PART
FORTY-SIX
The
Charlton-on-Otmoor (Oxon) Area Line 1650 to 1870
Updated September 2024
This is the first of two sections of
this family line
Fencott, Murcott and Oddington all lie
within one mile of Charlton-on-Otmoor
New information provided by Stephen
Collett (Ref. 46Q93) in 2019 indicates that William Collett,
who previously started the family line,
was born at North Aston, midway between Banbury and Oxford.
Certainly, the names of his sibling bear
a close resemblance to the names given to his own children.
In the earlier versions of this file,
there was possible confusion regarding the children
of Richard Collett and Ann Faulkner
(Ref. 46M14) and those of Richard Collett and
Ann Grove Sturch (Ref. 46N2), with the
births and baptisms of their children
recorded at Bicester and
Charlton-on-Otmoor during the same decades.
Hopefully this has now been resolved in
the 2019 issue of the file
The October 2015 re-issue of this family
line incorporated the family of George Thomas Collett,
whose details were previously included
in Section 3 of the Appendix at the end of the second file.
It is thanks to Hannah Rachel Collett
(Ref. 46T2) that this switch has been achieved,
with Hannah’s family line now
highlighted by the names in italics
This is the family line of Stephen
Collett (Ref. 46Q93) who kindly provided
much of the early information and whose
family line is depicted by the names in capitals
It is also the line of Stephen John
Busby (Ref. 46P78) who kindly provided the initial information,
whose family line is depicted by the
names that are underlined
It is hoped that, in time, this line
will be connected to the other Oxfordshire lines
The major update of the file in December
2010 was thanks to
Janet Wood (Ref. 46Q41) and her aunt
Edith Ballard nee Collett (Ref. 46Q44),
and with the file becoming much larger
during 2011 it was split into two sections
46I1 |
John Collett would have been born during the
second half of the seventeenth century and was a farmer referred to as the
tenant of a messuage in North Aston in the Will of Robert Fox of Middle Aston
when he died in 1694 (source: transcripts of Oxfordshire wills). It is now known that he was NOT the father
of William Collett of North Aston, as previously reported here. Following some independent research by
Nicholas Collett (Ref. 46R31), it is possible that John’s wife was Elizabeth
Meyhew who was born on 30th June 1652 at Bythorn in
Huntingdonshire, near the county boundary with Northamptonshire. The death of an Elizabeth Collett, recorded
at Banbury on 17th September 1721, may well be the wife of John
Collett, while a later death at North Aston on 23rd May 1755 of
another Elizabeth Collett could be the sister of the aforementioned
William. |
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46I2 |
WILLIAM COLLETT was
possibly a brother of John Collett of North Aston, and may have also been
born there. The marriage of William Collett and Elizabeth Taft
took place at Aynho, a few miles north-east of North Aston in 1679, when they
were both described as being from or of North Aston. William was later buried at St Mary’s Church
in North Aston during 1741, and Elizabeth was also buried there in 1755. She was the daughter of William Taft and
Joane Stowe who were married at Great Tew. |
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The
first three children listed here are the confirmed off-spring of William Collett
and Elizabeth Taft who were baptised at St Mary’s Church in North Aston,
while the last two have been added by reason that they were married at
Bloxham around the same time that their son William was married there. The latter birth years are only estimated. |
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46J1 |
Joseph Collett |
Born in 1685
at North Aston, Oxon |
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46J2 |
Elizabeth Collett |
Born in 1687
at North Aston, Oxon |
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46J3 |
WILLIAM COLLETT |
Born in 1689
at North Aston, Oxon |
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46J4 |
Matthew Collett |
Born in 1691
at North Aston, Oxon |
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46J52 |
Elizabeth Collett |
Born in 1693
at North Aston, Oxon |
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46J3 |
WILLIAM COLLETT was born and baptised at North Aston in 1689, the third
known child of William Collett and Elizabeth Taft. This new information was received from Karen
Musilová in March 2023, who also has established that the marriage of William
Collett and Mary Bellow was conducted at Bloxham near Banbury in 1719. Unless Mary Bellow was around ten years
younger than William, it would not be very likely that she was the mother of
William’s youngest children born in the 1730s. Therefore, had she been the same age as
William, the birth of his younger children may come from a second marriage to
another Mary. |
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It
is believed that Mary Bellow was born at Kempsford, near Whelford, an
established location for the Collett family.
It may also be significant that the only record of Collett children
given the name Beata, were born in Gloucestershire, the youngest child of
William and Mary having that name, while all their children were baptised at
St Mary’s Church in North Aston in Oxfordshire. One unverified source suggests that William
Collett of North Aston, born there in 1689, died on 28th December
1741, while that year is also the year that his father died at North Aston. |
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There
is a story, handed down through the generations of this family, that William
Collett took on a farm of his own before reaching full-age. The story continues that had been working
the land for a few weeks when his father turned up, to see how he was getting
on. Arriving unexpectedly, he was told
by one of the farm hands that his son was in the field, ploughing with a
horse. His father then remonstrated
with him for undertaking the ploughing himself when he could employ a man to
do it for a few pence. It was said,
that from that day, William did no more work himself, but employed others to
do it for him. |
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46K1 |
Elizabeth Collett |
Born in 1720
at North Aston, Oxon |
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46K2 |
Joseph Collett |
Born in 1722
at North Aston, Oxon |
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46K3 |
Kathryn Collett |
Born in 1723
at North Aston, Oxon |
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46K4 |
WILLIAM
Collett |
Born in 1725
at North Aston, Oxon |
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46K5 |
Richard Collett |
Born in 1727
at North Aston, Oxon |
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46K6 |
Mary Collett |
Born in 1729
at North Aston, Oxon |
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46K7 |
Anna Maria Collett |
Born in 1732
at North Aston, Oxon |
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46K8 |
Ralph
Collett |
Born in 1734
at North Aston, Oxon |
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46K9 |
Beata Collett |
Born in 1738
at North Aston, Oxon |
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46K1 |
Elizabeth Collett was born at North Aston in
Oxfordshire, either at the end of 1719 or early in 1720. It was also at North Aston, where she was
baptised on 10th April 1720, the eldest of the nine known children
of William Collett and Mary Bellow. It
is possible, although not proved, that she may have later married Samuel
Wheeler on 17th November 1749, just north of North Aston, at
Bloxham, near Banbury. |
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46K2 |
Joseph Collett was born at North Aston and was
baptised there on 11th June 1722, the eldest son of William and
Mary Collett. |
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46K3 |
Kathryn Collett was born at North Aston and it was
there that she was baptised on 10th November 1723, another child
of William and Mary Collett. |
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46K4 |
WILLIAM COLLETT was born at North Aston in 1725, where he was baptised
on 24th October 1725, another son of William and Mary Collett. He was around twenty-one when he married
Mary Freeman at Charlton-on-Otmoor during 1746. Mary may have been baptised at Bicester on
14th September 1724, the daughter of Thomas Freeman. It is established from the parish records
that the marriage produced at least four of the five children named below for
William and Mary and all born at Fencott.
The settlements of Fencott, and neighbouring Murcott, had no church of
their own so all baptisms, marriages, and burials for the area, were
conducted at the Parish Church of St-Mary-the-Virgin in
Charlton-on-Otmoor. William’s wife
Mary died at Fencott in 1795 and was buried at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 12th
December 1795 and the parish register recorded that she was the wife of
William Collett. William lived the
life of a widower for almost another ten years after Mary’s passing, before
he too died at Fencott in 1805 and was likewise buried at Charlton on 17th
February 1805. |
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46L1 |
William Collett |
Born in 1748
at Fencott |
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46L2 |
Richard
Collett |
Born in 1752
at Fencott |
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46L3 |
Mary Collett |
Born in 1755
at Fencott |
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46L4 |
Joseph
Collett |
Born in 1758
at Fencott |
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46L5 |
John Collett |
Born in 1761
at Fencott |
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46K5 |
Richard Collett was born at North Aston in 1727 and
was baptised there on 20th November 1727, another son of William
and Mary Collett. |
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46K6 |
Mary Collett may have been born at the end of 1728
at North Aston, where she was baptised on 25th January 1729,
another daughter of William and Mary Collett.
It is understood that Mary never married and that she died at
Chedworth in Gloucestershire in 1813 at the age of 85. |
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46K7 |
Anna Maria Collett was born at North Aston during the
first half of 1732 and was baptised at St Mary’s Church in North Aston in
August that same year, another son of William and Mary Collett. |
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46K8 |
Ralph
Collett was born at
North Aston in 1733 and was baptised there on 5th January 1734,
the eighth child and youngest son of William and Mary Collett. He later married Kathrin Nichols at nearby
Duns Tew, to the west of North Aston, on 16th December 1759, and
their daughter was born and baptised four days after their wedding day. |
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46L6 |
Mary Collett |
Born in 1759
at Duns Tew |
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46K9 |
Beata Collett was born in 1738 at North Aston, the
last child born to William Collett and Mary Bellow. She was also baptised at St Mary’s Church
in North Aston on 24th November 1738. It is possible that Beata was later known
as Beatty and, it was also at North Aston on 26th December 1778,
that Beatty Collett married John Butler.
Curiously, on that same day at North Aston, Sarah Collett married
William Trender. Could she have been
the sister of Beata Collett? |
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46L1 |
William Collett was born at Fencott in 1748 and was
baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 20th February 1748. William died at Bletchington in 1779,
following which he was buried at Charlton on 29th December
1779. Bletchington, often referred to as Bletchingdon, later became
Bletchingdon, which it still is today.
There is a record that a William Collett married Avis Smallbroke
at Bletchingdon on 24th May 1779 and it seems likely, although not
proved, that he was William Collett of Fencott. If so, then his marriage to Avis only lasted
for seven months and it is not known whether, during that time, Avis became
with-child. However, it was just over
three years later that widow Avis Collett married John Gardiner at
Bletchingdon on 20th July 1783.
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46L2 |
RICHARD COLLETT was born at Fencott in 1752 and,
although not yet proved, it seems very likely that he was the son of William
Collett and Mary Freeman. Recently
discovered records indicate that Richard was married twice, and on both
occasions to a Mary. Richard married
(2) Mary Ivins in St Mary’s
Church at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 25th October 1790. The couple settled within the parish of
Charlton, since it was at St Mary’s Church that all their children were
baptised. |
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However,
it is very likely that the family lived all their life at Fencott where all
the children were born and where Richard and Mary were living when Richard
passed away. He died at Fencott during
September 1826 at the age of 74 and was buried in the graveyard of St Mary’s
Church on 13th September 1826.
Fifteen years later, on the 20th August 1841, a Mary
Collett aged 74 was buried at Charlton-on-Otmoor and she may well have been
Richard’s widow. The place of
residence for Mary at the time of her death was given as Oakley, just across
the county boundary into Buckinghamshire. |
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46M1 |
William Collett |
Born in 1792
at Fencott |
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46M2 |
Mary Collett |
Born in 1795
at Fencott |
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46M3 |
Richard Collett |
Born in 1797
at Fencott |
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46M4 |
Elizabeth Collett |
Born in 1800
at Fencott |
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46M5 |
John Collett |
Born in 1803
at Fencott |
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46M6 |
Hannah Collett |
Born in 1805
at Fencott |
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46L3 |
Mary Collett was born at Fencott in 1755 and was
baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 26th October 1755. Her life was cut short at the age of 24
when she died at Fencott in 1779 and was buried in the churchyard of St-Mary-the-Virgin
in Charlton-on-Otmoor on 4th April 1779. The church’s burial record stated that Mary
Collett was the daughter of William and Mary Collett, indicating that she had
never married. |
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46L4 |
Joseph
Collett was born
in 1758 at Fencott and was baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 6th
August 1858. He married Maria with
whom he had nine children. All their
children were born at Fencott and baptised at St Mary’s Church in
Charlton-on-Otmoor. Joseph’s wife
Maria died at Fencott in 1837 at the age of 75 and was buried at Charlton on
30th March 1837. Just a few
months after losing his wife, the death of Joseph Collett was recorded at
Bicester (Ref. xvi 27) during the third quarter of 1837. |
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46M7 |
Mary Collett |
Born in 1784
at Fencott |
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46M8 |
William Collett |
Born in 1786
at Fencott |
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46M9 |
Mary Collett |
Born in 1788
at Fencott |
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46M10 |
John Collett |
Born in 1790
at Fencott |
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46M11 |
Elizabeth Collett |
Born in 1792
at Fencott |
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46M12 |
Thomas Collett |
Born in 1794
at Fencott |
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46M13 |
Thomas
Collett |
Born in 1795
at Fencott |
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46M14 |
Richard Collett |
Born in 1798
at Fencott |
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46M15 |
George Collett |
Born in 1801
at Fencott |
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46M16 |
James Collett |
Born in 1803
at Fencott |
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46L5 |
John Collett was born at Fencott in 1761 and was
baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 8th March 1761. Sadly, he only survived for just over two
years before he died at Fencott in 1763 and was buried at Charlton-on-Otmoor
on 31st May 1763. |
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46L6 |
Mary Collett was born in 1759, just days after her
parents Ralph Collett and Kathrine Nicholls were married at Duns Tew on 16th
December. Four days later Mary Collett
was baptised at Duns Tew on 20th December 1759. Sheila Mitchell from Swindon wrote in 2020
that she believed her ancestor Mary Collett, the daughter
of Ralph and Kathrine, married Joshua Hedges at Duns Tew on 17th
April 1786, with Joshua having been born at Woodstock during 1765. The couple’s subsequent children were born
over a period of fifteen years, in either Woodstock or Duns Tew until, around
about 1806, the family moved to Oxford. |
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46M1 |
William Collett was born at Fencott in the latter half
of 1792 and was baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 24th February
1793. He married Prudence Pittam on 30th
March 1812 at Twyford, a village just over the county boundary into
Buckinghamshire, to the north-east of Bicester. The couple’s first three children were born
while they were living at Fencott, and before the family moved the short
distance to Murcott, where the remaining children were born. All their children were baptised at the
Church of St-Mary-the-Virgin in Charlton-on-Otmoor. |
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Sadly,
William Collett died at Murcott in early 1837 and was buried at
Charlton-on-Otmoor on 8th February 1837. His age at the time of his death was
incorrectly given as 42, instead of 45.
His widow Prudence was listed at Murcott in the first national census
on June 1841, as having a rounded age of 50 years. Living with her were her sons George Collett
who was 20, and John Collett who was 15, and daughter Elizabeth Collett who
was 12 years of age. |
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Ten
years later, in the Murcott census of 1851, Prudence Collett from Twyford, in
Buckinghamshire, was more accurately described as 59 years of age, when she
still had living with her, her Murcott born son George Collett who was
28. After a further ten years,
Prudence Collett from Twyford was 69 and a pauper living in the next dwelling
to her married son George. Living with
Prudence at that time was her married, but widowed, daughter Elizabeth Walker
from Murcott, who was curiously referred to as Charlotte Walker. With her, were her two Swanbourne born daughters,
Harriet Walker and Eliza Walker, their late father having died at Swanbourne
in 1857. |
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Upon
the departure of her daughter and two granddaughters, Prudence ended her life
living at the home of her married son George Collett and his family which, by
1871, was in Charlton-on-Otmoor. The
census return that year, recorded widow Prudence
Collett, from Twyford, as being 84 and a pauper. Just
under three years after that day, the death of Prudence Collett, nee Pittam,
was recorded at Bicester (Ref. 3a 411) during the first three months of 1874,
when she was 87 years old. |
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46N1 |
Martha Collett |
Born in 1813
at Fencott |
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46N2 |
Richard Collett |
Born in 1815
at Fencott |
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46N3 |
Thomas Collett |
Born in 1817
at Fencott |
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46N4 |
William Collett |
Born in 1819
at Murcott |
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46N5 |
George Collett |
Born in 1821
at Murcott |
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46N6 |
John Collett |
Born in 1823
at Murcott |
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46N7 |
Benjamin Collett |
Born in 1825
at Murcott |
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46N8 |
Mary Collett |
Born in 1826
at Murcott |
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46N9 |
Elizabeth Collett |
Born in 1829
at Murcott |
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46N10 |
Benjamin Collett |
Born in 1831
at Murcott |
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46M2 |
Mary Collett was born at Fencott, either towards
the end of 1794 or during January 1795, and was baptised at
Charlton-on-Otmoor on 8th February 1795, when she was curiously
named as the daughter of Richard and Ann Collett, rather than Richard and
Mary. No other record for Mary has so
far been found. |
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46M3 |
Richard Collett
was born at Fencott
during the first half of 1797 and was baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 18th
June 1797. He married Martha Bottrell
at Wendlebury, just two miles north of Fencott, on 20th November 1823. Martha was with child at the time of her
wedding and the child was born at Wendlebury six months later. Richard’s stated occupation at the child’s
baptism was labourer. Martha was the
daughter of John Bottrell and Ann Buckle and had been born in 1798. Sometime after the birth of the couple’s
first child, the family moved five miles east just over the county boundary
to Boarstall in Buckinghamshire where, it is known, the remainder of their
children were born. |
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At
the time of the census in June 1841, the family was still living in Boarstall
at Panshill Farm within the Aylesbury & Thame registration district. The family comprised Richard and Martha,
both with a rounded age of 40, and their children John aged 15, Richard aged
14, Ann aged 12, Felicia who was nine, Elizabeth who was five, and baby
Martha who was six months old.
Completing the household were servants John Preston and Eliza Simmons,
both 15. |
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The
family was again recorded at Boarstall in 1851, by which time Richard was 54,
Martha was 52, and daughters Felicia and Elizabeth were 19 and 15 respectively. Employed by the family that day was Ezekiel
Savage aged 18 and a male servant. The
children missing from the family that day were sons John (26) and Richard (23)
- who were married by then, and daughter Martha (10) – who was recorded with
her eldest married brother John and his wife Mary (21). |
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Within
the next decade all bar one of Richard and Martha’s children left the family
home which, by April
1861 was still at Panshill Farm in Boarstal, but mistakenly recorded as
Callett. The census that year
recorded head of the household Richard from Fencott as 63, and Martha from
Wendlebury as 62. Their daughter Martha Collett
from Boarstall was 20 and had returned to live with her parents after the
premature death of Richard’s wife Mary. Staying with the family, and most likely being cared
for by unmarried Martha, was Richard senior’s grandson Arthur Collett
who was only eight years of age, the son of Richard junior by his late wife Mary. Completing the household were three servants, James
Hopcraft aged 20, Mary Leach aged 17, and Joseph Jackman who was 15. Just thirty months later Richard Collett
senior died, with his
death recorded at Bicester (Ref. 3a 410) during the third quarter of 1863,
following which he was buried in the graveyard of St Mary’s Church at
Charlton-on-Otmoor. His widow Martha
survived for another seven years before she passed away in 1870, with her death recorded at
Bicester (Ref. 3a 460) during the third quarter of 1870, and buried at the
Church of St Mary. |
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James Hopcraft,
the servant with the family in 1861, who was 20 and from Boarstall, was the
son of Eliza. His father had died just
after James was born, with Eliza then marrying James Grant with whom she had
a daughter Ann Grant born at Boarstall in 1847. By 1851, nine-year-old James Hopcraft from
Boarstall was the stepson of James Grant living at Shotover in Oxford with
his mother and half-sister. Earlier,
in 1833, the younger brother of Richard Collett, John Collett (below) married
Sarah Hopcraft, so there may have been a family connection behind Richard
employing James Hopcraft in 1861. |
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46N11
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John Collett |
Born in 1824
at Wendlebury |
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46N12
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Richard Collett |
Born in 1827 at Panshill Farm, Boarstall |
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46N13
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Ann Collett |
Born in 1829 at Panshill Farm,
Boarstall |
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46N14
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Felicia Collett |
Born in 1832 at Panshill Farm,
Boarstall |
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46N15
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Elizabeth Collett |
Born in 1836 at Panshill Farm,
Boarstall |
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46N16
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Martha Collett |
Born in 1841 at Panshill Farm,
Boarstall |
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Wendlebury Footnote: It may be
significant that a certain James Bottrell was born at Wendlebury in 1814, the
son of John and Ann Bottrell. If Ann
was formerly Ann Buckle, then that would make James the younger brother of Martha
Bottrell who married Richard Collett (above) at Wendlebury in 1823. In 1841, James Bottrell was 25 when he was
still living with his parents in Wendlebury.
Four years later the marriage of James Bottrell and Sarah Newman, from
Gloucestershire, was recorded at Oxford (Ref. xvi 123) during the first three
months of 1845. |
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The census in 1851 revealed that James was a baker, with
a shop in Charlton-on-Otmoor. He was
37 and had been born at Wendlebury. It
was the same situation in 1861 when James was 47 and Sarah was 48 and born at
Southrop in Gloucestershire. By 1871,
when James was 57, his occupation was a baker and a farmer, when he and Sarah
were again recorded in Charlton-on-Otmoor.
That description was further extended in 1881 when James Bottrell aged
67 was a baker and a farmer with 80 acres, employing three men and one boy. |
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After a further ten years, James Bottrell had his niece
Esther Collett (Ref. 46O40) living and working with him and Sarah at
Charlton, when he was still a baker and a farmer, at the age of 77, and
Esther Collett from Boarstall was 23 and a baker’s assistant. Seven years later, the death of James
Bottrell at Charlton, was recorded at Bicester register office (Ref. 3a 462)
during the second quarter of 1898, when he was 84. He was then buried at St Mary’s Church
Cemetery in Charlton on 18th June 1898. |
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46M4 |
Elizabeth Collett was born at Fencott around late 1799
or early 1800 and was baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 15th June
1800. It is possible that her two
daughters were base-born before she was married, since both girls were
baptised at nearby Blackthorn with the Collett surname. Shortly after the birth of the second child,
Elizabeth married Thomas Priest but tragedy struck the family when, as
Elizabeth Priest, she died at Ambrosden near Bicester in April 1824, possibly
during childbirth. |
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46N17
|
Susanna Collett |
Born in 1820
at Blackthorn |
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46N18
|
Sarah Collett |
Born in 1823
at Blackthorn |
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46M5 |
John
Collett was born at Fencott in 1803 according to his stated age
in later census records. He was
baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 27th October 1805 in a joint
ceremony with his sister Hannah (below). At the age of around 26 or 27 the names of
John Collett, a farmer at Fencott, and his friend or associate Robert Sturch,
a farmer at Murcott, were amongst the 22 men accused of being involved in the
Otmoor Riots. The full list of the
names was published in the Oxford Journal on Saturday 17th July
1830. However, one week later the pair
of them had been acquitted, as was reported in the journal of 24th
July. It was less than nine years
later when the daughter of Robert Grove Sturch married Richard Collett, the
son of John’s eldest brother William (above). |
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It
was also at St Mary’s Church in Charlton that John married Sarah Hopcraft on
16th December 1833. Sarah
was the daughter of William and Charlotte Hopcraft of
Charlton-on-Otmoor. It was originally
understood, from parish records, that John and Sarah’s first three children
were born at Fencott, with the remaining children being born after the family
had moved to live at the neighbouring hamlet of Murcott. However, this conflicts with the details in
the census of 1851 and 1861, when all their children were stated as having
been born at Murcott, although it was later stated to be Fencott. |
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By
June 1841 Sarah had presented John with their first four children, although
the youngest one had still to be given a name, having been born immediately
prior to the census day. The completed
census return, recorded the family as living at Murcott, within the parish of
Charlton-on-Otmoor, when both John and Sarah had rounded ages of 35. Their three named children were Elizabeth
Collett who was six, William Collett who was four, and Charlotte Collett who
was two years old. Their fourth children had just
been born and was entered on the census form as not yet being given a name,
who was later confirmed as Thomas.
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Within
the next seven years, a further three children were added to the family while
they were living at Murcott. The
census of 1851 for Murcott listed the family as John Collett of Fencott and
his wife Sarah from Charlton, both aged 46, and with them were six of their
seven children. They were Elizabeth
Collett who was 16, William Collett who was 13, Thomas Collett who was 10,
George Collett who was eight, John Collett who was six, and Richard Collett who
was three years old. At that time, head
of the household John Collett was a farmer of 80 acres. |
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Missing
from the family that day was daughter Charlotte Collett, for whom no record
has been discovered after 1841. In the
past it was thought that, upon the death of her younger sister, that eldest
daughter Elizabeth adopted the name Charlotte. This is now known not to be true, as the
Charlotte Collett born in 1834 was not born at Murcott, but at Fencott, the
daughter of James Collett and
Sarah Hine, nee Gregory. For the
details of that Charlotte, go to Ref. 46N39. |
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Ten
years later in 1861, John and Sarah were both 55, when they were living in
the hamlet of Fencott with five of their seven children. John Collett from Fencott was a farmer of
60 acres and had working with him his two eldest sons, William who was 22 and
from Fencott, and Thomas who was 18 and from Murcott, both described as a
farmer’s son. The other children at
that time were attending school and they were George who was 16, John who was
14, and Richard who was 13, and all again confirmed as born at Murcott. Living in the property right next door to
John and his family was the family of farmer Richard Collett of Murcott (Ref.
46N2), the eldest son of John’s older brother William Collett (above). |
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By
1871 all John and Sarah’s children had left the family home, leaving just eldest
son William and youngest son Richard still with them. John and Sarah were both then 66, while
William Collett was 35 and Richard Collett was 22. Both sons were still unmarried at that
time. Ten years later, according to
the Charlton-on-Otmoor census of 1881, John was 77 and was a farmer of 88
acres, employing one man. The census
return confirmed he had been born at Fencott and that his wife Sarah, who was
also 77, had been born at Charlton-on-Otmoor.
Still living with them were their two unmarried sons William who was
then 44, and Richard who was 32, both of whom were listed as having been born
at Fencott, and both were described as a farmer’s son. |
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Just under three years after that
census day, the death of John Collett, aged 79, was recorded at Bicester
(Ref. 3a 463) during the first three months of 1884. Sarah was only a widow for a year and, by
the time she passed away, her death was recorded at Headington (Ref. 3a 508)
during the first quarter of 1885, when her age was recorded as 82. It was at
that time, that their son William took over management of the farm, who was
married before the end of that decade.
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46N19
|
Elizabeth Collett |
Born in 1834
at Murcott |
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46N20
|
William Collett |
Born in 1837
at Murcott |
|
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46N21
|
Charlotte Collett |
Born in 1839
at Murcott |
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46N22
|
Thomas Collett |
Born in 1841
at Murcott |
|
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46N23
|
George Collett |
Born in 1843
at Murcott |
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46N24
|
John Collett |
Born in 1845 at Murcott |
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46N25
|
Richard Collett |
Born in 1847 at Murcott |
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46M6 |
Hannah Collett was born at Fencott in 1805 and was
baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 27th October 1805 in a joint
ceremony with her brother John (above). No other record for Hannah has so far been
found. |
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46M7 |
Mary Collett was born at Fencott in 1784 and was
baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 12th December 1784, the first
child of Joseph and Mariah Collett.
And it was there that she buried just over five months later, on 25th
May 1785. |
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46M8 |
William Collett was born at Fencott in 1786 and was
baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 31st May 1786, the eldest son of
Joseph and Mariah Collett. No other
record for William has so far been found. |
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46M9 |
Mary Collett was born at Fencott in 1788 and was
baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 18th May 1788, another daughter
of Joseph and Mariah Collett. It seems
very likely that she gave birth to a base-born daughter in 1809, the child
incorrectly being registered as ‘Dennis the natural daughter of Mary
Collett’. Less than two years later,
on 19th January 1811, Mary Collett married Richard Westbury by
licence at St Mary’s Church in Charlton.
Richard was of Grendon Underwood, to the east of Bicester, and one of
the witnesses to the marriage ceremony was Mary’s father Joseph Collett. |
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46N26 |
Denise Collett |
Born in 1809
at Fencott |
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46M10 |
John Collett was born at Fencott in 1790 and was
baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 2nd May 1790. No other record for John has so far been
found. |
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46M11 |
Elizabeth Collett was born at Fencott in 1792 and was
baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 29th April 1792. No other record for Elizabeth has so far
been found. |
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46M12 |
Thomas Collett was born at Fencott in 1794 and was
baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 20th April 1974. Tragically, he lived for just less than
nine months when he was buried at Charlton on 3rd January
1795. The parish burial register
confirmed he was the son of Joseph and Maria Collett. |
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46M13 |
Thomas
Collett was born at Fencott in 1795 and was named in honour of
his brother who had died in January that year. He was baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 27th
December 1795, but he died around the time of his twenty-seventh birthday and
was buried at Charlton on 30th December 1822. It is possible, although not yet proved,
that he married Hannah Eyres at Charlton on 14th June 1819, with
his older brother John Collett (above) acting as one of the witnesses,
which means that he died before his son was born at Fencott. |
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46N27 |
William
Collett |
Born in 1823
at Fencott |
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46M14 |
Richard Collett was born at Fencott in 1798 and was
baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 19th August 1798, a surviving son
of Joseph and Maria Collett. He was
married by licence to (1) Phyllis Goome on 9th June 1825 at
Charlton, who was already with-child on that day. Phyllis was the daughter of Thomas and
Elizabeth Goome and was baptised at Charlton on 11th September
1803. The couple’s first child was
born at Fencott, less than four months after they were married, and was
followed by a second child, also born at Fencott, eighteen months later. Tragically, Phyllis Collett nee Goome, died
exactly one year later, possibly during the birth of a third child, who also
did not survive the ordeal. |
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Phyllis
was just 24 years of age when she died in 1828 and was buried in the
churchyard of St Mary’s Church in Charlton-on-Otmoor on 22nd June
1828. Six years later Richard had a
son James, although that was at a time between his two known wives, which
raises the question, was he married three times. In addition to losing his wife, only two of
his three children survived to adulthood, and the younger one died prior to
his twentieth birthday. Two years after the birth of his third child, Richard
Collett was married by banns to (2) Ann Faulkner at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 18th
July 1836. The parish register
confirmed that Richard was a widower of Charlton, while Ann was a spinster of
the parish. Ann was also many years
younger than Richard, having been born at Fencott and baptised at
Charlton-on-Otmoor on 28th June 1812, the daughter of Thomas and
Elizabeth Faulkner. |
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That
marriage produced a further six children for Richard, who were baptised at
Charlton-on-Otmoor, when their father was described as a labourer. It was also confirmed in the parish
records, that four of the couple’s six children were privately baptised at
home, presumably because they were too ill to attend St Mary’s Church. As a result, all four children did not
survive beyond a few months, and they were George Collett, Eliza Ann Collett,
William Collett, and George Collett the younger. Tragically, their half-brother Thomas
Collett had died many years earlier, while another half-brother died shortly
after the census in 1851. |
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In
the past, there had been some confusion with their children since, living in
the same area, at the same time, was another married couple, Richard Collett
(Ref. 46N2) and his wife Ann Grove Sturch who had been born at Hungerford in
Berkshire. That earlier confusion was
eradicated with the re-issue of this family line in 2019, in which the
children were correctly assigned to their rightful parents. |
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Following
the nonappearance of the family in 1841, by 1851 Richard and his reduced
family was living in Murcott. Richard
Collett from Fencott was 52 and was described as a pauper and an agricultural
labourer. His wife Ann Collett also
from Fencott, was 39 and a pauper, while the three children living with them
were James Collett, Richard’s third child from an earlier relationship, who
was 16 and an agricultural labourer from Fencott, John Collett from Murcott
who was six years old, and George Collett who was eleven months old and also born at Murcott.
A year later, their son George died and, a year after that, the eldest
surviving son James also died at the age of 18. |
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No
more children were added to the family when Richard and Ann continued to live
at Murcott and therefore, the only surviving child still living with them in
1861 was their son John Collett who was 16 and born at Murcott, who was
employed on a local farm. On that day,
Richard Collett from Fencott, said he was working as a labourer at the age of
60, rather than 62, while his wife Ann Collett was 49 who, on that occasion,
said she had been born at Murcott.
Richard Collett died at Murcott just two years after the census day,
his death recorded at Bicester (Ref. 3a 410) during the third quarter of 1863,
after which he was buried at St Mary’s Church in Charlton-on-Otmoor on 3rd
September 1863, when he was 66 years old. |
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After
a further eight years, living as a widow, Ann Collett aged 59 and a pauper
from Murcott, was residing at Beckley, to the south of Murcott, with just her
son John living there with her.
Beckley lies within the Headington registration area of the city of
Oxford, and it was during the first three months of 1877, that the death of
Ann Collett was recorded at Headington (Ref. 3a 409). |
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46N28 |
Joseph Collett |
Born in 1825
at Fencott |
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46N29 |
Thomas Collett |
Born in 1827
at Fencott; infant death |
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46N30 |
James Collett |
Born in 1834
at Fencott; died 1853 |
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The
following are the children of Richard Collett by his second wife Ann
Faulkner: |
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46N31 |
George Collett |
Born in 1838 at Murcott;
infant death |
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46N32 |
Thomas Collett |
Born in 1839
at Murcott; infant death |
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46N33 |
John Richard Collett |
Born in 1844
at Murcott |
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46N34 |
Eliza Ann Collett |
Born in 1846
at Murcott; infant death |
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46N35 |
William Collett |
Born in 1847
at Murcott; infant death |
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46N36 |
George Collett |
Born in 1850
at Murcott; infant death |
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46M15 |
George Collett was born at Fencott in 1801 and was
baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 1st November 1801. No other record for George has so far been
found. |
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46M16 |
James Collett was born at Fencott either late in
1802 or early in 1803, the last child of Joseph Collett and Maria Collett. He was a labourer and he married widow Sarah
Hine of Ludgershall, in Buckinghamshire, on 17th April 1926 at the
parish church in Ludgershall. Previously
at Ludgershall, Sarah Gregory and William Hine were married during 1820, with
whom she had a daughter Mary Hine who was also born at Ludgershall, where she
was baptised on 15th May 1923. James and Sarah were both listed as having a
rounded age of 40 in the 1841 Census, although Sarah was much older than
James. The census return named the
children listed with the couple at Fencott in 1841, as Caroline Collett who
was 12, Ann Collett who was nine, and Charlotte Collett who was six. On that day, Sarah’s daughter Mary Hine, aged
16, was living with a Hine family at Radclive in Buckinghamshire. Completing the Collett that day, was Dominic
Gregory who was 60 years old, he being Sarah’s father. The three daughters of James and Sarah were
all baptised at the Church of St-Mary-the-Virgin in Charlton-on-Otmoor, when
their parents were named as labourer James Collett of Fencott and his wife
Sarah. |
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The
Fencott census of 1851 listed James Collett, aged 51 and an agricultural
labourer of Fencott, living with just his wife Sarah, aged 57 and from
Ludgershall, and their daughter Charlotte who was 16 and born at
Fencott. Also lodging with the family
was unmarried 26-year-old agricultural labourer Mary Hine from Ludgershall,
Sarah’s daughter by William Hine. Just
over two years later, the death of James Collett of Fencott was recorded at
Bicester (Ref. 3a 346) during the last quarter of 1853. He was then buried at the Church of St-Mary-the-Virgin
in Charlton-on-Otmoor on 18th December 1853. Sarah died almost exactly three years later
and was also buried at Charlton with her husband on 16th December
1856, at the age of 64. Her death was
also recorded at Bicester (Ref. 3a 326) during the last month of 1856. |
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46N37 |
Caroline Collett |
Born in 1828
at Fencott |
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46N38 |
Ann Collett |
Born in 1831
at Fencott |
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46N39 |
Charlotte Collett |
Born in 1834
at Fencott |
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46N1 |
Martha Collett was born at Fencott in 1813 and was
baptised on 17th July 1813 at Charlton-on-Otmoor, the eldest
daughter of William Collett and Prudence Pittam. Eighteen years later, on 11th
July 1831 Martha married Jonathan Orchard at Swanbourne near Winslow, north
of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire.
Jonathan was born at Swanbourne on 16th April 1809, the son
of Thomas Orchard and Rebecca Matthews.
The early years of their married life together was spent at Swanbourne
where their daughter Rebecca Orchard was born on 1st September
1834. At the time of the census in
1851 Martha and her family were still living at Swanbourne when she gave her
place of birth as Murcott. |
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Jonathan
Orchard had relations living in Hampshire and it was there at South Stoneham
on 25th July 1853 that his daughter Rebecca married (1) Henry
Currell who was born at Swanbourne on 19th October 1827. The marriage produced a son, Edward
Currell, whose second wife was Maud Turner who came from a long line of
the Collett family based at Over near St Ives in Cambridgeshire. Maud was born on 21st March 1886
and, previously, the details of her Collett family line could be found in
Appendix One at the end of the second section of this family line. However, in October 2014 the Collett Family
History website was pleased to launch Part
69 – Other Cambridgeshire Families which includes three separate branches
of the family living in villages between St Ives and the City of
Cambridge. The first of those three
branches provides details of the Colletts from Ireland in 1432 through to
Maud Turner in 1886, resulting in the removal of the old Appendix One from
this family line, and its replacement by a new Appendix One in July 2022. |
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The
Orchard family eventually emigrated to Australia and settled at Black Springs
in Barraba, New South Wales. Shortly
after they arrived, Martha Orchard nee Collett died at Black Springs on 10th
December 1875 and was followed almost six years later by her husband Jonathan
who died there on 16th November 1881. |
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Back
in England, Rebecca’s husband Henry Currell died on 3rd February
1870, following which she married (2) Thomas Johnson at Little Horwood in
Buckinghamshire. Once they were
married, Rebecca and Thomas sailed out to Australia to be reunited with her
parents, just prior to her mother’s death.
Rebecca Johnson, formerly Currell nee Orchard, died at Black Springs
on 15th June 1902, and just over four years later, on 5th
October 1906, her second husband Thomas died while living at Barraba in NSW. |
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The
aforementioned Edward Currell, who was born at
Swanbourne in 1857, was first married to Mary Esther McNeill but, following
her death, he married Maud Turner in New South Wales on 31st May
1927. That second marriage produced a
son Clifford Currell who was born at Barraba on 15th July 1931,
who was nearly five years old when his father died at Barraba on 2nd
May 1936. His mother Maud Currell nee
Turner died at Stockton in NSW on 27th January 1962. |
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On
23rd July 1952 at Petersham in NSW, Clifford Currell married
Josephine Elys Everitt who was born at Murwillumbah in NSW on 22nd
December 1931. The daughter from that
marriage was Joanne (Jo) Patricia Currell who was born at Parramatta in NSW
on 14th April 1969 who married Matthew James Power at Bankstown on
30th August 1991, Matthew having been born at Sutherland in NSW on
9th January 1968. Jo’s
father Clifford Currell passed away nearly fourteen years later when he died
on 20th January 2004 at Blacktown in New South Wales. Jo and Matthew Power currently live in the
Campsie area of Sydney with their three children Brett, Ben, and
Katelyn. And it is thanks to Jo that
the continuation of the life of Martha Collett and her descendants has been
included here. |
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46N2 |
Richard Collett was born at Fencott, and that may have
taken place a few years before he was baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 4th
June 1815, the son of William Collett and Prudence Pittam. On leaving school Richard worked as a
labourer at Murcott and, at the age of 23, he was married by licence to Ann
Grove Sturch who was also 23 and the daughter of Robert Grove Sturch, a
farmer at Murcott. Their wedding took
place at St Mary’s Church in Charlton-on-Otmoor on 14th February
1839 and was recorded at Bicester (Ref. xvi 43) during the first quarter of
1839. Just to complicate the research,
there were two married couples in that area of Oxfordshire, both being
Richard and Ann, which makes identification of their respective children a
little problematic. The other, older
Richard Collett (Ref. 46M14) was born at Fencott and it was his second wife who
was Ann Faulkner, also of Fencott. |
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However,
further research into the children of both couples has now been carried out,
with the outcome that some of the children, previously credited to Richard
and Ann Grove Sturch, have now been transferred to the family of Richard and
Ann Faulkner. This work has determined
that the formers first child was their daughter Elizabeth Sturch Collett, who
was born at Murcott and baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor, only nineteen weeks
after their wedding day. Within the
early months of 1841, Ann presented Richard with their first son Robert
Sturch Collett, who was also born at Murcott before the census was conducted
that year. |
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According
to that first census in June 1841, Richard Collett had a rounded age of 30,
when he had living with him at Murcott, his one-year-old daughter Elizabeth
Collett, both staying at the home of his mother-in-law Ann Sturch. On the same day, his wife Ann was with
their son Robert Collett who was under six months old, when they were staying
with Ann’s grandfather Robert Sturch at a property in the village of Beckley,
a few miles south of Murcott. During
that decade, Ann presented Richard with a further five children, when the
family was living at nearby Fencott. |
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|
Therefore,
by the time of the census in 1851, when the family was once again living at
Murcott, it was made up of Richard Collett of Murcott who was 39 and a farmer
of 60 acres, his wife Ann from Hungerford who was 36, together with just six
of their seven children. They were
listed as Elizabeth Collett aged 12 and of Murcott, Robert Collett who was 10
and from Murcott, Albert Collett who was eight, David Collett who was six,
Edwin Collett who was three, and Philip who was one year old, and all of them
born at Fencott. The missing child was
their youngest son John James Collett who was baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor
seven months earlier, which raises the question, had he suffered an infant
death. Completing the household was a
servant William Horwood, who was 18 years old and from Piddington in
Oxfordshire. Two more sons were added
to the family during the following six years, the couple’s last child born
after the family had returned to live and work in Fencott. |
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The
Fencott census of 1861 listed farmer Richard Collett from Murcott and Ann
Collett from Hungerford as both being aged 45. The only children listed with them on that
occasion were Edwin Collett aged 13 from Fencott, Philip Collett aged 11 from
Murcott, both described as a farmer’s son, Spencer Collett who was eight and
from Murcott, and Auten Collett who was three years old and from
Fencott. The missing child on that
occasion was their eldest son, George.
By that time in his life, Richard’s landholding had reduced from 60
acres to just 11 acres. Living next
door to the Collett family in Fencott in 1861 was another Collett family,
that of Richard’s uncle John Collett (Ref. 46M5) of Fencott and his wife
Sarah Collett from Charlton-on-Otmoor. |
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There
is a mystery surrounding the passing of Richard Collett since, when he died
at the age of 52, there was an inquest held into his death. That may indicate he died under suspicious
circumstances or that he was killed in some way, rather than dying of natural
causes. Either way, the death of
Richard Collett was recorded at Bicester (Ref. 3a 382) during the last three
months of 1867, following which Richard was laid to rest in the graveyard of
St Mary’s Church in Charlton-on-Otmoor on 29th October 1867. Having lost her husband, it appears that
Ann left Oxfordshire when she travelled south into Buckinghamshire and, on
the day of the next census in 1871, she was working as the housekeeper for
farmer John Belgrove at his home in Swanbourne, midway between Winslow and
Stewkley. Widowed Ann Collett from
Hungerford was 55. |
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It
was the same situation ten years later when, once again, Ann Collett was 65
and described as the general housekeeper at Above Mead Farm in Swanbourne,
the home of bachelor farmer John Belgrove of Stewkley who was farming 200
acres, employing 5 men and 2 boys.
During the next decade Ann Collett moved further south, to Maidstone
in Kent, to live near her married son David Collett. That was confirmed in the census of 1891
when Ann Collett from Hungerford was a lodger at Boxley Road in Maidstone,
where she was described as a widow of 75, who was living on her own
means. Ten years later Ann Collett
from Hungerford was still living in Maidstone in 1901, but as a boarder at a
lodging house run by Edward and Jane Thatcher in Brewer Street, very near to
Earl Street where her son David had been living in 1891. On that occasion Ann was still living on
her own means at the age of 84. Four
years after that, the death of Ann Collett was recorded at Maidstone register
office (Ref. 2a 535) during the first three months of 1905, when her age was
said to be 90. |
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|
|
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|
46O1 |
Elizabeth Sturch Collett |
Born in 1838
at Murcott |
|
|
46O2 |
Robert Sturch Collett |
Born in 1841
at Murcott |
|
|
46O3 |
Albert Collett |
Born in 1843
at Fencott |
|
|
46O4 |
David Collett |
Born in 1844
at Fencott |
|
|
46O5 |
Edwin Collett |
Born in 1847 at Fencott |
|
|
46O6 |
Philip Collett |
Born in 1849
at Fencott |
|
|
46O7 |
John James Collett |
Born in 1850
at Murcott |
|
|
46O8 |
Spencer Collett |
Born in 1852
at Murcott |
|
|
46O9 |
Austin
(Auten) Collett |
Born in 1857
at Fencott |
|
|
|
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|
|
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46N3 |
Thomas Collett was born at Fencott in 1817 and was
baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 6th April 1817, another son of
William and Prudence Collett. Not long
after he was born the family left Fencott and moved to nearby Murcott. Although no listing has been found for
Thomas in the census of 1841, by 1851 he was 35 and gave his place of birth
as Murcott, when he was married to Mary, aged 28, who was of Fencott. Their marriage at that time had so far
produced two sons for the couple and they were Thomas who was three years of
age, and baby Henry who was not yet one year old. The family was living at Murcott at that
time, where their two sons had been born and when, living with the family was Eliza Cooper aged
33 of Murcott who was a married woman.
Sadly, their son Charles, who was born three years later in 1854, died
just one month after he was born. |
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|
One
further child was added to the family two years after that loss, so by 1861
Thomas Collett was 44 and an agricultural labourer from Murcott, and his wife
Mary was 38 and from Fencott. Listed
with them at Murcott were their three sons Thomas who was 13 and a
plough-boy, Henry who was 10 and still at school, and Caleb who was four
years old and had been born at Murcott like his two brothers. |
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|
Over
the following years the family moved from Murcott to Charlton-on-Otmoor,
where they were recorded in 1871. By
then the couple’s two oldest sons had left the family home, leaving just
Caleb Collett aged 14, still living with his parents. Thomas Collett from Murcott was 54 and a road contractor,
and Mary Collett from Fencott was 48 and a dressmaker. According to the census of 1881, Thomas
Collett from Fencott was 64 years old and a farmer of eight acres in the
Fencott/Murcott area. Mary, his wife
of Fencott was 58, and still living with them was their unmarried son Caleb
who was 24 and born at Murcott, who may have been helping his father on their
acreage. |
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|
|
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|
Six years later the death of Thomas Collett,
aged 71, was recorded at Bicester (Ref. 3a 438) during the spring of 1887.
Following his death, the farmland owned and worked by him at Murcott
was shared between three of his sons, Thomas, Henry, and Caleb. Mary was confirmed as a widow at the age of
68 in 1891, when still living with her was her son Caleb who was then
34. After eleven years as a widow, the death of Mary
Collett was recorded at Bicester register office (Ref. 3a 577) during the
third quarter of 1898 at the age of 75. |
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|
|
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|
46O10 |
Thomas Collett |
Born in 1847
at Murcott |
|
|
46O11
|
Henry Collett |
Born in 1851
at Murcott |
|
|
46O12 |
Charles Collett |
Born in 1854
at Murcott |
|
|
46O13 |
Caleb Collett |
Born in 1856
at Murcott |
|
|
|
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|
|
|||
46N4 |
William Collett was born at Murcott in 1819 and was
baptised on 16th July 1819 at Charlton-on-Otmoor, the son of
William Collett and his wife Prudence Pittam.
Thanks to Shirley Martin in 2012 it is now established that the
information previously written here about William Collett was incorrect,
although it was correct insofar as he did marry Mary Ann. However, she did not die after the birth
of their son John, nor did William re-marry Sarah, so there are some
unresolved details regarding that William and Sarah who, it is now known,
were from Fencott and Eynsham respectively. |
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|
|
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|
It was on 9th
January 1840 that William Collett from Murcott married Mary Ann Clark at the
parish church in Charlton-on-Otmoor, when their wedding was recorded at Bicester (Ref. xvi
45). Mary Ann was the daughter
of farmer John Clark and was baptised on 10th September 1820 at
the Church of St James in Boarstall.
At the time of their wedding Mary Ann was a spinster of Murcott at the
age of 19, while William was a bachelor and a labourer of Murcott, whose
father was confirmed as labourer William Collett. The witnesses at the ceremony were
William’s older brother Thomas Collett (above) and Sarah Cox. Once they were married the couple settled
in Horton-cum-Studley, just a short distance from Murcott and Charlton, and
often referred to as simply Studley. |
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|
|
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|
It
now appears that Mary Ann may have already given birth to a son prior to
their wedding day or was in an advanced state of pregnancy on that day. The evidence in the later census of 1861
suggests that the child may have even been born as early as 1839. However, it was just three months after
they were married that Mary Ann’s son was baptised as William Collett at
Charlton-on-Otmoor, as were the couple’s subsequent sons, there being no
church at Murcott or Horton-cum-Studley.
What is very interesting is that within the census of 1841 William and
Mary Ann’s eldest son was named John, while it was their third son who was
eventually baptised with the name John four years later. |
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|
|
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|
William
and Mary Ann were both 20 years of age in 1841, while their son ‘John’ was
one year old, when the family was living at Whitecross Green in
Horton-cum-Studley, where William was an agricultural labourer. There is chance that son William was referred to as John to avoid any
confusion with his father. |
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|
|
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|
The
next census in 1851 again raises questions about the couple’s eldest son,
since the family was still living at Horton-cum-Studley, but seemingly
without their son William Collett.
Instead, the child of around the same age who was living there with
them was William Clark who was 11 years of age and born at Headington who was
described as son-in-law rather than stepson, indicating he was the child of
Mary Ann Clark by another father. What is interesting is the
only 1839 birth of a William at Headington was that of Wiliam Edward Collett,
for whom there is no subsequent record of a William Edward Collett. However, there are a good number of records
for William Collett of Headington. |
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|
|
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|
The
rest of the family comprised William and Mary Ann Collett, both 31, with
their two youngest sons George Collett who was seven, and John Collett who
was five. The family was recorded
under the surname Collet, when William from Murcott was still working as an
agricultural labourer. Mary Ann was
confirmed as having been born at Boarstall, and the two sons at
Horton-cum-Studley. Staying with the
family on that occasion was Mary Ann’s brother William Clark, aged 27, an
agricultural labourer from Studley, who was described as brother-in-law. |
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|
|
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|
It
is highly likely that Mary Ann was with-child on the day of the census,
because later that same year she gave birth to fourth son. Less than four years after that day,
William Collett died and was buried at Beckley Church on 5th
February 1855, when he was described as 34 and from Whitecross Green. His death was recorded at Headington (Ref. 3a 420) during the first
three months of 1855. It was
thirty-two months later that Mary Ann Collett married James Payne at Beckley
on 15th October 1857. James
was a bachelor and a labourer of 29 years from Whitecross Green, the son of
labourer William Payne, while Mary Ann Collett, aged 37, was a widow from
Whitecross Green, the daughter of farmer John Clark. The witnesses were James Blake and Emma
Payne. |
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|
|
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|
The
marriage of Mary Ann Collett nee Clark and James Payne produced a daughter
who was born around the time that the couple was married, as confirmed by the
Beckley census of 1861 when James Payne was 31, his wife Mary A Payne was 40
from Boarstall, and their daughter Thirza Payne was just three years of age
and born at Studley. Also living in
Beckley with the family at that time were Mary Ann’s three sons, William
Collett aged 20 and from Headington, George Collett aged 18, and Ellis
Collett who was nine years old, both confirmed as born at Studley (Horton-cum-Studley). All three sons were described as a son-in-law
to head of the household James Payne of Studley. It is interesting that Mary Ann’s missing
son, John Collett, had left school by that time and was working as a shepherd
on the Boarstall farm of William Blake.
He was very likely related to the aforementioned
witness James Blake, and is believed to be the half-brother James
Payne’s mother. |
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|
|
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|
Further
tragedy must have struck Mary Ann sometime during the 1860s, when her husband
was killed or died as the result of an accident, he being so much younger
than her. Her loss may have resulted
in her losing the house at Beckley since, in 1871 she was lodging at the home
of farmer William Cox within the Whitecross Green area of
Horton-cum-Studley. With her on that
occasion was her unmarried son George Collett. |
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|
|
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|
During
the next decade Mary Ann settled in Charlton-on-Otmoor, where she was living
in 1881, again with her son George and her daughter Theresa Payne who was 23
and a domestic servant. Widow Mary A
Payne from Boarstall was a laundress at the age of 60. Twenty years later, when Mary
Ann Payne from Boarstall was 80, she was again residing in Charlton where she
was head of the household and described as a retired duck picker. Just prior to the next census in 1911, the
death of Mary Ann Payne, aged 90, was recorded at Bicester register office
(Ref. 3a 626) during the first three months of 1911. |
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|
|
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|
46O14 |
William Edward Collett |
Born in 1839
at Headington |
|
|
46O15
|
George Collett |
Born in 1843
at Horton-cum-Studley |
|
|
46O16 |
John Collett |
Born in 1845
at Horton-cum-Studley |
|
|
46O17 |
Ellis Collett |
Born in 1851
at Horton-cum-Studley |
|
|
|
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|
|
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46N5 |
George Collett was born at Murcott in 1821 and was
baptised on 25th June 1821 at Charlton-on-Otmoor. He had a rounded age of 20 in June 1841
and, in 1851, at the age of 28 and an unmarried agricultural labourer, he was
the only child still living at Murcott was his mother Prudence Collett, widow
of the late William Collett. The
married of George Collett and Eliza Haskins of Islip was recorded at Bicester
(Ref. 3a 721) during the second quarter of 1852. Eliza Haskins was baptised at Islip on 19th
October 1828, the daughter of George and Elizabeth Haskins. During the remainder of that decade, the
marriage produced the couple’s first four children, all of them born at
Murcott, where the family was residing in 1861. On that census day, the family was made up
of George Collett, a labourer from Murcott who was 38, his wife Eliza Collett
from nearby Islip who was 32, their three sons Lewis Collett who was seven,
William Collett who was three, and George Collett who was two, together with
their daughter Elizabeth Ann Collett who was four years old. |
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|
|
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|
Living
in the dwellings on either side of the property occupied by George and his
family, was his brother Thomas Collett (above) with his family and, on
the other side, George’s widowed mother Prudence Collett, who had living with
her George’s youngest sister Charlotte (Elizabeth) Walker nee Collett (below)
with her two daughters. Eighteen
months after the census day in 1861, Eliza presented George with their last
child, after which the
family left Murcott when they moved into Charlton-on-Otmoor, as confirmed
in the census conducted in 1871. On
that occasion the couple was recorded as George Collett from Murcott who was
47 and an agricultural
labourer, and his wife was recorded in error as Elena Collett who was 42.
The four children living there with
them were Lewis Collett who was 17, William Collett who was 14, George
Collett who was 11, and latest edition Alfred Collett who was nine. Every member of the family was said to have
been born at Murcott, even though Elena (Eliza) had been born at Islip. Missing from the family home that day was
daughter Elizabeth who was 15 and living and working fifteen miles away at
Winslow in Buckinghamshire. Taking her
bed was George’s elderly widowed mother Prudence Collett, a pauper, who
passed away three years later. |
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|
|
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|
During
the next decade the family moved five miles due south of Charlton to Beckley
in Oxfordshire, where they were living in 1881. George was 60 and from Murcott, while his
occupation was then that of a farmer of thirty acres. His wife Eliza from Islip was 55, when the
only member of their family still living with them, was their unmarried son
George who was 21 and from Murcott, who was continuing to work as an
agricultural labourer. The couple’s
youngest son Alfred was living with Eliza’s sister Esther Haskins and her
husband Thomas Honour in Hampshire. |
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|
|
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|
According
to the next census in 1891, George and Eliza had returned to Fencott-with-Murcott,
when sons George and Alfred had joined them.
That year’s census return recorded the family as George Collett who
was 71, Eliza Collett who was 60, unmarried George Collett who was 30, and
unmarried Alfred Collett from Murcott who was 27, both sons being
agricultural labourers, as was their father.
Just over two years later, the death of Eliza Collett, nee Haskins,
was recorded at Bicester register office (Ref. 3a 496) during the third
quarter of 1893 at the age of 65. Perhaps
at the end of 1899, widower George Collett may have been taken into hospital
in Oxford, since his death was recorded at Headington register office (Ref.
3a 685) during the first three months of 1900, when he was 80 years of age. |
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|
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|
46O18 |
Lewis Collett |
Born in 1853
at Murcott |
|
|
46O19 |
Elizabeth Ann Collett |
Born in 1856
at Murcott |
|
|
46O20 |
William Collett |
Born in 1857
at Murcott |
|
|
46O21 |
George Collett |
Born in 1859
at Murcott |
|
|
46O22 |
Alfred Collett |
Born in 1862
at Murcott |
|
|
|
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|
|
|||
46N6 |
John Collett was born at Murcott in 1823 and was
baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 25th February 1823, the son of
William Collett and Prudence Pittam.
He was later recorded as being 15 years old in 1841. The marriage of John Collett and Matilda
Attwood was recorded at Bicester (Ref. xvi 67) during the last quarter of
1848. Matilda, who came from nearby
Horton-cum-Studley, presented John with their first child in the following
year and another, a year later. In
1851 the family living at Murcott comprised agricultural labourer John
Collett, aged 28, who was born at Murcott, his wife Matilda, aged 23 and from
Horton, and their two daughters Louisa Collett who was two years old and
Selina Collett who was only six months old, both girls born at Murcott. |
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|
|
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|
By
the time of the 1861 Census the family had grown with the birth of four more
children. The census record for
Murcott, within the Bicester & Bletchington registration district,
revealed that John was 37 and still employed as an agricultural labourer,
Matilda was 35 and their children were Selina Collett who was ten, Clara
Collett who was seven, Emily Collett who was five, Rosanna Collett who was
three, and baby Eli Collett who had only just been born. On that occasion the couple’s eldest
daughter Louisa, at the age of 12, had already started work as a house
servant at the Murcott home of William, a farmer and publican, whose surname
in the census is unreadable. |
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|
|
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|
During
the next ten years three more children were added to the family although, by
the time of the next census in 1871, two of the children, Benjamin, and Eli,
had suffered premature deaths, while daughter Emily aged 15 was already
working in domestic service with a Collett family at Beckley, the home of her
father’s cousin. Also, by that time,
the family home was in Charlton-on-Otmoor, where the family comprised John
who was 48 and an
agricultural labourer, Matilda from Horton was 46, daughter Rowena was 12, and
the three new arrivals were Herbert who was eight, Walter who was five, and baby
Jane who was only one year old. Their
daughter Clara Collett from Murcott, was 18 years of age and had already left
her family and was working as a domestic servant at a farm near Bicester. |
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|
|
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|
According
to the 1881 Census, only sons Herbert and Walter were still living with their
parents at that time. It is therefore
possible that John and Matilda’s youngest daughter Jane, who would have been
ten, had also not survived beyond childhood.
The census return in 1881 recorded that the
family was living at Fencott-with-Murcott in the area of Charlton-on-Otmoor
where John was 58 and his birth place was confirmed as being Murcott, as it
was for his sons Herbert aged 17, and Walter aged 15. All three men were working as agricultural
labourers. John’s wife Matilda was 56
and her place of birth was confirmed as Horton. |
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|
|
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|
Seven
years later, the death of Matilda Collett was recorded at Bicester (Ref. 3a
450) during the second quarter of 1888, when she was 62. By the time of the next census in 1891 for Fencott
with Murcott, widower John Collett was 68 and again working as an
agricultural labourer, who still had living with him, his two unmarried sons
Herbert, and Walter, whose ages were given as 26 and 24 respectively. It was a few weeks later that same year, and
three years after losing his wife, when the death of John Collett was
recorded at Bicester register office (Ref. 3a 532) during the second quarter
of 1891, at the age of 68. |
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|
|
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|
46O23 |
Louisa Collett |
Born in 1849
at Murcott |
|
|
46O24 |
Selina Collett |
Born in 1850
at Murcott |
|
|
46O25 |
Benjamin Collett |
Born in 1852
at Murcott |
|
|
46O26 |
Clara Hannah Collett |
Born in 1853
at Murcott |
|
|
46O27 |
Emily Collett |
Born in 1855
at Murcott |
|
|
46O28 |
Rowena Collett |
Born in 1859 at Murcott |
|
|
46O29 |
Eli Collett |
Born in 1861
at Murcott |
|
|
46O30 |
Herbert Collett |
Born in 1862
at Murcott |
|
|
46O31 |
Walter Collett |
Born in 1865
at Murcott |
|
|
46O32 |
Jane Collett |
Born in 1870
at Murcott |
|
|
|
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|
|
|||
46N7 |
Benjamin Collett was born at Murcott in 1825 and was
baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 22nd January 1825, a son of
William and Prudence Collett. Although
no record of an infant death has been, the family’s next male child was also
named Benjamin (below). |
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|
|
|||
|
|
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46N8 |
Mary Collett was born at Murcott in 1826 and was baptised
at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 1st May 1826, the daughter of William and
Prudence Collett. No other record for
Mary has so far been found. |
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|
|
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|
|
|||
46N9 |
Elizabeth Collett was born at Murcott in 1829 and was
baptised as Elizabeth Collett on 4th October 1829 at
Charlton-on-Otmoor, the youngest daughter of William Collett and Prudence Pittam. In 1841 Elizabeth was 12 years old when she
was still living with her family and widowed mother at Murcott. It was as Elizabeth Collett that she
married William Walker on 11th December 1849 in Swanbourne, north
of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, where her older married sister Martha (above)
was living with her family at that time.
The marriage of Elizabeth and William was recorded at Winslow (Ref. vi
811). In the Swanbourne census of 1851,
Elizabeth Walker from Murcott was 23 when she was living there with her
husband William Walker, who was also 23 and an agricultural labourer, and
their daughter Harriet Walker was under six months old. The birth of Harriet Walker was registered
at Winslow (Ref. vi 425) during the fourth quarter of 1850 and was baptised
at Swanbourne on 21st September 1851, the daughter of William and
Elizabeth Walker. |
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|
|
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|
Elizabeth
presented William with a second daughter two years later and again, the birth
of Eliza Walker was registered at Winslow (Ref. 3a 383) during the
third quarter of 1853. However, four
years later Elizabeth suffered the loss of her husband, following which she returned
to Murcott, with her two daughters, to live there with her widowed mother
Prudence Collett. The census in 1861
curiously recorded her as Charlotte Walker from Murcott who was 29 and a
married woman, rather than Elizabeth Walker aged 33 who was a widow. ‘Charlotte’ was working as a field woman at
that time, while her two daughters were listed with her as Harriet Walker who
was 10, and Eliza Walker who was seven, both born at Swanbourne in
Buckinghamshire. The death of William
Walker, at Swanbourne, was recorded at Winslow (Ref. 3a 304) during the third
quarter of 1857. |
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|
|
|||
|
|
|||
46N10 |
Benjamin Collett was born at Murcott in 1831 and was
baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 27th November 1831, the last
child of William Collett and Prudence Pittam.
Sadly, he only survived for less than two years and was buried at St
Mary’s Church in Charlton on 30th August 1833. |
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|
|
|||
|
|
|||
46N11
|
John Collett
was born at
Wendlebury near Bicester on 30th May 1824 where his parents had
been married during November in the previous year. It would also appear from the records that
he was baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 30th May 1824. During the years after he was born, John
and his parents left Oxfordshire and moved the short distance across the
county boundary to settle in the village of Boarstall. And it was at Panshill Farm in Boarstall
where the family was living in June 1841 when John was 15, but by 1851 he was
26 and a farmer and a visitor at the home of widow Martha Foster and her
unmarried brother William Foster at Caversfield near Bicester. |
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|
|
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|
It
was Martha’s daughter that John may have been seeing at that time because,
just over three years later, at 30 years of age, he married Lucy Foster at
Caversfield on 9th November 1854.
Their wedding was
recorded at Bicester (Ref. 3a 953) during the last months of 1854. Lucy was born at Bucknell, just north of
Bicester, on 4th June 1830, where she was baptised on 13th
June 1830. She was the daughter of the
late Richard Foster and Martha King, although other records gave the mother’s
name as Martha Coleman. |
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|
|
|||
|
Within
the next seven years the marriage produced the first four children for John
and Lucy so, by the time of the census of 1861, the family comprised John
Collett from Wendlebury who was 36 and a farmer of 116 acres, employing 22
men, his wife Lucy from Bucknell who was 30, and their four children. They were Richard who was five, Martha who
was four, John who was two, and William who was five months old. All four children had been born at Arncott,
with the family living at Clew Hill (Farm) in Arncott on that occasion. Completing the household were servants
James Sampley, Sarah Massey, and James Hubbucks. The couple’s next two children were born
after John and Lucy had move to Charlton-on-Otmoor and, sometime over the
following years, John returned to Boarstall with his family. And it was at Boarstall that his last five
children are known to have been born.
The family’s move to Boarstall may have been prompted by the death of
John’s father Richard in 1863 and the need to be back in the village of his
childhood to be near his widowed mother Martha. |
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|
|
|||
|
At
the time of the 1871 Census for Boarstall, John Collett from Wendlebury was
46 and a farmer, most likely at Panshill Farm, Lucy Collett from Bucknell was
40, and their children that day were Richard Collett 15, John Edwin Collett
12, William Foster Collett 10, James Bottrell Collett who was seven, Walter
George Collett who was five, Esther Collett who was three, and Edith Bessie Collett
who was not yet one year old. The
birthplace of all the children was recorded as Arncott. The couple’s eldest daughter Martha was
missing from the family, following her death in 1863 but, staying with the
family that day was John’s nephew Arthur Collett, aged 18 and from Murcott,
who was a farm servant and the son of John’s younger brother Richard (below). One other person was recorded with the
family and she was Jane Jennings from nearby Oakley who was 15. |
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|
|
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|
By
April 1881, John was farming 190 acres of land at Panshill (Pansole) Farm in
Boarstall where he also employed three men, two of whom may have been his
sons John and James who were still living with John and Lucy at that
time. The full census return confirmed
that John was 56 and born at Wendlebury, and that his wife was Lucy who was
50 and born at Bucknell. Listed with
them were sons John Edwin Collett aged 20 of Arncott, James Bottrell Collett
aged 17 of Charlton-on-Otmoor, and Herbert Spencer Collett who was six, and
their daughters Esther who was 13, Edith Bessie who was 11, and Beatrice Mary
who was nine. The census confirmed
that the four youngest children had all been born at Boarstall. |
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|
|
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|
John
Collett died at Boarstall on 29th December 1881, where he was also
buried, with his death
recorded at Bicester (Ref. 3a 429) at the age of 57. Sometime after the death of her husband,
Lucy left Boarstall with some of her children and moved back to the Bicester
area, where they were recorded as living in 1891. Widow Lucy was 60 and still living with her
were just five of her children, John Collett who was 32, James Collett who was 26, Edith Collett
who was 20, Beatrice Collett who was 19, and Herbert Collett who was 16 years
of age. The two older sons were confirmed as born in
Oxfordshire, with the three younger siblings born in Buckinghamshire. Over the following years Lucy returned to
Boarstall where she presumably lived until her death in 1914. |
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|
|
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|
The 1901 Census confirmed that widow
and head of the household Lucy Collett from Bucknell was 70 and unmarried
daughter Beatrice 28, were living at Panshill, Boarstall. Also, by that time, her son William Foster
Collett was living with them, who was 40, a farmer, and a widower, who had
with him, his two sons, William junior who was 11, and Richard who was eight. On that day, Lucy employed a domestic
servant, Ada Kirby who was 20 from Boarstall Honeyburge. Living nearby in Boarstall was another of Lucy’s
children, her son John Edwin Collett, his wife, and their children. |
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|
According
to the next census in 1911, Lucy Collett had finally left Boarstall and, at
the age of 80 and still head of the household, she was living at
Charlton-on-Otmoor with two of her youngest unmarried daughters. They were Esther Collett who was 43, and
Beatrice M Collett who was 39 and the housekeeper for her mother. Also living with the three ladies was
Martha Alice C Collett who was 24 and the granddaughter of Lucy Collett who had been born at Ockley in
Surrey, the daughter of Lucy’s eldest son Richard. It was three-and-a-half-years after that day,
when the death of Lucy
Collett nee Foster was recorded at Bicester register office (Ref. 3a 1191)
during the fourth quarter of 1914 at the age of 84. |
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|
46O33 |
Richard Collett |
Born in 1855
at Arncott |
|
|
46O34 |
Martha Ann Collett |
Born in 1857
at Arncott |
|
|
46O35 |
John Edwin Collett |
Born in 1858 at Clew Hill
Farm, Arncott |
|
|
46O36 |
William Foster Collett |
Born in 1861
at Clew Hill Farm, Arncott |
|
|
46O37 |
Lucy Louisa Collett |
Born in 1862
at Charlton-on-Otmoor |
|
|
46O38 |
James Bottrell Collett |
Born in 1864
at Charlton-on-Otmoor |
|
|
46O39 |
Walter George Collett |
Born in 1866 at Panshill Farm,
Boarstall |
|
|
46O40 |
Esther Collett |
Born in 1867 at Panshill Farm, Boarstall |
|
|
46O41 |
Edith Bessie Collett |
Born in 1870 at Panshill Farm,
Boarstall |
|
|
46O42 |
Beatrice Mary Collett |
Born in 1872 at Panshill Farm,
Boarstall |
|
|
46O43 |
Herbert Spencer Collett |
Born in 1874 at Panshill Farm,
Boarstall |
|
|
|
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|
|
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46N12
|
Richard Collett was born Boarstall in 1827 and was the
second child of Richard Collett and Martha Bottrell. By the time of the census in 1841 Richard
was 14 years old and still living at Panshill Farm in Boarstall with his
family. A couple of years prior to the next census day, Richard
Collett married Mary Gladdy who was born at Oakley to the south of
Boarstall, one of the
many children of George and Mary Gladdy.
Their wedding was recorded at Oxford (Ref. xvi 141) during the third
quarter of 1849. That was confirmed
by the census in 1851 when Richard Collett from Boarstall was 23 and a farmer
of nine acres, and Mary Collett from Oakley was 21. At that time the couple was residing in the
village of Murcott, not far from Richard’s family, and staying with the
childless couple was Richard’s youngest sister Martha Collett who was 10
years old and born at Boarstall. |
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|
|
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|
It is established that Mary gave
birth to two sons at Murcott, although neither Mary nor her second child
survived. Son Charles lived for just
eighteen days after he was baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor, and died in
October 1854. Just a few months later,
the premature death of Mary Collett was recorded at Thame (Ref. 3a 409)
during the first months of 1855. In order for Richard to continuing earning a living, he
placed his surviving son in the care of his sister Martha and his parents
Richard and Martha Collett. In 1861, he was a lodger at the Birmingham
home of Thomas and Mary Allan at Brewery Street, where Richard Collett from
Boarstall was 33 and working as a labourer.
His marital status on the census return was blank, maybe not wanting
to admit he was a widower. On that same day, his son
Arthur was with his unmarried aunt Marth Collett at Panshill Farm in
Boarstal, the home of Richard’s elderly parents. |
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|
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|
46O44
|
Arthur Collett |
Born in 1852
at Murcott |
|
|
46O45
|
Charles
Collett |
Born in 1854 at Murcott |
|
|
|
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|
|
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46N13
|
Ann Collett was born at Boarstall in 1829 and by
1841 she was 12 years of age when living in Boarstall with her family on
Panshill Farm. Over the following
decade the family crossed the county boundary into Oxfordshire and in 1851
she was 20 years old when she was still living with her family at Murcott
within the Bicester & Bletchingdon area.
Six years later,
the death of Ann Collett was recorded at Bicester (Ref. 3a 365) during the
first quarter of 1857. |
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|
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|
|
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46N14
|
Felicia Collett was born at Boarstall in 1832 and
according to the 1841 Census, Felicia Collett was nine years old when she was
living with her family at Panshill Farm in Boarstall. After a further ten years, Felicia aged 19 was one of only two
children still living with her parents at Boarstall in 1851. |
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|
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|
|
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46N15
|
Elizabeth Collett was born at Boarstall in 1836 and was
aged five years in the Boarstall census conducted in June 1841 when she and
her family were living at Panshill Farm.
Ten years later she was 15 years of age in the Murcott, Oxfordshire,
census of 1851. Between April and June
in 1856 Elizabeth married Mark Honour, the marriage being registered in
Bicester. Mark was born at Murcott in
1832 and was the younger brother of Thomas Honour who employed his nephew
Alfred Collett (Ref. 46O22) in 1881 on his farm in Hampshire. Shortly after Elizabeth and Mark were
married, she presented her husband with their first child which was born at
Murcott, as were all five children. |
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|
|
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|
However,
sometime after the birth of the last child the family left Murcott and moved
south to Swyncombe near Watlington in Oxfordshire. And it was there that the family was living
in 1881. Mark Honour was 48 and was
farming 500 acres of land known as Lower Farm in Swyncombe where he employed
four men and a boy. His place of birth
was confirmed as Murcott, while Elizabeth Honour his wife, who was 41, was
confirmed has having been born at Fencott and not Boarstall which seems
rather curious. Their children were Sarah
Honour aged 24, Albert Honour aged 22, Walter Honour aged
18, Bessie Honour aged 16, and William Honour who was nine
years of age. Also employed the family
were two domestic farm servants William Morton and Benjamin Groves both aged
18. Tragically it was later that same
year when Elizabeth died at
Swyncombe. |
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|
|
|||
|
|
|||
46N16
|
Martha Collett was born at Panshill Farm in Boarstall
in December 1840, with
her birth registered at Bicester (Ref. xvi 27) during the last quarter of
that year. She was the last
child of Richard Collett and Martha Bottrell, and was five months old in the
census of 1841. While her parents continued to
work the farm in Boarstall, by 1851 Martha Collett aged 10 years was
living with her recently married brother Richard Collett and his wife Mary at
Murcott, where their son
was born during the following year.
Following the tragic death of her sister-in-law, Martha very likely stayed
with her widowed brother Richard to look after his baby son Arthur. Over the years that followed, unmarried
Martha returned to live with her parents at Panshill Farm, as confirmed in
the next census of 1861 when Martha Collett from Boarstall was 20 years old
and had with her, her nephew Arthur Collett who was eight years old. |
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|
|
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|
|
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46N17
|
Susanna Collett was born in 1820 and may have been
base-born, since she was baptised at Blackthorn on 14th May 1820
using her mother’s maiden-name. No
other record for Susanna or Susannah has so far been found. |
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|
|
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|
|
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46N18
|
Sarah Collett was born in 1823 and may have been
base-born since, like her sister Susanna (above) she was baptised at
Blackthorn on 4th July 1823 using her mother’s maiden-name. No other record for Sarah has so far been
found. |
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|
|
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|
|
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46N19
|
Elizabeth Collett was born at Murcott in 1834 but was
baptised at the parish church in Charlton-on-Otmoor on 25th
December 1834, the eldest child of farmer John and Sarah Collett. She was six years old in the June census of
1841 and was 16 in 1851 when, on both occasions, she was living with her
parents at Murcott. By the time she
was 26 she was very likely married, as there is no record of Elizabeth
Collett of Murcott, around that age, listed within the census of 1861. |
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|
|
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|
|
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46N20
|
William Collett was born at Murcott in 1837 and was
baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 14th May 1837, the eldest son of
farmer John Collett and Sarah Hopcraft.
His age quoted in each of the subsequent census returns varied a great
deal, starting with him being four years in Murcott/Fencott census of 1841. Ten years later he was 13 in the
Murcott/Fencott census of 1851 when he was described as a farmer’s son. By 1861 he was 22 but was more correctly
recorded in the census of 1871 when he was 35 years old. According to the next census in 1881 he was
still living with his parents on their farm at Fencott, within the
Charlton-on-Otmoor registration district, when he was 44. |
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|
|
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|
Following
the death of his parents in 1884 and 1885, William took over the farm at
Fencott and eventually became a married man when he was approaching his
fiftieth birthday. Although the
details of his marriage to Susannah Turner have so far not been found,
Susannah was clearly the daughter of Job Clack, a railway porter, and Ann
Clack, both from Wiltshire, whose two older brothers were William and Oliver
Turner. Once married, William and
Susannah settled at Shillingford in Oxfordshire, where all their children
were born. |
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|
|
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|
By
the time of the census in 1891 William Collett, aged 52, was a farmer living
in a farmhouse in Fencott, where he also stated that he had been born. His wife Susannah Collett from Shillingford
was only 39 and, by then, she had presented William with a son. Charles W J Collett had been born at
Fencott and was just one year old. The
census return stated that William was an employer and placed the farmhouse in
which his family was living as being immediately adjacent to the public house
known as The Bull Inn. |
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|
|
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|
It
was at that same dwelling next door to the re-named Black Bull Inn that the
family of three was still living ten years later. The Fencott census of 1901 recorded the
family as William Collett, who was 63 and a farmer who had been born at
Fencott, his wife Susannah Collett, aged 49 and from Shillingford, while
their son Charles W T Collett from Fencott was 11. With his advancing years, the death of
William Collett was recorded at Bicester register office (Ref. 3a 625) during
the early weeks of 1911, when he was 73.
Shortly thereafter, the census conducted in April 1911, confirmed that
Susannah Collett was a widow at the age of 59, who was working as a domestic
housekeeper for her unmarried son Charles W T Collett, aged 21, who was still
managing the family’s farm in Fencott.
Fourteen years later, the death of Susannah Collett was recorded at
Bicester register office (Ref. 3a 1341) during the first quarter of 1925, at
the age of 73. |
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|
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|
46O46 |
Charles
William Thomas Collett |
Born in 1889
at Fencott |
|
|
|
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|
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46N21
|
Charlotte Collett was born at Murcott in 1839 and was
baptised at the parish church in Charlton-on-Otmoor on 21st April
1839, the daughter of John Collett and Sarah Hopcraft. By June 1841, Charlotte was two years old
when she and her family were residing in Murcott. Sadly, that was the last record so far
found of her, even though no record of her young death has been unearthed. |
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|
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46N22
|
Thomas Collett was born at Murcott in 1841, with his
birth registered at Bicester (Ref. xvi 44) during the month of June that year,
but after the census was conducted in the first week. Thomas was baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor
on 27th June 1841, the son of farmer John Collett and Sarah
Hopcraft. At the time of the Murcott
census of 1851 Thomas was 10 years old and was living with his family, when
his place of birth was given as Murcott.
He later married Anne Cox of Horton-cum-Studley during the last three
months of 1867, their wedding day recorded at Headington (Ref. 3a 1078),
although the church service very likely took place at
Horton-cum-Studley. And it was there
also, at Whitecross Green, that the couple’s first child was born during the
third quarter of the following year, just prior to moving to Arncott near
Bicester. |
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|
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|
It
may be of interest to note that an Ellen Martha Cox was born in 1866 at
Whitecross Green in Horton-cum-Studley.
She was the daughter of Thomas and Margaret Cox and she later marry
James Bottrell Collett in 1895. It is
likely that Thomas Cox was the brother of Anne Cox. Thomas and Margaret Cox were also the
parents of Maud Cox of Whitecross Green in Horton-cum-Studley who married
Albert John Collett (Ref. 46O55) around 1893, Albert being the nephew of
Thomas Collett, with Maud being the niece of Anne Cox. |
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|
The
Collett connection between Thomas of Murcott and James Bottrell of Charlton
was through Thomas’ father John Collett, who was the brother of Richard
Collett who was James’ grandfather. In
total Thomas Collett and Anne Cox are known to have had six children, the
second and third child having been born while the family was living at
Arncott, and their last three children born after the family had moved to
Fencott. |
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|
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|
It
was at Arncott that the young family was living in 1871, when Thomas Collett
was 28 and a farmer who said he had been born at Fencott. His wife Anne from Horton was 24 and their
first two children were Aubrey Thomas Collett who was three years old
and born at Horton, and Herbert James
Collett who was under three months old who had been born after the family
arrived in Arncott. One more child was
added to the family at Arncott, before the family move again to a large farm
in Fencott, where the last three children were born. |
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|
|
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|
All
of that was confirmed in the next census in 1881 when the family was still living
in Fencott, by which time Thomas Collett from Murcott was 40 years old and a
farmer of 230 acres employing three men and two boys. His wife Anne Collett 34 and had been born
at Horton-cum-Studley. The six
children living with the couple on that day were Aubrey Collett aged 13,
described as a farmer’s son, Herbert Collett who was 10, Mildred Collett who
was nine, Beatrice Collett who was five, Percival Collett who was four, and
Arthur Collett who was two years old. |
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|
Ten
years later, the same family was again living at Fencott and comprised farmer
Thomas Collett aged 49, Annie Collett aged 47, and their children Aubrey who
was 23, Herbert who was 20, Mildred who was 19, Beatrice who was 15, Percival
who was 13, and Arthur who was 11.
Just after the turn of the century Thomas and Anne were still residing
within the Fencott and Murcott area of Charlton-on-Otmoor, but with just two
of their children. Farmer Thomas Collett
of Murcott was 59, Annie Collett of Horton was 53, unmarried daughter
Beatrice Collett was 25, and unmarried son Percy Collett was 23, both born at
Fencott. The only other person living
with the family, was servant Horace Terry from Ludgershall who was 14. |
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|
The
later census of 1911 placed the couple once more living at Fencott with
Murcott, where farmer Thomas Collett was 69 and his wife Annie was 64. Annie stated that Horton was where she had
been born, whereas Thomas said he was from Fencott. The census confirmed that Thomas and Annie
had been married for forty-four years.
The couple’s son Herbert, whose wife had died during the previous decade
years, had returned to live with them, together with his youngest
daughters. |
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|
Annie’s
health may have already been failing by that census day in 1911 since it was
during the third quarter of that same year, when the death of Anne Collett,
nee Cox, was recorded at Bicester register office (Ref. 3a 1254). Her widowed husband outlived her by just
over ten years when, at the age of 80 years, the death of Thomas Collett was
also recorded at Bicester register office (Ref. 3a 1547) during the first
three months of 1922. The parish
records are likely to show that they were buried together at St Mary’s Church
in Charlton-on-Otmoor. |
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|
46O47 |
Aubrey Thomas Brownlow Collett |
Born in 1868
at Horton-cum-Studley |
|
|
46O48 |
Herbert James Collett |
Born in 1871
at Arncott |
|
|
46O49 |
Mildred Bessie Collett |
Born in 1873
at Arncott |
|
|
46O50 |
Beatrice Martha Collett |
Born in 1875
at Fencott |
|
|
46O51 |
Percival Cox Collett |
Born in 1877
at Fencott |
|
|
46O52 |
Ernest Arthur Collett |
Born in 1879
at Fencott |
|
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|
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|
|
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46N23
|
George Collett was born at Murcott in 1843, and his
birth was registered at Bicester (Ref. xvi 39) during April or May that year.
It was at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 4th
June 1843, that he was baptised, the son of farmer John and Sarah
Collett. George was eight years old in
the Murcott census of 1851, when it was noted that he had been born at
Murcott, as it was ten years later in 1861, when he was 16. It was when he was around twenty-two years
of age, that he became a married man, the wedding of George Collett and Emma
Hawes was recorded at Headington (Ref. 3a 1077) during the last three months
of 1867. Emma who was eight years his
senior, having been born at Worminghall in Buckinghamshire around 1835, the
second child of John and Mary Hawes. |
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|
The
marriage produced two daughters who were born while George and Emma were
still living at Fencott. However, soon
after the twins were born, George, took his family to live in the village of
Beckley, near Stanton St John, to the east of Headington, Oxford. The census in 1871 described the family as
George Collett from Fencott who was 26 and a baker, his wife Emma Collett
from nearby Worminghall who was 35, and sisters Mary E H Collett and Sarah A
Collett, both said to be one year old.
Helping Emma look after the twins, was Emily Collett (Ref. 46O27) from
Murcott who was 14 and working there as a gentleman’s servant. Emily was the daughter of George’s cousin
John Collett by his wife Matilda Attwood.
During the 1870s the family of four left Oxford and moved south to
Swyncombe near Watlington in Oxfordshire where George’s cousin Elizabeth
Honour nee Collett (above) and her family had also moved around the
same time. |
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|
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|
The
census of 1881 for Swyncombe recorded the family as George Collett, aged 37
and from Fencott, was the farmer of 70 acres at Darkwood Farm, while his wife
Emma Collett from Worminghall was 45.
Their two daughters Mary E Collett and Sarah A Collett were both 11
years of age and, supporting the family was a domestic farm servant by the
name of Frederick Chalduran, aged 18, also from Worminghall. |
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|
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|
Ten
years later the family was once again living within the Bicester &
Bletchington registration district, where George Collett was 46, Emma Collett
was 52, Elizabeth Mary Collett was 21, as was Sarah Ann Collett, both
daughters confirmed as having been born at Fencott. In March 1901 George Collett, aged 56 and a
farmer from Murcott, was living at Writchwick Farm in the Market End district
of Bicester with his daughter Elizabeth Collett, aged 30 and from Fencott,
and his wife who was recorded in error as Eva Collett, aged 57 and from
Worminghall, instead of Emma Collett aged 63 from Worminghall. Also living in that same registration
district was Ellen [Rebecca] Collett (Ref. 46P46), the granddaughter of George’s
cousin William Collett (Ref. 46N4). |
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|
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|
However,
by April 1911, daughter Mary had been married for eight years and had a
family of her own and was living at Boarstall, when George Collett from
Fencott was 66 and farmer, was still living at Market End in Bicester with
just his wife Emma Collett for company, who was 74 and from Worminghall. The death of Emma Collett aged 80, was
recorded at Woodstock register office (Ref. 3a 1836) during the last three
months of 1916, after which George appears to have moved in with one of his
married daughters. It was less than
two years later when he passed away, with his death recorded at Thame
register office (Ref. 3a 1041) during the second quarter of 1918, when he was
74. |
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|
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|
46O53 |
Mary Elizabeth Collett |
Born in 1870
at Fencott |
|
|
46O54 |
Sarah Anne Collett |
Born in 1870
at Fencott |
|
|
|
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|
|
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46N24
|
John
Collett was born at Murcott in 1845, the son of John and Sarah
Collett, whose birth was
registered at Bicester (Ref. xvi 35) during the third quarter of that year. He was recorded as being six years old in
the Murcott census of 1851, but by 1861 he and his family were living at
Fencott when John Collett aged 15 was a scholar who was confirmed again, as
having been born at Murcott. On 20th
September 1870 John married Edith Elizabeth Powell, with their wedding day
recorded at Bicester (Ref. 3a 905). Edith was born at Charlton-on-Otmoor in 1848,
where she was baptised on 19th March 1848, the daughter of John
and Celia Powell. Once married the
couple settled initially in Charlton-on-Otmoor, where they were living six
months later in 1871, when John Collett from Murcott was 26 and a grocer, and
Edith Collett from Charlton was 23. |
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|
|
|||
|
On
that census day, they were awaiting the arrival of their first child, who was
born at Fencott, as was their second child, before the family moved back to
Charlton-on-Otmoor, where their third child was born. Before the end of the 1870s, the family
left Charlton, when they moved to nearby Oddington. That move was confirmed by the next census
in 1881, when the family was living there in a cottage, from where John
Collett was a farmer of 140 acres employing four men and two boys. The census also stated that he was 35 and
born at Fencott, and that his wife Edith E Collett was 32 and from
Charlton. Their three children at that
time were Albert J Collett who was nine, Thomas H Collett who was eight, and
Sarah C Collett who was seven.
However, it is established that the couple did have another son John
who was born at Oddington around four years later and he was living with the
family at Oddington in 1891. |
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|
|
|||
|
The
Oddington census that year recorded the family as John Collett from Murcott
who was a farmer and an employer at the age of 45, his wife Edith E Collett
was 43, and their three sons were Albert J Collett who was 19, Thomas Collett
who was 18, and latest arrival John Collett who was five years old. By that time their daughter Sarah C Collett
was 17 and was recorded nearby.
According to the next census in 1901 Edith E Collett of
Charlton-on-Otmoor was 54, while he husband farmer John Collett was 55 and his
place of birth on that occasion was correctly listed as Murcott. Living with them was their youngest son
John Collett who was 15 and born at Oddington, who was working for his father. |
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|
|
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|
By
April 1911, farmer John Collett of Murcott was 65, his wife Edith E Collett
of Charlton was 63 and, by that time in their lives, the couple was living in
the hamlet of Noke-next-Oddington with their youngest son John Collett who
was 25 and still working with his father.
Staying with the family that day were two young children, the eldest
being Hilda Taylor from Charlton-on-Otmoor who was 12 years of age and
described as the granddaughter of John and Edith. The younger child was her sister Amy Holt
Taylor who was nine years old and born at Chalgrove. They were two of the seven children of John
and Edith’s daughter Sarah Cecilia Taylor, nee Collett, who was living at
Chalgrove with the rest of her family. |
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|
|
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|
On
20th September 1920 John and Edith celebrated fifty years of
married life together and the occasion was marked by the presentation to the
couple of an illuminated scroll. Today
the scroll hangs on the wall inside the house of John’s great-grandson
Stephen Collett. By that time in their life
John and Edith may have been living at Hampton Poyle near Kidlington. John Collett was 84 when he died on 22nd
May 1930, his death recorded at Bicester register office (Ref. 3a 1165),
following which he was buried in the grounds of St Andrew’s Church in
Oddington. |
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|
|
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|
Upon his passing, the land he owned
at Hampton Poyle was bequeathed to his eldest grandson Cecil John Collett
(Ref. 46P102), the eldest son of John’s eldest son Albert John Collett.
Four years after being made a widow, 86-year-old Edith Elizabeth
Collett, nee Powell, died on 17th October 1934, her passing
recorded at the Bicester Ploughley register office (Ref. 3a 1267). It was also at St Andrew’s Church in
Oddington, where she was laid to rest in the Collett family plot with her
husband. |
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|
|
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|
46O55 |
Albert John
Collett |
Born in 1871
at Fencott |
|
|
46O56 |
Thomas Hopcraft Collett |
Born in 1872
at Fencott |
|
|
46O57 |
Sarah Cecilia Collett |
Born in 1873
at Charlton-on-Otmoor |
|
|
46O58 |
John Collett |
Born in 1885
at Oddington |
|
|
|
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|
|
|||
46N25
|
Richard Collett was born at Murcott towards the end of 1847
and was the youngest child of farmer John Collett and his wife Sarah
Hopcraft. His birth was registered at Bicester (Ref. xvi
39) during the last three months of 1847. At the time of the Murcott/Fencott census
of 1851 Richard was three years old and his place of birth was confirmed as
Murcott. Thirty years later, according
to the 1881 Census, Richard Collett was 32 and a bachelor who was listed as a
farmer’s son. At that time, he was
still living with his elderly parents on their 88-acre farm in Fencott,
within the parish of Charlton-on-Otmoor. |
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|
|
|||
|
Richard’s
parents died during the 1880s and by 1891 he was living alone in Fencott,
within the Bicester & Bletchington registration when he was 44. The next census in March 1901 listed
Richard Collett as being 54 years old and born at Fencott, where he was
living at that time and where he was working as a thatcher. He was still unmarried and living alone ten
years later when, rather curiously, he was recorded as being 59 years old. |
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46N26 |
Denise Collett was born at Fencott in 1809 and was
the daughter of Mary Collett of Fencott who was not married until 1811. She was baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor on
12th March 1809 and the entry in the parish records referred to
her as ‘Dennis the natural daughter of Mary Collett’. Therefore, the assumption has been made
that the name today would be Denise.
It is not known whether she retained the Collett name or adopted the
Westbury name, following the marriage of her mother to Richard Westbury on 19th
January 1811. No other record for
Denise or any similar named female has so far been found. |
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46N27 |
William
Collett was born at Fencott in early 1823, the son of Thomas
Collett and Hannah Eyres. Sadly, his
father had died in December 1822 and by the time of the first national census
in 1841 William, who would have been 17, had left the family home at Fencott,
although no record of him at that time has so far been found. |
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Within the Bicester
registration area in 1841, which included Fencott, there was a William
Collett who had a rounded age of 15 who was living at Cottisford to the
north-east of Bicester. However, he
had been born at Cottisford and was the son of Joseph and Jane Collett. After a further ten years William Collett from Cottisford was
25 and an agricultural labourer living at a dwelling named Juniper in
Cottisford. Living there with him was
his wife Hannah, aged 26 and from Shutford in Oxfordshire, and their son Arthur Collett of Cottisford who was
one year old. Who they were and where
they link into the Collett family, has still to be determined. |
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It
was during the fourth quarter of 1846 at Witney parish church (Ref. xvi 305)
that William Collett of Fencott married Harriet Hunt from Brize Norton near
Witney, the daughter of Thomas Hunt, their wedding taking place on 6th
December 1846. Once they were married,
the couple settled in the hamlet of Hailey near Witney where, over the next
three years, Harriet presented William with two children, both born at
Hailey. According to the census in
1851 William Collett from Fencott was curiously recorded as being 32 when he
was working as a carter, while living at Crawley Road in the hamlet of Hailey
near Witney. His wife Harriet from
Witney was 28 and their two children were Elizabeth Collett who was three and
George T Collett who was only ten months old.
Ten years earlier, Harriet Hunt was 19 and living at Brize Norton with
her widowed father Thomas. |
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Missing
from the family home in the parish of Witney in 1861 was the couple’s
daughter Elizabeth Collett who would have been 13. Instead, the census return
simply recorded the family as just William Collett who was 39 years of age
and from Fencott, his wife Harriet who was 38 and their son George who was
10. Six years later that Harriet
Collett, nee Hunt, died at Witney in 1867 when she was 45.
Her premature death was recorded at Witney (Ref. 3a 407) during the
last quarter of that year. |
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Following
the death of his wife William married (2) Sarah Kench at Witney (Ref. 3a 761)
during the first three months of 1868.
Sarah was the widow of John Kench who died in 1867 and had been born
as Sarah Martin, the daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Martin. Three years later, in April 1871, William
and Sarah were living at Cape Terrace, off Gloucester Place in Witney, just
along from the High Street. William
Collett from Fencott was 48 and a brewer’s drayman, his wife Sarah was 49 and
from Eynsham, and staying with them was their granddaughter Louisa Annie Dore
who was one year old and born at nearby Hailey, but entered on the census
form as Louisa Ann Collett. She was
their married daughter’s first child.
Two other people were recorded at the same address and they were Annie
Collett Lucas who was seven years old and attending school, who was described
as a boarder from Woodstock, while lodging with the family was Joseph Seeley
aged 21 and from Hailey who was a domestic servant. |
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The
census of 1881 confirmed that William Collett of Fencott was 56 and that he
was still married to Sarah who was 58 and from Eynsham. At that time the couple were living at
Witney where William was a labourer employed at the local brewery. Four other people were lodging at their
house and they were former brewery worker Shayler Clarke and his adopted son
Frederick Drinkwater, a tin plate worker by the name of Edwin Jones, and
ostler Frederick Timms. |
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Sarah
Collett, formerly Kench nee Martin, passed away in 1889 at the age of 67, when her
death was recorded at Bicester (Ref. 3a 435) during the summer of that year. By the time of the next census in 1891,
William Collett from Fencott was a widower at the age of 65. On the day of the census, he had lodging
with him at Witney, four other individuals.
They were Lea Long and her son George Long, and Thomas Rickett, and
John Desmond. Just less than three
years later the death of William Collett was recorded at Witney (Ref. 3a 581)
during the first three months of 1894, when it was also recorded that he was
71 years of age. |
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It
is now known from Les Brown that the marriage certificate of William Collett
confirmed his father was Thomas Collett, and that William was twice married
(as detailed above), and that it was his first wife Harriet Hunt of Brize
Norton who was Les’ great-grandmother. |
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46O59 |
Elizabeth Collett |
Born in 1848
at Hailey, near Witney |
|
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46O60 |
George
Thomas Collett |
Born in 1850
at Hailey, near Witney |
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46N28 |
Joseph Collett was born at Fencott during 1825 and
was baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor later that same year on 13th
October 1825, the first of two sons born to Richard Collett and Phyllis
Goome. It is not clear what happened
to Joseph after his mother died in 1828 and his father re-married in 1836, as
no obvious record for him has been found in the census details from 1841
through to 1851. However, it is
evident that he was certainly married twice during his life. The marriage of Joseph Collett and (1) Ann
Robinson was recorded at Newark (Ref. xv 1104) during the last three months
of 1851. Ann was the daughter of John
and Mary Robinson, who was born at Claypole in Lincolnshire, where she was
baptised on 5th May 1822. It is possible their first child, a
daughter, was born prior to their wedding day, as she was recorded as being
11 years of age in the census of 1861. |
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On
that census day, Joseph Collett from Fencott in Oxfordshire was 35 and a
railway labourer, who was living at Ashton-under-Lyne, to the east of
Manchester. His wife Ann Collett from
Claypole in Lincolnshire said she was 36, and living with them were three
children, albeit, the first two not named, but stated to have been born at
Claypole and Walsall. The named child
was William Collett born after the family had arrived in Ashton-under-Lyne,
who was only a few weeks old. Two more
children were added to the family during the next six years, when Joseph and
Ann were living in Swinton, between Manchester and Bolton. |
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According
to the next census in 1871, Joseph Collett from Fencott in Oxfordshire was a
married man of 48 (sic), whose occupation was that of a railway labourer,
when he was living at Harwood, near Bolton, in Lancashire. His wife was Ann Collett who was also 48,
but born at Claypole in Lincolnshire.
Missing from the family group, were the couple’s two eldest children,
so the three children living with them that day were William Collett who was
10 years old and born at Ashton-under-Lyne, Joseph Collett who was six and
born at Swinton, and Mary E Collett who was four years of age and also born at Swinton. |
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Just
over two years later, Ann Collett, the wife of Joseph Collett died and was
buried at Great Harwood, five miles north-east of Blackburn, on 29th
May 1873, although her age was incorrectly recorded as being only 45, rather
than nearer fifty. Her death was recorded at
Blackburn (Ref. 8e 196). It was
two years after her death, when the marriage of Joseph Collett and (2) Mary
Dodd took place at Great Harwood on 5th June 1875, when the
groom’s father was confirmed as Richard Collet and the bride’s father was
named as James Hutton, suggesting that his daughter had been widow by the
death of her previous husband. The
details of their wedding day were recorded at Blackburn (Ref. 8e 516) during
the second quarter of 1875. |
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After
another six years, Joseph Collett from Fencott was living at 47 Cavendish
Road in Walton-on-the-Hill in Lancashire (within the West Derby district of Liverpool),
from where he was employed as a general labourer at the age of 58. On that occasion his wife was the younger
(2) Mary Collett who was 48 and from Preston in Shropshire, who was a farm
servant. On that census day, only one
of Joseph’s children from his first marriage was still living with his father
and stepmother, and that was William Collett from Ashton-under-Lyne who was
20 and a general labourer, most likely working alongside his father. Three other people were boarding with the
Collett family, and they were George and Jane Radford, with their one-year-old
daughter Alice Radford. On that same
day, Joseph Collett junior, born at Swinton and a general labourer, was a
lodger with the Collier family at Flixton Road in Flixton, near Urmston,
Manchester. |
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What
happened after 1881 is not known, particular in 1891 and 1901, when no
mention of any member of the family has been found. As regards the children of Joseph and Ann
Collett, Tom Collett was baptised at St Matthews Church in Walsall on 24th
January 1858, and the birth of William Collett took place in the days prior
to the census on 7th April 1861 and was registered at
Ashton-under-Lyne (Ref. 8d 393) during the second quarter of that year. The two youngest children, born at Swinton,
had their births registered at Barton-upon-Irwell, Joseph during the second
quarter of 1864 (Ref. 8c 483), and Mary during the last three months of 1866
(Ref. 8c 437). |
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46O61 |
a Collett
daughter |
Born in 1850
at Claypole |
|
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46O62 |
Tom Collett |
Born in 1858
at Walsall |
|
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46O63 |
William
Collett |
Born in 1861
at Ashton-under-Lyne |
|
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46O64 |
Joseph
Collett |
Born in 1864
at Swinton |
|
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46O65 |
Mary E
Collett |
Born in 1866
at Swinton |
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46N29 |
Thomas Collett was born at Fencott in 1827 and was
baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 24th June 1827, the second of
two sons born to Richard and Phyllis Collett.
Tragically, he only survived for around eighteen months, before he
died and was buried at St Mary’s Church in Charlton on 22nd
January 1829. |
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46N30 |
James Collett was born at Fencott in 1834, the son
of Richard Collett of Fencott. He was
born at a time in Richard’s life which was six years after the death of his
first wife, and two years before he married for a second time. It is therefore possible that James was the
son of Richard Collett and a hitherto unknown lady. It was in 1851 that James Collett of
Fencott was 16 when he was working as an agricultural labourer, while living
at Murcott with his father and his stepmother Ann, and two younger
half-brothers John and George Collett.
His half-brother George died a year later in 1852, and the death of
James Collett was recorded at Bicester (Ref. 3a 346) during the last quarter
of 1853. |
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46N31 |
George Collett was born at Murcott in 1838, whose birth
was registered at nearby Bicester (Ref. xvi 37) during the first month of
that year. He was baptised at St
Mary’s Church in Charlton-on-Otmoor on 3rd February 1838, the
first child born to Richard Collett by his second wife Ann Faulkner. It seems that he was a poorly child from
birth since, shortly after he was baptised, the death of George Collett was
also recorded at Bicester (Ref. xvi 33) during the first quarter of 1838, and
was buried at St Mary’s Church in Charlton on 17th February 1838. A later son for Richard and Ann was also given the name George, but
he too died an infant death in 1852. |
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46N32 |
Thomas Collett was born at Murcott in 1839, his
birth also registered at Bicester (Ref. xvi 36) during the third quarter of
the year. Not long after he was born,
Thomas was baptised at St Mary’s Church in Charlton-on-Otmoor on 22nd
August 1839, the second son of Richard and Ann Collett. Like his older deceased brother George (above),
Thomas may also have been a sickly child, because he died on 9th
February 1842, his death recorded at Bicester (Ref. xvi 32), after which he
was buried at St Mary’s Church in Charlton.
Curiously, eight months earlier, no record of Thomas or his parents
has been found within the census conducted in June 1841. |
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46N33 |
John Richard Collett was born at Murcott in 1844 and his
birth, as simply John Collett, was registered at Bicester (Ref. xvi 39)
during the third quarter of that year.
He was baptised on 18th August 1844 at Charlton-on-Otmoor,
the only children of Richard Collett and Ann Faulkner to survive beyond
infancy. By 1851 he was living at
Murcott with his family at the age of six years when his place of birth was
confirmed as Murcott, as it was again in 1861, when he was the only child
still living with her parents at Murcott.
On that day, John Collett, from Murcott, was 16 and working as a
plough boy on a nearby farm. Whilst
his father was still working as an agricultural labourer, both his mother and
his father were described as paupers. |
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Following
the death of his father in 1863, John and his mother left Murcott and, by
1871, John Collett from Murcott was 26 and employed as an agricultural
labourer, when he was still living with his widowed mother Ann at Beckley, to
the south of Murcott, where she was again described as a pauper. Six years later John was on his own after
his mother passed away. |
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46N34 |
Eliza Anne Collett was born at Murcott in 1846, her birth
registered at Bicester (Ref. xvi 42) during the second quarter of that
year. She was not in the best of
health, as indicated by the fact that she was the subject of a private
baptism at the family home on 11th April 1846, the event recorded
at St Mary’s Church in Charlton-on-Otmoor.
She was the daughter of Richard Collett and Ann Faulkner, and sadly,
Eliza never recovered from her illness and died just of twelve months later
at Murcott and was buried at Charlton on 20th April 1847. |
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46N35 |
William Collett was born at Murcott in 1847 and
probably suffered with the same ailments as his older sister Eliza Anne (above)
who died seven months before he was born.
His birth was registered at Bicester (Ref. xvi 39) during the last
quarter of 1847. William Collett was
also baptised at home in a private baptism on 14th November 1847,
but he died six months later and was buried at Charlton on 18th
May 1848. |
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46N36 |
George Collett was born at Murcott during April 1850
and was initially named in honour after his eldest brother who had died in
1838. His birth was registered at
Bicester (Ref. xvi 46) during the second quarter of 1850. Sadly, he was the fifth child of the family
to die when he was still an infant.
Like his three siblings immediately before him, he was privately
baptised at home, on 9th May 1850, and survived for almost two
years thereafter. At the time of the
census in 1851, he was eleven months old and was living at Murcott with his
parents Richard Collett and Ann Faulkner.
Following his passing one year later, he was buried at St Mary’s
Church in Charlton-on-Otmoor on 1st April 1852. |
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46N37 |
Caroline Collett was born at Fencott in 1828 and was
baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 19th October 1828, the eldest
daughter of James Collett and Sarah Hine, formerly Gregory. She was 12 years old in the Fencott census
of 1841 when she was living there with her family, but by 1851 she was living
and working in Woodstock, at the home of Mary Ann Rouse from Marsh Bladon,
Oxon, where she was recorded as Caroline Collett from Fencott who was 22 and
a house servant. It was nine years
later, at the age of 31, that the marriage of Caroline Collett and William
Grace was recorded at Bicester (Ref. 3a 1005) during the last three months of
1860. |
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However,
on the day of their wedding, they already had two children who were living
with the couple in the Fencott census of 1861. All four members of the family were
confirmed as having been born at Fencott, where William Grace was 33 and an
agricultural labourer, and his wife Caroline Grace was 32 and
also working as agricultural labourer.
Their two daughters were Ann Grace who was five and Sarah
Grace who was three, neither of whom was with the family in 1871, by
which time they had been replaced with four new children. On that occasion, labourer William Grace
was 44, who said he had been born at Boarstall, when all the other members of
the household were confirmed as having been born at Fencott. Caroline Grace was 41, Emily Grace
was eight, Charlotte Grace was five, Kate Grace was two and Laura
Grace was under one year old. |
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46N38 |
Ann Collett was born at Fencott in 1831 and was
baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 1st January 1832, the daughter
of James Collett and Sarah Hine nee Gregory.
In the census of 1841 Ann was nine years old when she was living with
her family at Fencott. After a further
ten years, Ann Collett from Fencott was 19, when she was living and working
in the Cowley district of Oxford, at the home of elderly William
Greening. Four years later, the
marriage of Ann Collett and William Tyrrell or Robert Welch was recorded at
Bicester (Ref. 3a 967) during the fourth quarter of 1855. However, no record of Ann Tyrrell or Ann
Welch of Fencott has been identified after that day. |
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46N39 |
Charlotte Collett was born at Fencott, possibly late in
1834 or early in 1835, following which she was baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor
on 8th March 1835, the youngest of the three children of James
Collett and Sarah Hine nee Gregory. It
was with her parents at Fencott that Charlotte was living in 1841, when she
was six, and again in 1851 when she was listed as Charlotte Collett from
Fencott who was 16, but with no occupation. Completing the family group that day, was
Charlotte’s half-sister Mary Hine. |
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During
the latter half of the next decade Charlotte gave birth to two base-born sons
while she was still unmarried. Both
boys were born at Fencott, where the three of them were living in the ‘last
dwelling in the hamlet of Fencott’ as confirmed by the census in 1861. Charlotte Collett from Fencott was 26,
Walter Collett was three, and Thomas Collett was two years old. It is interesting to note that only three
dwellings away from the young Collett’s home, was the home of the Cooper
family, where unmarried labourer Thomas Cooper was living with his parents
Richard and Elizabeth Cooper, Thomas being credited as the father of all
Charlotte’s children from Thomas onwards. |
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Ten
years later, after the birth of a further four children, Charlotte Collett was
35 and a dressmaker living in Fencott at the home of Thomas Cooper of Fencott
who was 40, together with the couple’s five children. Absent in 1871, was Charlotte’s first-born
child Walter Wentworth Collett, who had died during the previous year, at the
age of 13. The other children were Tom
Collett who was 11, Georgina Collett who was eight, Barry Collett who was
six, Abigail Collett who was three, and Jonah Collett who was one year
old. All the children were confirmed
as having been born at Fencott, where two more children were added to the
family over the following five years. |
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Despite
all her years living with Thomas Cooper, the census in 1881, continued to
described Charlotte Collett as a single woman even though, by then, she had given
birth to seven of Thomas’ children. At
that time, the couple was still living at Fencott, where unmarried Thomas
Cooper from Murcott was 50 and an agricultural labourer. Charlotte Collett of Fencott was 47 and her
occupation was stated to be that of a needlewoman. Unlike previous years, all her children
were listed as Cooper Collett, with all of them having been born at Fencott,
and they were Tom Cooper Collett who was 22, Georgina Cooper Collett who was 19,
Barry Cooper Collett who was 15, Abigail Cooper Collett who was 13, Jonah Cooper
Collett who was 11, Richard Cooper Collett who was nine, and Anne Cooper
Collett who was four years old. |
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It
was the same situation in 1891 but at Murcott, when Charlotte’s surname was still Collett,
while the children all had the Cooper surname. The family was therefore recorded as Thomas
Cooper aged 59, Charlotte Collett, aged 55, who was the housekeeper and a
dressmaker, Tom Cooper was 30, Barry Cooper was 25, Jonah Cooper was 21,
Richard Cooper was 18, and Annie Cooper who was 14. Completing the family was Ellen Cooper, Charlotte’s
granddaughter who was eight years of age and the child of daughter Georgina
Collett. Ten years after that day, the
next census in 1901 identified the reduced family residing in Murcott. Thomas Cooper was 70, Charlotte Collett was
66 and ‘not married’, their unmarried son Tom Collett was 40 and a hay
binder, and their granddaughter Ellen, aged 18, was named as Ellen Probets
and had been born at Fencott. |
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|
Seven
years later, the death of Thomas Cooper was recorded at Bicester register
office (Ref. 3a 660) during the first quarter of 1908, when he was 77. Rather curiously, following the passing of
her life partner, Charlotte became Charlotte Cooper for the first time in her
life. And it was as the widow
Charlotte Cooper that she was recorded in the Fencott census of 1911. On that occasion she was described as 76 years
of age and an old age pensioner from Fencott, when the only person living
there with her was her unmarried son Tom Cooper, who was 51 and from Fencott. Charlotte survived for a further five
years, when the death of Charlotte Cooper was recorded at Bicester register
office (Ref. 3a 1121) during the second quarter of 1916, at the age of 81. |
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46O66 |
Walter Wentworth Collett |
Born in 1857
at Fencott |
|
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46O67 |
Thomas Cooper Collett |
Born in 1859
at Fencott |
|
|
46O68 |
Charlotte Georgina Cooper Collett |
Born in 1862
at Fencott |
|
|
46O69 |
Barry Cooper Collett |
Born in 1865
at Fencott |
|
|
46O70 |
Abigail Cooper Collett |
Born in 1867
at Fencott |
|
|
46O71 |
Jonah Cooper Collett |
Born in 1869
at Fencott |
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46O72 |
Richard James Cooper Collett |
Born in 1872 at Fencott |
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46O73 |
Anne Cooper Collett |
Born in 1876
at Fencott |
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46O1 |
Elizabeth Sturch Collett
was born at Murcott,
either during the last months of 1838 or the first half of 1839. Despite that assumption, her birth was registered
at Bicester (Ref. xvi 33) during the third quarter of 1839, following the
marriage of her parents on 14th February 1839. Prior to her birth being registered, she
had been already baptised at St Mary’s Church in Charlton-on-Otmoor on 31st
June 1839, the eldest surviving child of Richard Collett and Ann Grove
Sturch. Elizabeth was one year old in
the 1841 Census for Murcott when she was living there with her father, who
had a rounded age of 20, and her mother who was curiously named as Ann Sturch
who had a rounded age of 45. Within
two or three years, Elizabeth’s family moved to Fencott, where they lived for
seven years before returning to Murcott.
It was at Murcott that she was living with her family at the time of
the census in 1851, when she was 12 years old. By the time of the next census, she was
very likely married. |
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46O2 |
Robert Sturch Collett was born at Murcott in 1841 and was
baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 29th March 1841, the second
child and eldest son of Richard Collett and Ann Grove Sturch, whose birth was
registered at Bicester (Ref. xvi 39) during the second quarter of 1841. Curiously, in the census that year, during
the first week on June, when he was barely a few weeks days old, he was with
his mother Ann at the Berkley home of her grandfather Robert Sturch. while
his father Richard and old sister Elizabeth (above) were living in
Murcott at the home of Robert’s maternal grandmother Ann Sturch. Ten years later Robert was 10 years old
when he was living with his family on their 60-acre farm at Murcott, where he
was confirmed as having been born. By
the time he was 20 he had left Murcott and was living and working at
Swalcliffe, near Banbury. |
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|
Less than five years after that
census day, the marriage of Robert S Collett and Mary Ann Baker was recorded
at Thame (Ref. 3a 599) during the first quarter of 1866. He very likely met Mary Ann while he was
working in the Banbury area, because she was born at Hanwell near Banbury and
was the same age as Robert. Mary Ann
was already with-child, which may have prompted them to run away to Thames to
be married out of embarrassment for their predicament. Once their son was born at Brill, near
Thame, the three of them travelled to London to start a new life.
Son William was their only known child and his birth was registered by
the couple when Robert and Mary Ann were living at Waterloo Road in Lambeth. |
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And
it was there that the family of three was still living in 1871. Robert was aged 30, as was Mary Ann, while
their son William was four years old.
Sometime during the next decade, the family moved west and north of
the River Thames and settled in Norwood Green in Middlesex. |
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|
According
to the census of 1881 the family was living at Featherstone Larches in
Norwood where the occupation of Robert S Collett was a beer retailer. Both he and his wife Mary were 40 years of
age and Robert gave his place of birth as Fencott, while Mary confirmed she
was of Hanwell in Oxfordshire. It was
at Fencott that Robert had lived with his family from 1842 to 1850 although,
before and after those dates, he and his family had been living at Murcott
where he was born. |
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|
Their
son William was then 14 and was still attending school. Staying with the family at that time was
Kate Baker aged 41 of Wootton in Oxfordshire, the wife of an agricultural
labourer who was described as ‘sister-in-law’, together with her daughter
Margaret who was three and from Hounslow.
Robert continued to live at Norwood for the rest of his life, although
no record of him at all has been found in 1901. However, in both 1891 and 1911 he was
listed as living there. |
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|
|
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|
By
1891 Robert Sturch Collett and Mary Ann Collett were both 50 and were living
alone at Norwood. The later death of Mary Ann Collett
at Norwood was recorded at Uxbridge register office (Ref. 3a 27) during the
third quarter of 1905, when she was 64. Six years later, the census in 1911
confirmed that Robert Sturch Collett was still living at Norwood at the age
of 70, by which time he was a widower.
Three years later
Robert Sturch Collett died at Norwood on 4th July 1914, with his
death recorded at Uxbridge register office (Ref. 3a 46). |
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|
46P1
|
William Collett |
Born in 1866
at Brill |
|
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|
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|
|
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46O3 |
Albert Collett was born at Fencott in 1843 and was baptised
at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 21st May 1843, the son of Richard and Ann
Collett. His birth was registered at Bicester (Ref. xvi 38)
during the second quarter of 1843.
In the Murcott census of 1851, he was eight years old and living there
with his family, as he was again ten years later when he was 17. However, not long after the census in 1861,
he moved to Daventry in Northamptonshire where he met and married Elizabeth
Tooby who was born there in 1841. The
marriage took place at Daventry where it was recorded during the last three
months of 1863 (Ref. 3b 231) when the witnesses were Thomas Appelbee, Jane
Wall and Elizabeth Tooby who was most likely the bride’s mother. |
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|
|
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|
By
the time of the Daventry census of 1871 Albert, aged 27, and Elizabeth, aged
29, had four children and they were Emily who was seven, Mary A Collett who
was five, Elizabeth who was two, and Edith who was not yet one year old. During the next decade Elizabeth presented
Albert with four more children, although the absence from the census in 1881
of one of their earlier children, Elizabeth Ann, may suggest that they had
not survived much further into the 1870s.
Their daughters Mary and Edith were also missing in 1881 but had
returned to Daventry by 1891. |
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|
|
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|
The
census return for 1881, placed the family living at
24 Sheaf Street in Daventry, from where Albert Collett, aged 38 from Fencott,
was working as a domestic groom. His
wife Elizabeth was 39, and their five children on that occasion were Emily
who was 17, Spencer who was eight, Clara who was six, Edwin who was four, and
Arthur who was two years old. All the
children had been born at Daventry.
Ten years later in 1891 the family was still residing in Daventry when
Albert was 48, Elizabeth was 49, with their children Edith Collett was 29,
Spencer Collett 18, Clara Collett 16, Ed Collett 14, Arch A G Collett 11, and
William Collett who was eight years old.
Living in the Wandsworth & Putney area of London at that time was
Albert’s daughter Mary A Collett who was 25 and from Daventry. |
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|
|
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|
Sometime
after that Albert became a publican, as confirmed by the Daventry census of
1901. The census listed him as being
57 and from Fencott, having his own account while being the landlord of the
Plume of Feathers Inn on Chapel Lane.
Living there with him was his wife Elizabeth, 58 and from Daventry,
who was supported by their daughter Clara who was 26 with no occupation. Also, still unmarried and living at the
family home were sons Arthur and William.
In addition to the immediate family, Albert and Elizabeth also had
living with them their two grandchildren Harvey and Dorothy Sharpe and Arthur
Sharp, the children of their daughter Elizabeth Ann Sharp, who died around
that same time, as did Dorothy during the following year. |
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|
|
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|
Married
by that time in March 1901, but still living nearby in Daventry, was their
daughter Edith with her family, and their son Edwin with his wife. By the time of the next census in April
1911 Albert and Elizabeth were living alone in Daventry, although the town
was still home to many members of their family. Albert was 67 and Elizabeth was 68, and by
that time their two grandsons Harvey and Arthur Sharp were either in a home
for orphaned children or had already been sent to North America by then. |
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|
|
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|
It
was during the next few months that same year when Albert Collett passed away
at the age of 68, his death recorded at Daventry register office (Ref. 3b 53)
during the second quarter of 1911. His
wife Elizabeth Collett nee Tooby had survived him by just over nine years
when she passed away in 1920 aged 78, the event being recorded at Daventry
register office (Ref. 3b 97) during the third quarter of that year. |
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|
|
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|
46P2
|
Emily Collett |
Born in 1864
at Daventry |
|
|
46P3
|
Mary Ann Collett |
Born in 1865
at Daventry |
|
|
46P4
|
Elizabeth Ann Collett |
Born in 1868
at Daventry |
|
|
46P5
|
Edith Collett |
Born in 1870
at Daventry |
|
|
46P6
|
Spencer Collett |
Born in 1872
at Daventry |
|
|
46P7
|
Clara Collett |
Born in 1874
at Daventry |
|
|
46P8
|
Edwin Collett |
Born in 1876
at Daventry |
|
|
46P9
|
Arthur Albert George Collett |
Born in 1879 at Daventry |
|
|
46P10
|
William Collett |
Born in 1882
at Daventry |
|
|
|
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|
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46O4 |
David Collett was born at Fencott in 1844 when his birth was registered
at Bicester (Ref. xvi 35) during the second quarter of the year. He was baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 27th
April 1845, the son of Richard and Ann Collett. By 1851 David was six years old when he was
living at Murcott with his parents, who stated that he had been born at
Fencott. Upon leaving school, David
also moved out of the family home which was then in Fencott, and by 1861 he
was employed as a baker’s servant in Fencott.
He was 16 years old, but curiously gave his place of birth as
Murcott. It was just over six years
later when David Collett married the much older Eliza Stennett who was born
at Sleaford in Lincolnshire, where she was baptised on 31st
January 1831, the daughter of Nicholas and Mary Stennett. The wedding was recorded at Camberwell in
London (Ref. 1a 924) during the third quarter of 1867. |
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|
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|
Once
married the couple initially settled in Peckham in Surrey where their two
daughters were born and where the family of four was still living in
1871. By then David Collett from
Fencott Hill in Oxfordshire was 25 and working as a railway porter. His wife Eliza Collett from Sleaford was
said to be 32, rather than 40, and their two children were Mary E Collett who
was two and Margaret G Collett who was one year old. However, by the time of the census in 1881
the family of four was living at 55 Peel Street in Maidstone, Kent. At that time in his life David Collett,
aged 38, was again working as a railway porter, when his place of birth was
simply stated as Oxford. His wife
Eliza from Lincolnshire was 48 and their two daughters were Mary Collett who
was 12 and Margaret Collett who was 11. |
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|
|
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|
Some
years after the death of his father, David’s mother Ann Collett also moved to
Maidstone to be close to David and his family, as confirmed by the next
census in 1891. On that occasion the
family of four was residing at Earl Street, close to the town centre, where
David was 46 and a club steward, Eliza was 58, and their unmarried daughter
Mary Elizabeth Collett was 23. Living
nearby in Boxley Road was David’s mother from Hungerford who was 75. One year prior to the next census in 1901,
the death of David Collett was recorded at Maidstone register office (Ref. 2a
492) during the second quarter of 1900.
On the day of the census Eliza Collett from Sleaford was living at
Newton Road in Tunbridge Well, Kent, where she was living on her own means at
the age of 69. That was the home of
her married daughter Mary Elizabeth Lane. |
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|
|
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|
Upon
her death, just over six years later, Eliza was very likely buried with her
late husband at Maidstone, since it was a Maidstone register office (Ref. 2a
411) that her death was recorded during the third quarter of 1907, when she
was 75 years of age. |
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|
|
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|
46P11
|
Mary
Elizabeth Collett |
Born in 1868 at Peckham, Surrey |
|
|
46P12
|
Margaret
Grace Collett |
Born in 1870 at Peckham, Surrey |
|
|
|
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|
|
|||
46O5 |
Edwin Collett was born at Fencott in 1847, with his birth registered at
Bicester (Ref. xvi 38) during the second quarter of the year. He was baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 30th
May 1847, the son of farmer Richard Collett of Murcott and his wife Ann Grove
from Hungerford. He was living with
his parents at Murcott in 1851, when he was three years old, but by the time
of the next census in 1861, the family had returned to Fencott where Edwin
Collett, aged 13 and of Fencott, was described as a farmer’s son. |
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|
|
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|
No
record for Edwin has so far been found in 1871, at some time during the 1870s
he had left Oxfordshire and settled in the city of Warwick. At the time of the census in 1881 Edwin
Collett from Fencott was an unmarried man from Fencott, and at the age of 35
he was a publican living at 18A Cape (Street) in Warwick St Mary. His housekeeper on that occasion was 30-year-old
widow Mary Ann Carter from Great Ashstead in Suffolk. |
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|
|
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|
It was on Christmas Day in 1881 when Edwin
Collett married Sarah Ann Parsons at St Mary’s Church in Warwick. The church record confirmed that Edwin was
residing within the parish, while Sarah was from the parish of Leek Wootton
in Warwickshire. Sarah had been born at Milton in
Oxfordshire, and during the following year the couple’s only child was born
while they were still living in Warwick.
The family of three was still living in Warwick in 1891 and ten years
later in 1901. In 1891 Edwin Collett
was 43, his wife Sarah A Collett was 41, and their son Ernest E Collett was
eight years old. |
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|
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|
It was at Linen Street in Warwick St
Mary where the family was recorded in 1901, when Edwin Collett from Fencott was 52 and a general
dealer. His wife was Sarah was 50 and
from Milton in Oxfordshire, and son Ernest Edwin Collett of Warwick was 18
and a basket maker’s apprentice. Edwin died six years after
that census day when he was 60 years old, with the death of Edwin Collett
recorded at Warwick register office (Ref. 6d 296) during the third quarter of
1907. By April 1911, the
Warwick census that year simply recorded widow Sarah Ann Collett, aged 61, as
head of the household at Linen Street when her unmarried son Ernest was still
living with her at the age of 28. |
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|
|
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|
46P13
|
Ernest Edwin Collett |
Born in 1882 at Warwick |
|
|
|
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|
|
|||
46O6 |
Philip Collett was born at Fencott at the end of 1849,
whose birth was
registered at Bicester (Ref. xvi 43) during the first three months of 1850.
He was baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor
on 17th March 1850, another child of Richard and Ann Collett. The Murcott census the following year gave his age as being one year
and his place of birth as Fencott, and it was at Murcott that he was
still living with his family at the age of 11 in 1861. The move from Fencott to Murcott so young
in his life was the reason for him saying that he had been born at Murcott in
subsequent census records. |
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|
|
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|
He
married (1) Louisa Little at Clapham in London on 26th October
1872, where Louisa had
been born on 12th November 1847, the daughter of Slater
Little, the forename the couple gave their first son. The marriage register confirmed that Philip
was the son of Richard Collett. Once
they were married the couple headed for Dorset, where they settled at Leigh
Road in Wimborne Minster, just north of Poole, where their children were born
and where the family was living in 1881. |
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|
|
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|
The
census that year confirmed Philip had been born at Murcott, that he was 30,
and that he was working as a railway agent and bus proprietor carrier. His wife was Louisa, aged 32 and from
Clapham in Surrey, and their four children on that occasion were Sidney who
was six, Reginald who was four, Edgar who was three, and Edith who was only
nine months old. Fifteen months after
the census day that year the couple’s fifth and last child was born in July
1882, but with tragic consequences.
Whilst the child survived the ordeal, Louisa did not and, with the
passing of his wife, Philip named the child in honour of his late wife. |
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|
|
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|
The death of Louisa Collett, nee
Little, was recorded at Wimborne (Ref. 5a 141) during the third of 1882. Two years after being widowed, the second
marriage of Philip Collett and (2) Emma Haddon was recorded at St Thomas,
Exeter, Devon (Ref. 5b 120) during the third quarter of 1884. |
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|
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|
By
1891 the family was still residing at Wimborne Minster in Dorset where Philip
Collett from Murcott
was 41, Emma Collett
from Somerset was 48, Reginald Collett was 14, Edgar Collett was 13,
Edith Collett was 10, and Louisa Collett was eight years of age. Philip’s eldest son Sidney, at the age of
16, was living and working at Christchurch, near Bournemouth, on that
occasion. The next census provided additional information
that recorded the family living at The Square in Wimborne Minster, Philip
Collett from Murcott in Oxfordshire was 51 and working as a delivery agent. His wife Emma was 58 and from Bradford,
Somerset, and Philip’s three children that day in 1901 were Sidney S Collett
who was 26, Edgar Collett who was 23, and Louisa Collett who was 18. |
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|
|
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|
On
that day Philip’s absent son Reginald Collett was living in Derbyshire. It is unclear at this time, where Philip’s
eldest daughter Edith Collett was in 1901, since it is established that she
was still not married when her father died nearly eight years later. The death of Philip Collett, aged 59, was recorded at Wimborne
register office (Ref. 5a 180) during the first quarter of 1909. |
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|
|
|||
|
Philip
Collett died at Clyde Villa on Avenue Road in Wimborne on 5th
March 1909. His Will was proved at
Blandford St Mary on 13th May 1909 when he was described as a
gentleman of Wimborne Minster. The
executors of his estate of £3,742 16 Shillings and 7 Pence were named as his
widow Emma Collett, his daughter Edith Louisa Collett, spinster, and his
brother Spencer Collett, a hotel keeper.
Also included in the list of names was baker Henry William Mitchell
Cowdrey, who has yet to be identified.
Philip was buried at Wimborne where a headstone in the cemetery there
marks his grave. The headstone
inscription (see below) also includes epitaphs for his wife and his son
Reginald. It therefore seems very
likely that surviving sons Sidney and Edgar arranged for the installation of
the headstone to mark the grave of their parents and their brother. |
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|
|
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|
Less than two years after being
widowed, and with her later husband’s motor business take over by his sons
Sidney and Edgar, and moved to Salisbury, Emma Collett from Bradford in
Somerset was 68 and living on her own means at Wimborne Minster. Keeping her company was her stepdaughter
Louisa Collett, her late husband’s youngest child. Emma survived her husband by nearly twenty
years, when the death of Emma Collett, nee Haddon, was recorded at Dorset
register office (Ref. 2b 891) at the end of 1928, when she was 85 years old. Emma left a Will which was originally
proved at Dorset on 19th March 1929,following her death on 19th
December 1928. That process named the
beneficiaries as Oscar Edmund Moore and Rokeby
Douglas Maddock, which was obviously contested by the Collett
family. It was seven months later that
the dispute was resolved, when the probate office in Dorset found in favour
of Edith Louisa Collett and Henry William Mitchell Cowdry on 18th
October 1929. |
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|
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|
In Loving Memory of Philip
Collett who fell asleep in Jesus March 5 1909 aged 59 years Labour ended,
Jordon passed Also Louisa
Collett wife of the above died July 30 1882 And Reginald
Philip Collett second son of the above died Sept 9 1901 aged 25 years |
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|
|
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|
Also
following the death of their father, Philip’s two sons, Sidney, and Edgar,
took over the running of the family business and by April 1911 they had left
Wimborne and had moved to Salisbury in Wiltshire, where they continued to
manage the business. |
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|
|
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|
46P14
|
Sidney Slater Collett |
Born in 1874
at Wimborne Minister |
|
|
46P15
|
Reginald Philip Collett |
Born in 1876
at Wimborne Minister |
|
|
46P16
|
Edgar William Collett |
Born in 1878 at Wimborne
Minister |
|
|
46P17
|
Edith Louisa Collett |
Born in 1880
at Wimborne Minister |
|
|
46P18
|
Louisa Collett |
Born in 1882
at Wimborne Minister |
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
46O7 |
John James Collett was born at Murcott in 1850, with his
birth registered at Bicester (Ref. xvi 43) during the third quarter of the
year. He was baptised on 4th
August 1850 at Charlton-on-Otmoor, the son of Richard Collett of Fencott and
Ann Grove Sturch of Hungerford. By the
time of the census at the end of March in 1851, John James Collett was not
recorded with his family at Murcott.
The only death of a John James Collett was recorded at Thame (Ref. xvi
73) during the third quarter of 1850 and his nonappearance in any census from
1851 may indicate that he was the child of Richard and Ann Collett. However,
fifty years later a John Collett from Charlton-on-Otmoor was 50 and an
agricultural labourer living at Market End in Bicester, where he was
described as an inmate, although nothing so far has been found to indicate
that he was John James Collett. That
John Collett died five years later, when his death was recorded at Bicester
register office (Ref. 3a 603) during the first three months of 1906. |
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|
|
|||
|
|
|||
46O8 |
Spencer Collett was born at Fencott, perhaps at the
end of 1852 or early in 1853, since his birth was registered at Bicester
(Ref. 3a 549) during the first quarter of 1853. Furthermore, he was baptised at
Charlton-on-Otmoor on 6th February 1853, another son of Richard
and Ann Collett. He was eight years
old at the time of the Fencott census of 1861, when his place of birth was
said to be Murcott. Where he was in
1871 has not been discovered, while it was on 15th August 1875 at
St Peter’s Church in Southampton that he married (1) Alice Gubbins, who was
19 and the daughter of Thomas Gubbins, while the father of Spencer Collett
was confirmed as Richard Collett. Their wedding was recorded at
Southampton (Ref. 2c 46) during the summer of 1975. Alice was born at Moulsford, to the south
of Wallingford, a village on the Great Western railway mainline between
Oxford and London and, since Spencer was a railway porter, it seems likely
that they may have met as a result of his work. |
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|
|
|||
|
Once
married, the couple initially settled in South Stoneham in Hampshire, where
the birth of their first child was recorded, before moving into Southampton,
where their remaining seven children were born. By 1881 the family living at 5 Osborn Road
Hill in Millbrook within the parish of Southampton through which the
south-coast mainline railway ran, where Spencer was continuing to work as a
railway porter. His place of birth was
confirmed as Fencott and his age was 28.
His wife Alice was 24 and from Moulsford, and their three sons were
Albert S Collett who was four, Auten William who was three, and Ernest W
Collett who was one year old. The
place of birth for all three boys was said to be Southampton Hill, while the
births of the two younger sons had been registered at Freemantle in
Southampton. |
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|
|
|||
|
Shortly
after the census day, the family moved from Millbrook to Blechynden Terrace
in central Southampton, with the births of their subsequent children registered
at nearby Shirley. By the time of the
census in 1891 the family living at Blechynden Terrace had increased in size
and was made up of Spencer Collett who was 38 and a railway porter, and Alice
Collett from Moulsford who was 34. Their
children were Albert S Collett who was 14, Auten W Collett who was 13, Ernest
W Collett who was 11, George R Collett who was nine, Arthur S G Collett who
was seven, Alice E Collett who was five, and Harold P Collett who was just
one year old. Less than six years
later, Alice presented Spencer with their last child, but after a further
eighteen months the death of Alice Collett was recorded at South Stoneham
(Ref. 2c 58) during the third quarter of 1898, when she was only 41 years
old. |
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|
|
|||
|
Having
lost his wife, widower Spencer, from Murcott, took his family to live in
Shirley, where he was 48 years of age and a licenced victualler in the census
of 1901. Still living there with him
were five of his children and they were Auten W Collett aged 23, George R
Collett aged 19, Arthur S Collett aged 17, Elsie A Collett who was 15, Harold
P Collett who was 11, and Hilda W Collett who was four years old. It may be interesting to note that the
brothers Spencer and Auten (below), both gave up their previous
occupations as a railway porter and a greengrocer respectively, around the
end of the century, to become licenced victuallers. |
|||
|
|
|||
|
Just
weeks after the census day in 1901, the marriage of Spencer Collett and (2)
Amy Thomas was recorded at Southampton register office (Ref. 2c 9) during the
second quarter of 1901. Widower
Spencer was 48, while spinster Amy was only 26 and managed to give her
husband two more children over the next six years. The family was still living in the
Southampton parish of All Saints in 1911, where Spencer was 58 and a licenced
victualler who gave his place of birth as Murcott, while his wife Amy Collett
was 36 and from the Southampton parish of St Denys. Still living with them was Spencer’s
youngest child from his first marriage, Hilda Winifred Collett who was 14,
and his two children by Amy, Reginald Frank Collett aged seven years, and Amy
Isabel Collett who was four. |
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|
|
|||
|
Two
years earlier, in 1909, Spencer Collett was named as one of the executors of
the Will of his brother Philip Collett (above), when he was described
as a hotel keeper. Nineteen years
later, the death of Spencer Collett was recorded at Southampton register
office (Ref. 2c 79) during the fourth quarter of 1928, when he was 75 years
of age. Probate of his Will was proved
at Southampton on 28th November 1928 in favour of his joint
beneficiaries, his wife Amy Collett, and his son George Robert Collett, and confirmed that the day he
died was 10th November 1928. Fifty years after being made a widow, the
death of Amy Collett was recorded at Hampshire register office (Ref. 2b 857)
during 1943 at the age of 68. |
|||
|
|
|||
|
46P19
|
Albert
Spencer Collett |
Born in 1876 at South Stoneham |
|
|
46P20
|
Auten William Collett |
Born in 1877
at Southampton, Millbrook |
|
|
46P21
|
Ernest Wilfred Collett |
Born in 1879
at Shirley |
|
|
46P22
|
George Robert Collett |
Born in 1881
at Shirley |
|
|
46P23
|
Arthur Sydney Gubbins Collett |
Born in 1883
at Shirley |
|
|
46P24
|
Alice
Elsie Collett |
Born in 1885 at Shirley |
|
|
46P25
|
Harold Philip Collett |
Born in 1889
at Shirley |
|
|
46P26
|
Hilda
Winifred Collett |
Born in 1897 at Southampton, Milford |
|
|
The following are the two children
from the second marriage of Spencer Collett and Amy Thomas: |
|||
|
46P27
|
Reginald
Frank Collett |
Born in 1903 at Southampton, Mill
Brook |
|
|
46P28
|
Amy
Isabel Collett |
Born in 1906 at Southampton |
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
46O9 |
Austin Collett was born at Fencott in 1857, the
youngest child of Richard Collett of Fencott and Ann Grove Sturch of
Hungerford, when his
birth was registered at Bicester (Ref. 3a 537) during the second quarter of
the year as Austin. However, he
was sometimes recorded in error as Auten Collett. And it was as Auten Collett, aged three
years and of Fencott, that he was recorded with his family at Fencott in the
census of 1861. No record of him has
been identified in 1871 but, six years later, the marriage of Auten Collett
and (1) Elizabeth Maria Allsop was recorded at Lambeth in London (Ref. 1d
529) during the second quarter of 1877.
Elizabeth was born at Berrow Green, near Worcester, and by 1881 the
pair of them, and their first child, were living at 14 Hinton Road (Herne
Hill), Brixton within the London Borough of Lambeth, where Auten Collett from
Oxfordshire was 23 and a greengrocer.
His wife Elizabeth M Collett was 25, and their son Albert Edward
Collett was three years of age and had been born at Lambeth. Supporting Auten was Charlie Cotton from
Cambridge who was 20 and a greengrocer’s assistant, while helping Elizabeth
was domestic servant Rose Cross from Verney Junction in Buckinghamshire who
was 15. |
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|
|
|||
|
Over
the next decade a further three children were added to the family which, was
still living at 14 Hinton Road in Brixton in 1891. Head of the household was Austin Collett
who was 33 and working as a fruiterer and a greengrocer. Elizabeth M Collett was 36, and their four
children on that day were Albert E Collett who was 13 and born at Lambeth, Arthur E Collett who
was seven, Mary M Collett who was five, and Winifred Collett who was one year
old. The place of birth of the three younger children was
simply recorded at London, which presumably referred to Brixton. Once again Austin was employing two
servants; George H Baker from Oxfordshire who was 23, and Ellen Burr from
Kent who was 16. |
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|
|
|||
|
By
the end of the century Elizabeth had presented her husband with two more
children, the first born while the family was still living at Brixton, with
the couple’s last child was born at Reading, where they lived for a short
while. From there the family later
moved to Tunbridge Wells in Kent, which was where the family was residing by
the start of the century. |
|||
|
|
|||
|
In
the census of 1901 Austin Collett from Fencott was 43 and by then was working
as a licenced victualler having passed his greengrocery business over to his
eldest son. In March that year the
family was living at Upper Grosvenor Road in Tunbridge Wells where Elizabeth
M Collett from Berrow was 45 and her four Brixton born children were Arthur E
Collet who was 17, Maud M Collett who was 16, Winifred Collett who was 11,
and Harry A Collett who was six years old.
Completing the family was their daughter Florence B Collett who was
four years old and born at Reading. On
that day, the family only had one servant and that was Edith A Smith from
Tunbridge Wells who was 17. |
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By
1911 the family had moved again, that time to Wood Green in Middlesex, midway
between Muswell Hill and Tottenham, where Austin Collett from Fencott was 53
and an off-licence holder. His wife
Elizabeth Maria Collett was 54 when, still living with the couple was their
youngest child, Florence Beatrice Collett from Reading who was 15. Five years later, the first of two devastating events adversely
affected the family, and that was the death of Elizabeth Maria Collett who
died on 10th December 1916. Less than two years later, Austin was still
living at 41 High Road in Wood Green, where he received the tragic news that married
son Arthur Ernest Collett had been killed in action during the First World
War, when he was thirty-five. |
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Not
long after he was widowed, the second marriage of Austin Collett and (2) Emily
Smith was recorded at Edmonton register office (Ref. 3a 768) during the first
quarter of 1917. After eight years
together, Austin Collett died on 18th September 1925, with his
Will proved in Middlesex on 18th September 1925 when the two named
beneficiaries were named as George Frederick Smith, and Wallace William
Harding. |
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Although the death of his first wife
Elizabeth was confirmed as 10th December 1916, it was seventeen
years later, and nine years after the death of her husband, that the Will of
Elizabeth Maria Collett was proved at Canterbury in the Diocese of London on
28th June 1934. By that
time there were two named beneficiaries, George Collett – who is a mystery at the moment, and Sarah Ann Medora Burr. The only connection with the Burr name was
Ellen Burr from Kent who was 16 and a domestic servant with the family in
1891. |
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46P29
|
Albert Edward Collett |
Born in 1878
at Lambeth |
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46P30
|
Arthur Ernest Collett |
Born in 1883
at Brixton |
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46P31
|
Maude
Mary Collett |
Born in 1885 at Brixton |
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46P32
|
Winifred
Mary Collett |
Born in 1889 at Brixton |
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46P33
|
Harry
Austin Collett |
Born in 1894 at Brixton |
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46P34
|
Florence
Beatrice Collett |
Born in 1896 at Reading |
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46O10 |
Thomas Collett was born at Murcott in 1847, the
eldest son of farmer Thomas Collett and his wife Mary. Although no record of his birth at Bicester
has been found, in the census returns for 1851 and 1861, Thomas was three
years of age and 13 years old respectively, when he was living at the family
home in Murcott. After leaving school,
he left Oxfordshire and moved south to
London where, in 1871 as a bachelor, he was 24 and was living in
Kingston-upon-Thames where he was working as a policeman. On that census day, Thomas was preparing to become a married man
since, very shortly thereafter, the marriage of Thomas Collett and Frances
Isabella Muckle was recorded at Lambeth (Ref. 1d 560) during the second
quarter of 1871. Frances was
four years younger than Thomas, having been born at Toms Hill in Albury, just east of Tring,
Hertfordshire, in 1851. Her father was
a Queen’s Messenger and, on passing, his widow Elizabeth had a position as cook and housekeeper
at Hampton Court, living there in a ‘grace and favour’ apartment. |
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Frances
Isabella Collett, who was known as Granny Collett in her later years, told
the tale to her grandchildren that, as a little girl, she remembered being
driven in an open carriage in one of Queen Victoria’s processions. Over the decade following their wedding
day, Frances presented Thomas with six children, all of whom were born at
Hampton Hill, Hampton, Teddington, Middlesex.
By the time of the 1881 Census the family was living at 9 Wolsey Road at
Hampton Hill. Wolsey Road is still there today and lies between the High Street
(A311) and Uxbridge Road (A312). Thomas’
occupation was confirmed as being a police constable and he gave his place of
birth as simply Charlton. He was 33,
while his wife Frances Isabella was 29. |
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Their
children were Eleanor Mary who was eight, Elizabeth Frances who was six,
William Thomas who was five, Frances Jane who was four, Isabella Muckle
Collett who was three, and Andrew Ralph who was seven months old. It is possible that 9 Wolsey Road was a
police house, and that all their children had been born there. Also living at the house with the family
was Frances’ older brother Augustus Frederick Muckle, aged 32 of Albury, who
was an unemployed blacksmith. During
the next decade the family left Hampton and moved to Hanworth where their
last child was born. |
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By
the time of the Hanworth census in 1891 the family living was living in a
dwelling on Hounslow Road, right next door to the Jolly Sailor Inn. The details for the family were as follows:
Thomas Collett aged 43 and from Charlton-on-Otmoor, was a constable with the
metropolitan police, his wife was Frances I Collett aged 39 and from Albury,
and the five children living there with them were William T Collett 15,
Frances J Collett 14, Isabella M Collett 13, Andrew R Collett 10, all born at
Hampton, and Arthur M Collett who was just five months old and had been born
at Hanworth. |
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At
that same time in 1891 Thomas and Frances’ eldest daughter Eleanor, was
living with Granny Elizabeth
Muckle in her ‘grace and favour’ apartment in Hampton Court, where they were
both working. Virtually straight after that census day, five-month-old
Arthur Montague Collett suffered as infant death and, just less than four
years later, Frances was a widow following the death of Thomas Collett which was
recorded at the Surrey Kingston register office (Ref. 2a 318) during the first
three months of 1895, when he was 47. On the day of the census in 1901, widow
Frances I Collett from Toms Hill in Hertfordshire was 49 and a visitor at Ashley
Place in the City of London where her widowed mother Elizabeth Muckle was a
domestic servant at the age of 87.
Another visitor was Frances’ married daughter Eleanor M Pipe from
Hampton Hill who was 28, who had with her, her baby daughter, one-year-old
Joy E Pipe from Bermondsey. |
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It
is also known that, following the death of her husband, Frances lived at
Fuchsia Cottage in Hanworth where she had living with her for a while, the
widow of her brother Alexander Muckle.
From Fuchsia Cottage, she moved to the East Dulwich where, in 1911, Frances
Isabella Collett from Toms Hill in Hertfordshire was 59 and a widow living on
her own means at the home of her eldest married child Eleanor Mary Pipe.
Eight years later, and following the
death of her son’s wife and the mother of his five young children, Frances entered
the nearby East Dulwich home of son Andrew Ralph Collett to look after her
grandchildren. When
Andrew was married for a second time in 1921, Frances spent alternate
six-month periods living with her daughter Nell in East Dulwich, and her
daughter Bess at Farncombe, near Godalming in Surrey. That arrangement continued until the time
of her passing, although it did include a break from that routine in 1923,
which is described below. |
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In
1923, Frances worked for a while at The Rectory in Hanworth, helping out when they had two visiting missionaries. During that year she had staying with her,
for four months, her granddaughter Edith Collett who was four years old and
the daughter of her son Andrew Ralph Collett.
It seems likely that Edith was with her, while her stepmother mother
was giving birth to another child for her father. |
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Edith
Collett has many recollections of her younger days, particularly the four
months spent with her Granny Collett at The Rectory in 1923. Edith recalls that her grandmother had a
fascination with the aeroplanes at the nearby Hanworth Aerodrome and would
spend her free afternoons watching the planes coming and going. At that time, it cost five shillings for a
flight, which she would have loved to have done, had she had the money. On some occasions Granny Collett lost track
of the time, resulting in the need for someone from The Rectory to go there
and bring her back. |
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After
her period working at Hanworth Rectory, Frances reverted to her previous
living arrangements, alternatively living with her two daughters in East
Dulwich and Farncombe. And it was
during one of those periods, while she was living with daughter Bess at
Farncombe, that Frances Isabella Collett nee Muckle eventually died in April
1937 at the age of 86. The death of Frances Isabella
Collett, nee Muckle, was recorded at Surrey register office (Ref. 2a 420)
when she was reported to be 87, after which her body was taken to
Hanworth, where she was buried with her husband. |
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It
is understood, within the family, that Thomas Collett inherited one third of
the farmland previously owned and worked by his father in the Murcott area of
Oxfordshire. Upon his death, the
property was passed to his widow Frances but, sadly when she died, the land
was sold when it was under flood conditions, and therefore its full value was
not realised. The money that was
raised from the sale was shared amongst her children. |
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46P35
|
Eleanor Mary Collett |
Born in 1872 at Hampton Hill,
Hampton |
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46P36
|
Elizabeth Frances Collett |
Born in 1874 at Hampton Hill,
Hampton |
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46P37
|
William Thomas Collett |
Born in 1875 at Hampton Hill,
Hampton |
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46P38
|
Frances Jane Collett |
Born in 1876 at Hampton Hill,
Hampton |
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46P39
|
Isabella Muckle Collett |
Born in 1878 at Hampton Hill,
Hampton |
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46P40
|
Andrew Ralph Collett |
Born in 1880 at Hampton Hill,
Hampton |
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46P41
|
Arthur Montague Collett |
Born in 1890
at Hanworth |
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46O11
|
Henry Collett was born at Murcott in 1851, but after
the March census that year, another son of Thomas and Mary Collett. As was the case for his older brother
Thomas (above), no record of his birth has been found at Bicester, but
he was 10 years old in the Murcott census of 1861. Just like his older brother Thomas (above),
Henry also became a police constable and may have even initially moved to
London with him. On the day of the
census in 1871, Henry Collett from Murcott was recorded as being 23 (sic)
when he was working as a police constable while living at Garsington in
Oxfordshire. Eighteen months later
Henry Collett married (1) Charlotte Osborne
at Bilton near Rugby in Warwickshire on 11th August 1872, the daughter of Hezekiah
Drain, most likely suggesting that Henry was her second husband. Their wedding was recorded at Rugby (Ref. 6d 699) in the summer of
that year. Charlotte was born
at Southminster near Burnham-on-Crouch in Essex in 1841 and was nine years
older than Henry. Her place of birth
in the marriage register was incorrectly recorded at Southampton. Once they were married the couple initially
settled in Newbold-on-Avon, just north of Rugby, where their first child was
born, before moving to Hillmorton to the east of Rugby, where their second
child was born. Not long after that
there was another move for the family, that time to Harbury to the south-west
of Southam, all in Warwickshire. |
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According
to the 1881 Census the family was living at Church Terrace in the
Warwickshire village of Harbury where thirty-year-old Henry was a police
constable. His place of birth was
given as Charlton Murcott. His wife
Charlotte from Southminster was 39, and their two children were Henry Herbert
Collett who was seven, and Anne Marie M Collett who was four years old. Just over two years later, Charlotte Collett died at Harbury at the
age of 42, with her death recorded at Southam, Warwickshire (Ref. 6d 373)
during the third quarter of 1883. It is possible that she died during the
birth of a third child for the couple, who also did not survive. However, following the death of his wife,
and just over a year later, Henry Collett married (2) Eliza Howkins from Harbury, where they were
married on 23rd October 1884.
Their wedding was
recorded at Southam (Ref. 6d 1097) during the last three months of the year,
when Henry was confirmed as the son of Thomas Collett, with Eliza’s father
named as William Howlins. That
marriage resulted in the birth of another daughter for Henry, who was
also born at Harbury, and whose baptism record confirmed that her father was
Henry Collett, a police constable. |
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Many
years earlier, in the census of 1861, Eliza was seven years old having been born at Harbury on
30th October 1853, when she was living with her widowed
mother Mary Howkins at Chapel Street in Harbury and four of her
siblings. By the time of the census in
1891 the Collett family living at Harbury comprised policeman Henry who was
40, his wife Eliza who was 36, Henry’s daughter Maud 14, the younger of the
two children from Henry’s first marriage, and the couple’s own daughter Eliza
who was two years old. Just after the
start of the new century Henry was described as a police pensioner at the age
of 46 (real age 50) and was living at Chapel Street in Harbury with Eliza
from Harbury being 46. Still living
with them was Ann Maud Mary Collett who was 24 and a domestic servant, and
twelve-year- old Eliza Annie Collett, both daughters confirmed as having been
born at Harbury. |
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Less than six years after that day
the death of Henry Collett was recorded at Southam register office (Ref. 6d
488) during the first three months of 1907. According to the
April census on 1911 his widow Eliza Collett was 56 and was living alone in
the village of Knightcote within parish of Burton Dassett and within the
Southam registration district of Warwickshire, when her place of birth was
confirmed as Harbury. Also, by that
time, her unmarried daughter Eliza was living at Atherstone. Many years later the death of Eliza Collett, who was born in 1854,
was recorded at Warwickshire register office (Ref. 6d 604) in 1928, at the age
of 74. |
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46P42
|
Henry Herbert Thomas Collett |
Born in 1873
at Newbold-on-Avon |
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46P43
|
Anne Maud Mary Collett |
Born in 1876
at Hillmorton |
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The following
is the child of Henry Collett by his second wife Eliza Howkins: |
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46P44
|
Eliza Annie Collett |
Born in 1889 at Harbury |
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46O12 |
Charles Collett was born at Murcott on 23rd
September 1854 but died one month later and was buried at Charlton-on-Otmoor
on 11th October 1854. Prior to that, he had been
baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 23rd September 1854, the
third of four sons of Richard and Mary Collett. Although his infant death was registered at Bicester (Ref. 3a 411),
not such record of his birth there has been found. |
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46O13 |
Caleb Collett was born at Murcott in 1856, with his birth registered at
Bicester (Ref. 3a 503) during the summer of that year, who was four
years old in the Murcott census of 1861. After the family moved to Charlton-on-Otmoor during the 1860s, it was
there in 1871, the only child still living with his parents, that Caleb was
14 and had left school and was working as an agricultural labourer. According to the next census in 1881, Caleb
Collett, at the age of 24, was still living with his parents, but at Fencott/Murcott,
from where he was continuing to work as an agricultural labourer, mostly likely with his father
who was farming eight acres of land.
Following the death of his father in 1887, Caleb inherited one-third
of his father’s small holding, the other two-thirds going to his brothers
Thomas and Henry. Also, after his
father died, Caleb remained living with his elderly widowed mother Mary in Murcott,
as confirmed by the census of 1891. |
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Seven years later his mother died, and
it was during the same third quarter of 1898 that the marriage of bachelor
Caleb Collett and widow Emma West was recorded at Thame register office (Ref.
3a 1570). In 1901 Caleb Collett was still residing
and working in Murcott, where he had been born and was then 44 years of age, when
his occupation was confirmed as being that of a farmer. His wife Emma Collett from Thame was 42 and visiting the couple was Caleb’s
widowed mother-in-law, 62-year-old Mary Ann West from Thame. |
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Ten
years later in April 1911, the couple was still living in the Murcott area,
where Caleb Collett of Murcott was 54 and a farmer, and his wife Emma Collett from
Thame was 52. Completing the household that day was Eliza Jane
Honour aged 17 and from Murcott who was a general domestic servant employed
by the couple. Yet another connection
between the Collett and Honour families. The only other facts known about Caleb
Collett are that he eventually purchased, or inherited, land within the Thame
area, which may have been something to do with his wife’s family, since she
was born there. It is also believed
that he died in 1952 when he was 96 and living in Thame by then - see below. Previous information was kindly provided by
Janet Wood (see Ref. 46Q41), but in 2024 the discovery of a different time for his passing was
found. |
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During
the Second World War, Caleb and Emma were living at 93 High Street in Thame,
although Emma was a patient at the nearby Cottage Hospital in Thame when she
died on 12th April 1942.
Her Will was proved at Oxford on 22nd May that same year
for which her husband Caleb Collett, of no occupation, was one of the three
executors. The other two executors of
her estate valued at £1,247 7 Shillings and 2 Pence were Fred West, a cycle
agent, and James Benjamin West, a garage proprietor, sons from her earlier married. |
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The death of Emma Collett, nee West,
was recorded at Bicester Ploughley register office (Ref. 3a 1915) during the
second quarter of 1942, when she was 83 years of age. Three years after being made a widower, the
death of Caleb Collett at Thame, who was born around 1857, was recorded at
Oxfordshire register office (Ref. 3a 1994) in 1945 when he was 88. |
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46O14 |
William Edward Collett (aka
William Clark) was
a man of mystery who was born in 1839 and was the eldest of four sons of Mary Ann Clark, who
as not married to future husband William Collett at the time of his conception. His base-born birth was registered at
Headington (Ref. xvi 60) during the last quarter of 1839, prior to the
wedding day of Mary Ann Clark and William Collett. William junior may have been born at
Horton-cum-Studley, like his younger siblings, and later on
his half-sister. However, in
later census returns, his place of birth was stated as being Headington, when
his brothers were confirmed as having been born at Studley (Horton-cum-Studley). It is only the record of his birth that referred to him as William
Edward Collett, apparently never to be repeated during his life. |
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A
few months after he was born, he was baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor parish
church on 12th April 1840 as William Collett, when his parents
were named as William Collett and his wife Mary Ann of Horton-cum-Studley, there
being no church there where the couple was raised their family. It was only three months previously that
William and Mary Ann had been married in January that same year. In June of the following year, William
(junior) was curiously listed as John Collett in the census of 1841, when he
was one year old and living with his parents at Whitecross Green in
Horton-cum-Studley. |
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Even
more strange was his placement in the Horton-cum-Studley census of 1851, when
William and Mary Ann Collett had living with them their two younger sons
George and John (below), plus William Clark who was 11 and described
as son-in-law. That raises the
question; was young William the son William Collett or the child of another
man known to Mary Ann before she married William. Whatever the answer to that conundrum, it
is more than likely that he was in fact the formerly name William Collett, whose
place of birth was confirmed as Headington.
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FOOTNOTE: Previously,
within Section Three of the Appendix at the end of this family line, there
were details of William Collett of Headington, who we now know to be this
William thanks to the information provided by Shirley Martin in 2012,
together with the details contained within the census of 1861 below. |
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Shortly
after the census day in 1851, the last of William’s three known brothers was
born at Horton, and four years after that his father died in 1855, following
which his mother Mary Ann Collett, nee Clark, married James Payne. By the time of the census in 1861, William
Collett of Headington was 20 and was working as an agricultural labourer when
he was living at Beckley with his mother, his stepfather James Payne, their
daughter Thirza Payne (William’s half-sister), and two of his three younger
brothers, George Collett, and Ellis Collett.
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It
was just over six years later that William Collett and Emma Parker were
married at Piddington parish church on 21st October 1867, with the event was recorded at
Bicester (Ref. 3a 1167) during the last three months of that year. Their marriage details were recorded as
follows. William
Collett, of full age, bachelor, and labourer of Horton, in the parish of
Beckley, married to Emma Parker, 19, spinster and daughter of William Parker,
labourer. The witnesses were Rebecca
Parker, and William Parker, who were most likely Emma’s parents. It was also at Piddington that Emma had been born in
1848. |
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By
the time the couple’s first child was born, William was working in Fencott,
where Emma gave birth but returned to be with her parents in Piddington,
where the child was baptised. His name
is probably enough proof that William Collett was formerly William Clark,
since the child was named Frederick William Clark Collett. Within the next census of 1871, the three
members of the family were residing at Charlton-on-Otmoor, most likely because of a job
opportunity there. The census
that year recorded the family as William Collett aged 29 and an agricultural labourer
from Murcott (?), Emma Collett aged 22 and from Piddington, and their
son Fredrick Collett who was two years old and from Fencott. Their time at Charlton was short-lived because, by the birth the
couple's second child, they were back living in Fencott. |
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Over
the remaining years of that decade a total of four children were added to the
family while they were living in Fencott.
By 1881 the family residing at Fencott-with-Murcott was made up of
William aged 41 who was a carpenter from Headington, his wife Emma aged 32
from Piddington, and their five children, all of whom had been born at
Fencott. They were Fredrick Collett
aged 12, Ellen R Collett who was eight, Anne E Collett who was five, Edwin C
Collett who was three, and Willie Collett who was only seven months old. |
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During
the next ten years three further children were born into the family, the
first of them at Fencott, with the latter two born after the family had moved
back to Charlton-on-Otmoor, where they were living in 1891. By that time William was 52, Emma was 42,
and the children still living there with them were Fred who was 22, Edward
who was 13, William who was 10, Louisa who was eight, Arthur who was five,
and Beatrice who was two years old. Of
the couple’s two missing daughters, Ellen Rebecca Collett was 19 and was
living and working not far away in Bicester, while Annie F Collett was 15 and
was recorded in the Headington area of Oxford. At the start of the new century the family
was still living in Charlton-on-Otmoor, as confirmed by the census in 1901. |
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Their
daughter Beatrice was 12 and had been born at Charlton-on-Otmoor. At that same time in 1901, William and
Emma’s daughter Ellen Collett was living and working within the Headington
registration district of Oxford. Their
other daughter Annie was married by then with a family of her own, and one of
her children was staying with William and Emma, that being their
granddaughter Ellen Marriott who was three years old and born at Market End
in Bicester. |
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During
the First World War the couple had to endure a double death in the family,
when their sons Arthur and William were both killed in action during the
summer of 1916. It was almost exactly
two years after receiving that sad news when William died at
Charlton-on-Otmoor during the month of September 1918, following which he was
buried in the churchyard at the parish church in Charlton on
21st September. His death at the age of 80 was
recorded at Bicester register office (Ref. 3a 1021) as William C Collett. Eighteen years after being made a widow,
Emma Collett, nee Parker, of Charlton died at Woodstock in March 1937 and was
laid to rest with her late husband at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 20th
March 1937 at the age of 87. The death of Emma Collett was recorded
at Oxfordshire register office (Ref. 3a 2024) and, at the time of her
passing, she may have been living with her eldest son Frederick. |
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46P45 |
Frederick William Clark Collett |
Born in 1868
at Fencott |
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Ellen Rebecca Collett |
Born in 1872
at Fencott |
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46P47 |
Anne Elizabeth Collett |
Born in 1875
at Fencott |
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Edwin Charles Collett |
Born in 1877
at Fencott |
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46P49 |
William Collett |
Born in 1880
at Fencott |
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46P50 |
Louisa Collett |
Born in 1883
at Fencott |
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46P51 |
Arthur John Collett |
Born in 1885
at Charlton-on-Otmoor |
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46P52 |
Beatrice Collett |
Born in 1888
at Charlton-on-Otmoor |
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46O15 |
George Collett was born at Horton-cum-Studley but
with no church at Horton he was baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 5th
March 1843, the son of William Collett and Mary Ann Clark from
Boarstall. Two years before he was
born, his parents were living at Whitecross Green in Horton in 1841, so it
seems likely that it was there where he was born although, unlike his old brother William (above),
George’s birth was not registered at Headington. Instead, the birth of George Collett was
registered at Bicester (Ref. xvi 43) during the first three months of 1843. It was also in Horton that he and his
family were still living in 1851 when George Collett was seven years
old. Not long after that census day
the family moved to nearby Beckley where his father died in 1855 and where
his mother remarried in the autumn of 1857. |
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In
1861, and at the age of 18, George and his older brother William and his
younger brother Ellis (below), were living at the Beckley home of
their mother Mary Ann Payne, formerly Collett, and her second husband James
Payne, when the brothers were described as the sons-in-law to head of the
household James Payne. It is possible
that his stepfather died during the 1860s, since by 1871
George was still living with his mother who, at that time, had left Beckley
and was staying at the Whitecross Green home of farmer William Cox. George Collett from Whitecross Green was
unmarried at 28, and was working as an agricultural labourer, perhaps even
employed by farmer Cox. Ten years
later George, aged 38, was still living with his widowed mother, but at
Charlton-on-Otmoor, where he was once again employed as an agricultural
labourer. What happened to him upon
the death of his mother is not known, as no record of him has been found in
any census after 1881. |
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It
is possible, although not proved that George Collett later went to live at
Boarstall where his mother had been born and where his brother John was
living at one time. That assumption
arises from a record that states George Collett, a farmer of Panshill in
Boarstall, died on 11th April 1918 and that his personal effects
of £384 16 Shillings and 2 Pence was handled by farmer Ernest William Cox. The death of George Collett at Boarstall was recorded at Thame
register office (Ref. 3a 1041) at the age of 74. |
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46O16 |
John Collett was born at Horton-cum-Studley in
1845, with his birth registered at Bicester (Ref. xvi 40) during the second
quarter of that year. He was then
baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 22nd June 1845, the third son of
William Collett and Mary Ann Clark. In
1851 he was living with his family at Horton-cum-Studley, when he was five
years old and his place of birth was confirmed as Studley. Tragically, four years later his father
died, following which his mother married James Payne in 1857 and the family
moved to the next hamlet of Beckley.
However, by the time of the next census in 1861 John Collett, aged 15
and born at Whitecross Green, was living at the Boarstall home of farmer
William Blake and his wife Rebecca. At
that time in his life John was working as a shepherd, while William Blake was
the half-brother of John’s grandmother.
Ten years later in 1871, John Collett from Charlton-on-Otmoor was 26
when he was living and working within the St Clements Headington area of
Oxford. |
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What
happened to him after that time is currently not known although, in 1901,
there was living in the Kensington area of London, at Ladbroke Grove, a John Collett aged 56
was a cab owner who
had been born ‘near Stow Wood in Oxfordshire’, Stow Wood being within the
parish of Beckley and adjacent to Horton-cum-Studley. He was married to Marian Collett, aged 53,
who was born at Marylebone in London, and their daughter Frances Collett was
29 and had been born at Lambeth, whose marital status was ‘married’. Curiously, no record of the family has been located in 1881 and 1891, nor again in 1911. |
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46P53 |
Frances
Collett |
Born in 1871
at Lambeth |
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46O17 |
Ellis Collett was born at Horton-cum-Studley after
the census day in 1851 and was the youngest of the four sons of William
Collett and Mary Ann Clark. When he
was baptised at Beckley parish church on 28th September 1851 he
was recorded as Eliseus Collett, the son of labourer William Collett and his
wife Mary Ann. Over the following
years his parents took the family to live in the village of Beckley, two
miles south-west of Horton, and it was there that his father died in early
1855. Two years after that loss,
Ellis’ mother married James Paynes, and the new family was recorded living in
Beckley in 1861. Son-in-law Ellis
Collett was nine years old and a farmer’s boy, when living there with his
mother, his stepfather, his half-sister, plus two of Ellis’ older brothers. |
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Where
Ellis Collett was over the next few decades has not been discovered, although
by 1871, when he would have been 19, he may have joined the army and not been
living in England. The situation was
the same in 1881 when he would have been 29, with no trace of him having been
found anywhere in Great Britain at that time. |
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However,
he returned from his travels during the 1880s and was recorded as unmarried
Ellis Collett, aged 37, and an agricultural labourer from Horton who was
boarding with Richard Maycock and his mother Anne Maycock at Wendlebury to
the south of Bicester. He was still
living with the Maycock family ten years later at Oxford Road in Wendlebury, when the census in
1901 confirmed that he was Ellis Collett from Horton who was 48, who was
employed as an ordinary agricultural labourer. It was at Wendlebury that he was once again
residing with Richard Maycock and his mother in 1911 when bachelor Ellis
Collett from Horton was 59 and a labourer on a farm. Ellis Collett never married and it was in
January 1926 that he passed away at the age of 74, following which he was
buried in the churchyard of the parish church at Wendlebury on 23rd
January 1926. The death of Ellis Collett was recorded at
Oxfordshire register office (Ref. 3a 1263). |
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46O18 |
Lewis Collett was born at Murcott in 1853, the
eldest child of George Collett and Eliza Haskin, his birth registered at
Bicester (Ref. 3a 496) during the second quarter of the year. He was seven years old in the Murcott
census of 1861 and in the Charlton-on-Otmoor census of 1871 he was 17 and an
agricultural labour who was still living with his family. Three years after that census day, the
marriage of Lewis Collett and Selina Harris (aka Mary Anne Selina Harris) was recorded
at Bicester (Ref. 3a 971) during the third quarter of 1874. She had been born at Horsepath, near
Wheatley, in 1853 and their first child was born at Murcott. Not long after the birth, the family moved
to Farthinghoe in Northamptonshire where their next four children were
born. For a short while the family
next lived at Croughton, south-west of Brackley, where another child was
born, before finally settling at Edgcote where all of Lewis’ and Mary’s
remaining four children were born. |
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Today there is no
settlement at Edgcote but the site is well known for its famous battle of
1469, as one of the major battles in the Wars of the Roses. |
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The
family’s time at Farthinghoe was confirmed by the census of 1881 in which
Lewis Collett, aged 28 of Murcott, was a carter and agricultural labourer
married to Mary A S Collett aged 27 from Horsepath. Living with them at their home on South
Street, were Albert Collett who was six and of Murcott, and Edith E Collett
who was four, and Lewis S Collett who was two years old, both born after the
family settled in Farthinghoe. Their births were recorded at
nearby Brackley where, six months later in 1881, the birth of Autin Collett
was registered. |
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The
next census in 1891 revealed that the family was living at Edgcote in
Northamptonshire, just north of Banbury, and was made up of Lewis Collett who
was 38 and an agricultural labourer from Murcott, his wife Mary A S Collett
who was 37, and their seven children.
They were Albert Collett 16, Edith E Collett 14, Lewis S Collett 12,
Austin (Autin) Collett who was nine, Mary K Collett who was six, George H
Collett who was three, and Frances E Collett who was under twelve
months. Just after the turn of the century,
Lewis Collett, who was then 49, was employed as a stockman on a farm in
Edgcote, but on that occasion he gave his place of birth as Fencott. Interestingly, for the first time after
they were married, his wife was listed as Selina Collett, aged 48 of
Horsepath. |
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By
1901, three children were absent from the family home, and they were Albert,
Edith, and Mary Kate, leaving five of the children listed in 1891, plus three
new arrivals. They were Spencer
Collett who was 21, Autin Collett who was 19, George Collett aged 13, Fanny
aged 10, Arthur Collett who was eight, William Collett who was five, and
Minnie Collett who was two years old.
It was not long after that day in 1901 that the Collett family left
Edgcote and moved east into Buckinghamshire, where they settled in the
village of Lillingstone Lovell, just north of Buckingham. |
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According
to the Lillingstone Lovell census of 1911, Lewis from Murcott was 57 and a shepherd on a farm, living
at Kayes Farm with his wife Selina from Horsepath who was 56. The children still living with them on that
day, were four of the
five youngest children. They were
George Collett who was 23, Arthur Collett who was 18, William Collett who was
15, and Minnie Collett who was 12. On that day their daughter
Frances Eliza Collett was 20 and living and working nearby in Lillingstone
Lovell. Sadly, for the family,
the youngest son William died from injuries sustained in the service of King
and Country in 1918, at which time Lewis and Selina were still living at
Lillingstone Lovell, where their son was buried. |
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Thirteen years later, the death of
Lewis Collett was recorded at Buckinghamshire register office (Ref. 3a 981)
during 1924 when he was 70 years old.
Having lost her husband, Selina ended up living in Hampshire, where
the death of Mary A Collett was recorded (Ref. 2b 724) in 1930, when she was
76. |
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46P54
|
Albert Collett |
Born in 1874
at Murcott |
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46P55
|
Edith Elizabeth Collett |
Born in 1876
at Farthinghoe |
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46P56
|
Lewis Spencer Collett |
Born in 1879
at Farthinghoe |
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46P57
|
Autin
Collett |
Born in 1881
at Farthinghoe |
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46P58
|
Mary Kate Collett |
Born in 1885
at Farthinghoe |
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46P59
|
George Henry Collett |
Born in 1887
at Croughton |
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46P60
|
Frances Eliza Collett |
Born in 1890
at Edgcote |
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46P61
|
Arthur Collett |
Born in 1892
at Edgcote |
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46P62
|
William Henry Collett |
Born in 1895
at Edgcote |
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46P63
|
Minnie Meritta Collett |
Born in 1898
at Edgcote |
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46O19 |
Elizabeth Ann Collett was born at Murcott in 1856, the
second child of George Collett and Eliza Haskins, her birth registered at
Bicester (Ref. 3a 503) during the third quarter of the year. By 1861 she was four years old and was
still with her family at Murcott but ten years later, when Elizabeth Collett
from Murcott was 15, she was working as a general domestic servant at Swanbourne
near Winslow in Buckinghamshire, the home of farmer George Belgrove and his
large family. On that day her family was residing in
Charlton-on-Otmoor. Ten years
later Elizabeth Ann Collett from Murcott was still carrying out general
domestic duties, but at the Walton Street home, in Oxford, of the Isaac
Alder, a butcher employing four men and one boy. By that time in her life, unmarried
Elizabeth Ann was 25, the only servant working for the nine members of the
Alder family. |
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It
was nine years later, on 13th December 1890, at the parish church
in Charlton-on-Otmoor, that Elizabeth Ann Collett, aged 35, a spinster from
Murcott and the daughter of George Collett, a labourer, married widower
Thomas Buse who was 36 and a coachman from Michaelstow in Cornwall, the son
of John Buse, a gardener. The bride’s
brother William Collett (below) was one of the witnesses, and the
event was recorded at Bicester register office (Ref. 3a 1389) during the last
month of 1890. It is very interesting
to note, that within the parish register for Michaelstow the banns of
marriage for widower Thomas Buse, of that parish, and Elizabeth Ann Collett,
spinster of the parish of Murcott, were published on 16th, 23rd
and 30th November 1890. |
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Thomas
already had a son living with him; William Buse born in 1878, who was 22 and
a carpenter living with Thomas and Elizabeth at Port Isaac in Endellion,
Cornwall in 1901. By that time
Elizabeth had given birth to Beatrice Buse who was nine, Lewis Buse
who was seven, and Spencer Buse who was four, all of them born at
Michaelstow. Elizabeth Buse from
Oxford was 46. Ten years later Thomas
and Elizabeth were managing a boarding house in St Miniver, when Elizabeth
Buse was 55 and born in Oxford. Still
living with the couple was their daughter Beatrice Buse, together with Edith
Buse, a daughter from Thomas’ first marriage. |
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Thomas
Buse was 59 years of age when he died in Cornwall on 31st December
1923, with probate settled at Bodmin on 5th April 1925, in favour
of his widow Elizabeth Ann Buse.
Following the death of Elizabeth Ann Buse in Cornwall on 4th
July 1935, and after probate at Bodmin on 16th September 1935, the
sole beneficiary was named as Beatrice Buse, daughter of the deceased. |
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46O20 |
William Collett was born at Murcott, most likely
towards the end of 1857, with his birth registered at Bicester (Ref. 3a 575)
during the first quarter of 1858. It
was also at Murcott that he was living with his parents in 1861 at the age of
three years, and at Charlton-on-Otmoor in 1871 when he was 14 and an
agricultural labourer. Nine years
later, during the last three months of 1880, the marriage of William Collett
and (1) Emily Louisa Cummings was recorded at Woodstock (Ref. 3a 1160). Emily had been born in the Berkshire hamlet
of Wytham, near Wolvercote in Oxford, her birth registered at
Abingdon-on-Thames (Ref. 2c 247) during the third quarter of 1854. She was the daughter of Frederick Cummings
and Fanny Simpson. Shortly after they
were married, the childless couple was living at Middle Green Road in Horton-cum-Studley,
where they were recorded in 1881. William
Collett from Murcott was 24 and was working as a carpenter, while his wife Emily
L Collett from Wytham was 26 years old |
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Just
over three years later, the death of Emily Louisa Collett was recorded at
Headington (Ref. 3a 439) during the third quarter of 1884, when she was 29
years of age. After spending three
years as a widower, William Collett married (2) Charlotte Steggall, the event
recorded at Headington (Ref. 3a 1261) during the fourth quarter of 1887. Charlotte had been born at Marylebone in
London towards the end of 1857 and was the daughter of William and Caroline
Steggall. In 1881 Charlotte was still
living with her family at the Grosvenor Building in Hanover Square, when she
was 23 and a dressmaker. |
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According
to the next census in 1891, William Collett from Murcott was 34 and a
wheelwright and carpenter, who was still living at Horton-cum-Studley. By that time in his life, his second wife
had presented him with a son, when Charlotte Collett from London was 33 and
their son William Collett was two years of age. It was a similar situation in 1901, when
Murcott born William Collett was 44 and still working as a wheelwright and a
carpenter. His wife Charlotte was 43
and their son William Collett was 12 years old and was listed as still
attending the local school. Completing
the household was William G Steggall from London, who was 35 and a brass
finisher, Charlotte’s younger unmarried brother. |
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In
April 1911, the family was still living in Horton-cum-Studley when wheelwright
William Collett, aged 54, was recorded as having been born at
Charlton-on-Otmoor, while his London born wife Charlotte Collett was 53. Still living with them was their married son
William, aged 23, and his wife Elizabeth who was 20, together with
Charlotte’s brother William Steggall, who was 45 and a retired brass
finisher. |
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The later death of William Collett
who was born in 1857 was recorded at Oxfordshire register office (Ref. 3a
2712) during 1939, when he was 82 years old. Nine years earlier William was made a
widower, when the death of Charlotte Collett, nee Steggall, was recorded at
Oxfordshire register office (Ref. 3a 1327) in 1930 at the age of 72. |
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46P64
|
William Collett |
Born in 1888
at Horton-cum-Studley |
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46O21 |
George Collett was born at Murcott in 1859 when his birth was registered
at Bicester (Ref. 3a 526) during the third quarter of the year. He was the fourth of five children of George
Collett and Eliza Haskins and was two years of age in the Murcott census of 1861. By the time he was 11 years old in the
census of 1871, his
family was living in Charlton-on-Otmoor where George was already working as
an agricultural labourer alongside his father and his two older brothers
Lewis and William (above).
Another family move happened during the 1870s, when
George’s parents, accompanied by George junior, travelled the few miles south
from Charlton to Beckey. That move was confirmed in the census of 1881,
when George of Murcott was a bachelor at 21 whose occupation was that of an
agricultural worker. |
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Still not settled, George’s parents
returned to Fencott-with-Murcott during the 1880s, on that occasion,
accompanied by George and his younger brother Alfred (below). In 1891 George was 30 and his unmarried
brother Alfred was 27, as detailed in the census return that year. Nine years later, George Collett aged 39,
married Caroline Clarke who was 53 and a widow, with their wedding day
recorded at Bicester register office (Ref. 3a 1051) during the first three
months of 1900. Caroline had been
married to Henry Clarke, with whom she had two daughters who were born at
Murcott. Prior to that, the birth of
Caroline Goddard, daughter of John and Elizabeth Goddard, was registered at
Headington (Ref. xvi 65) during the last three months of 1845, after which
she was baptised at Forest Hill on 5th October 1845. |
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By
the time of the census in 1901 George was married and was living at Murcott, from
where he was working as a general labourer at the age of 42, and when his
birthplace was confirmed as Murcott.
His much older wife Caroline Collett was 54 and a dressmaker who had
been born at Stanton St John, just south of Beckley. According to the next census in 1911, the
childless couple was again residing in Murcott, where George Collett of
Murcott was 51 years old and
a jobbing labourer on a farm, while Caroline Collett was 65 with no stated occupation by
then. |
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Ten years after that census day, the death
of Caroline Collett was recorded at Oxfordshire register office (Ref. 3a 938)
in 1921, when she was 75. After
eighteen years as a widower, the death of George Collett aged 80, was recorded
at Oxfordshire register office (Ref. 3a 1549) during 1939. |
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Appendix Two at the end of the file, lists apparently
unrelated members of the Collett family, including those with a connection to
the village of Beckley. |
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46O22 |
Alfred Collett was born at Murcott in 1862 and was
the last child of George Collett and Eliza Haskins. His birth was registered at Bicester (Ref.
3a 529) during the third quarter of that year. After he was born, his family moved from
Murcott to Charlton-on-Otmoor, Alfred was nine years of age in the Charlton
census of 1871. Upon leaving school,
he left the family home in Oxfordshire and moved to Hampshire where he was
working in 1881. According to the
census that year, Alfred Collett from Murcott, was employed as an
agricultural labourer at the age of 18, when he was one of three men working for
farmer Thomas Honour on his 247-acre farm.
Thomas was 51 and was formerly of Murcott and was Alfred’s uncle, his
wife Esther Honour, nee Haskins, being the sister of Alfred’s mother Eliza
Haskins, who were both born at Islip in Oxfordshire. |
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In
addition to working for Thomas Honour, Alfred was also living with his uncle
and aunt at Church Farm in Eversley, within the Hartley Wintney area of Hampshire. Other connections between the Collett and
Honour families include the marriage of Thomas’ younger brother Mark Honour
and Elizabeth Collett (Ref. 46N15), the marriage of Jack Collett (Ref. 46Q55)
and Freda Honour in 1926, Sarah Honour who was visiting the family of Albert
John Collett (Ref. 46O55) in 1911, and Louisa Collett (below) working
for farmer and publican William Honour at Murcott in 1861. |
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It
is unclear where Alfred was in 1891, although it is established that two
years later, he married widow Alice Amelia Veary, nee Hayward of
Charlton-on-Otmoor, whose birth as Alice A Hayward was registered at Bicester
(Ref. 3a 561) during the last three months of 1863, the youngest child of
John and Emma Hayward. In 1881, at the
age of 18, Alice was in service as a kitchen maid at Kirtlington Mansion, the
home of Henry W Dashwood, Baronet, Justice of the Peace, and farmer of an
extensive estate employing 76 men, 14 boys, and 6 women. The marriage of Alfred Collett and Alice
Amelia Veary was recorded at Bicester register office (Ref. 3a 1313) during
the second quarter of 1893. The birth
of the couple’s first child was recorded at Bicester register office during
the last three months of that same year. |
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As
far as can be determined, Alice presented Alfred with just two children, both
having been born at Murcott although, after the birth of the second child,
the family moved to Charlton-on-Otmoor.
By the end of March 1901, Alfred and Alice were both 38 and their
children were Alfred Collett junior who was six, and daughter Kate Collett who
was five. Alfred’s occupation at
Charlton that year was a non-domestic gardener. Living with the family in 1901, was
nine-year-old Fred Veary from Murcott, who was described as the son of
Alfred’s wife. Ten years later Alfred
and Alice were both listed as being 47 in the Murcott census of 1911, when
Alfred was a farm labourer from Murcott.
Neither of Alfred’s two children were recorded with them, but Alice
Collett from Charlton-on-Otmoor did have son Frederick Veary aged 19 and from
Oxford living with them, working with Alfred as another farm labourer. Joining him were two of his brothers,
Thomas Veary aged 24 from Oxford, and Alfred Veary from Murcott aged 17, both
also farm labourers. No trace has been
found of their son Alfred Collett, who would have been 16, while their
daughter Kate was 15 and was living and working in the Cowley St Clements
area of Oxford. |
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The
earlier Oxford census in 1891 included Alice’s Veary family residing at East
Avenue in the Cowley area of Oxford, where her first husband was 30-year-old
police constable Frederick Veary from Buckinghamshire. Alice from Charlton-on-Otmoor was 27, and
their two children were Thomas J Veary who was four, and Ethel A Veary who
was three years of age. By 1901, after
Alice had married Alfred, her youngest child, seven-year-old-son Alfred Veary,
was staying with his grandparents. |
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46P65
|
Alfred Collett |
Born in 1893 at Murcott |
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46P66
|
Kate Elizabeth Collett |
Born in 1895
at Murcott |
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46O23 |
Louisa Collett was born at Fencott in 1849, the
eldest child of John Collett of Murcott and his wife Matilda Attwood from
Horton-cum-Studley. Her birth was registered
at Bicester (Ref. xvi 42) during the first three months of that year, making Louisa
two years old in 1851, when she was living with her parents and younger
sister Selina (below) at Murcott.
Ten years later she had left school and was already working as a house
servant at the age of 12 in the hamlet of Murcott, close to her parents. Her employer was William Honour, a farmer and a publican of Murcott who was 30. His wife Phyllis Honour from Boarstall was
29 and their three Murcott born children were William, Ann, and Lucy. That relationship was yet another
connection between the Collett and Honour families, with William Honour being
a son of Elizabeth Collett (Ref. 46N15) and Mark Honour, when Elizabeth was a
first cousin of Louisa’s father John Collett. |
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On
approaching full age, the marriage of Louisa Collett and Thomas Higgs was
recorded at Oxford (Ref. 3a 840) during the second quarter of 1869. Thomas was the son of John and Ann Higgs of
Oakley in Buckinghamshire. Two years
later, the childless couple was still residing in Oxfordshire, when
agricultural labourer Thomas Higgs from Oakley was 24 and his wife Louisa
Higgs from Murcott was 23. Over the
following years, Thomas’ work as a labourer took him and Louisa to many
different parts of the country, as indicated by the birth places of their
children. |
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By
1881, when the family was residing at Hilmer Street in Fulham, London, Thomas
Higgs from Oakley was 35, Louisa Higgs from Murcott was 33, and their four
children were listed as Florence E Higgs aged nine and born in Oxford,
Thomas E Higgs who was six and born at Oakley, John A Higgs who
was five and from Hunsbury in Yorkshire, and Clara Higgs who was two
years old and born after the family had arrived in Fulham. |
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It
was also at Fulham that Thomas Higgs died during 1885, but not before he and
Louisa had two more children. In the
Fulham census of 1891, widow Louisa was 41 and earning a living as a
laundress. With her that day was her
married daughter Nellie Chalk, aged 19, (previously Florence E Higgs) and her
very recently born son William Chalk of no age. Louisa’s two new children were Caroline
Higgs aged nine, and Louisa Higgs who was three. |
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After
a further decade, Louisa Higgs from Oxford was 53 and a laundry woman who,
with her daughter Louisa, aged 13, was staying at the Fulham home of Louisa’s
married son John Higgs who was 25 and from Wakefield. His wife was Isabella Higgs from Fulham who
was 24, by whom he already had two Fulham born children John Higgs aged three
years and Albert Higgs who was one year old. |
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46O24 |
Selina Collett was born at Murcott on 15th
October 1850, the second child of John and Matilda Collett, who was six
months old in the Murcott census of 1851, when living there with her family
as Selina Collett. On the recording of
her birth, at Bicester (Ref. xvi 39) during the fourth quarter of 1850, she
was named as Sylenia Collett, although that was the only known occasion in
her life when that name was used. It
was again as Selina Collett that she was still living with her family in
Murcott in 1861. The marriage of
Selina Collett and Joseph Shepherd was recorded at Bicester (Ref. 3a 1035)
during the last three months of 1870, with their wedding ceremony conducted at
Oddington church on 3rd November.
The witnesses at the wedding were William Busby and Eliza Walker, the
latter being the daughter of Elizabeth Collett by her husband William Walker
(Ref. 46N9). |
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The
childless couple was residing at Charlton-on-Otmoor in 1871, within six
months of their wedding, where Joseph Shepherd from Oddington was 19 and an
agricultural labourer and Selina Shepherd from Murcott was 21. Around three years later and, after the
birth of their first child at Charlton, the family moved to Joseph’s home
village of Oddington, one-mile south-west of Charlton, where their subsequent
children were born. Joseph was still
working as an agricultural labourer at the age of 30, Selina was 31, and
their four children were Emily B Shepherd who was eight, Walter J
Shepherd who was six, Oliver Shepherd who was two, and Clara
Shepherd who was under three months old. |
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No
record of her husband has been found after 1881, with Selina also missing
from the census returns in both 1891 and 1901. By 1911, widow Selina Shepherd from Murcott
was 61 and in domestic employment at the Woodstock home of the Schoolmaster
and Head Teacher, James Haddon Overton, where she was the cook and housekeeper. Visiting her mother that census day, was
Selina’s daughter Elsie Louisa Shepherd who was 20 and from Hinksey in
south Oxford, whose birth was recorded at Abingdon-on-Thames register office
(Ref. 2c 283) during the second quarter of 1892. The death of Selina Shepherd nee Collett
was recorded at Oxford register office (Ref. 3a 1416) during the second
quarter of 1938, when she was 87.
Although only five children for Selina and Joseph are named above,
they actually had eight, one of which was Ethel
Shepherd, the grandmother of Brenda Purves’ husband, it being Brenda who
kindly provided the family details for Selina Collett. |
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46O25 |
Benjamin Collett was born at Murcott in 1852 and was
baptised at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 15th May 1852, the son of John
and Matilda Collett. His birth was registered
at Bicester (Ref. 3a 527) during the second quarter of 1852 but, tragically,
around eighteen months later he died at Murcott on 15th November
1853. The death of Benjamin Collett
was recorded at Bicester (Ref. 3a 346) at the end of the year. |
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46O26 |
Clara Hannah Collett was born at Murcott either at the end
of 1853 or early in 1854, with her birth registered at Bicester (Ref. 3a 531)
during the first three months of 1854. She was seven years old in the Murcott
census of 1861 when she was living there with her parents. However, after leaving school, she was
employed by farmer Robert Watts at Godington, north-east of Bicester when, as
Clara Collett from Murcott, she was 18 years of age and a servant. A few years after 1871 something happened
to Clara that took her from rural Oxfordshire to the industrial north, and
the West Riding of Yorkshire. It was towards the end of 1875
when the marriage of Clara Collett from Oxfordshire and William Widdop from
Yorkshire was recorded at Wakefield (Ref. 9c 123) during the last three
months of the year. William
Widdop was born at Crigglestone, just south of Wakefield in 1854, and it was
at Crigglestone where the couple’s four known children were born. |
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It
was also at Calder Grove in Crigglestone that the family was living in
1881. Clara’s husband William was 26
and was employed at a local paper-mill as a labourer, while Clara stated she
was 24 (sic) and from Oxfordshire.
Their children were Robert Widdop aged four, Rowena Widdop
aged three, John William Widdop who was one, and baby George H Widdop
who was one month old. Two other men
were living with the family on that occasion, and they were paper-mill
labourer George Widdop, aged 29 – William’s older brother, and Aaron George,
who was 61 and a millwright. |
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More
children were added to their family which, by 1891, was still residing at
Crigglestone. William Widdop was 37
and a paper maker and rag engineer, and Clara Widdop from Oxfordshire was
also 37. Their seven Crigglestone born
children were recorded as Robert Widdop aged 14, Rowena Widdop aged 13, John
W Widdop who was 11, George H Widdop who was 10, Arthur Widdop who was
six, Mary Matilda Widdop who was five, and Percy Widdop who was
two. |
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By
the turn of the century the couple was still at Crigglestone when six of
their seven their children were still living with William aged 46 and Clara
47. In the census of 1901 William was
no longer working at the paper-mill, but was employed as a brewer’s labourer
and gave his place of birth as Calder Grove.
Clara gave her place of birth as Murcott. Of their children, Robert was 24 and John
was 21 and they were both coalminers, George was 20 and an engine tester,
Arthur was 16 and an apprentice joiner, Matilda 15 was a stinner at a worsted
mill, and Percy aged 12 was an above ground colliery worker. The death of Clara Widdop, aged 61, was
recorded at Wakefield register office (Ref. 9c 13) during the last quarter of
1915. |
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46O27 |
Emily Collett was born at Murcott near the end of
1855, with her birth reregistered at Bicester (Ref. 3a 548) during the first
quarter of 1856. She was five years in
the Murcott census of 1861, when living there with her family, the third
child of John and Matilda Collett. Rather
curiously, she was not living with her family in 1871. Instead, she was described in the census
that year as Emily Collett from Murcott who was 14 and a gentleman’s
servant. That gentleman was George
Collett, a baker from Murcott, who was 26 and living at Beckley with his wife
Emma Collett from Worminghall, in Buckinghamshire, who was 35. Completing their family were twin
one-year-old daughters Sarah and Mary Collett. George Collett (Ref. 46N23) was the cousin
of Emily’s father John Collett. |
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Nine
years later, the marriage of Emily Collett and James George Bateman was
recorded at Bicester (Ref. 3a 1011) during the third quarter of 1880. Once married, the couple settled in the
village of Fringford, four miles north-east of Bicester, where they were
living in 1881 and by which time Emily had given birth to a daughter. James Bateman from Upper Heyford was 23 and
a labourer, Emily Bateman from Murcott was 25, and their daughter Clara Ellen
Bateman had been born at Fringford and was under three months old. In 1901 Clara Ellen Bateman married William
Alfred Block, as recorded at Bicester register office. |
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For
some reason, no record of the family has been identified for the census in
1891 while, in 1901, the enlarged family was still living in Fringford. By then James was a labourer working on a
farm at the age of 43, and Emily was 45, with her place of birth said to be
Murcott-on-Otmoor. The three children
living with them were Henry Bateman 13, Fred Bateman 11, and Rose
Bateman aged nine. All three
children had been born at Fringford.
By the end of that decade all their children had left the family home
in Fringford, where James George Bateman was still a farm labourer at 53 and
his wife Emily was 55. With them, was
their two-year-old granddaughter Dorothy Freda Bateman of Fringford. |
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Twenty-eight
years later, the death of James G Bateman was recorded at the Bicester
Ploughley register office (Ref. 3a 1392) during the second quarter of 1939,
when he was 81. After three years as a
widow, the death of Emily Bateman, nee Collett, was also recorded at
Ploughley (Ref. 3a 1900) during the second quarter of 1942, at the age of 86. |
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46O28 |
Rowena Collett was born at Murcott and was another
daughter of John and Matilda Collett whose name has caused some confusion. Firstly, her birth was registered at
Bicester (Ref. 3a 583) during the first three months of 1859 as Rocina
Collett, which may simply be an error in transcription for Rowena. In
1861 it was as Rosanna Collett from Murcott that she was three years of age and
living with her family at Murcott. Ten
years later, as Rowena Collett aged 12 years, she was attending school in
Charlton-on-Otmoor where she was one of only four children living there with
her parents. After that no further record of her has been
found, while one source suggests that she died in Buckinghamshire on 18th
December 1945 when she was 87. |
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46O29 |
Eli Collett was born at Murcott just prior to 7th
April 1861, the day that year’s census was conducted, in which he was only a
few days old. His birth was registered
at Bicester (Ref. 3a 571) during the second quarter of 1861, and should not
be confused with Eli Collett (Ref. 49O8), whose birth was also registered at
Bicester, but during the previous year, as he was the son of Richard and
Diana Collett. However, Eli Collett,
the son of John Collett and Matilda Attwood, died at Murcott in 1865. When he
was four years old, following which he was buried at the Church of St-Mary-the-Virgin
in Charlton-on-Otmoor on 28th February 1865. His death was recorded at Bicester (Ref. 3a
444) during March that year. |
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46O30 |
Herbert Collett was born at Murcott in 1863, his birth
registered at Bicester (Ref. 3a 574) during the second quarter of that year,
another son of John and Matilda Collett. He was eight years old in the
Charlton-on-Otmoor census of 1871 and was 17 in 1881 when he was still living
with his parents at Fencott-with-Murcott.
At that time, Herbert, and his brother Walter (below) were both
working with their father as agricultural labourers. Herbert’s mother died sometime during the
1880s so, by 1891, bachelor Herbert, aged 26 and an agricultural labourer,
was living with his father John and brother Walter at Murcott. By the turn of the century, he was still
living and working in the Fencott with Murcott area of Oxfordshire. The Murcott census of 1901 described Herbert
Collett as being the head of the household, aged 36 and born at Murcott, whose
occupation was that of a general labourer.
Herbert was still a bachelor at that time, while no record of him has
been found after that year. |
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46O31 |
Walter Collett was born at Murcott in 1865, his birth
registered at Bicester (Ref. 3a 568) during the third quarter of the year. He and his family were residing at
Charlton-on-Otmoor in 1871 where Walter was five years old. Ten years later, Walter Collett was 15 and
was already working with his older brother Herbert (above) and their
father as an agricultural labourer at Fencott-with- Murcott, where they were
all living at that time. Walter’s
mother Matilda died during 1888 so, by 1891, unmarried Walter Collett was 24
and a labourer still living at Murcott with his father John and his brother
Herbert (above). However,
before the end of that same year, Walter Collett married Ellen Busby from
Charlton-on-Otmoor, the event recorded at Bicester (Ref. 3a 1475) during the
last quarter of 1891. |
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After
their wedding day, the couple initially settled in Murcott, where their first
two children were born. However, not
long after the birth of the second child, the family headed for London and
set up home in Hendon. According to
the Hendon census of 1901, Walter Collett of Murcott was 36 and a cowman
working on a farm, his wife Ellen Collett from Charlton was 37, and their
Murcott born children were John Collett who was eight and Florence M Collett
who was six, while the two children born at Hendon were William Collett who
was three and Harry Collett who was just six months old. At that time the family was residing in
Shoelands Cottage, where their three next-door neighbours were William
Mannering, who was the steward at Hendon Asylum, Joseph Hill a medical
practitioner, and John Hopkins a medical superintendent, all of which might
indicate that Walter was working on the land attached to the asylum. |
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And
it was within the Hendon registration district that the family was still
living in April 1911. Walter Collett
was 42 and a farm labourer, Ellen Collett was 46, and their children were
listed as John Collett aged 18, Florrie Collett aged 16, William Collett aged
13, and Harry Collett who was 10. On
that occasion, Murcott was recorded as the place of birth for both Walter and
Ellen and the two older children, while the birth place for their two
youngest children was confirmed as Shoelands Cottage. |
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46P67
|
Walter John
Collett |
Born in 1892
at Murcott |
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46P68
|
Florence
May Collett |
Born in 1895
at Murcott |
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46P69
|
William Collett |
Born in 1898
at Hendon |
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46P70
|
Harry
Collett |
Born in 1900
at Hendon |
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46O32 |
Jane Collett was born at Murcott in 1870, the last
child of John Collett and Matilda Attwood.
Just after that event her family left Murcott, when they moved to nearby
Charlton-on-Otmoor. Jane was just one
year old in the census of 1871 when she was living with her family at Charlton. Her absence from the family home in 1881 may
indicated that she died as a child during the 1870s, although no such record
has been found. |
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46O33 |
Richard Collett was born at Arncott in 1855, the
eldest child of John Collett and Lucy Foster.
His birth was
registered at Bicester (Ref. 3a 500) during the third quarter of the year. As Richd Collett he was five years of age
in the Arncott census of 1861, and was 15 years old in the Arncott of 1871. Towards the end of the decade Richard
Collett married local girl Florence Alice Arnatt of Fencott, when their wedding day was
recorded at Oxford (Ref. 3a 969) during the second quarter of 1879. It was later that same year that the first
of the couple’s two daughters was born at Elsfield, just north of
Oxford. Almost immediately after the
birth of the child the family left Oxfordshire and moved to the Dorking area
of Surrey, where they were recorded residing on the day of the census in
1881. It was also in the area that the
family was living in 1891, 1901 and 1911. |
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However,
the census in 1881 raises a big question over the ages of all members of the
household. The census listed Richard
Collett from Arncott as working as a farm bailiff who was employed by J
Bonner Esquire on his 250-acre Shootlands Farm at Wotton near Dorking. Why then was his age stated as being 46
when he was 26, following which he was 35, 45 and 55 in the next three
Dorking census returns. |
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Richard’s
wife Florence was listed as Alice Collett of Fencott who was 35 instead of
25, while their daughter Lucy Helen Collett from Elsfield who was recorded as
being 14 and not just one year old.
Living with the family and working with Richard as a bailiff’s help
was his brother Walter. Whilst his
place of birth was correctly recorded as Boarstall it was curious that he had
the name Walter John Collett and not Walter George Collett and that he was 45
years old and not 15. During the next
five years, the family moved the five miles south to Ockley, where Richard
and Florence’s second daughter was born. And it was there that the family was
recorded in 1891, and comprised Richard aged 35, Florence aged 34, Lucy E
Collett who was 11, and Martha A B Collett who was four years old. |
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It
was presumably Richard’s work as a farm bailiff that was the reason why the
family made so many moves and, just after the turn of the century, another
move had taken place which took them to nearby Capel, where they were living
in 1901. That year’s census confirmed
that Richard was continuing to work as a farm bailiff, that he was 45 and
from Arncott and, that his wife was Florence A Collett of Fencott who was 44. The couple’s two daughters were still
living with them and they were Lucy E Collett 21 and a laundress, and 14-year-old
school girl Martha A C Collett of Ockley in Surrey. |
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During
the next ten years the couple’s youngest daughter Martha returned to
Oxfordshire, to live with her grandmother Lucy Collett at
Charlton-on-Otmoor. The rest of family
remained living just
south of Dorking, in Surrey, at Holmwood within the subdistrict of Capel
where, in April 1911 they were recorded as Richard Collett who was 55 and a farm bailiff, his
wife Florence Alice who was 54, and their unmarried daughter Lucy Ellen who
was 24. Richard’s birth place was
confirmed as Arncott, his wife’s as Fencott, and his daughter’s as Elsfield,
and all within the county of Oxfordshire. |
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Fourteen years after that census day,
Richard Collett aged 69 died in the County of Surrey, with his death recorded
at Surrey register office (Ref. 2a 268) in 1925. |
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46P71
|
Lucy Ellen Collett |
Born in 1879
at Elsfield, Oxon |
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46P72
|
Martha Alice Charlotte Collett |
Born in 1886
at Ockley, Surrey |
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46O34 |
Martha Ann Collett was born at Arncott in 1857 and was
the second child and eldest daughter of John Collett and Lucy Foster. Her birth was registered at Bicester (Ref. 3a 553) during the first
three months of that year. Martha
Collett was four years old in the Arncott census of 1861 while, during the
following year, her family left Arncott and moved to Charlton-on-Otmoor,
where Martha died in 1863. She was
buried at St Mary’s Church in Charlton on 4th March 1863 aged six
years, when her place of residence was confirmed as Charlton. Six days after her burial Martha’s baby
sister Lucy Louisa Collett (below) was also buried there. The death of Martha Ann was recorded as Mary Ann Collett at Bicester
(Ref. 3a 406). |
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46O35 |
John Edwin Collett was born at Clew Hill (Farm) in
Arncott, with his birth registered
at Bicester (Ref. 3a 524) in the fourth quarter of 1858. As John Collett he was two years old in the
Arncott census of 1861, and ten years
later in 1871, he was listed as John Edwin Collett aged 12 when he was
attending the village school in Arncott. Curiously, for the next census in 1881, John
Edwin Collett was recorded as 20 years of age and a farmer’s son. That year he was still living with his
parents who, by that time, had left Arncott and were living at Panshill (Pansole)
Farm in Boarstall. It seems likely
that, following the death of his father in December 1881, John took over
running the farm, which it would appear he did until the early 1890s when he
became a married man. |
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It
is also likely that he continued to live at Panshill Farm after he was
married, where he was joined by his younger widowed brother William (below)
and three of his four children after 1895.
John married late in his life, being around thirty-three years of age
when he wed Mary Jennings. The
marriage took place during the first three months of 1893 and was recorded at
Thame register office (Ref. 3a 823).
Mary Jennings was born at Oakley in 1863 and was the daughter of farm
labourer George Jennings of Turn Again Lane, Oakley in Buckinghamshire, and
his wife Ruth Lake of Boarstall. |
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In
1881 Mary was in domestic service at 29 Montpelier Square in Westminster, the
home of retired licenced victualler Joseph Edmons who came from Edgcott in Buckinghamshire,
not far from Mary’s own home. By 1891,
Mary had returned to Oakley and was living with her parents once again. |
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John
and Mary were both listed in the 1901 Census and were living at Boarstall
where John’s occupation was that of a farmer of 40, and Mary of Oakley was
36. However, instead of giving his
place of birth as Arncott, John said it was Boarstall Honeyburge. The marriage is understood to have produced
nine children for the couple, of which only five are detailed below. In the 1901 Census only two of the couple’s
possible four children were listed with John and Mary, and they were Ruth who
was four, and Annie who was one year old, and both born at Boarstall. |
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The
census of 1911 confirmed that farmer John Edwin of Clew Hill (Farm) was 52,
and that his wife of eighteen years was Mary, aged 48 and from Oakley. At that time the couple was living at Old Arngrove
Farm in Boarstall, a very short distance from Panshill Farm where John’s
brother William (below) was a farmer in 1911. The children living with them in April 1911
were Lucy Ruth aged 14, Annie Elizabeth aged 11, Mary Margaret who was nine,
Hilda Maud who eight, and Lilian Edith who was two years of age. It therefore must be assumed that the four
unnamed children listed below had died by that time, and the first two before
1901. |
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Also
living with the family was 53-year-old servant Walter George Allam from
Oddington in Oxfordshire, whose occupation was listed as a cowman and farm
labourer. In addition to him, John’s
cousin one-step-removed Aubrey Collett (below) was also living at Old Arngrove
Farm at that time. John Edwin Collett
lived a long life and died at Charlton-on-Otmoor on 13th December
1943 at the age of 84 and was buried shortly after at Boarstall, where his
brother William was buried within the next two years. |
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The death of John E Collett was
recorded at the Oxfordshire register office (Ref. 3a 1972) and two months
later, the Will of John Edwin Collett was proved at Oxford on 24th
February 1944 and, having no son and heir, the Will named the husbands of two
of his daughters as beneficiaries, and they were Charles Haddon Edginton, and
Horace Busby. |
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46P73
|
a Collett child |
Born in 1893
at Boarstall; infant death |
|
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46P74
|
a Collett
child |
Born in 1894
at Boarstall; infant death |
|
|
46P75
|
Lucy Ruth Collett |
Born in 1896 at Boarstall |
|
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46P76
|
Annie Elizabeth Collett |
Born in 1899
at Boarstall |
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46P77
|
Mary Margaret Collett |
Born in 1901
at Boarstall |
|
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46P78
|
Hilda Maud Collett |
Born in 1902
at Boarstall |
|
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46P79
|
a Collett child |
Born in 1904
at Boarstall; infant death |
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46P80
|
a Collett child |
Born in 1906
at Boarstall; infant death |
|
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46P81
|
Lilian
Edith Collett |
Born in 1908
at Boarstall |
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46O36 |
William Foster Collett, who was known as Bill, was the fourth
child of John Collett and Lucy Foster. He was born at Clew Hill (Farm) in Arncott towards the end of 1860, with
his birth registered at Bicester (Ref. 3a 516) during the last quarter of
that year. William Foster
Collett was around five-months-old at the time of the 1861 Census. By 1871 he was aged ten and at school when
he was living with his parents, whereas by April 1881, he was 20 and had left
the family home by then. That year’s
census recorded him living alone at nearby Horton-cum-Studley in what appears
to be accommodation attached to Warren Farm where he was employed as a
domestic industrial general servant.
The census return also confirmed his place of
birth was Arncott. |
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Around
eight and a half years later, when he was approaching his twenty-ninth
birthday, William Foster Collett married (1) Mary Leach at Oxford, where it was recorded (Ref. 3a
1280) during the fourth quarter of 1889, with Mary already expecting the birth
of their first child. Mary had
been born at Blackthorn, Oxford, in 1867, the daughter of farmer James Leach
and his wife Emma of Arncott.
According to the 1881 Mary was 13 and was living with her family at
Ambrosden, just west of Blackthorn. It was during the first three
month of 1890 when Mary presented William with the first of their four
known Arncott born children. |
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By
the time of the census in 1891, the family of three was living at Arncott
where William was 30, Mary was 23, and their son William was just one year
old. Later that year, the couple’s
second was born, and two years after, their third child, and then the
fourth. Tragically, the family
suffered a double loss during the first half of the decade, with first the
death of William and Mary’s daughter Lilian in the spring of 1894, and later
Mary herself at the age
of 28, whose death was recorded at Bicester register office (Ref. 3a 466)
during the last three months of 1895.
That was one year after giving birth to the couple’s fourth and last
child, who was subsequently taken into the care of William’s younger
unmarried sister, Edith Bessie Collett (below), who looked after him
until William was re-married in 1906. |
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|
After
the trauma of those two years, William took his two older children with him
when he left Arncott and moved across the county boundary the short distance
to Panshill, Boarstall in Buckinghamshire.
The move to Boarstall may have been a return to the family home at
Panshill Farm where it is known William’s parents had lived during their
life. It was William’s older brother
John Edwin Collett (above) who had managed the farm following the
death of their father at the end of 1881, who continued to run the farm until
around 1893 when he was married. After
William settle in Boarstall, Panshill Farm was very likely jointly managed by
the two brothers. |
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|
According
to the census of 1901, the family of widower William Collett was still living
at Boarstall but at the home of William’s widowed mother Lucy Collett, head
of the household. William Collett, a farmer
aged 40 of Clew Hill, had with him his two sons William junior who was 11,
and Richard who was eight, both recorded as having been born at Clew Hill
(Farm) in Arncott. His youngest son
Hubert was absent from the family home on that day when, as Hubert W Collett
aged six years and from Clew Hill, he was a visitor at the home of widower
James Griffin, the employer of his aunt and foster-mother Edith Bessie
Collett (below) – his father’s sister – at The Limes in Tetsworth,
three miles south of Thame. |
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|
Eleven
years after Mary had died, William married (2) Eva Annie Jane Malin during
the spring of 1906. That took place in
Warwickshire and was registered in the Rugby area. Eva was the daughter of boot maker and
postmaster George Malin and his wife Elizabeth who was an assistant
shopkeeper. Eva was born at Willoughby
near Rugby in 1882 and was over twenty years younger than her husband William
Collett. At the time she married
William she was working with her parents at their shop and post office in
Willoughby. |
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|
Once
married the couple continued to live in Boarstall where their son was born a
few years later. and where the family
was living at Panshill Farm in 1911.
The census revealed that William Foster Collett from Arncott was 50
and a farmer, and that he and his new wife Eva had been married for four
years. During those years she had
given birth to one child, Leslie P Collett who was one year old in 1911, when
Eva was 28 years of age. No further
children for William and Eva have been found, while completing the family
group were two of William’s surviving children from his previous marriage. They were Richard J Collett aged 17, and
Hubert W Collett who was 15, who were both working on the farm with their
father. |
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|
It
is highly likely that by 1911, William was a joint manager of Panshill Farm
with his older brother John Edwin Collett who was also residing there that
year, but at Old Arngrove Farm. William
Foster Collett lived a long life and died at Boarstall on 20th
July 1945 at the age of 84. His passing, two years after
his brother John, was recorded at Buckinghamshire register office (Ref. 3a
1173). Just less than two years
after being widowed, Eva Annie Jane Collett, nee Malin, died on 9th
June 1947 at the age of
65. The death of Eva A J Collett was
recorded at Aylesbury register office (Ref. 6a 284) during the second quarter
of 1947. Probate of her Will was
proved at Oxford on 23rd October 1947 when her son Leslie Percival
Collett, and her late husband’s youngest son by his first wife, Hubert Walter
Collett, were named as the beneficiaries. |
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46P82
|
William John Collett |
Born in 1890 at Arncott |
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46P83
|
Lilian
Esther Collett |
Born in 1891
at Arncott |
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46P84
|
Richard James Collett |
Born in 1893
at Arncott |
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46P85
|
Hubert Walter Collett |
Born in 1894 at Clew Hill
Farm, Arncott |
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The
following is the only known child of William Collett by his second wife Eva
Annie Jane Malin: |
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46P86
|
Leslie Percival Collett |
Born in 1909 at Panshill Farm,
Boarstall |
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46O37 |
Lucy Louisa Collett was born at Charlton-on-Otmoor in
June 1862 and her birth was registered at Bicester (Ref. 3a 527) during the
third quarter of the year. She died
nine months later and was buried at St Mary’s Church in Charlton on 10th
March 1863 six days after her older sister Martha Ann Collett (above)
was buried there. It was also at Bicester (Ref.
3a 407) during the first quarter of the year where her infant death was
recorded. |
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46O38 |
James Bottrell Collett was born at Charlton-on-Otmoor in 1864,
with his birth
registered at Bicester (Ref. 3a 586) during the second quarter of that year.
He was baptised at Charlton on 5th
June 1864, another son of John Collett and Lucy Foster. After he was born, the family left Charlton
and moved to Boarstall. In the two
census records following his birth he was seven years old and 17, and for the
latter he was listed as a farmer’s son and was still living with his parents
at Panshill (Pansole) Farm in Boarstall. |
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Ten
years later James B Collett was 26 when he was living with his widowed mother
Lucy and three of his siblings in the Bicester area. At the age of thirty-one in the summer of
1895 James Bottrell Collett married Ellen Martha Cox at Bicester, where the
marriage was recorded at the register office (Ref. 3a 1470) during the third
quarter of the year. The witnesses at
the wedding were Herbert Alfred Cooper and Susan Watson. Ellen was born at Whitecross Green in
Horton-cum-Studley in 1866 and was the daughter of farmer Thomas Cox and his
wife Margaret. It is very likely that
Ellen Martha was a niece to Anne Cox of Horton-cum-Studley who married Thomas
Collett in 1867. |
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Almost
immediately after they were married Ellen presented James with a son while
they were living at Murcott. The
family then left Murcott and moved to nearby Arncott, where they were living
at the time of the 1901 Census. James
B Collett was a farmer of 36 from Charlton, Ellen M Collett his wife was 34
and of White Cross Green, and their son Murray J Collett was four years old and
of Murcott. It was later that same
year when the couple’s next child was born, although sometime after the birth
the family left Oxfordshire and moved across the county boundary in to
neighbouring Warwickshire. |
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By
the time of the next census in 1911 the family had been extended by the birth
of a further two sons, both of whom had been born after the family had
settled in the Warwickshire village of Willoughby. According to the census that year for
Willoughby & Grandborough James Bottrell Collett, aged 46 and from
Charlton in Oxfordshire, was a farmer and a grocer, while his wife Ellen
Martha Collett was 44. The children
listed with them on that occasion were Murray James Collett, aged 14 and from
Murcott, Cyril John Collett, who was nine and whose birthplace was confirmed
as Arncott, Rowland Thomas Collett, who was seven, and Basil Dean Collett who
was four, both of Willoughby. At that
time in their life the family was supported by a domestic servant Nellie
Ridley who was 16, while their daughter Marjorie must have been born after
the second of April 1911. |
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Sometime after the First World War,
the couple crossed the county boundary from Warwickshire into
Northamptonshire. It was at
Northamptonshire register office (Ref. 3b 96) that the death of 71-year-old
Ellen Martha Collett was recorded in 1937.
Her Will was proved at Northampton on 3rd February 1938,
which named her eldest child Murray James Collett as the main
beneficiary. The probate documentation
also stated that his mother had died on 17th October 1937. The last nine years of her life Ellen was a
widow, the earlier death of James Collett also recorded at Northamptonshire
(Ref. 3b 109) during 1928, when he was 65. |
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46P87
|
Murray James Collett |
Born in 1896
at Murcott |
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46P88
|
Cyril John Collett |
Born in 1901
at Arncott |
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46P89
|
Rowland Thomas Collett |
Born in 1903
at Willoughby, Warw. |
|
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46P90
|
Basil Dean Collett |
Born in 1906
at Willoughby, Warw. |
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46P91
|
Margery L
C Collett |
Born in 1914
at Rugby, Warw. |
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46O39 |
Walter George Collett was born in 1866 and possibly at
Panshill Farm in Boarstall after his family moved there from Charlton-on-Otmoor,
and where they were living in 1871. The
birth of Walter George Collett was registered at Bicester (Ref. 3a 611)
during the second quarter of 1866, the seventh child of John Collett and Lucy
Foster. He was five years of age at
Panshill Farm in Boarstall for the census of 1871, but was not living with
his family at Boarstall by 1881. Instead,
he was living and working in Surrey with his farm bailiff brother Richard and
his family at Wotton near Dorking.
However, the accuracy of the detail within the census has been brought
into question. Why every member of the
household was credited with an enhance age is the big issue. According to the census return, Walter John
Collett, rather than Walter George was 15, although his place of birth was
correctly given as Boarstall in Buckinghamshire. At that time, he was working for his
brother as a bailiff’s help at Shootlands Farm which was owned by J Bonner
Esq. |
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It
was at Bicester register office (Ref. 3a 1235) during the third quarter of
1890 that Walter George Collett married (1) Ellen Parker who was born at
Ambrosden in Oxfordshire near the end of 1864, not far from where his older
siblings were born. She was the
daughter of William and Emma Parker, and her birth was registered at Bicester
(Ref. 3a 610) during the first three months of 1865. Almost immediately after being married,
Walter and Ellen set out for London, where they were residing in the
Camberwell & Peckham district a few months later in 1891, with Ellen
shortly to give birth to the first of their four children. The Camberwell census that year, recorded
them as Walter George Collett from Boarstall who was 25 and a milkman, and his
wife as Ellen Collett from Oxfordshire who was 26. |
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Walter
and pregnant Ellen left London not long after that census day and made their
way back to Oxfordshire and the village of Blackthorn, near Arncott and
Ambrosden, where their first child was born in the autumn that same year. The couple’s second child was also born
there, the birth of both children registered at Bicester register
office. Around the middle of the 1890s
the family temporarily lived at Southmoor in Berkshire, for a short while
where the third child was born, before settling in the village of Waterstock,
midway between Oxford and Thame, towards the end of that decade. And it was there that the couple’s fourth and
last child was born. However, Ellen
did not survive the ordeal and died during the birth or shortly after. The death of Ellen Collett, nee Parker, was
recorded at Thames register office (Ref. 3a 545) during the first three
months of 1901 when she was 36, after which she was buried in the graveyard
at St Leonard’s Church, Church Hill in Waterstock on 4th February
1901. |
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By
the time of the census at the end of March that year, Walter was a widower
when he and his young family were living in a cottage at Tiddington, near
Waterstock. The census return that
month confirmed that Walter G Collett was 35 when his sister unmarried Esther
Collett, aged 33 and the housekeeper, was looking the needs of the family. Walter was employed as a farm bailiff,
while the place of birth for both him and his sister was recorded as Panshill
in Buckinghamshire, a likely reference to Panshill Farm in Boarstall – see
below. Their children in 1901 were
named as Winifred Eva Collett who was nine, and Walter C F Collett who was
eight, both born at Blackthorn, Percival J Collett who was six and born at
Southmoor, and William J Collett who was only two months old who had been
born at Waterstock. |
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Three
years later, Walter George Collett married (2) Elizabeth A M Way who was from
Ickford near Aylesbury. Elizabeth was
the eldest daughter of farmer Thomas Richard Way from Worminghall and his
wife Sarah from Ickford. The marriage
of Walter George Collett and Elizabeth Ann M Way was recorded at Headington
register office in Oxford (Ref. 3a 1862) during the second quarter of
1904. By the time of the next census
in 1911 the family had been dramatically reduced, with only Walter’s youngest
son still living with him and his new wife.
The three of them were still residing in Waterstock, where Walter
Collett from Boarstall was 45 and a farm bailiff who had been married to
Elizabeth, aged 40, for six years with no issue. Walter’s son was named as William Collett
from Waterstock who was 10 years of age and still attending the local school,
while their accommodation was described as having five rooms. |
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Of
Walter’s three absent children in 1911, Percy was living and working in the
Summertown area of north Oxford, while his only daughter was living and
working nearby within the Marston Headington district of Oxford in 1911 when
she was described as Winifred Eva Beatrice Collett aged 19 and from
Blackthorn. As regards Walter’s
missing eldest son Walter, no record of him has been found in Great Britain
in 1911, despite him certainly still being alive long after that time. It is also worth noting that it was at
Panshill (Pansole) Farm where Walter’s older brother William was living with
his family in 1911. |
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Walter
G Collett was 83 years old when his death was recorded at the Oxfordshire
register office (Ref. 6b 1083) in 1950.
After four years as a widow, the death of Elizabeth A M Collett was also
recorded at the Oxfordshire register office (Ref. 6b 1140) during 1854, at
the age of 83. |
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46P92
|
Winifred
Eva Beatrice Collett |
Born in 1891
at Blackthorn |
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46P93
|
Walter Cecil
F Collett |
Born in 1893
at Blackthorn |
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46P94
|
Percival James Collett |
Born in 1894
at Southmoor |
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46P95
|
William John
Collett |
Born in 1901
at Waterstock |
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46O40 |
Esther Collett was born at Panshill Farm in Boarstall
near the end of 1867 with her birth registered at Bicester (Ref. 3a 643)
during the first three months of 1868.
She was three years old in the Boarstall census of 1871 and, ten years
later, Esther was 13 when she was living at Panshill (Pansole) Farm in
Boarstall with her family. Sometime
after completing her schooling, Esther Collett went to live with her aunt and
uncle Sarah and James Bottrell at their home and baker’s shop in
Charlton-on-Otmoor. And it was there that
she was still living and working, as a baker’s assistant in 1891 when she was
23 years old. James Bottrell was 77
and died at Charlton when he was 84.
According to the next census in 1901, Esther Collett from Panshill was
33 and the housekeeper, living at the home of her widowed brother Walter G
Collett, helping him look after his four young children. |
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By
April 1911 Esther Collett, from Panshill, was still a spinster at the age of
43, when she was living with her elderly mother Lucy Collett at
Charlton-on-Otmoor. Also living with
them was Esther’s younger sister Beatrice M Collett who was 39 and also born at Panshill, and the sisters’ niece Martha
Alice C Collett, the daughter of their oldest brother Richard Collett (above). Esther never married, while it was fifteen years after that census
day when the death of Easther Collett was recorded at Oxfordshire register
office (Ref. 3a 1076) during 1926, aged 58. |
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46O41 |
Edith Bessie Collett was born at Panshill Farm, Boarstall
in 1870 and was the nineth child of John and Lucy Collett, whose birth was registered at
Bicester (Ref. 3a 642) during the second quarter of the year. She was one year old in the census of 1871,
when Arncott was
recorded in error, as the place where she was born. Ten years later, according to the census in
1881, she was 11 years of age when she and her family were living at Panshill
(Pansole) Farm in Boarstall, the place where she had born. With the death of her father later that
same year, Edith was still living with her widowed mother Lucy in 1891 and
was 20 years old. Upon the death of
her mother, spinster Edith sought work as a domestic servant and, in 1901 and
at the age of 30, Edith B Collett was living at The Limes in Tetsworth, a
village on the main road between Oxford and London. On that occasion, her place of birth was
written as Panshill, Bucks – which is in Boarstall. At that time in her life, she was working
for 76-year-old widower James Griffin, while visiting The Limes that day was
Hubert W Collett from Clew Hill in Oxfordshire, who was six years of
age. Hubert Walter Collett was Edith’s
nephew, the son of her brother William Foster Collett and his wife Mary Leach
who died during the birth. |
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Sometime
after 1901 Edith married William (Will) Harding and it is thought that they
lived at Hampton Poyle, just north of Kidlington. However, in 1911 Edith Bessie Harding from
Boarstall was 40 when she was living with her husband and her brother-in-law
at Onley Fields in Rugby, Warwickshire.
William Harding from Northumberland was a farmer and was also 40,
while his brother John Harding, also from Northumberland, was 44. |
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Edith
B Harding was still living in Warwickshire when she died in 1939. Probate of her Will confirmed that Edith Bessie
Harding of White House in Willoughby, wife of William Harding, died on 2nd
December 1939, when the executors of her state valued at £210 19 Shillings and
11 Pence and proved in London 1st March 1940 were named as Hubert
Walter Collett and John Robert Pickering, farmers. The death of Edith Bessie Harding, nee
Collett, at the age of 69, was recorded at Rugby register office (Ref. 6d
1292) during the fourth quarter of 1939.
It seems highly likely that Hubert Walter Collett was raised by Edith
from the time of his birth and the death of his mother in 1895, until his
father William Foster Collet remarried in 1906, after which they were
reunited, as confirmed in the 1911 census. |
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46O42 |
Beatrice Mary Collett, who was known as Beattie, was born at Panshill
Farm, Boarstall in 1872. The birth of Beatrice Mary Collett was
registered at Bicester (Ref. 3a 683) during the second quarter of 1872. At the age of nine years, she was still living
with her family at Panshill Farm. After
a further ten years Beatrice was living with her widowed mother at Boarstall
in 1891 at the age of 19, and was listed as being 28 in the 1901 Census, when
she was again a companion for her mother.
By April 1911, Beatrice M Collett was 39 and born at Panshill, when she was the housekeeper for
her elderly mother living at Charlton-on-Otmoor, where her mother was the
head of the household. Living
there with them that day was Beatrice’s older sister Esther (above),
and her niece Martha Alice C Collett. Beatrice never married and, possibly
following the death of her mother, she returned to live at Boarstall where
she died just short of her sixtieth birthday on 16th May 1930, and
it was there also that she was buried.
Her death, under
her full name, was recorded at Oxfordshire register office (Ref. 3a 1101) at
the age of 58. |
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46O43 |
Herbert Spencer Collett was born at Panshill Farm, Boarstall
in 1874, with his birth
registered at Bicester (Ref.3a 678) during the last three months of 1874. His early years were spent at Panshill Farm,
where he was six years old at the time of the Boarstall census of 1881. His father John died at the end of that
same year when he was still six, following which he continued to live with
his mother until towards the end of the century, at which time he left the
family home to make his way in the world.
In the Murcott census of 1901, Herbert Collett was 26 and was a farmer,
when he said he had been born at Panshill.
Lodging with him at Murcott was Richard Collett from Fencott who was
53 and a thatcher. It may be
significant that Herbert’s older brother William Foster Collett (above)
and his family were living at Panshill in Brill in 1911. |
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It
was two years later, when the marriage of Herbert Spencer Collett and (1) Mary
Elizabeth Collett was recorded at Bicester register office (Ref. 3a 1821)
during the second quarter of 1903. Mary
was the twin daughter of George Collett and Emma Hawes (Ref. 46N23) who was
born at Fencott in 1870. Mary was Herbert’s
cousin, one-step-removed, with them sharing the same great-grandfather
Richard Collett (Ref. 46L2). One the
day the next census was conducted in 1911, the couple was living at Beckley
where Herbert Collett from Panshill was 35 and a grazier, and his wife of
seven years was Mary Collett who was 40 and from Fencott. Although the census return confirmed that
no children had been born to the couple, Mary may well have been with-child
on the day of the census, since it is established that the marriage produced
at least one child who was more than likely born at Murcott and he is known
to have lived at nearby Fencott at some time during his life. |
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After
just fourteen years together, the death of Mary E Collett was recorded at
Headington register office (Ref. 3a 1870) during the second quarter of 1917,
when she was only 47 years of age.
Herbert lived the next four years as a widower and, during the fourth
quarter of 1921, his married to (2) Eva Belson was recorded at Oxford
register office (Ref. 3a 2524). Eva
was many years younger than Herbert and was a spinster who was born at
Chalgrove, her birth registered at Thame in 1891, the daughter of Thomas and
Kate Belson. |
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The later death of Herbert Spencer
Collett was recorded at Oxfordshire register office (Ref. 3a 1365) in 1942
when he was 67. Four years after that
event, Herbert’s second wife
died on 17th October 1946, her passing recorded at the Bicester
Ploughley register office (6b 856), following which probate of her estate was
resolved at Oxford on 5th March 1947 and found in favour of Annie
Belson. |
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46P96
|
Herbert Collett |
Born circa
1911 at Murcott |
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46O44
|
Arthur Collett was born at Murcott in 1852, the older
of the two sons of Richard Collett from Boarstall and his wife Mary Gladdy from Oakley. His birth was registered at Bicester (Ref.
3a 504) during the third quarter of the year.
Not long after he was born, he was baptised at the parish church in
Charlton-on-Otmoor on 17th July 1852 when his parents were
confirmed as Richard and Mary Collett.
With no later record of his mother, it seems likely that she may have
not survived his birth. By the time of
the census in 1861, Arthur Collett aged eight years and from Murcott was
living with his grandparents Richard and Martha Collett at nearby Panshill Farm in
Boarstall, when his father Richard was living and working in
Birmingham. His elderly grandparents
passed away during the 1860s so, in 1871, Arthur Collett was 18 and was
working as a farm servant at
Panshill Farm, Boarstall which, by then, had been inherited by his
uncle John Collett from Wendlebury, his father’s older brother. |
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46O45 |
Charles Collett was the second
son of Richard and Mary Collett who was born at Murcott in 1854 and was
baptised at the Church of St-Mary-the-Virgin in Charlton-on-Otmoor on 24th
September 1854. Eighteen days later
Charles Collett died on 11th October 1854 and was buried in the
churchyard at St Mary’s Church. It was
at Bicester that his infant death was recorded (Ref. 3a 411) during the
fourth quarter of 1854. His mother
died shortly after. |
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46O46 |
Charles William Thomas Collett was born at Fencott on 9th
June 1889, his birth, as the only child of elderly farmer William Collett and
his younger wife Susannah Turner, being registered at Bicester (Ref. 3a 822)
during the third quarter of the year.
As Charles W T Collett, he was one year old in the Fencott &
Murcott census of 1891 and was 11 years of age in the Murcott census of
1901. Following the death of his
father, Charles W T Collett took over the running of the farm at Fencott with
Murcott, as confirmed by the census conducted in 1911. On that same day, his widowed mother was
performing the role of domestic housekeeper.
It was fourteen years later, when Charles was preparing to become a
married man, when his mother passed away, just a few weeks before that happy
day. |
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The
marriage of Charles W T Collett and Lucy C Bradford was recorded at Bicester
register office (Ref. 3a 2533) during the second quarter of 1925. Both then, Charles would have been around
36 years old and, so far, no record of the birth of any children has been
found. Charles and Lucy may have
continued to live together, farming the area of north Oxfordshire, since it
was at Banbury register office (Ref. 6b 2424) that the death of Charles William
T Collett was recorded during the summer of 1970. However, the only recorded death of a Lucy C
Collett, was reported to the Oxford register office (Ref. 6b 1346) during the
first three months of 1951, when she was 59 years of age. |
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It
is now believed that Lucy C Bradford was indeed Lucy Clara Bradford, the
third child of carpenter Charles Bradford from Wiltshire and his wife Annie
from Oxford (Osney village). Her
birth, at Brislington in Somerset, was recorded at Keynsham (Ref. 5c 612)
during the last quarter of 1891. It
was at the Church of St Luke in Brislington that Lucy Clara Bradford was
baptised on 1st November 1891, the daughter of Charles Henry
Bradford and Annie Eva Bradford. In
1911, Lucy Clara Bradford was 19 years old and living and working in Bristol,
where she was described as a domestic cook employed at the home of Wilfred
James Hussey Pinniger, a doctor of medicine. |
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46O47 |
Aubrey Thomas Brownlow
Collett was born at
Whitecross Green in Horton-cum-Studley during the third quarter of 1868,
where his parents were married before the end of the previous year. Curiously, his birth was registered at
Headington (Ref. 3a 596), under the name of Aubrey Brownlow Collett. His mother, Anne Cox, was also born at
Horton but, by 1871, the family was residing at Arncott, where Aubrey Thomas
Collett from Horton was three years old.
Ten years later, it was within the Fencott-with-Murcott census
registration district that the family was living in 1881. On that occasion, Aubrey Collett was 13 and
a farmer’s son, whose place of birth was said to be Arncott, where the family
had settled shortly after his birth. |
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Aubrey
was again working with his father Thomas, on their farm at Fencott in 1891,
when he was 23 and still described as a farmer’s son. Just less than nine years later, the
marriage of Aubrey Thomas Brownlow Amy Elizabeth Mary Haynes was recorded at
Headington register office (Ref. 3a 1007) during the first quarter of
1900. Amy was born at Oddington and
was the daughter of Oddington farmer William Haynes and his wife Maria. By the end of March in 1901, the recently
married couple was living at Boarstall, across the county boundary in
Buckinghamshire, where farmer Aubrey Collett from Whitecross Green was 32 and
his wife Amy Collett from Oddington was 29. |
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After
a further ten years the marriage appears not to have produced any children
for Aubrey and Amy, even after eleven years together. According to the census in 1911, they were
living at, and working Old Arngrove Farm, Boarstall. Aubrey Collett was 43 and from Arncott,
while Amy was 40 and from Oddington. Old
Arngrove Farm was also where Aubrey’s cousin one-step removed, the farmer
John Edwin Collett, lived with his family.
Supporting Aubrey on the farm was Frank Tott, aged 17 and a pupil
farmer from Kensington in London, and Ernest Clifford, aged 15 who was a farm
labourer from Maidenhead. Helping Amy
in the farmhouse was domestic servant Bessie Faulkner who was 23 and from
Ludgershall. |
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The
death of Amy E M Collett nee Haynes was recorded at Aylesbury register office
(Ref. 3a 1373) during the third quarter of 1944, when she was 75 years
old. After just over two years as a
widower, the death of Aubrey T Collett was also recorded at Aylesbury
register office (Ref. 6a 427) during the first three months of 1947. He was 78 years of age. |
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46O48 |
Herbert James Collett was born at Arncott in 1871 during
the first three months of that year, with his birth registered at Bicester
(Ref. 3a 657) during the second quarter of 1871. His earlier birth was confirmed in the
Arncott census of 1871, when Herbert James Collett was the younger of the two
children living there with their parents Thomas Collett and Anne Cox. Ten years later, and at the age of 10, he
was described as Herbert Collett from Arncott who was living with his large
farming family at Fencott. On leaving
school he worked with his father and older brother on the family’s farm at
Fencott when, as Herbert Collett he was 20 years of age and a farmer’s son in
1891. |
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Eight years later, the marriage of Herbert James Collett and Emma Kilby was recorded at Bicester register office (Ref. 3a 1689) during the second quarter of 1899. Emma was born at Launton, near Bicester where her birth was registered (Ref. 3a 677) during the first three months of 1875, the eldest surviving daughter of farmer Charles R Kilby and Kate Phillips. By 1881, Emma’s father had died, leaving her mother a widow, who had taken over the running of the family’s farm of |