somerset during February 1792, when she had been accompanied there by her eldest married sister Mrs Reynolds, her husband Mr Reynolds, and Elizabeth’s niece Miss Thorpe. Mrs Reynolds was in fact the former Sarah Collett, her husband was John Reynolds, her second husband - who she had married at the end of 1790, while Miss Thorpe was a daughter from Sarah’s first husband Charles Thorpe. Nearly six years after trip to Bath, Elizabeth Collett married Joseph Hight on 5^th December 1797 in the State Church at Hemel Hempstead. Joseph was the son of John Hight and Mary Crawley and was born in 1767. The Hight family lived for many years at Westbrook Hay (near Bovingdon) to the west of Hemel Hempstead, where they farmed on land that formed part of the Ryder Family Estate. The marriage of Elizabeth and Joseph produced four children for the couple, of which only their first-born child survived beyond adulthood. All of the children were born at Hemel Hempstead and the first specifically at Westbrook Hay. Elizabeth married late in her life, being around 37 years of age at the time of her wedding, and that in some way may have been a contributing factor in the early deaths of her three younger children, and even her own early death. It was certainly recorded that both her daughter Eliza and her son Joseph were subject to a blessing at Hemel Hempstead on 11^th November 1808 when they were 10 years and eight years old respectively

Six years later, when her youngest child Sarah was only ten years old, Elizabeth Hight nee Collett died at Hemel on 24^th October 1814, following which she was buried two days later at the Baptist Cemetery in Hemel. That sad event appears to have adversely affected Joseph, since just over a year later the London Gazette on 9^th December 1815 reported that Joseph Hight, a farmer of Two Waters in the Parish of Hemel Hempstead in the County of Hertfordshire, was bankrupt. His bankruptcy may have been related to the fact that Joseph Hight and his two brothers-in-law Thomas Collett and William Collett (both above) were named in the Act of 1806 as three of the twelve Trustees of the Boxmoor Trust, managing the construction of the Grand Union Canal across Boxmoor at Hemel Hempstead. After the death of his first wife, Joseph married (2) Ann who was born in 1775. Some records for Joseph gave his surname as Hight-Bonnington. It may therefore be the case that his second wife was Ann Bonnington or perhaps it was a misrepresentation of Bovingdon, where they lived. The event of his second marriage resulted in a move into London, where the couple spent many years at Long Lane, south of Tower Bridge, in Southwark. Upon the death of his second wife, Joseph returned to Hemel Hempstead and to Crouchfield, where he died on 12^th April 1844. His body was laid to rest in the Baptist Cemetery where his first wife had been buried thirty years earlier. During the intervening years Elizabeth’s and Joseph’s only son Joseph died at Hemel Hempstead on 6^th July 1827 and was buried there on 9^th July 1827. No details are known of the exact dates that the two youngest daughters passed away, but letters sent by their eldest daughter Eliza Blundell nee Hight, to her son Arthur Blundell in New Zealand, are in the possession of Marcia Nicholson in Australia.

An article published in the Bath Chronicle on Saturday 6^th November 1915 revealed that Elizabeth Collett had written a diary in 1785, the newspaper item inserted under the headline “A Lady’s Diary of 130 Years Ago”, as follows: “Mr Edward Blundell (youngest son of Eliza Hight [4L9]) of Cirencester, Emeritus Professor of Agriculture, a well-known authority on practical farming and rural economy, was amongst those who attended the meeting of the Western Temperance League in Bath last week, and in the course of a speech he mentioned that his mother’s mother resided in our city nearly 130 years ago. He also stated that he possessed her diary in which she dilated upon the beauties of Bath scenery and the efficacy of the mineral waters. In reply to a message of inquiry concerning the diary we have now received a most interesting letter from the professor in the course of which he writes - In February 1792 (five years before Elizabeth was married) my grandmother Eliza Collett, with her sister (Sarah [4K2]) and a friend, posted from London (travelled in a horse-drawn carriage from London) to Bath via Reading, Hungerford, Marlborough, and Devizes (roughly the route of the A4). Leaving London on Tuesday morning they reached Bath at 2pm on the following Saturday (that is approximately 100 miles in four days). The professor’s letter continued, saying that the sisters took up lodgings on the South Parade, remaining there for three months before moving to Cirencester where they saw the tunnel of the Severn and Thames Canal recently opened. While they were in Bath, the sisters became subscribers at the Library and, during their stay, frequently drank the waters. The diary also recorded that they visited the Theatre to see performances of Romeo & Juliet and The Merchant of Venice. Footnote: In 2015 there was a typewritten copy of the Diary of Elizabeth Collett available to members of the public to view in the Bath Municipal Library

Only the couple’s first-born child’s details are carried forward, while the known birth details for the three younger children, also all born at Hemel Hempstead, are as follows: #1 Joseph Hight was born on 23^rd September 1800, who was buried on 9^th February 1827 at Popes Lane, Baptist Church in Hemel Hempstead; #2 Mary Hight was born on 9^th July 1802; and #3 Sarah Hight was born on 8^th August 1804, all three of them being beneficiaries under the terms of the 1815 Will of Benjamin Collett, their mother’s brother (above)

4L9 - Eliza Hight was born in 1798 at Hemel Hempstead

Mary Collett [4L1] was born at Southwark on 2^nd January 1797, two years before her parents Ebenezer John Collett and his wife Margaret Alsagar purchased Lockers House in Hemel Hempstead. She was just over four weeks old when she baptised at St Saviour’s Church in Southwark on 31^st January 1797. It was over twenty-two years later, on 13^th October 1819 at Hemel Hempstead that she married Samuel Sandars of Boston in Lincolnshire, who was later referred to as Samuel Sandars of Hemel Hempstead. Samuel was born at Boston in 1789. As a child Mary lived with her family at Lockers House, and it seems likely that she may have still been living there after she was married. What is known is that her son Thomas Sandars also lived at Lockers House for some part of his life, but it is not clear if that was when he was single or after he was married. Samuel Sandars died at Hemel Hempstead on 1^st June 1862 at the age of 73. Just over three years later his wife Mary died there on 26^th December 1869, aged 72. The couple was buried in the churchyard of St Mary’s Church in Hemel Hempstead where a large white marble tomb marks the site of their joint grave. Also buried there is the body of another of their sons, Richard Sandars, who died shortly after his parents on 7^th July 1871

4M1 – Thomas Sandars was born in 1825 at Hemel Hempstead

John Collett [4L2] was born at Southwark on 21^st June 1798, and was baptised one month later at St Saviour’s Church on 20^th July 1798, the second child and eldest son of Ebenezer and Margaret Collett. On 31^st July 1826 John Collett married (1) Emma Gage at Petersham in Surrey. Emma was the daughter of Sir Thomas Gage of Hengrave Hall in Suffolk. Their only known child was born in Westminster and was baptised at St Martin in the Field. John Collett was Member of Parliament for Athlone and the couple lived at Belgrave Square in London, in addition to which they had a country retreat on the south coast at Lymington in Hampshire. Curiously in 1841 the census in June that year recorded John Collett aged 42 at Belgrave but not with his wife. It would appear from a later account recorded in the Spectator magazine that Emma may have died, since, on 20^th October 1846 at St. George's Hanover Square in London, John Collett Esq., M.P. for Athlone was married to (2) Ermingarde Radclyffe, the only surviving daughter of the late William Radclyffe, Esq., of Harley Hall in Yorkshire. Less than five years later, at the time of the census in 1851, John Collett from Lewisham was 52 and a proprietor of houses residing at Upper Belgrave Street in Belgravia with his wife Ermingarde who was 37 and from Darfield near Barnsley in Yorkshire. Supporting the pair of them were seven house servants. It was six years after that on 28^th November 1857 that John Collett, former Member of Parliament for Athlone, committed suicide when he shot himself in the head with a pistol

4M2 – Charlotte Eustacia Collett in 1827 at Westminster, London

Margaret Collett [4L3] was born at Lockers House in Hemel Hempstead on 23^rd November 1799, and was baptised there on 28^th December 1799, the daughter of Ebenezer and Margaret Collett. She was 28 years old when she married John David Hay-Hill, aged 22, of Gressenhall Hall in Norfolk on 21^st November 1827, the wedding taking place at Hemel Hempstead. John David Hay-Hill entered Trinity Hall College at Cambridge on 31^st May 1824, the only son of John Hill Esq, of Gressenhall Hall, Norfolk and his wife Julia Anna Hay, the daughter of David Hay, Lieutenant-Colonel of the Royal Artillery. He was born on 26^th June 1805 and attended Eton School, from where he matriculated in 1824. He obtained his Bachelor of Law degree in 1831. He became a Justice of the Peace and by 1858 he and Margaret were living at Farringdon House in Exeter. Tragically John died fifteen years before his older wife, when he passed away prior to 1865. The marriage of Margaret Collett and John David Hay-Hill produced two known sons, Alsagar Hay-Hill, and Reginald Hay-Hill, who both attended Eton School. The only other known fact about the family is that Margaret Hay-Hill nee Collett died in 1880

Sarah Collett [4L4] was born in 1803 at Lockers House in Hemel Hempstead. She later married Charles Omerod of the India Board, and she died in 1883 at the age of 80

Thomas Collett [4L5] was born at Lockers House in Hemel Hempstead on 11^th February 1806, where he was baptised on 20^th April 1806, the son of Ebenezer John Collett and his wife Margaret. He attended Trinity College at Oxford, having matriculated on 27^th November 1823 at the age of 17. The university records confirm that he was the son of Ebenezer John Collett of Southwark in Surrey. Thomas went on to obtain a Bachelor of Arts degree at Oxford on 23^rd November 1826 following which, four years later, he received his Master of Arts degree on 4^th November 1830. He became a barrister-at-law at Lincoln’s Inn in 1832 and became a member of the Inner Temple in London on 8^th January 1836. At some time during his life he was also a barrister of Lincolnshire. Thomas Collett died on 25^th December 1841 and was buried in the churchyard of St Mary’s Church in Hemel Hempstead. The grave he shared with his mother Margaret Collett, and his sister Mary Sandars nee Collett and her husband Samuel Sandars, used to be covered with a large altar tombstone in white marble. See under Thomas’ father, Ebenezer John Collett, for more details

Elizabeth Collett [4L6] was born at Lockers House in Hemel Hempstead on 23^rd November 1807. She was baptised at Hemel Hempstead on 14^th January 1808, the youngest daughter of Ebenezer John Collett and his wife Margaret Alsagar. Elizabeth Collett married Richard Coles, a solicitor, and she died in 1887 at the age of 80

William Rickford Collett [4L7] was born on 22^nd April 1810 at Hemel Hempstead where he was baptised on 7^th June 1810. He was Member of Parliament for Lincoln from 1841 to 1847, and was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. It was at the General Election of 29^th June 1841 that he was successful in being elected to Parliament, but it was just over six years later, at the General Election on 23^rd July 1847, that he failed to retain his seat in the House of Commons. It may have been that failure which resulted in him leaving England for a while, since in 1848 he travelled to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil to visit the inland goldmines. His journal recorded that he rode 165 Portuguese leagues in under three weeks, the equivalent of more than 635 English miles, over rough tracks. The journal also included seventy watercolour paintings, about which he also wrote on 19^th April that year, "The circumstances under which they were made, once and for all, disarm any criticism. They require more than an ordinary love for nature and Fine Arts to be able to paint when one feels hot and tired”. Since that time the journal of William Rickford Collett has been lovingly retained by a member of his family in New Zealand. However, in January 2013 it was taken to Rio de Janeiro where it was placed on display at an exhibition as an important artefact in the history of Brazil

Upon his return to England, it was during the following year on 27^th September 1849, when he was 38, that William Rickford Collett of Lockers in Hemel Hempstead married Hannah Maria Hartigan, aged 16, who was born on 28^th May 1833. Their wedding was recorded at Nenagh, County Tipperary in Ireland, (Ref. viii 397). Hannah was the daughter and eighth child of the Reverend Edward Hartigan, Vicar of Kiltormen in County Galway, and his wife Elizabeth Florence Eyre. Despite the twenty-two years difference in their ages the marriage produced eleven children for the couple. It is now established that Hannah Maria Hartigan has a family line dating back to 1066 and William the Conqueror, details of which can be found on the website created by Alan Frear www.william1.co.uk. See Ref. 4L9 for a family connection to the Frear family. It is not known for sure where all of their children were actually born, even though it is now known the first was born in Ireland. It seems likely that the second child was most likely born while William and Hannah were still in England prior to the family sailing to Australia, where the next eight children were definitely born at Singleton in Hunter Valley, New South Wales, although only four of them survived. In addition to the loss of those four children, the couple’s second child also died there when he was eight years old in 1860. Two years earlier in 1858, the family was residing at Percy Cottage in Singleton when a child was born, one of the four who did not survive. It would then appear that the family later returned to Britain, since it is known that their ninth child was born in Caernarvon in Wales and their last child was born in St John’s Wood in London

On his return, William attempted to enter the field of politics and in September 1868 he contested the seat for County Tipperary on behalf of the Conservative Party. His nationalist opponent was the notorious Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa and, as a result, he failed to win the election. Rossa was returned, but was declared incapable of sitting in the House of Commons since he was an imprisoned felon at that time, so the third candidate, a Liberal, was returned for the constituency. Where he was in 1871 remains a mystery, while the census that year confirmed that his wife and some of their children were living at Caernarvon in North Wales within the parish of Llanbeblig. Hannah M Collett from Ireland was 37, and with her were three daughters and a son. Hannah M Collett was 20 and also born in Ireland, Ellen S Collett was five, Sarah D Collett was three, and Edward C Collett was one year old. Supporting the young family were two servants, Catharine Deros, aged 28, and Ellen Jones who was 22. It was also later that year, on 13^th July 1871, that Letters of Administration were produced following the earlier death that year of Hannah’s mother Elizabeth Florence Hartigan. The documents (with the Will annexed) of the personal estate of EFH (in Will called Eliza) late of Montpelier Parade, Monkstown, County Dublin, widow deceased who died on 19^th February 1871 at Harrington Street in Dublin were granted at the Principal Registry to Hannah Maria Collett (wife of William Rickford Collett of Carnarvon Wales Esquire) the daughter and legatee. Her estate was valued at under £200

It was eleven years after that, when the death of William Rickford Collett was recorded at Rathdown, County Dublin (Ref. ii 736) during the last three months of 1882, when he was 73 and one of the oldest members of the Carlton Club. His much younger wife Hannah died thirteen years later on 28^th February 1895. Both William and Hannah were buried at Deans Grange Cemetery in Dublin, and their gravestone (on the right) carries the inscription: “In Loving Memory of William Rickford Collett F.R.C.S. Late M.P. for Lincoln Died Nov. 9 1882 aged 73 Also his wife Hannah Maria who died Feb. 18 1895 aged 63 years” The photograph above was received courtesy of Linda Button, William’s 2x great granddaughter

4M3 – Hannah Maria Collett was born in 1850 in Ireland

4M4 – William Rickford Collett was born in 1852 in Ireland/England/New South Wales

4M5 – Edward Hartigan Collett was born in 1853 at Singleton, New South Wales

4M6 – Robert Arthur Singleton Collett was born in 1855 at Singleton, New South Wales

4M7 – unnamed Collett child was born on 8^th December 1856 at Singleton, New South Wales; infant death

4M8 – Stratford Alsager Collett was born in 1858 at Singleton, New South Wales; infant death

4M9 – Charlotte Elizabeth Collett was born in 1859 at Singleton, New South Wales

4M10 – unnamed Collett child was born on 24^th May in 1860 at Singleton, New South Wales; infant death

4M11 – William Rickford Secundus Collett was born in 1862 at Singleton, New South Wales

4M12 – Ellen Susan Collett was born in 1866 at Singleton, New South Wales

4M13 – Florence Susan Collett was born in 1868 in England

4M14 – Edward Caernarvon Collett was born in 1870 at Caernarvon Wales

4M15 – Decima Collett was born in 1873 at Singleton, New South Wales; infant death

4M16 – Stratford John Waverley Collett was born in 1876 in London

BENJAMIN COLLETT [4L8] was born at Lockers House in Hemel Hempstead on 26^th July 1812, and was baptised on 6^th September 1812. It was on 5^th March 1834 that Benjamin married Charlotte Harriet Sampson of Grafton Manor in Worcestershire. Charlotte was the daughter of the Rev. George Sampson of Walkington Grange, Rector of Leven near Beverley in the East Riding of Yorkshire, and his wife Anna (Hannah) Story. Under her full name, Charlotte was baptised at the Church of St Mary & St Nicholas in Beverley on 10^th March 1810, when she was confirmed as a daughter of George and Hannah Sampson. Charlotte’s brother William Henry Sampson was also baptised at the same church on 1^st October 1816, while her younger sister Ellen Sampson was baptised at Leven, just north-east of Beverley on 18^th January 1821, and she later married David Davies, a groom from Wales, on 24^th October 1839. It was also in 1839 that William Henry Sampson emigrated to New Zealand, from whom is descended the husband of Natalie Mackenzie in New Zealand who generously provided this new information in 2019. She says, that Charlotte Harriet Sampson's grandson, and Charles Benjamin Collett of the GWR, bears a strong resemblance to members of the Sampson family in New Zealand today. Once they were married Benjamin and Charlotte settled in the village of Mathon near Malvern, and it was there that their first child was born and baptised. Not long after the birth, the family returned to Grafton Manor, where all of the other children of Benjamin and Harriet were born. And it was while they were living at the grand house that their children were all baptised at the nearby parish Church of St Michael in Upton Warren. Upon the occasion of each child’s baptism, the parents were referred to as Benjamin Collett and his wife Charlotte Harriet

According to the census in 1841 Benjamin Collett had a rounded age of 25, as had his wife Charlotte. Living at Grafton Manor, Worcestershire, with them on that day were three of their children, and they were Harriet Collett who was five, Margaret Collett who was four and Charles Collett who was one year old. One other person was recorded at the same address and she was Sarah Sampson who was 25, Charlotte’s sister. Where the couple’s absent daughter Charlotte Collett was that day have not yet been determined, when she would have been around three years of age. Grafton Manor (below) at Upton Warren, midway between Droitwich and Bromsgrove, is an early sixteenth-century house, modified in 1567 by John Talbot. The Gunpowder Plotters met there in 1605, two days before they intended to enter the Parliament buildings. Later that same century, the then owner, Charles Talbot mortgaged the estate and sailed to Holland to encourage William of Orange to seize the throne.

Just over twenty years later Benjamin Collett was named as one of the executors of the Will of Richard David Hire in 1863. He was the husband of Harriet Anna Collett, his eldest daughter and at that time in his life he was residing at 25 Belgrave Road in Pimlico with his family, which included his son John Collett who was named as the second executor of the Will. Benjamin was already a widower by that time, with the death of his wife Charlotte Harriet Collett nee Sampson having taken place at the family home at 25 Belgrave Road in Pimlico on 25^th January 1863. Administration of her personal effects of under £20 was left unadministered by the said Benjamin Collett but was granted under certain limitations to Ellen Davies of Water Street in Shrewsbury, a widow. Thanks to Natalie Mackenzie in 2019 (see above), it is established that Ellen Davies was previously Ellen Sampson, the younger married sister of Charlotte Harriet Collett, nee Sampson. So far, no obvious record of the family has been found in the census returns for 1841, 1851, and 1861, although it is now confirmed that Benjamin Collett, aged 58 and a magistrate and widower from Hemel Hempstead, was living at 35 Sloane Street in Chelsea in April 1871. Living there with him was his daughter unmarried Margaret Collett from Grafton Manor in Worcestershire who was 34. With no stated occupation it seems likely that Margaret was looking after her father. It was just over three months later that Benjamin Collett died in Dover on 19^th July 1871. Probate states that administration of the effects of Benjamin Collett, late of Belgrave Road Pimlico who died in Dover was granted under certain limitations to the widow Ellen Davies of Water Street, Castle Fields in Shrewsbury, his personal effects valued at under £50

4M17 – Harriet Anna Collett was born in 1835 at Mathon near Malvern, Worcestershire

4M18 – Margaret Collett was born in 1837 at Upton Warren, Worcestershire

4M19 – Charlotte Collett was born in 1838 at Upton Warren, Worcestershire

4M20 – Charles Benjamin Collett was born in 1840 at Upton Warren, Worcestershire

4M21 – John Collett was born in 1841 at Upton Warren, Worcestershire

4M22 – WILLIAM COLLETT was born in 1843 at Upton Warren, Worcestershire

4M23 – Thomas Clay Collett was born in 1847 at Upton Warren, Worcestershire

Eliza Hight [4L9] was born on 5^th October 1798 at Westbrook Hay in the parish of Bovingdon near Hemel Hempstead. She was educated in London at a Greenwich boarding school and was only 16 years of age when her mother died. She married Joseph King Blundell of Luton at the Church of St Mary Magdalen in Bermondsey on 7^th March 1822. Joseph was the son of the Reverend Thomas Blundell and Elizabeth King and was born on 23^rd March 1790. The marriage produced ten children although only two of them are extended here. The other eight children were Joseph (1825-1825), Joseph Hight Blundell who married Mary Ann Bennett, Eliza Blundell who was twice married, John Hight Blundell who married Mary Ann Craven, Mary Blundell, Alfred Blundell, Thomas Blundell, and Edward Blundell who married Jessie Mary Aikenhead. In addition to these, there is a later reference to a Mary Ann Blundell, the niece of Henry Blundell (below). She was 26 years old in 1881 and had also been born at Luton around 1855. That would place her as the child of one of Henry’s brothers

According to the 1851 Census for Luton, Eliza Blundell was described as being a straw plat merchant and it is known that members of her mother’s Collett family were involved in that industry in her home town of Hemel Hempstead. Her husband Joseph died just less than six years later when he passed away on 10^th January 1857 and was buried at Luton. However, sometime earlier he had purchased several farms around Luton and established himself as a supporter of the Wesleyan Church. Eliza continued to develop the family business following his death and later went into production of straw hats, one of the main industries in Luton, which she sold from Blundell’s departmental store in the town. In addition to owning the shop, Eliza also inherited the Luton area farms and other farms in Suffolk, and the family business was successfully carried on by later generations of her family

By the time of the census in 1881 Eliza Blundell, a gentlewoman, was living at 1 Church Street in Luton, where she was described as a widow, aged 82, who had been born at Westbrook Hay. Living with her was her niece and companion Sarah Frear, aged 27, who was unmarried and of Woodstock in Oxfordshire, the two ladies being supported by two domestic servants. Eliza lived a busy widow’s life for the last thirty-seven years of her long life, until her death on 17^th April 1894, following which she was buried at Luton. Eliza and Joseph’s son Edward Blundell of Cirencester was an Emeritus Professor of Agriculture and a well-known authority on practical farming and rural economy. He attended a Western Temperance League meeting in Bath in November 1915 which was reported in the Bath Chronicle, in which the 1785 diary of his grandmother Elizabeth Collett [4K9] was also mentioned

4M24 – Henry Blundell was born in 1834 at Luton, Bedfordshire

4M25 – Arthur Blundell was born in 1840 at Luton, Bedfordshire

Thomas Sandars [4M1] was born in 1825 at Hemel Hempstead. He married Margaret Hammell and was a Barrister of Law, having gained a degree at Balliol College in Oxford. The couple are known to have lived at Lockers House in Hemel Hempstead at some time in their lives, the property having been purchased by Ebenezer John Collett in 1799 for himself and his family. The family connection that brought them to Lockers House was through Thomas Sanders’ mother Mary Collett, who was the eldest child of Ebenezer John Collett

Charlotte Eustacia Collett [4M2] was born at Westminster in 1827, where she was baptised at St Martin in the Field on 8^th July 1827, the only known child of John Collett and his wife Emma Gage. She later married Adam Atkinson, a Justice of the Peace of Lorbottle Hall in Northumberland, which lies about twelve miles west of Alnwick. During their life together Charlotte gave birth to six children. They were Louise Edith Atkinson (born 1852), Gertrude Atkinson (1854-1854), Charles John Atkinson (1855-1889), John Eustace Atkinson (born 1857), Charlotte Eleanor Atkinson (born 1859) and Emma Lucy Hercy Atkinson (born 1861). Her youngest child was only eight years old when Charlotte Eustacia Atkinson nee Collett died in 1869, and was followed six years later by her husband, Adam who died in 1875

Hannah Maria Collett [4M3], who was known as Nannie, was born at County Galway in Ireland on 30^th June 1850, the eldest child of William Rickard Collett of Hemel Hempstead and Hannah Maria Hartigan of County Galway. Not long after she was born, during 1852 or 1853, her family emigrated to Australia. However, it was during 1868, when Hannah was eighteen, that her family returned to Britain and initially settled in Caernarvon in North Wales before moving to London a few years later. What is known is that Hannah later emigrated to New Zealand, although the actual date she sailed from England is not known at this time. On 31^st August 1875 Hannah Maria Collett married William Corbett at the Church of St. Mary’s in Parnell, Auckland. William, born on 18^th January 1849, was the son of William Corbett, Postmaster-General of New Zealand. He was educated at Dr Kinder's Church of England Grammar School in Auckland, founded in the early days by Bishop Selwyn. William was a keen cricketer in the early Auckland days and a volunteer in an Imperial Regiment stationed at Auckland after the Maori Wars. He was a Maori scholar and an authority on the early history of New Zealand. Once he and Hannah were married, they left Auckland and went to Nelson where William was on the staff of the Bank of Australasia. He later took his family to Invercargill where he held a position on the staff of the Southland County Council, after which, in his later years, he started on his own account as a land agent and accountant

Hannah is known to have presented her husband with six children, although it is possible that the child unnamed in the list below did not survive. Hannah Maria Corbett nee Collett died on 22^nd March 1896 when her youngest child was only eighteen months old. She was buried on 23^rd March 1896 in the Eastern Cemetery at Invercargill, her name mistakenly recorded as Anna instead of Hannah Maria Corbett on the Invercargill Cemetery Database. William Corbett spent the final few years of his life with his daughter Florence Jacobson at Akaroa and it was there after an illness of over six months that he died on 15^th June 1927, following which he was buried in the Akaroa Anglican Cemetery on Friday 17^th June 1927. His death was reported in the Akaroa Mail & Banks Peninsula Advertiser that same day. “The death occurred on Wednesday at the residence of his son-in-law, W Jacobson in Akaroa, of William Corbett, aged 78 years after an illness of over six months. The late Mr Corbett was born in Auckland on 18 January, 1849 and was the third son of William Corbett, Chief Postmaster at Auckland at that time. He was educated at Dr Kinder's Church of England Grammar School and at the age of 27 years he married Hannah Maria Collett, eldest daughter of William Rickford Collett, M.P. of Lincolnshire. He came to reside in Akaroa five years ago, his wife having died about thirty years ago. He had five daughters, Mrs C B Tapley of Invercargill, Mrs W Jacobson of Akaroa and Misses I and A Corbett of Christchurch and the late Nurse Hilda Corbett, who died in the Southland Hospital, Invercargill during the epidemic in 1918. The funeral will leave Mr W Jacobson's residence in Balguerie Street for the Church of England Cemetery at 2 p.m. to-day.”

4N1 – unnamed Corbett child was born in 1879 in New Zealand; infant death

4N2 – Mary Angelina Corbett was born in 1882 in New Zealand

4N3 – Florence Alsager Corbett was born in 1885 in New Zealand

4N4 – Beatrice Hilda Corbett was born in 1887 in New Zealand

4N5 – Isabel Ormerod Corbett was born in 1890 in New Zealand

4N6 – Maud Agatha Corbett was born in 1894 in New Zealand

William Rickford Collett [4M4] was born in 1852 and that may have been in Ireland, England or Australia, but it is known that it was at Singleton in New South Wales that he was eight years old when he died in 1860 as the result of an accident with a lamp

Edward Hartigan Collett [4M5] was born in New South Wales on 14^th December 1853 and was baptised four days later on 18^th December, the son of William Rickford Collett and Hannah Maria Hartigan. Tragically he did not survive and died six months later on 23^rd May 1854 and was buried at East Maitland

Robert Arthur Singleton Collett [4M6] was born at Singleton in Hunter Valley, New South Wales on 15^th May 1855, hence the reason why the name of the town is included in his name. He was baptised five days later at Whittingham on 20^th May and it is likely that his parents, William Rickford Collett and his wife Hannah Maria Hartigan, had only arrived in Australia in 1853. And it was in New South Wales that he and his family continued to live until around the time that Robert was about twelve or thirteen years old. At that time in his life his parents sailed back to Great Britain, where they first settled in England, where his sister Florence (below) was born, and then in Wales where his brother Edward (below) was born, before settling in London. At the time of the birth of his youngest brother Stratford (below), Robert and his family were living at Waverley Place in the St John’s Wood area of London. Shortly after the birth of his brother the whole family left London when they sailed to Ireland, and it was in Ireland that Robert became a married man, and where, just over two years later, his father died in Dublin in 1882. Robert Arthur Singleton Collett married Elizabeth Jane Maunsell on 6^th July 1880 at Monkstown Church in County Dublin, the ceremony being conducted by the Reverend Canon Peacocke, who later became Archbishop of Dublin. Elizabeth, who was known as Lily, was the daughter of Edward William Maunsell, the Secretary of the D. W. and Wex Railway, and his wife Bessie Callanan

Seventeen years after they were married, Robert’s brother William (below) married Catherine Maunsell in 1897, Catherine being the younger sister of Elizabeth Jane Maunsell. Robert Arthur Singleton Collett was a clerk at the Court of the Queen’s Bench in Ireland, and he died in Dublin on 10^th May 1897 and was buried at Mount Jerome. He left his wife with three young children, and she survived him by nearly forty years, when she died on 27^th January 1937. It is understood that it was only following the death of her eldest son William in 1926, that Elizabeth travelled to England with her daughter Dorothy and, at the time of her passing, Elizabeth was living at 95 The Avenue in Feltham in Middlesex. Upon her death she was buried within Plot V-1 of the consecrated portion of 'The Extension’ of the cemetery at Feltham, albeit without a memorial stone. The grave plot purchase document obtained by Elizabeth’s son Robert Collett at that time is now in the possession of Richard Pratt, who kindly provided the new details about this family

4N7 – William Edward Hartigan Collett was born in 1881 at Dublin, Ireland

4N8 – Robert Arthur Stewart Collett was born in 1885 at Dublin, Ireland

4N9 – Dorothy Esther Collett was born in 1889 at Dublin, Ireland

Stratford Alsager Collett [4M8] was born at Percy Cottage in Singleton, Hunter Valley, New South Wales on 9^th November 1858, the son of William and Hannah Collett. He survived for just over two months when he died at Singleton on 17^th January 1859

Charlotte Elizabeth Collett [4M9] was born at Singleton in New South Wales on 9^th December 1859. Charlotte later returned to England with her family and it was there that she married Edward Treffry-Goatley on 14^th July 1881. Edward was the son of Goatley, from Goatley Lees in the Isle of Thanet, by his wife the former Miss Treffry of Place House at Fowey in Cornwall. At some time in his life Edward Treffry-Goatley worked for Her Majesty’s Customs at Durban in Natal, South Africa. The marriage produced four children for the couple and they were Edward Stratford Treffry-Goatley (who was born on 23^rd June 1883 and who died on 5^th August 1884), Edwin Rickford Fitzroy Treffry-Goatley (who was born on 5^th October 1884), Gladys Winifred Charlotte Treffry-Goatley (who was born on 14^th February 1887), and Edith Claire Treffry-Goatley (who was born on 3^rd June 1890)

William Rickford Secundus Collett [4M11] was born at Patrick's Plains, in New South Wales on 23^rd March 1862. Patrick's Plains, which lies north of Sydney, was subsequently renamed as Singleton in 1894. He married his sister-in-law Catherine Maunsell on 12^th June 1897 at St George’s Church in Tufnell Park in London. Catherine was the sister of Elizabeth Maunsell who married William’s brother Robert (above), and the daughter of Edward William Maunsell and Bessie Callanan. After they were married William and Catherine emigrated to New Zealand where their only child was born. According to the Official New Zealand Year Book for 1906, William Rickford Secundus Collett was a clerk in the Headquarters Staff of the Department of Defence. However, it was at Waihi in New Zealand thirteen years later that William Rickford Secundus Collett died on 23^rd February 1919. His Will was proved at the High Court in Auckland later that same year, when he was referred to as a gentleman. Below is a transcript of that Will

This is the last Will of me, William Rickford Secundus Collett, Civil Servant, New Zealand Government of 109 Adelaide Road, Wellington N.Z. I give and bequeath all my property to my dear wife Catherine, and appoint her the sole Executrix of this my Will. In witness whereof I have set my hand to this my Will the twelfth day of January 1918.” Signed: Wm Rickford Secundus Collett. William’s wife Catherine was born at Monkstown in Dublin in 1863 and died on 19^th January 1945 at Palmerston North in New Zealand, eleven years before her son Rickford Edward Francis Collett died there in 1956. It may be of interest that a William Collett of New South Wales married Ellen Boyd at Collector in New South Wales on 4^th October 1880. If that was the first of two marriages of Wm R S Collett, he would have only been between 18 and 19 years old on that occasion

4N10 – Rickford Edward Francis Collett was born in 1900 in New Zealand

Ellen Susan Collett [4M12] was born in New South Wales on 22^nd June 1866. Ellen, who was known as Ella, was just twenty years old when she married William Russell of Lemonfield in County Limerick on 14^th July 1886 at Kilpeacon Church in County Limerick. The marriage produced five children for the couple and they were Ella May Russell (who was born on 10^th May 1887), Violet Florence Russell (who was born on 16^th December 1890 and who died on 18^th February 1901), Charles William Norris Russell (who was born on 22^nd March 1893), Oliver Edith Russell (who was born on 28^th August 1894), and Victor Eyre Russell (who was born on 25^th July 1897 and who died on 9^th April 1898)

Florence Susan Collett [4M13] was born on 13^th September 1868 in England after her parents returned for Australia. It was at the Holy Trinity Church in Rathmines in County Dublin that she married William Walker on 21^st October 1891. He was referred to as William Walker from Kilkee in County Clare

Edward Caernarvon Collett [4M14] was born at Caernarvon in South Wales on 29^th January 1870 and was baptised on 14^th February 1870 at Llanbeblig one mile from Caernarvon. The baptism confirmed that he was the son of William Rickford Collett and his wife Hannah Maria. Up to two years prior to his birth Edward’s family had lived at Singleton in New South Wales for over ten years. However, it was to New Zealand that Edward travelled around 1898 and where, at Christchurch, he married Marion Mary Dunphy on 30^th April 1900 when he was only 20 years old. Mary was the daughter of W Dunphy. At the registration of the birth of three of her four children the mother was recorded as Mary Marion Collett, while for the birth of son William she was simply referred to as Marion Collett. Reported in the Christchurch Press of 1911 was an undefended case between a James Napier and an Edward Carnarvon Collett, so it would appear from the article that the couple had remained living in Christchurch where their five children were born. During the next few years, possibly after the birth of their last child in 1916, Edward and Mary left Christchurch to be nearer Edward’s younger brother Stratford John Collett (below) and his family at South Dunedin where they were recorded in 1914. However, it was the Electoral Roll in 1922 that placed Edward Carnarvon Collett, a customs officer, his wife Marion Collett and their unmarried daughter Ellen Hannah Collett, all residing at 45 Maryhill Terrace in the Mornington area of South Dunedin. Three years later the eligible voters list for 1925 again included Edward Carnarvon Collett, a customs officer, his wife Mary, and their unmarried daughter Ella Hannah Collett and their son Edward Collett, a storeman, when they were still living on Maryhill Terrace in Mornington but at number 28 and not number 45 as three years earlier

By 1928 the same four adult members of family were still living at 28 Maryhill Terrace when Edward was continuing to work as a customs officer and his son and namesake was still employed as a storeman. Perhaps it was the work of Edward senior that was the reason why the family was living elsewhere in 1931 but, on their return shortly after, the family returned to South Dunedin when they were recorded in 1935 at 156 Glen Avenue. The couple’s eldest son Edward had left the family home by 1935 when the family at 156 Glen Avenue comprised Edward Carnarvon Collett, still a customs officer, his wife Mary, their daughter Ella Hannah with no occupation, and the couple’s two sons William Cahill Collett who was a postal official, and James Collett who was a storeman. The Electoral Roll for South Dunedin in 1938 still continued to show the family residing at 156 Glen Avenue. However, by that time Edward was no longer living there, since it was at that address that he died on 22^nd February 1837 at the age of 67. He was buried that same day at Andersons Bay Cemetery, Block 121, Plot 18. His widow Mary Collett, who was still described as being married, had with her on that occasion her unmarried daughter Ella Hannah Collett and her son William Cahill Collett who was the breadwinner with his occupation still being that of a postal official. Marion Mary Collett nee Dunphy died five years later on 1^st October 1943 while she was living at 30a Park Street in Dunedin

The Evening Post, dated 22^nd February 1937, reported the death of Edward Caernarvon Collett in the following way. “The death occurred at Dunedin this morning of Mr E C Collett, well known in Wellington some years ago when he was connected with the Police Department here. Subsequently, he was transferred to the Customs Department at Christchurch. Mr Collett served in the South African War and took part in the famous but ill-starred Jameson Raid. As he had been in poor health recently, his death was not altogether unexpected. He is survived by his wife, three sons, and one daughter. Mr S J Collett, assistant general manager of the Government Tourist Department at Wellington, is his brother.” According to his Cemetery Death Record he arrived in New Zealand around 1898, having been a resident of the country for 39 years at the time of his death in 1937. The same record also mentioned his involvement in the Jameson Raid in South Africa, which took place from 1895 to 1896. However, his name does not appear in the list of 512 men who were involved in the raid. So, whether he was in South Africa at that time has still to be confirmed

4N11 – Hannah Maria Ellen Collett was born in 1901 at Christchurch, New Zealand

4N12 – Edward Carnarvon Collett was born in 1903 at Christchurch, New Zealand

4N13 – James Collett was born in 1907 at Christchurch, New Zealand

4N14 – William Cahill Collett was born in 1913 at Christchurch, New Zealand

4N15 – Patrick Collett was born in 1916 at Christchurch, New Zealand

Stratford John Waverley Collett [4M16] was born at Waverley Place in St John’s Wood, London on 23^rd September 1876. Within a few years of his birth, Stratford’s parents took the family away from London, when they moved to Dublin in Ireland. He was 22 when he married 32-year-old Marion Gore on 1^st March 1898. Marion was the youngest daughter of the late William Gore of Fedney in County Down, and Innismore Hall at Enniskillen, formerly of the 13^th Hussars. Marion was also the great granddaughter of Sir Philip Crampton the eminent surgeon. Once they were married Stratford, or Jack as he was better known, and Marion emigrated to New Zealand, but must have first visited Australia on the way, since it was there that their first child was born at Singleton in New South Wales, where three of Stratford’s siblings had been born. However, their remaining three children were born after the family arrived in New Zealand, where they initially settled in Invercargill, before moving to Wellington

Stratford was later referred to as Stratford John Collett of Khandallah, Wellington. And it was at Wellington that he died on 20^th March 1948 and where his Will was later proved by the Wellington High Court. The record of his burial three days later at Karori confirmed that he was 71 a former civil servant. The last ten years of his life was spent as a widower following the death of Marion Collett nee Gore in August 1938. She was 72 and was buried at Karori on 6^th August where she was later joined by her husband. It was as Stratford John Collett that he was listed in the South Dunedin Electoral Roll of 1914. At that time in his life he was employed in the civil service when he and his wife Marion were living with their family at 54 Glen Avenue in the Mornington area of South Dunedin. That was the only occasion that the couple was recorded as residing within the South Dunedin registration district

It was three years later on 19^th July 1917 that he enlisted with the New Zealand Army Pay Corps at the age of 41, with his actual start date being 15^th October that same year. His service number was 58324 and, on entry he held the rank of private, but during the following year he was promoted to corporal, then to sergeant, and then to staff sergeant, with the 41^st Rifles of the Pay Corps. At the time of his enlistment he was a civil servant working for the Tourist Department in Christchurch, and his other personal details were recorded as follows. Height 5 feet 11 inches, weight 184 pounds, with fair brown hair, blue eyes, and a fresh complexion. He was born in London on 23^rd September 1876, the son of William Rickford Collett deceased, and Hannah Maria Collett deceased. His wife was named as Marion Gore and their four children were recorded as John Philip Crampton born at Singleton in New South Wales on 5^th November 1900, Dorothea Crampton born at Invercargill in 1901, Patricia May Crampton born at Wellington on 5^th August 1903, and Joyce Crampton who was also born at Wellington, but on 14^th July 1905. He sailed out of Wellington on 27^th July 1918, and was recorded in London for six days from 4^th October 1918. It is not clear from his army record where he was after that time, but it is evident that he sailed out of Liverpool bound for New Zealand on the troopship Tahiti on 3^rd December that same year. In total he served with the army for 483 days, of which 170 of them were spent overseas. He was discharged from duty on 9^th February 1919, as no longer physically fit, and was awarded the British War Medal. The following article published in the New Zealand Truth Magazine on 23^rd January 1930 shows the high esteem in which Stratford John Collett was held by the local community when he was the acting Head of the Tourist Department in Wellington

“When S. J. Collett, the acting head of the Tourist Department, extends the hand of welcome to the dubious globe-trotter, the latter may well believe that here at least is something free from fussy officialdom. Behind the big, breezy personality of Jack Collett, there is a suggestion of fine, open hospitality, which is not lost upon the prospective traveller in our domains. The wit and genial comradeship of the true-born son of Ireland is hard to beat, and Jack Collett runs true to type. He came to New Zealand from Dublin. There is not a tourist resort in the Dominion that he does not know, nor one where his bulky presence is not as welcome as roses in December. His constant contact with tourists has brought to him a full understanding of their psychology. So much so that he knows almost by instinct whether the pleasure-seeker desires the excitement of big-game fishing or merely seeks the placidity of a babbling brook. The Government wants to advertise the scenic, wares of New Zealand, and has set Collett and two other departmental heads to devise a publicity campaign. Collett's ideas will be the fruit of his long experience and enthusiasm for the wonders and delights of our natural attractions.”

4N16 – John Philip Crampton Collett was born in 1900 at Singleton, New Zealand

4N17 – Dorothy Crampton Collett was born in 1901 at Invercargill, New Zealand

4N18 – Patricia Mary Crampton Collett was born on 5^th August 1903 at Wellington, New Zealand

4N19 – Joyce Collett was born on 14^th July 1905 at Wellington, New Zealand

Harriet Anna Collett [4M17] was born at Mathon near Malvern in 1835, and was baptised there at the Church of St John the Baptist on 29^th October 1835, the eldest child of Benjamin Collett and his wife Charlotte Harriet Sampson. Shortly after she was born her parents returned to live at Grafton Manor in Upton Warren, where her mother had been living prior to their marriage. Harriet Anna Collett later married Richard David Hire, a Captain in the Royal Navy, their wedding taking place within the St George Hanover Square district of London where it was registered (Ref. 1a 348) during the last three months of 1861. The witnesses were Thomas Guthrie and Hannah Moore. Tragically, they were only married for just over one year when Richard David Hire died on 27^th February 1863 at the Royal Marine Infirmary, possibly from some injury or illness sustained while at sea. His Will was approved by the oaths of Benjamin Collett of 25 Belgrave Road in Pimlico and John Collett also of 25 Belgrave Road, a clerk of the Admiralty, who were named as the joint executors of his personal effects valued at under £1000. During the probate process Richard Hire was described as being the paymaster of His Majesty’s ship Cornwallis. Named as a beneficiary under the terms of the Will was his wife Harriet and her youngest brother Thomas Clay Collett. It would appear from the death record for the widow of Richard David Hire that she never remarried and that she was in France when she died on 20^th January 1904. The death of Harriet Ann Hire, nee Collett, was recorded in London where her Will was proved on 9^th February 1904

Margaret Collett [4M18] was born at Grafton Manor in the village of Upton Warren in 1837, and it was there at St Michael’s Church that she was baptised on 29^th March 1837, the daughter of Benjamin and Charlotte Harriet Collett. According to the census in 1871, Margaret Collett was 34 and was living in the Chelsea area of London at that time. It is curious that no obvious records have been found for Margaret or any member of her family in the census returns for 1841, 1851, and 1861, although there was a Benjamin Collett living in the Chelsea area of London at the same time that Margaret was there in 1871. She never married but, in 1881 and following the death of her sister Charlotte (below) in 1879, she was living at the home of her widowed brother-in-law William J Vian at The Knoll in Fairview, Beckenham in Kent. On that occasion Margaret Collett, aged 44 and from Grafton Manor in Worcestershire, was described as a gentlewoman. By 1891, and at the age of 54, spinster Margaret Collett was still living in Kent, but by then she had moved to Hastings. Ten years later in March 1901, Margaret Collett of Grafton, Worcestershire, was still living in the St Clements district of Hastings, where she was the owner of a convalescent home at the age of 64. It was seven years later that Margaret Collett died during 1908, whilst she was visiting Florence in Italy

Charlotte Collett [4M19] was born in 1838 at Grafton Manor, and was baptised at Upton Warren on 16^th July 1838, the third daughter of Benjamin and Charlotte Collett. It was around 1860 that she married William John Vian from St Pancras in London, perhaps indicating that she was living in London prior to their wedding day. By the time of the census in 1861 Charlotte had presented William with the first of their six known children. William John Vian was 34, his wife Charlotte was 22, and their daughter Maria Vian was still under one year old. The family on that occasion was living in Lewisham Village. During the next ten years a further five children were added to the family which, by the time of the next census in 1871, was living at Bromley in Kent. The census that year recorded the family as William J Vian 44, Charlotte Via 32, and their six children, Marian Vian 10, William C Vian who was nine, Alsager R Vian who was eight, Charlotte B Vian who was six, Bernard A Vian who was four, and Maud M Vian who was two years old. Over the next few years, it is likely that other children were born into the family, about whom no details are currently available. What is known is that Charlotte Vian nee Collett was just over forty years old when she died during 1879. What immediately happened to her young family at that tragic time is not known, but by the time of the census in 1881, Charlotte’s unmarried sister Margaret Collett (above) was living at the Beckenham home of William J Vian, where she was presumably helping him to look after his children. However, of his six known children, only two were actually living at The Knoll in Fairview with him. William’s occupation was that of a secretary to an insurance company, and the two children were, his eldest son William C Vian, who was 19 and from Lewisham, who was working with his father as an insurance clerk, and his daughter Charlotte B Vian, also from Lewisham who was 16 and who was still attending school. In addition to his sister-in-law Margaret Collett, the household was supported by three servants, housemaids Mary and Emily Herring, and Mary Dellow who was the cook. Of the other children of William and Charlotte, his eldest daughter may have been married by then, while William’s two other sons were living in the Guildford & Godalming area of Surrey aged 18 and 14

Charles Benjamin Collett [4M20] was born at Grafton Manor in 1840, and was baptised in the village of Upton Warren on 25^th April 1840, the eldest son and fourth child of Benjamin Collett and Charlotte Harriet Sampson. With no record of him or his family in Great Britain in any of the following census returns it is possible that the early years of his life with his parents was spent abroad. Thanks to new information received during August 2013 from genealogist Jeff Smith of Castlecrag in New South Wales we now know a little more about Charles Benjamin Collett. Before he was twenty years of age Charles, either with his family or on his own, sailed to Australia where he married Emily Maria McDougall at Patricks Plains in New South Wales during 1861. That Charles Benjamin Collett, not to be confused with the well-known railway engineer, was Justice of the Peace and Clerk to the Gold Commission of New South Wales. Over the following twelve years Emily presented Charles with five children before his untimely death in 1872 at Wallabadah, about thirty miles south of Tamworth in New South Wales. Following the death of her husband, and having four young children to look after, Emily married Sidney Wilson Smith Schreiber in Victoria during June 1873. Later that same year their son Sidney Arthur was born at Newtown in New South Wales, he being the grandfather of Jennifer Milloy nee Schreiber who kindly provided this new information in 2015. It was previous stated here that Charles was married on two occasions; the first time to Emily McDougall (as reaffirmed above), and the second time to Emily Singleton. That second marriage produced a son, Albert Collett who was born in New South Wales during 1868. In view of what is written above it would now seem that Albert was very likely the son of another Charles and Emily Collett

4N20 – Charlotte E Collett was born in 1862 at Bathurst, New South Wales

4N21 – Adela May Collett was born in 1864 at Patricks Plains, New South Wales

4N22 – Gertrude Elizabeth Collett was born in 1866 at Patricks Plains, New South Wales

4N23 – Alsager Benjamin Collett was born in 1868 at Nundle, New South Wales

John Collett [4M21] was born at Grafton Manor in the village of Upton Warren during 1841. It was also at St Michael’s Church in Upton Warren where he was baptised on 27^th October 1841, the son of Benjamin and Charlotte Collett. In February 1863 John was still living at the family home at 25 Belgrave Road in Pimlico when he was employed by the admiralty as a clerk. That fact was confirmed during the processing of the Will of Richard David Hire, John’s brother-in-law and the husband of his eldest sister. It was around seven years later that John married Marie Watson in London, Marie having been born there around 1847. By the time of the census in 1881 Marie had presented John with two children, the couple’s third and last child being born during the following year. According to the census return that year, the family was living at 12 Fopstone Road in Kensington where the children were born, and from where John, aged 39 and from Bromsgrove, was a Director of Naval Contracts at the Admiralty. His wife Marie was 34, and their two children were Muriel M Collett who was eight, and Violet J Collett who was six years old. The Collett family was supported by four domestic servants, they being George T Collins aged 20 from Ascot, a cook Mary G Spry aged 25 from Clovelly, servant girl Esther Griffiths aged 31 and from Hereford, and a lady’s maid Celestine Bretell who was 26 and from France

The family was still living in Kensington when their son was born, and were still there nine years later at the time of the census in 1891. The census return for the Kensington & Brompton registration district listed the family as John Collett 49, Marie L Collett 44, Muriel M Collett 18, Violet J Collett 16, and John A Collett who was eight years old. It was four years later that John Collett died during 1895. The London Gazette of 20^th July 1934 published a very interesting legal notice relating to John’s wife and their three children. It read as follows: “Re Sir Joseph Pulley, deceased, late of Lower Eaton, in the County of Hereford, Baronet, who died 25^th day of August 1901. Re the £4,000 directed by the deceased’s Will to be held in trust to pay the income there from to Mrs Mary (otherwise Marie) Collett, widow (who died on 18^th April 1934) during her life and after her death to divide the capital equally between her three children, Muriel (the wife of Kenyon Vaughan Morgan), Violet Collett and John Alsager Collett.”

4N24 – Muriel Marie Collett was born in 1872 at Kensington, London

4N25 – Violet Julie Collett was born in 1874 at Kensington, London

4N26 – John Alsager Collett was born in 1882 at Kensington, London

WILLIAM COLLETT [4M22] was born at Grafton Manor during 1843, and was baptised at St Michael’s Church in Upton Warren on 3^rd September 1843, the son of Benjamin and Charlotte Collett. William Collett was a journalist and he married Mary Helen Cooke from Ramsgate. In 1881 the family was living at 33 Tavistock Crescent in Westbourne Park near Paddington Station in London, where the couple’s two sons were born. During the previous decade William had worked as a journalist for Bell’s Life, when he became involved in the world of horse-racing. That was following work he carried out for Sporting Life magazine and it was his close association with horse-racing that prompted the family to leave London shortly after 1881. The family’s new home was in Exeter Road in New Market in Suffolk, and it was there three years later that William Collett died on 17^th April 1884

4N27 - William Collett was born in 1869 at Westbourne Park, London

4N28 - CHARLES BENJAMIN COLLETT was born in 1871 at Westbourne Park, London

Thomas Clay Collett [4M23] was born at Grafton Manor in the village of Upton Warren during the first few months of 1847. His family had been living in the sixteenth century manor house since around 1836, although Grafton Manor was where his mother had lived with her family prior to marrying his father. It was at St Michael’s Church in Upton Warren, between Droitwich and Bromsgrove in Worcestershire, that he was baptised on 12^th April 1847, the youngest son and last child of Benjamin and Charlotte Collett. Thomas was still only sixteen years of age when he was named as a beneficiary under the terms of the Will of his brother-in-law Richard David Hire, the husband of his eldest sister Harriet Anna. At that time in 1863 Thomas and his family were living at 25 Belgrave Road in Pimlico. It would appear to have been around 1870 that Thomas Clay Collett married Sarah Caroline Grace Butler of Barnwood in Gloucester, who had been born at Cheltenham in 1854. In the census of 1881 Thomas Collett, aged 36 and of Worcester, was working as a clerk at the Legacy Duty Office. At that time, he and his wife, Sarah C G Collett, aged 26 and from Cheltenham, were living at 52 Eardley Crescent, Earls Court, within the Kensington area of London. Listed with them were their three children, son Harry H Collett who was seven, daughter Madeline G Collett who was six, and son Vivian Collett who was five years old, and all of them born at Kensington

The house at Eardley Crescent must have been sizable to accommodate the following visitors. Frederick White, aged 35 and an admiralty clerk, Walter J Fletcher aged 31 and a clerk at the Bank of England, Joseph H Junfon, aged 30 a clerk at the Legacy Duty Office, and servants Alice Watson 19, and Emily Ann Townley who was 22. It seems likely that Thomas’ two daughters were at school away from the family’s home in Kensington in 1891, since the Kensington & Brompton census that year only listed Thomas C Collett 44, his wife Sarah C G Collett 36, and their son Harry H Collet who was 17. During the next ten years it was their son who left the family home, to be replaced by his eldest sister Madeline who was living with her parents at Kensington in March 1901. Thomas C Collett, aged 54 and from Grafton Manor, was a civil servant working as a Principal Clerk in the Estate Duty Office. His wife was described as Sarah C G Collett who was 46 and from Barnwood in Gloucestershire, while their daughter Madeleine Collett was 26, and her place of birth was given as Earls Court in London

No record of the family has been found in the next census in 1911, although it is established that Thomas Clay Collett died five years after that event, in 1916, whilst he was at Nice in France. It was also in France at Villa Clara on Boulevard Cannet in Cannes that his widow Sarah Caroline Grace Collett nee Butler died on 23^rd August 1924 at the age of 59. Her Will was proved in London on 15^th October 1924 in which her two sons were named as beneficiaries. The sum total of her estate at the time of her death was 1,733 Pounds 3 Shillings 9 Pence

4N29 – Henry Haines Collett was born in 1873 at Earls Court, London

4N30 – Madelaine Grace Collett was born in 1874 at Earls Court, London

4N31 – Vivian Collett was born in 1875 at Earls Court, London

Henry Blundell [4M24] was born at Luton on 31^st January 1834. He married Sarah Whiting Staples on 26^th September 1860. Sarah was born at Gazeley in Suffolk, midway between Newmarket and Bury St Edmunds on 30^th October and was the daughter of William Staples and Alice Whiting. That union may have stemmed from the fact that Henry’s father owned farms in Suffolk. In 1881 Henry, aged 47 and of Luton, was living with his wife and six of his eight children at Moulton Lodge in Crescent Rise in Luton. Judging by the description of his occupational status, he was a wealthy businessman. The census record stated that he was a Master Draper employing 22 men and 27 women, and that he was a local Methodist minister. His wife Sarah W Blundell was aged 44 years and of Moulton in Suffolk, that being the next village to Gazeley. Their children were all born at Luton and were listed as Ernest Blundell, who was 19 and a draper’s assistant, Annie Blundell, who was 17, Alice M Blundell, who was 10, Hilda Blundell, who was eight, Hubert Blundell, who was six, and Walter Blundell who was five years old. Also living with them was Mary Ann Blundell, a niece aged 26 and of Luton, a straw-hat merchant’s daughter. Other members of the household included a governess, 28 years old Emma Munn of Bury St Edmunds, and three domestic servants. Henry and Sarah had two other sons Percy and Stanley who, at the time of the 1881 Census, were boarders at a select private school in Bedford at 80 Adelaide Square in the St Paul’s region of the town. Percy was listed as being aged 16 while Stanley was 13, both having been born at Luton. From all eight children of the marriage the only known detail of their later life relates to Percy Blundell who was born in 1864, who later married Annie Boutwood

Arthur Blundell [4M25] was born at Luton on 12^th January 1840. His occupation was that of a flour miller and it seems more than likely that he moved from Luton to manage one of the family farms in Suffolk as it was there that he met and married his wife. At the age of thirty he married Sarah Andrews on 27^th October 1870 in the Congregational Church in Newmarket. Sarah was the daughter of Henry Andrews and Mary Staples and was born at Burwell, just north of Newmarket on 3^rd February 1850. The majority of their children were born at Wissett, near Halesworth in Suffolk, with just the couple’s first child born at Chediston, the next village south of Wissett. According to the 1881 Census, the family was living on a seventy-acre farm at Chediston where Arthur employed seven men. The level of prosperity the family enjoyed can be gauged from the fact the Arthur employed a young governess for his children and also a domestic servant. Six years later in 1887 the family emigrated to New Zealand. At the time of Arthur’s death on 26^th December 1923 the family home was stated as being 1 Dunholme Road in Remuera, Auckland. Arthur was described as a retired farmer aged 83 and the cause of death was given as asthma by the medical attendant Doctor Coldicutt. It would appear that his body was cremated at Waikumete but that the ashes were returned to England for burial. The record of his death noted that he left a wife Sarah aged 73 and three sons and four daughters. Arthur’s widow Sarah lived for another eleven years before she died on 20^th December 1934 and was buried at Hillsborough in Auckland

4N32 – Mary Blundell was born in 1871 at Chediston, Suffolk

4N33 – Arthur Oscar Blundell was born in 1873 at Wissett, Suffolk

4N34 – Adah Eliza Blundell was born in 1875 at Wissett, Suffolk

4N35 – Ethel Annie Blundell was born in 1877 at Wissett, Suffolk

4N36 – Wilfred Andrews Blundell was born in 1879 at Wissett, Suffolk

4N37 – Sarah Zillah Blundell was born in 1882 at Wissett, Suffolk

4N38 – Hugh King Blundell was born in 1884 at Wissett, Suffolk

Mary Evangeline Corbett [4N2] was the eldest surviving daughter of William Corbett and Hannah Maria Collett and was born in New Zealand on 9^th June 1882. It was there also that she married Cecil Brock Tapley during 1909. Cecil Tapley was born on 25^th December 1879 at Stepney in South Australia and emigrated to New Zealand prior to 1909, representing Southland in cricket for the 1914-15 season. She was still alive at the time of the death of her father in June 1927. Mary Evangeline Tapley nee Corbett was living at Dalrymple Street in Invercargill when she died in 1960 at the age of 78, following which she was buried at the Eastern Cemetery in Invercargill on 7^th October of that year. Cecil Brock Tapley was reunited with his wife five years later when he was living at Centre Street in Invercargill and he too was buried at the Eastern Cemetery on 28^th October 1965 when he was 86. Also buried in the same plot were Mary’s mother Anna [Hannah] Maria Corbett and her sister Beatrice H. Corbett (below)

Florence Alsager Corbett [4N3] was born at Invercargill in New Zealand on 28^th January 1885, the daughter of William Corbett and Hannah Maria Collett. At the registration of her birth her father was 36 and an accountant, while her mother was 34. Florence was working at Akaroa as a lady’s companion to the wife of general practitioner Doctor Cantrell prior to her wedding day. Florence, described as undertaking domestic duties, was twenty-nine years old when she married William Edward Moxhay Jacobson, aged 27 and a journalist, at the Church of St John the Divine in Invercargill on 22^nd September 1914. One of the witnesses at the wedding was Florence’s youngest sister B H Corbett (below), while their father William Corbett was described as a commission agent. William Jacobson was born at Akaroa, Canterbury, during 1887, the son of journalist Howard Charles Jacobson and Margaret Dougharty. William's father, Howard, who originated from Devon in England, bought the Akaroa Mail Newspaper in 1881 and ran it until he died in 1910. It was then that his daughter Ethel May Jacobson took over as owner, manager and editor, for almost 50 years - with a little help from her brother William. Possibly Ethel Jacobson’s greatest achievement was her growing acceptance as a pioneering woman editor, at a time when the role was considered a male preserve. She was to become a familiar figure, with wide-brimmed hat and hobnailed boots, riding side-saddle over Banks Peninsula’s hilly terrain to report meetings and event

Once married, Bill and Florence lived in the Balguerie Valley where their home was Rahean, the name taken from Florence’s maternal grandfather’s home in Ireland. The four children of Bill and Florence Jacobson were Gerald Jacobson who was born on 13^th September 1915, who married Dorothy Falgate and who died on 17^th December 1942, Denis Jacobson who was born on 25^th June 1917, who died on 1^st December 1941, Hilda Jacobson – born and died on 4^th November 1921, and William Walter Jacobson who was born on 27^th October 1924. Tragically Florence’s two eldest sons were both casualties of the Second World War. The sole surviving child, William, who was known as Walter, first married Mary Purchas with whom he had two children Gerald and Helen, and later married Audreigh Hunt prior to his death on 16^th May 2002. From 1922 until his death in June 1927 Florence’s father had lived with Florence and her family in Akaroa. And it was at Akaroa on Banks Peninsula where William Edward Moxhay Jacobson was still living thirty years later when he passed away on 3^rd November 1957 and where he was buried in the Anglican Cemetery three days after on 6^th November. Following the loss of her husband Florence went to live with son Walter and his family which, later that same month, left New Zealand and moved to England. During 2016 Helen Brown nee Jacobson, the wife of David Brown and the granddaughter of Florence Alsager Jacobson, made contact and kindly provided the new details that were included in the August 2016 edition of this family line, including the fact that Florence died at Totnes in Devon during October 1971

Beatrice Hilda Corbett [4N4] was born in New Zealand on 13^th June 1887, the daughter of William and Hannah Corbett. On leaving school she became a nurse and, at the age of thirty-one and still unmarried, she was a victim of the influenza pandemic which swept across New Zealand during the last three months of 1918. Nurse Beatrice Hilda Corbett died at the Southland Hospital in Invercargill and was buried in the Eastern Cemetery at Invercargill on 3^rd December 1918. Also buried in the same plot with her, are her mother, Hannah Maria Corbett, her sister Mary Evangeline Tapley (above) and her brother-in-law Cecil Brock Tapley

Isabel Ormerod Corbett [4N5] was born in New Zealand on 11^th December 1890, the daughter of William and Hannah Corbett. Isabel was nearing her fortieth birthday when she married Calsar Otway in 1929. It was also in New Zealand that she died in 1961, when her age was given as 72

Maud Agatha Corbett [4N6] was born in New Zealand on 30^th September 1894, the youngest of the five surviving children of William Corbett and Hannah Maria Collett. Tragically she was around two years old when her mother died, while Maud herself was eighty-six when she died in New Zealand

William Edward Hartigan Collett [4N7] was born in Dublin on 27^th June 1881, the eldest of the three children of Robert Arthur Singleton Collett and his wife Elizabeth Jane Maunsell. He was sixteen years of age when his father died in Dublin in 1897, following which the family remained living in Ireland where William later married and had children of his own. Another William Collett, who was born in Dublin around 1879, is known to have served with the 3^rd/4^th King’s Liverpool Regiment, service number 3834, although judging by the age he gave on the day that he enlisted it would appear that he was probably not William Edward Hartigan Collett. The Militia Service Records give his date of attestation as the 6^th January 1897, when he said he was seventeen years and ten months, whereas William E H Collett would have been fifteen years and six months old on that day. How long he served is not currently known, except that by the time of his discharge, around 1910 or earlier, he was a member of the 8^th (King’s Liverpool) Regiment of Foot. Further work therefore needs to be carried out to determine who he was

It was towards the end of the first decade of the new century that William Edward Hartigan Collett married Belinda Henrietta Clara Buller, with whom he had two children. Belinda was born on 21^st August 1884 and was the daughter of William Henry Buller and Honoria Charlotte Hall. He joined the army at the start of the First World War, during which he was subjected to mustard gas attacks on two separate occasions which had a detrimental effect on his health. As a result of his poor health he eventually died at the age of 45 on 26^th September 1926, following which he was buried at Mount Jerome in Dublin. Following his death his mother and his sister Dorothy left Ireland and settled in England. Belinda was a midwife at some time during her life and, several years after the passing of her husband, she married Samuel Jolly of Merville in Stillorgan, County Dublin, who was ten years younger than Belinda. Belinda Henrietta Clara Jolly, formerly Collett, nee Buller died on 24^th December 1950 and was buried at Deans Grange in Dublin

4O1 – Mabel Cora Collett was born in 1912 at Dublin, Ireland

4O2 – William John Collett was born in 1914 at Dublin, Ireland

Robert Arthur Stewart Collett [4N8] was born at Dublin on 26^th July 1885, the second son of Robert and Elizabeth Collett. He was eleven years old when his father died in Dublin and the only record of him has been kindly provided by Richard Pratt (see below), which is as follows. On clearing out the personal effects of his late brother, Richard came across three First World War medals. They confirm that R A S Collett was a private with the Scots Guard, service number 6587. The first two medals are the standard issue, whereas the third is a bit special. That medal (see below), often referred to as the Mons Star, was the 1914 Star and has a bar across the ribbon with the words 5^th August - 22^nd Nov 1914. It was on 4^th August 1914 that Britain declared war on Germany, so the medal was issue to officers and men of British forces who served in France or Belgium between those two dates, the closing date marking the end of the First Battle of Ypres

Additional material relating to Robert discovered in 2015 reveals that he was 26 years old when he joined the 1^st Battalion Scots Guard when Blackrock, Dublin, was given as the place of his birth. Robert Arthur Stewart Collett died on 4^th January 1957 when he was living at 76 Highfields in the town of Clare in Suffolk, his death recorded at Newmarket register office (Ref. 4b 982a), while his Will was proved at Ipswich on 20^th February that same year, the £180 8 Shillings 8 Pence of his estate being passed to his widow Mary Collett. His age at his death was recorded as 72 years

Dorothy Esther Collett [4N9] was born at Dublin on 22^nd April 1889, the youngest of the three children of Robert Arthur Singleton Collett, who was born in New South Wales, and his wife Elizabeth Jane Maunsell. Just one month after her eighth birthday Dorothy’s father died in Dublin, and it is now established that the family continued to live in Ireland and that it was only following the death of Dorothy’s brother William (above) in 1926 that she and her mother sailed from Ireland to live in England, where her mother died in 1937. Dorothy never married and therefore she may have been living with her mother at 95 The Avenue in Feltham in Middlesex up until 1937, and even possibly thereafter. Dorothy was a trained nurse and may have been attending to the needs of her elderly mother during her later years. She was also heavily involved with the Red Cross throughout the war years that followed the passing of her mother. During the years prior to the start of the Second World War, Dorothy Esther Collett became very friendly with the mother of Richard Pratt. Such was the strength of their friendship over the twenty years from the death of her mother, that in 1957, when Dorothy was around 68 years of age, she was invited to live with the Pratt family in their home at 32 Ladysmith Avenue at Brightlingsea in Essex

Dorothy Esther Collett, who was known as Aunty Collie by Richard Pratt and his family, died while she was still living at the home of Richard’s parents at 32 Ladysmith Avenue, Brightlingsea in Essex on 16^th September 1960. In 2010 Richard was living in Harrogate in North Yorkshire, and we are grateful to him for telling us the story of Dorothy Esther Collett. Richard recalls that one of the stories told by Dorothy to the young Pratt family related to the fact that her Collett ancestors had lost a great deal of money in the financial crisis of 1720, which was referred to as the South Sea Bubble

Rickford Edward Francis Collett [4N10] was born at Sydenham in Christchurch, New Zealand on 6^th January 1900. He was twenty-one years old when he married Wilmot Kathleen Palmer at Nelson on 20^th June 1921. Kathleen was born at Wakefield in Nelson on 11^th April 1901 and was the daughter of Thomas Palmer and Bessie Maria Caldwell Gibbs. Their marriage produced at least the five children listed below. Rickford Edward Francis Collett, aged 56, died 3^rd August 1956 at Palmerston North in New Zealand and at the time of his passing he and his wife had been living at 7 Carlisle Avenue, from where he was employed by the New Zealand Railways. Following his death, he was cremated at the Kelvin Grove Cemetery and Crematorium, and was followed eight years later by his wife. Wilmott Kathleen Collett nee Palmer, aged 63, died on 1^st June 1964 while attending the Palmerston North Public Hospital, prior to which she had been residing at 366 Botanical Road, in Palmerston North. Following her passing there was a cremation service at the Kelvin Grove Cemetery. Railway guard Rickford Edward Francis Collett made his last Will on 29^th March 1951 in which he left the whole of his estate to his wife Wilmott Kathleen Collett and if she predeceased him, to his children Bessie Kathleen Whittaker, Rex Rickford John Collett, Richard Collett, Joan Jones and Frank Nelson Collett. Should any of these predeceased him, then their offspring would receive their share, whether one or more children. It is likely, although not proved, that all of the children of Rickford and Wilmott Collett were born in Palmerston North and, with the exception of son Richard, their year of birth has been determined from the death certificates of the other four. Those details suggest that Joan and Frank may have been twin

4O3 – Bessie Kathleen Collett was born in 1922 at Palmerston North, New Zealand

4O4 – Rex Rickford John Collett was born in 1924 at Palmerston North, New Zealand

4O5 – Richard Collett was born in 1927 at Palmerston North, New Zealand

4O6 – Joan Collett was born in 1930 at Palmerston North, New Zealand

4O7 – Frank Nelson Collett was born in 1930 at Palmerston North, New Zealand

Hannah Maria Ellen Collett [4N11] was born on 28^th March 1901, possibly at Christchurch, following the marriage of her parents Edward Carnarvon Collett and Mary Marion Dunphy in New South Wales on 30^th April 1900. Within the Electoral Rolls for South Dunedin in 1922 she was named as Ellen Hannah Collett, a spinster living at 28 Maryhill Terrace in Mornington with her family. She was still there in 1925 but was named as Ella Hannah Collett, as she was in 1928. It was after that time when she was married and became Hannah Maria Ellen O’Kane. No information is known about her husband and little else is known about Hannah, that she died at Dunedin on 5^th July 1980 when she was 79. She was buried three days later in the Andersons Bay Cemetery with parents Edward and Mary and brother Patrick. At that time in her life she had been living at 114 Dundas Street in Dunedin

Edward Carnarvon Collett [4N12] was probably born at Christchurch during 1903 and was the eldest son and second child of Edward and Mary Collett of New South Wales. He was not eligible to be listed in the Electoral Rolls for South Dunedin in 1922 but by 1925, simply as Edward Collett, he was a storeman living with his family at 28 Maryhill Terrace in the Mornington area of South Dunedin. He was still there three years later when he was still employed as a storeman. However, 1928 was the last occasion when he was recorded living with his parents because he later married Doreen Marie Agnes Brittenden in 1933, the second child of William Birch Brittenden. Just over twenty years earlier in November 1912 Leslie Joseph Charles Collett (Ref. 1P133) married Gertrude Louise Brittenden at St Augustine’s Church in Napier, Gertrude being originally from Deal in Kent. The marriage of Edward and Doreen Brittenden was significant because Doreen’s father was the brother of Gertrude Louise Brittenden, so the Brittenden family had brought together two branches of the Collett family, the origins of which had the same Gloucestershire many generations earlier. It would be interesting to know how much the families knew of their respective ancestral lines

William Brittenden was the father of William Birch and Gertrude and was a well-known personality in the North-East Valley of Dunedin from the late 1880s to early in 1913. He was a draper by trade and was a buyer for the Direct Importing Company (DIC) which necessitated making lengthy journeys back to England to purchase goods. On one of those trips he arranged for pupils of his old school in Deal, Kent, to exchange essays with school children in the North-East Valley so both of them could learn about their respective countries. Also, later in 1913, the family moved to Christchurch where William and his sons established the importing company of W. Brittenden & Sons. Perhaps it was the Brittenden family who in some way introduced Edward Carnarvon Collett into warehousing and his first job as a storeman

Edward Carnarvon Collett, who was known at Ted, died on 21^st October 1968 at the age of 65 and was buried two days later at Wharerangi Cemetery in Napier. The record of his death gave his occupation as that of a salesman, while his address was 124 Nuffield Avenue in Marewa in Napier on the North Island. His widow was still living at that address when she passed away three years later. Doreen Collett nee Brittenden died on 22^nd June 1971 and was buried with her husband at the Napier Cemetery three days later. Kelvin Parker who kindly provided all of the information for the March 2014 update of this family line is related to Doreen Marie Agnes Brittenden. The family of Leslie and Gertrude Collett, mentioned above, also spent some years in Napier where they were married and the first two of their three children were born, before relocating back to Christchurch in the South Island of New Zealand

James Collett [4N13] was born at Christchurch on 9^th February 1907, the third child of Edward and Mary Collett. In 1935 James Collett, a storeman, was living with his family at 156 Glen Avenue in Dunedin. Surprisingly no record has been found for James’ marriage to Johanna Agnes so it is possible they were married outside New Zealand. James' death certificate states that he was 68 and a clerk living at 40 Stanley Street in Dunedin when he died on 4^th April 1975, following which he was buried in the Andersons Bay Cemetery with his wife three days later, Block 240, Plot 65. Johanna Agnes Collett had already passed away on 26^th February 1963 at the age of 55, having predeceased her husband by twelve years

William Cahill Collett [4N14] was born at Christchurch on 15^th January 1913, the fourth child of Edward and Mary Collett. Very little is known about William except he was listed on the Electoral Roll for South Dunedin in 1935 when he was employed as a postal official who was living at 156 Glen Avenue the home of his parents. Two years later his father died, so in 1938 William was the only wage earner in the family which was still residing at 156 Glen Avenue. By that time, he was still a postal official who was promoted to the position of a postal services supervisor in his later working life. William must have returned to the city of his birth for it was there at Christchurch that William Cahill Collett died on 14^th December 2000, when he was 87, and was buried at the Belfast Cemetery in Christchurch

Patrick Collett [4N15] was born at Christchurch in 1916, the last child of Edward Carnarvon Collett and Mary Marion Dunphy. He was only fourteen years old when he died at the family home at 38 Maryhill Terrace in the Mornington district of South Dunedin on 13^th March 1930. He was buried during the following day in the family plot (Block 121, Plot 18) at Andersons Bay Cemetery when he was described as a native of Christchurch

John Philip Crampton Collett [4N16] was born at Singleton in New South Wales on 5^th November 1900, after his parents, Stratford John Waverley Collett and his wife Marion Gore, had been married in Ireland during the previous year. Not long after he was born his parents left Australia and settled in New Zealand, initially at Invercargill, and finally in Wellington. One known fact about John at this time is that he died in 1981 and his Will was passed for probate to the High Court in Nelson. Another known fact, which could apply to John Philip Crampton Collett, or perhaps a young son of the same name, has been found amongst the military records for the Second World War. That states John Philip Crampton was a Private 13647 with 6^th Field Ambulance with the Medical Corps of the Royal Marines, and that he was awarded the British Empire Medal on 19^th March 1946 for services rendered

Dorothea Crampton Collett [4N17] was born at Invercargill in New Zealand on 17^th February 1901, the daughter of Stratford and Marion Collett. At some time in her life Dorothea left New Zealand to live in England or perhaps Ireland where her parents were married, since on 10^th January 1962 an unmarried Dorothea C Collett was named on a passenger of a ship bound for Auckland sailing out of Southampton, as recorded at the immigration office. It is expected that she may have made the journey with one or both of her married sisters. Members of her family used the New Zealand Railways Magazine as a vehicle to showcase their writing talents, although there is nothing to suggest at all that any of them were employed on the railway in New Zealand. That begs the question, did they know they were related to the famous loco designer Charles Benjamin Collett. One short story written by Dorothea was published on 1^st July 1933 and focused on The Milford Track Walk, known as the World’s Wonder Walk, that she herself had made. Another story published on 2^nd September 1935 by Helen was entitled “Growing Up – the Development of Dorothea”. Helen may have been Dorothea using a non-de-plume or perhaps her mother, while there were a series of short articles by H. Collett on nature also printed in the same magazine. It is known that Dorothea was a bright child and had many happy times growing up in Southland where she enjoyed her schooling and sporting activities. She later attended University which had a great effect on her life, probably enhancing her writing skills

Charlotte E Collett [4N20] was born at Bathurst in New South Wales during in 1862, the eldest of the five children of Charles Benjamin Collett and his wife Emily Maria McDougall. She was still very young when she married George Steele at Bourke in New South Wales during 1880

Adela May Collett [4N21] was born at Patricks Plains in New South Wales in 1864, the second child of Charles and Emily Collett. She never married and possibly lived with, or near to, her brother Alsager (below) at Singleton, where she died in 1950, five years after the death of her brother

Gertrude Elizabeth Collett [4N22] was born at Patricks Plains in New South Wales in 1866, the third daughter of Charles and Emily Collett. Like her eldest sister Charlotte, Gertrude was also very young when she was married three years after her sister. It was during 1883, and also at Bourke, that Gertrude married Alfred Peyronnet Lambert. The only other known fact about her is that Gertrude Elizabeth Lambert nee Collett died at Manly in New South Wales in 1951

Alsager Benjamin Collett [4N23] was born at Nundle in New South Wales during 1868, the fourth child and eldest son of Charles Benjamin Collett and Emily Maria McDougall. He was only four years old when his father died at Wallabadah in New South Wales during 1872. He later married the much older Julia Mary Anne Cobcroft at Kogarah in New South Wales during 1894. She was the daughter of Enoch Cobcroft and Isabella Jane Ridge and had been born at Tamworth in NSW on 5^th June 1852. Being around forty-two years of age on the day of their wedding was very likely the reason why Julia never presented Alsager with any children. The only other details known about the couple are that Julia Mary Anne Collett nee Cobcroft died at Burwood in NSW during 1934 at the age of 82, while her husband died twelve years later at Singleton in NSW in 1945

Muriel Marie Collett [4N24] was born in 1872 at Kensington in London and she married Lieutenant Colonel Sir Kenyon Pascoe Vaughan-Morgan during 1898. He too was born in 1872. The first of the couple’s two children was born right at the end of the century, with the second being born ten years later. Upon marrying Kenyon, Muriel took the surname Vaughan-Morgan, as confirmed by the census in 1911. The census return that year recorded the family as living in the Kensington district of London, which comprised Kenyon Pasco Vaughan Morgan and his wife Muriel Marie Vaughan-Morgan, both aged thirty-seven, and their two children Phyllis Vaughan Morgan who was eleven, and John Kenyon Vaughan Morgan who was just one year old, who were both born in Kensington. Under the terms of the 1901 Will Sir Joseph Pulley of Lower Eaton, in Hereford, Muriel, her mother and her two younger siblings, received the sum of £4,000, and when the legal notice was published in 1934 following the death of her mother that July, Muriel was named as the wife of Kenyon Vaughan Morgan

John Alsager Collett [4N26] was born on 5^th September 1882 at Kensington, the only son of John Collett and his wife Marie Watson. By the time he was eight years old in 1891, he and his family were living in the Kensington & Brompton district of London. With his father working for the admiralty, it was an obvious career choice for John to join the Royal Navy, which he did on 15^th July 1896. Less than five years later, in census of 1901, he was recorded as being a midshipman at the age of 18. Ten years later, according to the census of April 1911, John Alsager Collett was 28 years old, when he was living alone at Godstone in Surrey. A little while later he married Evelyn. John was a Lieutenant Commander OBE in the Royal Navy and died in 1925. His naval records show that while he was a Lieutenant Commander, he also acted as Commander on occasion, and was noted as ‘an officer of Most Excellent Order’. In 1934, and following the death of John’s mother that year, The London Gazette published a legal notice relating to a sum of £4,000 that had been left to John and his two sisters under the terms of the 1901 Will of Sir Joseph Pulley of Lower Eaton, in Hereford. Probate for the Will of John Alsager Collett of 31 Egerton Terrace, Brompton Road, in Middlesex stated that he died at 3 Courtfield Gardens in London. Administration of his personal effects valued at £985 1 Shilling 1d was granted to Guy Collett Vaughan-Morgan, Company Director, and Harry James Shepard, a solicitor

William Collett [4N27] was born at Westbourne Park in London in 1869, the eldest of the two sons of William Collett and his wife Mary Helen Cooke. It was also at Westbourne Park that he died ten years later in 1879

CHARLES BENJAMIN COLLETT [4N28] was born on 10^th September 1871 at 33 Tavistock Crescent, Westbourne Park in London. A double tragedy hit his family when Charles was still a child. First, when he was eight years old, his brother William (above) died, and then five years after that Charles’ father died while the family was living at Exeter Road in New Market in Suffolk, his father having been a race-horse journalist working for the Sporting Life magazine. Charles married Ethelwyn May Simon in 1896 and she died at Swindon on 18^th March 1923, never having produced the baby that Charles so dearly wanted to complete his family

The census in 1911 confirmed that Charles Benjamin Collett, who was 39, was living at Swindon with his thirty-five years old wife Ethelwyn May Collett. Rumour has it that she was a very religious lady and devoted her life to her religious beliefs and would never have found time, nor the patience for any children. That in turn made her husband a very unhappy man for much of their married life and was possibly the main reason behind his devotion to the railways. Even his spare time was spent in the pursuit of Great Western Railway activities. Charles Benjamin Collett was the Chief Mechanical Engineer with the Great Western Railway at Swindon from January 1922 until his retirement in July 1941. It was just over a year after he took up the job at Swindon when his wife passed away. At that time in March 1923 the childless couple was residing at 5 Church Place in Swindon, and it was on 10^th May that same year that the administration of the personal effects of Ethelwyn May Collett was completed in London, naming her husband Charles Benjamin Collett, engineer, as the sole beneficiary of her £1,724 5 Shillings 3d estate

However, he had first joined the GWR in May 1893 as a junior draughtsman and by 1898 he had secured the post of Chief Draughtsman. In 1900 he became Technical Inspector at the Swindon Locomotive Works and in the same year he became Assistant Manager. He was appointed to the post of Deputy Chief Mechanical Engineer in May 1919. That enabled him to take over from the designer George Jackson Churchward on his retirement at the end of 1921. Charles designed and built the Castle Class of steam locomotives in 1923, but his best was yet to come, in the form of the Kings Class locomotives, which he designed and built in 1927. In 1930 he began the development of the first diesel railway engines, although it was many years thereafter that they were eventually introduced. The King Class No 6023 King Edward II was the flagship locomotive of Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s legendary Great Western Railway and was the most powerful of the King Class type locomotives to operate in Britain. The loco has recently been fully restored at Didcot as a tribute to its designer, Charles Benjamin Collett

Richard Croucher the Chairman of the Great Western Society said ‘Charles Collett developed the Edwardian four-cylinder Star class locomotive design through the 1920s, firstly with the Castle class that set new standards of economy in coal consumption. Then to the full extent in the King class which were the Great Western's most powerful express passenger locomotives. Under Collett's management the GWR's Swindon Works had an unrivalled reputation for the quality of its products, and we seek to maintain this legacy with our collection at Didcot.

Charles Collett received his early education at the Merchant Taylors School at Charterhouse Square in London, before studying at The London University City & Guilds College. Between 1921 and 1928 he was a magistrate and received the Order of the British Empire [OBE] for his efforts producing munitions during the First World War. He was a Member of the Institute of Civil Engineers and a member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers. From 1924 his assistant at Swindon was William Stanier, who later became Sir William Stanier. While in Swindon he resided at the western end of Bristol Street in a housing facing towards Church Place. Following his retirement in the summer of 1941, he returned to London and lived in the house he owned at 32 The Downs in Wimbledon, where he died on 23^rd August 1952. The funeral was a very quiet affair with no family in attendance, although present were other great railway engineer designers of that time excluding Hawksworth, Stanier and Pole. His Will was proved in London on 6^th November that year, when his estate of £1,987 13 Shillings 10d was administer by the widow Gladys Isabel Osborne Leonard. It is now known that Gladys was born on 28^th May 1882 at Lytham St Anne’s in Lancashire, and that she died at Broadstairs on 10^th March 1968. It is therefore possible that she was Charles’ companion during his later life

In 1930 he signed the Certificate of Apprenticeship of William Henry John Collett (Ref. 1Q11) who, at that time was living at 7 Bathampton Street in Swindon, close to where Charles Benjamin Collett was the occupant of The Engineer’s House. Swindon Borough Council took the usual step of naming a street after Charles in 1938 when he was still in office at the GWR. Collett Avenue in Rodbourne Cheney runs parallel with Churchward Avenue

Henry Haines Collett [4N29], who was known as Harry, was born at Earls Court, Kensington in London in 1873, the eldest of the three children of Thomas Clay Collett and Sarah Caroline Grace Butler. His birth was recorded at Kensington (Ref. 1a 100) during the first months of that year. In 1881 he was living with his family at 52 Eardley Crescent in Earls Court, where he and his parents were still living in 1891, when 17-year-old Harry H Collett was working as a clerk in an insurance office. During his life outside of his work, he was an author, a playwright and keen genealogist. The marriage of Henry Haines Collett and Gwendoline Blanche Fletcher was recorded at the Lancashire Ormskirk register office (Ref. 8b 85) during the last quarter of 1903. In April 1911 Harry Haines Collett from Earls Court was thirty-eight and an insurance superintendent, who was living at Hammersmith Mansions in West Hammersmith with his wife Gwendoline Blanche Collett who was 28 and from Maidstone in Kent, who had been born on 24^th March 1883. Staying with the couple was Henry’s married brother Vivian Collett (below), aged 36, who also gave his place of birth as Earls Court. Their missing daughter Marjorie, would have been three or four years old but was not listed with the couple on that occasion. His father Thomas Clay Collett died in France in 1916, and it was at the Villa Clara on Boulevard Cannet in Cannes that his mother Sarah Caroline Grace Collett nee Butler died on 23^rd August 1924 at the age of 59. Her estate of £1,733 3 Shillings 9 Pence was recorded at the time of the proving of her Will in London on 15^th October 1924, as being shared by her two sons Harry Haines Collett, who was described as an insurance official, and Vivian Collett

During the early 1930s Henry was contacted by women’s right campaigner Clara Elizabeth Collett (Ref. 17O5) who expressed an interest in writing a book about the Collett family. The details of the life of Clara Elizabeth Collett can be found in Part 17 – The Maldon Essex Line. Over the next few years, they worked together on the project in Clara’s house at 61 Swains Lane, overlooking Highgate Cemetery in London. Their combined work culminated in the publication of ‘The History of the Collett Family’ in 1935 which was based on the earlier work of Henry Haines Collett and Bernard Collett (Ref. 14O50) who together, had produced the Family Tree for the Colletts of Upper Slaughter, a copy of which was lodged with the British Library. Henry Haines Collett died in 1952 at the age of 79, his death recorded at the Surrey South Eastern register office (Ref. 5g 49) during the last three months of the year. Twenty-five years later, his widow was living in the Yorkshire area of the country, when the death of Gwendoline Blanche Collett, nee Fletcher, was recorded at Hull register office (Ref. 7 83) at the end of 1977

FOOTNOTE: The wife of Harry Haines Collett who died at Glenside in Caterham, Surrey, on 12^th October 1949 was named as Cicily Joan Collett. Administration of her considerable estate of £5,903 10 Shillings 1 Penny, was granted to Harry Haines Collett, an insurance broker, and Andrew Padbury Twitchin, a wine merchant. That may be an indication Henry Haines Collett was married twice in his life, and perhaps was later divorced from his first wife

4O8 – Marjorie Collett was born in 1907 at Fulham, London

4O9 – Anthony Alsagar Collett was born in 1912 at Fulham, London

Madelaine Grace Collett [4N30] was born at Earls Court, Kensington in 1874, her birth recorded at Kensington (Ref. 1a 350) during the second quarter of that year. By 1881 she was living with her family at 52 Eardley Crescent in Earls Court. She was privately educated and in 1891, at the age of 16, she was one of just six live-in pupils at a Margate school managed by elderly unmarried sisters Emily and Clare Ninnis on Ethelbert Road in the town. Ten years later, and with no occupation, Madelaine G Collett from Earls Court, was 26 and a visitor to a large establishment in Kensington, the home of the McDowell family employing eight servants. married Richard Lester and, at some point in her life, they emigrated to South Africa where, in 1916, she died at Durban

Vivian Collett [4N31] was born at Earls Court, Kensington in 1875, it being at Kensington where his birth was recorded (Ref. 1a 177) during the last three months of that year. He was the last child born to Thomas Clay Collett and his wife Sarah Caroline Grace Butler. In 1881 he was living with his family at 52 Eardley Crescent in Earls Court and was 15 in 1891 when he was attending a boarding school on Colney Hatch Lane in Friern Barnet, Middlesex. The marriage after the reading of banns of Vivian Collett, aged 30, and (1) Hilda Claire Willoughby Hemans, aged 27, took place on 20^th January 1906, and recorded at Kensington register office (Ref. 1a 267). Vivian was a civil servant in Transvaal, residing at Warwick Gardens, and was the son of Thomas Clay Collett, while Hilda was the daughter of Alfred George Willoughby Hemans, and was staying at the Prince of Wales Hotel in South Kensington. One of the witnesses was Vivian’s sister Grace Collett (above). However, by 11^th November 1910, Vivian Collett of 137 Hamlet Gardens, Ravenscourt Park, in London, of no occupation, had filed for divorce, the respondent named as Hilda Claire Willoughby Hemans Collett, otherwise Hemans, spinster, of Eagle Towers, Southsea, in Hampshire, by reason of the incapacity of the respondent to consummate the marriage

Six months later, the census in 1911, listed Vivian Collett, as a married man from Earls Court, who was 36 with no stated occupation, who was staying at Hammersmith Mansions, in West Hammersmith, at the home of his married brother Harry Haines Collett (above) and his wife Gwendoline Blanche Collett. Three weeks later, the decree nisi was confirmed at the High Court of Justice on 26^th April 1911, with the final decree granted on 6^th November 1911. It was Hilda who was the first to marry for a second time, when she married Desmond G Fitzgerald in Kensington during the first three months of 1912. For Vivian, it was towards the end of 1912, that he married (2) Florence Elsie Gleadow (born in 1877), their wedding day recorded at Kensington register office (Ref. 1a 342) during the last three months of 1912. That second marriage for Vivian produced three children while, back in 1911, his parents were living in France, where his father Thomas Clay Collett died in 1916. However, Vivian’s mother Sarah Caroline Grace Collett, nee Butler, was residing at Villa Clara on Boulevard Cannet in Cannes when she passed away on 23^rd August 1924, with Vivian named as a beneficiary under the terms of her Will, which was proved in London on 15^th October 1924. Her estate of £1,733 3 Shillings and 9 Pence was shared with his brother Harry Haines Collett (above), at a time in his life when Vivian’s occupation was that of a temporary civil servant

After the First World War, Vivian and Florence took up residence in Worcester in a grand detached house ‘Marlbank’ on Rainbow Hill, where their daughter was born, and where they remain for the rest of their lives. It was at Worcester register office (Ref. 9d 11) that the death of Florence E Collett was recorded during the second quarter of 1949, when she was 71. After four-and-half years as a widower, the death of Vivian Collett was also recorded there (Ref. 9d 125) during the last three months of 1953, at the age of 77

4O10 – Richard Gleadow Collett was born in 1913 at Alderbury, Wiltshire

4O11 – John Gleadow Collett was born in 1915 at Alderbury, Wiltshire

4O12 – Dorothy Vivienne Collett was born in 1919 at Worcester

Mary Blundell [4N32], was referred to as Mamie, and was born at Chediston in Suffolk on 26^th November 1871. She sailed to New Zealand with her parents in 1887 where she married Robert Joseph Allely on 18^th October 1892 at Auckland. Joseph was born on 25^th December 1867 and died at Auckland on 17^th February 1968, where Mary also died twenty years earlier on 11^th July 1948. The marriage produced just five children, Joseph Calvert Allely (who was born in 1895), Brian Andrews Allely (who was born in 1897), Ethel Sarah Allely (who was born in 1900), Elspeth Mary Allely (who was born in 1904 and who died in 1937), and Margaret Josephine Allely (who was born in 1910). It is of interest that a direct descendent of Mamie Allely is the New Zealand cricketer Daniel Luca Vettori who was born on 27^th January 1979 and who is only the eighth player in Test history to take 300 wickets and score 3,000 runs

Arthur Oscar Blundell [4N33] was born at Wissett in Suffolk on 20^th January 1873. He sailed to New Zealand with his parents in 1887 and it was there that he became a minister and where he married Janet Dryden on 17^th March 1899. Janet was born on 24^th February 1871 and died on 15^th April 1960. Arthur died thirty-five years earlier on 11^th November 1925 at Mount Egmont in Taranaki. Their three children were John Dryden Blundell (who was born in 1900), Arthur Hope Blundell (who was born in 1901), and Estelle Mary Blundell (who was born in 1912 and who died in 1921)

Adah Eliza Blundell [4N34] was born at Wissett on 28^th December 1875. She sailed to New Zealand with her parents in 1887 where, just prior to her twentieth birthday, she married Thomas Calvert Allely on 31^st October 1895. It seems very likely that Thomas was the brother of Robert Allely who married Adah’s sister Mary Blundell. There were no children for the couple who both died at Auckland; Thomas on 24^th January 1950 and Adah thirteen years later on 3^rd October 1963

Ethel Annie Blundell [4N35] was born at Wissett on 2^nd August 1877. She sailed to New Zealand with her parents in 1887 where there is no record that she ever married. And so it was, that she was still Ethel Annie Blundell when she died on 22^nd June 1962 at Auckland and was buried at Hillsborough Cemetery where her mother was also buried

Wilfred Andrews Blundell [4N36] was born at Wissett on 20^th August 1879. He sailed to New Zealand with his parents in 1887 and attended the Wellesley St School in Auckland. On leaving school he took up the job of drover and later worked on Woodlands farm in North Road at Clevedon, where he met Sarah Elizabeth Whitford. Sarah was born on 30^th September 1884 at Turanga Creek in Whitford and was employed as a nurse maid at Woodlands. Without the approval of his parents Wilfred married Sarah at Howick on 30^th October 1906, but any family rift was overcome at a later date when his parents paid an extended return visit to England, leaving Wilfred in sole charge of their farm at Oropi, Bay of Plenty, North Island. It was while at Oropi that Wilfred and Sarah’s first five children were born. On his parents return, Wilfred and his family moved to Whitford where Sarah’s mother lived, before moving yet again to Pakuranga before finally purchasing the Woodlands farms where the couple had first met. The money to purchase Woodlands came from an inheritance from an uncle in England. At some time in his later life Wilfred suffered from a serious accident when he fell from a horse. That happened at Brookby and he was unconscious for several weeks and was unable to resume work for four years. Thereafter he never really enjoyed a healthy life and eventually died of a heart condition on 23^rd March 1946, when he was living at Uxbridge Road in Howich. Two days later on 25^th May 1946 he was buried at the Hillsborough Cemetery in Auckland. He was a kind and gentle man and always wore a neck tie to sit at the dinner table. He was a music lover which he inherited from his mother and had a good signing voice

It is only the couple’s eldest child who has been taken forward, taking us to his daughter Judith Ann, who has been a major contribution of family details. The couple’s seven younger children are as follows: Stanley Hugh Blundell was born at Oropi in New Zealand in 1908 and he married Phyllis Holmes who was born in 1912, and with whom he had four children. John Holmes Blundell (was born in 1935), Diana Mary Blundell (was born in 1938), David Lawrence Blundell (was born in 1944), and Linda Jean Blundell (was born in 1946); Ethel Marion Blundell was born at Oropi in 1910 where she married Norman Ronald Gibbs who was also born in 1910. The married produced five children and they were Joan Elizabeth Gibbs (born in 1937), Marilyn Rose Gibbs (born in 1939), Alan Whitford Gibbs (born in 1941), Graham Rodier Gibbs (born in 1944), and Robert Norman Gibbs (born in 1946); Vera Hight Blundell was born at Oropi in 1913 where she married Augustus George Andrews. Augustus, who was also born in 1913, seems likely to be a descendant of the Andrews family of Burwell in Suffolk (see Ref. 4N2), and they too may have emigrated to New Zealand around the time that Arthur Blundell and Sarah Andrews did so in 1887. Vera and Augustus had four children Glenise Elizabeth Andrews (born in 1942), Geoffrey Blundell Andrews (born in 1945), Janet Margaret Andrews (born in 1946), and Richard Grosvenor Andrews (born in 1947); Alfred Edward Martin Blundell was born in New Zealand in 1915 and it was there that he died in 2004. He married Mary Jeanette Duder who was born in 1917 and who died in 2006. Alfred and Mary had four children and they were Mary Jeanette Blundell (born in 1940), Marie Kathleen Blundell (born in 1941), Pamela Elizabeth Blundell (born in 1943), and Wilfred Ronald Blundell (born in 1946); John Carruthers Blundell was born in New Zealand in 1917 where he married Jessie Helen McKenzie and, together, they had six children. John McKenzie Blundell (was born in 1944), Peter Andrews Blundell (was born in 1946), Susan Mary Blundell (was born in 1947), Anthony Whitford Blundell (was born in 1949), Guy Carruthers Blundell (was born in 1952), and Rowan Hugh Blundell (was born in 1959). John Carruthers Blundell died during 2011 at the age of 94; Joan Andrews Blundell was born in New Zealand in 1919 and she married Murray Ewen with whom she had a daughter Rosemary Ewen born in 1952. In January 2013 Joan Ewen is living in Australia at the age of 93; and finally, Wilma Elizabeth Blundell who was born in New Zealand during 1930 and who married David Bone with whom she had a son Christopher Bone born in 1958 and a daughter Helen Bone born in 1960. Wilma Bone, who is better known as Elizabeth Bone, was still living in New Zealand in 2013, at the age of 82

4O13 - Whitford Henry Andrews Blundell who was born in 1907 at Oropi, New Zealand

Sarah Zillah Blundell [4N37] was born in England on 23^rd February 1882 and lived at Wissett Lodge in the village of Wissett in Suffolk, prior to the family sailing to New Zealand in 1887. She married Gerard Lane on 17^th March 1904. Gerald was born in 1878 and died in 1958 at Weymouth in New Zealand. Sarah died three years later at Auckland on 17^th June 1961. Sarah and Gerard had just three children, Gerard Blundell Lane (who was born in 1908 who married Violet), Zillah Dorothy Tennant Lane (who was born in 1912, who died in 1992, and who married Nicholas Gibbons), and Shirley Taplin Lane (who was born in 1917 and who married Bevin Collins)

Hugh King Blundell [4N38] was born on 21^st October 1884 in England, three years before the family sailed to New Zealand. Little else is known about Hugh except that he never married and died in Auckland during 1976

Mabel Cora Collett [4O1] was born in Dublin on 3^rd March 1912, the eldest of the two children of William Edward Hartigan Collett and Belinda Henrietta Clara Buller. She was thirty-five when she married Henry (Harry) Stuart of Blackthorns in Stillorgan, County Dublin, on 16^th July 1947, the marriage producing three children for the couple. Harry was born on 9^th September 1893 and his marriage to Mabel was his second, his first wife having presented him with six children before tragically she was killed while running for a train. During the First World War Harry was a sergeant with the Irish Horse who saw action in France. Henry Stuart died on 14^th December 1978, while it was nearly twenty-four years later that Mabel Cora Stuart nee Collett died during the month of September in 2003. Their three children were William Edward Stuart, who was born on 23^rd June 1949 and who died on 12^th August 2012, survived by his wife and four children, James Henry Stuart, who was born on 21^st September 1951 and who died on 25^th June 2002 never having been married, and Linda Patricia Stuart who is married and has two children. It is thanks to the information received from Linda in the autumn of 2012 that this branch of the family has now been developed

William John Collett [4O2], who was known as Jack, was born in Dublin on 28^th October 1914 in Dublin, the youngest child of William and Belinda Collett. Like his sister Mabel (above), it was also later in his life that Jack married Margaret Mary (Peggy) Purcell in Dublin on 25^th April 1957, as a result of which there were no children. Just after they were married William and Margaret travelled to New Zealand on board the liner Dominion Monarch in 1957 and arrived in Auckland on 2^nd July 1957, where they both joined the New Zealand Public service. William was an accomplished pianist and played in various dance bands, and also played at weddings and other functions. After being married for just twenty-four years and six months William John Collett died on 19^th October 1981 (Ref. 1981/48467)

Bessie Kathleen Collett [4O3] was born at Palmerston North during 1922, the first of the five known children of Rickford Edward Francis Collett and Wilmott Kathleen Palmer. In her father’s Will, made in 1951, Bessie was confirmed as being married, when she was referred to as Bessie Kathleen Whittaker, the first of his children listed in the document. Bessie was 76 when she died at Chiswick Park Home in Palmerston North on 8^th July 1998, after which she was buried five days later at the Kelvin Grove Cemetery. The record of her death (Ref. 1998/13538) described her a home maker, whose address was at 4 Paisley Street in Palmerston North

Rex Rickford John Collett [4O4] was born at Palmerston North in 1924 and was around twenty-seven years of age when his father made his Will in 1951, five years before he died. Rex was a pay clerk and, at the time of his passing, his home at 46 Sutherland Crescent in Palmerston North, although when he died on 26^th December 2003 he was recorded as being at 70 Pitama Road in Palmerston North, perhaps visiting a relative or friend. He was 80 years of age and was cremated at the Kelvin Grove cemetery and Crematorium in Palmerston North. His death was recorded under the registration number 2004/364

Joan Collett [4O6] was born at Palmerston North in 1930 and was the fourth child named in her father’s Will of 1951, by which time she was married and was Joan Jones. The death of Joan Jones (Ref. 2015/4752) was recorded on 22^nd February 2015 when she was 85. It was at the Radius Peppertree Care Centre on 103 Roberts Line in Palmerston North that she was living at the time of her death, after which she was cremated at the Kelvin Grove Cemetery and Crematorium. Her stated occupation was that of a machinist

Frank Nelson Collett [4O7] was born at Palmerston North in 1930, and may have been the twin brother of his sister Joan (above), and the last child of Rickford and Wilmott Collett. He was only twenty-six when his father passed away, with the name of Frank Nelson Collett being the fifth child listed in his Will made five years earlier. Frank Nelson Collett was eighty years old when he died on 10^th March 2010 while residing in the Arohanui Hospice at 1 Heretaunga Street in Palmerston North. He was cremated at Kelvin Grove Cemetery and Crematorium, while the address of his last residence before entering the hospice was 100A Fairs Road in Palmerston North. The death certificate gave his occupation as that of a hardware store executive

Marjorie Collett [4O8] was born at Fulham in London on 4^th July 1907, the eldest of the two known children of Henry Haines Collett and his wife Gwendoline Blanche Fletcher. The birth of Marjorie Collett was recorded at Fulham register office (Ref. 1a 301). Following the death of her father in 1952, his Will referred to his daughter as Marjorie Hopton. However, it was on 28^th January 1928 at Fulham in London that she first married (1) Ernest William Bayliss. Whether she was later divorced from Ernest Bayliss or whether he passed away or was killed during the Second World War is not yet known. All that is currently known about her is that she died around 1994. Further information may be forthcoming from Richard Trinkner of Boulder in Colorado, USA, who is a third cousin twice removed of Marjorie Hopton nee Collett. There is a possibility that her second husband was Andrew Padbury Twitchin, a wine merchant who, with her father Harry Haines Collett was named as a joint executor of the estate of Cicily Joan Collett in 1950

Anthony Alsagar Collett [4O9] was born at Fulham, where his birth was recorded (Ref. 1a 55) during the first three months of 1912, when his mother’s maiden name was confirmed as Fletcher. He was the second child of Henry Haines Collett and Gwendoline Blanche Fletcher. It was during the first quarter of 1935, when the marriage of Anthony A Collett and Doreen McQuaide was recorded at Fulham register office (Ref. 1a 147). Virtually nine months after their wedding day, Doreen presented Anthony with their only known child. Nothing more is known about the family, except that it is established that Anthony A Collett, who was born in 1912, died in Swindon where his death was recorded (Ref. 7c 50) during the last three months of 1954, at the age of 42

4P1 – Michael S D Collett was born in 1935 in Surrey

Richard Gleadow Collett [4O10] was born on 7^th December 1913 at Alderbury in Wiltshire, his birth recorded at Salisbury register office (Ref. 5a 112) during the fourth quarter of that year, the eldest of the three children of Vivian Collett by his second wife Florence. The record of his birth confirmed that his mother’s maiden name was Gleadow. The marriage of Richard G Collett and Dorothy M Stockwell was recorded at Colchester register office (Ref. 4a 127) during the third quarter of 1939. The marriage register signed on 18^th September 1939 confirmed that Richard was the son of Vivian Collett and that Dorothy May was the daughter of Hugh Charles Stockwell. It was also at Colchester that Richard and Dorothy were still living and where the death of Richard Gleadow was recorded (Ref. 4691b) in 2001, when he was 97

John Gleadow Collett [4O11] was born on 16^th August 1915 at Alderbury, where he was baptised on 2^nd October 1915, another son of Vivian and Florence Elsie Collett. John married Hazel M Austin (1922-1998) and was living in Devon when he died at the age of 74, with his death recorded at Tavistock register office towards the end of 1989. The marriage of John and Hazel produced two daughters, the first of them being Janita H G Collett whose birth was recorded at Worcester register office (Ref. 9d 395) during the third quarter of 1946, the second being Gayle M Collett at the Shropshire Bridgnorth register office (Ref. 9a 159) during the first three months of 1949. On both occasions, the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett. Sometime after their family was completed, the family of four settled in the Tavistock area of Devon, where the eldest daughter was later married

4P2 – Janita H G Collett was born in 1946 in Worcester

4P3 – Gayle M Collett was born in 1949 in Bridgnorth, Shropshire

Dorothy Vivienne Collett [4O12] was born in 1919 at ‘Marlbank’ on Rainbow Hill in Worcester, her birth recorded at Worcester register office (Ref. 6c 23) during the second quarter of 1919, when her mother’s maiden name was confirmed as Gleadow. The marriage of Dorothy V Collett and Maurice C Hale (1922-2011) was recorded with the Index of Army Marriages (Ref. 59 4393) and published in the British Nationals Armed Forces Marriages 1795 - 2005, with their wedding conducted at Ancona, Marche, in Italy during 1946. The marriage resulted in the birth of three children, the first two in the Willesden area of London, the last in Ealing when, in each case, the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett. They were Pamela Hale, whose birth was recorded at Willesden register office (Ref. 5f 440) during the second quarter of 1948, as was that of Peter Hale (Ref. 5f 407) during the third quarter of 1950, and Vivienne Hale, whose birth was recorded at Ealing register office (Ref. 5e 19) during the third quarter of 1960. Dorothy V Hale died during 1997, while Maurice Charles Hale died at Albury in Hertfordshire on 14^th April 2011, his death recorded at Ware register office. Their daughter Pamela Hale married David Richard Brownsea (1944-2006)

Whitford Henry Andrews Blundell [4O13] was born at Oropi in the Bay of Plenty, North Island, New Zealand in 1907. He was the eldest of the eight children of Wilfred Andrews Blundell and Whitford. He later married Marjorie Stephens who was born in 1906 and who died in 1966, while Whitford lived on for a further fifteen years

4P3 - Judith Anne Blundell was born in 1936 in New Zealand

Michael S D Collett [4P1] was born in 1935, the only known child of Anthony Alsagar Collett and Doreen McQuaide, his birth recorded at Surrey North Eastern register office (Ref. 2a 69) during the third quarter of 1935, when the mother’s maiden name was confirmed as McQuaide. It would seem that Michael may have been married twice in his life, unless there were two men with exactly the same name. The first marriage of Michael S D Collett and (1) Diana J Pratt was recorded at the London Ealing register office (Ref. 5e 2) during the second quarter of 1954, when he would have been only nineteen. The second marriage of Michael S D Collett and (2) Denise M Eaton was recorded at St Pancras register office (Ref. 5d 116) during the third quarter of 1964, at the age of 29. The first of those marriages resulted in the birth of two children, the births of whom were also recorded at Ealing, when the mother’s maiden name was Pratt

4Q1 – Stephen M Collett was born in 1954 at Ealing, London

4Q2 – Sandra E D Collett was born in 1955 at Ealing, London

Janita H G Collett[4P2] was born in Worcestershire, with her birth recorded at Worcester register office (Ref. 9d 395) during the third quarter of 1946. Shortly after she was born, the family moved to Shropshire, where her younger sister was born, before settling in Devon. It was at Tavistock register office that the marriage of Janita H G Collett and Richard H Elton was recorded (Ref. 7a 1747) during the second quarter of 1969. The births of the couple’s two children were recorded at Wandsworth register office in London, where the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett. They were Lucy Josephine Elton (Ref. 5e 1456) during the third quarter of 1971, and Amy Catherine Elton (Ref. 5e 1490) during the last three months of 1973

Judith Anne Blundell [4P3] was born in New Zealand during 1936 and she married John Leighton Stichbury who was born in 1928, but who died in 1995. Judith and John had four sons who were Warwick Stephen Stichbury (born in 1960, who married Mrs Jill Kelly nee Andrews), Neil Gordon Stichbury (born in 1962 who married Penelope Sarah Warwick), Philip Leighton Stichbury (born in 1966 who married Mary Ellen Clark), and Paul Jeremy Stichbury (who was born in 1968)

APPENDIX

THE POLITICAL LIFE OF EBENEZER JOHN COLLETT 1755 to 1833 [4K6]

of Lockers House, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire

He was the Member of Parliament for Grampound in Cornwall from 13^th July 1814 until its abolition in 1818 for reasons of corruption. Thereafter he was the MP for Cashell in Ireland from 4^th March 1819 until-1830. Throughout his life John mistakenly claimed to be a descendant of Dean John Colet, the humanist and founder of St Paul’s School for Boys, whose family line is detailed in Part 18 – The Suffolk line, when in fact his grandfather, the Reverend Joseph Collett, was heir to the Colletts of Broadwell in Gloucestershire. His father Joseph Collett settled at Hemel Hempstead, where the family remained until 1871. John contested the parliamentary seat at Grimsby unsuccessfully in 1812, but was returned on a vacancy for Grampound two years later on the interest of Sir Christopher Hawkins. He supported administration without speaking and apart from votes on 31^st May in 1815 and 24^th May in 1816, he did not appear as a regular ministerialist until 1818, though he was also in the majorities of 7^th February and 23^rd June in 1817.

He voted against Catholic relief on 21^st May in 1816 and 9^th May in 1817, and also against Lord Brougham's motion to promote the education of the poor on 3^rd June 1818. Defeated at Grampound in 1818, he was found a seat by the Right Honourable Sir Robert Peel for Cashell, as he had given ‘a never-failing support’ and was ‘a Protestant’. He duly voted against Catholic relief again on 3^rd May in 1819. He was in the minority on the Marriage Act amendment bill on 26^th April 1819, but voted with ministers that same year on 18^th May, 10^th June and 23^rd December. Though he never went to Ireland in his life, he held his seat until 1830. He paid £500 at each election and refused a baronetcy, according to a family account