PART SIXTY-FOUR

 

The Upper Swell / Oddington (Glos) Line – circa 1600 onwards

 

Updated January 2023

 

 

 

During the research and compilation of the family line of John Collett (Ref. 1m10), the base-born son of Hannah Collett (Ref. 1L10) was discovered.  He was Wilfred Collett and, just as with John’s grandson of the same name, he was also born within the Birmingham area.  Just as with all Collett research, his details have been stored, with the intention and the hope that, one day, his own family line might be found.  This therefore is his story, which previously had elements of it in an appendix in Part 12 – The Oxfordshire Chipping Norton Line, and an appendix in Part 48 – The Dudley West Midland Line, now all put together in this much revised 2021 and renamed version of Part 64 – The Upper Swell / Oddington (Glos) Line

 

 

The earliest record of a Collett in that part of Gloucestershire, close to the boundary with Oxfordshire, was for Parnell Collett (Ref. 64f1) who married Thomas Hall on 3rd October 1580.  The next was Anthony Collett (Ref. 64g1) whose daughter Katherine Collett (Ref. 64h1) was baptised there on 23rd February 1626.  That could place Anthony as the son of Parnell Collett and born around 1602

 

After them came the following, but three generations later, with i and j missing: Robert Collett (Ref. 64k2) who was born around 1699, who later married Elizabeth Gillett at Oddington on 15th March 1723; and Robert’s likely siblings John Collett (Ref. 64k3) who was born around 1703, who married Mary Ward at Oddington on 13th October 1724; Elizabeth Collett (Ref. 64k4) born around 1706, and she married William Hensley at Oddington on 18th February 1728; and William Collett (Ref. 64k5), may have been born two years after Elizabeth, around 1708, and he married Sarah Poole at Oddington on 13th October 1730.  The daughter of William and Sarah was Sarah Collett (Ref. 64l2) who was baptised at Upper Slaughter on 11th July 1731, with her parents confirmed as Will and Sarah Collett

 

In addition to these, Mary Day was the daughter of Robert Day and Joanna Collett who were married at Upper Swell on 24th December 1742, Joanna Collett (Ref. 64l1) was baptised at Upper Swell in September 1718, the daughter of Elizabeth and Joseph Collett (Ref. 64k1).  This would place Joseph’s year of birth around 1697, perhaps making him the older brother of Robert Collett (Ref. 64k2).  If so, then Joanna Collett (Ref. 64l1) and Sarah Collett (Ref. 64l2) were very likely first cousins.  The aforementioned Mary Day should not be confused with Mary Day the wife of William Collett (Ref. 64L8)

 

Still to be positively identified is Thomas Collett (64k6) a Yeoman of Oddington, whose Will was made in 1778 and proved at London in 1780 in the presence of the sole executor and main beneficiary William Collett (Ref. 64l3) of Oddington, with no relationship stated in the Will.  That was also the case for Joseph Collett (Ref. 64m1), not of full age in 1778 but said to be an apprentice baker living at Stow-on-the-Wold with baker Thomas Reeve, who was left a bequeath of three hundred pounds, half to be paid on reaching 21 years of age, and the remainder two years later.  The obvious age different between William and Joseph could possibly mean that they were father and son.  However, within the Will it states that William was living in the house previously purchased by Thomas Collett and that should William have not survived, and leaving no heirs, the house and the lands at Oddington would pass to Joseph Collett on reaching full age.  So, while William may have been a nephew of Thomas, Joseph could not have been his son.  As a nephew, William may have been the son of William Collett and Sarah Poole (above).  If so, Thomas Collett, a Yeoman of Oddington, would have been the younger brother of William and therefore the uncle of William junior.  If proved, then William Collett, the main beneficiary, was very likely the younger brother of Sarah Collett (Ref. 64l2) and therefore born in the mid-1730s

 

During the autumn of 2012, new information was gratefully received from Ben Collett (previously Ref. 28T1) of Yan Yean in Victoria, Australia, whose research work had also been supported by Gillian Collett (previously Ref. 28S16).  Whilst the details, for the most part, have been validated by various birth, death and marriage certificates, there were members of the family who appeared in three of the then sixty-three lines that made up the Collett families on the Collett Family History website - www.collettfamilyhistory.net.  In addition, some of the details curiously overlapped with the information contained within the Collett Family Bible held by Paul Woodhead which refers to members of the family detailed within the appendix to Part 12 – The Chipping Norton Line.  Upon further investigation, it was discovered that the different sections of the family previously listed in the aforementioned Part 12, in Part 28 – The Faringdon Line, and in Part 44 – The First Broughton Gifford Line, were in fact all members of the same family.  As a result, they were removed from Parts 12, 28 and 44 and placed together here in this family line in 2021.  Undoubtedly all of this will have the effect of changing the ancestry line for some of the present-day descendants from those three family lines

 

This family line commences in the Gloucestershire village of Upper Swell to the west of Stow-on-the-Wold, passing through the village of Oddington to the east of Stow-on-the-Wold, onto Abingdon-on-Thames in what was Berkshire before 1974, then into Wiltshire and the villages of Norton-Coleparle and Hullavington near Malmesbury.  It now also includes a branch from Oddington to Smethwick in the West Midlands.  This is the family line of Maureen Iliffe nee Collett of Cardiff (Ref. 64R46), whose line is denoted by the names in capital letters, which starts out as the same line for Ben Collett in Australia (now Ref. 64T2), whose line is denoted by the names underlined

 

 

 

JOHN COLLETT [64I1] was born in Gloucestershire in the mid-1600s and, apart from the two children fathered by him at Upper Swell near Stow-on-the-Wold, nothing further is currently known about him at this time

 

64J1 – RICHARD COLLETT was born in 1669 at Upper Swell

64J2 – Thomas Collett was born in 1673 at Upper Swell

 

RICHARD COLLETT [64J1] was born around 1669 and was baptised at Upper Swell on 20th March 1670, the son of John Collett.  He later married Mary (Maria) and they continued to live at Upper Swell where their children were born and baptised.  Sons Benjamin and Samuel may have been twins as they were baptised on the same day.  The widow Mary Collett died at Upper Swell during 1755, with Richard Collett having passed away prior to that time

 

64K1 – Richard Collett was born in 1689 and baptised at Upper Swell on 1st September 1689

64K2 – Martha Collett was born in 1691 and baptised at Upper Swell on 13th January 1692

64K3 – Rachel Collett was born in 1699 and baptised at Upper Swell on 2nd August 1699

64K4 – WILLIAM COLLETT was born in 1701 at Upper Swell

64K5 – Benjamin Collett was born in 1703 and baptised at Upper Swell on 28th August 1703

64K6 – Samuel Collett was born in 1703 at Upper Swell, twin brother of Benjamin (above)

64K7 – Ann Collett was born in 1705 and baptised at Upper Swell on 6th January 1706

 

Thomas Collett [64J2] was born at Upper Swell during 1673, the son of John Collett.  It was on 3rd October 1701 that he married Martha Tombs at Bourton-on-the-Water, Martha having been born at Clapton in Gloucestershire.  Their five known children were at baptised at Upper Swell, when they were confirmed as the children of Thomas and Martha Collett

 

64K8 – John Collett was born in 1704 and baptised at Upper Swell on 27th October 1704

64K9 – Ann Collett was born in 1705 and baptised at Upper Swell on 11th November 1705

64K10 – Mary Collett was born in 1708 and baptised at Upper Swell on 31st October 1708

64K11 – Martha Collett was born in 1712 and baptised at Upper Swell on 12th October 1712

64K12 – John Collett was born in 1716 and baptised at Upper Swell on 4th June 1717

 

WILLIAM COLLETT [64K4] was born at Upper Swell in 1701, where he was baptised at St Mary’s Church on 4th November 1701, the son of Richard and Mary Collett of Upper Swell.  The baptism entry read as follows: “Gulielmus Collet baptised 9 Nov 1701 at Upper Swell, Gloucester, the son of Ricardi Collet and Marie”.  He was thirty-one years old when he married Elizabeth Johnson at Tewkesbury on 19th August 1731, following which they had eight children who were all born and baptised at Upper Swell

 

64L1 – Ann Collett was born in 1734 and baptised at Upper Swell on 17th May 1735

64L2 – Richard Collett was born in 1736 and baptised at Upper Swell on 17th October 1736

64L3 – Thomas Collett was born in 1738 and baptised at Upper Swell on 24th December 1738

64L4 – William Collett was born in 1740 at Upper Swell

64L5 – Samuel Collett was born in 1743 at Upper Swell

64L6 – Elizabeth Collett was born in 1745 and baptised at Upper Swell on 14th July 1745

64L7 – Samuel Collett was born in 1747 and baptised at Upper Swell on

64L8 – WILLIAM COLLETT was born in 1750 at Upper Swell

 

Samuel Collett [64K6] was very likely the twin brother of Benjamin Collett with whom he was baptised at Upper Swell on 28th August 1703, the sons of Richard and Mary Collett.  Samuel was a yeoman and lived at Upper Swell where, upon the death of his mother, he applied to the courts to inherit all of her possessions in the absence of a Will.  In that proposal, he was supported by John Hale of Broadwell, another yeoman, who had links with the Collett family

 

William Collett [64L4] was born at Upper Swell in 1740, where he was baptised on 19th April 1740, the son of William Collett and Elizabeth Johnson.  He was twenty-one years of age when he married Ann Johnson on 29th March 1761 at Alderton, midway between Upper Swell and Tewkesbury.  It seems highly likely that Ann was in some way related to William’s mother, so they may have been cousins

 

Samuel Collett [64L5] was born at Upper Swell in 1743 and was baptised there on 11th March 1743, the son of William and Elizabeth Collett.  It was just over a year later that he died on 15th June 1744, and was buried at St Mary’s Church in Upper Swell

 

Samuel Collett [64L7] was born at Upper Swell in 1747 and was baptised at St Mary’s Church in the village on 28th December 1747, another son of William and Elizabeth Collett.  He was the second son to bear the name Samuel, following the premature death of his brother three years earlier.  Later on, when he was twenty-one, Samuel Collett and Anne Carter were married at Adlestrop, near Stow-on-the-Wold, on 9th April 1768

 

WILLIAM COLLETT [64L8] was born around 1749 and was baptised at St Mary’s Church in Upper Swell on 14th March 1750, the youngest child of William Collett and Elizabeth Johnson.  It was on 16th December 1776 at the Church of St Nicholas in Oddington, near Stow-on-the-Wold, where William Collett married Mary Day, where all of the children were born and baptised.  Mary Day was born in 1751 and was baptised at Oddington on 27th February 1752, the daughter of William and Ann Day.  The Collett Family Bible, which contains details of the family, is held by Paul Woodhead, who kindly provided scanned and sent in copies of the relevant pages during November 2012.  During further research in 2021, a second Thomas Collett of Oddington was discovered who was also born in 1871, although the names of his parents are not yet known.  He has therefore been included here because of his connection with the village of Oddington.  By the time of the census in 1841, the second Thomas Collett and his second wife Ann, were living in Oddington, while the first Thomas Collett was recorded at Norton-Coleparle in Wiltshire, where his wife Elizabeth died in 1847, with Thomas being at Hullavington when he died in 1850.  Thomas and Ann were still living at Oddington in 1851

 

64M1 - Elizabeth Collett was born in 1778 at Oddington

64M2 – Thomas Collett was born in 1780 at Oddington

64M3 – THOMAS COLLETT was born in 1781 at Oddington

64M4 – Thomas Collett was born in 1781 at Oddington

64M5 – Susanna Collett was born in 1784 at Oddington

64M6 – Joseph Collett was born in 1785 at Oddington

 

Elizabeth Collett [64M1] was born at Oddington on 6th September 1778, where she was baptised nearly two weeks later on 18th September 1778, the eldest known child of William Collett and Mary Day

 

Thomas Collett [64M2] was born at Oddington on 1st March 1780 and it was there that he was baptised on 12th April 1780, the eldest son of William and Mary Collett.  Sadly, his entry in the Family Bible has been crossed out, with the note that he “died in the year of Our Lord 1781”, hence the reason why the next son, born to William and Mary, was given the name of Thomas

 

THOMAS COLLETT [64M3] was born shortly after the death of his brother, after whom he was named.  He was born at Oddington on 13th September 1781 and was baptised there on 9th November 1781, the son of William Collett of Upper Swell and Mary Day of Oddington.  Twenty-two years later, he married Elizabeth (Betty) Taylor on 17th October 1803 at the Church of St James the Great in Radley, near Abingdon-on-Thames, with whom he had at least seven children.  From Elizabeth’s burial record it is established that, like her husband, she was also born around 1780 or 1781.  At the time of the birth of Thomas’ only daughter Lucy, his wife was referred to in the baptism record as Betty Collett, whereas she had been named as Elizabeth in the baptism records for all of their sons

 

The couple’s first child was born at Radley, the next three after the family had settled in Abingdon, and the last three after the family had moved to Norton-Coleparle, near Malmesbury in Wiltshire.  It was there, within the Cirencester, Chippenham, Malmesbury & Tetbury registration district, that the couple was still living at the time of the first national census in June 1841.  Thomas Collett had a rounded age of 60, while his wife Elizabeth was said to be 55.  Living with them on that day, at Mailford Farm in Norton, was their son Joseph who was recorded as being 20 years of age, while listed next on the census form was their daughter Lucy, who was 22.  However, the details in the later census records confirm that their two ages had been transposed in the census of 1841, when it should have been Joseph who was 22 and Lucy who was 20, perhaps an error on the part of the enumerator

 

On that occasion, Thomas Collett was recorded as having been born within the county of Wiltshire.  Further research has determined that a certain Thomas Collett, who was also born in 1781, was baptised at Ogbourne St Andrew on 14th October 1781, and he was the son of James Collett and Betty Pictor who were married at Ogbourne St Andrew on 19th November 1780

 

Six years later, Elizabeth Collett nee Taylor of Norton-Coleparle was buried at Hullavington on 12th December 1847, when her age was recorded as being 67.  That might mean she was actually nearer 60 years of age in 1841.  The record of her death confirmed that she was the wife of labourer Thomas Collett, and that the informant of her passing was her son Joseph, who had also been present at the time of her death.  It was almost exactly three years after the death of his wife, that Thomas Collett, a labourer, died on 5th December 1850 at Hill Hayes in Hullavington.  Present at his death was his son-in-law Caleb Salter, husband of Lucy Collett, who had also notified the registrar in Malmesbury, when he signed the death certificate by making a cross.  The cause of death was stated as being “age and debility”

 

In addition to the confirmed members of the Collett family included in this family line, they are others with the Collett name listed in the Hullavington Parish Register for the Church of St Mary Magdalene who, so far, have not been directly linked to this family.  They pre-date those included in this family line, going back to 1740.  So, for completeness the details of those individuals are contained in an appendix at the end of this file

 

64N1 – William Day Collett was born in 1804 at Radley near Abingdon-on-Thames

64N2 – Thomas Collett was born in 1806 at Abingdon-on-Thames

64N3 – Lawrence Collett was born in 1809 at Abingdon-on-Thames

64N4 – James Collett was born in 1811 at Abingdon-on-Thames

64N5 – HENRY COLLETT was born in 1814 at Norton Coleparle

64N6 – Joseph Collett was born in 1817 at Norton Coleparle

64N7 – Lucy Collett was born in 1819 at Norton Coleparle

 

Thomas Collett [64M4], who was also born around 1781 and referred to here as the second Thomas Collett, married Sarah Hyatt at Oddington on 5th January 1801.  She was the daughter of William and Sarah Hyatt and was baptised at Oddington on 4th April 1784.  It was also at Oddington that Thomas and Sarah settled and where all of their children were born and baptised.  No death of Sarah Collett nee Hyatt has not been located, while the marriage by licence of Thomas Collett, a widower, and Ann Taylor took place at Oddington on 29th January 1820.  It is interesting that the other Thomas Collett (above), of a similar age, married Elizabeth Taylor in 1803, so maybe the older sister of Ann Taylor.  The birth of the daughter of Thomas and Ann Collett, was recorded during the second quarter of 1826 but, when she was baptised at Oddington on 30th April 1826, she was described as the daughter of Thomas and Sarah Collett, which is curious because, in the census of 1841, Thomas’ wife was named as Ann.  Thomas Collett had a rounded age 60, while his wife Ann Collett had a rounded age of 50.  What is particularly interesting though, is that all of the baptism records so far found for the children of Thomas Collett, named the mother as Sarah.  Living with Thomas and Ann, at Oddington in 1841, were two of his three youngest children, daughters Elizabeth Collett who was 19, and Sarah Collett who was 13

 

By the time of the census in 1851, Thomas Collett was recorded with a more accurate age of 69, when he was described a labourer from Oddington, who was living at Adlestrop, north-east of Oddington, when his wife was named as Ann Collett who was 63 and born at Adlestrop.  On that same day, their daughter Sarah Collett from Oddington, was 22 years of age, who was working as servant/housekeeper at premises in nearby Moreton-in-Marsh.  During the following decade, Thomas Collett died at Oddington, with his death recorded at nearby Stow-on-the Wold, either during 1856, 1858, or 1859, there being a record of the death of Thomas Collett in each of those three years.  According to the Oddington census in 1861, his widow Ann Collett from Adlestrop was 72 and, with her unmarried daughter Sarah Collett, aged 33, was living at the Oddington home of gardener Rob Phillips aged 38, his wife Ann Phillips aged 36, and their three-year-old daughter Ellen Phillips.  Ann Collett was described as the mother-in-law of head of the household Rob, making his wife Ann as her daughter and the older sister of Sarah Collett.  It was two years later, that Ann Collett, widow of the late Thomas Collett, died at Oddington, following which her death was also recorded at Stow-on-the-Wold (Ref. 6a 29) during the second quarter of 1863

 

64N8 – William Collett was born in 1801 at Oddington

64N9 – Hannah Collett was born in 1803 at Oddington

64N10 – Richard Collett was born in 1804 at Oddington

64N11 - Thomas Collett was born in 1807 at Oddington

64N12 – Jane Collett was born in 1808 at Oddington

64N13 – George Collett was born in 1810 at Oddington

64N14 - James Collett was born in 1812 at Oddington

64N15 - Charles Collett was born in 1814 at Oddington

64N16 - Mary Collett was born in 1816 at Oddington

The following are the three children of Thomas Collett by his second wife Ann:

64N17 - Elizabeth Collett was born in 1820 at Oddington

64N18 – Ann Collett was born in 1826 at Oddington

64N19 – Sarah Collett was born in 1827 at Oddington

 

Susanna Collett [64M5] was born at Oddington in Gloucestershire on 22nd January 1784 and was baptised there on 15th February 1784, the daughter of William and Mary Collett.  She was very nearly thirty-two when she married Thomas Lardner at Bledington on 1st January 1816.  It may be of interest that John William Collett (Ref. 64O29) from Dean in Oxfordshire married Anne Lardner at Charlbury in 1860 and, that in 1851 William Collett (Ref. 64N13), described as William George Collett, was employed as a servant at the Little Compton home of Henry Lardner, Little Compton being approximately two and a half miles from Oddington

 

Joseph Collett [64M6] was born at Oddington on 14th August 1785 where he was baptised one month later on 11th September 1785, the last known child of William Collett and his wife Mary Day.  The baptism record at Oddington named his parents as William and Mary Collett

 

William Day Collett [64N1] was born at Radley, near Abingdon in Berkshire in 1804, where he was also baptised on 15th April 1804, the eldest child of Thomas Collett and Elizabeth Taylor.  He would have been nearly ten years old when his family left Abingdon and moved to Norton-Coleparle in Wiltshire.  Tragically, it was at Norton-Coleparle that William Collett died on 4th December 1825 when he was only 21 years of age, following which he was buried there

 

Thomas Collett [64N2] was born at Abingdon-on-Thames in 1806 and was baptised at St Helen’s Church in the town, the second son of Thomas and Betty Collett.  When he was around six or seven years old, he and his family travelled from Berkshire to Wiltshire, where they settled in the village of Norton-Coleparle near Malmesbury.  It was at Foxley, just north of Norton-Coleparle, during 1838, that Thomas married Esther (Hester) Vizor, the daughter of tailor Aaron Vizor and his wife Mary.  Initially the couple lived at Fosse Cottage in Norton-Coleparle before moving to St Mary Westport, in Malmesbury where they remained for the rest of their lives.  Over the following years the ages given by Thomas and Esther on the various census days conflicted greatly with each other, the earliest placing Thomas’s year of birth around 1804, the latest being ten years after in 1814.  Most curious was the eighteen years difference between the census in 1871 and 1881

 

By the time of the first national census in 1841 the marriage had produced a son for the couple who was born after they had settled in St Mary Westport, which no longer exists as a village, but is now part of the enlarged town of Malmesbury.  Thomas was recorded as Thos Collett, an agricultural labourer with a rounded age of 30, while his wife was named as Esther Collett who had a rounded age of 25.  Living there with them at Clay Huts (Clyatts) was their son Aaron Collett who was two years old.  In many documents the z in the name Vizor was written with a tail giving it the appearance of a g, hence the name was often misinterpreted in error as Vigor.  In addition to Esther, who was baptised at Foxley as Hester Vizor on 25th December 1814, her older brother Joseph was also baptised there on 23rd August 1812, as was her younger sister Mary Vizor who was baptised there on 13th July 1817.  Before the spring of 1820 her parents had moved to Easton Grey where her younger brother Arthur Vizor was baptised on 14th May 1820, where her own son, Aaron Vizor Collett, and his family were living during the second half of the 1870s.  A likely cousin was Daniel Walter Vizor who was baptised at Foxley on 24th May 1812, the son of Jane Vizor.  Three members of the family of John and Elizabeth Vizor were baptised at Easton Grey around that same time and they were Jane Vizor on 1st September 1816, Joel Vizor on 18th January 1818, and Aaron Vizor who was baptised there on 16th April 1820

 

Esther may well have been carrying Thomas’ second child on the day of the census, since later that same year the couple’s second son and last known child was born.  At the time of the next Malmesbury census in 1851, Thomas’ age was incorrectly recorded as 41, when he was an agricultural labourer, and his place of birth was confirmed as Abingdon in Berkshire.  His wife Hester from Foxley was 32, which was also where their eldest son had been born, according to the census that year.  He was Aaron Vizor Collett who was 12, while his younger brother Joseph Collett was nine years of age and born at Westport.  The village of Foxley lies two miles west of Westport St Mary in Malmesbury

 

According to the Westport census for Malmesbury in 1861, Thomas, Esther and son Aaron were living at Milk Street in Westport.  Once again agricultural labourer Thomas was not accurately recorded, since his age was said to be 46, when his wife Esther Collett was 41, and Aaron Collett was 21.  No record of the couple’s other son has been found in 1861, although it is established that he later married.  Within the next ten years Aaron left home to be married, leaving Thomas, age 58 and from Abingdon, and Hester, aged 52 from Foxley, still living at Westport in Malmesbury in 1871, not far from where their married son had set up home.  On both occasions in 1861 and 1871 Thomas gave his place of birth as Abingdon in Berkshire, perhaps because the town had more prominence than nearby Faringdon.  Abingdon-on-Thames was once the county town of Berkshire but, following the boundary changes in 1974, it became part of Oxfordshire

 

In April 1881, Thomas Collett and was still listed as a labourer, even at the age of 76.  Living with him at Clyatts (Clay Huts) in Westport St Mary, Malmesbury, was his wife Hester from Foxley who was 66.  Thomas’ place of birth was once again confirmed as Abingdon.  Labourer Thomas Collett died at Clay Huts on 11th December 1885 at the age of 79, when was buried at Foxley parish church.  His widow Esther Collett nee Vizor passed away less than two years later aged 73, when she died at Clay Huts on 29th October 1887, following which she was reunited with her husband in the churchyard of the Foxley parish church.  Their son Aaron, of Burton Hill in Malmesbury, was with them both at the time of their passing and it was he who informed the registrar of their deaths

 

64O1 – Aaron Vizor Collett was born in 1838 at Westport St Mary

64O2 – Joseph Collett was born in 1842 at Westport St Mary

 

Lawrence Collett [64N3] was born at Abingdon-on-Thames in 1809 where he was baptised at the Church of St Helen, the son of Thomas and Betty Collett.  Following his family’s move to Norton-Coleparle, when he was nearly three years old, it was there also that he later married Sarah Salter on 23rd May 1836.  Sarah was baptised at Norton-Coleparle on 26th February 1815, the daughter of George and Rebecca Salter.  Just seven months earlier in October 1835 Lawrence Collett and Sarah Salter had been the witnesses at the marriage in Norton-Coleparle of Lawrence’s younger brother Henry Collett (below) and Hannah Tanner.  Once they were married, Lawrence and Sarah set up home in the nearby village of Hullavington, just two miles south of Norton-Coleparle.  And it was within the Newtown area of Hullavington that all of the children of Lawrence, a labourer, and Sarah were born, and where the family was living in 1841.  The census that year listed Lawrence with a rounded aged of 30, while his wife Sarah was 27 and their two daughters Elizabeth and Ann were three years and one-year old respectively.  During the following year Lawrence’s sister Lucy Collett (below) married Sarah’s brother Caleb Salter at Norton-Coleparle in 1842

 

Over the following years, the family increased in size with firstly the addition of two more daughters and then a son who did not survive.  The family therefore, still living at Hullavington in 1851, comprised agricultural labourer Lawrence from Abingdon aged 41, Sarah from Norton aged 37, and their four Hullavington-born children.  Elizabeth was 12, Ann was 10, Jane was seven, and Mary was two years age.  The family, with three extra children, was still residing at Hullavington in 1861 when ‘Lawrence Collett from Headington in Berkshire’ (sic) was 53 and again working as an agricultural labourer.  Sarah was 45, Mary was 12, Harriet was 10, Margaret was seven and William was four years old.  Also listed with the family was the couple’s eldest daughter Elizabeth, aged 23, and her husband William Morse who was 22 and from Horton in Gloucestershire.  The last member of the household was Thomas Hall aged 79 and born at Sherston, who was described as an uncle

 

On that same census day in 1861, the couple’s two missing older children were recorded together, when Jane Collett aged 18 and from Hullavington was a domestic servant and a visitor at the Oldbury-on-the-Hill, near Didmarton and Tetbury, home of her married sister Ann Teagle, aged 20, and her husband William Teagle who was 24.  Five years later, the death of Sarah Collett, the wife of Lawrence Collett, was recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 25) during the last three months of 1866, when she was 52.  After two years as a widower, the name of Lawrence Collett was recorded as a resident of Newtown in Hullavington in the United Kingdom Poll and Electoral Registers 1538-1893 for the Cricklade district of Wiltshire.  That situation was confirmed in the next census in 1871, when Lawrence Collett, a widower and an agricultural labourer of 60 years, had living with him, at Newtown in Hullavington, just his youngest daughter Mary who was 22.  The following census in 1881, again included widower Lawrence Collett who was 72 and a pauper who had been born at Abingdon.  He was still living at Newtown in Hullavington with his unmarried daughter Mary Collett who was 31 and was also referred to as a pauper, who had been born at Hullavington

 

It was a similar situation ten years later, when the Newtown (Hullavington) census of 1891 recorded father and daughter still living there.  Lawrence Collett was 84, with no stated occupation, and Mary Collett was 42, also with no occupation recorded.  The death of Lawrence Collett, aged 86 years, was recorded just over two years after, at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 29), during the third quarter of 1893, where he was also said to be living by that time

 

64O3 – Elizabeth Collett was born in 1838 at Hullavington

64O4 – Ann Collett was born in 1840 at Hullavington

64O5 – Jane Collett was born in 1843 at Hullavington

64O6 – Thomas Collett was born in 1846 at Hullavington

64O7 – Mary Collett was born in 1848 at Hullavington

64O8 – Harriet Collett was born in 1851 at Hullavington

64O9 – Margaret Collett was born in 1853 at Hullavington

64O10 – William Collett was born in 1857 at Hullavington

 

James Collett [64N4] was born at Abingdon-on-Thames around 1811 and was baptised at St Helen’s Church in the town, the fourth child of Thomas Collett and Elizabeth (Betty) Taylor.  Not long after he was born his family left Berkshire when they moved to the Wiltshire village of Norton-Coleparle.  It is certainly known that James married Jane Hope on 28th November 1835 at Bremilham, where Jane had been born, not far from Norton-Coleparle and Foxley, and all within the Deanery of Malmesbury.  Bremilham, also known as Cowage or Cowich, was a small settlement and former civil parish in Wiltshire.  The place-name Bremilham was first mentioned in 1065 as Bremelham, which means 'village where brambles or blackberries grew'

 

The Church of England parish church at Bremilham claims to be the smallest in England, measuring only ten feet by eleven feet.  It still holds one service a year, although its dedication is not known.  The parish registers go back only to 1813, and in 1831 the population of the parish was 33.  Apart from the church, on some present-day maps, only Cowage Farm marks the village location.  It was also in the tiny church that the children of James and Jane was baptised, apart that is for their last known child who was baptised at nearby Foxley.  By the time of the June census in 1841 Jane had presented James with their first two children.  James Collett had a rounded age of 25, while Jane’s age was rounded to 20.  The two children living with them at Bremilham that day were Margaret Collett, who was three years old, and Ann Collett who had still to reach her first birthday.  Curiously it was only the three females who were recorded as having been born within the county of Wiltshire

 

No birth or baptism records have so far been found for the couple’s first four children, with two more daughters being born into the family during the first half of the 1840s.  The baptism records for the couple’s next four children have been located, by which time Bremilham was being referred to as Cowage.  James’ fifth child, and his first son Arthur Collett, was baptised at Cowage on 4th April 1847, and he was followed by James Thomas Collett who was baptised there on 19th August 1849.  By the time of the Bremilham census of 1851 the couple’s eldest daughter Margaret Collett, aged 13 and born at Cowage, was living and working in Malmesbury Town.  The rest of the family still residing at Bremilham comprised James Collett, a labourer of 39, his wife Jane who was 33, Ann Collett who was 10, Harriet Collett who was eight, Mary Collett who was five, Arthur Collett who was four, and James Collett who was one-year-old.  Jane was halfway through another pregnancy on the day of the census in 1851, and gave birth to a fifth daughter less than four month later

 

In total, two further children were added to the family, the first of them while the family was still living in Bremilham but, short thereafter, they moved to nearby Foxley, where their eighth and last child was baptised.  Caroline Collett was baptised at Bremilham on 20th July 1851, while it was on 4th June 1854 that John Collett was baptised at Foxley.  In every case the baptism records confirmed the names of the children’s parents as James and Jane Collett.  It was almost exactly two years after the birth of their last child, when the family was still living at Foxley, that James Collett died and was buried there on 29th May 1856.  The death of James Collett was recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 29) during the second quarter of 1856

 

Following the death of her husband, Jane and some members of her family were living at Milk Street in St Mary Westport in Malmesbury by the time of the next census in 1861.  The place of birth for Jane Collett, aged 43, on that occasion was stated as being Cowage [aka Bremilham], while her Cowage born children were listed as Mary Collett aged 15, Arthur Collett aged 13, James Collett aged 11, Caroline Collett who was nine, with her youngest child being John Collett of Foxley, who was six-years-old.  Of her three eldest daughters, only unmarried Ann has been identified in 1861, and she was described as a visitor at the nearby Crudwell/Chelworth home of William and Hannah Collett from Bibury (Ref. 2N16), where she was recorded as Ann Collett, aged 19 and from Cowage.  No record of widow Jane Collett has been found within the census of 1871, by which time she may have died, although it is equally likely that she may have married for a second time during the 1860s.  So far, the only members of her family found in the later census records are her three sons, since it is highly likely that all of her five daughters were eventually married

 

64O11 – Margaret Collett was born in 1837 at Bremilham

64O12 – Ann Collett was born in 1840 at Bremilham

64O13 – Harriet Collett was born in 1842 at Bremilham

64O14 – Mary Jane Collett was born in 1845 at Bremilham

64O15 – Arthur Collett was born in 1847 at Bremilham

64O16 – James Thomas Collett was born in 1849 at Bremilham

64O17 – Caroline Collett was born in 1851 at Bremilham

64O18 – John Collett was born in 1854 at Foxley

 

HENRY COLLETT [64N5] was born at Norton-Coleparle where he was baptised on 27th February 1814, another son of Thomas and Elizabeth Collett.  Today the village is simply known as Norton.  It was also there that he married Hannah Tanner on 18th October 1835.  Hannah was the daughter of William Tanner and Ellenar Hilliar and was baptised on 2nd March 1817 at Grittenham near Brinksworth, midway between Chippenham and Swindon.  Her father was described as a labourer of Grittenham at the baptism.  The two witnesses at the wedding ceremony were Henry’s brother Lawrence Collett (above), and Sarah Salter who seven month later married Lawrence Collett.  Within the appendix at the end of this file there is listed the Hullavington marriage of Mary Collett to William Tanner of Grittenham and, although no date for the event has been found, it would seem that it took place around or just after 1809.  Mary Tanner nee Collett may have died within the next few years leaving William to marry (2) Ellenar Hilliar with whom he had the daughter Hannah who married Henry Collett.  Therefore, Henry may have been the nephew of Mary Collett

 

By the time of the 1841 Census, the marriage had been blessed with two children.  The parents on that occasion were Henry and Hannah, both with rounded ages of 20 when in reality they would have been 26 and 24 respectively.  Their two children were William who was four and Mary who was one-year old, both of them having been born at Norton, where the family was living at that time.  During the next ten years at least one more child was added to the family, although there may have been others.  So, the census of 1851 recorded the family living within the Malmesbury Eastern registration district comprising Henry aged 36, Hannah aged 34, and their children William who was 14, Mary who was 10, and Charles who was six years old

 

It would appear that their daughter Mary was married by 1861 since she was missing from the family and was not listed in the census as Mary Collett anywhere in the UK that year.  The remainder of the family were recorded at Norton-Coleparle in the Deanery of Malmesbury as Henry 46, Hannah 44, and sons William 25 and Charles 16.  Ten years later and both sons had married and had left the family home leaving Henry Collett from Norton, who was 56, and his wife Hannah Collett, who was 54 and from Brinkworth, still living at Norton-Coleparle within the Malmesbury Western registration district

 

According to the 1881 Census, Henry was an agricultural labourer who had been born at Norton.  Rather strangely, neither Henry’s nor his wife’s age corresponded with previous census records in that they were given as 63 and 62 respectively, although Hannah’s place of birth was confirmed as Grittenham, instead of Brinkworth as in the previous census.  At that time, they were living at an unspecified address in Norton-Coleparle.  Living with Henry and Hannah was their 20-year-old grandson William Punter who, as an agricultural labourer, was probably working with his grandfather.  William was the oldest of the eight children of Henry’s daughter Mary and it was very likely the lack of living space that had prompted Henry to take in his grandson, that and the fact that Mary had only one month previously given birth to the family’s eighth child

 

It should be noted that William Punter’s family was living only three doors along the road from his grandparent’s house.  In addition to which, the family of Henry’s son eldest William Collett was also living in the same road just four doors in the opposite direction.  It is also worth noting that there was a total of only twenty-three dwellings in Norton-Coleparle at that time in April 1881, including the Royal Oak Inn.  In the village were just two farms, Maidford Farm of 200 acres employing four men and two boys, and the 304-acre Manor Farm which employed three men, one woman and one boy.  It is possibly at one of those farms that Henry and his grandson were gainfully employed

 

Hannah Collett nee Tanner died at Norton-Coleparle aged 70 and it was there that she was buried on 17th February 1887.  Four years later Henry was 76 and in April 1891 he was living with his married daughter Mary Ann Punter and her family at Norton-Coleparle.  Henry survived for just over four years beyond that date before he died and was buried at Norton-Coleparle on 19th November 1895 at the age of 79

 

64O19 – William Collett was born in 1836 at Norton-Coleparle

64O20 – Mary Ann Collett was born in 1840 at Norton-Coleparle

64O21 – CHARLES COLLETT was born in 1844 at Norton-Coleparle

 

Joseph Collett [64N6] was born at Norton-Coleparle between 1816 and 1818, the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Collett with whom he was still living in 1841 when he was given the rounded age of 20, rather than his actual age.  Just over six years later it was Joseph who was with his mother when she died at the end of 1847, and it was he also who informed the register office, when signed the death certificate by making the mark of a cross.  Three years later, in the spring of 1851 Joseph Collett, aged 33 and from Norton, had no stated occupation or marital status when he was living at Hullavington with his married sister Lucy Salter nee Collett (below).  It was during the following year, on 3rd May 1952 at Norton-Coleparle, that Joseph Collett, a labourer, married Anne Brewer, the event being recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 29) during the second quarter of 1852, when Ann was already pregnant with their first child.  In an earlier edition of this family line, Anne Brewer had assumed to have been the daughter of Henry and Mary Brewer who had been born at Hullavington in 1831, Henry Brewer having been an agricultural labourer and the proprietor of the beer house in Norton-Coleparle.  However, on her wedding day, Anne Brewer was recorded as the daughter of Richard Pike, while the father of Joseph Collett was confirmed as Thomas Collett

 

What is now known is the Anne Brewer was born in 1832 at Somerford, four miles east of Hullavington, and she and her family were still living there in 1841, within the parish of Little Somerford.  Anne Brewer was 10 years old, her mother Letitia Brewer, who was expecting the birth of another child had a rounded age of 40, and Anne’s three sisters were Eliza Brewer (baptised 13.07.1828), Emma Brewer (baptised 28.12.1834) and Sarah Brewer (baptised 08.10.1837), all baptised at Little Somerford.  No record of a husband for Letitia has been found and during the third quarter of 1841 she gave birth to a fifth daughter at Somerford (the birth recorded at Malmesbury) when, nearly two years after, Elizabeth Brewer was baptised at Little Somerford on 14th April 1844.  The fact that all five daughters’ birth were recorded using their mother’s name, perhaps suggests that they were all base-born.  The only members of the family positively identified in 1851 were Anne Brewer aged 19 from Somerford who was a servant at the Hullavington home of the elderly Tugwell family, and Sarah Brewer who was 13 and a pauper and an inmate at the Brokenborough Union Workhouse on Bristol Road in Brokenborough, just north-west of Malmesbury

 

Once Joseph and Anne were married, they initially settled in Hullavington where their first child was born just fifteen weeks after they were wed.  During 1853-54, the family moved the short distance to neighbouring Norton-Coleparle, where the next three children were born.  Then, around 1860, the larger family made their final move to Westerleigh, which lies midway between Mangotsfield and Chipping Sodbury, where their last two children were born.  That moved was confirmed in the census of 1861, when the family was in temporary accommodation, being boarders at the home of the Dands family at Thendalshire, in Westerleigh, while perhaps still seeking their permanent home.  Joseph Collett may have been too embarrassed to provide his actual age, being a great many years older than his wife, so was recorded as being 40, born at Norton, and a farm labourer, while his wife Anne was 30 and born at Somerford.  Their children at that time were Thomas Collett who was eight and from Hullavington, John Collett who was six, Henry Collett who was four, William Collett who was two, all born at Norton, with the very latest addition to the family simply referred to as ‘infant Collett’ and born at Westerleigh

 

The family living at Westerleigh in 1871 had increased by one child, the new arrival having been born there.  The family comprised Joseph Collett from Norton, who was 50 and a farm labourer, Anne Collett from Somerford who was 40, and their sons Thomas Collett aged 18 and from Hullavington, John Collett who was 16, Henry Collett who was 13, and William Collett who was 12, who were all from Norton, and their Westerleigh born daughters Elizabeth aged 10, and Mary Jane who was five years old.  Thanks to the information found by Jonathon Collett of Bristol in a Family Bible, and kindly provided in May 2012, we now know the dates of birth of all six children of Joseph and Anne, which also gave their years of birth as 1816 for Joseph and 1830 for Anne.  Who completed those family details is not known and, at the moment, it is not clear where Jonathon’s own Collett family connects with this family line if, indeed, they do?

 

According to the 1881 Census for Westerleigh, Joseph Collett, at the age of 63, was still employed as a farm labourer, his wife Anne Collett was 50 and, still living with the couple were just three of the children.  They were Thomas Collett who was 27 years old and coal miner who, by then, was a widower, John Collett who was 26 years old and a railway fireman, and 15-year-old Mary Collett who was a general domestic servant.  In error, every member of the household was recorded as having been born at Hullavington.  Joseph and Anne’s son William and daughter Elizabeth, had both left the family home by then and were working in nearby Bristol, while there appears to be no record of son Henry in 1881, perhaps indicating a premature death or that fact that he had emigrated.  The death of Joseph Collett at Westerleigh was recorded at Chipping Sodbury (Ref. 6a 145) during the second quarter of 1888, when he was 72.  Three years later, Anne Collett was recorded as a widow who still living at Westerleigh in the Chipping Sodbury registration district of South Gloucestershire in 1891, where she working as a domestic charwoman at the age of 60, when her place of birth was again confirmed as Somerford.  After a further eight years, the death of Anne Collett was recorded at Bristol register office (Ref. 6a 9) during the fourth quarter of 1899, when she was 69 years old

 

64O22 – Thomas James Collett was born in 1852 at Hullavington

64O23 – John Collett was born in 1854 at Norton-Coleparle

64O24 – Henry Collett was born in 1856 at Norton-Coleparle

64O25 – William Collett was born in 1858 at Norton-Coleparle

64O26 – Elizabeth Collett was born in 1861 at Westerleigh, near Bristol

64O27 – Mary Jane Collett was born in 1865 at Westerleigh, near Bristol

 

Lucy Collett [64N7] was born at Norton-Coleparle in 1819 and was baptised there at the parish Church of All Saints on 14th November 1819, when the parish record confirmed that her parents were Tom and Betty Collett.  However, the IGI for Wiltshire listed the baptism of Lucy Collett, the daughter of Thomas and Betty Collett, as taking place at Norton-Coleparle on 4th November 1820.  Lucy was still living with her parents at the time of the June census in 1841 when she was incorrectly given the age of 22.  It was the following year that Lucy Collett married Caleb Salter at Norton-Coleparle on 21st November 1842, the event recorded at nearby Malmesbury.  Caleb was baptised at Norton-Coleparle on 29th December 1822, the son of George and Rebecca Salter, and was the younger brother Sarah Salter who had married Lucy’s brother Lawrence (above) in 1836.  After they were married, Lucy and Caleb continued to live at Norton-Coleparle for a few years, and it was there that their first two children were born.  In the late 1840s the family moved south, less than two miles, and settled in the village of Hullavington where their remaining five children were born.  Also living in Hullavington at that time were Lucy’s parents and it was there, during November 1850, that her father died, with Lucy’s husband Caleb by his bedside.  The informant of the death of her father was also Caleb Salter, who signed the death certificate by making the mark of a cross

 

Four months later that the Hullavington census in 1851 placed the family still living there, just one dwelling from another Salter family, that of Mary Salter, aged 29, the wife of an agricultural labourer, together with her two children, Charles Salter who was five, and Harriet Salter who was two, both of them born at Hullavington.  The family of Lucy Salter comprised her husband Caleb, aged 28 and another agricultural labourer, Lucy who was 31, Emma Salter who was seven, Caroline Salter who was five, and Elizabeth Taylor Salter who was one-year old and born at Hullavington, with all the other members of the household born at Norton.  Also living with the family was Lucy’s older brother Joseph Collett who was 33 and described as brother-in-law to her husband Caleb Salter

 

By 1861 the family at Hullavington comprised Caleb aged 37, Lucy aged 41, Emma who was 17 and Caroline who was 15, all four of them confirmed as having been born at Norton.  The other four children were all born at Hullavington and they were Henry Salter who was nine, Emily Salter who was six, William Salter who was three, and Mary Ann Salter who was not yet one-year-old.  The absence of their daughter Elizabeth Salter, who would have been eleven years of age, most probably indicates that she did not survive beyond infancy.  After a further ten years, Caleb Salter from Norton was 48 and an agricultural labourer, Lucy Salter was 51 and also from Norton, when their three children were Henry Salter who was 19, William Salter who was 13, and Mary Ann Salter who was 10 years of age, all three of them born at Hullavington

 

Ten years later the address at which they were living was given as Newtown in Hullavington, where Caleb Salter was working as a carter aged 60 (sic), his wife Lucy Salter was 60, and still living with them was their unmarried son Henry Salter, aged 28, who was employed as an agricultural labourer.  Also listed as living with Caleb and Lucy was their grand-daughter, three-year-old Fanny Jones who had been born at Malmesbury and the child of their eldest daughter Emma.  On that day, daughter Emily Jane Salter, aged 26, was working as a cook for Augustus Strong, the Rector of St Paul’s in Langley Burrell on the outskirts of Chippenham.  The couple’s youngest daughter, Mary Ann Salter, aged 20, was working as a cook and domestic servant for 63-year-old spinster Margaret A Goldney at her home on the High Street in Chippenham, while by then, their son Henry was married to Caroline who was born at Great Elm near Frome in Somerset in 1857.  By 1901 Henry Salter was 49 and was still living at Hullavington, where he was working as a carter.  Caroline was 43 and their five children were all born at Hullavington.  They were William who was 13, Helen who was 11, Elsie who was nine, Marjorie who was six, and Winifred who was two years old

 

It was in the following year that Lucy Salter nee Collett died at Hullavington at the age of 73, her death recorded at Malmesbury register office (Ref. 5a 3) during the last quarter of 1892. Nine years later, Caleb Salter was 78 and a general labourer who was living with his unmarried dressmaker daughter Mary Ann Salter who was 39.  Just less than six years later, Caleb Salter died at Hullavington in 1907, with his passing recorded at Malmesbury register office (Ref. 5a 305) during the first quarter of that year, when he was 68 years old

 

William Collett [64N8] was born on 9th March 1801 at Oddington, where he was baptised on 7th April 1801, the first-born child of Thomas Collett and his first wife Sarah Hyatt.  By the time he was in his thirties, it was at Chadlington in Oxfordshire, just a few miles east of Oddington, that William Collett was living and working as a farming bailiff.  That information was confirmed at the time he became a married man, when William Collett of Chadlington married Elizabeth Kearsy at Chadlington on 21st March 1835, when the witnesses were Robert Townsend and Elizabeth Trinder.  Elizabeth Kearsy was born also in 1801 and died in 1859, the daughter of Charles and Elizabeth Kearsey, the five times great uncle and aunt of Don Cameron of Belmont in New South Wales whose family details can be found in Part 62 – The Trowbridge to New Zealand Line

 

Apart from their first child, their son Edwin, who was born and baptised at Chadlington, all of William and Elizabeth’s subsequent children were born after the couple had moved to the nearby Oxfordshire hamlet of Dean.  However, with no church there, it is known that all of the children were baptised at All Saints Church, the parish church in Spelsbury just north of Charlbury.  It was only as recently as 2012 that the whereabouts of the couple’s son Edwin was revealed in the census of 1841, when previously it was only known that he was absent from the family group that year.  The main body of the family was living at Dean, within the parish of Spelsbury in the Chipping Norton registration district, where William Collett (not born in the county of Oxfordshire) was 40, his wife Elizabeth was 35, and their sons were John Collett who was three and William Collett who was two, all three of them born in Oxfordshire.  On that occasion, William and Elizabeth employed a female servant, 15-year-old Charlotte Will, and also had living with them, Elizabeth’s father Charles Kearsy who was 80 and not born in Oxfordshire.  It is now established that on that same day, Edwin Collett of Oxfordshire aged six years, was a pupil at a school in Stow-on-the-Wold which was owned and operated by John and Frances Kearsy, possibly relatives of his mother’s family

 

Ten years later, the Spelsbury census for 1851, recorded the Collett family living at Dean as William Collett from Oddington in Gloucestershire who was 50 and a farm steward, Elizabeth Collett who was 48, Edwin Collett who was 16, John Collett who was 13, and William Collett who was 11.  All of them said to have been born at Chadlington, when clearly John and William had not.  Three other people were with the family that day, and they were William’s father-in-law Charles Kearsy aged 92, visitor Mary Hyatt from Oddington (Glos) who was 65, and domestic servant Sarah Lainchbury of Spelsbury who was 16.  At that same time, their daughter Mary Collett from Dean was eight years old and attending the school at Stow-on-the-Wold managed by the aforementioned Frances Kearsey who, by then was a widow.  There absent son Charles Collett from Dean, was six years old and staying with his mother’s brother, Richard Kearsy and his wife Mary in the St Giles area of Oxford.  Also, by that time, the family’s youngest son had already died

 

It was over eight years later that ‘William Collett of Dean’ was buried at All Saints Church in Spelsbury on 25th October 1859, aged 59 years, his death recorded at Chipping Norton (Ref. 3a 12).  It is unclear where his widow was two years later.  After a further ten years, Elizabeth Collett of Chadlington, and head of the household, was living there when she was described in the 1871 census as a farmer’s widow aged 66.  It was as Elizabeth K Collett, aged 78 and born at Chadlington, that she was a visitor at the Manor House on Church Street in Charlbury, the home of farmer John Gardner, aged 67, and his wife Ann who was 68.  The other residents at the property on the day of the census in 1881, were Minnie A Gardner who was five, John W Gardner who was four, Louise M Gardner who was one year old, plus 14-year-old nursery maid Jane Betts of Chadlington, and 17-year-old Elizabeth Reason who was a domestic servant from Winderton in Warwickshire.  The last of them was boarder Alice Brooks aged 75 and born at Northleigh in Oxfordshire, where Ann Gardner had also been born, so possibly her older sister.  Almost exactly five years later, Elizabeth Collett, the widow of William Collett, died at Chadlington and was buried with her husband at Spelsbury on 25th March 1886, when she was 83 years of age

 

64O28 – Edwin Collett was born in 1835 at Chadlington

64O29 – John William Collett was born in 1837 at Dean, near Spelsbury

64O30 – William Collett was born in 1839 at Dean, near Spelsbury

64O31 – Mary Elizabeth Collett was born in 1842 at Dean, near Spelsbury

64O32 – Charles Collett was born in 1844 at Dean, near Spelsbury

64O33 – James Richard Collett was born in 1847 at Dean, near Spelsbury

 

Hannah Collett [64N9] was born on 21st February 1803 at Oddington and was baptised there on 23rd March 1803, another child of Thomas and Sarah Collett

 

Richard Collett [64N10] was born on 12th December 1804 at Oddington, another son of Thomas and Sarah Collett.  It would be very easy to confuse Richard with Richard Collett (Ref. 33N7) aged 37 in 1841, the husband of Sarah who was 32, whose family details can be found in Part 33 – The Bourton-on-the-Water Line 1770 to 1835.  However, there is a strong possibility that Richard Collett of Oddington was a married man who had a son Richard Henry Collett also born at Oddington, but in 1834.  Until proved otherwise the child Richard Henry Collett has been included here while awaiting confirmation of his parents

 

64O34 – Richard Henry Collett was born in 1834 at Oddington

 

Thomas Collett [64N11] was born on 12th July 1807 at Oddington and was also baptised there on 11th September 1807, when his parents were confirmed as Thomas and Sarah Collett.  It was also at Oddington where he later married (1) Mary Cole on 26th August 1829 and where all of their children were born and baptised, the parents confirmed as Thomas and Mary, although she may have been Mary Ann, the name given to her granddaughter, the only known child of her middle son William.  According to the first national census in June 1841 for Oddington, Thomas Collett had a rounded age of 30, while his wife was named as Ann who had a rounded age was 40.  Living with them at that time were their three sons, who were George Collett aged nine, William Collett aged seven, and Henry Collett who was four years old.  Only Ann/Mary Collett had not been born in Gloucestershire.  Whether Thomas was actually with his family that day is questionable, because another Thomas Collett, with a rounded age of 35, was being held at the County Gaol and House of Correction in Claines, just north of Worcester, where his wife had been born and where his London-born niece was baptised

 

Six years later, his niece Elizabeth Collett was baptised at Claines on 6th June 1847, when she was described as the child of Thomas and Jane Collett.  Four years after that the Lower Oddington census of 1851, recorded head of the household Thomas Collett from Oddington as being 45 years old, whose occupation was that of a blacksmith.  His wife was named as Mary Collett who was 53, was from Claines, just north of Worcester.  The only one of their three sons still living with the couple was Henry who was 14 and a carpenter of Oddington.  Also staying with the family was the aforementioned Elizabeth Collett who was three years old and a niece from London.  She was the daughter of Thomas’ younger brother, James Collett (below), whose wife may have died during the birth.  It is also interesting to note that, at that same time, Thomas’ two absent sons were living and working in London, where they were recorded together in the census of 1851 in the Charing Cross area of the city

 

Just over one year after that census day, Mary Collett died at Oddington, with her death recorded at nearby Winchcombe (Ref. 6a 2) during the third quarter of 1852.  It would appear that widower Thomas Collett then married (2) Ann from Eastington in Worcester and their daughter was born shortly thereafter in Cheltenham.  Where they were in 1861 has still not been determined.  They later returned to the St Michael parish of south Worcester, where they were living in 1871 when Thomas Collett from Oddington was 65 and a gardener, his wife Ann Collett was 54 and a provisions dealer from Eastington, and their daughter Priscilla Collett from Cheltenham was 18 and employed as boot trader.  Employed by the family was a servant, Jane Bailey aged 15 and from Worcester.  There followed two major family events, the death of Thomas Collett and the marriage of daughter Priscilla Collett, after which Thomas’ widowed had the young couple living with her, but later was living with them and their family

 

The death of Thomas Collett was recorded at Worcester (Ref. 6c 168) during the fourth quarter of 1875, when he was 69 years old.  No record of his youngest children’s wedding has been found but, according to the Worcester St Helen census in 1881, head of the household was widow Ann Collett from Eastington who was 64, whose occupation was recorded as “keeps usters shop”.  Living there with her was her daughter Priscilla Fletcher from Cheltenham who was 28 and a machinist, her son-in-law William Fletcher from Worcester who was 29 and a labourer, plus a boarder Mary Wheeler also from Worcester who was 50.  Ten years later, William Fletcher was the head of the household at Lich Street in Worcester who, by 1891 was 39 and employed as a vice-man at an ironworks.  Also by then, he and Priscilla, aged 38, had two children Susan A Fletcher and William H Fletcher who were seven and five years old respectively.  Completing the family was William’s mother-in-law Ann Collett from Eastington, a widow who was 78

 

64O35 – George Collett was born in 1832 at Oddington

64O36 – William Collett was born in 1834 at Oddington

64O37 – Henry Collett was born in 1836 at Oddington

The following is the only child of Thomas Collett by his second wife Ann:

64O38 – Priscilla Collett was born in 1852 at Cheltenham

 

Jane Collett [64N12] was born on 10th December 1808 at Oddington, the fifth known child of Thomas Collett and Sarah Hyatt, who was baptised at Oddington on 24th January 1809.  There is speculation that she may have been known as Mary Jane

 

George Collett [64N13] was born as George Collett at Oddington on 3rd August 1810 and was recorded in the Family Bible as George Collett.  However, on the later occasion of the baptism of his two eldest children, he was referred to as William George Collett.  He was the sixth child of Thomas Collett and Sarah Hyatt.  Curiously, unlike his older siblings, no baptism record for him has been found, although there was George Collett who was baptised at Oddington on 1st January 1811, but he was described as the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Collett.  Later census records appear to indicate that there was only one Thomas Collett born at Oddington in Gloucestershire during that time.  Furthermore, in the census of 1881, both George, the son of Thomas and Elizabeth, and James, the son Thomas and Sarah, were both residing at Harborne, near Selly Oak to the south of Birmingham.  Therefore, an assumption has been made that they were indeed brothers, thus making George the son of Thomas Collett and Sarah Hyatt

 

It was using the name William that George Collett, the son of Thomas and Sarah, married (1) Elizabeth Bishop during the first quarter of 1840.  The marriage was recorded at Woodstock (Ref. xvi 133), but probably took place at Combe where, previously, Elizabeth had lived with older sister Lucy Bishop.  Where George (or William) was a year later has still to be discovered, when his wife was expecting the birth of their first child.  On the census day in June 1841, Elizabeth Collett had a rounded age of 20 years when she was staying with unmarried Lucy Bishop, who had been born at Combe in 1799, at her home in the village of Combe just west of Woodstock.  Over the following fourteen years, Elizabeth presented George with six known children, born at various locations, suggesting that the family moved around for George’s job of work

 

The couple’s first two children were born at Combe, with their baptisms confirming the parents’ names as William George Collett and his wife Elizabeth.  After the birth of the second child, the family of four returned to Upper Oddington near Stow-on-the-Wold, where the next two children were born.  All of that was confirmed in the next census for Oddington in 1851.  However, on the census day that year, head of the household George Collett was working away from home, less than three miles away across the county boundary into Warwickshire and very close to the county boundary with Oxfordshire.  At that time in his life, it was as George Collett, a married man from Oddington who was 39, who was employed by Henry Lardner, a maltster and a brewer from Bledington in Gloucestershire, at his family home in Little Compton, within the Chipping Norton registration district.  On that same day, the family of William George Collett was recorded at Upper Oddington, where his wife Elizabeth Collett from Combe was 33 and a gloveress, and their four children were Georgiana Collett who was nine and William Collett who was six, both born at Combe, and Henry Collett who was two and Louisa Collett who was just two weeks old, both of them born at Oddington

 

Two years later, the couple’s fifth child was born when the family had moved to Chipping Norton, but then, not long after, they were living at Fernhall Heath in Worcestershire for the birth of their last child.  Fernhall Heath lies midway between Worcester and Droitwich, adjacent to which is the village of Claines which had connection with other members of this branch of the Collett family.  The death of Elizabeth Collett nee Bishop was recorded at Droitwich (Ref. 6c 29) during the third quarter of 1859, following which she was buried at Claines on 18th August 1859.  Elizabeth had been baptised at Minister Lovell on 5th April 1818, the daughter of Allen and Ann Bishop, her third child given her father’s name

 

According to the Droitwich census in 1861, widower George Collett from Oddington was an agricultural labourer aged 46 (sic), and living with him was Henry Collett aged 13, and Louisa Collett who was 10, both of them born at Oddington, Pamela Susan Collett who was seven and born at Chipping Norton, and Alfred Collett who was five years old and born at Fernhill Heath.  Living and working on the same street in Droitwich was George’s eldest daughter Georgiana Elizabeth Collett who was 18.  After eight years as a widower, George Collett was married for a second time when the marriage of George Collett and the much younger (2) Mary Pimble was recorded at Worcester (Ref. 6c 318) during the last three months of 1867.  Mary was the daughter of Samuel and Hannah Pimble who was born at High Green, midway between Worcester and Tewkesbury, and baptised at the nearby parish Church of St Mary Magdalene in Croome D’Abitot on 25th October 1833.  In 1851, Mary Pimble from High Green was 17 and a general domestic servant employed at the Twyning, Gloucestershire, home of William and Sarah Glover and their large family.  On their wedding day, George Collett was 57 and Mary Pimble was 34, who gave birth to three children over the following nine years.  Not long after they were married, they were temporarily living in Worcester, where their first child was born, before spending a short while at Smethwick, west of Birmingham, where the next two children were born. 

 

On the day of the census in 1871, George was not recorded with his family.  Instead, his new wife and their first child, had George’s youngest son Alfred with them, when they were staying with Mary’s younger married sister Ann Weaver and her family at their home within the Worcester South registration district.  As Ann Pimble, she was baptised at Bredon on 12th August 1835, another daughter of Samuel and Hannah Pimble.  Mary Collett from High Green was 35 and working as a shoe binder, most likely with her brother-in-law Charles Weaver, who was a shoemaker.  Her daughter Ann Collett was two years of age and born at Worcester, and her stepson was Alfred Collett who was 15 and also born at Worcester, who had already left school and was working as a sawyer.  Ten years later, head of the household George Collett was back with his family at 10 James Street in Harborne, three miles south of Birmingham, within the Kings Norton registration district.  George Collett from Oddington was 70 and still working as a general labourer in 1881.  His wife Mary from High Green was 45 and a laundress, and with the couple were their three children.  Ann Collett from Worcester was 12, Charles Collett was eight and Thomas Collett was four, both born at Smethwick, when all three children were attending school

 

By that time, George’s son Alfred Collett was a married man with a family of his own, and was living nearby at Basons End in Harborne.  Within days of the census that year, George Collett died at 10 James Street in Harborne at the age of 70, his death recorded at Kings Norton (Ref. 6a 234) during the second quarter of 1881.  Following the loss of her husband, Mary and her two youngest sons returned to Smethwick, where they were living in 1891.  At that time in her life, Mary was a widow aged 57 who had no job of work, who was supported by her sons Charles Collett who was 18, and Thomas Collett who was 13.  Ten years later Mary Collett from High Green was 67 and was still living in Smethwick, at Bearwood Road, with her unmarried son Thomas who was 23 and a general labourer, her older son Charles was already married by then.  Two other people were recorded at the address and they were Mary’s grandson William Hillman who was eight years of age and also from Smethwick, the eldest son of Mary’s married daughter Annie Hillman, plus a boarder Mary Charles from Birmingham who was 78.  Mary continued to live at Smethwick, where Mary Collett from Twyning in Gloucestershire was 77 years old in the April census of 1911, when she was staying at the home of her married son Charles Collett and his family.  It was two years after that day, when Mary Collett, nee Pimble, passed away at the age of 79, her death recorded at Kings Norton register office (Ref. 6d 78) during the second quarter of 1913

 

64O39 – Georgiana Elizabeth Collett was born in 1841 at Combe, near Woodstock

64O40 – William Collett was born in 1844 at Combe, near Woodstock

64O41 – Henry Allen Collett was born in 1848 at Oddington

64O42 – Louisa Mary Collett was born in 1851 at Oddington

64O43 – Pamela Susan Collett was born in 1853 at Chipping Norton

64O44 – Alfred Collett was born in 1855 at Fernhill Heath, near Droitwich

The following are the children of George Collett by his second wife Mary Pimble:

64O45 – Ann Collett was born in 1868 at Worcester

64O46 – Charles Collett was born in 1873 at Smethwick

64O47 – Thomas Collett was born in 1876 at Smethwick

 

James Collett [64N14] was born on 12th September 1812 at Oddington, and it was four months later when he was baptised there on 29th January 1813, another son of Thomas and Sarah Collett.  What is known is that he was married and that his wife presented him with a daughter, but tragically it seems that she died, either during the birth, or shortly thereafter.  When the child was three years old, Elizabeth Collett from London was being looked after by James’ older brother Thomas and his wife Mary at Oddington.  Where James was that day, has not been discovered, in fact he was next identified in 1871 living at Harborne, south of Birmingham, where his brother George (above) and his nephew Alfred, George’s married son, were living in 1881.  At that time in his life widower James Collett from Oddington was 58 and described as a traveller, when he was living at the home of his unmarried daughter.  Head of the household Elizabeth Collett from London, Middlesex, was 23 and working as blacking maker in the boot and shoe industry

 

It would appear that Elizabeth was married during the 1870s since, James Collett from Oddington was working as an agent at the age of 66, while a lodger at 337 Bearwood Road in Harborne, the home of spinster Kate Micklewright, a grocer of 32 years from Stourbridge.  Eight years later, the death of James Collett was recorded at Kings Norton (Ref. 6c 227) during the third quarter of 1889, when he was 76 years old

 

64O48 – Elizabeth Collett was born during 1847 in London

 

Charles Collett [64N15] was born on 3rd November 1814 at Oddington and was six years old when he was baptised there on 1st May 1821 in a joint ceremony with his two younger sisters Elizabeth and Mary (below).  All three of them were confirmed as the children of Thomas and Sarah Collett.  At the time of the census in 1841, Charles Collett was given a rounded age of 20, when he was living at Chipping Norton.  Two years later Charles was in London when he married the widow Mary Ann Farmer in the City (Ref. ii 159) during the first three months of 1843.  The wedding took place at the Church of All Hallows the Great, just west of the Tower of London, on 19th February 1843 when the groom’s father was confirmed as Thomas Collett, and the bride’s father as Samuel Thomas.  His daughter, born Mary Ann Thomas in 1816, was baptised at St Luke’s Church in Chelsea in 14th July 1816, when her mother was named as Fanny Thomas.  It was at St George in the East that the first marriage of Mary Ann Thomas and Robert Farmer was recorded in 1939 and around nine months later Mary Ann was a widow.  All-Hallows-the-Great, where Charles and Mary Ann were married was first mentioned in 1235 but was destroyed in the Great Fire of London of 1666, after which it was rebuilt by the office of Sir Christopher Wren.  In the end, All-Hallows-the-Great was demolished in 1894 when many bodies were disinterred from the churchyard and reburied at Brookwood Cemetery

 

It was also in London that the couple’s first three children were born and baptised in Stepney.  Tragically, their eldest son was only eighteen months old when he died at Stepney.  Less than two years after their loss, Mary Ann was expecting the birth of another child in 1851, when the family was living within the Goodmans Fields district of Whitechapel in London, with the census return revealing that Charles Collett from Oddington was 37, whose occupation was that of a cooper.  His wife Mary Ann was 33 and born at Blackfriars in London, while their daughter Sarah Ann Collett was five years old and had been born at Stepney.  Very shortly after the census day that year, Mary Ann presented Charles with another son, Alfred Hyatt Collett, the child’s unusual second forename was the maiden-name of his paternal grandmother, Sarah Hyatt of Oddington

 

Following the birth of their son, the family left the city, when they moved to Great Rollright in Oxfordshire, not far from Chipping Norton.  It was while they were living there that the couple’s last known child was born, and it was there also where the family was residing at the time of the next census in 1861.  On that occasion the family was recorded as Charles Collett from Oddington who was 46 and a baker, Mary Ann Collett who was 40 and from Surrey was ‘a baker’s wife’, and their three children were Sarah Ann Collett who was 15 and ‘a baker’s daughter, Alfred H Collett who was nine and ‘a scholar’, both born at Stepney, and Mary Elizabeth Collett who was not yet one year old and born at Great Rollright

 

Charles Collett from Oddington was a baker and a shopkeeper at Great Rollright, as confirmed in the next census of 1871.  The property in which the family was living, presumably including the shop, was described as being adjacent to part of the Baptist Chapel.  By that time in his life Charles was 52, while his wife was named as Mary Ann from Surrey who was 50.  Their three children were recorded as their unmarried daughter Sarah Ann Collett, who was 24 from Stepney and with no stated occupation, their son Alfred H Collett who was 19 and also from Stepney, who was described as a baker’s son, and Mary E Collett of Great Rollright who was attending the village school at the age of 10, her birth recorded at Chipping Norton during the summer/autumn of 1860

 

Ten years later the couple was again recorded at Great Rollright in the census of 1881, but with just one of their three surviving children still living there with them, their two older children being already married by then.  The census again confirmed that Charles Collett, aged 62, was a baker from Oddington, Mary Ann Collett was 60 and ‘a baker’s wife’, and their daughter Mary E Collett from Great Rollright was 20 with no stated occupation.  Also living with the family on that occasion was Charles and Mary Ann’s granddaughter Florence M Tomkins from Chipping Norton, the five-year-old child of their married daughter Sarah Ann.  Charles Collett was 75 when he died at Great Rollright immediately prior to the census day in 1891, his death recorded at Chipping Norton (Ref. 3a 355) during the second quarter of 1891.  A few days after his passing, his widow Mary Ann Collett was 73 and a beer retailer from Christchurch in Surrey, her son Alfred having been a publican at Chipping Norton in 1881.  Still living at South End in Great Rollright with Mary in 1891 was her unmarried daughter Mary E Collett who was 28 who had no job of work

 

What happened to Mary’s daughter Mary Elizabeth after 1891 is not known, while Mary’s occupation as a beer retailer is interesting because, she moved the short distance to Hook Norton, the home of the well-known brewery, when she went to live with her married son Alfred.  The 1901 census, confirmed that Mary Ann Collett from Christchurch Surrey, was 84 and a widow residing at Scotland End in Hook Norton, the home of Alfred Hyatt Collett and his wife Emma Collett.  Nine years later, the death of Mary Ann Collett was recorded at Chipping Norton register office (Ref. 3a 125) during the first quarter of 1910, when she was 92

 

64O49 – Sarah Ann Collett was born in 1846 at Stepney, London

64O50 – Charles Clement Collett was born in 1848 at Stepney

64O51 – Alfred Hyatt Collett was born in 1851 at Stepney, London

64O52 – Mary Elizabeth Collett was born in 1860 at Great Rollright, Oxfordshire

 

Mary Collett [64N16] was born on 21st March 1816 at Oddington and was five years old when she was baptised there in a joint ceremony with her older brother Charles (above) and her half-sister Elizabeth (below) on 1st May 1821, the daughter of Thomas and Sarah Collett.  By the time of the census in 1841, when she would have been 24 years of age, she was not living in the family home in Oddington and was very likely married by then

 

Elizabeth Collett [64N17] was born at Oddington on 7th December 1820, the first of three daughters born to Thomas Collett by his second wife Ann Taylor.  It would appear that her father’s first wife died, leaving her two youngest unbaptised.  Therefore, when Elizabeth Collett was baptised at Oddington on 1st May 1821, two of her half-siblings. Charles and Mary (above) were also baptised with her.  Curiously, the parish register claimed that all three were the children of Thomas and Sarah Collett.  Elizabeth Collett was 19 years of age in the Oddington census of 1841, when she was the older of two daughters still living there with her parents Thomas and Ann Collett who were 60 and 50 years old respectively, her younger sister being Sarah (below) who was 13.  On reaching the age of twenty-one, the marriage of Elizabeth Collett and Richard Cook at Oddington was recorded at Stow-on-the-Wold (Ref. x 104) during the last three months of 1842.  Richard was a labourer and the eldest son of Mary Ann Cook, with Richard 33 and Elizabeth 29 still living in Oddington in 1851, where the childless couple had Richard’s mother and two younger siblings Thomas and Mary Ann Cook living with them.  Every member of the household had been born at Oddington

 

Ann Collett [64N18] was born at Oddington on 30th April 1826, another daughter of Thomas and Ann Collett.  When her two sisters, Elizabeth (above) and Sarah (below), were still living in parents Thomas and Ann at Oddington in 1841, Ann Collett aged 14 was a domestic servant at the Cheltenham home of John and Eliza Davies.  She later married Robert Phillips who was 26 and an agricultural labourer in 1851, when he was living at Upper Oddington with his father Richard Phillips of Oddington and his stepmother the much younger Catherine Phillips.  Ann and Robert were married at Oddington in 1857, the event recorded at Stow-on-the-Wold (Ref. 6a 9) during the second quarter of the year.  By 1861 the couple and their first-born child were living at Oddington.  The census that year recorded the family as Rob Phillips who was 38, Ann Phillips was 36, and Ellen Phillips who was three.  Staying with the family was Ann’s elderly mother Ann Collett from Adlestrop and Ann’s younger unmarried sister Sarah Collett (below)

 

The enlarged family was again residing in Oddington in 1871 when Robert Phillips was 47 and a gardener, Ann Phillips was 44, and their three children were Ellen Phillips 13, Robert Phillips who was eight and Frank Phillips who was one year old.  One more child was added to the family which, in 1881, was still living in Oddington where Robert was 55 and a gardener and domestic servant, Ann was 52, and their three sons were Robert who was 19, Frank who was 11, and Albert R Phillips who was eight.  Sometime during the following decade, the family moved the short distance south to Icombe, where the reduced family was recorded in 1891.  On that occasion, Robert was 66 and a groom and a gardener, Ann was 64, Frank was 21 and Albert was 18

 

Two years earlier, Ann’s sister Sarah Collett (below) passed away and, never having married and having no offspring, her Will named Ann Phillips and Robert Phillips as the two main beneficiaries.  Just over ten years after receiving the bequeath, the death of Robert Phillips was recorded at Stow-on-the-Wold register office (Ref. 6a 153) during the last three months of 1899, when he was 77 years old.  After two years as a widow, Ann Phillips from Oddington was 74 and was recorded as the postmistress at Church Icombe post office in the census of 1901.  However, two years later, during the second quarter of 1903, the death of widow Ann Phillips was recorded at nearby Stow-on-the-Wold register office (Ref. 6a 115) at the age of 77

 

Sarah Collett [64N19] was born at Oddington on 5th January 1827 and was the third and last child of Thomas Collett and Ann Taylor, his second wife.  In the Oddington census of 1841, Sarah Collett was 13 when she was still living there with her parents Thomas and Ann and her older sister Elizabeth (above).  On leaving school, she entered domestic service and by 1851 she was employed as a housekeeper at a property in Moreton-on-Marsh was Sarah Collett from Oddington was 22.  After a further ten years, unmarried Sarah Collett from Oddington aged 33, together with her elderly mother Ann, were staying at the Oddington home of Sarah’s older married sister Ann Phillip, her husband Rob, and their daughter Ellen.  Sarah never married and was still residing at Oddington when she died there on 2nd March 1889 at the age of 61, her death recorded at Stow-on-the-Wold (Ref. 6a 188) later that same month.  Before her passing, she had made her Will in which the two beneficiaries were her sister Ann Phillips, and her husband Robert Phillips, the Will proved at Gloucester on 21st March that same year

 

Aaron Vizor Collett [64O1] was born at Norton-Coleparle either near the end of 1838 or early in 1839, within the parish of St Mary Westport in Malmesbury, where his birth was recorded (Ref. viii 22) during the first three months of 1839.  He was baptised at the parish church in Foxley near Malmesbury on 7th February 1839, the eldest of the two sons of Thomas Collett of Abingdon and his wife Hester Vizor of Foxley.  He was included in the Westport St Mary, Malmesbury, census returns for 1841, 1851 and 1861 when, on each occasion, he was still living with his parents.  He was recorded as Aaron Collett aged two years in 1841, as Aaron Vizor Collett, aged 12 and born at Foxley, he had already completed his education and was working as an agricultural labourer in 1851, and again in 1861 when he was 21 and still employed as an agricultural labourer, when his place of birth was given as Westport, where his brother had been born.  It was only the census in 1851 when Aaron’s younger brother Joseph Collett was recorded with the family, at the age of nine years, after which he appears to have died

 

It was on 24th December 1867 at Westport St Mary, when Aaron Vizor Collett was twenty-nine, that he married Ellen Curtis who came from Somerford, near Malmesbury.  Bachelor and labourer Aaron, of full age, was a resident of Westport, the son of labourer Thomas Collett, while Ellen, also of full age, was a spinster of Westport, the daughter of labourer George Curtis and his wife Honor.  The witnesses at the parish church in Westport were James Jones and Martha Allsop, while it was at Malmesbury where their wedding was recorded (Ref. 5a 310).  By the time of the next census in 1871, Ellen had already presented Aaron with the first of their five children.  At that time the family was living at Cowage Lane, Westport in Malmesbury, where labourer Aaron Collett from Westport was 32, Ellen Collett from Somerford Parva was 28, and their daughter Jane Collett was one-year-old and had been born at Westport.  Lodging with the family was Aaron’s cousin James Collett, aged 21, who was from Bremilham near Foxley, who was James Thomas Collett (below), the son of James and Jane Collett (Ref. 64N4)

 

Over the next seven years a further four children were added to the family, the first of them while the family was still living at Westport and the next three after the family had moved to live at Easton Grey two miles to the west of Malmesbury.  It is interesting to note that Easton Grey was where Aaron Vizor was born in 1820, the brother of Aaron Vizor Collett’s mother.  Sometime between the birth of the last child and the census in 1881, the family moved again, on that occasion south to Hullavington.  And it was at Queen’s Head Inn at Hullavington that they were living at the time of the census in April that year.  Aaron Collett was 42 and a landlord and inn keeper, his wife Ellen was 38, and their children were Jane Collett who was 11, Mary Collett who was nine, Hannah Collett who was six, Aaron Collett who was four, and Walter Collett who was three.  The first two children were confirmed as born at Westport, while the other three had been born at Easton Grey.  There were two lodgers staying at the inn and they were James Matthews, aged 33 and a herdsman from Bath, and Mark Austin, aged 40 and a herdsman from Chippenham

 

Around the time of the death of his mother in 1887, it was her son Aaron who was in attendance when she passed away, and it was he also who informed the registrar, when his address was Burton Hill in Malmesbury.  However, less than three years later according to the census in 1891, Aaron and his family were once again living in Hullavington, when they were residing at 1 Seager’s Lane in the village, the dwelling being adjacent to the Baptist Chapel.  Head of the household Aaron Collett, aged 51 and from Westport was a farmer, his wife Ellen from Somerford was 48, and still living with them were four of their six known children, the youngest having been born just after the previous census in 1881.  Mary A Collett from Westport was 19, Aaron Collett from Easton Grey was 14 and was working on the land with his father, as was Walter Collett, also from Easton Grey, who was 12, plus Albert Collett who was eight years old and had been born at Hullavington, who was still attending the village school

 

The two missing daughters had already left the family home by then.  The couple’s eldest daughter Jane was 21 and was living and working in the Malmesbury Eastern registration district, while their youngest daughter Hannah, aged 18 and from Easton Grey, was living and working within the Edmonton, Middlesex, registration district of London.  Sometime after the census day in 1891 the family left Hullavington and settled in the village of Corston, south of Malmesbury, at Firs Farm.  Tragically, in the early days of 1896, there was an outbreak of typhoid at Firs Farm which resulted in the death of both Ellen and Aaron and their son Walter.  Ellen Collett nee Curtis, who was born at Little Somerford where she was baptised on 30th April 1843, died at Firs Farm on 23rd February 1896 at the age of 52.  The informant of her passing on the following day was her son Aaron who was also present at the death.  One-month, later Aaron Vizor Collett aged 57 died there on 20th March 1896, his death recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 40).  The administration of his estate was resolved in London on 21st April 1896 in favour of his son, farmer Aaron Vizor Collett, amounting to Ł255 3 Shillings and 3 Pence.  It is believed that the typhoid came from the polluted water of an indoor well and, after their deaths, the farmhouse remained unoccupied for many years

 

The sickness at Firs Farm resulted in the couple’s eldest son Aaron Vizor Collett seeking a place of safety at the local inn, the Radnor Arms in Corston, where he met his future wife, the landlord’s daughter, whom he married three months later.  Thus, it was that Aaron who was the only member of the family identified in the later census returns, albeit that he was recorded with an incorrect age on each occasion, most likely out of embarrassment that his wife was about five years older.  For example, having been four and fourteen in 1881 and 1891, he said he was thirty in 1901, initially creating a potential point of conflict from a family history viewpoint

 

64P1 – Jane Collett was born in 1869 at Westport

6421 – Mary A Collett was born in 1871 at Westport

64P3 – Hannah Collett was born in 1874 at Easton Grey

64P4 – Aaron Vizor Collett was born in 1876 at Easton Grey

64P5 – Walter Vizor Collett was born in 1877 at Easton Grey

64P6 – Albert Thomas was born in 1882 at Hullavington

 

Joseph Collett [64O2] was born at Westport St Mary in Malmesbury during 1841, the youngest of the two sons of Thomas and Hester Collett, whose birth was recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. viii 341) during the third quarter of the year.  The only time he was recorded with his parents was in 1851 when he was nine years of age and already working as an agricultural labourer, when Joseph Collett from Westport was living there with his family.  At the age of 18, Joseph from Foxley was a servant and a carter working for the Matthews family at Tything Wick, near Frampton Cotterell, north-east of Bristol.  Over the following five years, Joseph Collett returned to Foxley, near Malmesbury, where he married Elizabeth Boucher.  Their marriage was recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 73) during the last three months of 1866.  By the time of the census in 1871, Elizabeth had presented Joseph with two sons, both of whom were born at Clifton in Bristol, where the family of four was living at that time

 

According to the census in 1871, the family of four was residing at 21 Morley Street in the Lawrence Hill (Russell Town) area of Bristol.  Joseph Collett from Foxley, east of Malmesbury, was 28 and a railway porter, his wife Elizabeth Collett was also 28 and born at Foxley, and their two children were Arthur Collett who was three years of age, and William Collett who was just four months old.  Tragically, the two children were orphaned ten years later.  First, the death of Elizabeth Collett was recorded at Barton Regis, Bristol (Ref. 6a 65) during the third quarter of 1878, when she was 37.  Then, less than three years later, Joseph Collett died, his death recorded at Bristol (Ref. 6a 33) during the first quarter of 1881, when he was 39.  By that time, his eldest son was attending a boarding school, while the younger boy appears to have been taken into care by a non-relative of the family

 

64P7 – Arthur Francis Vizor Collett was born in 1867 at Clifton, Bristol

64P8 – William Vizor Collett was born in 1870 at Clifton, Bristol

 

Elizabeth Collett [64O3] was born at Hullavington in 1838, the eldest of the seven known children of Lawrence Collett from Abingdon-on-Thames and Sarah Salter from Norton Coleparle, her birth recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. viii 98) during the third quarter of the year.  It was also at Hullavington that Elizabeth was baptised on 5th August 1838 and where she was recorded with her family in 1841 at the age of three years.  She was still living with her family in 1851 when she was 12 years old.  Nine years later the marriage of Elizabeth Collett and labourer William Morse was recorded at Hullavington on 12th August 1860, when the bride was described as the daughter of Lawrence Collett and the groom’s father was named as Robert Morse.  William was born at Horton in Gloucestershire during 1839 and was the son of Robert and Ann Morse.  On the day of the census, conducted during the following year, Elizabeth may have been expecting the birth of the couple’s first child, since she and William were recorded at the Hullavington home of Elizabeth’s parents.  Agricultural labourer William Morse from Horton was 22 and his wife Elizabeth was 23

 

Not long after that day Elizabeth gave birth to a daughter at Hullavington, where her second child was also born.  However, by the time of the birth of the couple’s third child the family had settled in the village of Kington Langley, two miles north of Chippenham.  That situation was confirmed in the next census of 1871, when agricultural labourer William Morse was 29, Elizabeth Morse was 32, and their five children were Emily Morse who was nine, John William Morse who was seven, Martha Morse who was five, Joseph Morse who was three, and Sarah Morse who was under one-year old.  It was also at Kington Langley where the family was residing in 1881, although the place of birth of the six youngest children was recorded as Langley Fitzurse, which lies within Kington Langley.  William was 40, Elizabeth was 42, John William Morse was 17, Joseph Morse was 13, Sarah S Morse was 10, Alfred E Morse was eight, Annie M Morse was six, Charlie Morse was four and Kate B Morse who was under one-year-old

 

The next census in 1891 gave the family’s home address as Days Lane in Kington Langley, where labourer William was 51, Elizabeth was 52, and by which time one more child had been added to their family.  Still unmarried and living with them was their son John who was 27, plus Charles who was 14, Kate who was 10 and latest arrival Thomas Morse who was eight years old.  William Morse died before the next census in 1901, when head of the household Elizabeth, aged 62, was living on her own means in Kington Langley, with just her youngest child Thomas Morse who was 18.  That same day her son Charlie Morse, aged 24 and a shepherd on a farm, was a married to Louisa K Morse and was living at Kington St Michael.  Six years later, the death of Elizabeth Morse nee Collett was recorded at Chippenham register office (Ref. 5a 49) during the second quarter of 1907, when she was 68

 

Ann Collett [64O4] was born at Hullavington in 1840, where she was baptised on 27th September 1840, the second child of Lawrence and Sarah Collett.  She was one-year old in the June census of 1841 and was 10 years old in the Hullavington census of 1851.  Just prior to the next census in 1861, Ann Collett married William Teagle who was born at Oldbury-on-the-Hill in 1837, the son of Lewis and Betty Teagle.  Oldbury, close to Didmarton, lies eight miles north-west of Hullavington, just across the county boundary in Gloucestershire.  In the Oldbury census of 1851 William Teagle was 14 years old and still living there with his parents.  After he married Ann, the couple settled in Oldbury where, in 1861, they had living with them Ann’s younger unmarried sister Jane Collett who was most likely with-child at the age of eighteen.  Head of the household William Teagle, aged 24, was a mason and his wife Ann Teagle from Hullavington was 20, and she too may have been expecting the birth of their first child, who was born at Oldbury, like all of the couple’s subsequent children

 

During the 1860s Ann gave birth to four children, all as confirmed in the following census of 1871.  Mason William Teagle was 33, Ann was 29, and their four children were recorded as John William Teagle who was nine, George I Teagle who was six, Sarah Ellen Teagle who was four, and Celia Jane Teagle who was two years of age.  Four more children were added to the family during the next decade and by the time the census was conducted in 1881 the enlarged family was recorded at Creep Hole in Oldbury-on-the-Hill.  William Teagle was 44 and a farm labour, Ann Teagle was 39, George Teagle was 16 and a farm labourer possibly working with his father, Ellen Teagle was 14 and a domestic servant, Clara H Teagle was nine, Elizabeth Teagle was eight, Frederick Charles Teagle was six [born 09.05.1874, died 1970 in Swindon], Kate Mary Teagle was two years of age and Albert Edward Teagle was just three months old

 

Curiously no trace of any member of the Teagle family has been identified amongst the census returns completed in 1891, by which time Ann had given birth to her last child, while it was during the following year that the death of William Teagle was recorded at Tetbury (Ref. 6a 217) during the last quarter of 1892 when he was 55.  Nine years later, Ann Teagle, a widow of 59, had moved the short distance from Oldbury to Didmarton, where she was working as a domestic charwoman.  Only two of her children were still living with her at that time, and they were Albert (Edward) who was 20 and Louisa Fanny Teagle who was 16.  Ten years later it was only her youngest child, unmarried Fanny Teagle aged 26 and born at Didmarton, who was living with, and looking after her elderly mother Ann Teagle, who was 70, in Didmarton

 

On that same day in 1911 Ann’s son Albert Edward Teagle from Didmarton was still a bachelor at 30 and employed as a gate-man on an electric railway, staying at the Tottenham home in London of one of his married sisters.  Ann’s daughter, Kate Mary Teagle, married John Beames Ralph during the second quarter of 1899, the marriage recorded at Tetbury (Ref. 6a 805) where her birth was also recorded (Ref. 6a 373) during the last three months of 1878.  Not long after the 1911 census, Ann Teagle nee Collett passed away at Didmarton, following which her youngest child, Louisa Fanny Teagle, married Hartley Jones at Tetbury (Ref. 6a 832) during the last three months of 1914

 

Jane Collett [64O5] was born at Hullavington in 1843 and baptised there on 24th November 1843.  She was the third daughter of Lawrence and Sarah Collett with whom she was living in 1851 at the age of seven.  On leaving school she entered into domestic service and, perhaps because of over-crowding in her Hullavington home, and following the early marriage of her older sister Ann (above), she was recorded living at Oldbury-on-the-Hill near Didmarton with sister Ann and her husband in 1861.  The census that year confirmed that Jane Collett from Hullavington was a visitor at the Oldbury home of William and Ann Teagle (nee Collett).  Jane was described as being 18 and unmarried, whose occupation was that of a house servant.  Towards the end of that year Jane had a relationship with a man, resulting in the birth of a base-born son during the following year.  Although the birth was recorded at Tetbury, her son was born at Didmarton

 

After a short while living with just her son, Jane Collett married Isaac Sallis Russell whose birth was recorded at Chippenham (Ref. viii 277) during the second quarter of 1838.  Isaac was born at West Kington, north-west of Chippenham, and it was at West Kington that the couple settled and where their children were born and where the family was living in 1871.  The census return that year listed the family as Isaac S Russell who was 32 and an assistant overseer, Jane Russell who was 28, James Collett who was eight, John Sallis Russell who was four, Isaac Sallis Russell who was two and Thomas Laurence Russell who was not yet one years of age.  Four more children were added to their family during the 1870s, all of them born at West Kington, where the much larger family was still living in 1881

 

The 1881 Census included the family as Isaac Sallis Russell, a contractor of 42 years, Jane Russell, a contractor’s wife of 38, John Sallis Russell 14, Isaac Sallis Russell 12, Thomas Laurence Russell 10, Ann Sallis Russell who was eight, Mary Minnie Russell who was four, Albert Russell who was two and Eunice Emily Russell who was under twelve months.  Jane’s base-born son James William Collett was living and working in the Rodbourne Cheyney area of Swindon by that time, at the home of Jane’s married younger sister Harriet Palmer. One more child was added to Jane’s family during the following years, although by the time of the next census in 1891, only three of the couple’s sons was still living with them at West Kington

 

Also, by 1891, Isaac was working as a general haulier when he was 53 and Jane was 49.  The three sons with the couple on that occasion were John aged 24, Albert who was 12, and Herbert Russell who was only eight years of age.  By that time Jane’s son William was a married man with his own family living in the Highworth district of Swindon, who had three of Jane and Isaac’s children staying him.  They were Isaac Sallis Russell who was 22, Thomas Lawrence Russell who was 20 and Mary Minnie Russell who was 14

 

It was a very similar situation at West Kington in 1901 when hauler Isaac S Russell was 62, his wife Jane was 58, and the three offspring still living with them were John S Russell who was 33, Mary M Russell who was 24 and Herbert Russell who was 18.  Isaac and Jane were 72 and 68 respectively in the West Kington census of 1911 which stated they had been married of forty-five years, while the deaths of both of them was recorded at Chippenham register office just a few years after.  First to pass was Isaac S Russell, who death was recorded (Ref. 5a 71) during the fourth quarter of 1916, when he was 78.  The death of Jane Russell nee Collett was recorded (Ref. 5a 94) during the first three months of 1919, when she was 75.  Isaac Sallis Russell junior was a married man by 1911, when he was and living with his family in Swindon.  The census return that year confirmed he had been married for fifteen years, was 42 years old and employed as a labourer with the Great Western Railway

 

64P9 – James William Collett was born in 1862 at Didmarton

 

Thomas Collett [64O6] was born at Hullavington during 1846, where he was baptised on 1st June 1846, the son of Lawrence Collett and Sarah Salter.  Prior to that, his birth had been recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. viii 5) during the second quarter of the year.  Sadly, he was not listed with his family in the Hullavington census of 1851, his death having already been recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. viii 67) during the fourth quarter of 1850

 

Mary Collett [64O7] was born at Hullavington in 1848, her birth recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. viii 13) during the third quarter of that year.  In the Hullavington census in 1851 Mary was two years old, the youngest of the four children of Lawrence and Sarah Collett.  She was still attending school at Hullavington in 1861 at the age of 12 years.  By 1871, it was just Mary, aged 22, and her father Lawrence Collett who were still living at Hullavington, as it was in 1881, by which time unmarried Mary Collett was 31 and a pauper, again living with her 72-year-old widowed father Lawrence from Abingdon-on-Thames, who was also a pauper.  It was the same situation in 1891, when the pair of them was again recorded at Hullavington New Town, when Mary Collett was 42, but not described as a pauper.  Mary’s father passed away just over two years later.  After a further ten years, unmarried Mary Collett was 50 and still residing in the New Town area of Hullavington, as head of the household, but with no occupation.  The next census in 1911 also recorded her living in Hullavington where she was born, when she was 60, having no occupation

 

Harriet Collett [64O8] was born at Hullavington after the census day in 1851, her birth recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. viii 412) during the second quarter of that year.  She was 10 years old in the next census of 1861 when she was still living at Hullavington with her parents Lawrence and Sarah, and five of her siblings.  During the following year Harriet’s older sister Jane (above) gave birth to a son out of wedlock, while Harriet gave birth to a base-born daughter in 1868 and had the child while in domestic service at Avening in Gloucestershire.  Mother and child were recorded together at a residence in Cherington, just a few miles east of Avening, north of Tetbury.  Servant Harriet Collett from Hullavington was 19 and Annie Fowles was two years of age.  The birth of Annie Sarah Fowles was recorded at Stroud (Ref. 6a 332) during the second quarter of 1868.  Whilst Annie’s second forename was very likely a tribute to Harriet’s mother, Sarah Salter who died later that same year.  Annie’s father may have been master baker William Fowles of Cherington whose children, by his wife Emma, were all born at Avening, with their births also recorded at Stroud.  It is also possible that Annie’s father provided the finance for her education, since in 1881 Annie Sarah Fowles from Cherington was a pupil at a boarding school in Cheltenham, at the age of thirteen

 

Sometime between 1871 and 1881, Harriet Collett married William Palmer of Moredon in Rodbourne Cheney, Swindon, and having lost her daughter who was being educated in Cheltenham, Harriet had taken into her home the base-born son of her sister Jane (above).  The Rodbourne Cheney census in 1881 described the three of them as William Palmer, a labourer employed by the Great Western Railway, who was 37, Harriet Palmer from Hullavington who was 29, and James Collett from Didmarton who was 18.  After a further ten years, the childless couple had Harriet’s six-year-old niece Edith Bratt staying with them, Emily being the child of Harriet’s younger sister Margaret (below).  On that census day in 1891, William Palmer was still working at the GWR Works in Swindon at the age of 47, while still living in Rodbourne Cheney with his wife who was 39.  Edith Bratt had been born in Herefordshire, most likely at Colwall, near Ledbury, where her parents were residing in 1881 and 1891

 

In the latter years of the following decade, William and Harriet adopted a baby girl, as confirmed in the Rodbourne Cheney census of 1901.  William was incorrectly recorded as being 50, Harriet was 49 and Lilian Hibberd was four years old and had been born at nearby Stratton St Margaret.  The birth of Lilian May Hibberd was recorded at Highworth (Ref. 5a 6) during the first three months of 1896.  Tragically, she was only five years old when the death of Lilian Hibberd was recorded at Swindon register office (Ref. 5a 4) during the first quarter of 1902.  According to the next census in 1911 William and Harriet Palmer were still living in Rodbourne Cheney and had been married for thirty-six years, and it was fourteen years later that the death of Harriet Palmer nee Collett was recorded at Swindon (Ref. 5a 8) during the first three months of 1925 when she was 73

 

Margaret Collett [64O9] was born at Hullavington in 1853, another child of Lawrence and Sarah Collett, whose birth was recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 34) during the last quarter of that year.  She was seven years of age in the Hullavington census of 1861.  Unlike her older siblings, the baptism of Margaret Collett at Hullavington, was delayed until she was twelve years of age.  It eventually took place on 22nd March 1865, in joint ceremony with her eight-year-old brother William (below), when their father Lawrence Collett was described as a labourer of New Town, Hullavington.  On leaving school, Margaret worked as a dairy maid and in 1871 was 17 and a boarder with the Fry family at Newtown in Hullavington.  It was also around that time when Margaret fell pregnant with her first child, albeit, out of wedlock, the third Collett daughter to give birth to a base-born child.  It was also during the summer of 1878 that the marriage of Margaret Collett and Thomas William Bratt was recorded at Worcester (Ref. 6c 82).  Thomas was born in Birmingham during 1859 and was raised by his maternal grandmother Ann Willis at Colwall in Herefordshire.  The record of the couple’s wedding day on 3rd September 1878, confirmed that the bride’s father was Lawrence Collett and the groom’s father was Thomas Bratt senior.  Margaret was already with-child of her wedding day, and was at the home of her parents in Hullavington when her son William Ernest Bratt was born under six months later, his birth recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 123) within the first three months of 1879.  He then may have been around four or five months old when he was baptised at Colwall on 1st June 1879

 

That situation was confirmed in the census of 1881, when the young family was residing at Yew Tree Terrace in Colwall, near Ledbury in Herefordshire.  Thomas Bratt was 22 and a general labourer, while his wife Margaret Bratt from Hullavington was 26 and a grocer.  The children listed with the couple that day were Sarah Collett, described at the stepdaughter of Thomas Bratt, who was nine years old and born at Malmesbury, William Bratt who was two years of age and born at Hullavington, Francis Bratt who was one-year-old and born at Colwall, as was Emily Bratt who had only just been born

 

Three further children were added to the family over the next five years and in 1891 the enlarged family was recorded at Colwall Green in Colwall, although by then Thomas’ stepdaughter was no longer living with them.  Agricultural labourer Thomas Bratt was 32, Margaret Bratt was 36, and their four children were William Bratt aged 13, Francis Bratt aged 10, Emily Bratt who was eight, Lucy Bratt who was five, Wesley Bratt who was three years old, and Almond J Bratt who was just a few months old.  The family was still residing at Colwall in 1901, when the couple’s eldest child William E Bratt from Hullavington was 22 and working as a roadman/labourer while a lodger with the Brooks family in Malvern.  That turned out to be a temporary situation and by 1911 he was back living with his family.  In 1901, Thomas William Bratt was 42 and a carter on a farm, Margaret from Hullavington was 46, and their four children were Wesley Thomas Bratt who was 13, Almond Jack Bratt who was 10, Percy Bratt who was six, and Harriet May Bratt who was three.  Over the following years, two of their daughters were married at Colwall in 1903 and at Ledbury in 1908.  However, once again, the remnants of the family were recorded at Colwall in the census of 1911.  Thomas Bratt was 52 and a cowman working on a farm and Margaret Bratt was 56 and had been married to Thomas for 33 years.  On that same day, the three children still with them were William Bratt aged 32 and a market gardener, Jack Bratt aged 20 a domestic gardener, and Percy Bratt who was 16 – no occupation.  Their unmarried son Francis Joseph Bratt, who was 30 and employed by the Great Western Railway as an engine shunter, was in lodgings at Newport in South Wales

 

Other details relating to the children of Thomas Bratt and Margaret Collett are as follows.  The death of their eldest son William Ernest Bratt was recorded at Ledbury register office (Ref. 6a 664) during the first three months of 1943, when he was 64 years old.  The birth of Francis Joseph Bratt was recorded at Ledbury (Ref. 6a 468) during the third quarter of 1880, while Emily Jane Bratt was baptised at Colwall on 5th February 1881 and married Thomas Bennett at Colwall in 1903.  Emily was 21 and confirmed as the daughter of Thomas William Bratt, and Thomas was 24 and the son of James Bennett.  The birth of the last child, Lucy Margaret Bratt, was recorded at Ledbury (Ref. 6a 429) during the last three months of 1885 and she was married at Colwall (Ref. 6a 1053) to George Edward Bowers, from Mathon in Worcestershire, during the second quarter of 1908.  George was a sheet mill furnaceman who was 27 and living at Llanvihangel Pontymoile in Monmouthshire with his wife Lucy who was 25

 

64P10 – Sarah Ann H Collett was born in 1872 at Malmesbury

 

William Collett [64O10] was born at Hullavington on 8th August 1857, his birth recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 40) during the third quarter of 1857.  He was the youngest child of Lawrence Collett and Sarah Salter and was four years old in the Hullavington census of 1861.  For some reason, the baptism of William, coupled with that of his older sister Margaret (above), was delayed until he was eight and she was twelve years old respectively.  The joint ceremony was conducted at Hullavington on 22nd March 1865, when they were confirmed as the children of Lawrence, a labourer of New Town, Hullavington, and Sarah Collett.  Around eighteen months later his mother Sarah died and was buried at Hullavington, and that sad event may have resulted in the break-up of the family, since no obvious record of William Collett has been identified in 1871, and again twenty years later in 1891

 

However, on the day of the census in 1881, unmarried William Collett aged 21, was an ordinary seaman attached to the Royal Navy, but was ‘at sea’ on that day.  Rather strangely his place of birth was incorrectly recorded as Chippenham, and perhaps that is where he went to live after the premature death of his mother.  New information received from Jennie Cordner in May 2013, revealed that William Collett had married Harriet Honor Horswell at East Stonehouse [now Plymouth] in Devon.  The event was recorded at East Stonehouse register office (Ref. 5b 451) during the first three months of 1899 when the witnesses were named as Mary Maria Bennetto and Thomas William G Hogg.  Harriet had been born at Sheerness in Kent during the first six months of 1864 (Ref. 2a 686) and her marriage to William resulted in the birth of two children for the couple

 

The first of them was living with the couple at Ormonde Terrace in Devonport according to the census of 1901.  William Collett from Hullavington was 40 and was employed as a dockyard driller working for the HM Naval Authority at Devonport.  Living there with him was his wife Harriet Honor Collett aged 36, who had been born at Sheerness, together with their son Frank Lawrence Collett – named after his grandfather, who was just one-year-old.  It was during the following year that a daughter was added to their family while they were still living in Devonport, the birth being recorded there (Ref. 5b 297) during the third quarter of the year, where she was also baptised

 

Sometime after the birth, the family left Devonport, when William swapped his dockyard work for the job of a caretaker in Swindon.  It was therefore at Swindon that the family of four was residing at Wesley House in April 1911, when William Collett of Hullavington was 50, Harriet Honor Collett from Mile Town in Sheerness was 45, Frank Lawrence Collett was 11, and Doris Margaret Collett was eight, both of them born at Devonport.  The family was residing at Wesley House on Faringdon Street in Swindon, where William was described as a caretaker with a pension from the Royal Navy.  Employed by the family at that time was domestic servant Emily Hitchings who was 17 from South Kensington, London

 

William and Harriet were in Sussex early in 1939, when the death of Harriet Honor Collett aged 74 was recorded at the Sussex register office (Ref. 2b 146).  That sad event result in William moving to Swindon, to live with his married son Frank at 120 Drove Road, where he was recorded in the 1939 Register as a retired Royal Navy pensioner whose date of birth was 8th August 1857.  It is possible, although not proved, that William Collett aged 82 died before the end of that year, with the death of William Collett recorded at Oxford register office (Ref. 3a 2712) in 1939

 

64P11 – Frank Lawrence Collett was born in 1900 at Devonport

64P12 – Doris Margaret Collett was born in 1902 at Devonport

 

Margaret Collett [64O11] was born at Bremilham in the parish of Norton-Coleparle within the Deanery of Malmesbury during 1837, the eldest of the eight children of James Collett and his wife Jane Hope of Bremilham.  It was also in that same village that Margaret was living with her family in 1841 when she was three years old.  Upon leaving school, Margaret left the family home in Bremilham, very likely to take up work as a domestic servant and, at the age of 13, she was still living in Bremilham not far from her family.  On that occasion in 1851, her employer gave her place of birth as Cowage [aka Bremilham].  It was just over six years after that when Margaret Collett married Francis Peart, the event recorded at the Malmesbury register office (Ref. 5a 38) during the third quarter of 1857

 

Less than three years later Margaret and Francis were residing at Oldbury-on-the-Hill in Gloucestershire where their son had been born.  The census in 1861 listed the family as Francis Peart, who was 25 and an agricultural labourer from Sopworth, near Sherston to the west of Malmesbury, his wife Margaret who was 23 while her place of birth was given as Malmesbury, and their son George Peart who was just one-year-old

 

Ann Collett [64O12] was born at Bremilham in 1840 as she was under one-year-old by the time of the Bremilham census in June 1841.  She was still living there with her family in 1851 when she was 10 years of age.  Five years later, her father died, and by 1861, Ann Collett from Cowage [aka Bremilham] was 19 and a visitor in the nearby Chelworth/Crudwell area of Wiltshire at the home of William and Hannah Collett from Bibury (Ref. 2N16), by which time she was a house servant like William’s daughter Ruth Collett of the same age.  Very shortly after that day she returned to the family home, where she married John Gulwell, the wedding recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 6) during the second quarter of 1861.  John was born around 1838 in the Gloucestershire hamlet of Newington Bagpath within the parish of Lasborough, a son of Samuel and Hannah Gulwell.  The marriage produced six children for the couple, all of them born at Newington Bagpath [aka Bagpath], where the family was living in 1871 and 1881.

 

In the census for the first of them, John Gulwell from Bagpath – midway between Tetbury and Wotton-under-Edge, was 33 and an agricultural labourer, and his wife Ann from Foxley, adjacent to Bremilham, was 30 years old.  Their three children by then were Elizabeth Gulwell who was eight, George Gulwell who was five and Mary Jane Gulwell who was three years of age.  Ten years later the family was made up of ag lab John 43 and from Lasborough, Ann 40 and from Foxley, Elizabeth 18, George 15, Mary 13, Anne Gulwell who was nine and William Gulwell who was four.  All children were confirmed as having been born at Bagpath, the births of all six recorded at Tetbury

 

Three years later, daughter Anne Gulwell died at the age of 12, with the couple’s last child being given the second forename of Anne, having been born without it some months earlier.  However, sadly for the family, Ann Gulwell nee Collett did not survive the ordeal – see below.  Therefore 53-year-old John Gulwell was described as a widower when he was a farm labourer living with his family at Kingscote just north of Bagpath and Lasborough.  With him that day were Mary J Gulwell aged 23, William Gulwell aged 14 and Annie Gulwell who was seven years old.  By the time of the census in 1901, it was just John and his youngest child who was recorded as residing at Horsley, just north of Kingscote, where cowman John Gulwell from Bagpath was 63 and Caroline Ann Gulwell was 17

 

John was still at Horsley in 1911, when he was 73 and still working as a farm labourer, his place of birth recorded as Lasborough.  The eventual death of John Gulwell was recorded at nearby Stroud register office (Ref. 6a 138) during the first three months of 1929, when he was 90 years old.  It was forty-five years earlier, during the first quarter of 1884, that the death of Ann Gulwell was recorded at Tetbury (Ref. 6a 75) at the age of 43, coinciding with the birth of her last child Caroline Gulwell who, a few months later was renamed Caroline Anne following the premature death of her older sister Anne Gulwell aged twelve years, whose death was recorded at Tetbury during the second quarter of 1884

 

Harriet Collett [64O13] was born at Bremilham near Malmesbury during 1842 and was eight years old in the Bremilham census of 1851 when she was still living there with her family.  No obvious record of Harriet Collett has been found in the next census of 1861, although it is believed that she died during the following year.  The death of Harriet Collett was recorded at the Malmesbury register office (Ref. 5a 21) during the last three months of 1862

 

Mary Jane Collett [64O14] was born at Bremilham in 1845, the fourth daughter of James and Jane Collett.  Her birth was recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. viii 10) during the quarter of that year.  She was five years old and was living with her family at Bremilham in 1851, but around two years later the family left Bremilham, when they moved the short distance to Foxley.  It was there where Mary’s father died in 1856, following which Mary’s mother then took the family to Milk Street in St Mary Westport to live, where they were recorded in the Malmesbury census of 1861.  At that time Mary Collett was 15, although no subsequent record of her has been found, suggesting that she was married by 1871

 

Arthur Collett [64O15] was born at Bremilham in 1847 and was baptised there on 4th April 1847, the fifth child and eldest of the three sons of James Collett and his wife Jane Hope.  It was at Bremilham that he was living with his family in 1851 when he was four years of age.  Around 1853 it may have been his father’s work that took the family to nearby Foxley where, tragically, Arthur’s father died in 1856.  By 1861, when he was 13, he was living at Milk Street in St Mary Westport in Malmesbury with his widowed mother and five of his seven siblings

 

Within the next ten years Arthur left Wiltshire and moved north to Yorkshire where, in the census of 1871, he was recorded as a lodger at the home of widow Martha Patchett in Idle, within the parish of Eccleshill, to the north of Bradford.  On that occasion he was described as Arthur Collett aged 24 and a gardener from Foxley in Wiltshire.  It was while he was working in Yorkshire that he met and married Margaret Ward who was born at Bradford (Ref. 9b 76) during the last quarter of 1852, the eldest daughter of John and Martha Ward of King Charles Street in Bradford.  It was also at Bradford where the marriage of Arthur Collett and Margaret Ward was recorded (Ref. 9b 33) during the second quarter of 1872.  Just over one year earlier, Margaret Ward was 18 and working as a domestic servant at the Bradford home of spinster sisters Sarah and Mary Tolson

 

Over the next twenty years the couple was blessed with the arrival of seven children and, although all of them were born at Idle, most of them were baptised at the nearby Eccleshill parish Church of St Luke.  Sadly however, two of their children suffered premature deaths, with the loss of their son Edward prior to 1881 and the loss of their daughter Agnes prior to 1891.  It was at 16 Wellington Street, off Bradford Road, in Idle that the family was living in 1881.  Arthur Collett, aged 34 and from Malmesbury, had the occupation of a domestic coachman.  His wife Margaret Collitt from Bradford was 28 and their four children were Annie Collitt who was eight, Emily Collitt who was seven, Minnie Collitt who was five, and John Collitt who was two years of age

 

According to the next census in 1891 the family was once again residing at 16 Wellington Street in Idle, Eccleshill, albeit recorded under the surname of Collet.  Arthur Collet from Malmesbury was 42 and was working as a warehouseman.  Margaret was 38 and, still living with the couple were their surviving children.  They were Anne, who was 18 and employed as a worsted spinner, as was her sisters Emily, who was 17, and Minnie, who was 15, while son John was 11 years of age and still attending school, and baby Maud was only six months old.  By March 1901 the much-reduced family was still living at 16 Wellington Street, following the departure from the family home of four members of the family.  Arthur Collett, aged 53 and from Malmesbury, was a carpet planner employed at a local draper’s shop, Margaret Collett from Bradford was 48, and their daughter Maud Collett was 10 years old

 

During the next ten years Arthur, Margaret and daughter Maud may have moved out of their home on Wellington Street in Idle, because the census in 1911 described them as still residing in the Parish of Eccleshill, within the census registration district of North Bierley, and sub-district of Idle.  Arthur Collett from Foxley in Wiltshire was 63 and described as a wool warehouse apprentice, Margaret Collett from Bradford was 59, and their daughter Maud Collett was 20 and working as a restaurant attendant (a waitress?).  Also living with the family on the day of the census was Arthur and Margaret’s grandchild Maggie Collett from Bradford who was incorrectly recorded as being nine years old.  It was previous thought that Maggie was the daughter of Arthur’s only surviving son John, but this has now been disproved, making Maggie the base-born child of Arthur’s only unmarried daughter Annie.  Also staying with the family in 1911 was three-year-old Gladys Mallaby which is interesting because Henry Mallaby, aged 21, was a lodger at the nearby Eccleshill home of Arthur’s married daughter Emily Louisa Moore nee Collett.  The death of Gladys Mallaby was recorded at North Bierley (Ref. 9b 145) during the last three months of 1918 when she was just 11 years of age

 

It is also worth noting that Henry Collett (Ref. 64P30) and his family were living at Shipley, within the North Bierley registration district of the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1911, Henry previously having been a lodger with Arthur’s brother James (below) at Grace Church Street, Bradford St James in the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1891

 

It was twenty-two years later that the death of Margaret Collett nee Ward was recorded at North Bierley register office (Ref. 9b 100) during the first quarter of 1933 at the age of 80.  Her husband survived her by almost exactly three years, when the death of Arthur Collett was also recorded at North Bierley (Ref. 9b 113) during the first three months of 1936 when he was 89

 

64P13 – Ann Elizabeth Collett was born in 1872 at Idle, Eccleshill, Bradford

64P14 – Emily Louisa Collett was born in 1873 at Idle, Eccleshill, Bradford

64P15 – Minnie Collett was born in 1875 at Idle, Eccleshill, Bradford

64P16 – John Collett was born in 1878 at Idle, Eccleshill, Bradford

64P17 – Edward Collett was born in 1880 at Idle, Eccleshill, Bradford

64P18 – Agnes Collett was born in 1885 at Idle, Eccleshill, Bradford

64P19 – Maud Collett was born in 1890 at Idle, Eccleshill, Bradford

 

James Thomas Collett [64O16] was born at Bremilham near Malmesbury in 1849, where he was baptised on 18th August 1849, the son of James and Jane Collett.  His second name, not used in any census until 1911, appears to have come from his paternal grandfather.  His birth, under his full name, was recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. viii 39) during the third quarter of 1849.  James was one-year old in the Bremilham census of 1851 but, just five years later, his father died at nearby Foxley, following which his widowed mother took the family to St Mary Westport in Malmesbury, where they were living in 1861 when James was 11 and born at Cowage [aka Bremilham].  By 1871 he had left the family home in St Mary Westport, where he was still living, albeit with a related Collett family, when James Collett, aged 21 and born at Bremilham, was a lodger and a labourer at the Westport home of his older cousin Aaron Vizor Collett (above), from Foxley, and his wife Ellen and their daughter Jane

 

Four years later, the marriage of James Thomas Collett and Elizabeth Salter was recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 171) for their wedding day at Norton-Coleparle on 21st August 1875.  Elizabeth was born at Norton-Coleparle during the second quarter of 1850, her birth recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. viii 14), the daughter of Shadrack and Ann Salter.  The birth of couple’s only known child, their daughter Harriet Ann Collett, was recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 39) during the first three months of 1877.  Not long after she was born, the family of three followed in the footsteps of James’ brother Arthur, when they travelled north to Bradford in the West Riding of Yorkshire.  According to the Bradford census of 1881, the three of them were recorded living at 45 Sedgwick Street in the town, although there were some oddities about how they were recorded.  Firstly, James Collett was described as Squire Collett from Foxley in Wiltshire who was 31 and a carter and parcel delivery man.  His wife Elizabeth Collett from Norton [aka Norton Coleparle] in Wiltshire was 30, while their daughter Harriet Ann Collett was named as Ada A Collett, who was also born at Norton in Wiltshire, who was four years of age.  No birth record has been found for Ada A Collett, so the entry may have been an error on the part of the census enumerator

 

Ten years later, on the day of the next census in 1891, the family was still living at Bradford within the parish of Bradford St James, but at Grace Church Street, when James Collett was 41 and employed as a draper’s parcel delivery man.  His wife Elizabeth was 39, while their daughter Harriet A Collett was 14 and already working as a dressmaker’s apprentice.  Staying with the family as a boarder at that time was Henry Collett aged 27 who was single and a railway signalman.  All four members of the household were simply described as having been born in Wiltshire.  Henry Collett (Ref. 64P30) was also from Norton-Coleparle and was the eldest son of James’ cousin William Collett and his first wife Emma Garland (below)

 

Sometime during the following decade, the family of three left Yorkshire and returned to the south-west, where they settled at Colwall in Herefordshire, midway between Ledbury and Great Malvern.  In 1901, James Collett of Malmesbury was 51 and was working as a general workman.  His wife Elizabeth Collett was 50, and their daughter Harriet Collett was a dressmaker at the age of 24 – a comparable age to the previous two census returns.  Both ladies were listed as having been born at Malmesbury, while described as a visitor at their home was Frederick Cotton from Lichfield who was 53.  The three of them were still living at Colwall in April 1911, their address being Laburnum Villa Cottage at Colwall Green, Colwall near Malvern within the Ledbury sub-registration district of Herefordshire.  James Collett of Foxley was a general workman who was 61, who had been married for thirty-six years to Elizabeth Collett of Norton who was 60.  Their unmarried daughter Harriet Collett, also from Norton, was curiously described as being 30 years of age rather than 34, which would have corresponded with her age in the previous census returns

 

In addition, the same census return also recorded that James and Elizabeth had given birth to a total of five children, with only one of them still alive in 1911.  Therefore, the aforementioned Ada A Collett may have been one of the four missing children, although once again, no death record has been found for anyone by that name, either in Wiltshire or Yorkshire.  A further mystery with the family in 1911, is the fact that staying with them on the day of the census were two children who were simply described as visitors.  They were Nellie Palfrey who was 11 and Nora Palfrey who was 10, born of them born at Ross-on-Wye.  Ten years earlier the Ross census of 1901 recorded the pair of them living there with their parents William Palfry, aged 46, a plasterer from Shrewsbury, and his wife Mary Palfry from Gloucester who was 35, and the girls’ five older siblings.  What connection the two young girls had with the Collett family is not known at this time.  The later death of James T Collett was recorded at Ledbury register office (Ref. 5a 108) during the third quarter of 1926, when he was 77

 

64P20 – Ada A Collett was born in 1877 at Norton-Coleparle – not proved

64P21 – Harriet Ann Collett was born in 1877 at Norton-Coleparle

 

Caroline Collett [64O17] was born at Bremilham in 1851 with her birth recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. viii 38) during the third quarter of the year.  Within a short time of his birth, she was baptised at Bremilham on 20th July 1851, the seventh child and fifth daughter of James and Jane Collett.  During the couple of years after she was born her parents moved the family the few short miles to the village of Foxley where her brother John (below) was born.  It was also at Foxley in 1856 that Caroline’s father died when she was five years old, which resulted in her mother taking the family from Foxley to live in nearby Malmesbury.  By the time of the census in 1861 Caroline Collett was nine years old when she was living with her widowed mother at Milk Street in the Westport St Mary area of the Deanery of Malmesbury.  Caroline’s place of birth was recorded as Cowage [aka Bremilham].  Although no record of her has been found in 1871 and 1881, the marriage of Caroline Collett and Frederick Charles Smith was recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 172) during the second quarter of 1890.  Also curious, is the fact that no record of the couple has been found after that time

 

John Collett [64O18] was born at Foxley in 1854, the youngest of the eight children of James Collett and his wife Jane Hope, the birth recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 25) during the second quarter of the year.  It was also at Foxley where he was baptised on 4th June 1854.  John was only two years old when his father died at Foxley, after which the family left Foxley and moved the few miles to Westport in Malmesbury.  It was there at Milk Street in St Mary Westport that John Collett from Foxley was six years old in 1861 when he was living there with his widowed mother and five of his seven older siblings.  With no record of his mother after that time, it is possible that she was married for a second time.  Just as with his sister Caroline (above), no record of John has been found anywhere within the census conducted in 1871, when he would have been 16

 

Around the time that John was 21, he married Margaret Louisa Goodfield who was a local girl who had also been born at Foxley.  Their marriage was recorded at Malmesbury register office (Ref. 5a 59) during the second quarter of 1875, following which the couple moved to Bristol, where their first three children were born before the family finally settled in the Worcester area of the country, where they were living when their fourth child was born.  It is interesting to note that the names given to the children at the time of their birth was sometimes reversed when they were recorded in the various census returns.  The birth of John’s wife was simply recorded at Malmesbury as Margaret Goodfield, during the first three months of 1853 (Ref. 5a 40), but was baptised at Foxley as Margaret Louisa Goodfield on 20th February 1853, the daughter of labourer Isaac Goodfield and his wife Caroline, according to the Bishop’s Transcript.  In 1861 and again as just Margaret Goodfield, she was eight years old and the only child living with her parents at the Royal Oak in Foxley, and it was the same situation in 1871  

 

According to the 1881 Census, John Collett from Foxley was 26 when he was employed as a carman with the Midland Railway Company.  His wife was Margaret, aged 27 and also of Foxley, while their Bristol born children were John H A Collett, who was four, Mary E M Collett, who was three, and Ernest P W Collett, who was two, while baby Francis C L Collett of Worcester was just three weeks old on the third of April 1881.  At that time the family was living at 21 Bowling Green Terrace in the Blockhouse area of Worcester.  Just over six years later the family’s youngest son in 1881, Francis Lewis George Collett, suffered a childhood death, resulting in John’s next son being named George Lewis Collett, while son James was given the additional christian name of Francis

 

It is thanks to Jennie Cordner in May 2013, that John and his family were finally identified within the census details of 1891, where previously no record of them had been found.  That was because they were recorded in error under the surname Vollett.  At that time in their life, the family was residing at South Claines, two miles north of Worcester, where John Collett was 36 and a railway carman from Foxley.  His wife was listed as Margaret L Collett who was 37 and also from Foxley.  Their six surviving children were recorded as John H A Collett who was 14, Mary E L Collett who was 13, Ernest E Collett who was 12, Arthur R Collett who was five, James F W Collett who was two, and George L Collett who was eight months old.  Living with the family was Margaret’s widowed mother Caroline Goodfield who was 67

 

Just before the end of the old century, the family left South Claines when they moved into the city of Worcester where, on the day of the census in 1901, they were recorded at Lower Chestnut Street.  John Collett was 46 and was still working as a railway carman.  By that time his wife Margaret was 47, and both of them were confirmed as having been born at Foxley in Wiltshire.  Living with the couple on that day were six of their eight children.  They were John Collett who was 24, Maud Collett who was 23, Ernest Collett who was 22, all of them born at Bristol, together with Arthur Collett who was 14, James Collett who was 12, George Collett who was 10, and Stanley Collett who was nine years old, all of them born after the move to Worcestershire.  Exactly two years later son Arthur Lewis Collett died at the sage of 12 years and was buried in Worcester, when the Collett family’s address was recorded at 4 Eastnor Villas on Lower Chestnut Street in Worcester

 

Ten years later the majority of the family was still living in Worcester.  John Collett of Foxley was 57 and a carter working on the railway and his wife Margaret Collett from Foxley was 58.  Of their eight children, six of them have been identified in the 1911 Census, and all bar two of them were still residing in Worcester.  Their son Arthur was the exception, in that he had moved to Aston in Birmingham, where he was 25 and from Worcester.  However, no trace has been found of their son George.  Of the remainder of the family, who were still living with the couple in 1911, their eldest daughter Maud Collett was 34 and not married, and their unmarried sons, were James Collett who was 23 and Stanley Collett who was 19.  The couple’s other two sons, John H A Collett and Ernest Percy William Collett, were both married with families of their own by then.  Five years later in October 1916, John and Margaret were informed that their son Arthur had been killed in action in the Great War, during the Battle of the Somme

 

The death of Margaret L Collett was recorded at Worcester register office (Ref. 6c 125) during the second quarter of 1926 when she was 73, while her husband John Collett aged 77 died at Worcester on 5th January 1932 where his death was also recorded (Ref. 6c 160).  His Will was proved in Birmingham just one month later on 5th February 1832 which confirmed that he was living at 69 Lansdowne Road in Worcester at the time of death.  Administration of his estate of Ł711 3 Shillings and 9 Pence was handled by his eldest son John Henry Albert Collett, a clothing manufacturer’s foreman

 

64P22 – John Henry Albert Collett was born in 1876 at Bristol

64P23 – Mary Elizabeth Maud Collett was born in 1877 at Bristol

64P24 – Ernest Percy William Collett was born in 1878 at Bristol

64P25 – Francis Lewis George Collett was born in 1881 at Worcester

64P26 – Arthur Reginald Collett was born in 1886 at Worcester

64P27 – James Francis Walter Collett was born in 1888 at Worcester

64P28 – George Lewis Collett was born in 1890 at Worcester

64P29 – Victor Stanley Collett was born in 1892 at Worcester

 

William Collett [64O19] was born at Norton-Coleparle where he was baptised on 23rd September 1836, the son of Henry Collett and Hannah Tanner, who was four years old in the 1841 Census for the village of Norton.  In the next two censuses his age was recorded as 14 and 25, by which time he was working as an agricultural labourer.  A year later, on 3rd May 1862, and still at the age of twenty-five, William Collett married (1) Emma Garland at Norton-Coleparle, the marriage being recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 22) during the second quarter of that year.  Emma was born during 1834 at Hankerton, to the east of Malmesbury, and was the daughter of Job and Charlotte Garland of Hankerton.  It may be of interest to note that Job Garland was born at Easton Grey

 

The marriage produced a total of six children for William and Emma and, it would appear, that the couple lived for the majority of their married life together at Norton, as it was there where their first five were born.  Their last child was not born at Norton, where the family was once again living after the birth, which took place at Easton Grey, the next village north of Norton-Coleparle and the birth place of Emma’s father.  Rather bizarrely Easton Grey was also the village where William’s second wife was born – see later notes

 

By the time of the 1871 Census for Norton-Coleparle the family was recorded as William Collett from Norton who was 34 and working as a shepherd, Emma Collett from Hankerton who was 35, and their three Norton born children were Henry Collett who was eight, Elizabeth Collett who was four, and Catherine Collett who was two years old.  Ten years later in the census for Norton-Coleparle in 1881, the larger family comprised agricultural labourer William Collett who was 44 and of Norton, his wife Emma Collett aged 47 and of Hankerton, and five of their six children.  They were Henry who was 18, who was also an agricultural labourer, presumably working with his father, Catherine who was 12, William who was 10, Philip who was six, and Frederick who was one-year-old and born at Easton Grey, when all of the other children were confirmed as having been born at Norton.  Missing daughter Elizabeth had left the family home and was living and working in Tetbury

 

Five years later Emma Collett died at Norton-Coleparle in 1886 at the age of 52, her death recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 218) during the last three months of that year.  That event left William with sole responsibility for raising his young family, while three years later, during the third quarter of 1889, the marriage of William Collett and (2) Fanny Beak, was recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 237).  Fanny was born in 1846 and was just one of the many children of agricultural labourer Charles Beak, all of whom were born at Easton Grey.  As a spinster at the age of 37, while working on a farm at Easton Grey, Fanny was the only member of the Beak family still living at Easton Grey in 1881, when everyone else from her family had moved to Thornbury, near Bristol

 

In the census of 1891, William’s wife was confirmed as being Fanny, when living with the couple at Foxley Road in St Mary Westport, Malmesbury, were William’s two youngest sons Philip and Frederick.  Rather oddly though, all of the ages they gave did not correspond with their dates of birth.  Only Fanny Collett, at the age of 45, accurately reflected the year she was born.  William Collett was said to be 49 and an agricultural labourer, instead of 54 years of age, while Philip Collett was 18, instead of 16, and Frederick was 15, rather than 11 years old, both of them working with their father as agricultural labourers.  What was correct, was that the place of birth recorded for both William and Philip, as Norton

 

It was previously written here that William was widowed again within a few years of the census of 1891.  However, that is now known not to be true, with a valid reason for her absence from the Collett family home in 1901.  Fanny Collett from Easton Grey was 54 and a visitor at Hamfallow, within the Thornbury Rural District Council area of Gloucestershire, in the home of her younger married cousin, Annie Watts, nee Beak, and her large family.  Not far away, just a few miles north-east of Hamfallow, Fanny’s husband William was recorded at the Woodchester home of his married daughter Catherine King, nee Collett, and her young family.  William Collett from Norton in Wiltshire was 66 years old and still working, but as a carter on a farm.  It possible that he was working on the same farm where his son-in-law Sidney King was employed as a shepherd.  Just under six years after that census day, Fanny appears to have still been living at Hamfallow, since the death of Fanny Collett was recorded at Thornbury register office (Ref. 6a 131) during the first three months of 1907, at the age of 60.  Although William has not been located in 1911, it was at Woodchester that he is believed to have died, even though the record of his passing has not been found.   However, the deaths of two William Colletts were recorded at Stroud register office in 1902 and 1908, but neither of them indicated the age that William would have been

 

64P30 – Henry Collett was born in 1862 at Norton-Coleparle

64P31 – Elizabeth Collett was born in 1866 at Norton-Coleparle

64P32 – Catherine Collett was born in 1868 at Norton-Coleparle

64P33 – William Collett was born in 1871 at Norton-Coleparle

64P34 – Philip Collett was born in 1874 at Norton-Coleparle

64P35 – Frederick Collett was born in 1879 at Easton Grey

 

Mary Ann Collett [64O20] was born at Norton-Coleparle in 1840 and it was in that village that she lived and died.  She married William Punter in 1860 with whom she had ten children, all of whom were born at Norton-Coleparle.  William was born at Westport in Malmesbury in 1837 although in 1901 he gave his place of birth as Corston where his first and eldest son was born

 

According to the 1881 Census for Norton-Coleparle, William was an agricultural labourer aged 42 and his wife Mary Ann was 40.  At that time the couple’s two oldest children were living and working away from the family home in Norton-Coleparle.  Also missing was son Thomas who later reappeared in 1891 so he was not subject to an infant death as first thought, although his actual whereabouts has not been determined.  The seven remaining children were Richard 14 and Arthur 13, who were both working as agricultural labourers, Alfred who was nine, Francis who was eight, Harriet who was five, Rose who was one-year old, and Maud who was just one-month old

 

Some of the ages in 1881 varied greatly from those given in 1891 and 1901, which also differed from the individual’s actual year of birth.  In 1891 William was 54 and Mary 50, with their children Arthur 28 (?), Frederick 25, Thomas 17, Harriet 15, Rose 11, and Maud who was 10.  Also, in 1891, Mary Ann and William had Mary Ann’s widowed father Henry Collett staying with them, which he continued to do until he passed away in 1895.  The final member of the Punter household at that time was one-year old grand-daughter Lillian Punter who was born at Birmingham

 

Just after the turn of the century Mary Ann Punter aged 65 was living with her husband William aged 67.  And living with the couple at Norton-Coleparle were their two bachelor sons Arthur aged 30, and Frederick aged 26, both of whom were working as ordinary agricultural labourers like their father.  The couple’s youngest daughter Maud aged 20, was still living with her parents, although her place of birth was then listed as Birmingham rather than Norton, the same as for their twelve-year old grand-daughter Lillian who was also still living with the family at Norton-Coleparle

 

Ten years later the census in 1911 recorded increased ages for Mary and William, but only by five years and seven years respectively which, however, were more accurate than their ages quoted in the earlier census of 1901 when in fact they had been 60 and 64.  Still living at Honey Lane in Norton-Coleparle with the couple was their unmarried son Arthur Henry Punter who was 43 years of age, with Mary Ann Punter being 70 and her husband William Punter being 74.  The census return that year revealed the couple had been married for forty-nine years, during which time they had given birth to a total of eleven children, of which nine were still alive.  Therefore, one child is missing from the list below

 

Staying with the Punter family on that day in 1911 was Worthy Chappell, 53, with his wife Cetha Chappell, also 53, and their five children ranging in age from 12 to 20 years.  It was around three years later that Mary Ann Punter nee Collett died aged 73, her death being recorded at Malmesbury register office (Ref. 5a 76) during the first three months of 1914.  Almost exactly one year after her passing, the death of William Punter was also recorded at Malmesbury register office (Ref. 5a 74) during the first quarter of 1915 when he was 77.  Their children were all born at Norton-Coleparle and were: William Punter born 1861 who married Matilda Evans; Louisa Ann Punter born in 1863 who married Albert Baker in 1891; Richard Punter born in 1866 who married Dora Kate Neal in 1888; Arthur Henry Punter born 1868; Alfred Punter baptised on 16th April 1871; Frederick Punter born 1873; Thomas Punter born 1874; Harriet Punter born 1876; Rose Punter born 1879, died 1899; and Maud Punter born in 1881

 

CHARLES COLLETT [64O21] was born at Norton-Coleparle in 1844 and it was there that he was baptised on 20th October 1844, the son of Henry Collett and his wife Hannah Tanner.  Charles was six years old in the Malmesbury Eastern registration district census of 1851 when he was recorded with his family at Norton-Coleparle.  He was still living there with his parents in 1861 when he was 16 and an agricultural labourer.  Five years later he became a married man for the first of three times over a seven-year period. Charles Collett married (1) Matilda Webb on 2nd April 1866 at the parish church in Norton-Coleparle, the daughter of John Webb, the event recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 69) during the second quarter of 1866, when the groom’s father was confirmed as Henry Collett.  Matilda likely died in childbirth, leaving widower Charles Collett, the son of Henry, to marry (2) Mary Shipton, a widow, at Hullavington on 18th July 1868

 

Mary Shipton was the former wife of Thomas Shipton, who had been born as Mary Wicks on 6th March 1834 at Hullavington, the daughter of Charles Wicks and Hannah Greenman, who had married Thomas Shipton of Chippenham at the parish church.  They had one child, Mary Ann Shipton who was born at Chippenham in 1860.  Thomas Shipton died at Chippenham during 1861, after which Mary returned to Hullavington with her daughter Mary Ann, who tragically died there in 1863, where she was buried in the parish church yard.  The subsequent marriage of Mary Shipton and Charles Collett lasted just over a year, when Mary Collett of Norton died when she was 35 years old, and was buried at the parish church in Hullavington on 5th October 1869.  Curiously, her death certificate at Malmesbury gave the date of her passing as 30th September 1869, but her age as being 40, the wife of Charles Collett, a farm labourer, the cause of death being typhoid fever, which she had suffered with for fourteen days, together with effusion on the brain [aka fluid on the brain].  The informant was named as Mary Collett, who made her mark to confirm she was present at her passing in Hullavington.  The identity of Mary Collett, the informant, is currently not known, unless it was a recording error for husband Charles

 

It can now be revealed from the parish records, that earlier in the year that she died, Mary Collett, the second wife of Charles Collett, gave birth to a son, Auldin Collett, whose birth was recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 243) during the first three months of 1869.  His birth certificate confirmed that he was born at Norton on 30th January 1869, the son of Charles Collett and Mary Collett formerly Wicks.  Charles’ occupation was that of a farm labourer, while the informant of the birth was the child’s mother Mary Collett.  Auldin was subsequently baptised at Norton-Coleparle on 21st March 1869 and was just two years old when he died at Norton-Coleparle, but was buried on 23rd March 1871 at Hullavington, his passing recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 318).  Having lost his wife and then their only child, it is perhaps not surprising that no record of Charles Collett has been located anywhere in the census return for 1871.  It was just over thirty months after that census day, when Charles Collett, a widower for the second time at the relatively young age of 29, and the son of Henry Collett, married (3) Sarah Deborah Wicks, aged 24, at Hullavington parish church on 8th November 1873, Sarah already having given birth to a son out of wedlock.  However, it was shortly after they were married that Sarah gave birth to the first of the couple’s twelve children, the birth being registered at Hullavington during the first quarter of the following year

 

Sarah Deborah Wicks was the second cousin of Mary Shipton nee Wicks, Charles Collett’s second wife, and the daughter of John Wicks and Elizabeth Goulding who was baptised at Hullavington on 4th June 1848.  In 1871 Sarah was still living with her parents at the age of 22, when she was referred to as Sarah Debra Wicks.  Her base-born son John William Wicks, would have been three years old at the time of the couple’s wedding.  Sarah also had a sister Sylvia Wicks, who was born at Hullavington in 1839, and she married Henry Charles Smith who was born at Walcot in 1866, the great grandson of Elizabeth Collett (Ref. 35M19), who was the daughter of John Collett and Mary White of Broughton Gifford

 

By 1881 the Collett family was living at Gibbs Lane in Hullavington, where Charles was 36 and was employed as an agricultural labourer.  His wife Sarah was 33 and the children listed with them were John Wicks aged 12, Helena Collett who was six, Hannah Collett who was five, Charles Collett who was three, and Jane Collett who was just ten months old.  All of the children had been born at Hullavington except Hannah, who was born at Foxley, near Malmesbury.  Charles and Sarah’s daughter, Jane, was one half of a pair of twins, the missing child being Frances Ellen Collett who had died at Hullavington in June 1880, when she was only one-month old.  Sadly, Jane followed her twin sister, when she died five days after the census day in 1881.  At that same time in April 1881, Sarah was expecting her sixth child by Charles.  That child was born three months later in July and was named after the dead twins.  However, it would appear that she too did not survive, since no further record of her has been found

 

Over the next couple of years, the family moved closer to Bristol, perhaps to be reunited with Charles’ uncle Joseph, who had been living at Westerleigh since 1860.  It was while Charles and Sarah were living at Westerleigh that two of their last five children were born and, in between, one of their sons was born at Downend, near Mangotsfield, less than three miles from Westerleigh.  The last but one child was born at Stoke Gifford before the family moved again, that time to Latteridge.  The move seems to have taken place just after the death of uncle Joseph in 1888.  The hamlet of Latteridge lies immediately north-west of Iron Acton, where the family was residing on the day of the census in 1891.  Also, during the mid-1880s, the family suffered the loss of their son Henry, resulting in the same name being given to a subsequent child born into the family

 

The census in 1891 included many errors regarding the ages of some family members.  Charles Collett from Wiltshire was 42 and working as an agricultural labourer, his wife Sarah D Collett as 40, while the children with them that day were Elena E Collett who was 18, Charles Collett who was 13, William Collett who was seven, Henry Collett who was five, Tom Collett who was three, and Alden Collett who was two years old.  Sarah was pregnant with the couple’s twelfth child on the day of the census, and twenty days later she gave birth to her ninth son and her last child.  Apart from Jane, who died shortly after the census in 1881, another daughter was not listed with the family in 1891, that being Hannah who had died ten months earlier, when she was 14

 

In March 1901 Charles Collett was recorded as being 56 and a farm labourer who had been born at Norton, and his wife was confirmed as Sarah aged 48 and from Hullavington.  At that time the couple was residing at Westerleigh Hill in Westerleigh with their sons William aged 16, Tom aged 13, Alden, who was 10, and Arthur who was nine years old.  Missing son Henry was living and working in Bristol on that occasion.  Nine years later Charles and Sarah were living was at Winterbourne Road in Hambrook near Mangotsfield, where Sarah died on 13th January 1910

 

The death was registered by her son William Collett of Winterbourne, who was at her bedside when she passed away.  The death certificate recorded that she was Sarah Deborah Collett, wife of Charles Collett an agricultural labourer.  The cause of death was given as cerebral haemorrhage.  Just over a year later, according to the census of 1911, widower Charles was 68 and was living with his son Henry (referred to as Harry) and his new wife Florence at their home on Station Avenue in the Fishponds district of Bristol

 

Sometime later, possible when Henry’s and Florence’s children were born, Charles moved out of their Bristol home and moved to Chipping Sodbury, where he died on 7th February 1919.  At that time, he was living in the Chipping Sodbury Union Workhouse in Yate Road.  The death certificate recorded that he was 75, a farm labourer of Winterbourne Road.  The informant was A Pethrick, the Master of the Union Workhouse, and the cause of death was bronchitis and syncope.  There is an interesting footnote regarding the children of Charles Collett in that, according to the WW1 military record of his son Alden Collett [64P53], there was an “old brother James Collett” named as a fourth next-of-kin.  Later family members are also aware that there was a James in the family.  However, whilst he must have been alive when Alden completed his military paperwork, no record of a birth, baptism, or census return for him has been unearthed.  Looking down the list of Charles’ children, there is just one four-year gap for another child to drop into, and that would place James as having been born in 1872 to Charles and his third wife

 

The following child was born to Charles Collett by his second wife Mary Shipton:

64P36 – Auldin Collett was born in 1869 at Norton-Coleparle; where died in 1871

The following are the children of Charles Collett by his third wife Sarah Deborah Wicks:

64P37 – John William Wicks was born in 1870 at Hullavington

64P38 – Elena Elizabeth Collett was born in 1874 at Hullavington

64P39 – Hannah Matilda Collett was born in 1876 at Foxley, near Malmesbury

64P40 – Charles Eli Collett was born in 1878 at Hullavington

64P41 – Jane Collett was born in 1880 at Hullavington

64P42 – Frances Ellen Collett was born in 1880 at Hullavington

64P43 – Ellen Jane Collett was born in 1881 at Hullavington

64P44 – Henry Collett was born in 1883 at Hullavington

64P45 – William Collett was born in 1884 at Westerleigh, near Bristol

64P46 – Henry Collett was born in 1886 at Downend, near Bristol

64P47 – Thomas Collett was born in 1887 at Westerleigh, near Bristol

64P48 – Alden Collett was born in 1888 at Stoke Gifford, near Bristol

64P49 – ARTHUR COLLETT was born in 1891 at Latteridge, near Bristol

 

Thomas James Collett [64O22] was born at Hullavington on 27th August 1852, the eldest child of Joseph Collett and Anne Brewer, who were married just over three months earlier.  It was also at Hullavington that he was baptised, as simply Thomas Collett, on 24th October 1852, when his parents were confirmed as Joseph and Ann.  Shortly after he was baptised, he and his parents moved to nearby Norton-Coleparle, where three of his brothers were born before the family moved again in 1860 to Westerleigh in Gloucestershire.  In the 1861 Census for Westerleigh, Thomas Collett from Hullavington was eight years old, when he and his large family were staying there with the Dands family in Westerleigh, north-east of Bristol.  After a further ten years the Collett family had their own home in Westerleigh, where Thomas was 18 years of age in the Westerleigh census of 1871, when he was working as a coal miner

 

It was four years later, at Norton-Coleparle, that Thomas James Collett marriage Elizabeth Salter on 21st August 1875, the daughter of Shadrach Salter of Norton by his second wife Ann from Hullavington.  Elizabeth Salter was born at Norton-Coleparle during the first quarter of 1850, her birth recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. viii 14).  By 1871 Elizabeth Salter was 20 years old and working as a farm servant, while she was still living with her family in Norton.  However, her marriage to Thomas was short-lived, since it would appear that Elizabeth died giving birth to their first child, who also did not survive.  So, by the time of the census in 1881, Thomas had returned to live with his parents at Westerleigh.  Thomas was recorded in the census return as Thomas Collett aged 27 and from Hullavington, who was a widower who was still working as a coal miner.  Perhaps it was the aftershock of losing his wife, or possibly even an accident at work, but it was within the next six months that Thomas Collett died at Westerleigh, his death recorded at Chipping Sodbury (Ref. 6a 107) during the third quarter of 1881 when he was only 28 years of age

 

John Collett [64O23] was born at Norton-Coleparle, to the north of Hullavington, on 28th November 1854, the son of Joseph and Anne Collett, his birth recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 25) during the second quarter of 1854.  By the time he was six years of age, he and his family were all boarders at the Westerleigh home of the Dands family.  On leaving school, John worked on the land and in 1871, at the age of 16, he was living in the family home at Westerleigh, from where he was employed as a farm labourer.  Over the next decade, John took up employment with the Great Western Railway, as confirmed in the next census of 1881, when unmarried John Collett from Hullavington was 26, was still residing in the family home in Westerleigh, where his occupation was that of a railway fireman.  No record of John has been found after 1881

 

Henry Collett [64O24] was born at Norton-Coleparle on 29th January 1856, the son of Joseph and Ann Collett.  He was four years old at the time of Westerleigh census of 1861 and was 13 by 1871, although he was actually nearer fifteen years of age when he was still living with his family at Westerleigh.  Henry, who would have been 25 in 1881, has so far not been located anywhere in the UK at that time

 

William Collett [64O25] was born at Norton-Coleparle on 2nd October 1858, another son of Joseph and Ann Collett.  In error, his year of birth was recorded as 1857 in the Family Bible.  However, the birth of William Collett was recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 27) during the last three months of 1858.  That also more closely correlates with William’s stated age in the subsequent census returns.  No long after he was born, his parents took the family from Norton across the county boundary into South Gloucestershire where, in 1861 they were lodging at the Westerleigh home of the Dands family.  It was there that William Collett from Norton, Wiltshire, was two years old.  It little while after, the family secured their own home in Westerleigh, as confirmed in the census of 1871.  On the day, William from Norton had already left school and was a farm labourer at the age of 12, when he was living at Westerleigh with his family.  Those two census returns had obviously been completed by his parents, whereas it would have been William who completed the subsequent census forms, when he gave his place of birth as Westerleigh, where he lived from an early age

 

Once he was old enough, William left the family home in Westerleigh and made the short journey to Bristol to find work with the Great Western Railway.  By 1881 William Collett from Westerleigh was 21 (sic) and a railway porter, a lodger at 11 Hemmings Parade within in the Bristol parish of St Philip & Jacob Without working as a porter.  During the next ten years, William left the Bristol area, when he moved north to Leicestershire, where he became a married man on 24th May 1887.  His bride Ann Driver was many years older, having been born in Birmingham on 29th April 1844, where she was baptised at St Peter’s Church, Dale End, on 15th April 1850, the daughter of Edward and Elizabeth Driver.  After her mother died, it was Ann who spent her years looking after her father, hence why she was still a single lady when, at the age of 43, she married William at Wigston near Leicester.  However, the record of their wedding was not completely correct, since both the bride and the groom were recorded with inaccurate ages.  William Collett of Wigston was confirmed as the son of Joseph Collett, although he said he was 27 years of age, instead of 28.  Ann Driver, also residing in Wigston, gave her age as 36, which looks as though it was more closely based on the year of her baptism.  Or maybe she just reduced her age out of embarrassment that she was around fifteen years younger than William, something she continued to do in the following census returns

 

Because of Ann’s age, there was no chance of the marriage producing any offspring, with the childless couple living at Clarkes Road in Oadby, within the parish of Wigston Magna in 1891, where William Collett aged 31 and from Gloucestershire, was a railway goods guard, and his wife Ann Collett from Birmingham was 40, when she was nearly 47.  They were still there in 1901 and 1911, when railway guard William Collett from Westerleigh was 41 and 51 respectively.  His wife on those two occasions was confirmed as Ann Collett from Birmingham who was 50 and 60, instead of 56 and 66 respectively.  Perhaps William never knew when his wife had actually been born because, when he visited the nearby register office in Blaby, just west of Oadby, to inform the registrar that his wife had passed away, she said that she was 89 years of age, the death of Ann Collett recorded at Blaby (Ref. 7a 94) during the third quarter of 1930, when she would have been 86.  Her Will was proved at Leicester on 27th October 1930, when the sole beneficiary was her husband William Collett, the probate process confirming that Ann died on 14th September 1930.  It was seven years after being widowed, when William Collett of 29 St Albion Street in Oadby, South Wigston, died on 29th June 1937, and it was at Leicester that his Will was proved on 22nd July 1937.  It is assumed that his older wife had already passed away by that time since the executor to his estate of Ł3243 17 Shillings and 11 Penny was named as Edward Potter, a costing clerk.  The death of William Collett was also recorded at Blaby register office (Ref. 7a 12) when it was said that he was 76 years old, two years younger than his actual age

 

Elizabeth Collett [64O26] was born at Westerleigh on 22nd March 1861 and was baptised at the church of St James the Great in Westerleigh on 23rd November 1862, the eldest of the two daughters of Joseph and Ann Collett.  She was born just two weeks immediately prior to the day of the census in 1861, by which time her parents had not even decided on a name for her, so she was simply registered as ‘infant Collett.  In 1871 she was 10 years old when she was listed with her family as Elizabeth Collett.  By 1881 she too had left the family home in Westerleigh and, at the age of 20, was working as a domestic servant at the lodging house run by George Wildbore and his wife at 7 Sion Hill in the Clifton area of Bristol

 

The youngest son of George and Susannah Wildbore was Thomas James Wildbore who in 1881 was a school teacher who was also 20 years of age like Elizabeth Collett.  Two years later Elizabeth married Thomas at Bristol where their wedding was recorded (Ref. 6a 114) during the first three months of 1883.  The marriage produced three children for the couple but, by 1891, it was just Elizabeth and her three younger children who were living at Canton Street within the Barton Regis district of Bristol, having moved there just before the birth of the third child.  Head of the household, Elizabeth Wildbore was 30, married but living on her own means, her daughter Frances M Wildbore was five, and her two sons were George Wildbore who was three and Albert Wildbore who was one-year-old.  The fact that she was living own her own means, may indicate that she was already widowed, despite her status being ‘married’, which may just mean she and Thomas were simply separated

 

After a further ten years, the Bristol census in 1901 included Elizabeth Wildbore from Westerleigh who was 40 and working as an office cleaner, again with her three Bristol born children.  They were Frances Wildbore who was 15 and employed as a hand at the local cocoa factory, as was George Wildbore who was 13, while Albert Wildbore was 11 was still attending school.  Staying with the family was Mary Peaty from Cerne Abbas in Dorset who was 29 and described as Elizabeth’s sister-in-law.  By 1911 the family was still residing in Bristol, where married Elizabeth Wildbore was 49 and an office cleaner at a local bank, daughter Frances Wildbore was 25, George Wildbore was 23 and Albert Wildbore was 21.  All three children were recorded as having been born in Bristol.  Elizabeth was supplementing her pay from the bank by taking in lodgers, when staying at the house that day was Arthur Turner who was 15 years old.  What happened to Thomas James Wildbore, who was born in Bristol and baptised at St Andrews Church in Clifton on 29th July 1860, is not known as no record of him at all has been found after 1883

 

Mary Jane Collett [64O27] was born at Westerleigh on 19th September 1865 and was baptised on 3rd December 1865 at St James the Great Church in Westerleigh, the last child born to Joseph Collett and Ann Brewer.  It was at Westerleigh that she was living with her family in 1871 at the age of five.  Ten years later Mary, aged 15, was working as a general domestic servant while still living with her parents at their home in Westerleigh

 

Edwin Collett [64O28] was born in 1835 at Chadlington, where he was baptised on 26th July 1835 in the church of St Nicholas, when his parents were confirmed as William Collett and Elizabeth Kearsy, their first child.  In the census of 1841, Edwin Collett, who was six, was a pupil at the school in Stow-on-the-Wold which was owned and operated by John and Frances Kearsey, who were very likely related to Edwin’s mother.  Ten years later he had left school but had no stated occupation, when he was living with his family at Dean within the parish of Spelsbury in the Chipping Norton registration district.  He was 16 and his place of birth was confirmed as Chadlington.  It was just under three years later, when Edwin became a married man around his nineteenth birthday

 

It was on 16th January 1854 at St Albans in Hertfordshire when Edwin Collett married Sarah Walklate who had been born there around 1830, the daughter of Joseph and Ann Walklate.  The record of their marriage (Ref. 3a 2) also confirmed that Edwin was the son of William Collett.  After nearly seven years together, the childless couple was residing at Churchill in Oxfordshire, where Edwin Collett from Chadlington was 26 and a cattle dealer, while Sarah Collett from St Albans was 28.  Staying with them was Edwin’s younger brother William Collett (below) from Dean, who was assisting his older brother.  No trace of Edwin and Sarah has been found in any census return after 1861, so it is possible that they left England for one of the colonies

 

John William Collett [64O29] was born in 1837 at Dean, near Spelsbury, when his birth was recorded at Chipping Norton (Ref. xvi 45) during the fourth quarter of the year.  He was baptised at Spelsbury on 14th January 1838, the second child of William and Elizabeth Collett and was three years of age in the Dean census of 1841.  He was still living there again in 1851, when he was 13.  Nine years later, the marriage of John William Collett and Anne Lardner was conducted at the parish church in South Hinksey in Oxford on 2nd October 1860.  Once they were married the couple initially settled in Charlbury for the first few years of their married life together.  Anne was the daughter of butcher Thomas Lardner of Churchill and his wife Mary, and was baptised at Churchill on 18th November 1838.  It may well have been John’s work as a butcher that brought him into contact with Thomas Lardner, and through that working relationship he developed an attraction to his daughter.  It may be of interest, that Susanna Collett (Ref. 64M5) of Oddington in Gloucestershire was nearly thirty-two years of age when she married Thomas Lardner at Bledington on 1st January 1816

 

By the time of the Charlbury census in 1861, Anne was due to give birth to John’s first child, which was born nearly four months later that same year.  The census return that year recorded the expectant pair as John Collett from Dean who was 23 and a butcher, and his wife Annie Collett from Churchill who was 22.  The couple’s first two children were baptised at Charlbury having been born respectively at Charlbury and at Churchill, a village two miles south west of Chipping Norton and eight miles from Charlbury.  The next three children were all born after John and Anne had settled in London.  In 1871 the family was residing within the Clerkenwell St James area of the city, where John Collett from Dean was 32 and a policeman, and his wife Annie Collett from Churchill was 31.  The two children living there with them were Agnes Collett also from Churchill, who was seven, and John Collett of Clerkenwell who was three years of age.  John’s eldest son was living with Annie parents on that occasion, at their home on Heath Road in Churchill.  Retired butcher Thomas Lardner of Churchill was 68, his wife Mary from Lechlade was 66, and staying with them and attending the local school was Alan J L Collett of Charlbury who was nine years old

 

By the time of the next census in 1881, the family was reunited and was living at 13 Guildford Street East in Clerkenwell.  Head of the house John Collett was a Police Constable with the Great Western Railway, was 42 years old and his place of birth was given as Dean in Oxfordshire.  His wife was listed as Annie and she was born at Churchill and was 41 years of age.  Their children were listed as Alan Collett who was 19 and born at Charlbury, Agnes M Collett aged 17 and born at Churchill, John W Collett aged 13 and born at Clerkenwell, as were the last two children, Annie E Collett who was six years old, and William T Collett who was only one month old.  Ten years later in 1891, the family was recorded once again living in the Holborn & Amwell registration district of London, but at 15 Granville Square in Clerkenwell.  John W Collett was 52 and a policeman employed by the Great Northern Railway, his wife Annie Collett was 51, and still living there with them were their two daughters and only two of their three sons.  They were Alan Collett who was 29, Agnes Collett who was 27, Annie Collett who was 15, and William Collett who was 11, when once again the two youngest children were confirmed as having been born at Clerkenwell

 

The family was still living in Clerkenwell area, at Percy Circus, just after the start of the new century.  The 1901 Census confirmed that John W Collett of Dean, aged 63, was employed within the carriage department of the Great Northern Railway.  His wife Annie Collett of Churchill was 62, and still living with the couple were three of their unmarried children.  They were Alan J L Collett from Charlbury who was 39, Agnes M Collett from Churchill who was 37, and William T Collett of Clerkenwell who was 21.  Following the death of his wife in London during the first few years of the new century, John William Collett returned to the county of his birth and in 1911 was living in the grounds of Wychwood House at Shorthampton, a hamlet just two miles from Dean, where he was born.  Living with him at Maizer House, which had six-and-a-half acres of grassland, was his eldest daughter who was acting as his housekeeper.  Widower John William Collett from Dean was 73 and Agnes Mary Collett from Churchill was 47.  However, it was a few months later that he passed away, still at the age of 73, when the death of John W Collett was recorded at Chipping Norton register office (Ref. 3a 64) during the third quarter of 1911.  The Will of John William Collett was proved in Oxford on 21st September 1911, which also confirmed that he had died a month earlier on 24th August 1911.  The main beneficiary was his youngest child, William Thomas Collett

 

64P50 – Alan John Lardner Collett was born in 1861 at Charlbury

64P51 – Agnes Mary Collett was born in 1863 at Churchill

64P52 –John William Collett was born in 1868 at Clerkenwell, London

64P53 – Anne Ethelfreda Collett was born in 1875 at Clerkenwell, London

64P54 – William Thomas Collett was born in 1881 at Clerkenwell, London

 

William Collett [64O30] was born in 1839 at Dean, near Spelsbury, his birth recorded at Chipping Norton (Ref. xvi 9) during the second quarter of the year.  He was only a few months old when he was baptised at Spelsbury on 4th August 1839, another son of William and Elizabeth Collett.  He was two years of age in the census of 1841, and was a scholar aged 11 years in 1851, when his place of birth was recorded as Chadlington, the same as his mother and two older brothers.  By 1861his father had died leaving William living with his recently married brother Edwin and his wife Sarah at Churchill in Oxfordshire, when his place of birth was confirmed as the hamlet of Dean.  At the age of 21, William was described as an assistant to his older brother who was a cattle dealer.  It is unclear whether he ever married, but he died at Nuneham Courtney, south of Oxford, following which he was buried at Spelsbury on 4th January 1875, aged 35 years.  It was there also that his father had been buried in 1859

 

Mary Elizabeth Collett [64O31] was born in 1842 at Dean, near Spelsbury, while it was at Chipping Norton that her birth was recorded (Ref. xvi 40) during the third quarter of the year.  She was then baptised at the parish church in Spelsbury on 2nd October 1842, the daughter of William Collett and Elizabeth Kearsy.  Just like her younger brother Charles (below), Mary too was absent from the family home in Dean in 1851.  On that census day, Mary Collett from Dean was eight years old and attending the school at Stow-on-the-Wold, where the headmistress was Frances Kearsey.  Mary’s older brother Edwin (above), had been a pupil there in 1841

 

Mary had not reached full age when she married Thomas Wells at St Giles Church on 21st August 1861.  Thomas may have been a member of the Wells/Kearsy family living at Oxford St Giles in 1851, with whom her brother Charles Collett (below) was living at that time.  The Charlbury census conducted in 1871 confirmed that Thomas Wells from Chadlington was 35 and a butcher, Mary E Wells from Dean was 28, and their three Charlbury born children were Edward Wells who was eight, John Wells who was five, and Sarah Elizabeth Wells who was one year old.  Around the middle of the following decade, the family moved from Oxfordshire to Swindon in Wiltshire, where they were living in 1881 and 1891

 

The change of location may had been the result in a change in occupation for Thomas who was working as a carpenter in 1881.  More children have been added to his family, offset by some who were missing.  The census that year listed the family as Thomas Well from Chadlington aged 45, Mary E Wells from Dean aged 38, George W Wells aged 16, John Wells aged 14, Francis Thomas Wells aged eight, Charles H Wells aged five, and Edith Mary Wells who was two years old and born after the family settled in Swindon.  All of Edith’s brothers had been born at Charlbury

 

The couple’s last child, Frederick J Wells, was also born at Swindon, and was eight years of age in the town’s census of 1891.  The other five children living with Thomas and Mary E Wells that year were listed the same as in 1881, just ten years old, when once again Thomas was working as a carpenter.  On that occasion, the family home was on Carr Street in Swindon

 

Charles Collett [64O32] was born in 1844 at Dean, near Spelsbury, his birth recorded at Chipping Norton (Ref. xvi 6) during the second quarter of that year.  He was the penultimate child of William Collett and Elizabeth Kearsy who was not living with his family in 1851.  Instead, Charles Collett from Dean aged six years and the nephew of Richard Kearsy was recorded in the St Giles district of Oxford, just north of the city centre.  Richard from Chadlington was 62 and a pianoforte tuner, his wife Mary from Cumnor was 49, their married daughter Emma Wells from Chipping Norton was 30, and her husband was Edward Wells was 26 and an assistant to his father-in-law.  With no record of him found in 1861, it is possible the death of Charles Collett recorded at Headington in 1857 was Charles Collett from Dean

 

James Richard Collett [64O33] was born in 1847 at Dean, near Spelsbury, with his birth recorded at Chipping Norton (Ref. xvi 23) during the first quarter of the year, the youngest child of William Collett and Elizabeth Kearsy.  It was at Spelsbury that he was baptised on 11th July 1847 and where, less than two years later, he was buried on 14th April 1849 at just two years of age.  His death, as simply James Collett, was recorded at Chipping Norton (Ref. xvi 13) but curiously during the third quarter of that year

 

Richard Henry Collett [64O34] was born in 1834 at Oddington, as confirmed by the census in 1871 and the later record of his death.  By 1871, Richard Henry Collett from Oddington was 37 and a farmer living in the Farm House at Oddington.  The farm comprised 100 acres on which Richard employed three men and two boys.  The only other occupant of the farmhouse was his wife Maria E Collett from Upton, Gloucestershire, who was 46.  It was twenty-five years after that day, when the death of Richard Collett was recorded at Gloucester (Ref. 6a 371) during the last quarter of 1896, when he was 62 years of age

 

George Collett [64O35] was born in 1832 at Oddington where he was baptised on 5th December 1832, the eldest of the three sons of Thomas Collett and his first wife Mary Cole.  In the census of 1841, he was nine years old when living with his family at Oddington.  It is understood that, on leaving school, George and his brother William (below) travelled to London, where they were both employed as porters within the area of St Martin–in-the-Fields.  The positions may have been secured by their uncle James Collett, since it is known that he was living in that area during 1847 when his daughter was born.  Both George and William were still living and working at St Martin-in-the-Fields in 1851, but separately.  The census return confirmed that George Collett from Oddington in Gloucestershire was 19 and that he was working as a grocer’s porter, while lodging at 14 St Martin’s Street, the home of interpreter Edward Cole from Middlesex and his wife Mina from Wiltshire.  Whether a coincidence or not, Edward Cole may have been related to George’s mother

 

No record of George has so far been found anywhere within the census returns in 1861, while two years earlier it is established that he married Fanny Dennis at Holy Trinity Church in Chelsea on 28th July 1859.  The details of their marriage confirmed that George Collett was of full age, was employed as a servant, and that he was the son of blacksmith Thomas Collett.  Fanny Dennis was the daughter of gardener William Dennis and both she and George were residing in Upper Chelsea at that time.  The witnesses were Muriel Dennis, Elizabeth Brown and Henry Collett who was George’s younger brother (below) who was later married at the same church in 1874

 

Twelve years later George and Fanny were living and working within the St George’s Hanover Square district of London, as recorded in the census return of 1871.  George Collett from Gloucestershire was 39 and a porter, his wife Fanny from Essex was 43, and living there with them was Fanny’s widowed mother Mary Dennis.  Two other people were recorded at the same address and they were Edward Salzman and Mary Randall

 

According to the following census in 1881, George was again confirmed as a married man living and working at Marlborough House, St Martin-in-the-Fields, where he was employed as a domestic gate porter.  He was 49 and his place of birth was confirmed as Oddington in Gloucestershire.  Where his wife was on the day of the census is still a mystery.  His employer on that occasion was German born British subject Maurice Holzman, who was private secretary to the Princess of Wales

 

George Collett from Gloucestershire, aged 59, was still recorded in the St George Hanover Square census of 1891, by which time he was a widower.  It was just prior to the census day that year, when the death of Fanny Collett, aged 66, was recorded at St George Hanover Square (Ref. 1a 198) during the first quarter of 1891.  Eight years later, George Collett died in London at the age of 67, with his death also recorded at St George Hanover Square register office (Ref. 1a 369) during the first three months of 1899

 

William Collett [64O36] was born in 1834 at Oddington and was baptised there on 1st June 1834, the second son of Thomas and Mary Collett.  In June 1841 he was seven years of age when he was living at Oddington with his parents and his two brothers.  It was with his older brother George (above) that William travelled to London for work purposes, and it was at St Martin-in-the Fields that they were both recorded separately in 1851.  William Collett from Oddington was 16 and a porter lodging at 18 Warwick Street, the home of master saddler Robert Cuff and his wife and their son

 

During the second half of the following decade William Collett married the much older Ann Williams from Stonehouse in Gloucestershire, their wedding taking place at the Church of St Thomas in Dudley on 2nd May 1858.  Shortly after they were married, and with Ann already pregnant, the couple was temporarily living in the Shalstone area of Buckinghamshire, where their only known child was born and baptised at Gawcott on 28th November 1858.  The birth of Mary Ann Martin Collett was recorded at Buckingham (Ref. 3a 15) during the third quarter on that year.  After that, the family of three returned to Gloucestershire and, in 1861, they were living at Broadwell, just north of Stow-on-the-Wold and Oddington.  William was listed in the census as being head of the household at the age of 26, by which time he was described as a coal agent from Oddington.  With him was his wife Ann who was 38 and from Stonehouse, together with their daughter Mary Ann Collett who was two years old and born at Shalstone, to the west of Buckingham

 

Another family move took place during the 1860s, with the three of them recorded at Lye in Worcestershire in 1871, when William was 36 and a railway signalman, Ann was 48, and Mary Ann Martin Collett was 12.  In 1881, by which time their daughter may have been married, William and Ann were living in the Rowley Regis, Dudley, area of Staffordshire.  It is likely that it was William’s work that had resulted in the move north, due to a promotion with the Midland Railway Company.  The census that year identified William Collett from Oddington as being 46 and a railway stationmaster on the main line through Rowley Regis Station, when Ann Collett from Stonehouse who was 60 years of age.  William’s occupation was again that of a railway stationmaster in 1891, but by then the couple was still living on the main line, midway between Lye and Rowley Regis, at Old Hill Railway Station on the Halesowen Road.  William Collett was 56 and wife Ann was 65.  At that time in their life, they were employing a domestic servant, 15-year-old Annie Woodhouse.  Just under one year later, the death of William Collett was recorded at Dudley register office (Ref. 6c 82) during the first three months of 1892, at the age of 57.  It was during the third quarter of that same year, that the death of Ann Collett was also recorded at Dudley (Ref. 6c 27), when she was 72

 

64P55 - Mary Ann Martin Collett was born in 1858 at Shalstone, Buckinghamshire

 

Henry Collett [64O37] was born in 1836 at Oddington, the third son of Thomas Collett and Mary Cole.  It was also at Oddington where he was baptised on 4th September 1836 and was four years old in the Oddington census of 1841.  On completing his education, Henry took up the trade of a carpenter, which was how he was earning a living in 1851, when he was 14 and still living with his parents at Oddington, who also had their niece Elizabeth Collett from London with them.  During the following year, his mother died and his father was remarried.  Seven years later, in July 1859, Henry Collett was a witness at the wedding of his older brother George (above) at Holy Trinity Church in Chelsea, London.  However, no record of him has been found within the census returns for 1861 and 1871.  Three years after the later, the marriage of Henry Collett and the much older Maria Ellen Martin, a widow, at Holy Trinity Church in Chelsea on 13th July 1874.  Henry was described as the son of blacksmith Thomas Collett, while Maria was the daughter of farmer William Brislder

 

Ten years later Henry was only visiting Oddington on the day of the census in 1881.  He was 44, had been born at Oddington, was a married man and an annuitant, a visitor at the home of baker Daniel Potter and his family.  A search for his wife Maria has not revealed her whereabouts on that same day.  After a further ten years, Henry and Maria were living alone at Riverside in Taplow within the Eton registration district of Buckinghamshire on the day of the census in 1891.  Henry Collett from Oddington was 54 and was once again working as a carpenter.  His wife Maria E Collett was 66 and it was eight years after that census day that Maria died at Taplow at the age of 74.  The death of Maria Ellen Collett was recorded at Eton register office (Ref. 3a 279) during the third quarter of 1898.  At the end of March in 1901, Henry Collett from Oddington in Gloucestershire was 64 and a widower and a carpenter who was living alone at Station Road in Taplow.  Henry was still living in Taplow at the start of April in 1911, but at Sidney Cottage, when he was 74 and was still working as a carpenter.  It was over seven and a half years later that Henry Collett died in Buckinghamshire in 1918 at the age of 83, his death recorded at Eton register office (Ref. 3a 80) during the last quarter of that year

 

Georgiana Elizabeth Collett [64O39] was born near the end of 1841 at Combe in Oxfordshire, her birth recorded at nearby Woodstock (Ref. xxi 36) during the first month of 1842.  She was baptised at Combe, using her full birth-name, on 10th January 1842, the eldest child of William George Collett and his first wife Elizabeth Bishop.  Her father was born as George Collett at Oddington in Gloucestershire, but was named as William Collett upon the occasion of his wedding at Combe.  When she was around five years old, the family moved to Upper Oddington where nine-year-old Georgiana Collett was living with her family on the day of the census of 1851.  At that very young age, she had already left school and was working with her mother as a gloveress, a very traditional occupation associated with the town of Woodstock

 

During the two years following the Upper Oddington census of 1851, and after a short time living at Chipping Norton, Georgiana’s family eventually settled in Droitwich in 1854, and it was there a few years later that her mother died.  By the time of the Droitwich census in 1861, Georgiana had left the family home, but was living and working in the same street where her widowed father was living with the rest of her family.  The census confirmed that Georgiana Elizabeth Collett from Combe was 18, and that she was employed as a gloveress.  It was during the second quarter of the following year that she married (1) George Griffiths, the marriage being registered at Bromsgrove (Ref. 6c 12) during the second quarter of 1862.  The wedding of Georgiana Collett and George Griffiths took place at St Andrew’s Church in Droitwich on 29th June 1862

 

The couple’s only child, Elizabeth Griffiths, was born at Droitwich during the second quarter of 1863 and, when Elizabeth was only four years of age, her father suffered a premature death at the age of 26.  The death of George Griffiths was recorded at Droitwich (Ref. 6c 57) during the last three months of 1867, after which he was buried at Worcester on 21st November 1867.  Therefore, by the time of the next Droitwich census in 1871, Georgiana Griffiths from Woodstock was a widow at the age of 27, when she was again working as a gloveress, while living with her at her home in Fox Alley, Dodderhill in Droitwich, was her daughter Elizabeth Griffiths who was seven and from Droitwich, and Georgiana’s unmarried sister Louisa Collett, aged 20 and from Oddington, and her base-born daughter of the same name who was three years old and born at Droitwich

 

Just over one year later, Georgiana Griffiths married (2) John Crane, who was a pan smith.  Once married the couple lived at Miller Street in Droitwich, although there were no children resulting from their marriage.  John was some years younger than his wife, which prompted Georgiana to reduce her recorded age in subsequent census returns, presumably out of embarrassment for the reverse difference in their ages.  On the first occasion in 1881, pan smith John Crane from Droitwich was 35 and his wife from Combe was 36, instead of 39.  By that time, Elizabeth Griffith was 16.  Ten years after that, the same three people were residing at 36 Burrish Street in Droitwich, when they were respectively 44, 46, and 24.  Staying with them, was four-year-old Mary Higgs who was described as the niece of John Crane.  Daughter Elizabeth Griffiths was very likely married by 1901, leaving just John Crane aged 53 and a general labourer and Georgiana Crane aged 55, still living at Burrish Street

 

According to the census in 1911, Georgiana was continuing to reduce her age, saying she was only 65, while John was more accurately recorded as being 63, by which time he was employed as a market gardener.  The couple was reported to have been married for thirty-seven years, when they were again residing at 36 Burrish Street in Droitwich.  It was during nine years later, the second quarter of 1920, that the death of Georgiana Elizabeth Crane, nee Collett, was recorded at Droitwich register office (Ref. 6c 114) at the age of 78 – her correct age.  The later death of widower John Crane was also recorded at Droitwich register office (Ref. 6c 103) during the fourth quarter of 1926, when he was 82

 

William Collett [64O40] was born in 1844 at Combe, near Woodstock, the eldest son of William George Collett and Elizabeth Bishop.  Like his sister (above), William was baptised at Combe on 9th June 1844, when he was confirmed as the son of William George and Elizabeth Collett.  Two weeks earlier, another William Collett (Ref. 38o27) was baptised at Combe on 26th May 1844 and he was the son of Richard and Rachel Collett, who later married Sarah Elizabeth Carless at Woodstock in 1899, whose family is featured in Part 38 – The Oxford Stonemasons Line (Combe).  William, the son of William George Collett was six years old in the Gloucestershire Upper Oddington census of 1851, his father being absent from the family home that day.  Thereafter, nothing is known about him

 

Henry Allen Collett [64O41] was born in 1848 at Oddington, when his birth was recorded at Stow-on-the-Wold (Ref. xi 40) during the second quarter of the year.  He was another son of William and Elizabeth Collett and two years old in the Oddington census of 1851.  The family later moved to Droitwich, via Chipping Norton, where Henry’s mother died in 1859.  He was 13 years old in 1861, when he was living with his widowed father at Droitwich in Worcestershire.  Six years later, Henry Collett married Hannah Huckfield during the last quarter of 1867, the marriage recorded at Pershore in Worcestershire (Ref. 6c 321).  The wedding ceremony was conducted on 9th December 1867 at St John the Baptist Church in Fladbury, three miles east of Pershore.  Just over three years after that day, Henry Collett was an agricultural labourer in 1871 when he was 24 and said he had been born at Stow (on-the-Wold).  He was recorded as living in the Dodderhill area of Droitwich with his wife Hannah Collett, aged 25 and from Bishampton – just north of Fladbury, and their first-born child, William B Collett who was one year old.  A few months later, Hannah discovered that she was pregnant with the couple’s second child

 

During the next decade, Henry progressed from being an agricultural labourer to become a farm bailiff by 1881.  Henry Collett from Oddington was 35 and was living on a farm at Hadzor, just to the east of Droitwich.  On that day his wife Hannah was 33 and from Bishampton, and their three children were William Collett from Worcester who was 11, Gertrude Collett who was nine, and Alfred Collett who was seven, both of them said to be born at Dodderhill, north-east of Droitwich.  Later in their lives, both Gertrude and Alfred recorded the place of their birth as Hanbury, three miles east of Droitwich, just south of Dodderhill.  Four other males were listed with the Collett family in 1881, two brothers from the Seymour family from Worcester, and father and son of the Wood family from Tewkesbury.  All four of them were seamen, the two eldest in each case being a ship’s captains, with the younger ones being ‘ship’s mates’

 

One more child was added to the family in 1886 and it may around that time when Henry gave up being associated with the land, when he became a railway labourer, as confirmed in the census of 1891.  On that occasion, the family was living at 337 Dawlish Road in the Northfield district of Kings Norton.  Henry Collett was 46 and employed as a railway labourer, his wife Anna (Hannah) Collett was 45, when three of their four children were still living with them.  They were William Collett who was 21, Gertrude Collett who was 19, both of them working for the railway company, and five-year-old Harry Collett.  Living not far away, was their missing son Alfred who was 16 and also living in Kings Norton where he was working by then.  Ten years later in March 1901, the whole family was reunited while still living at Dawlish Road in Northfield

 

According to the census return, Henry Collett was 53 and was working as a builder’s labourer by then.  His wife Hannah Collett from Bishampton was 54, and their four children were William from Worcester who was 30 and working as a builder’s labourer with his father, Gertrude who was 28, Alfred who was 26 and a copper-wire drawer, and Harry who was 15 and employed as a plumber’s boy.  The three youngest children were all confirmed as having been born at Droitwich.  On that census day in 1901 there were two visitors at the Collett family home, and the first of them was Eliza Huckfield from Fladbury who was a housekeeper aged 46 and the younger unmarried sister-in-law of Henry Collett.  The second named visitor was eight-year-old Athol V Hutchin from India who does not appear in any later census, although Athol Hutchinson married Adelaine Phyllis N Westle at Birmingham in 1933, she having been born at Aston in Birmingham in 1907.  What is very interesting though, is that in 1881 Eliza Huckfield aged 26 was a cook and domestic servant in the service of widow Magdalene M Hutchin from India at her home in Fulham, London.  Three of her four children had been born in India, and therefore young Athol may well have been a grandson

 

Six and a half years after the 1901 census day, the death of Henry Collett was recorded at the Kings Norton register office (Ref. 6c 278) during the last three months of 1907, when he was 62 years old and still residing at Northfield.  His passing was confirmed in the Selly Oak, Northfield, census of 1911, when Hannah Collett from Bishampton was a widow at the age of 65, who had living there with her, her unmarried daughter Gertrude Collett aged 33, and her unmarried son Harry Collett who was 23.  By that time, her eldest son William was married and living in the Erdington area of Birmingham with his previously married wife and her two children from that marriage.  Hannah’s other missing son Alfred was also married with a family of his own by then.  After a further four years as a widow, Hannah Collett nee Huckfield died at Northfield, with her passing also recorded at Kings Norton register office (Ref. 6d 50) during the third quarter of 1915, when she was 67

 

64P56 - William B Collett was born in 1870 at Worcester

64P57 - Gertrude Collett was born in 1872 at Dodderhill (Hanbury), near Droitwich

64P58 - Alfred Collett was born in 1874 at Dodderhill (Hanbury), near Droitwich

64P59 - Harry Collett was born in 1886 at Hadzor, near Droitwich

 

Louisa Mary Collett [64O42] was born in 1851 at Oddington, while her birth was recorded at Stow-on-the-Wold (Ref. xi 36) during the first three months of the year.  She was the fourth child of George and Elizabeth Collett and was two weeks old in the Oddington census of 1851 and was only eight years old when her mother died during the summer of 1859.  By 1861, Louisa she was living with her father at Droitwich at the age of ten, then in 1868, when she was 17 years old, she gave birth to a daughter while living at Dodderhill, near Droitwich, with her father and his second wife.  Her base-born daughter Louisa Collett was baptised at Dodderhill on 11th June 1868, when the parish record confirmed the child’s mother, and only parent, was Louisa Collett

 

By the time of the census in 1871, unmarried Louisa Collett, aged 20 and working as a gloveress, was living with her married, but already widowed, sister Georgiana Griffiths and her daughter Elizabeth at their home in Fox Alley, Droitwich.  Also living there with them was Louisa’s daughter, three-year-old Louisa Collett.  One year later Louisa Collett gave birth to a second base-born child, when Mary Elizabeth Collett was born at Droitwich in 1872, where the parish baptism register confirmed that she was the daughter of Louisa Collett.  However, it was after a further three years that Louisa Collett married the slightly younger John Solloway, their wedding recorded at Droitwich (Ref. 6c 166) during the third quarter of 1875

 

Six years after that, Louisa Solloway was 30 when she and her husband John were living in a house on Worcester Road in Droitwich St Andrews on the day of the census in 1881.  John Solloway from Kidderminster was 28 and a general labourer when, completing the family group were Louisa’s two daughters Louisa Collett who was 13, and Elizabeth Collett who was eight years old.  It was at Princes Row within the Aston area of Birmingham that the couple was residing in 1891, where John Solloway was 38 and was described as a scavenger, while his wife Louisa Solloway was 40.  Eight years later, the death of John Solloway was recorded at Birmingham register office (Ref. 6d 59) during the second quarter of 1899

 

64P60 - Louisa Collett was born in 1868 at Droitwich

64P61 - Mary Elizabeth Collett was born in 1872 at Droitwich

 

Pamela Susan Collett [64O43] was born in 1853 at Chipping Norton, where her birth was also recorded (Ref. 3a 140) during the third quarter of the year, another daughter of George and Elizabeth Collett.  She was six years of age when her mother died and, in the Droitwich census of 1861, Pamela Susan Collett was seven years old when living with her widowed father and three of her siblings.  No further record of her has been found

 

Alfred Collett [64O44] was born in 1855 at Fernhill Heath with his birth recorded at nearby Droitwich (Ref. 6c 34) during the final three months of the year.  He was the last child of George Collett and Elizabeth Bishop who died when Alfred was only three years of age, as confirmed by the Droitwich census of 1861 when five-year-old Alfred was living with his widowed father and three older siblings.  Towards the end of 1867, Alfred’s father remarried and in 1871 Alfred Collett was 15 and was working as a sawyer, when he was with his stepmother at her sister’s home in Worcester South.  Four years later Alfred became a married man

 

The marriage of Alfred Collett and Clara Dickens was recorded at Kings Norton (Ref. 6c 302) during the second quarter of 1875, when both of them had not reached full age.  Clara was born at Smethwick in 1856, where she was baptised on 12th November 1856, the daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Dickens.  Alfred’s place of birth reported in the 1881 census return simply said Worcester, Fernhill Heath being just north-east of the city, when he was a labourer aged 26.  The census form also stated that he was blind, which may have been partially, as it did not stop him from working.  His wife Clara was 24, and their first three children were confirmed as Alfred junior aged six, Ellen aged four, and George who was two.  At that time in their life, they were living at Basons End in Harborne, within the Kings Norton registration district, and all of their children were later recorded as having been born at Smethwick.  Staying with the young family in 1881, was Clara’s younger brother Cornelius Dickens who was 19 and an iron worker from Smethwick

 

According to the census in 1891, the couple and their three children were living in Smethwick where Alfred Collett from Fernhill Heath was 36 and a labourer at a local ironworks.  His wife Clara was 34 and their children were Alfred Collett junior who was 15, born at Smethwick, and already employed as a labourer in a nail works, Ellen E Collett who was 13, George H Collett who was 12, Florence Collett who was eight, Rose Collett who was three, and Charles Collett who was under one year old.  At least two more children were added to the family during the following decade

 

The enlarged family was residing at Westfield Road in Smethwick in 1901, when every member of the household, except head of the house Alfred, was recorded as having been born in Smethwick, when 48-year-old Alfred from Fernhill Heath was an iron worker.  Clara was 46, Alfred was 25, Ellen was 23, George was 21, Florence was 18, Rose was 13, Charles was 10, Edith was nine, and Edward was one year old.  Clara Collett died eight years later, her death recorded at Kings Heath register office (Ref. 6c 64) during the first quarter of 1909, when she was 53 years of age.  Following the death of his wife, widower Alfred Collett from Fernhill Heath was 56 and a labourer at a gas works corporation, when he was still living in Smethwick with six of his children in 1911.  They were Ellen 32, Florence 27, Rose 23, Charles 20, Edith 19, and Edward 11.  By that time Alfred’s two eldest missing sons were married and were living nearby within the Smethwick registration district.  Alfred Collett was 87 years old when he died, his death recorded at Smethwick register office (Ref. 6b 64) during the first three months of 1940

 

64P62 – Alfred Collett was born in 1876 at Smethwick

64P63 – Ellen Eliza Collett was born in 1877 at Smethwick

64P64 – George Henry Collett was born in 1879 at Smethwick

64P65 – Florence Collett was born in 1882 at Smethwick

64P66 – Mary Maud Collett was born in 1885 at Smethwick

64P67 – Rose Collett was born in 1888 at Smethwick

64P68 – Charles Thomas Collett was born in 1890 at Smethwick

64P69 – Edith Collett was born in 1892 at Smethwick

64P70 – Edward Collett was born in 1899 at Smethwick

 

Ann Collett [64O45] was born at Worcester near the end of 1868, the eldest of the three children of George Collett by his second wife Mary Pimble.  Ann’s birth was recorded at Worcester (Ref. 6c 240) during the first three months of 1869.  It was also at All Saints Church in Worcester that she was baptised on 31st January 1869, when her parents were confirmed as George and Mary Collett.  Two years later, Ann Collett of Worcester was two years old when she and her mother, together with her half-brother Alfred Collett (above), were staying at the Worcester South home of Charles and Ann Weaver and their young family, Ann being Mary Pimble’s younger sister.  Shortly after that census Ann and her parents settled in Smethwick, where her two younger brothers were born.  Sometime after the birth of her youngest brother Thomas (below) in 1876, the family moved from Smethwick to 10 James Street in Harborne, three miles south-west of Birmingham, where Ann Collett from Worcester was 12 years old, and where her father died around that same time.  Surprisingly it was only seven years later that the marriage of Annie Collett and Alfred Wade Collett took place at Smethwick and was recorded at Kings Norton (Ref. 6c 250) during the third quarter of 1888.  Alfred from Kidderminster, was the son of James Hillman and his much younger wife Mary Ann Wade.  The couple’s apparently rushed wedding, may have been because Annie was already carrying Alfred’s child

 

By the time of the next census in 1891, Alfred and Annie had given birth to their first two children at Smethwick, where they were residing at Bearwood Road and, where ten years later, Annie’s mother was also living who one of Annie’s later Hillman children staying with her.  In 1891 the family of four comprised Alfred Hillman who was 24 and a weighing clerk, Annie Hillman was 23, and their two daughters were Lucy Hillman who was two, and Dora Hillman who was under one year old.  Six more children were later added to their family, five of them prior to the next census in 1901, and all of them born at Bearwood Road in Smethwick.  The much larger family living at Bearwood Road in 1901 had one absentee, that being the couple’s eight-year-old son William Hillman, amongst five sisters.  That may have been because of a problem of overcrowding in the family home.  On that day, William was also living in Bearwood Road, but at the home of his widowed grandmother Mary Collett.  The remainder of his family was recorded as Fred Hillman aged 33 and from Kidderminster who was a warehouseman with a company making screws, Annie Hillman aged 31 and from Worcester, Lucy Hillman 12, Dora Hillman 10, May Hillman who was six, Elsie Hillman who was three, Lily Hillman who was one year old, and baby James Hillman.  The birthplace of all of the children was confirmed as Smethwick.  After the birth of the couple’s last child a few years later, the whole family was living together at Smethwick in 1911. 

 

Fred Hillman was 44 and a warehouseman in the metal tube trade, and Annie Hillman was 42.  On registering the births of their eight children at Kings Norton register office, the first seven were given the second forename of Wade, like their father and, although they were never included in the census returns, they were Lucy Wade Hillman born in 1889, Dora Wade Hillman born in 1891, William Wade Collett born in 1893, May Wade Hillman born in 1895, Elsie Wade Hillman born in 1897, Lily Wade Hillman born in 1899, James Wade Hillman born in 1900, and Dorothy Hillman born in 1904

 

Charles Collett [64O46] was born at Smethwick early in 1873, with his birth recorded at Kings Norton (Ref. 6c 88).  He was eight years old in 1881, by which time he and his family were residing at 10 James Street in Harborne, Birmingham.  After another ten years, general labourer Charles, aged 18, and his brother Thomas (below), were the only members of the family still living with their widowed mother back in Smethwick at Queens Street.  It was during the third quarter of 1896 that Charles Collett married Elizabeth Lenton, the wedding recorded at Kings Norton (Ref. 6c 73), with whom he had two before the end of the century.  The birth of Elizabeth Lenton had been recorded at Aston, in Birmingham (Ref. 6d 77), during the first months of 1877.  On the occasion of the Smethwick census in 1901, the family of four was recorded at Great Arthur Street, where Charles Collett from Smethwick was 28 and working as a machine packer.  His wife Elizabeth Collett from Birmingham was 24, and their two Smethwick born children were Charles who was three and Daisy who was two.  To supplement her husband’s wages, Elizabeth took in lodgers, on that day it was John Lenton aged 29, Elizabeth’s older brother.  Daughter Daisy Collett, whose birth was recorded at Kings Norton register office (Ref. 6c 336) died just prior to her seventh birthday, with her death also recorded at Kings Norton (Ref. 6c 60) during the first three months of 1906.  By then two new children had been added to the family, both born at Smethwick where the family was recorded again in 1911.  Charles Collett of Smethwick was 38 and an engineer packer, Elizabeth was 34, Charles E Collett was 13, George Collett was nine, and Lily Collett was six years old, all of them attending school.  Staying with the family was Charles’ elderly mother, widow Mary Collett aged 77 from Twyning, Gloucestershire

 

Charles Collett was 49 when he died at Smethwick, with his death recorded at Kings Norton register office (Ref. 6d 120) during the first quarter of 1923.  His widow passed away over thirty years later.  As regards his two youngest children, only their birth and their listing in the 1911 census have been found.  The birth of George Collett, like all four children, was recorded at Kings Norton register office (Ref. 6c 91) during the second quarter of 1902, and the birth of Lily Collett was also recorded there (Ref. 6c 66) during the third quarter of 1905

 

64P71 – Charles Edward Collett was born in 1897 at Smethwick

64P72 – Daisy Collett was born in 1899 at Smethwick; died there in 1906

64P73 – George Collett was born in 1902 at Smethwick

64P74 – Lily Collett was born in 1905 at Smethwick

 

Thomas Collett [64O47] was born at Smethwick near the end of 1876, the last of the three children of George Collett and Mary Pimble, whose birth was recorded at Kings Norton (Ref. 6c 55) during the first quarter of 1877.  He was four years of age in the Harborne census of 1881 when he and his family were living at 10 James Street and, following the death of his father there just a few weeks after that census day, Thomas and older brother Charles (above) returned to Smethwick with their mother, where they were living on Queens Street in 1891, when Thomas was 13 and employed as a stamper at a nearby ironworks.  Just after the start of the new century, Thomas Collett from Smethwick was 23 and a general labourer when he was again living with his widowed mother at Bearwood Road in Smethwick.  By 1911, Thomas Collett was an inmate at the Kings Norton Union Workhouse at Northfield near Selly Oak, where he was a general labourer aged 33

 

Sarah Ann Collett [64O49] was born in early 1846 at Stepney in London, where her birth was recorded (Ref. ii 40) and was baptised at the Church of St Philip the Apostle in Stepney on 22nd March 1846, the first-born child of Charles Collett and Mary Ann Harmer.  She was five years old in the census of 1851 when Sarah and her family were living at Goodmans Field in Whitechapel.  Sometime during the 1850s, the family left London and moved north to Oxfordshire, where they settled in the village of Great Rollright.  That situation was confirmed in the Great Rollright census of 1861 when baker’s daughter Sarah Ann Collett from Stepney was 15 years of age.  She was still there with her parents in 1871 when, at the age of 24, she had no stated occupation.  However, it seems highly likely that single Sarah was expecting the birth of a base-born child on that census, the child later being raised by Sarah’s married brother Alfred who had no children of his own

 

It was four years later when the marriage of Sarah Ann Collett and Henry Tompkins was recorded at Banbury (Ref. 3a 317) during the second quarter of 1875.  In 1881 Sarah Ann’s five-year-old daughter, Florence M Tompkins from Chipping Norton, was staying with her paternal grandparents Charles and Mary Ann Collett at Great Rollright.  On that same day, Henry Tompkins from Dunthrop, Heythrop, was 33 and a coach builder and a publican.  The hamlet of Dunthrop lies within the parish of Heythrop, and it may have been at an inn in the village of Heythrop where Henry was the inn keeper.  Recorded with him there in the census of 1881 was his wife and their two youngest children, although the older of the two was incorrectly recorded as the aforementioned first-born daughter Florence but three years old.  Sarah A Tompkins from Stepney was 34, while her two youngest daughters were actually three-year-old Alma E Tompkins and Lilian A Tompkins who was two years of age, both of them from nearby Chipping Norton.  Staying at the inn with the family were two male boarders, William Calvert and Joseph Shipman

 

Henry Tompkins was born at Heythrop in 1850 and was the son of George and Elizabeth Tompkins, with whom he was still living in 1871 when he was 21 and a wheelwright.  The birth of Florence Mary Tompkins was recorded at Chipping Norton (Ref. 3a 234) during the second quarter of 1876, the birth of Alma Ellen Tompkins was recorded at Chipping Norton (Ref. 3a 55) during the third quarter of 1877, while it was there also that the birth of Lilian Annie Tompkins was recorded (Ref. 3a 46) during the third quarter of 1879.  In the census of 1891 Florence M Tompkins was 14 when she was living at Southcombe (midway between Chipping Norton and Heythrop) and the home of her maternal grandfather, widowed George Tompkins from Heythrop, a retired groom aged 77 who had previously been employed at Dunthrop Farm.  Another, slightly older granddaughter, Adele Tompkins from Battersea in London, was 16 and the housekeeper

 

By that time, Sarah Ann had given birth to two more children while, also living with the family at Southcombe was another daughter who was the same age as their eldest child Florence, for whom no birth record has been found, and who does not appear in the census of 1881.  Head of the household, Henry Tompkins was 42 and continuing his dual occupation as a coach builder and a publican, Sarah A Tompkins was 39 and from London, Alma E Tompkins was 14 and born at Chipping Norton, Lilian Tomkins was 11, Percival Henry Tompkins was eight, and Jessie Sarah Tompkins was seven years of age.  Both of their births were also recorded at Chipping Norton, Percival during the third quarter of 1882 (Ref. 3a 321), and Jessie during the first three months of 1884 (Ref. 3a 332)

 

According to the Chipping Norton census for 1901, Henry Tompkins from Dunthrop was 50 who had returned to his former work as a wheelwright, Sarah Ann was 48 but said she had been born at Great Rollright, Percival Henry was 18 and a wheelwright – who was a coach builder by 1911, and Jessie Sarah was 17 with no occupation.  The couple’s other daughter Lilian, was recorded at New Milverton near Leamington Spa in Warwick, where Lily A Tompkins from Chipping Norton was 21 and a domestic servant and housemaid at the home of John and Edith Kimmond

 

Eight years later, at the age of 62, the death of Henry Tompkins was recorded at Chipping Norton register office (Ref. 3a 361) during the third quarter of 1909. Less than two years after being made a widow, Sarah Ann aged 58 and her daughter Jessie Sarah aged 27 and from Southcombe, were still residing Chipping Norton, neither of them having a job of work.  Jessie was married just after that census day.  Something quite extraordinary happened during the years following the death of Henry Tompkins.  After he died on 2nd August 1909, Henry’s Will was proved in Oxford on 2nd September 1909 when the sole beneficiary was Sarah Ann Tompkins, his widow.  Fourteen years later, and after Sarah Ann passed away on 22nd May 1923, her Will was also proved at Oxford on 13th July 1923, when Charlie Collett was named as the sole beneficiary.  That must have been disputed and caused her husband’s Will to be reviewed, with a second probate review completed at Oxford on 25th August 1923, when the main beneficiary was Alma Ellen Collett, the second being Charles Collett

 

This information provides a direct link between Part 64 and Part 59 – The Colletts of Kingham (Oxfordshire) to the USS Collett, through Charles Collett (Ref. 59P25) and his wife Alma Ellen Collett, formerly Alma Ellen Tompkins.  Her birth was recorded at Chipping Norton during the summer of 1877, placing her as being a generation younger than Henry Tompkins.  This raises the question, was his daughter Alice E Tompkins, who was 14 in 1891, actually Alma Ellen Tompkins, which seems the most obvious assumption

 

64P75 - Emma L Collett was born in 1871 at Middleton Cheney, near Banbury

 

Charles Clement Collett [64O50] was born at Stepney either at the end of 1847 or just after the start of 1848, his birth recorded at Stepney (Ref. ii 10) and was baptised there on 27th February 1848, the eldest son of Charles and Mary Ann Collett.  It was also when the family was still living in the Stepney area of London when he died, his death recorded at Stepney (Ref. ii 3) during the third quarter of 1849

 

Alfred Hyatt Collett [64O51] was born in 1851 at Stepney, the only surviving son of Charles and Mary Ann Collett, whose birth was recorded at Whitechapel (Ref. ii 39) during the second quarter of that year.  He was then baptised at St Philips Church in Stepney on 27th July 1851 and was nine years old and a baker’s son in the census of 1861, by which time he and his family were residing in Great Rollright, near Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire.  He was still living there with his family ten years later in 1871, when Alfred H Collett from Stepney was 19 years of age and a baker’s son.  Around thirty months after that census day, when Alfred was twenty-two, he married previously married Emma Clarke, their wedding day recorded at Banbury (Ref. 3a 181) during the last quarter of 1873

 

It may have been upon becoming a married man that Alfred stopped working with his father, when he took on the role of publican.  It was with that occupation that Alfred H Collett from London, aged 29, was living and working at Back Lane in Chipping Norton in 1881.  His wife Emma Collett from Appleton in Berkshire who was 32 and living there with the couple was Emma L Collett who was 10 years old and born at Middleton Cheney in Northamptonshire who was described as Alfred’s niece, being the base-born daughter of his older unmarried sister Sarah Ann Collett (above)

 

During the next decade Alfred and Emma left the inn at Back Lane in Chipping Norton and by 1891 they were living at Scotland Road in Hook Norton, within the Bloxham area of Banbury, when Alfred was 39 and a farmer from London, and Emma was 42 and from Berkshire.  It was ten years after that when Alfred was named in the census of 1901 under his full name, by which time the couple was still living at Scotland Road in the village of Hook Norton.  Alfred Hyatt Collett (Hyatt being his grandmother’s maiden-name) was 49 and a farmer, whose place of birth was incorrectly recorded as Christchurch in Surrey, instead of Stepney in London.  His wife Emma Collett from Appleton was 50 and living with the couple was Alfred’s elderly mother Mary Ann Collett from Christchurch in Surrey, who died there nine years later.  Alfred Hyatt Collett was 58 years old when he died at Banbury, perhaps in hospital, where his death was recorded (Ref. 3a 312) during the third quarter of 1909.  His widow Emma Collett was still living in Hook Norton at the start of April in 1911, when she was 63

 

Mary Elizabeth Collett [64O52] was born in 1860 at Great Rollright, Oxfordshire, her birth recorded at Chipping Norton (Ref. 3a 168) during the third quarter of 1860, the last child of Charles Collett and Mary Ann Harmer.  She was therefore around six months old on the day of the Great Rollright census in 1861, and was 10 years of age in 1871, when she was still living there with her family and at school.

 

Jane Collett [64P1] was born at St Mary Westport in Malmesbury during 1869, the eldest of the six children of Aaron Vizor Collett and his wife Ellen.  She was one-year old in the Westport census of 1871, although by 1873 the family had moved to Easton Grey where three of Jane’s siblings were born.  However, by 1881 the family had moved again, on that occasion her father was the landlord and inn keeper at the Queens Head Inn at Hullavington.  Upon leaving school Jane appears to have entered into domestic service, like her sister Hannah (below), so by 1891 and at the age of 21, she was living and working within the Malmesbury Eastern registration district and not at Hullavington where her family was still living at 1 Seager’s Lane

 

Mary A Collett [64P2] was born at St Mary Westport in Malmesbury during 1871, the second child of Aaron and Ellen Collett.  Mary was nine years old in 1881 when she and her family were living at the Queens Head Inn at Hullavington, where her father was the landlord and the inn keeper.  She was still living with her family in 1891 when, as Mary A Collet, aged 19, she had no stated occupation, so was very likely helping her mother manage the housework at 1 Seager’s Lane in Hullavington, where her father was a farmer and her two older brothers were working with her father on the land

 

Hannah Collett [64P3] was born in 1874 at Easton Grey, three miles west of Malmesbury, the third daughter born to Aaron and Ellen Collett.  It was at Malmesbury where her birth was recorded (Ref. 5a 236) during the third quarter of 1874.  Sometime between 1877 and 1881 the family left Easton Grey when they moved to Hullavington, where Hannah’s father took over as the landlord and inn keeper of the Queens Head Inn.  That was confirmed in the census of 1881 when Hannah was six years old and was attending the village school in Hullavington.  The last child was born into her family at Hullavington, after which her father became a farmer and the family settled into a new life at 1 Seager’s Lane in Hullavington.  By 1891 Hannah from Easton Grey had secured work in London as a domestic housemaid and was living and working at the Fore Street, Edmonton home of the Maud family, when Hannah Collett was 18 years of age

 

Aaron Vizor Collett [64P4] was born on 3rd May 1876 at Easton Grey, near Malmesbury, the eldest son of labourer Aaron Vizor Collett and his wife Ellen Curtis, and was later baptised at Foxley Parish Church.  In April 1881, Aaron Collett as four years old when he was living with his parents at the family home which was the Queens Head Inn in Hullavington.  His father later gave up being the landlord and the inn keeper at the Queens Head Inn, and in 1891 the completed family was residing at 1 Seager’s Lane in Hullavington where Aaron’s father was a farmer, assisted by Aaron junior who was 14.  Shortly after that his father took over Firs Farm in Corston near Malmesbury.  It was at Corston on 30th May 1896, when Aaron was just twenty years old, that he married Rosina Kane, who was born at Dauntsey in Wiltshire during 1871.  The event was recorded at Malmesbury register office (Ref. 5a 83) during the second quarter of 1896.  Rosina was the daughter of Francis Kane, the landlord of the Radnor Arms in Corston, and his wife Sarah Minchin

 

It is understood that Aaron first met Rosina when he was staying at the Radnor Arms in Corston during February in 1896, when there was an outbreak of typhoid at his family’s home which took the lives of his parents and younger brother Walter Vizor Collett (below).  It was therefore after only three months that they were married.  The couple’s marriage certificate curiously stated that Aaron Vizor Collett was a labourer and a bachelor of 24 (sic), the son of Aaron Vizor Collett a farmer.  Similarly, the same certificate suggested that spinster Rosina of Corston was 23 and the daughter of Frank Kane a publican.  The two witnesses were named as George Kane and Minnie Kane

 

The confusion over their ages continued into the next two census returns and, by the time of the first of them in 1901, their marriage had produced the couple’s first two children.  At that time the family of four was living at Badbury within the parish of Chiseldon, to the south of Swindon, where Aaron was employed as an inn keeper and a shopkeeper.  Although he would have been around 24 years of age, he then said he was 30 years old.  Was the reason for that untruth to cover his embarrassment that he was up to five years younger than his Rosina, who gave her age as 29.  In addition, Aaron gave his place of birth as Hullavington, where he was brought up, rather than Easton Grey where he had only lived for a short while.  The places of birth of the couple’s two children, Albert Collett, who was three years old, and Clarence Collett, who was one-year old, was Swindon and Chiseldon respectively.  Shortly after the census day in 1901 a third son was born into the family while they were still residing at Badbury, after which the family moved to the village of Longcot, to the south of Faringdon, where they lived at Knutford Lodge Farm

 

It was at Knutford Lodge in Longcot that the family was living in April 1911.  Aaron Vizor Collett of Hullavington gave his age as 38, instead of 34, while his wife Rosina Collett stated she was 36, rather than 39.  Their three sons were confirmed as Albert A V Collett aged 14 and from Swindon, Clarence G Collett aged 12 and from Chiseldon, and Cecil F K Collett who was 10 and had been born at Badbury.  It seems highly likely from the information received from the family in August 2012 that a further child, Edwina, was added to the family after 1911.  Sometime later in their life Aaron and Rosina resided at a farm property by the name of The Firs at Grove near Wantage.  It was also at that address where Rosina Collett, aged 66 and the wife of Aaron Collett a retired farmer, died of heart failure on 26th February 1939.  During the probate process at Oxford on 25th April 1939 it was Lloyds Bank Limited and Alan Lindsey Fullalove solicitor who were involved in finalising her estate of Ł1,654 7 Shillings and 6 Pence, which was later re-sworn as Ł2,054 7 Shillings and 6 Pence.  Aaron Vizor Collett died not long after his wife, when he passed away on 19th February 1940 at the age of 63.  He was a retired farmer still living at The Firs in Grove on that occasion, following which he was buried in the churchyard of St Mary the Virgin in Longcot, presumably with his late wife.  The Will of Aaron Vizor Collett of The Firs, Grove near Wantage was proved at Oxford on 13th April 1940 when the executors of his estate of Ł113 17 Shillings and 3 Pence were named as Alan Lindsey Fullalove solicitor, and Clarence George Collett, a farmer

 

64Q1 – Albert Aaron Vizor Collett was born in 1897 at Swindon

64Q2 – Clarence George Collett was born in 1899 at Chiseldon, Wiltshire

64Q3 – Cecil Francis Kane Collett was born in 1901 at Badbury, near Chiseldon

 

 

Walter Vizor Collett [64P5] was born at Easton Grey during 1877, the son of Aaron and Ellen Collett.  By 1881 he and his family were living at the Queen’s Head Inn in Hullavington, where Walter Collett was three years of age.  During the 1880s the family left the Queen’s Head and by 1891 were still living in Hullavington, but at 1 Seager’s Lane in the village, when Walter was 12.  It was just five years later, after another family move that Walter Thomas Collett, aged 18, died on 16th February 1896 at Firs Farm in Corston during an outbreak of typhoid which also took the lives of his parents

 

Albert Thomas Collett [64P6] was born at The Queen’s Head Inn at Hullavington on 5th December 1882, the youngest of the five known children of Aaron Vizor Collett and his wife Ellen Curtis.  It was also at Hullavington where he was baptised shortly after on 28th January 1883 when, once again, he was confirmed as the son of Aaron Vizor and Ellen Collett.  In the census of 1891, eight-year-old Albert Collett from Hullavington was living at 1 Seager’s Lane in the village, but not long after that he and his family moved to Firs Farm in the village of Corston.  Following the deaths of his parents and his brother Walter Vizor Collett (above) in 1896, Albert has not been located within any of the subsequent British Census Returns.  It is understood, although not yet confirmed, that he eventually emigrated to America

 

Arthur Francis Vizor Collett [64P7] was born in Bristol, his birth recorded at Clifton (Ref. 6a 139) during the last quarter of 1867.  He was baptised at Emanuel’s Church in Bristol on 16th February 1868, the eldest son of Joseph Collett and Elizabeth Boucher, who was three years old in the census of 1871.  At that time in his life, he was living with his family at 21 Morley Street in the Lawrence Hill, Russell Town, area of Bristol.  It is known that his father died in early 1881, when Arthur was 13 and a boarder at the Colston School in Stapleton, an establishment run by headmaster, the Reverend John Handcock from London, aged 48, who received his Bachelor of Arts Degree at Trinity College in Dublin.  It is worth noting here that Arthur’s brother William (below) married Annie Estelle Handcock, who may have been related to the Rev John Handcock.  On completing his education, Arthur was reunited with his brother William in 1891, when the pair of them were residing in the Barton Regis area of Bristol.  Arthur F Collett from Bristol was 23, and two years later he became a married man, as did his brother William

 

Arthur married Elizabeth Mary Richardson in 1893, the event recorded at Barton Regis in Bristol, during the third quarter of that year.  In the census of 1901, Arthur for some reason gave his place of birth as being Malmesbury, as he did again ten years later.  The census return in March 1901 included Arthur F V Collett, aged 34 and a merchant clerk, living in Bristol with his wife Elizabeth Mary, aged 37 and from Bristol, and their two Bristol born children, Frances Vizor Collett who was six, and Edward R V Collett who was four.  The family’s live-in domestic servant was Norah Dean from Bath who was 17.  In April 1911 each member of the family was recorded under their full names.  Arthur Francis Vizor Collett was 43, Elizabeth Mary Collett was 40, Frances Mary Vizor Collett was 16, and Edward Reginald Vizor Collett was 14.  On that occasion they were living at 5 The Quadrant in the Redland area of Bristol, from where Arthur was working as a cashier for Chocolate & Cocoa Manufacturer J S Fry & Son, where his brother William was also employed.  The census confirmed that Arthur and Elizabeth had been married for 18 years and only ever had the two children listed with them.  It was also noted that their home had ten rooms

 

Arthur Francis Vizor Collett died on the 25th June 1918 at the age of 50, his death being registered in Bristol.  The Will of Arthur Francis Vizor Collett, mercantile cashier, of 5 The Quadrant, Redland, Bristol, was proved at Bristol on 10th August 1918 when his widow Elizabeth Mary Collett was named as the executor to his personal effects amounting to Ł1,007 6 Shillings and 7 Pence

 

64Q4 – Frances Mary Vizor Collett was born in 1894 at Bristol

64Q5 – Edward Reginald Vizor Collett was born in 1896 at Bristol

 

William Vizor Collett [64P8] was born at Clifton in Bristol during the fourth quarter of 1870, most likely in late November or early December, following which he was baptised at Emanuel’s Church in Bristol on 19th December 1870, the youngest known son of Joseph and Elizabeth Collett.  It was simply as William Collett aged just four months, that he was living at 21 Morley Street in the Lawrence Hill, Russell Town district of Bristol 1871.  By the time he was nine years old, he and his brother (above) had been made orphans by the death of both of their parents.  According to the census in 1881, William had been separated from his older brother Arthur (above) who was a resident boarder at Colston School in Stapleton, just north-east of Bristol.  William on the other hand was 10 years old and was described as a lodger at the home of tailoress Julia Burford, aged 50, who was a spinster from Owlpen, near Uley, in Gloucestershire.  There were no other occupants at the house, the address for which was 2 Frederick Street within the Bristol parish of Saints Philip and Jacob

 

Ten years later, when William was 20, he was living with his brother Arthur at Ashley Down within the Barton Regis district of Bristol, the census in 1891 recording him as Willie Collett from Bristol.  It was during the summer of 1893 when William Vizor Collett married Annie Estelle Handcock from Liverpool.  The wedding was recorded at the Barton Regis register office in Bristol (Ref. 6a 281) during the third quarter of that year when the witnesses were named as John William Fowke and Mary Morris.  Once married the couple set up home in Bristol where their two known children were born.  That was confirmed by the census in March 1901 when William V Collett, aged 30 and from Bristol, was a commercial clerk, his wife Annie E Collett from Liverpool was also 30, and their two children were Kenneth V Collett who was five and Margaret V V Collett who was four

 

At the end of the next decade the family was residing at the eleven-roomed property known as Valken at Downs Park West in the Westbury Park (Westbury-on-Trym) area of Bristol.  By that time in his life William was a clerk employed by the Chocolate & Cocoa Manufacturer J S Fry & Son.  The household was listed in the census of 1911 as William Collett, aged 40, as was his wife Annie Estelle Collett, Kenneth Vizor Collett who was 15, and Margaret Valentine Collett who was 14.  The family was quite affluent since they employed a general domestic servant, Clara Reed, aged 18 and from Taunton in Somerset

 

William Vizor Collett died at Bristol on 12th June 1916 at the age of 45, following which his death was recorded there under the name of William V Collett (Ref. 6a 256) during the second quarter of that year.  At the proving of his Will in Bristol on 1st August 1916 the address of William Vizor Collett was confirmed as ‘Valken’ at 52 Downs Park West in Bristol, while his occupation was that of a commercial clerk.  It was his widow Annie Estelle Collett who was named as the executor of his estate of Ł1,619 19 Shillings. On the last day of 2015, a gentleman by the name of Robert Orme made contact to say he has in his possession a signed drawing by William Vizor Collett dated 1902.  The picture, catalogued by the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington and entitled ‘The Bathers’, is of the nude figure of a young man sitting in a small rowing boat.  For some reason one source on the internet speculates that the picture was drawn at Capri in Italy or at Taormina in Sicily

 

64Q6 – Kenneth Vizor Collett was born in 1895 at Bristol

64Q7 – Margaret Valentine Vizor Collett was born in 1896 at Bristol

 

James William Collett [64P9] was born at Didmarton in 1862, with his birth recorded at Tetbury (Ref. 6a 295) during the third quarter of that year.  He was the base-born son of Jane Collett by a so far unknown male and, following his mother’s marriage to Isaac Sallis Russell, eight-year-old James Collett from Didmarton was living at the home of his stepfather and his mother Jane at West Kington in 1871.  With his mother giving birth to at least seven half-siblings prior to 1881, the census that year showed that James had left West Kington and was residing with his mother’s married sister Harriet Palmer from Hullavington and her husband William at Rodbourne Cheney in Swindon.  James Collett from Didmarton was 18 and a general labourer, as was William Palmer with whom he may have been working

 

Two years later, when James was around twenty-one, the marriage of James William Collett and Fanny Hulbert, of Chippenham who was 27, was recorded at Chippenham (Ref. 5a 111) during the first three months of 1883.  Fanny was the daughter of Amy Hill, by her first husband, before she married William Hill, her second husband.  Before the end of the century Fanny presented James with their only known children, their two daughters, who were born respectively at West Kington and Highworth near Swindon.  It was also at Page Street in Highworth that the four members of the family were recorded in the census of 1891, when James W Collett from Gloucestershire was 28 and a plumber’s labourer.  His wife Fanny Collett was 34, Ella Matilda J Collett was seven, and Janetta M Collett was three.  Staying with the family were three of James’ half-siblings, they being the children of Isaac Sallis Russell and James’ mother:  Isaac Sallis Russell junior was 22; Thomas Lawrence Russell was 20; and Mary Minnie Russell was 14

 

During the following decade the family left Highworth and settled in the village of Tetbury Upton, to the north of the town of Tetbury.  On the day of the next census in 1901 James and his two daughters were recorded at Tetbury Upton, while his wife was visiting the home of her mother and stepfather at Yatten Road in Yatten, Somerset.  James William Collett from Didmarton was 39 and employed as a journeyman tin man living at London Road in Tetbury Upton.  His two daughters were described as Ella Matilda Jane Collett who was 17 who had been born at West Kington, and Janetta M Collett who was 13 who had been born in Swindon.  That same day Fanny Collett from Chippenham was 44 and at the Yatton Road, Yatton in Somerset, home of her stepfather William Hill, aged 77, whose wife (and Fanny’s mother) was Amy Hill, aged 75, who was also from Chippenham

 

One daughter was still residing at the family home with her parents in 1911 which, by that time, was in Trowbridge.  The census that year recorded the three members of the family as James W Collett from Didmarton who was 48 and a general labourer at an iron and tinplate works.  His wife of twenty-eight years Fanny Collett from Nettleton was 53 and their daughter Janetta Margaret Collett from Swindon was 24 and her occupation was that of a dressmaker working at home.  It was only eighteen months later that the death of Fanny Collett was recorded at Melksham register office (Ref. 5a 109) during the third quarter of 1912 when she was 56.  James William Collett lived a long life and died nearly thirty years later on 15th July 1941, when his mother was confirmed as Jane Collett.  The death certificate also confirmed he had been born at Didmarton during 1862

 

64Q8 – Ella Matilda Jane Collett was born in 1884 at West Kington, Wiltshire

64Q9 – Janetta Margaret Collett was born in 1887 at Highworth, Swindon

 

Sarah Ann H Collett [64P10] was born at Malmesbury in 1872, with her birth also recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 229) during the first three months of that year.  She was the base-born daughter of unmarried Margaret Collett of Hullavington.  When Sarah was a few years old her mother, a grocer, married Thomas William Bratt and in the census of 1881, Sarah Collett from Malmesbury was nine years of age and living with her mother and stepfather at Yew Tree Terrace in Colwall, near Ledbury in Herefordshire.  When old enough, Sarah left Colwall and was not recorded with her mother’s new family in 1891.  Where she was in both 1891 and 1901 has yet to be discovered, whilst it was at Malmesbury that Sarah Ann Collett was married during the second quarter of 1907 (Ref. 5a 108) to Charles Ernest Nicholls, although yet again, no record of the couple has been found in the census returns completed in 1911.  The death of Sarah A Nicholls nee Collett was recorded at Chippenham register office (Ref. 7c 56) during the first three months of 1947 when she was 76

 

Frank Lawrence Collett [64P11] was born at Devonport, Plymouth, on 28th February 1900, the first child of William Collett and Harriet Honor Horswell, the birth being registered there (Ref. 5b 320).  He was one-year old in the Devonport census of 1901 and, by 1911, he and his family were recorded living at Wesley House on Faringdon Street in Swindon when Frank was 11 years of age.  The military record for Frank Lawrence Collett, born at Plymouth in 1900, and a resident of Swindon, was a member of the 3rd Battalion of the Somerset Light Infantry service number 18673, and also served with the 4th Reserve Battalion of the Dorset Regiment with the service number 44361.  Ten years after peace was declared in Europe, the marriage of Frank Lawrence Collett and Lilian May Griffiths was recorded at Swindon register office (Ref. 5a 96) during the second quarter of 1928.  Lilian was the daughter of John Frederick Griffiths, a boot riveter, and his wife Alice Phoebe Griffiths.  After a further eleven years, Frank L Collett was residing at 120 Drove Road in Swindon, when his date of birth was confirmed as 28th February 1900.  He was a locomotive erector with the Great Western Railway, and living there with him was his wife and his elderly father.  Lilian M Collett was also 39, having been born on 20th January 1900, while Frank’s father was William Collett aged 82 was a retired Royal Navy pensioner, who was also a widower. Many years later on, and during the summer of 1984, both Lilian and Frank passed away in quick succession at the age of 84 and, from the reference numbers used to record their deaths at Swindon register office, Lilian appears to have been the first.  The death of Lilian May Collett, nee Griffiths, was recorded as (Ref. 23 1833), with her date recorded in error as January 1900, and was followed by Frank Lawrence Collett whose death was recorded as (Ref. 23 1982)

 

Doris Margaret Collett [64P12] was born at Devonport in 1902, where her father was in the Royal Navy.  Her birth was recorded at Devonport register office (Ref. 5b 297) during the third quarter of the year, where she was also baptised.  On her father retiring from the navy, he secured work in Swindon as a caretaker, where the family was living in 1911 when Doris was eight years of age.  She was nearly twenty-seven, when the marriage of Doris Margaret Collett and William E Colbran was recorded at Swindon register office (Ref. 5a 65) during the third quarter of 1929.  Their only known child, Allen E Colbran, was born in Sussex, his birth recorded at Eastbourne register office (Ref. 2b 84) during the first quarter of 1937, when the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett

 

Ann Elizabeth Collett [64P13] was born in 1872 at Idle, a suburb to the north of Bradford, within the parish of Eccleshill, the eldest of the seven children of Arthur Collett from Wiltshire and Margaret Ward from Bradford in Yorkshire.  Her birth was recorded at Bradford (Ref. 9b 238) during the last three months of 1872.  On leaving school, and at the age of 18 in 1892, Annie Collett was employed as a worsted spinner when she was living with her family at 16 Wellington Street in Idle, where they had been living ten years earlier when Ann was recorded as Annie Collett.  Curiously, no record of her has been found within the census of 1901, but it does seem highly likely that she gave birth to a base-born daughter, named after her mother, two years later.  That child was then cared for by Annie’s parents, with whom she was living in the Eccleshill census of 1911.  However, six years after the birth of her daughter Annie Elizabeth Collett married either George Laycock or Joseph Linley with whom, it would appear, she had no children.  That event was recorded at the Bradford North Bierley register office (Ref. 9b 286) during the first quarter of 1909.  No positive identification of Annie and her husband has been discovered in the census of 1911

 

64Q10 – Maggie Collett was born in 1903 at Bradford

 

Emily Louisa Collett [64P14] was born at Idle in 1873, the second child of Arthur and Margaret Collett, whose birth was recorded at Bradford (Ref. 9b 236) during the third quarter of that year.  As simply Emily Collett she was seven and 17 years of age in the 1881 and 1891 census returns respectively, when she was living with her family at 16 Wellington Street, Idle/Eccleshill.  Like her older sister Annie (above) and younger sister Minnie (below), Emily was also a worsted spinner in 1891.  Just over seven years later, the marriage of Emily Louisa Collett and Edward Moore was recorded at North Bierley register office (Ref. 9b 358) during the second quarter of 1898.  It seems there was no issue arising from their marriage and, in 1901, the childless was residing at Peterborough Road in Eccleshill, where Edward and Emily Moore were both 27 years of age, when Emily from Eccleshill was still working in the local mill, but as a worsted weaver.  After a further ten years the couple was still living in Eccleshill, by which time Emily Louisa Moore was keeping house for her husband, who was taking in lodgers by then.  Forty years after that census day the death of Emily L Moore was recorded at Bradford register office (Ref. 9b 328) during the first three months of 1951 when she was 77 years old

 

Minnie Collett [64P15] was born at Idle, within the Bradford parish of Eccleshill, during the third quarter of 1875 with her birth recorded at Bradford (Ref. 9b 254).  It was at St Luke’s Church in Eccleshill on 7th February 1876 that she was baptised, the daughter of Arthur and Margaret Collett.  From around the time she was born, her parents we living at 16 Wellington Street in Idle, where Minnie was five years old in 1881, and was 15 in 1891, by which time she was already working as a worsted spinner with her two older sisters Annie and Emily (above)

 

It was on 11th August 1900 at the Eccleshill parish Church of St Luke that Minnie Collett married Thomas Starkey, the event recorded at the Bradford North Bierley register office (Ref. 9b 397).  Six months later Thomas and Minnie Starkey, both 25 years of age, were living on Peterborough Road in Eccleshill, the same road as Minnie’s married sister Emily Louisa Moore (above).  On that occasion Minnie was working at the local mill as a weaver of woollen cloth and was already pregnant with the couple’s first child.  By 1911 Minnie had given birth to three children and all of them born at Eccleshill, as confirmed in the Eccleshill census that year.  It was also nearby in Eccleshill where Minnie’s parents, together with her youngest sister Maud Collett (below), and her older married sister Emily Louisa Moore and her husband, were living at that same time.  Thomas Starkey was 35, as was his wife who was from Eccleshill, and their three children were Herbert Starkey who was nine, Emily Starkey who was six, and Thomas Starkey who was four years old

 

Minnie was already pregnant with another son, William Starkey, on the day of the census in April 1911, the child being born on 27th October 1911 who was 81 when he passed away at Bradford during the summer of 1993.  Minnie Starkey nee Collett was 74 when she died during the last three months of 1949, her death recorded at Bradford (Ref. 2b 265) when she was living at 39 Wellington Road in the Undercliffe area of Bradford.  Probate for Minnie Starkey, the wife of Thomas Starkey, was granted to William and Herbert Starkey.  Thomas Starkey served his country during the Great War but was discharged due to bronchitis at the age of 40.  His military record shows they had a total of five children, Herbert who was born in 1902, Emily who was born in 1905, Thomas who was born in 1906, William born in 1911 and Minnie Starkey who was born on 22nd December 1913, all of them born at Eccleshill.  However, Minnie was not their last child since, ten months after she was born, her mother gave birth to twin sons who most likely did not survive.  The births of Arthur Starkey and John Starkey were recorded on consecutive entries at North Bierley register office (Refs. 9b 99 and 9b 100) during the third quarter of 1914, when their mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett

 

John Collett [64P16] was born at Idle – a suburb to the north of Bradford, possibly towards the end of 1878 or very early in 1879, the only surviving son of Arthur Collett from Bremilham near Malmesbury in Wiltshire and his wife Margaret Ellen Ward from Bradford in Yorkshire.  His birth was recorded at Bradford (Ref. 9b 254) during the first quarter of 1879 and, by the time of the census in 1881, John was two years old when he and his family were living at 16 Wellington Street in Idle.  It was at that same address that he and the family were residing ten years later in 1891, when John Collett was 11 and still at school.  It should be noted that it was only just over four months prior to the census that year that John Collett, the son of Arthur and Margaret Collett was baptised at the Church of St Luke in Eccleshill on 19th November 1890

 

Just after the start of the century John Collett married (1) Lucy Eastmead, the event recorded at Rotherham register office (Ref. 9c 1177) during the second quarter of 1900.  That first marriage produced a son for John, named after his father, who was born before the end of the year meaning, it was either a honeymoon child or, that Lucy was already with-child on their wedding day.  A few months later, on the day the next census was conducted at the end of March 1901, the family of three was living at Tower Street in Eccleshill, where John Collett of Bradford was 22 and a worsted loom maker, Lucy Collett was 20 and from Rawmarsh, just north of Rotherham, while their son Arthur Collett was under six months old and had been born at Eccleshill.  Three years later daughter Hilda was added to their family and after another three years, perhaps during the birth of a third child who did not survive, Lucy Collett nee Eastmead died, her death recorded at the Bradford North Bierley register office (Ref. 9b 117) during the final quarter of 1907

 

Most likely supported by his parents Arthur and Margaret living nearby, John continued to care for his two children and was eventually re-married.  The marriage of widower John Collett and (2) Millicent Amos Morton was recorded at North Bierley (Ref. 9b 483) during the third quarter of 1909.  Between then and the next census in 1911, John and Millicent moved into the centre of Bradford, where the family was recorded in April 1911.  John Collett, aged 32 and from Bradford was a furnishing draper, and his second wife Millicent Amos Collett from Lincolnshire was also 32.  John’s son Arthur Collett was aged 10 years and his daughter Hilda Collett was seven years of age

 

John Collett died at Bradford on 23rd April 1947 while he was living at 205 Otley Road in the city, his death recorded at Bradford register office (Ref. 2b 108) when he was 68.  Probate of his personal effects, valued at Ł956 18 Shillings, was granted jointly at Wakefield on 16th May 1947 to his son Arthur Collett, a builder’s labourer, and to Ernest Burgin, a master grocer, who was John’s son-in-law and the husband of his daughter Hilda

 

64Q11 – Arthur Collett was born in 1900 at Eccleshill, Bradford

64Q12 – Hilda Collett was born in 1904 at Bradford, Yorkshire

 

Edward Collett [64P17] was born in 1880 at 16 Wellington Street, Idle, within the Bradford parish of Eccleshill.  His birth was recorded at Bradford (Ref. 9b 251) during the last quarter of that year.  Upon being baptised at St Luke’s Church in Eccleshill on 17th November 1880, his parents were named as Arthur and Margaret Ellen Collett, the only occasion when his mother’s second forename was used.  Edward was a poorly child and his baptism was a hastily arranged event, with the death of baby Edward Collett recorded at Bradford (Ref. 9b 156) shortly after he was christened

 

Agnes Collett [64P18] was born at 16 Wellington Street in Idle, her birth recorded at Bradford (Ref. 9b 219) during the last three months of 1884.  Like most of her siblings, she was baptised at the Eccleshill Church of St Luke where, over a year later, on 1st January 1886, she was named as the daughter of Arthur and Margaret Collett.  Agnes may have been suffering with the same condition or illness that caused the death of her brother Edward (above) since, just after her christening day, the death of Agnes Collett was recorded at Bradford (Ref. 9b 161) when she was one year old

 

Maud Collett [64P19] was born at 16 Wellington Street in Idle, her birth recorded at nearby Bradford (Ref. 9b 234) during the second quarter of 1890, the last of the seven children of Arthur Collett and Margaret Ward.  It was at the Church of St Luke in Eccleshill where she was baptised on 12th May 1890.  According to the census in 1891, Maud Collett was inaccurately recorded as being six months old when living with her family at 16 Wellington Street.  Ten years later Maud Collett was 10 years old when she was the only child still living with her parents at 16 Wellington Street.  By 1911 the census that April still had the three of them living at the same address which was then in Eccleshill.  At that time in her life, Maud Collett was 20 when she was working as a restaurant attendant – presumably a waitress.  Maud was 21 when she married George Boldy just a few months later, the event recorded at the Bradford register office in North Bierley (Ref. 9b 32) during the third quarter of 1911.  George was born George Freeman Boldy, the son of Herbert and Ellen Boldy, whose occupation in 1911 was that of a grease extractor

 

John Henry Albert Collett [64P22] was born at Bristol in 1876, the eldest child of John Collett of Foxley and his wife Margaret Louisa Goodfield, also from Foxley.  His birth was recorded at Clifton (Ref. 6a 55) during the second quarter of that year.  It was at Barton Hill to the south of Bristol, near the county boundary with Somerset, where John Henry Albert Collett was baptised at the Church of St Luke on 4th June 1876.  When he was around four years of age, his parents left Bristol when the family settled in Worcester.  It was as John H A Collett, aged four years, that he was recorded in the census of 1881 when he was living with his family at 21 Bowling Green Terrace in the Blockhouse area of the city.  Sometime during the next decade, the family moved to South Claines, immediately to the north of Worcester, where they were living in 1891, when John H A Collett was 14 years of age

 

Nine years after that census day, John became a married man, where the marriage of John Henry A Collett and Edith Purser was recorded at Worcester register office (Ref. 6c 495) during the third quarter of 1900.  Six months later, the Worcester census conducted in March 1901 placed John H A Collett from Bristol as living there, where he was working as a tailor’s cutter at the age of 24.  His wife was also living there with him, and was confirmed as Edith Collett from Twyning in Gloucestershire, who was 22.  During the first decade of their married life, Edith presented John with four children, who were all still living with the couple at Worcester in 1911.  John H A Collett from Bristol was 34 and a tailor’s cutter in the manufacture of clothing, Edith from Twyning was 32, Sidney J Collett was nine, James H Collett was six, Edith M Collett was four, and Thomas A Collett was one-year-old, all of them born in Worcester.  Three years later, a further son was added to the family, with the arrival of Victor A Collett, whose birth was also recorded at Worcester

 

It was in 1932, and following the death of his father, that John’s full name was recorded, when he was named as John Henry Albert Collett, a clothing manufacturer’s foreman, the sole executor of his late father’s estate.  Five years later, the death of Edith Collett, wife of John H A Collett, was recorded at Worcester register office (Ref. 6c 6) during the second quarter of 1938, when she was 59 years old.  His full name was used again during the probate process for his Will in 1944.  As John H A Collett his death was recorded at Worcester register office (Ref. 6c 37) during the first quarter of that year, following his death on 5th March at the age of 67.  His Will was proved at Birmingham on 17th April 1944 when his second son James Henry Collett, a tailor’s cutter, was named as the sole executor of his estate of Ł150 19 Shillings and 8 Pence

 

64Q13 – Sidney John Collett was born in 1901 at Worcester

64Q14 – James Henry Collett was born in 1904 at Worcester

64Q15 – Edith Mary Collett was born in 1906 at Worcester

64Q16 – Thomas Arthur Collett was born in 1909 at Worcester

64Q17 – Victor Albert Collett was born in 1914 at Worcester

 

Mary Elizabeth Maud Collett [64P23] was born at Bristol in 1877 and it was there that she was baptised on 21st October 1877 the daughter of John and Margaret Collett.  She was around three years old when her parents took the family from Bristol to Worcester where they were living in 1881, when Mary E M Collett was three years old.  Their address on that occasion was 21 Bowling Green Terrace in Blockhouse, Worcester.  It was as Mary E L Collett that she was living with her family at South Claines near Worcester in 1891 when she was 13.  She was recorded simply as Maud Collett from Bristol, aged 23, who was a dressmaker in the March census of 1901 when she was still living at Lower Chesnut Street in Worcester with her family.  It was the same situation in 1911, when Maud Collett from Bristol single, 34 and a dressmaker, who was the eldest of the six children still living with her parents in Worcester

 

Mary was into her late forties when she became a married lady.  The marriage of Mary E M Collett and George W Millwater was recorded at Worcester register office (Ref. 6c 297) during the third quarter of 1925.  They were together for less than seven years when George William Millwater passed away on 17th January 1932.  His Will was proved at Birmingham on 1st July 1932 when during the probate process his wife was described as Mary Elizabeth Maud Millwater, a widow, who was jointly charged with looking after his personal effects with Alice Gladys Millwater, the wife of Walter Millwater, who was most likely his brother or his son from an earlier marriage.  His widow, Mary Elizabeth Maud Millwater nee Collett died on 28th February 1956 and her Will was proved at Gloucester on 24th April that year, when the executors of her estate were named as Lena Florence Collett, a married woman, and Elsie Carpenter, another married woman.  Lena Florence Collett was the wife of Mary’s younger brother James F W Collett (below)

 

Ernest Percy William Collett [64P24] was born at Bristol, possibly at the end of 1878 or early in 1879, since his birth as simply Ernest Percy Collett was recorded at Barton Regis (Ref. 6a 230) during the first quarter of 1879.  He was the third child of John and Margaret Collett.  Shortly after he was born his family moved to Worcester where his further siblings were born.  Ernest P W Collett from Bristol was two years old in the Worcester census of 1881, when he and his family were living at 21 Bowling Green Terrace in the Blockhouse area of Worcester.  He was still with his family at South Claines, near Worcester in 1891, when Ernest E Collett was 12 years old.  By the time of the census in 1901 Ernest Collett, aged 22 and from Bristol, was a telegraph labourer, indicating that he was employed by the General Post Office.  He was still unmarried and was still living at the family home at Lower Chesnut Street in Worcester

 

Just over two years later, the marriage of Ernest Percy W Collett and Sarah Burgess Perring was recorded at Worcester register office (Ref. 6c 258) during the last three months 1903.  The birth of Sarah Burgess Perring was recorded at Worcester (Ref. 6c 210) during the third quarter 1880, following which she was baptised there at the Church of St Mary Magdalene on 4th November 1880, the daughter of Walter Tweed Perring and Susan Perring.  It is likely that she was born at Easy Row in Whistones within the parish of Claines, where her family was living in 1881.  Once married the couple initially settled in Glamorganshire, where their first child was born before returning to Worcestershire for the births of their next three children.  It was at 20 Wolverton Road in Worcester where they and their four children were living in 1911, when Ernest Percy William Collett from Bristol was 32 and working as a carpenter.  His wife Sarah Burgess Collett from Worcester was 31, and their three children were recorded as Elsie Collett who was six and born in Glamorganshire South Wales, Walter S Collett who was four, Ernest W Collett who was two years old, and baby Violet S Collett who was just five months old, all three of them born in Worcester

 

The birth of their eldest child, Elsie, was recorded at Pontypridd register office (Ref. 11a 239) during the last three months of 1904.  Following her birth on 20th October 1904, the baptism of Elsie Collett took place at Ystradyfodwg in Glamorganshire on 11th December 1904.  It may well have been Ernest’s work as a carpenter that resulted in a family move to Nuneaton in Warwickshire, where the births of three more children were recorded of the next three years, the first two being twins.  The later death of Ernest P W Collett was recorded at Nuneaton register office (Ref. 6d 44) during the first three months of 1936, when he was 57 years of age

 

64Q18 – Elsie Collett was born in 1904 at Pontypridd

64Q19 – Walter Stanley Collett was born in 1906 at Worcester

64Q20 – Ernest William Collett was born in 1908 at Worcester

64Q21 – Violet Susan Collett was born in 1910 at Worcester

64Q22 – Edna Collett was born in 1912 at Nuneaton

64Q23 – Percy Collett was born in 1912 at Nuneaton

64Q24 – John Kenneth Collett was born in 1914 at Nuneaton

 

Francis Lewis George Collett [64P25] was born at Worcester during the early days of March 1881, the son of John and Margaret Collett.  His birth was recorded at Worcester register office (Ref. 6c 311) under the name of Francis Lewis G Collett during the second quarter of 1881 and he was just three weeks old in the census that year when he was named as Francis G L Collett.  Tragically, he was only six years of age when he died at Worcester where the death of Francis Collett was recorded during the third quarter of 1887 (Ref. 6c 147)

 

Arthur Reginald Collett [64P26] was born at Worcester in 1886, his birth recorded there during the second quarter of that year (Ref. 6c 16), the fifth child of John Collett and Margaret Louisa Goodfield.  He was five years old in 1891 when Arthur R Collett was living in South Claines near Worcester.  By 1901 he was living at Lower Chesnut Street in Worcester, when Arthur was working as a general errand boy at the age of 14, one of six children still living there with his parents.  Some years later, Arthur left his family in Worcester and move to Birmingham to seek work, and it was there at Saltley, to the east of the city centre that he was listed in 1911 as being Arthur Collett from Worcester who was 25 and the manager of a seed store.  Most likely at the outbreak of the Great War, he enlisted with the army and eventually became Private Collett 23212 with the 10th Battalion Worcestershire Regiment.  Sadly, on 23rd October 1916 at the age of thirty, he was killed in action during the Battle of the Somme which lasted from early July to early November that year.  His name, simply as Arthur Collett, is just one of the 72,000 listed on the Thievpal Memorial for men who died with no known grave.  It is not known whether he was married or not, since no next-of-kin was listed in his military records

 

James Francis Walter Collett [64P27] was born at Worcester on 20th October 1888, one year after the death of his older brother Francis whose name he was given.  He was recorded as James Francis W Collett on the occasion of the registration of his birth at Worcester (Ref. 6c 209) during the last three months of 1888.  It is possible that he was born when the family was living in the South Claines district to the north of Worcester, where they were living at the time of the census in 1891 where he was recorded as James F W Collett aged two years.  He was still attending school in 1901 when he was 12 years old and still living with his parents at Lower Chesnut Street in Worcester.  On that occasion he was simply recorded as James Collett, as he was again in 1911 when he was still living with his parents in Worcester at the age of 23, by which time he was a leather sorter working for a glove manufacturer

 

Also living in Worcester on that same census day, was James’ future wife Lena Florence Jones, who was a dressmaker still living there with her parents.  Lena was born at Worcester on 28th August 1887, the daughter of Thomas and Henrietta Clara Jones.  Her entry into the Collett family was by way of the marriage of James F W Collett and Lena F Jones which was recorded at Worcester register office (Ref. 6c 86) during the third quarter of 1914.  Upon the death of James’ older married and widowed sister Mary Elizabeth Maud Millwater nee Collett (above) in 1956, her Will named Lena Florence Collett, a married woman, as one of the two main beneficiaries.   The death of Lena Florence Collett was also recorded at Worcester register office (Ref. 9d 39) during the first few months of 1971.  Seven years after losing his wife, and apparently having lived all of his life in Worcestershire, the death of James Francis W Collett was recorded at Worcester register office (Vol. 29 78) during spring of 1978

 

George Lewis Collett [64P28] was born at South Claines, just north of Worcester in July 1890, the seventh of the eight children of John and Margaret Collett, who was baptised on 17th September 1890 at the Church of St Mary Magdalene.  His birth was recorded at Worcester register office (Ref. 6c 322) during the third quarter of that year and, according to the census in 1891, he was eight months old.  On that occasion he was recorded at South Claines with his family as George L Collett.  His family eventually moved in Worcester and was residing at Lower Chestnut Street in 1901, when George Collett was 10 years of age.  Tragically, two years later, the death of George Lewis Collett was recorded at Worcester register office (Ref. 6c 327) during the second quarter of 1903, when he was only 12 years of age.  He was buried in Worcester of 14th May 1903, his home address recorded as 4 Eastnor Villas on Lower Chestnut Street

 

Victor Stanley Collett [64P29] was born at South Claines in Worcester during the first half of 1892, with his birth recorded at Worcester register office (Ref. 6c 177) during the second quarter of that year.  He was baptised on 11th May 1892 at the Church of St Mary Magdalene, the eighth and last child of John Collett and Margaret Louisa Goodfield.  Curiously, his name was simply recorded by his parents in both the next two census returns as Stanley Collett.  On the first of those, Stanley Collett was nine years of age when his family was living at 4 Eastnor Villas, Lower Chestnut Street in Worcester, while in 1911 he was 19 years old and employed as a glove cutter, working alongside his old brother James (above).  It was over eight years later when the marriage of Victor S Collett and Annie M Walley was recorded at Worcester register office (Ref. 6c 137) during the last three months of 1919, with whom he had two sons and a daughter and, in each case, the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Walley.  Annie Mabel Walley was born at Worcester in summer of 1892 (Ref. 6c 288), the daughter of potter’s printer John Walley from Ohio City, USA, and his wife Mary from Staffordshire.  According to the census in 1911 Annie was working in the Royal Worcester Pottery as a china printeress

 

Victor Stanley Collett was still a resident of Worcester when he died on 18th May 1966 at 13 Cecilia Avenue in Worcester.  The details included within the probate process for his Will, proved at Gloucester on 18th August 1966, described him at Stanley Victor Collett of 268 Wylds Lane in Worcester, while it was his widow Annie Mabel Collett who was the executor of his estate.  It was also at Worcester register office, fifteen years later, where the death of widow Annie Mabel Collett was recorded (Vol. 29 48) towards the end of 1981 when she was 88 years of age, her death certificate stating that she had been born on 16th August 1892.  It is understood that the two youngest children were still alive in 2013

 

64Q25 – Stanley John Collett was born in 1921 at Worcester

64Q26 – Leonard W Collett was born in 1924 at Worcester

64Q27 – Beryl M Collett was born in 1928 at Worcester

 

Henry Collett [64P30] was born at Norton-Coleparle, at the end of 1862 or early in 1863, since his birth was recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 77) during the first three months of 1863.  He was the first-born child of William Collett and Emma Garland, and was eight years old in the census of 1871.  He was still living at the family home in Norton-Coleparle ten years later, when he was 18 and employed as an agricultural labourer, probably alongside his father.  As with other members of his family, Henry was also drawn to the north of England, probably through the opportunity of working on the railway since, by 1891, when he was still single at 27 years of age, he was employed as a railway signalman.  At that time in his life, he was lodging at Grace Church Street in Bradford, with the family of James Collett from Bremilham in Wiltshire, whose young family had moved to Bradford in the West Riding of Yorkshire prior to 1881.  James Thomas Collett (Ref. 64O16) from Bremilham near Malmesbury, was the cousin of Henry’s father William Collett

 

Seven months later, the marriage of Henry Collett and Louisa Fuller took place on 18th October 1891 at Pangbourne in Berkshire, where Louisa was born near the end of 1866.  She was also baptised at Pangbourne on 10th March 1867, the daughter of George and Elizabeth Fuller, with whom she was still living at Reading Road in Pangbourne in 1891, from where she was working as a housemaid at the age of 24.  After their wedding day, the couple lived for a time in Bradford, where their daughter was born, before moving to Keighley, where their son was born.  Just after the turn of the century the family was living at Skipton from where Henry was continuing his occupation as a railway signalman.  He was 36 and from Norton, Louisa was 34 and from Pangbourne, and their two children were Flossie Collett who was eight and from Bradford and Clement Collett who was three years old and born at Keighley

 

Sometime during the next decade, the family left Skipton and by the time of the next census in 1911 the family of four was residing at 3 Oswald Street, off Carr Lane, in Shipley-cum-Heaton, just north of Bradford within the North Bierley district of the West Riding of Yorkshire.  The census return on that occasion confirmed that Henry and Louisa had been married for nineteen years and that they had given birth to two children.  Henry Collett from Norton in Wiltshire was 48 and still a railway signalman, his wife Louisa Collett from Pangbourne was 44, and their two children were Flossie Collett who was 18 and working as a laundress, and Clement Collett who was 13.  When her son died in 1930, it was Louisa Collett and Henry Collett who were named as the first and second beneficiaries, which was rather strange bearing in mind that Clement Henry Collett was a married man, with a son of his own, by then.  The death of a Henry Collett, of the right age, was recorded at Blyth in Suffolk (Ref. 4b 47) during the fourth quarter of 1952, when he was 90 years old.  Whether he was the Henry from Wiltshire via Yorkshire remains to be determined

 

64Q28 – Flossie Esther Collett was born in 1892 at Bradford

64Q29 – Clement Henry Collett was born in 1898 at Keighley

 

Elizabeth Collett [64P31] was born at Norton-Coleparle with her birth recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 97) during the second quarter of 1865, the second child of William and Emma Collett.  For some reason she was recorded as being four years old in the Norton census of 1871 and again in 1881 when she was 14 and already working as a general domestic servant.  By that time in her life Elizabeth Collett from Norton in Wiltshire was employed by maltster and brewer Isaac Witchell in his home at Church Street in Tetbury

 

Catherine Collett [64P32] was born at Norton-Coleparle in 1868, when her birth was recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 261) during the second quarter of that year, another daughter of William and Emma Collett.  She was two years old and 12 years of age, and a scholar, respectively in the 1871 and 1881 censuses for Norton-Coleparle.  She was twenty-one years old when, as Kate Collett, the marriage of Catherine Collett and Sidney King was recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 270) during the second quarter of 1889, which may have taken place at Norton-Coleparle.  Sidney had been born at Beverston, near Tetbury, during 1864 and may have been introduced to Kate by her older sister Elizabeth (above) who was working in Tetbury in 1881

 

Immediately following the wedding, the couple left Wiltshire and settled at Woodchester, near Stroud in Gloucestershire, where their first child was born around nine months later.  Two years later, Sidney King was 30 years of age and working as a carter and agricultural labourer who was living at Bospin Lane in Woodchester with his wife Kate King from Wiltshire who was 23, and their first child, son Frederick W King, who was one year old.  Over the next ten years, the couple had a further four children, all of whom were born at Woodchester.  It was also at Woodchester that they were still living in 1901.  Sidney King was 38 and his occupation was that of a shepherd on a farm, and living with him was Catherine King from Norton in Wiltshire who was 32, and their five children.  They were Frederick William King aged 12, Florence King aged 10, George King who was eight, Adeline King who was four, and Sidney Philip King who was two years old.  Completing the household was Kate’s widowed father William Collett from Norton-Coleparle

 

Four more children were added to the family during the first decade of the new century, with the enlarged family still residing in Woodchester in 1911.  By then Sidney was 52, Catherine was 43, Fred was 21, Florence was 19, George was 17, Adeline was 14, Philip was 12, Herbert King was 10, Douglas King was seven, Dorothy King was five, and Clement King was two years old.  Staying with the family that day was Roscoe Collett who was six years of age and described as the nephew of Sidney and Kate, who had been born at Mountain Ash in Glamorganshire, South Wales (Rhondda Cynon Taff).  He was Roscoe Elrick Collett (Ref. 53R16), whose birth had been recorded at Pontypridd register office (Ref. 11a 363) during the second quarter of 1904

 

William Collett [64P33] was born at Norton-Coleparle in 1871, his birth recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 261) during the third quarter of that year.  By the time of the census in 1881 he was 10 years old and attending school in Norton, where he was living with his family.  At the age of 29, head of the household William Collett from Norton was in Hullavington, next door to his brother Fred Collett (below).  On that occasion, William was working as a general labourer on the construction of a line of the Great Western Railway.  No record of William has been found after that day

 

Philip Collett [64P34] was born at Norton-Coleparle, his birth recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 188) during the last three months of 1874, another son of William and Emma Collett.  Whilst his age was listed as being six years in the Norton census of 1881, ten years later he was recorded as being 18 years old, but that may have simply been an error in transcribing, as 16 would have been a more accurate age.  Philip was an agricultural labourer, the elder of two sons still living at the home of his parents which, by then was on Foxley Road in St Mary Westport.  However, according to the 1901 Census, bachelor Philip Collett, aged 25 and from Norton, was a lodger at the home of George and Ann Cordy in Mangotsfield, Gloucestershire, from where he was working as a railway porter.  Around four and a half years later he married Rhoda Bailey at the Church of St James in Mangotsfield on 2nd September 1905.  Philip was confirmed as the son of William Collett, while Rhoda was the daughter of George Baily and had been born on 22nd March 1884 at Frampton Cotterell, near Mangotsfield.  The details of the marriage were recorded at Keynsham register office (Ref. 5c 147), where the births of their two children were also recorded, together with the premature death of their father within the same decade they were born

 

Tragically, the couple was only married for just over three years when, Philip Collett died on 21st February 1909 at the age of 35, following which he was buried at St James Church in Mangotsfield on 25th February 1909.  His passing was recorded at Keynsham register office (Ref. 5c 80) and by that time in his life, Philip was still employed as a railway porter who was living with his wife at St James Place in Mangotsfield.  The administration of his personal effects took place at Bristol on 29th March 1909, when it was his wife Rhoda Collett, widow, who inherited Ł88 6 Shillings and 2 Pence.  Curiously, two years later. on the day of the census in 1911, the only member of the family of three who has been positively identified was Philip’s son George Collett of Mangotsfield, who was five years of age and was staying with Rhoda’s parents in Mangotsfield.  Head of the household George Bailey was 53, his wife Elizabeth was 50, and their daughter Bessie was 18.  No record of his mother or his sister has been discovered, while it was during the last three months of 1911, when the second marriage of Rhoda Collett, a widow, and widower Thomas Howard was recorded at Keynsham register office (Ref. 5c 60).  The service was conducted at St James’ Church in Mangotsfield on 16th December 1911, when Rhoda was confirmed as the daughter of George Bailey, and the groom’s father was named as Richard Howard

 

64Q30 – Philip George Collett was born in 1906 at Mangotsfield

64Q31 – Nora Emily Bessie Collett was born in 1908 at Mangotsfield

 

Frederick Collett [64P35] was the odd one of the family as he was born at Easton Grey in 1879, rather than at Norton-Coleparle.  Like his brother Philip there were discrepancies in his age in the 1881 and 1891 census records.  The first of them placed him living with his family at Norton and he was one-year old.  Ten years later his age was recorded as 15 when he was still living at Norton-Coleparle.  Just after the turn of the century Fred was working as a wagon tipper on the construction of a line of the Great Western railway while living at house number 88 in the main street in Hullavington.  It seems very likely that he was working with his brother William (above) who also lived next door at number 89

 

John William Wicks [64P37] was born at Hullavington in 1870 and was the base born child of Sarah Deborah Wicks.  In November 1873 John’s mother married widower Charles Collett whose second wife had died in 1869.  There is therefore some speculation that John’s father may have been Charles Collett.  According to the 1881 Census John was 12 years old and was listed as ‘son’ and eldest child in the family of Charles and Sarah Collett.  However, that may have been said for propriety’s sake only, as he may or may not have been the birth son of Charles Collett.  Nine years later in the first quarter of 1890 John married Minnie Curtis.  She was the daughter of Henry and Ruth Curtis and had been at Stoke Gifford in 1871 where she and her family were living in 1881.  Once they were marriage John and Minnie lived all of their life together in Stoke Gifford where all nine of the children were born.  At the time of the 1901 Census John was confirmed as living with his family at Stoke Gifford where he was working as a general labourer.  His place of birth was confirmed as Hullavington.  According to the census John was 30, Minnie was 29, and their first three children were sons Jesse A Wicks, aged ten, and George F Wicks, aged five, and daughter Ruth E Wicks who was three years old.  When John died, he was living at Westerleigh, not far from Stoke Gifford

 

Elena Elizabeth Collett [64P38] was at Hullavington on 2nd February 1874, her birth being rerecorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 54) during the first quarter of 1874, under the name of Elena Elizabeth Collett.  In addition, the Bishops transcript of her baptism, and that of the Hullavington parish register, recorded the event as follows: Helena Elizabeth Collett baptised at Hullavington on 11th February 1874, the eldest daughter of labourer Charles Collett and his third wife Sarah Deborah Wicks.  She was also recorded as Helena Collett in the census of 1881, by which time she was six years old and living with her family at Gibbs Lane in Hullavington.  Various family moves took place during the 1880s but, by 1891, Elena E Collett was 18 when she was described as ‘helping her mother’ while living with her family at Latteridge, just north-west of Iron Acton in Gloucestershire.  In between those times she and her family had lived at Mangotsfield, Westerleigh, and Stoke Gifford, all near Bristol

 

Around the time of her twenty-first birthday, but referred to as Bessie Collett, she married Arthur Stone in Bristol, the event recorded at the Barton Regis register office (Ref. 6a 304) during the second quarter of 1894.  Arthur was born in 1870 at Fishponds where it appears that the couple lived all of their life and where all of their nine children were born.  By 1901 Elena E Stone from Hullavington was 28 and her husband Arthur Stone of Fishponds was 30 and a cycle mechanic, who were living in the Fishponds parish of St Mary with their four children, who were all born at Fishponds.  They were Lilian E Stone who was six, Ethel H Stone who was four, Rosie Stone who was three, and Hilda M Stone who was one-year-old.  And it was at Fishponds that Elena and Arthur both died.  From the day of her wedding, and for the rest of her life, Elena was known as Bessie and Auntie Bessie.  Just prior to the next census in 1911, and following the birth of a further two children at Fishponds and another at Winterbourne, the family moved to Mangotsfield

 

It was therefore at Mangotsfield where the enlarged family was recorded in 1911, when Arthur Stone was 40, Bessie Stone was 38, and their six children were Lily who was 16, Ethel who was 15, Rosie who was 14, Harold Stone who was seven, Grantly Stone who was five, and Arthur Stone who was two years of age and born at Winterbourne.  No record of daughter Hilda M Stone has been found in 1911.  Apparently, there were two other children for whom the dates of birth are not known, and they were Cissy Stone and Ronald Stone.  Elena’s son Arthur Stone, married Vera Sophie England at Downend on 6th April 1939, with whom he had two daughters.  His wife Vera, who was born in 1914, died in 1999 in South Gloucestershire

 

Hannah Matilda Collett [64P39] was born at Foxley on 18th January 1876, the daughter of Charles Collett and his third wife Sarah Deborah Wicks, with her birth being recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 52) during the during the first quarter of 1876.  She was five years old and was living with her family at Gibbs Lane in Hullavington by the time of the census in 1881.  Sadly, she was only 14 years old when she died from typhoid fever, with her mother Sarah by her bedside when she passed away at Gaunts Earthcott in Almondsbury on 17th June 1890.  The death was recorded at Thornbury in Gloucestershire and the certificate noted correctly that she was 16, and at that time in her life she had already started working as a general domestic servant

 

Charles Eli Collett [64P40] was born at Hullavington in 1878, although his birth was recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 59) during the first quarter of the year as simply Charles Collett.  He was baptised at Hullavington on 28th April 1878, the son of labourer Charles Collett and his wife Sarah Deborah Collett.  He was three years old and was living with his family at Gibbs Lane in Hullavington on the day of the census in 1881.  Ten years later, the next census of 1891 placed the family living at Latteridge near Iron Acton, when Charles Collett was again living with his parents and was confirmed as their son, although he was recorded as Eli C Collett, similar to the name he used on his wedding day.  On that occasion he had already left school and was working as an agricultural labourer at the age of 13.  Where Charles was in 1901 is not currently known, but it was just over five years later that he married Sarah Louisa Milsom at St Werburgh’s Church in Bristol on 5th August 1906.  On the marriage certificate his name was given as Charles Eli Collett – as it was again at the birth of the couple’s first child.  The witnesses to the marriage were named as James and Maud White.  Sarah was the daughter of William and Louisa Milsom who was living with her family at Victoria Street in Bristol in 1901

 

Sometime between the birth of their son at Bristol in 1909 and the census inn April 1911, Charles and his family left Bristol, when they moved to South Wales.  By the time of the census, the family was residing at 48 Vaughan Street in Pwllgwaun, Pontypridd.  According to the census return Charles and Sarah had been married for five years and during that time Sarah had presented Charles with two children, of which son Arthur was the only survivor.  Charles Collett from Wiltshire was 33 and working as an underground horse driver (in the coal mines), while his wife Sarah, from Easton, Bristol, was 23.  Two other people were listed at the address with them, the first being their son Arthur Collett who was two years old and born at Fishponds in Bristol, and Sarah’s brother George Milsom, also from Easton, who was 19

 

On the day of the census, Sarah was once again with-child and the couple’s third issue was born later that same year.  Tragedy was to strike the family again when their third child died before the end of 1911.  Charles’ occupation in 1911 was that of an underground horse driver, indicating that he was working in a coal mine.  Living with the family at that time was Sarah’s brother George Milsom who was 19.  Nothing more is known of Charles and his family after that time.  In the Electoral Roll for Painswick in, or after, 1956, Charles E Collett and his wife Sarah L Collett were recorded as residing at 8 Gyde Alms Houses, where also three other people with the Collett surname were also noted living at New Hall.  They were husband and wife Francis J Collett and Lucy O Collett, and their daughter Elizabeth B Collett who was born at the end of 1935, thus placing the earliest date for the entry as 1956, when she was 21.  That family of three features in Part 35 – The Melksham to Wisconsin and Ontario Line (Ref. 35P84).  The death of Charles Collett was recorded at Stroud (Ref. 7b 623) during the fourth quarter of 1967 at the age of 90.  It was at the start of that same year when the death of Sarah Collett was recorded at Bristol (Ref. 7b 153) during the first quarter of 1867 when she was 80 years old

 

64Q32 – Phyllis Edna May Collett was born in 1907 at Bristol

64Q33 – Arthur Charles Eli Collett was born in 1908 at Bristol

64Q34 – George William Collett was born in 1911 at Pontypool

 

Jane Collett [64P41] was one half of a set of twins born at Hullavington in May 1880.  As the daughter of Charles Collett, a labourer, and his wife Sarah Deborah, she was privately baptised at Hullavington on 25th May 1880 in a joint ceremony with her twin sister Frances (below).  Privately baptised means that the two sisters were baptised at home due to their poor health.  Jane was ten months old by the time of the census of 1881 and was living with her family at Gibbs Lane in Hullavington.  Her twin sister Frances had died within three weeks of their private baptism and Jane passed away five days after the census day, aged eleven months.  She died at Hullavington on 8th April 1881 and was ‘received into the church’ on 17th April 1881

 

Frances Ellen Collett [64P42] was one half of a set of twins born at Hullavington in May 1880.  She was privately baptised at Hullavington on 25th May 1880 in a joint ceremony with her twin sister Jane (above), but tragically passed away three weeks later and was buried at Hullavington on 14th June 1880

 

Ellen Jane Collett [64P43] was born at Hullavington in July 1881 and was named in honour of her late twin sisters Jane and Ellen (above).  She was baptised at Hullavington on 5th June 1881, when her parents were confirmed as Charles, a labourer, and Sarah Deborah Collett.  Unlike her twin sisters, Ellen did survive long enough to celebrate her fourth birthday but then, tragically, she died during the fourth quarter of 1885, together with her baby brother Henry (below), both deaths being recorded at Keynsham (Ref. 5c 429) in Gloucestershire on the same day

 

Henry Collett [64P44] may have been born at Hullavington, before the family moved to Westerleigh.  Alternatively, he might have been born after the move to Westerleigh, where the family was certainly living when Henry Collett, the son of labourer Charles Collett of Westerleigh and Sarah Deborah Wicks, was baptised on 3rd June 1884.  Henry was two years old when he died during the last quarter of 1885, his death recorded at Keynsham (Ref. 5c 429) immediately after his sister Ellen Jane Collett (above), both of them recorded under the same death reference

 

William Collett [64P45] was born at Westerleigh on 7th October 1884, where he was baptised on 19th April 1885, a son of Charles Collett by his third wife Sarah Deborah Wicks.  He was seven years old in the census of 1891 when living with his family at Latteridge.  Ten years later, at the age of sixteen, William was working as a general labourer while still living with his family at Westerleigh Hill in Westerleigh.  Just over five years later William married Dorothy Pullin on 22nd December 1906 at the White Hill Chapel in Winterbourne in South Gloucestershire.  Dorothy was born in 1883 at Winterbourne and was the daughter of Arthur and Nellie Pullin who were witnesses at her wedding.  It was William who was the informant of the death of his mother Sarah Collett in January 1910 at Hambrook.  Her death certificate confirmed that William was present at her passing and that he lived at nearby Winterbourne.  Fifteen months later William and Dorothy were still living at Winterbourne with their first two children who were born there. The census in 1911 recorded William Collett at the age of 27, his wife Dorothy as 28, and their two children as Alden Collett, who was three, and Leslie Collett who was two years old.  It would appear that William and Dorothy remained living at Winterbourne for the rest of their life together, since it was there that all of their remaining children were born, and where they both died, with William Collett passing away on 23rd March 1962.  In addition to the ten children listed below, it is understood that Dorothy gave birth to a stillborn child between 1913 and 1919

 

64Q35 – Alden George Charles Collett was born in 1907 at Winterbourne

64Q36 – Leslie Collett was born in 1909 at Winterbourne

64Q37 – Wilfred Graham Collett was born in 1911 at Winterbourne

64Q38 – Nora Millicent Collett was born in 1913 at Winterbourne

64Q39 – Wilfred Collett was born in 1919 at Winterbourne

64Q40 – Jesse Collett was born in 1920 at Winterbourne

64Q41 – Henry John Collett was born in 1922 at Winterbourne

64Q42 – Ellen Edna Collett was born in 1923 at Winterbourne

64Q43 – Reginald Collett was born in 1925 at Winterbourne

64Q44 – Thomas William Collett was born in 1927 at Winterbourne

 

Henry Edward Collett [64P46], who was known by the family as Harry, was born at Downend near Mangotsfield in Bristol on 7th April 1886, where he was baptised on 25th August 1886, another son of Charles and Sarah Deborah Collett.  It was as Henry that he was listed in the 1891 Census living with his family at Latteridge within the Iron Acton & Chipping Sodbury registration district.  He was five years old at that time and additional information in the census record referred to the fact that he was a cripple.  That coincides with the family story that he was either born with only half a leg, or that he had suffer the loss due to an accident and used a wooden stump to get around.  In the census return for 1901 he was referred to as Harry Collett who was born at Downend in Bristol.  His age was given as being fourteen and his occupation was that of a shoemaker.  By that time, he had left the family home in Westerleigh Hill and was living with a family in Bristol

 

At some later time, during the third quarter of 1910, the marriage of Henry Collett and Florence E Tovey was recorded at Bristol register office (Ref. 6a 88).  She was a child of George and Elizabeth Tovey of Arthur Street in Bristol, where Florence Ethel Tovey was born in 1885.  It was at Station Avenue in the Fishponds area of Bristol that the couple was living in April 1911, when Florence was most likely pregnant with the couple’s first child.  Henry was 25 and Florence was 24, and with them was Harry’s father Charles Collett who had gone to live with them following the death of his wife at the start of 1910.  The marriage of Harry and Florence was previously thought to have produced two children for the couple, although it now appears that there were at least three, the third child born after Henry’s likely absence because of the First World War and the dreadful flu pandemic that followed it

 

64Q45 – Christine Collett was born in 1911 at Bristol

64Q46 – Gilbert Henry Collett was born in 1914 at Bristol

64Q47 – Gladys M Collett was born in 1925 at Bristol

 

Thomas Collett [64P47] was born at Westerleigh on 16th April 1887, his birth recorded at Chipping Sodbury (Ref. 6a 322) during the second quarter of that year.  He was then baptised there at the Church of St James the Great on 9th July 1887, another son of Charles and Deborah Collett and their tenth child.  Rather curiously, a year later, as Tom Collett, he was baptised at St Michael’s Church in Stoke Gifford in a joint ceremony with his younger brother Alden (below) on 5th August 1888), when the family was living at Walls Court, his father a labourer.  He was three years old in the Latteridge census of 1891 by which time he was again referred to as Tom Collett.  By 1901 his family was living at Westerleigh Hill in Westerleigh where Thomas was recorded as Tom Collett of Westerleigh, aged 13, who was still attending school.  According to the next census in April 1911, Thomas was 23 and had moved to Brentford in Middlesex where it is known that he was married six years later

 

It was either at the end of 1915 or early in 1916, when the marriage of Thomas Collett and Mary Emma French was recorded at Brentford register office (Ref. 3a 122) during the first three months of the latter.  The church service took place at St Faith’s Church on Windmill Road in Brentford.  One year prior to the couple’s wedding day, Emma gave birth to a son, whose birth was recorded at Ealing, when the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as French, as with all eight children.  It would also appear that the family lived all of their life together in Middlesex, with the later weddings of their children recorded either at Brentford or Ealing.  The death of Thomas Collett was recorded at Ealing register office (Ref. 5b 145) during the second quarter of 1965, age the age of 78.  Two years later, the death of Emma M Collett was recorded at Hounslow register office (Ref. 5c 94) during the second quarter of 1967, when she was also 78 years old. It was as Emma Mary French that she was born in 1888 and baptised at St James’ Church in Hatcham, Surrey on 24th May 1888, the daughter of Albert Thomas and Ellen Maria French

 

64Q48 – Thomas Charles Collett was born in 1915 at Ealing, Middlesex

64Q49 – Bessie M Collett was born in 1917 at Brentford, Middlesex

64Q50 – Doris May Collett was born in 1919 at Brentford, Middlesex

64Q51 – Ronald William Collett was born in 1921 at Brentford, Middlesex

64Q52 – Stanley Clifford Collett was born in 1923 at Brentford, Middlesex

64Q53 – Peggy Collett was born in 1927 at Brentford, Middlesex

64Q54 – Lawrence F Collett was born in 1931 at Brentford, Middlesex

64Q55 – Sheila B Collett was born in 1933 at Brentford, Middlesex

 

Alden Collett [64P48] was born at Stoke Gifford on 1st July 1888, his birth recorded during the third quarter of that year at Barton Regis (Ref. 6a 289) in Bristol.  It was also at Stoke Gifford, in the Church of St Michael, that he was baptised with his older brother Tom (above) on 5th August 1888, when Alden Bertie Collett was confirmed as the son of Charles and Sarah Collett.  According to the 1891 Census, Alden was two years old and was living with his family within the Iron Acton and Chipping Sodbury census registration district.  Curiously in the census of 1901 his age was recorded as being ten years, although his place of birth was confirmed simply as Stoke.  At that time, he was living with his parents at Westerleigh Hill in Westerleigh.  It was four years later, on 8th November 1905 at Bristol, that Alden enlisted with the British Army when he said his age was eighteen years and no months, residing at 250 Stapleton Road in Bristol, the home of Mr G Iles, from where he was working as a labourer with a market gardener.  His next-of-kin were named as his father Charles Collett of Stoke Gifford, his mother Sarah Collett of Stoke Gifford, and his sister Mrs Stone of Fishponds (Bristol) - the former Elena Elizabeth Collett (above).  A fourth next-of-kin was listed as “brother (older) James Collett at Fishpond Asylum”.  Who he was, has still to be determined.  Alden initially signed up for six years and was assigned to the Gloucestershire Regiment

 

By April 1911 Alden would have been around twenty-two years old, but was not recorded as living anywhere in Great Britain.  That was because he was serving with the 2nd Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment, in Malta.  A later record stated that he transferred to the 7th Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment on 13th August 1914 with whom he reached the rank of Corporal.  And it was as bachelor Lance Sergeant Alden Collett 8103 that he was killed in action in Iraq on 11th April 1917 a, the age of twenty-nine.  He was buried in Basra and his name is included on panel 17 of the Basra War Memorial in Iraq.  In addition to all of the details above, in Alden’s military record, his legatee was named as Agnes Paxton in the army registers of soldiers’ effects.  In 1911, Agnes was a servant for Agnes Jane Martin, when Agnes Paxton was 26 and living at 12 North View, Westbury Park in Bristol.  It is also known that she was born at Tweedmouth, Berwick on Tweed and, perhaps, it is possible that Alden had intended that she would be his future wife

 

ARTHUR COLLETT [64P49] was born at Latteridge, in the parish of Iron Acton, on 25th April 1891, where he was privately baptised at the Iron Acton parish church on 21st May 1891, the last child of Charles Collett, a carter, and his third wife Sarah Deborah Wicks.  Ten years later in March 1901, Arthur Collett of Latteridge was nine years old and was living at Westerleigh Hill in Westerleigh with his parents and three older brothers.  By the time of the next census in April 1911 Arthur had joined the army and was living in the Maindy Barracks at Whitchurch Road in Cardiff.  It was during that period in his life when he became friendly with another soldier, his future brother-in-law Benjamin Osborne, and it was through Benjamin that he met and married Benjamin’s sister Dorothy Osborne

 

And so it was, that Arthur Collett subsequently married Dorothy Osborne at St Mary’s Church in Whitchurch, where the couple lived for the rest of their lives and where all of their five children were born.  Dorothy was the daughter of Francis Osborne and Sarah Thomas and was born on 24th March 1895 at Broad Street in Merriott near Crewkerne in Somerset.  Arthur saw active service with the British Army in the Great War and sustained a non-fatal injury during the First Battle of Ypres in late 1914.  It was that event which prompted the special naming of his eldest child.  And it was at Whitchurch that Arthur Collett died on 6th May 1942 and was buried there three days later.  The death certificate recorded that the cause of death was cardiac failure, coronary thrombosis and pulmonary tuberculosis.  His wife Dorothy Collett nee Osborne survived for a further forty-two years before she passed away at Whitchurch on 24th June 1984

 

64Q56 – Hyacinth Ypres Sarah Collett was born in 1915 at Cardiff

64Q57 – Arthur Collett was born in 1918 at Cardiff

64Q58 – THOMAS COLLETT was born in 1920 at Cardiff

64Q59 – Benjamin Cyril Collett was born in 1922 at Cardiff

64Q60 – Alexander Collett was born in 1927 at Cardiff

 

Alan John Lardner Collett [64P50] was born at Charlbury, his birth recorded at Chipping Norton (Ref. 3a 48) during the third quarter of 1861.  It was also at Charlbury that he was baptised on 28th July 1861, the first-born child of butcher John Collett and his wife Anne Lardner.  Shortly after he was born his parents left Charlbury when they moved the eight miles to Churchill where Alan’s maternal grandparents lived.  And it was with his grandparents, retired butcher Thomas Lardner and his wife Mary that he was living in 1871.  Recorded in the census that year as Allan J L Collett, aged nine years, he was described as a scholar of Charlbury, while living at Heath Road in Churchill.  By that time the rest of his family was living in London

 

According to the next census in 1881 Alan was once again living with his family at their new home at 13 Guildford Street East in Clerkenwell, London where Allan Collett, then aged 19, was working as a carman.  It was as Allan Collett, age 29, that he was recorded in the Holborn & Amwell census of 1891, when he was still living with his family at 15 Granville Square in Clerkenwell.  Sometime over the next ten years Alan must have suffered a fairly serious accident while at work, since he was listed in the March census in 1901 as being an invalid.  That year’s census return confirmed he was born at Charlbury, that he was 39, and still living with his parents at Percy Circus in Clerkenwell.  It has not been determined if he was ever married, nor has any record of him been found in the census of 1911, by which time his father and his sister Agnes had returned to Dean in Oxfordshire, following the death of Alan’s mother

 

Agnes Mary Collett [64P51] was born in the village of Churchill in 1863 and was baptised at Churchill on 5th July 1863, the second child and eldest daughter of John William Collett and Ann Lardner.  Not long after she was born her parents left Oxfordshire when they moved into London.  According to the census in 1871 the family, less Agnes’ older brother Alan (above) was living within the Holborn &Amwell area of Clerkenwell, where Agnes was seven years old.  Ten years later in 1881, as Agnes M Collett, she was 17 and was living with her family at 13 Guildford Street East in Clerkenwell.  She was still living in Clerkenwell with her parents after a further ten years, when she was 27, but by which time the family home was at 15 Granville Square in Clerkenwell

 

It seems unlikely that she ever married since, in the census of 1901, Agnes M Collett from Churchill in Oxfordshire was 37, and was a spinster who was still living with her parents at Percy Circus in Clerkenwell.  Ten years later she was still unmarried, but by then she and her widowed father had left London and were once again living in Oxfordshire.  The 1911 Census listed Agnes Mary Collett, aged 47, living in the hamlet of Dean with her father John William Collett who was 73.  Unmarried Agnes Mary Collett was living at 88 Windmill Street in Gravesend, Kent when she died on 15th January 1942.  Probate for her Will was resolved at Llandudno on 30th March 1942 in favour of her brother William Thomas Collett, a bank messenger, and his wife May Helen Kate Collett, when her estate was valued at Ł1,844 5 Shillings and 3 Pence

 

John William Collett [64P52] was born around 1868 at Clerkenwell in London, the third child of John and Anne Collett who had only just arrived there from Oxfordshire.  In 1871, at the age of three, John Collett was living with his family in the Holborn & Amwell district of London, which included Clerkenwell.  Ten years later he was living with his parents at 13 Guildford Street East from where John W Collett, aged 13, had already left school and was working as a carrier and a parcel boy.  Ten years after that day John William Collett was a married man, when his family was still living in Clerkenwell, at 15 Granville Square.  It was new information received from Norman Collett during 2012, which confirmed that John William Collett had married Charlotte Sabina Roots near the end of 1889, the event recorded at West Ham (Ref. 4a 329) during the fourth quarter of that year.  Charlotte had been born at Poplar during 1865.  In 1891 the childless couple was living at Green Lane in West Ham, where John W Collett was 25 and a gas stoker and his wife Charlotte was 24.  The new information also confirmed that John and Charlotte had a son William Albert Collett who was born at West Ham on 15th June 1897.  It now transpires that he was just one of five sons born to John and Charlotte

 

The next census return for West Ham listed the family living at Kelland Road in Plaistow as John W Collett from Whitechapel, who was 35 and a general labourer at a local gas works, his wife Charlotte S Collett from West Ham who was 34, and their four West Ham born sons.  They were John T Collett who was nine, Henry E Collett and William A Collet who were both three years old, and Walter S Collett who was one year old.  With the couple’s advancing years only one more child was added to the family during the following year.  According to the West Ham census in 1911, the family was residing in the parish of St Mary Plaistow.  John William Collett was 45 and a dock labourer, Charlotte Collett was 44, John T Collett was 19 and another dock labourer, Henry E Collett was 13, as was William A Collett both of them still at school, Walter S Collett was 10, and Leonard A Collett was eight years old.  Every member of the household was recorded as having been born at Plaistow which, between 1915 and 1920, was living at 33 Meredith Street in Plaistow, from where sons John and William were married respectively in those two years.  Kelland Road and Meredith Street are very close to each other.  Charlotte Sabina Collett was 53 years old when her death was recorded at West Ham register office (Ref. 4a 13) during the fourth quarter of 1919.  Just over a year later the death of widowed John William Collett was recorded at West Ham register office (Ref. 4a 85) at the end of 1920 or not long after the start of 1921, at the age of 56

 

64Q61 – John Thomas Collett was born in 1891 at Plaistow, West Ham

64Q62 – Henry Edward Collett was born in 1897 at Plaistow, West Ham

64Q63 – William Albert Collett was born in 1897 at Plaistow, West Ham

64Q64 – Walter Samuel Collett was born in 1900 at Plaistow, West Ham

64Q65 – Leonard Arthur Collett was born in 1902 at Plaistow, West Ham

 

Anne Ethelfreda Collett [64P53], referred to as Mary, was born at Clerkenwell in 1875.  According to the Census of 1881 she was Annie E Collett aged six, when she was living with her family at 13 Guildford Street East in Clerkenwell.  Ten years after that she was again listed as Annie Collett in the Holborn & Amwell census of 1891 when she was 15 and still living with her family.  Sadly, it was only ten months later, at the tender age of just 16 years, that she died at 15 Granville Square in the Clerkenwell area of London.  She passed away on 18th January 1892, the cause of death being influenza and pneumonia.  Five days later she was buried with her brother John William Collett (above) at Spelsbury in Oxfordshire on 23rd January 1892in 1875 at Clerkenwell, London

 

William Thomas Collett [64P54] was born at 13 Guildford Street East in Clerkenwell in either February or March 1881 since, in the census for that year, he was listed as being aged one month.  It was simply as William Collett of Clerkenwell aged 11, that he was recorded in the Holborn & Amwell census of 1891 when he was living at 15 Granville Square in Clerkenwell with his family.  Just after the turn of the century William was still living at Clerkenwell with his parents, but at Percy Circus.  According to the census return for March 1901, William T Collett was 21 and his place of birth was confirmed as Clerkenwell.  His occupation at that time was that of a carman, like his older brother Alan (above) prior to his accident.  During the summer of the following year, the marriage of William Thomas Collett of Clerkenwell and May Helen K Croxford, also of Clerkenwell, was recorded at Holborn register office (Ref. 1b 16) during the third quarter of 1902.  By April 1911 the childless couple had moved to Churchill in Oxfordshire, where William’s mother Annie Lardner had been born.  The census that year recorded the couple as William Thomas Collett of Clerkenwell, who was 31, and his wife May Collett, also from Clerkenwell, who was 29.  At the time of the death of his eldest sister Agnes Mary Collett (above) in 1942, when she was living at 88 Windmill Street in Gravesend, it was William Thomas and his wife May Helen Kate Collett who were named as the executors of her estate.  On that occasion William’s occupation was that of a bank messenger

 

William B Collett [64P56] was born at Worcester in 1870, the eldest of the four known children of Henry Allen Collett and Hannah Huckfield.  By the time he was one year old, he and his parents were living at Dodderhill, near Droitwich, where the next two children were born.  It was at Hadzor, to the east of Droitwich, that William was 11 years of age in 1881, when he and his family were living on a farm, his father being a farm bailiff.  After a further ten years, 21-year-old William was working alongside his father as a railway labourer when he was still living with his parents, but at 335 Dawlish Road in Northfield (Kings Norton).  It was there also that the family was still in 1901, by which time unmarried William Collett from Worcester was 30 years old and again working with his father, as a builder’s labourer.  Just over four years later the marriage of William Collett, a bachelor, and Esther Walker, the widow of George Walker, was recorded at Aston register office (Ref. 6d 152) during the third quarter of 1905.  Esther already had two children from her first marriage to George, and they were George Benjamin Walker born in 1894, and William James Walker born in 1901.  Both of them were born at Erdington, where the family was living in 1911.  The census that year recorded the group of four as William Collett from Droitwich who was 40 and a builder’s labourer, Esther Collett from Walmley, Sutton Coldfield, who was 43, George Benjamin Walker who was 17, and William James Walker who was nine years of age.  George and Esther Walker had previously given birth to two daughters, Alice in 1892 and Esther in 1896 who, like their father, did not survive

 

What happened next is still a mystery, because two years later the marriage of William B Collett and Agnes Miriam Rump was recorded at the London Holborn register office (Ref. 1b 94) during the second quarter of 1913.  Agnes was born at Islington on 30th April 1883, a daughter of metropolitan policeman Edward Dunning Rump and his wife Caroline.  In 1911, and at the age of 27, Agnes was single and employed as a telephone operator with the National Telephone Company Limited, when she was still living with her large family in Clerkenwell.  Her marriage to William produced three children, the births of all three recorded at Islington register office, where the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Rump.  The birth of their first child was recorded during the second quarter of 1914 (Ref. 1b 125), the next during the second quarter of 1916 (Ref. 1b 118), and the third during the last quarter of 1921 (Ref. 1b 82).  The later death of William B Collett, aged 85 years, was recorded at Birmingham register office (Ref. 9c 42) during the second quarter of 1955.  After another fifteen years, his widow was residing in Surrey, when the death of Agnes Miriam Collett was recorded at Sutton register office (Ref. 5e 100) during the last three months of 1970, when she was 87

 

64Q66 – William E Collett was born in 1914 at Islington

64Q67 – Doris A Collett was born in 1916 at Islington

64Q68 – Winifred A Collett was born in 1921 at Islington

 

64P57 - Gertrude Collett was born in 1872 at Dodderhill (Hanbury), near Droitwich, her birth recorded at Droitwich (Ref. 6c 232) during the second quarter of that year.  She was four years old when her family moved the short distance to a farm at Hadzor, where Gertrude Collett from Dodderhill was nine years old in 1881.  On leaving school she secured a job with the local railway station at Northfield, and in 1891 when she was 19, Gertrude and her family were living at 335 Dawlish Road in Northfield (Kings Norton).  Curiously, like her older brother William (above), she was described as a railway labourer.  She was again living with her parents at Dawlish Road in 1901, by which time she was 28 with no stated occupation and when her place of birth was simply recorded as Droitwich.  With the passing of her father in 1907, unmarried Gertrude was living with her widowed mother and younger brother Harry at Northfield Selly Oak in 1911, when Gertrude Collett from Hanbury was 38 and presumably acting as the housekeeper who her elderly mother.  She never married, with the death of Gertrude Collett recorded at Birmingham register office (Ref. 9c 70) during the last three months of 1949, when she was 77 years old

 

Alfred Collett [64P58] was born at Dodderhill (Hanbury) near Droitwich at the end of 1873, the third child of Henry Allen Collett and Hannah Huckfield, whose birth was recorded at Droitwich (Ref. 6c 134) during the first months of 1874.  At the time of the census in 1881 when Alfred was seven years old, he was living with his family on a farm at Hadzor to the east of Droitwich.  On leaving school he also left the family home which, by then was at 337 Dawlish Road in the Northfield district of Kings Norton.  That was confirmed by the census in 1891 when 16 years old Alfred Collett was living and working close to where his family was living.  During the next ten years Alfred returned to the family home in Northfield, where he was living in March 1901, when he was 26 and his occupation was that of a copper wire drawer.  Two years later, during the second quarter of 1903, Alfred married enamel painter Emily Johnson, the event recorded at Kings Norton register office (Ref. 6c 146), with whom he had a daughter who was born the following year.  The Kings Norton (Bournbrook Selly Oak) census return for April 1911 listed the family at Northfield as Alfred Collett from Hanbury near Droitwich, who was 35 and a wire drawer working for a copper and brass metal manufacturer.  His wife Emily Collett from Bromsgrove was 31, and their daughter Ellen Victoria Collett was seven years old and born at nearby Selly Oak

 

64Q69 – Ellen Victoria Collett was born in 1904 at Selly Oak

 

64P59 - Harry Collett was born in 1887 at Hadzor, near Droitwich, and was five years old and living with his family at 337 Dawlish Road in Northfield by 1891.  It was also at Dawlish Road that he was again living with his parents in 1901, when he was 14 and said to have been born at Droitwich.  He was the last of the four children of Henry Allen Collett and Hannah Huckfield.  Following the death of his father in 1907, Harry Collett, aged 23 and from Hadzor, was one of only two children still living with their widowed mother at Selly Oak, near Northfield, in 1911 when he was working at a local metal works as an emery bobber.  It may be that he never married, and that he was said to be around 72 years old when the death of Harry Collett was recorded at Wednesbury register office (Ref. 9b 53) in nearby Staffordshire during the third quarter of 1961

 

Louisa Collett [64P60] was born at Dodderhill, near Droitwich, in 1868 and it was there at Droitwich that her birth was recorded (Ref. 6c 278) during the second quarter of the year, and where she was baptised on 11th June 1868, the base-born daughter of Louisa Collett and an unknown father.  In 1871 Louisa was three years old when living at Fox Alley with her unmarried mother, at the home of her widowed aunt Georgiana Griffiths and her daughter Elizabeth Griffiths.  During the following year her mother gave birth to another daughter, mostly like a half-sister to Louisa, while after a further three years Louisa’s mother married John Solloway.  By 1881 Louisa and her sister Elizabeth (below) were living at Worcester Road in Droitwich with their mother and stepfather, when Louisa Collett was 13.  It was as Louisa Collett that she married Alfred Lakin during the third quarter of 1885 at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 83), following which she presented him with one daughter, Elsie May Lakin who was born in Birmingham between July and September 1886.  Alfred Lakin was a brass burnisher and once married the family lived in Erdington.  On leaving school Elsie May Lakin worked in a dyer’s warehouse before marrying Thomas Edgar Lockhart, an engineer’s tool merchant, in the Aston district of Birmingham during the autumn of 1908.  Two years after they were married Elsie presented Thomas with a daughter May Elsie Lockhart who was born at Erdington in 1910

 

Mary Elizabeth Collett [64P61] was born in 1872 at Droitwich, as Elizabeth Collett she was eight years old and living with her family at Worcester Road in Droitwich in 1881.  Her birth as Mary Elizabeth was recorded at Droitwich (Ref. 6c 239) during the second quarter of 1872, following which she was baptised as Mary Elizabeth Collett at St Andrew’s Church on 5th May 1872, when she was simply described as the daughter of Louisa Collett.  It was three years later that her mother married John Solloway from Kidderminster who was 28 and a general labourer.  It is not known whether or not he was the father of Mary Elizabeth, but he was too young to be the father of Mary’s older half-sister Louisa (above).  No record of her has been found after 1881

 

Alfred Collett [64P62] was born in 1876 at Smethwick, the first of the nine children of Alfred Collett and Clara Dickens, whose birth was recorded at Kings Norton (Ref. 6c 212) during the first quarter of that year, and nine months after his parents were married there.  It was also at Smethwick that he was baptised on 22nd Aug 1876.  In successive census returns from 1881 to 1901 he was living with his family in the parish of Smethwick.  When he was five years old the family home was at Basons End in Harborne, by the time he was 15, he had left school and was working as a labourer in a nail factory, when he and the family were living at Church Road in Smethwick, and it was at Westfield Road in Smethwick that the family was residing in 1901, when unmarried Alfred was 25 and working in hardware.  Around twelve months after that census day, the marriage of Alfred Collett and Eliza Farmer Yates was recorded at Kings Norton register office (Ref. 6c 279) during the second quarter of 1902

 

By 1911 they had two children who were born at Smethwick, where the family was living at the time of the census that year.  Alfred Collett was 35 and working as a grindery warehouseman with a nail and shoe tip manufacturer.  His wife Eliza Farmer Collett was 30, son Alfred George Collett was five, and son Eric William Collett was just one year old.  Every member of the household had been born at Smethwick.  As far as can be deduced, it was ten years later that the only daughter of Alfred and Eliza was born at Smethwick, when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Yates.  The couple was still living in Smethwick when Alfred Collett died at the age of 64, with his passing recorded at Kings Norton register office (Ref. 6b 62) during the first three months of 1940.  The later death of Eliza Farmer Collett was recorded at Birmingham register office (Ref. 9c 6) during the third quarter of 1963, when she was 81, having been born at Smethwick in the spring of 1882, the daughter of George and Hannah Yates

 

64Q70 – Alfred George Collett was born in 1906 at Smethwick

64Q71 – Eric William Collett was born in 1910 at Smethwick

64Q72 – Doris Lilian Collett was born in 1921 at Smethwick

 

Ellen Eliza Collett [64P63] was born in 1877 at Smethwick, the second child and eldest daughter of Alfred and Clara Collett.  Her birth was recorded at Kings Norton (Ref.6c 164) during the third quarter of 1877, although it was three years after when she was baptised at Smethwick on 12th August 1880.  As Ellen Collett she was four years old in the Harborne census of 1881 when living with her family at Basons End.  By 1891 Ellen E Collett had left school and at the age of 13, she was most likely helping her mother with the large family, since the census that year did not credit her with any job of work, when the family was living at Church Road in Smethwick.  It was at Westfield Road in Smethwick that her situation was exactly the same in 1901 when she was 23.  Two years after her mother died in 1909, the next Smethwick census did confirm that, as the eldest daughter of widowed Alfred Collett, was the housekeeper for the rest of her family at the age of 33.  Looking after her family obviously delayed the opportunity for Ellen to become a married woman, since it was thirteen years later that the marriage of Ellen Eliza Collett and Samuel Morris was recorded at Kings Norton register office (Ref. 6d 90) during the first three months of 1924.

 

George Henry Collett [64P64] was born in 1879 at Smethwick, his birth recorded at Kings Norton (Ref. 6c 94) during the third quarter of the year.  Shortly after that George Henry was baptised at Smethwick on 4th September 1879, the third child and second son of Alfred and Clara Collett.  Although born at Smethwick, it was at Basons End in Harborne that George Collett was two years old in 1881, but his family returned to Church Road in Smethwick during the following years, where George Henry Collett was 12 years old in 1891.  A decade later and the family was recorded as residing at Westfield Road in Smethwick, by which time George was 21 and an employee with the local corporation.  Later that year the marriage of George Henry Collett and Kate Harriet Sandel took place at Smethwick and was recorded at Kings Norton register office (Ref. 6c 34) during the fourth quarter of 1901.  Kate was the daughter of John and Ellen Sandel of White Road in Smethwick, and her birth was recorded at West Bromwich in the spring of 1880

 

According to the Smethwick census conducted in 1911, the childless couple were described as George Henry Collett of Smethwick who was 31, whose occupation was that of an engine driver at an engineering works, while his wife Kate Harriet Collett was also 31 and from Perry Barr in the Aston area of Birmingham.  Staying with them that day was Kate’s younger brother Jack Sandel of Smethwick who was 21 and working for the Birmingham and Midland Tram Company.  Also visiting the couple was their niece Dorothy Taylor from Sedgley area of Dudley who was two years of age.  Kate Harriet Collett was 68 years old when her death was recorded at Smethwick register office (Ref. 9b 103) during the last three months of 1948.  What happened to her husband has not yet been discovered

 

Florence Collett [64P65] was born in 1882 at Smethwick, her birth recorded at Kings Norton (Ref. 6c 23) during the last three months of the year.  Her baptism was conducted at Smethwick on 30th November 1882, another daughter of Alfred and Clara Collett who were living at Church Road in Smethwick in 1891, where Florence was nine years old.  The family then moved to Westfield Road in Smethwick, where Florence was 18 and a laundress in 1901.  She was still a single lady in 1911 and was again working as a laundress at a nearby laundry in Smethwick, where she was living with her father and five siblings.  Around six months later the marriage of Florence Collett and Bertie S Cole was recorded at Kings Norton register office (Ref. 6c 138) during the third quarter of 1911, although nothing of the couple has so far been found after that time

 

Mary Maud Collett [64P66] was born at Smethwick near the end of 1885, her birth recorded at Kings Norton (Ref. 6c 179) during the last three months of the year.  Tragically, she did not survive, with the death of Mary Maud Collett also recorded at Kings Norton (Ref. 9c 139) during the first three months of 1887.  Just prior to that, Mary Maud Collett was baptised at Smethwick on 13th January 1887, the daughter of Alfred and Clara Collett

 

Rose Collett [64P67] was born at the start of 1888 in Smethwick, while her birth was recorded at Kings Norton (Ref. 6c 181) during the first two months of the year, after which Rose was baptised at Smethwick on 1st March 1888, another daughter of Alfred and Clara Collett.  She may have been born at Church Road, where she was living with her family in 1891 at the age of three years.  It was at Westfield Road in Smethwick that Rose and her family were living in 1901, when she was 13.  On leaving school, Rose was employed at a laundry, as confirmed by the census in 1911, when she was 23, single and a laundress who was still living in Smethwick with her family, following the death of her mother two years earlier.  Towards the end of that same year, the marriage of Rose Collett and John Southam took place at Smethwick and was recorded at Kings Norton register office (Ref. 6c 61) during the last three months of 1911.  John was born at Smethwick and his birth was also recorded at Kings Norton (Ref. 6c 180) during the first three month of 1886.  No record of any children has been found.  Rose Southam, nee Collett, died on 28th December 1950 at the age of 62 and was buried at Quinton Cemetery in Halesowen

 

Charles Thomas Collett [64P68] was born at Church Road in Smethwick, either near the end of 1889 or very early in 1890, with his birth recorded at Kings Norton (Ref. 6c 157) during the first month of 1890.  It was at Smethwick that he was baptised on 20th February 1890, another son of Alfred and Clara Collett with whom he was living at Church Road in 1891 at the age of one year.  He was recorded as simply Charles Collett in 1901 who was ten years old and living with his family at Westfield Road in Smethwick.  At the start of the next decade, he was 20 and working as a milling machine hand in a factory making casement window frames.  On that occasion he was still living in Smethwick, but with his widowed father after his mother had died in 1909.

 

Edith Alice Collett [64P69] was born in 1892 at Smethwick, her birth recorded at Kings Norton (Ref. 6c 148) during the second quarter of the year, the youngest daughter of Alfred and Clara Collett with whom she was living at Westfield Road in Smethwick in 1901 at the age of nine years.  In 1908 her mother died, leaving Edith living at Smethwick with her father and five siblings, when she was 19 and a laundress working at a local laundry with her older sister Rose (above)

 

Edward Collett [64P70] was born at Westfield Road in Smethwick in 1899, the last child of Alfred Collett and Clara Dickens.  His birth was recorded at Kings Norton register office (Ref. 6c 302) during the third quarter of the year.  It was also at Westfield Road that he was living with his large family in 1901, when he was one year old.  Sadly, his mother died when he was nine years old so, by the time of the following census in 1911, Edward was 11 years of age when he was living with his widowed father and five older siblings in Smethwick.  Nine years after that census day, the marriage of Edward Collett and Florence Hughes took place at Smethwick and was recorded at Kings Norton register office (Ref. 6d 68) during the second quarter of 1920.  Florence was also born at Smethwick and her birth was also recorded at Kings Norton register office (Ref. 6c 114) during the second quarter of 1899, the daughter of Thomas and Mary (Polly) Hughes.  Over the next nineteen years, Florence presented Edward with six children, although not all of them survived.  The births of their first three children were recorded at Kings Norton, the next at Dudley, and the last two at Smethwick register office.  In each case, the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Hughes.  The birth of the sixth child was recorded without including a name (Ref. 6d 113) during the second quarter of 1939.  Twenty years after the birth of their final child, the death of Edward Collett was recorded at Birmingham register office (Ref. 9c 264) during the second quarter of 1959 when he was 59 years old.  It was later that same year when the death of Florence Collett, also aged 59, was recorded at Smethwick register office (Ref. 9b 138) during the third quarter of 1959

 

64Q73 – Edward G Collett was born in 1921 at Smethwick

64Q74 – Florence Alice Collett was born in 1922 at Smethwick

64Q75 – Hazel Collett was born in 1924 at Smethwick

64Q76 – Doris H Collett was born in 1926 at Dudley

64Q77 – Douglas Collett was born in 1934 at Smethwick

64Q78 – a Collett daughter was born in 1939 at Smethwick

 

Charles Edward Collett [64P71] was born at Smethwick in 1897, where he was baptised on 19th August 1897, the eldest of the four children of Charles Collett and Elizabeth Lenton.  His birth was recorded at Kings Norton (Ref. 6c 79) during the third quarter of that year.  He may have been born at Great Arthur Street in Smethwick, where the family was living in 1901 when Charles was three years old.  He was 13 years old in 1911, when he was still attending school in Smethwick and again living there with his family.  His military record states that in 1916 Charles Edward Collett from Smethwick was serving with the 57th Siege Battery of the Royal Garrison Artillery, No. 51142.  Two years later, the marriage of Charles Edward Collett and Kate Gibbs was recorded at Kings Norton register office (Ref. 6d 123) during the third quarter of 1918.  Not long after their wedding day, Kate gave birth to the first of the couple’s two known children when they were still living in Smethwick.  It would also appear that they lived all of their life at Smethwick.  Charles Edward Collett was 60 years old when he died at Smethwick where his passing was recorded during the second quarter of 1959 (Ref. 9b 96)

 

64Q79 – Leslie Charles Collett was born in 1918 at Smethwick

64Q80 – Lilian Annie Collett was born in 1923 at Smethwick

 

George Collett [64P73] was born at Smethwick in 1902, his birth recorded at Kings Norton register office (Ref. 6c 91) during the second quarter of the year.  He was another son of Charles Collett and Elizabeth Lenton and was nine years of age in the Smethwick census of 1911.  Eleven years later, the marriage of George Collett and Florence E Robbins was recorded at West Bromwich register office (Ref. 6b 9) during the first three months of 1922, just prior to his twentieth birthday.  It was towards the end of that same year when the couple’s first or four children was born at Smethwick, who was named after George’s older sister Daisy, who had died in 1906 at just seven years of age.  Just after she was born, George’s father suffered a premature death before his fiftieth birthday when he was still living at Smethwick and before baby Daisy Florence Collett was christened.  Florence Elizabeth Robbins was the daughter of George and Minnie Robbins from Oxfordshire, although Florence was born at Walworth in London in 1899.  At the time of the death of Florence Elizabeth Collett at Smethwick in the summer of 1959, she was recorded as being 59 years old

 

64Q81 – Daisy Florence Collett was born in 1922 at Smethwick

64Q82 – George Eric Collett was born in 1923 at Smethwick

64Q83 – Ronald Collett was born in 1926 at Smethwick

64Q84 – Mavis Collett was born in 1929 at Smethwick

 

Albert Aaron Vizor Collett [64Q1] was born at Swindon during August 1897, the eldest son of Aaron Vizor Collett and his wife Rosina Kane.  By the time of the census in March 1901 Albert Collett, aged three years from Swindon, was living with his family at Chiseldon, just south of Swindon.  Another family move found the family living at Knutford Lodge Farm in Longcot, near Faringdon in 1911, where Albert A V Collett was 14.  Tragically Albert was only 20 years of age when he died at Longcot on 27th March 1918 and was buried in the churchyard of St Mary the Virgin where his parents were buried just over twenty years later.  The death certificate confirmed that he had no occupation and that the cause of death was lateral sclerosis and bronco-pneumonia

 

Clarence George Collett [64Q2] was born at Chiseldon in Wiltshire on 14th September 1899, the second of three sons of Aaron Vizor Collett and Rosina Kane.  In 1901 the family was living at Chiseldon where Clarence’s father was an inn keeper and a shopkeeper.  Shortly after the census day the family moved to Longcot, where he and his family were living in April 1911, when Clarence G Collett from Chiseldon was 12 years old.  It was at Uffington on 30th December 1919 that Clarence George Collett married Evelyn May Jenkins who was born on 11th November 1897, the daughter of Uffington haulier John Jenkins and his wife Sarah Jane Chivers.  Clarence and Evelyn initially lived at Grove near Wantage, where their three children were born.  The family then moved to Wootton Bassett near Swindon, and eventually to Uffington near the famous White Horse Hill which, at that time was in Berkshire but is now in Oxfordshire, after the county boundaries in England were changed in 1974.  Following the death of his father in 1940 his son Clarence was named as one of the executors of his personal effects, when he was described as a farmer.  Clarence George Collett was just four months short of his eightieth birthday when he died on 21st May 1979.  Five years later Evelyn May Collett nee Jenkins died on 19th September 1984, following which she was buried with her husband at St Mary’s Church in Uffington

 

64R1 – Clarence John Collett was born in 1920 at Grove, near Wantage

64R2 – Bryan George Collett was born in 1924 at Grove, near Wantage

64R3 – Michael Alan Collett was born in 1927 at Grove, near Wantage

 

Cecil Francis Kane Collett [64Q3] was born at Badbury near Chiseldon in 1901 but after 2nd April that year, the third child of Aaron Vizor Collett and Rosina Kane.  Not long after he was born his parents took the family to live in the village of Longcot near Faringdon and to Knutford Lodge Farm, where Cecil F K Collett was 10 years old in April 1911.  Just over fourteen years later Cecil Francis Kane Collett, a bachelor and farmer aged 23, married Annie Florence Burson, a spinster aged 19, at the Swindon register office by licence on 12th October 1925.  It was not a church wedding as Annie was already with-child.  Cecil’s address was 28 Prospect Place in Swindon and his father, farmer Aaron Vizor Collett, was the first witness.  Annie’s address was Monks Farm at Grove near Wantage and her father, farmer Albert Mortimer Burson, was the second witness.  The marriage produced four children, the first of which was born shortly after the wedding day.  At the time of the birth of their third child in 1933, the family was living at Coppice Leaze Farm in West Challow, just west of Wantage

 

Cecil’s parents later resided at a property called The Firs at Grove near Wantage where they both died prior to the spring of 1940.  Upon their deaths, it would appear that Cecil took over The Firs Farm at Grove, where he was a managed the dairy.  He was still living at The Firs when he was taken into The Churchill Hospital in Headington, Oxford where he died on 21st December 1951.  His death certificate stated that he was 49 and that the cause of death was renal failure.  Following his death, he was buried in the churchyard of the parish church in Grove.  The same solicitor who had represented his mother in 1939, Alan Lindsey Fullalove, also handled the probate for Cecil.  The Will was proved at Oxford on 7th March 1952, the sum of his estate being Ł1,775

 

In addition to all of that, the death certificate of Cecil Francis Kane Collett has provided the highly significant information that it was his son F M V Collett of 5 Dixons Row in Grove, Wantage who was present in the hospital at the time of his passing.  The same Francis Mortimer Vizor Collett, an agricultural worker, was the only member of the family named during the proving of his father’s Will.  The widow of Cecil Francis Kane Collett was more than twice his age when she passed away on 13th August 2008 at the age of 102 when she was still residing in Grove.  The death of Anne Collett nee Burson was reported in the Oxford Mail newspaper on 20th August that year, as follows:

 

“Anne Collett, Grove's oldest resident, has died, aged 102.  Anne, also known as Nancy, was the daughter of local farmer Albert Burson and was born at Steptoe Farm, Grove, where she lived briefly before moving with her family to neighbouring Monk's Farm.  She met her husband, Cecil Collett, a farmer's son from Grove Bridge Farm, in the village, and together they had four children - Cecilia, Francis, Douglas and Edwina.  The pair lived first at Coppice Leaze Farm in West Challow and, after the war, moved to The Firs in Main Street, Grove - which was to become their family home, and where they kept a smallholding.  Cecil died after a long illness in 1951, aged 49, leaving Mrs Collett to bring up their children alone.  A compulsory purchase order meant she was forced to sell nearly all the land for the Millbrook Square development.  Before she was married, she worked on the family farm and also behind the counter at Penney's Menswear in Market Place, Wantage.  A regular churchgoer, she had her own Women's Institute stall at Wantage Market, which she ran until she was 80, selling her own vegetables and cakes.”

 

64R4 – Cecilia Ellen R Collett was born in 1925 at West Challow, near Wantage

64R5 – Francis Mortimer Vizor Collett was born in 1928 at Oxford

64R6 – Douglas Albert Aaron Collett was born in 1933 at West Challow, near Wantage

64R7 – Edwina F A Collett was born in 1936 at West Challow, near Wantage

 

Frances Mary Vizor Collett [64Q4] was born at Bristol on 2nd June 1894, the eldest of the two children of Arthur Francis Vizor Collett and his wife Elizabeth Mary Richardson.  Frances V Collett, aged six years, was living in Bristol with her family in 1901 and was listed in the next census in 1911 under her full name when she was 16 and still living with her family at 5 The Quadrant in the Redland area of Bristol.  Four years later she married Harry Stanley in Bristol during 1915.  It seems highly likely that their son Peter T V Stanley was born at Bristol in 1920, when the mother’s maiden-name was given as Collett.  Frances Mary Vizor Stanley nee Collett died towards the end of 1972, when her death was recorded at the Surrey South-Eastern register office during the final quarter of that year

 

Edward Reginald Vizor Collett [64Q5] was born at Bristol on 24th June 1896, the only son of Arthur and Elizabeth Collett, the birth being recorded at Barton Regis register office (Ref. 6a 61) during the third quarter of the year.  It was at St Bartholomew’s Church in Bristol where he was baptised on 22nd November 1896, the son of Arthur Francis Vizor Collett and his wife Elizabeth Mary.  He was Edward R V Collett aged four years in the Bristol census of 1901 and was listed under his full name in 1911 when he was 14 and still living with his family at 5 The Quadrant in the Redland area of Bristol.  He later married Hilda Audrey Empson-Ridler at Hendon in Middlesex (Ref. 3a 1368) during the third quarter of 1929.  It was as Hilda Audrey Ridler that her birth on 2nd December 1905 was recorded at Brighton register office in Sussex, the daughter of Annie Sarah Ridler of London who, in 1911, was living at Romford in Essex with her daughter Hilda Audrey Ridler, aged five years, and her son Herbert Leonard Empson-Ridler who was five months old.  Annie’s status was that of a married woman, although her husband was not included in the census return with her and her two children

 

The marriage of Edward and Hilda produced four children who were all born in Middlesex during the couple’s first ten years together.  Apart from their eldest son, who was born at Hendon, all the subsequent children were born at 'Oakend', Arkley, Barnet, in a house built for them and where they lived from 1930 to 1957.  Following retirement from the Imperial Tobacco Company in 1956, Edward and Audrey moved into a bungalow built to their design at Selsey near Chichester in West Sussex, together with their youngest son Martin.  At the time of the premature death of the couple’s youngest child Robin in a road traffic accident in 1959, the three older children were residing at 1 South Cottages, Windmill Lane (off the A411) in Arkley, within the London Borough of Barnet.  The death of Edward Reginald Vizor Collett was recorded at the Chichester register office in Sussex (Ref. 5h 1561) during the third quarter of 1971, when he was 74.  Twenty-three years later Audrey Hilda (the names reversed) Collett nee Empson-Ridler passed away at a nursing home in Headley, Hampshire, her death recorded at Alton register office (Vol. 4891) during the summer of 1994, aged 88.  And it was their son Martin who generously provided new family details in 2020

 

64R8 – Raife F Vizor Collett was born in 1930 at Hendon

64R9 – Ann P Vizor Collett was born in 1932 at Barnet

64R10 – Edward Robin Vizor Collett was born in 1939 at Barnet

64R11 – Reginald Martin Vizor Collett was born in 1950 at Barnet

 

Kenneth Vizor Collett [64Q6] was born at Bristol on 27th November 1895, the eldest child of William Vizor Collett and his wife Annie Estelle Handcock, who was baptised at St James’ Church in Bristol on 21st September 1898.  As Kenneth V Collett aged five years he was living in Bristol with his family in 1901, while in 1911 he and his family were residing at Valken, a dwelling at Downs Park West in Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol when Kenneth Vizor Collett was 15.  It was eleven years later that he married Joyce Eileen Dunsford at Long Ashton in Somerset where it was recorded during the third quarter of 1922 (Ref. 5c 1333).  Joyce was born on 6th March 1896.  Thanks to Ben N Collett of Yan Yean in Victoria it is now established that Joyce presented Kenneth with at least one child, their son Neil Francis Vizor Collett who was born in 1929.  Two years later, on 24th September 1931, Kenneth Vizor Collett, aged 35 and a manager, sailed into the Port of Southampton as a passenger on the vessel Indrapoera of the Royal Rotterdam Lloyd Line, having sailed from Surabaya in Indonesia.  In addition, the Kelly’s Directory published in 1931 for the county of Buckinghamshire listed Kenneth Vizor Collett as a forester.  The death of widower Kenneth Vizor Collett at the age of 74 was recorded at the Poole register office (Ref. 7c 79) during the final three months of 1969, where around six months earlier his wife Joyce Eileen Collett nee Dunsford passed away, her death also recorded at Poole (Ref. 7c 54) during the second quarter of 1969 at the age of 73

 

64R12 – Neil Francis Vizor Collett was born in 1929 at Amersham, Buckinghamshire

 

Margaret Valentine Vizor Collett [64Q7] was born at Bristol during 1896, the daughter of William and Annie Collett.  It was as Margaret V V Collett that she was recorded in the Bristol census of 1901, while ten years later she and her family were residing in a property named Valken at Downs Park West in the Westbury Park (Westbury-on-Trym) area of Bristol when Margaret Valentine Collett was 14.  She later married Richard Douglas Gerald Pearce with whom she had two children.  Later in their lives, perhaps upon retirement, Margaret and Richard were living in Cornwall and it was at St Austell register office (Ref. 7a 181) that the death of Margaret V V Pearce was recorded during the first three months of 1967, the same year that her husband also passed away

 

Ella Matilda Jane Collett [64Q8] was born at West Kington in 1884 and her birth was recorded at Chippenham (Ref. 5a 61) during the first quarter of that year.  Shortly after she was born the family settled in Highworth, where Ella’s sister (below) was born.  And it was at Page Street in Highworth that the completed family was living in 1891, when Ella was seven and her place of birth was simply recorded as Wiltshire.  During the next few years, the family left Highworth and, on the day of the census in 1901, three members of the family were recorded at London Road in Tetbury Upton.  Ella was 17 with no occupation stated, while it was her mother who was the absent member of the family that day.  After a further ten years unmarried Ella M J Collett from West Kington was 27 and had entered into domestic service at a dwelling in Trowbridge, where she was employed as a servant and a sewing maid.  The other three members of her family were also living nearby in Trowbridge at day.  Ella Matilda Jane Collett never married and her death was recorded at Devizes register office (Ref. 7c 343) during the third quarter of 1955 when she was 71

 

Janetta Margaret Collett [64Q9] was born at Highworth, Swindon, perhaps at the end of 1887 or early in 1888, the younger of the two daughters of James William Collett and his wife Fanny.  However, her birth was also recorded at Highworth (Ref. 5a 41), but during the first three months of 1888.  Janetta was three years of age in 1891 when living with her family at Page Street in Highworth.  A move to London Road in Tetbury Upton took place during the following decade, where Janetta Margaret was 13 in 1901.  She was still living with her parents in 1911, but at Trowbridge, where unmarried Janetta was a dressmaker working at home at the age of 23.  Like her sister Ella (above), Janetta never married, and her death was recorded at Chippenham register office (Ref. 7c 560) during the first quarter of 1962 when she was 74

 

Maggie Collett [64Q10] was born at Bradford in Yorkshire on 3rd October 1903, with her birth recorded as Maggie Collett at nearby North Bierley (Ref. 9b 194) during the last three months of that year.  She was named after her grandmother Margaret Collett nee Ward with whom she was raised at Eccleshill and with whom she was living in 1911 at the age of nine years (sic). Through a process of elimination, it has been determined that must have been the base-born child of Ann (Annie) Elizabeth Collett, the eldest child of Arthur Collett and Margaret Ward.  On the day that Maggie was born, Annie’s two younger sisters Emily and Minnie were already married, as was Annie’s brother John who also had a daughter of his own born close to the same time

 

It was as Margaret Collett that she married Thomas Egglestone at Bradford in 1932, their wedding day recorded at North Bierley register office (Ref. 9b 28) during the second quarter of that year.  Within the first two years of their life together, Margaret presented Thomas with two children.  The birth of Colin Egglestone was recorded at North Bierley (Ref. 9b 78) during the second quarter of 1933 and the birth of Margaret Egglestone also recorded there (Ref. 9b 77) during the second quarter of 1934.  In both cases, the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett.  One year after celebrating the couple’s sixtieth wedding anniversary, the death of Margaret Egglestone nee Collett was recorded at Bradford (Ref. 0811b b49a) towards the end of 1993

 

Arthur Collett [64Q11] was born at Eccleshill near Bradford on 17th November 1900, the first child of John Collett by his first wife Lucy, whose birth was recorded at the Bradford North Bierley register office (Ref. 9b 193) during the final quarter of that year.  Arthur was under one-year old by the end of March in 1901 when he was living with his parents at Idle in Eccleshill.  Three years after the birth of his sister Hilda (below), Arthur’s mother died and within the next two years his father was re-married to Millicent Amos Morton.  That change for the family was reflected in the census of 1911, when Arthur Collett was 10 years old and living in Bradford with his sister, his father and his stepmother Millicent.  Thirteen years after that census day the marriage of Arthur Collett and Florence Jackson was recorded at Bradford (Ref. 9b 400) during the last three months of 1924

 

During the short time they were married, Florence presented Arthur with four children who were all born at Bradford, as listed below.  At the time of the death of his father in April 1947, Arthur Collett was working as a builder’s labourer when he was named as one of the joint executors of his estate with his brother-in-law Ernest Burgin (below).  Although no death of Florence Collett has been found, following the birth of the couple’s last child, there is a record at Bradford (Ref. 2b 313) of the marriage of Arthur Collett and Dorothy Myers which took place during the fourth quarter of 1955.  However, it has still to be determined whether or not that was the second marriage of this particular Arthur Collett.  The death of Arthur Collett, who was born on 17th November 1900, was recorded at Bradford (Vol. 4 0306) during the spring of 1978

 

64R13 – Bernard Arthur Collett was born in 1926 at Bradford, Yorkshire

64R14 – Margaret R Collett was born in 1930 at Bradford, Yorkshire

64R15 – John Collett was born in 1938 at Bradford, Yorkshire

64R16 – Derek Collett was born in 1943 at Bradford, Yorkshire

 

Hilda Collett [64Q12] was born at Eccleshill on 4th March 1904 and was the second child and only daughter of John Collett and Lucy Eastmead.  Her birth was recorded at the Bradford North Bierley register office (Ref. 9b 206).  Following her mother’s premature death in 1907, her father remarried in 1909 and in the Bradford census of 1911 Hilda Collett was seven years of age, when living with her father John, her older brother Arthur (above) and stepmother Millicent Amos Collett.  Over twelve years later Hilda Collett married Ernest Burgin in the parish of Bowling St John on 12th December 1923, when her father was named as John Collett, a co-operative sub-manager, and his father was named as William Irwin Burgin.  The wedding was recorded at Bradford register office (Ref. 9b 199) during the last two weeks of 1923

 

During the following years Hilda presented Ernest with three children whose births were all recorded t Bradford, when the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett.  Marjorie Burgin was born there (Ref. 9b 267) during the first quarter of 1925, Irene Burgin was born there (Ref. 9b 115) during the first quarter of 1927, and Glenna Burgin was born there (Ref. 9b 152) during the second quarter of 1936.  Ernest Burgin was a master grocer just after the Second World War and was described as such during the probate process for the Will of his father-in-law John Collett in the spring of 1947.  Hilda Burgin nee Collett died at Bradford in 1978 where her death was recorded (Vol. 4 0739) at the age of 74 during the first three months of that year

 

Sidney John Collett [64Q13] was born at Worcester during the summer of 1901, the first-born child of John Henry Albert Collett and his wife Edith Purser, who were married there nine months earlier.  The birth of Sidney John Collett was recorded at Worcester register office (Ref. 6c 284) during the third quarter of 1901. In the 1911 Worcester census he was nine years of age.  As Sydney J Collett her married Gertrude Mary Lampitt in 1929, the wedding recorded at Worcester register office (Ref. 6c 287) during the third quarter of that year.  Again, as Sydney J Collett, when he was 63, he died at Worcester, where his passing was recorded (Ref. 9d 335) during the first three months of 1965.  Administration of his personal effects valued at Ł25,888 was granted to his widow Gertrude Mary Collett.  Sidney and Gertrude are not credited with any issue

 

James Henry Collett [64Q14] was born at Worcester on 8th December 1904, another son of John and Edith Collett.  His birth was recorded at Worcester register office (6c 274) using his full name, during the first few months of 1905, and he was six years old in the Worcester census of 1911.  It was early in 1937 that James H Collett married Dorothy Tomkins, the event recorded at Worcester register office (Ref. 6a 341) during the first quarter of that year.  Their daughter was born at Upton-on-Severn four years later, where her birth was recorded (Ref. 6c 400) during the third quarter of 1941, when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Tomkins.  James Henry Collett was 95 years old when he died in Worcester, where his passing was recorded early in 2000 (Ref. 5271a a54c)

 

64R17 – Jean Collett was born in 1941 at Upton-on-Severn

 

Thomas Arthur Collett [64Q16] was born at Worcester in 1909 and was the fourth child of John and Edith Collett.  Under his full name, his birth was recorded at Worcester register office (Ref. 6c 247) during the third quarter of the year.  It was as Thomas A Collett aged one year, that he was with his family at Worcester in 1911.  He was twenty-four when his marriage to Elsie Brown was recorded at Worcester (Ref. 6c 391) during the third quarter of 1933.  During the following year, their daughter was born at Worcester on 30th October 1934, who also died there at the age of 50, during the summer of 1985 (29 764).  The birth of their son was also recorded at Worcester register office (Ref. 6c 236) during the first three months of 1939, when the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Brown, as it had been in 1934 for his sister Janet (Ref. 6c 175)

 

64R18 – Janet Collett was born in 1934 at Worcester

64R18 – John A Collett was born in 1938 at Worcester

 

Victor A Collett [64Q17] was born at Worcester in 1914 his birth, as the last child of John Henry Albert Collett and Edith Purser, was recorded at Worcester register office (Ref. 6c 252) during the final quarter of 1914, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Purser.  Victor was almost twenty-five when he married Elsie P Harris, their wedding recorded at Worcester (Ref. 6c 601) during the last three months of 1940.  Towards the end of the next year their daughter was born, with her birth recorded at Worcester (Ref. 6c 301) in the fourth quarter of 1941.  She was followed by their son, whose birth was also recorded at Worcester (Ref. 9d 398) during the fourth quarter of 1946.  In both cases, the births were recorded under the mother’s maiden-name of Harris

 

64R20 – Margaret Collett was born in 1941 at Worcester

64R21 – Geoffrey A Collett was born in 1946 at Worcester

 

Walter Stanley Collett [64Q19] was born on 9th September 1906 at Worcester, the eldest son and second child of Ernest Percy William Collett and Sarah Burgess Perring, his birth recorded at Worcester register office (Ref. 9c 220) during the last quarter of the year.  As Walter S Collett, aged four years, he was living with his family at 20 Wolverton Road in Worcester in 1911.  He was twenty-one-years old when the marriage of Walter S Collett and Hilda J Gardner was recorded at the Coventry Foleshill register office (Ref. 6d 97) during the first three months of 1928.  Hilda Janet Gardner was born at Bedworth, near Foleshill, on 16th January 1907, the daughter of George and Mary Gardner.  Their marriage appears to have produced just the one child, who was born at Hartshill near Nuneaton within a few months of the couple’s wedding day.  It would also appear that William and Hilda lived all their life in the Nuneaton area of Warwickshire, with the death of William Stanley Collett recorded at Nuneaton register office (Ref. 9c 2) near the end of 1970, when he was 64 years old.  After eighteen years as a widow, the death of Hilda Janet Collett was recorded at Nuneaton (Vol. 31) in the first months of 1986, at the age of 79

 

64R22 – Violet Elsie Collett was born in 1928 at Nuneaton

 

Ernest William Collett [64Q20] was born in 1908 at Worcester, where his birth recorded (Ref. 6c 260) during the first quarter of the year, another son of Ernest and Sarah Collett.  Two-year-old Ernest W Collett was living in the family home at 20 Wolverton Road in Worcester in 1911

 

Violet Susan Collett [64Q21] was born at 20 Wolverton Road in Worcester on 22nd October 1910, and was five months old in the Worcester census of 1911.  Her birth was recorded at Worcester register office (Ref. 6c 62) as Violet S Collett.  It was also at 20 Wolverton Road that she was living with her family in 1911 but then, after that day, the family moved to Hartshill, near Nuneaton in Warwickshire, where her three younger siblings were born.  Upon being married, she was again recorded as Violet S Collett, the wedding recorded at Nuneaton register office (Ref. 6d 63) during the third quarter of 1937, when the groom was named as William J Martin.  It is likely that the wedding service was conducted at Holy Trinity Church in Hartshill.  Their marriage produced six children for Violet and William, and they were: Ronald William Martin (1937); Christine J Martin (1938); Bernard P Martin (1940); Stanley K Martin (1941); Carol A Martin (1942); Peter J Martin (1943), the birth of each of them recorded at Nuneaton, when their mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett.  For the first time, as far as the public records are concerned, the informant for the death of their mother provided the registrar at Nuneaton register office with her full name as Violet Susan Martin, nee Collett, which was recorded there during the spring of 1977, when she was 66 years old

 

Edna Collett [64Q22] was a twin born at Hartshill near Nuneaton towards the end of 1912, having arrived there from Worcester just before she and her twin brother Percy (below) were born.  Her birth was recorded at Nuneaton register office (Ref. 9d 57) at the start of 1913, when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Perring.  She and Percy were another two children of Ernest P W Collett and Sarah Burgess Perring whose birth name was curiously changed to Vera when she was baptised in Holy Trinity Church at Hartshill, three miles north-west of Nuneaton, in a joint ceremony with her twin brother on 18th February 1913.  She never married and was living in the Coventry area when Ms Vera Collett died there on 20th December 2010, at the age of 98

 

Percy Collett [64Q23] was born near the end of 1912 at Hartshill in Warwickshire, his birth like that of his twin sister Edna (above) was recorded at Nuneaton register office (Ref. 6d 58) during the first quarter of 1913, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Perring.  He was old a few months old when Percy and his twin sister were baptised together at Holy Trinity Church in Hartshill on 18th February 1913, the children of Ernest Percy William Collett and his wife Sarah Burgess Collett.  Percy may have been just three months old when he died at Hartshill, his death recorded at Nuneaton register office (Ref. 6d 46) during the same first quarter of 1913, and just after he was baptised

 

John Kenneth Collett [64Q24] was born at Hartshill in 1914, the last child of Ernest P W Collett and Sarah B Perring, whose birth was recorded at nearby Nuneaton register office (Ref. 6d 126) during the first three months of 1914 and just twelve months after the death of his brother Percy (above).  He was baptised at Holy Trinity Church in Hartshill on 2nd March 1914 and was married much later in his life.  The marriage of John K Collett and Eileen M Garratt was recorded at Atherstone register office (Ref. 9c 81) during the first quarter of 1955.  Eileen was much younger than John, having been born at Atherstone during 1930.  The couple’s only known child was a honeymoon baby, born during the last quarter of 1955 at Nuneaton.  It was also within the Whittleford area just west of Nuneaton where John Kenneth Collett died on 1st October 1997, at the age of 83.  Eleven years later, and also at Whittleford, Eileen Mary Collett passed away on 14th May 2009

 

64R23 – David John Collett was born in 1955 at Nuneaton

 

Stanley John Collett [64Q25] was born at Worcester on 8th May 1921, the first of the three children of Victor Stanley Collett and Annie Mabel Walley.  His birth was recorded at Worcester register office (Ref. 6c 265) during the second quarter of that year, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Walley.  Twenty-eight years later the marriage of Stanley J Collett and Doreen H Stiff was recorded at Worcester (Ref. 9d 873) during the third quarter of 1949.  Their marriage was blessed with the birth of a son five years later in Worcester.  Stanley John Collett was still residing in Worcester when he passed away during the early months of 2005, his death recorded there (Ref. 5271c) at the age of 83

 

6R24 – Ivor C Collett was born in 1954 at Worcester

 

Leonard W Collett [64Q26] was born at Worcester in 1924 where his birth was recorded (Ref. 6c 215) during the first quarter of that year.  He was the second child of Victor and Annie Collett, whose maiden-name was confirmed as Walley but written as Whalley.  Leonard W Collett married Doreen Waldron at Worcester where it was recorded during the first three months of 1951 (Ref. 9d 817).  Over the next ten years Doreen presented Leonard with three children, all born at Worcester

 

64R25 – Anne Collett was born in 1952 at Worcester

64R26 – Susan Collett was born in 1954 at Worcester

64R27 – James Leonard Collett was born in 1961 at Worcester

 

Beryl M Collett [64Q27] was born in 1928 at Worcester during the third quarter of the year, the daughter of Victor and Annie Collett.  It was at Worcester register officer where her birth was recorded (Ref. 6c 218) when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Walley.  It was there also that the marriage of Beryl M Collett and Anthony K Joyce was recorded (Ref. 9d 643) during the second quarter of 1955.  No record of any children for the couple has been found so far

 

Flossie Esther Collett [64Q28] was born on 1st October 1892 at Bradford, where her birth was recorded (Ref. 9b 298), the first of the two children of Henry Collett and Louisa Fuller, and was baptised at the Church of St Paul Manningham in Bradford on 13th November 1892.  After a brief few years living in Manningham, and then Keighley where her brother was born, the family was residing in Skipton by 1901, where Flossie Collett was eight years of age.  After a further ten years, the family was living at Shipley-cum-Heaton in the West Riding of Yorkshire when Flossie Collett from Bradford was 18 and working as a laundress.  Nearly ten years later Flossie was still located in the West Riding of Yorkshire when the marriage of Flossie E Collett and William T Rose was recorded at North Bierley register office (Ref. 9b 127) during the last quarter of 1920.  William had been born at Croydon, in Surrey, during 1893, the son of Charles and Annie Rose.  At some time in their married life, the couple travel south to Surrey where the death of William T Rose was recorded at Croydon register office (Ref. 5g 129) during the third quarter of 1956, at the age of 63.  Eighteen years after being widowed, Flossie was still living in Surrey, and it was also at Croydon register office (Vol. 11 43) that the death of Flossie Esther Rose was recorded during the early months of 1975 when she was 82 years old

 

Clement Henry Collett [64Q29] was born at Keighley on 10th March 1898, the second of the two known children of Henry and Louisa Collett, who was baptised at St Mary’s Church in Keighley on 26th June 1898.  The birth of Clement Henry Collett was recorded at Keighley register office (Ref. 9a 219) during the second quarter of 1898. Shortly after he was born his family settled in Skipton where Clement was three years old in 1901.  A further move took place sometime during the next decade since the family was residing at 3 Oswald Street, off Carr Lane, in Shipley just north of Bradford in Yorkshire in 1911.  Clement Collett from Keighley was still attending school at the age of 13, but who was also described as a barber’s boy.  Twelve years after that census day, when he was twenty-five years old, the marriage of Clement H Collett and Agnes M Mortimer was recorded at North Bierley register office (Ref. 9b 19) during the third quarter of 1923, when Agnes was already halfway towards giving birth to their son.  It was as Mary Agnes Mortimer that she was born in 1898 at Bramley, her birth recorded at Wharfedale, the sixth child of Walter and Mary Mortimer of Bramley

 

It was during the following quarter of 1923, when the birth of their son was recorded at Wharfedale, perhaps indicating they had moved away from North Bierley to hide their embarrassment at giving birth so soon after their wedding day.  Their son was nearly seven years old when Clement H Collett died on 23rd September 1930 at the age of 32, his premature death recorded at Bradford register office (Ref. 9b 95).  He may have known that his time on earth was limited, because he made a Will, the contents of which may raise a few concerns about his life, particularly with regard to his wife and child.  The Will of Clement Henry Collett was proved at Wakefield on 10th October 1930 in which the first beneficiary was named as Louisa Collett, the second being Henry Collett, his parents.  His personal effects were valued at Ł793 14 Shillings and 5 Pence, while his address at the time of his death was 311 Kings Road in Bradford.  Three years after being widowed, the second married of Agnes Mary Collett was recorded at Bradford register office (Ref. 9b 30) during the quarter of 1933 when she married John W Fearnsides

 

64R28 – Raymond Henry Collett was born in 1923 at Wharfedale, Yorkshire

 

Philip George Collett [64Q30] was born at Mangotsfield in 1906, following the wedding of his parents Philip Collett and Rhoda Bailey during the previous autumn, his birth recorded at Keynsham register office (Ref. 5c 245) during the first quarter of that year.  He was baptised at Mangotsfield on 4th March 1906, the record confirmed he was the son of Philip and Rhoda Collett.  Tragically, his father died when Philip was only three years old.  At the age of five years George Collett, grandson and school boy was staying with George and Elizabeth Bailey at their home in Mangotsfield, while it was previously speculated that his widowed mother had already remarried by then.  In fact, it was towards the end of 1911 when his mother married Thomas Howard, with whom he may have subsequently reunited afterwards.  The marriage of Philip G Collett and Kate Davis was recorded at the Somerset Axbridge register office (Ref. 5c 105) during the second quarter of 1928

 

It seems their marriage produced no issue and, during the Second World War Philip and Kate were living at 74 Badminton Road in Downend, just north of Mangotsfield.  Philip G Collett was a sapper with the Royal Engineers, service number 2145232, and appears to have been badly wounded in action, with the result that he was shipped back to England and, following his death on 19th July 1944 at the age of 38, he was buried at the Downend Mangotsfield Cemetery – Grave 1486, Sector D.  The Will of Philip George Collett of 74 Badminton Road was proved at Bristol on 15th November 1944, the three main beneficiaries of his personal effects valued at Ł1,034 10 Shillings being named as Kate Collett, his widow, and Kate Moore, another widow, and George Henry Young, a surveyor

 

Nora Emily Bessie Collett [64Q31] was born at Mangotsfield on 29th December 1907, the second child of Philip Collett and Rhoda Bailey.  Her birth was recorded at Keynsham register office (Ref. 5c 23) during the first months of 1908.  She was just fourteen months old when her father died in February 1909, following which no positive record of Nora or her mother has been located in the census of 1911.  It was on 24th September 1932 at St Katherine’s Church in the Redland district of Bristol that Nora married Richard Harold Taylor, the event recorded at Bristol register office (Ref. 6a 136).  Richard had been born at Bristol on 31st March 1907.  Nora Taylor nee Collett died in Bristol on 25th September 2003, and was followed two years later by her husband, who also passed away while he was still living in Bristol

 

Phyllis Edna May Collett [64Q32] was born at Bristol, where her birth was recorded (Ref. 6a 189) during the first three months of 1907.  It was at the Church of St Thomas in Eastville, to the north-east of Bristol that she was baptised on 31st March 1907, the eldest of the three children of Charles Eli Collett and Sarah Louisa Milsom.  After the birth of her brother Arthur (below), the young family moved to Pontypridd in South Wales where, sadly, the premature death of Phyllis Edna May Collett was recorded (Ref. 11a 333) during the first quarter of 1910 and just before her third birthday

 

Arthur Charles Eli Collett 64Q33 was born at Fishponds in Bristol on 12th December 1908, where his birth was recorded (Ref. 6a 180) during the first three months of the following year.  Not long after he was born, his parents Charles Eli Collett and Sarah Louisa Milsom, together with his sister Phyllis (above), travelled to South Wales and Pontypridd, where his father secured work in the coal mining industry there.  That move was confirmed by the census in 1911 when Arthur Collett was two years old and his place of birth was recorded as Fishponds in Bristol.  He was the only child living with his parents, when his mother was carrying her third child

 

Thanks to Maureen Iliffe nee Collett (Ref. 64R46) we now know a little more about Arthur, whose life was ended prematurely.  Although too young to have taken part in the First World War, Arthur enlisted with the British Army Office in Bristol on 4th January 1926, when he was recorded in error as being 19 years and 24 days old, and his occupation was that of a packer.  He was first assigned to the Royal Berkshire Regiment but, shortly after, transferred to the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, service number 5378596.  He was posted to India on 15th February 1927 where, seven months later, the death of Private Arthur Charles Eli Collett of the 2nd Battalion Oxfordshire was recorded on 30th September 1927.  His death certificate stated that he died while in the Rest Camp at Kalsi (Uttarakhand Province), his passing recorded at Chakrata (U P) on 4th October 1927, the cause of death accidental drowning.  It was on the previous day when he was buried at Chakrata on 3rd October when his age was incorrectly recorded as 20 years and 292 days, instead being nearer eighteen years of age.  That error arose from the day he joined the army, when he was said to be 19 years and 24 days, placing his date of birth as 12.12.1906.  The same military record also listed Arthur’s father as Arthur Collett, rather than Charles Eli Collett and, later on, in the same record, his father was said to be Arthur Charles Collett of 10 Gloucester Street in Clifton, Bristol

 

George William Collett [64Q34] was born at Pontypridd in 1911, his birth recorded there (Ref. 11a 1238) during the last quarter of that year.  It was also during that same quarter of 1911 that the death of George W Collett was recorded at Pontypridd (Ref. 11a 578)

 

Alden George Charles Collett [64Q35] was born at Winterbourne on 12th October 1907 ten years before the uncle he was named after was killed during the Great war.  He was the eldest child of William Collett and Dorothy Pullin and was recorded in the census of 1911 as being three years old.  He later married Elsie Close with whom he had one son who was born at Winterbourne, where Alden George Charles Collett died during May 1995

 

64R29 – Raymond George Collett was born in 1930 at Bristol

 

Leslie Collett [64Q36] was born at Winterbourne on 10th February 1909 and was two years old in the census of 1911.  He later married Rosina Margaret Tremlin who was born on 26th July 1915.  The couple had two children, a daughter who was still living in 2008 and a son Anthony whose death was recorded at South Gloucestershire register office during the second quarter of 2001.  The birth of their daughter was recorded at Sodbury register office (Ref. 6a 7) during the second quarter of 1942, when the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Tremlin.  No further details of the two children have been revealed at this time, but it is known that Leslie died on 17th October 1985, followed by Rosina Margaret Collett whose death was recorded at South Gloucestershire during the spring of 1998

 

64R30 – Rita J Collett was born in 1942 at Sodbury, Gloucestershire

64R31 – Anthony William Collett was born on 12th May 1947 at Sodbury; and died in April 2001

 

Wilfred Graham Collett [64Q37] was born at Winterbourne on 2nd December 1911, the son of William Collett and his wife Dorothy Pullin.  Tragically, he died eleven months later on 9th November 1912, following which the next son born to the couple was given his name

 

Nora Millicent Collett [64Q38] was born at Winterbourne on 13th February 1913, the daughter of William Collett and Dorothy Pullin.  She married Frederick Brown and the marriage produced three children for Nora and Fred, a daughter and two sons.  One of the sons was Alan Brown who was born in 1936 and he married Marion Lambert

 

Wilfred Collett [64Q39] was born at Winterbourne on 5th July 1919 and he later married Alice Evelyn Jones.  Wilfred never liked either of his wife’s Christian names so always called her Betty.  During the Second World War he was Royal Marine Wilfred Collett PLY/X120162 serving on board HMS Nile.  On 30th April 1945 Adolf Hitler killed himself and two days later on 2nd May the German forces in Italy surrendered, signally the end of the war.  On that same day the news was greeted by the British forces, which began celebrating a momentous victory.  Part of the celebration for Wilfred and his comrades involved diving into a swimming pool.  In doing so he accidentally hit his head on the diving board and was knocked unconscious, as a result of which he was tragically drowned.  His death was recorded as taking place on 2nd May 1945 at the age of 25 years.  Having survived through the war years, Wilfred would have been feeling elated that he would soon be returning home to his wife Betty who he knew was with child.  Sadly, his death preceded the birth of his son by eleven days

 

Wilfred’s name is listed on the Chatby Military War Memorial at Alexandria in Egypt perhaps indicating that he died in the Mediterranean Sea.  At the time of his death his wife Betty was living at Newport in Monmouthshire.  The War Office record of his death made reference to Wilfred’s wife by her correct name of Alice Evelyn Collett, while his parents were correctly confirmed as William and Dorothy Collett.  Following the death of her husband, Betty married John Lewis with whom she had twins, a son and a daughter, before John passed away.  Betty was still living in South Wales in the summer of 2008

 

64R32 – Wilfred G W Collett was born in 1945 at Monmouth, South Wales

 

Jesse Collett [64Q40] was born at Winterbourne on 25th October 1920, his birth recorded at Chipping Sodbury register office (Ref. 6a 8), when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Pullin.  He was the sixth child of William Collett and Dorothy Pullin, and he later married June Gifford but the marriage did not produce any children for the couple.  Jesse Collett died at Winterbourne in 1996, with his passing recorded at the South Gloucestershire register office (Ref. 3041b) near the end of that year

 

Henry John Collett [64Q41] was born at Winterbourne on 6th February 1922, his birth recorded at Chipping Sodbury register office (Ref. 6a 138), when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Pullin.  He married Jean McCutcheon and the marriage produced one daughter for the couple.  It would appear that Henry lived all his life at Winterbourne since it was there that he died in 1996.  His wife Jean was still alive in the summer of 2008 and was a great great grandmother to three children

 

64R33 – a Collett daughter was born at a time and place not known

 

Ellen Edna Collett [64Q42] was born at Winterbourne on 27th April 1923, and she later married Clifford Jones.  Clifford was the brother of Betty Jones who married Ellen’s brother Wilfred (above).  As with other members of her family, it would appear that she lived all her life at Winterbourne, where she was living in the spring of 2013 at the age of 90.  However, two years later, and just three days short of her ninety-second birthday, Ellen Edna Jones nee Collett passed away in Bristol Southmead Hospital on 24th April 2015

 

Reginald Collett [64Q43] was born at Winterbourne on 25th February 1925, his birth recorded at Chipping Sodbury register office (Ref. 6a 383) where his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Pullin.  Sadly, he suffered with a kidney disease and died in 1937 aged just twelve years.  The cause of his kidney disease was diagnosed as tuberculosis

 

Thomas William Collett [64Q44] was born at Winterbourne on 13th August 1927, the last of the children born to William Collett and Dorothy Pullin.  He later married Patricia May Stephens who was also born at Winterbourne on 6th February 1928, their wedding recorded at Chipping Sodbury register office (Ref. 7b 1283) during the first quarter of 1952.  Their marriage produced three children for Thomas and Patricia, two sons and a daughter.  The death of Thomas William Collett was recorded at Bristol register office in 2006, following his passing at Winterbourne on 13th October 2006.  His wife had died many years earlier in November 1987, her death also recorded at Bristol register office under the name of Patricia Mary Collett

 

64R34 – Michael William Collett was born in 1953 at Kingswood, Bristol

64R35 – a Collett son was born between 1954 and 1959

64R36 – Amanda Collett was born in 1960 at Winterbourne

 

Christine Collett [64Q45] was born at Bristol during the latter half of 1911, the eldest child of Henry (Harry) Collett and his wife Florence E Tovey.  Her birth was recorded at Bristol register office (Ref. 6a 317) during the final three months of that year under the name of Chrissie Collett, when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Tovey

 

Gilbert Henry Collett [64Q46] was born at Bristol on 6th June 1915, the son of Harry and Florence Collett, following which his birth was recorded at Bristol register office (Ref. 6a 337) during the second quarter of that year.  The entry gave his name as Gilbert H Collett and his mother’s maiden-name as Tovey.  It was also as Gilbert H Collett that he married Winifred Dowler at Bristol in 1948, the event being recorded there (Ref. 7b 398) during the fourth quarter of that year.  It is not known whether the marriage produced any children, but it is known that Gilbert Henry Collett died at Bristol in 1969 when his death was recorded at the Bristol register office (Ref. 7b 522) during the last three months of that year

 

Gladys M Collett [64Q47] was born at Bristol in 1925, her birth recorded at Bristol register office (Ref. 6a 43) during the last quarter of that year, when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Tovey.  She was the third children of Henry Collett and Florence Ethel Tovey

 

Thomas Charles Collett [64Q48] was born at Ealing in Middlesex on 6th January 1915, where his birth was recorded (Ref. 3a 35) one year prior to the marriage of his parents Thomas Collett and Emma Mary French, although the birth record did confirm the mother’s name as French.  However, it was at Brentford register office that all of his seven siblings’ births were recorded.  It was during the fourth quarter of 1938 that the marriage of Thomas Collett and (1) Hilda Plumridge was recorded at Brentford register office (Ref. 3a 61).  Later on, Thomas and Hilda were divorced, but not before they had given birth to three children in Middlesex, although only two survived.  Sometime after their legal separation Thomas C Collett married (2) Mabel F Hibbert, that second marriage recorded at Hounslow register office (Ref. 5c 14) towards the end of 1972.  No other details are currently available except that it is known that Thomas Charles Collett died at Hounslow Heath on 5th January 1989, with his death recorded at Hounslow register office during the first three months of 1989.  Having lost her husband, it would appear that his widow moved to Dorset, since it was at Ferndown in Dorset where Mabel Frances Collett died on 7th July 2006, her death recorded at Dorset register office (Ref. 4291f)

 

The birth of Raymond S Collett was recorded at Brentford register office (Ref. 3a 137) during the first three months of 1945 where also, sadly, his death was recorded during that same quarter of the same year (Ref. 3a 130).  His mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Plumridge.  The birth of the couple’s last child, Sylvia C Collett, was recorded at Ealing register office (Ref. 5e 80) during the last three months of 1949 when again, the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Plumridge.  Sylvia was only nineteen years of age when the marriage of Sylvia C Collett and Philip T Harman was recorded at Ealing register office (Ref. 5b 54) during the third quarter of 1969

 

64R37 – Brian M T Collett was born in 1941 at Willesden

64R38 – Raymond S Collett was born in 1945 at Brentford

64R39 – Sylvia C Collett was born in 1941 at Ealing

 

Bessie M Collett [64Q49] was born at Brentford in Middlesex, with her birth recorded there (Ref. 3a 134) during the month of December in 1917.  She was the second of the eight children of Thomas and Emma Collett and her birth register confirmed that her mother’s maiden-name as French.  Tragically, she did not survive beyond a few days, with the death of Bessie M Collett also recorded at Brentford register office (Ref. 3a 128) at the end of 1917

 

Doris May Collett [64Q50] was born at Brentford on 17th December 1919, her birth recorded there (Ref. 3a 8), when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as French.  Just five days after her twentieth birthday she married Timothy Paget Russell on 22nd December 1939 at St Mary’s Church in South Ealing, the event recorded at Brentford register office (Ref. 3a 107).  Timothy was born at Sunderland on 2nd August 1903 and he and Doris had two daughters, one of which was Pauline Russell who died when she was only five years old.  It may be that the couple lived most of their married life at Ealing, where Timothy died on 15th May 1986.  Shortly after that, his widow seems to have left London and moved to Lichfield in Staffordshire where Doris May Russell nee Collett died three years later on 8th June 1989

 

Ronald William Collett [64Q51] was born at Brentford on 21st October 1921, with his birth recorded there (Ref. 3a 77), when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as French.  He was twenty-three years old when the marriage of Ronald W Collett and Daphne B Holtom was recorded at Brentford register office (Ref. 3a 149) during the second quarter of 1945.  The couple’s only known child was born just over six years later.  It was at Fulham register office in London, that the death of Ronald William Collett was recorded (Vol. 12) during the summer of 1990

 

64R40 – Terence William Collett was born in 1951 at Ealing

 

Stanley Clifford Collett [64Q52] was born at Brentford on 16th June 1923, his birth recorded at Brentford register office (Ref. 3a 23), when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as French.  He married Elsie Downey on 28th September 1946 at St Silas’ Church in Toxteth Park in Liverpool, the event recorded at Liverpool South register office (Ref. 10d 37).  Elsie had been born at Toxteth Park on 1st April 1922.  Once married the couple stayed in Liverpool, where their son and daughter were born, although the exact details have not been revealed by the family.  And it was later, at Liverpool, that Stanley Clifford Collett died on 13th June 1987, followed eight years later by Elsie Collett who died there on 27th June 1995

 

64R41 – June Collett was born in 1948 at Liverpool

64R42 – Allan Collett was born in 1949 at Liverpool

 

Peggy Collett [64Q53] was born at Brentford on 1st July 1927, where her birth was recorded (Ref. 3a 105) when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as French, another daughter of Thomas and Emma Collett.  It was during the last quarter of 1954 that the marriage of Peggy and Albert E Tottman was recorded at Ealing register office (Ref. 5e 120).  The later death of Peggy Tottman was recorded at Hillingdon register office in Middlesex during the summer of 1989

 

Lawrence F Collett [64Q54] was born at Brentford in 1931, his birth recorded there (Ref. 3a 112) during the second quarter of 1931, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as French.  Like his sister Sheila (below) his marriage to Ivy A Harding was recorded at Ealing register office (Ref. 5e 131) during the first quarter of 1953, when Lawrence was twenty-one years old.  Although not proved, two children from a Collett-Harding marriage were born at Portsmouth in 1956 and 1957, and they were Christine D Collett who married David C Eve at Portsmouth in 1976, and Gary V Collett who married Julie A Robertson at Portsmouth in 1983.  Further work therefore needs to be done to confirm or deny that they were the children of Lawrence and Ivy Collett

 

Sheila B Collett [64Q55] was born at Brentford in Middlesex in 1933, where her birth was recorded (Ref. 3a 120) during the third quarter of the year, when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed at French, Sheila being the last of the eight children of Thomas Collett and Emma Mary French.  She was twenty-one years of age when the marriage of Sheila B Collett and George R Ball was recorded at Ealing register office (Ref. 5e 86) during the first three months of 1955

 

Hyacinth Ypres Sarah Collett [64Q56] was born at Whitchurch in Cardiff on 27th March 1915.  Her second Christian name was given to her in honour of her father who was injured during the First Battle of Ypres, but who thankfully survived the ordeal.  She married Clifford Sidney James at Whitchurch on 25th April 1939 less than six months before the outbreak of war.  Clifford was born at Cardiff on 31st May 1916.  And it was there that they both died within five months of each other.  Hyacinth was a patient at St Fagans Nursing Home in Cardiff when she passed away at 0110 hours on the morning of Friday 1st June 2007, while her husband followed those few months after on 25th October 2007.  The marriage produced two daughters for Hyacinth and Clifford, the youngest being Lynne James who was born 17th November 1946.  She married Vernon George Joyce in the parish Church of St Mary in Whitchurch, Cardiff in 1972.  Vernon was born on 3rd February 1931 at Swansea and they had no children.  Lynne Joyce passed away on the morning of 14th November 2020 in the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, just three days before her seventy-fifth birthday, leaving Vernon who would be ninety in 2021

 

Arthur Collett [64Q57] was born at Whitchurch in Cardiff on 2nd October 1918, but sadly he died less than two months later on 29th November 1918 and was buried at Whitchurch that same day.  The cause of death was noted as ‘debility from birth’, that being a failure of the infant to thrive

 

THOMAS COLLETT [64Q58] was born at Whitchurch on 9th March 1920 and was baptised at St Mary’s Church in Whitchurch during April 1920.  He later married Elizabeth Louisa Perry, their marriage recorded at the East Glamorgan register office (Ref. 8b 680) during the first three months of 1948.  The birth of three of their six children was also recorded at that same register office, with the other three recorded at Cardiff.  Thomas died at the University of Wales Hospital in Cardiff on 18th August 1995, while it was twenty-three years later when his widow Elizabeth Louisa Collett passed away on Thursday 29th March 2018 at the age of 91.  Elizabeth, who was known as Betty, was born at Whitchurch in Cardiff on 11th March 1927, seven years after her late husband was born there and, like him, she too died in the Cardiff University Hospital.  Betty had fourteen grandchildren and twenty-one great grandchildren, with the birth of number twenty-two due late on in 2018

 

64R43 – Patricia Collett was born in 1948 at Cardiff

64R44 – Peter Collett was born in 1950 at Cardiff

64R45 – Allen Collett was born in 1953 at Cardiff

64R46 – MAUREEN COLLETT was born in 1955 at Cardiff

64R47 – Pauline A Collett was born in 1958 at Cardiff

64R48 – Jayne Alison Collett was born in 1966 at Cardiff

 

Benjamin Cyril Collett [64Q59] was born at Cardiff on 15th February 1922, the son of Arthur Collett and Dorothy Osborne.  In fact, his birth was recorded at Cardiff register office (Ref. 11a 144) during the second quarter of 1922 when his name was said to be Cyril B Collett and his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Osborne.  He was known within the family as Benny and was later married but was subsequently divorced.  However, the marriage did produce a son for Benjamin and his wife.  It was Benny’s niece Maureen Iliffe nee Collett who reported that he had passed away on 10th March 2015 at the grand age of 93.  That happened only a few weeks after he had become a resident at a nursing home near Sidmouth in East Devon

 

64R49 – a Collett son was born at a place and date not yet known

 

Alexander Collett [64Q60] was born at Cardiff on 25th June 1927, the youngest child of Arthur Collett and his wife Dorothy Osborne.  It is known that he married Violet Sainty in 1952, the marriage recorded at Cardiff (Ref. 8b 347) during the third quarter of that year.  The wedding service was conducted at Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff and their marriage produced a daughter for the couple, who was born at Cardiff during the following year.  It is also established that Alexander Collett died while he was still living in Cardiff on 2nd November 2010.  Nine years later, on 12th December 2019 Violet Collett nee Bowen (Sainty) passed away at the age of 87 at Ty Hafod Nursing Home in Cardiff, after which her funeral took place at Thornhill Crematorium Cardiff on 8th January 2020.  Violet left a daughter Christine, five grandchildren and six great grandchildren

 

Violet was born Violet Bowen in Newport, Gwent, Wales, on 16th October 1932, her mother being Ada Gwendoline Bowen.  At a few months old, Violet was given by her mother into the care of Doctor Barnados Children Home because she was unable to care for her due to illness, and maternal grandparents were said to be too old to care for her.  On the same day Violet was taken there, she was fostered out to Archibald Sainty and his wife Cassie Vickery.  When Violet was approaching the end of primary school, a girl told her, Cassie was not her real mother and that they had adopted her.  When Violet married Alexander Collett, she married under the name of Sainty.  It wasn't until she was in her late sixties, that she discovered she had not been adopted, but had only ever been fostered.  Violet then had to go and swear on-oath that she was indeed Violet Collett, nee Bowen, and not Sainty as her marriage certificate stated

 

64R50 – Christine Collett was born in 1953 at Cardiff

 

John Thomas Collett [64Q61] was born at Plaistow, within the West Ham area of East London on 1st July 1891, the eldest child of John William Collett and Charlotte Sabina Roots, who was only three weeks old when he was baptised at St Andrew’s Church as John Thomas Collett on 21st July 1891.  At the age of nine years, John T Collett and his family were residing at Kelland Road in Plaistow where, in 1911 he was 19 years old and working alongside his father as a dock labourer.  His place of birth was confirmed at Plaistow.  Four years after that census day, John Thomas Collett married Caroline Bartlett by the reading of banns at St Andrew’s Church in Plaistow on 11th July 1915.  John was 24 and a railway servant still living in the Collett family home at 33 Meredith Street, very close to Kelland Road, and was confirmed as the son of John William Collett, a labourer.  Caroline was 27 and the daughter of shopkeeper John Thomas Bartlett, who was also one of the witnesses, together with Ruby Bartlett, Caroline’s youngest sister at 23.  In 1901 Caroline and her family were living at Bloomfield Road in Mile End Old Town, where she had been born, the penultimate child of John Bartlett and Emma Chappell.  On completing her education, Caroline joined the well-known company of map makers Collins Bartholomew, established around 1850 in Scotland, where she work as a machinist when she and her family were still living at Mile End Old Town, but at Burdett Road

 

The marriage of John and Caroline produced two children when they were still living in the West Ham area of East London, where their births were recorded and where their mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Bartlett.  Sometime later, and after the tragic death of their baby son, the family moved out of London, and it was at Epping, still in Essex, that the family was living from around the mid-to-late 1920s.  Their daughter was married there in 1932 and, just over a year later the premature death of Caroline Collett was recorded at Epping register office (Ref. 4a 90), either at the end of 1933 or early in 1934, when she was only 46.  Her husband later settled in Romford, where his passing was recorded (Ref. 5a 103) during the first quarter of 1956 when he was 64 years old.  The birth of their son was recorded at West Ham (Ref. 4a 5) during the third quarter of 1921, where his death was recorded around six months later (Ref. 4a 143)

 

64R51 – Gladys Caroline Collett was born in 1916 at West Ham

64R52 – Reginald J B Collett was born in 1921 at West Ham and also died there in 1922

 

Henry Edward Collett [64Q62] was born on 15th June 1897 at Plaistow, West Ham, where his birth was recorded (Ref. 4a 89) later on during the third quarter of the year, the twin brother of William Albert (below), another two sons of John William and Catherine Sabina Collett.  The twins were baptised a month later, in a joint ceremony on 11th July 1897 at St Andrew’s Church in Plaistow.  In 1901 the twins were three years of age when they were living at the family home on Kelland Road in Plaistow, where they were both 13 in 1911 and still at school.  It was near the end of 1922 when Henry E Collett and Violet Weaver were married, their wedding recorded at Billericay register office (Ref. 4a 65) during the last quarter of the year.  Violet was born at Forest Gate in West Ham on 6th March 1902, the daughter of Joseph and Hilda Weaver, who was baptised on 11th September 1902.  During their first six years together, Violet presented Henry, who was known as Harry, with three children when the family was still living at Billericay.  However, their total time together was short-lived when, within a few months of the birth of their last child, the death of Harry E Collett was recorded at the Essex Orsett register office (Ref. 4a 48) during the final three months of 1928, at the age of only 32.  Violet was residing in the County of Essex at Braintree, where her death at the age of 70 was recorded (Ref. 4a 58) during the second quarter of 1972

 

64R53 – George E Collett was born in 1923 at Billericay, Essex

64R54 – Edith H Collett was born in 1925 at Billericay, Essex

64R55 – Gwendoline J Collett was born in 1928 at Billericay, Essex

 

William Albert Collett [64Q63] was born at Plaistow on 15th June 1897, the twin brother of Henry Edward (above), his birth recorded a little while later at West Ham (Ref. 4a 106) during the third quarter of 1897.  As another son of John and Catherine Collett, he was baptised at St Andrew’s Church in Plaistow on 11th July 1987, the same day as his twin brother.  The Plaistow census in 1901 recorded him and his family at Kelland Road, where William A Collett was three years old, and where he was 13 in 1911.  Ten years later William Albert Collett and Edith Emily Watts were married by banns at St Andrew’s Church in Plaistow on 14th August 1920, the wedding recorded at West Ham register office (Ref. 4a 58).  Edith had also been born at West Ham, on 24th March 1898, the daughter of Herbert William Watts deceased of 77 Fisher Street in Canning Town, just to the south of Plaistow.  William was living with his family at 33 Meredith Street in Plaistow and was confirmed as the son of labourer John William Collett, whose occupation was that of a lino-type operator.  The couple both signed the register in their own hand, while the two witnesses were William’s younger brother Walter (below) and Elsie V King.  The marriage of William and Edith resulted in the birth of two children when they were still living in the West Ham area of London.  The births were recorded at West Ham register office and confirmed that the mother’s maiden-name was Watts.  It was at East Ham register office (Ref. 5a 40) that the death of William Albert Collett was recorded during the last three months of 1956, when he was 59 years old.  Many years after being widowed, the death of Edith Emily Collett was recorded at Poplar & Bethnal Green register office (Ref. 14 79) towards the end of 1982 when she was 84 years old

 

64R56 – Joan E Collett was born in 1922 at West Ham

64R57 – Norman William Collett was born in 1924 at West Ham

 

Walter Samuel Collett [64Q64] was born at Kelland Road in Plaistow on 13th March 1900 and was baptised at St Andrew’s Church on 8th April 1900, the fourth son of John and Charlotte Collett.  His birth was recorded at West Ham register office (Ref. 4a 117) and he was one year old in the Plaistow census of 1901 when he was with his family at Kelland Road.  As Walter S Collett he was 10 years of age in the Plaistow census of 1911.  Four years later the family was living at 33 Meredith Street in Plaistow, just around the corner from Kelland Road.  He later served with the Royal Engineers, service number 620124, when his date of birth and place of birth was confirmed as 1900 and Plaistow.  A few years after the war, when he was still living at 33 Meredith Street in 1923, he became a married man at the age of 22 although, by then, both of his parents were no longer alive.  It was on 1st February 1923 that Walter Samuel Collett was married to Ruby Lilian Wylie after the reading of banns at St Andrew’s Church.  Walter was a warehouseman, the son of John William Collett, deceased, and Ruby was 19 and from 56 Howard’s Road, the daughter of seaman Henry Wylie.  The couple signed the register in their own hand, with the two witnesses not being a member of either family.  The event was recorded at West Ham register office (Ref. 4a 125).  Walter Samuel Collett was 65 years old when he died, his death recorded at East Ham register office (Ref. 5b 147) during the second quarter of 1965.  His widow was born on 6th March 1904 and she was living within the Newham area of Essex when the death of Ruby Lilian Collett was recorded there (Vol. 15 8) just after the start of 1982

 

Leonard Arthur Collett [64Q65] was born at Plaistow in 1902, the last child of John William Collett and Charlotte Sabina Roots.  Using his full name, he was baptised at St Andrew’s Church in Plaistow on 30th December 1902 and, for the Plaistow census in 1911, Leonard A Collett was eight years of age.  He was 21 years old when the marriage of Leonard Arthur Collett and Alice F Osborne was recorded at West Ham register office (Ref. 4a 18) during the second quarter of 1924.  Near the end of the following year, Alice presented Leonard with a daughter, their only known child.  The couple was only married for eight years when the death of Leonard Arthur Collett was recorded at West Ham register office (Ref. 4a 86) during the last three months of 1932, when he was almost 30 years of age.  Five years later, by which time daughter Joyce was twelve years old, Alice F Collett married Fane Dailey, the event recorded at East Ham register office (Ref. 4a 24) during the third quarter of 1937

 

64R58 – Joyce A M Collett was born in 1925 at West Ham

 

Alfred George Collett [64Q70] was born on 17th January 1906 at Smethwick, the first-born child of Alfred Collett and Eliza Farmer Yates.  His birth was recorded at Kings Norton register office (Ref. 6c 226) and it is known that he died in Birmingham during the summer of 1988.  He was five years old in 1911, when he and his family were still living in Smethwick.  It was at Birmingham in 1928 that the marriage of Alfred George Collett and Elsie Elizabeth Fellows was recorded at the Birmingham South register office (Ref. 6d 120) during the last quarter of that year.  Elsie was born at Smethwick on 21st February 1907, the only child of William and Florence Fellows, whose birth was recorded at Kings Norton (Ref. 6c 235).  Although their two sons were born in Birmingham, the eldest of them was baptised at Smethwick and at the recording of both births, the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Fellows.  Apart from the recording of the birth of their younger son at Birmingham South register office (Ref. 6d 113) during the second quarter of 1932, no further details relating to him have been found.  Elsie Elizabeth Collett was 71 years old when her death was recorded at Birmingham register office (Vol. 32 110) in the summer of 1978.  Alfred survived his wife by nearly ten years, when the death of Alfred George Collett was also recorded at Birmingham during June of 1988 at the age of 82

 

64R59 – Alan Collett was born in 1930 at Birmingham

64R60 – Ronald Collett was born in 1932 at Birmingham

 

Eric William Collett [64Q71] was born at Smethwick on 18th March 1910, his birth recorded at Kings Norton register office (Ref. 6c 88) during the second quarter of the year.  Not long after Eric William Collett was baptised at Smethwick on 14th April 1910, another son of Alfred and Eliza Farmer Collett.  He lived a very long life and was 90 years of age when the death of Eric William Collett was recorded at the North-East Lincolnshire register office in Grimsby during March 2000.  It has not been determined whether or not that he was ever married

 

Doris Lilian Collett [64Q72] was born on 13th November 1921 at Smethwick, although her birth was recorded at Kings Norton register office (Ref. 6d 57) during the fourth quarter of the year, when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Yates.  She was the third and last child of Alfred Collett and Eliza Farmer Yates.  She was nearly twenty-three years old when the marriage of Doris L Collett and Alexander R Forbes was recorded at Smethwick register office (Ref. 6b 135) during the second quarter of 1944.  The birth’ of their three children were also recorded Smethwick, when the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett, and they were Janet C Forbes born in 1946, Roger D Forbes born in 1949, and Pamela A Forbes born in 1951.  The death of Doris Lilian Forbes was recorded at Dudley in April 2002

 

Edward G Collett [64Q73] was born in 1921 at Smethwick, the first of the six children of Edward Collett and Florence Hughes, the birth recoded at Kings Norton Q2 (Ref. 6d 46) during the second quarter of 1921, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Hughes.  Tragically, he dd not reach his second birthday, when the death of Edward G Collett was recorded at Kings Norton at the start of 1923 (Ref. 6d 122)

 

Florence Alice Collett [64Q74] was born on 20th August 1922 at Smethwick and her birth was recorded at Kings Norton register office (Ref. 6d 37) during the third quarter of the year when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Hughes.  The later marriage of Florence A Collett and Arthur Badger was recorded at Birmingham register office (Ref. 6d 31) during the last quarter of 1942.  The first of their three children was Florence A Badger, whose birth was recorded at Smethwick (Ref. 6b 125) during the second quarter of 1943, around six months after the couple’s wedding day.  She was followed by the birth of two brothers, whose births were recorded at Birmingham, Arthur E Badger in early 1946 (Ref. 6d 50), and Roy W Badger near the end of 1949 (Ref. 9c 16).  The mother’s maiden-name for all three children was confirmed as Collett.  Florence Alice Badger was only 48 when her death was recorded at Birmingham register office (Ref. 9c 110) during the fourth quarter of 1970

 

Hazel Collett [64Q75] was born in 1924 at Smethwick, her birth also recorded at Kings Norton Q3 (Ref. 6d 11) during the third quarter of the year, when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Hughes.  It was in 1943 that the marriage of Hazel Collett and James S Cleland was recorded at Smethwick register office (Ref. 6b 48) during the first quarter of that year.  The couple’s only known child was their daughter Hazel M Cleland, whose birth was recorded at Smethwick register office (Ref. 6b 147) during the last three months of 1943, when the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett.  Hazel Cleland was 85 years old when she passed away at Birmingham on 18th January 2010

 

Doris H Collett [64Q76] was born in 1926, with her birth recorded at Dudley register office (Ref. 6b 22) during the first three months of the year, when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Hughes.  It was also at Dudley, that the wedding of Doris H Collett and James Westwood was recorded (Ref. 6c 30) during the first quarter of 1945, when she was nineteen years of age.  The births of the couple’s two sons were recorded at Rowley Regis register office (Refs. 9b 27 and 9b 92) for Brian J Westwood early in 1950 and Graham C Westwood in 1955, on both occasions, the mother’s maiden-name was recorded as Collett

 

Douglas Collett [64Q77] was born at Smethwick in 1934, where his birth was recorded (Ref. 6b 37) during the third quarter of the year, another son of Edward and Florence Collett.  The birth recorded also confirmed his mother’s maiden-name as Hughes.  At the age of twenty-seven the marriage of Douglas Collett and June M Hillman was recorded at the Worcestershire Oldbury register office (Ref. 9d 121) at the start of 1962.  Five years later the first of their two children was born at Birmingham, as was the second child, six years afterwards.

 

64R61 – Gary Mark Collett was born in 1967 at Birmingham

64R62 – Penni Louise Collett was born in 1973 at Birmingham

 

Leslie Charles Collett [64Q79] was born on 25th October 1918 at Smethwick, with his birth recorded at Kings Norton register office (Ref. 6d 76) during the last quarter of the year.  It was at Smethwick that he was baptised on 4th December 1918, the first-born child of Charles Edward Collett and Kate Gibbs who were only married during the third quarter of 1918.  He was 28 years old when the marriage of Leslie Charles Collett and Dorothy Ethel Hancox was recorded at Smethwick register office (Ref. 9b 136) during the second quarter of 1947.  Within five years their family was complete, with the birth of two daughters who were both born at Smethwick and baptised there and confirmed as the children of Leslie Charles Collett and his wife Dorothy Ethel Hancox.  The later death of Leslie Charles Collett was recorded at Birmingham during the month of October 1986, when he was 68 years old.  His wife was born on 9th January 1922, so was 75 when she died at Smethwick on 1st December 1997 and when her death was also recorded at Birmingham register office

 

64R63 – Lorraine Lesley Collett was born in 1950 at Birmingham

64R64 – Maureen Elizabeth Collett was born in 1952 at Smethwick

 

Lilian Annie Collett [64Q80] was born in 1923 at Smethwick, the younger of the two children of Charles and Kate Collett.  She was baptised at Smethwick on 11th September 1923, before her birth was recorded at Kings Norton register office (Ref. 6d 83) during the fourth quarter of that same year.   After a further twenty-eight years, when Lilian Annie Collett was still residing in Smethwick, she married Stanley J C Lakin during the first three months of 1952 (Ref. 9b 76).

 

Daisy Florence Collett [64Q81] was born at Smethwick in 1922 and was the first of the four children of George Collett and Florence Elizabeth Robbins.  Her birth was recorded at Kings Norton register office (Ref. 6d 34) during the third quarter of that year, when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Robbins.  A year after she was born, it was at Smethwick that Daisy was baptised on 11th September 1923.  Daisy was twenty-nine years old when she married Albert S Perry, their wedding recorded at Smethwick register office (Ref. 9b 58) during the first three months of 1952.  The couple’s only known child was born towards the end of that same year, with the birth of Kenneth A Perry recorded at Birmingham register office (Ref. 9c 114) during the fourth quarter of 1952, when the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett.  Many years later, Daisy Perry died on 2nd January 1987 and was buried at the Dudley Cemetery

 

George Eric Collett [64Q82] was born at Smethwick on 4th March 1925, the first of two sons for George and Florence Collett.  He was baptised at Smethwick on 17th March 1925, which was before his birth was recorded at Birmingham register office (Ref. 6d 37) during the second quarter of that year.  George was approaching his twenty-first birthday when the marriage of George E Collett and Rita F Box was recorded at Smethwick register office (Ref. 6b 106) during the last three months of 1945.  Their only child was a honeymoon baby, whose birth was also recorded at Smethwick (Ref. 6b 132) nine months later during the second quarter of 1946, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Box.  Rita Florence Box was born at Smethwick on 6th April 1925, when she was baptised on 24th April that same year, the daughter of Thomas Box and Linda Norgrove.  As Rita Florence Collett her death was recorded at Sandwell register office in December 2000, when she was 75.  Five years earlier, the death of George Eric Collett was recorded at Birmingham register office during the month of April in 1995

 

64R65 – Eric R Collett was born in 1946 at Smethwick

 

Ronald Collett [64Q83] was born at Smethwick in 1926, with his birth recorded at the Birmingham South register office (Ref. 6d 42) during the first quarter of that year, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Robbins.  He was subsequently baptised at Smethwick on 16th March 1926, the third child of George and Florence Collett.  Just after the Second World War, when Ronald was twenty-one, he married Gerda J T Ramm during the second quarter of 1947, their wedding recorded at Smethwick register office (Ref. 9b 46).  The only Ramm found was in Denmark in 1930, so it is possible Gerda and her family were evacuated to England during the war.  As far as can be determined, it would appear the couple never had any children, with the later death of Ronald Collett on 28th April 1998 being recorded at Smethwick, where he was also buried in the cemetery there, at the age of 72.  His wife survived him by three years and, upon her passing on 6th November 2001, from was buried with Ronald at Smethwick Cemetery

 

Mavis Collett [64Q84] was born at Smethwick near the end of February or at the start of March in 1929 and was the last child born to George Collett and Florence Elizabeth Robbins.  Her birth recorded at West Bromwich register office (Ref. 6b 14) during the second quarter of that year, when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Robbins.  However, prior to her parents registering the birth, Mavis Collett was baptised at Smethwick on 5th March 1929.  It was during the third quarter of 1954 when the marriage of Mavis Collett and Frederick W Whitehouse was recorded at Smethwick (Ref. 9b 133), with whom she had two sons.  The birth of both sons was recorded at Birmingham register office, when their mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett.  They were Brian J Whitehouse (Ref. 9c 53) during the first three months of 1958, and Keith Whitehouse (Ref. 9c 64) during the second quarter of 1966.  It may be interesting to note that the first wife of Mavis’ nephew, Eric R Collett (above), was Annette M Foyan whose mother’s maiden-name was Whitehouse

 

Clarence John Collett [64R1], who was known within the family as Peter, was born at Grove near Wantage during October 1920.  He was the eldest of the three sons of Clarence George Collett and his wife Evelyn May Jenkins, and some years after he was born the family settled in Wootton Bassett.  Peter married Jean Withey and they had two children.  Widow Jean Collett, nee Withy, died during August 2012, while both of her two children are still alive.  It was their daughter Gillian who has carried out extensive research into the Collett family, much of which has been received via Ben Collett (Ref. 64T1) to enable a revised version to be produced

 

64S1 – Jeremy J Collett was born in 1949 at Swindon

64S2 – Gillian M Collett was born in 1951 at Swindon

 

Bryan George Collett [64R2] was born at Grove, near Wantage, on 19th November 1924, the son of Clarence and Evelyn Collett, who later moved to Wootton Bassett.  He married Dorothy Elizabeth Hicks, who was known as Betty, at Swindon (Ref. 7c 1323) during the second quarter of 1948.  Their marriage produced three children whose births were all recorded at Swindon register, when the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Hicks in each case, all three of them still alive in 2012.  Eight years earlier, Bryan George Collett died at Wootton Bassett on 7th November 2004, his death recorded at Swindon register office (Ref. 796/1 a68b) at the age of 80

 

64S3 – Rosemary Elizabeth Collett was born in 1950 at Swindon

64S3 – Roger Bryan Collett was born in 1952 at Swindon

64S3 – Russell George Collett was born in 1961 at Swindon

 

Michael Alan Collett [64R3] was born at either Grove near Wantage on 25th January 1927, the youngest of the three sons of Clarence George Collett and his wife Evelyn May Jenkins.  It was at Chippenham in Wiltshire that Michael married (1) Josephine Webb on 18th November 1950.  Josephine was born at Swindon on 27th April 1930 and she and Michael had six children, the first three while the family was living in Swindon, before moving to Wokingham in Berkshire, all six of whom were living in August 2012.  In 1964 the family left Wokingham when Michael, Josephine and all of their children emigrated to Australia, where they eventually settled in Victoria.  Josephine Collett nee Webb died at Rye in Victoria on 15th February 1990 and was buried at Rye Cemetery.  After six years as a widower Michael married (2) to Jennifer Ross in 1996.  All of the information regarding Clarence George Collett and his children and grandchild has been kindly supplied by Ben N Collett (Ref. 64T1) from Yan Yean in Victoria, the grandson of Michael Alan Collett who was still alive and living in Australia in August 2012

 

The births of the couple’s first three children were recorded at Swindon register office, with Sara’s during the third quarter of 1951 (Ref. 7c 147), Timothy’s during the first quarter of 1953 (Ref. 7c 87), and Lucy during the second quarter of 1955 (Ref. 7c 8).  It was at Wokingham that the remaining children’s births were recorded, for Joanna (Ref. 6a 102) during the first quarter of 1958, for Nicholas (Ref. 6a 82) during the fourth quarter of 1960, and Catherine (Ref. 6a 62) during the second quarter of 1963.  In all six cases, the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Webb

 

64S6 – Sara Jane Collett was born in 1951 at Swindon

64S7 – Timothy Michael Collett was born in 1953 at Swindon

64S8 – Lucy Ann Collett was born in 1955 at Swindon

64S9 – Joanna Susan Collett was born in 1958 at Wokingham

64S10 – Nicholas James Collett was born in 1960 at Wokingham

64S11 – Catherine Alison Collett was born in 1963 at Wokingham

 

Cecilia Ellen R Collett [64R4] was born at Coppice Lease Farm in West Challow on 31st October 1925, the first of the four children of Cecil Collett and Anne Burson.  It was at nearby Wantage that her birth was recorded (Ref. 2c 35) during the last three months of 1925, when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Burson.  It was during the Second World War, when Cecilia was living and working in Coventry, that she met and married John M Russell.  At that time her family was still living and working on the farm at West Challow.  The marriage of Cecilia E R Collett and John M Russell was recorded at Coventry register office (Ref. 6d 21) during the fourth quarter of 1944 and it was during the second quarter of the following year that the birth of their son John M Russell junior, their only known child, was recorded at Meriden Warwickshire register office (Ref. 6d 19), when the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett.  Cecilia Ellen R Russel was 77 years died when she passed away, her death recorded in Oxfordshire during August 2003

 

Francis Mortimer Vizor Collett [64R5] was born at Oxford in 1928, where his birth was recorded (Ref. 3a 91) during the second quarter of 1928, and when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Burson.  The family home was Coppice Leaze Farm in West Challow, so it is possible Francis was born in hospital in Oxford.  He was just over twenty years of age when he married Violet M Langford at Wantage, where the wedding was recorded (Ref. 6a 71) during the final quarter of 1948, by which time his family had only just left West Challow and settled in nearby Grove.  Exactly three years after that, the birth of their son Alan was also recorded at Wantage register office (Ref. 6a 185) during the last three months of 1951, as was the birth of their daughter Teresa during the second quarter of 1954 (Ref. 6a 82).  The mother’s maiden-name in each case was confirmed as Langford.  It was also in 1951 that Francis’ father died at The Firs, Main Street in Grove.  And it was at Grove Cemetery in 2019 that Francis Mortimer Vizor Collett was laid to rest at the age of 91

 

64S12 – Alan F Collett was born in 1951 at Grove, near Wantage

64S13 – Teresa A Collett was born in 1954 at Grove, near Wantage

 

Douglas Albert Aaron Collett [64R6] was born at Coppice Leaze Farm in West Challow on 15th November 1933, the third child of Cecil and Anne Collett.  The birth of Douglas A A Collett was recorded at Wantage register office (Ref. 2c 78) during the last quarter of 1933, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Burson.  It was simply as Douglas A Collett that he was recorded at Wantage register office (Ref. 6a 62) when he married Margaret E Talmage during the first three months of 1956.  The first of their two children was born around nine months later, a honeymoon baby no doubt, with the second child born around the time of the couple’s second wedding anniversary.  Although both births were recorded at Wantage, it is possible they were born in nearby Grove, where Douglas’ widowed mother was living and had a smallholding

 

64S14 – Angela M Collett was born in 1956 at Grove, near Wantage

64S15 – Michael D Collett was born in 1958 at Grove, near Wantage

 

Edwina F A Collett [64R7] was born at Coppice Leaze Farm in West Challow, the fourth and last child of Cecil Collett and Anne Burson.  Her birth was recorded at Wantage register office (Ref. 2c 95) during the third quarter of 1936, when her mother’s maiden-name confirmed as Burson.  She was nineteen years of age when the marriage of Edwina F A Collett and (1) Peter C Frusher was recorded at Wantage (Ref. 6a 124) during the final three months of 1955.  The marriage produced two children when Edwina presented Peter with a son, Stuart Charles Frusher born on 7th May 1956 who died 24th November 1983, and a daughter Nicola C Frusher who was born during the second quarter of 1960.  Both births were recorded at Newbury register office (Refs. 6a 32 & 6a 79) respectively, and on each occasion the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett.  Edwina F A Frusher later married (2) Arthur C Loftus, the event recorded at Andover register office in July 1988, four years after the premature death of her son

 

Raife F Vizor Collett [64R8] was born in 1930 at Hendon, where his parents had been married during the previous year.  The record of his birth was recorded there (Ref. 3a 726) during the second quarter of that year when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Empson-Ridler.  Raife was the eldest of the four children of Edward Reginald Vizor Collett and his wife Hilda Audrey Empson-Ridler.  He was thirty-four years old when he married Ines P M Wadey who was only twenty-one, having been born at Midhurst in Sussex in 1943.  It was also at Midhurst register office (Ref. 5h 993) that their wedding was recorded during the last three months of 1964.  Just over one year later the first of their two children was born at Worthing and ten years after that the couple’s second child was added to the family which, by then, was residing in the Chichester area of Sussex

 

64S16 – Naomi Leona Vizor Collett was born in 1966 at Worthing, Sussex

64S17 – Adam Leonard Vizor Collett was born in 1976 at Chichester, Sussex

 

Ann P Vizor Collett [64R9] was born in 1932, her birth recorded at Barnet (Ref. 3a 753) during the first three months of 1932, when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Empson-Ridler

 

Edward Robin Vizor Collett [64R10] was born in 1939, his birth recorded at Barnet register office (Ref. 3a 1551) during the quarter of that year, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Empson-Ridler.  Tragically, Edward Robin Vizor Collett of 1 South Cottages, Windmill Lane in Arkley, within the London Borough of Barnet, died at Highgate in London on 29th January 1959.  His death was recorded at Islington register office (Ref. 5c 1309) when he was only nineteen years of age.  Administration of his personal effects, amounting to Ł255, was granted in London on 2nd September 1959 to his father Edward Reginald Vizor Collett, a retired advertising inspector.  It is assumed that, while Edward may have been working in London, he was still living with his parents whose home was at 1 South Cottages in Arkley

 

Reginald Martin Vizor Collett [64R11] was born on 15th February 1950 in the family home at 'Oakend' in Arkley, his birth recorded at Barnet register office (Ref. 5a 8), the last child of Edward Reginald Vizor Collett and Hilda Audrey Empson-Ridler.  The record of his birth confirmed that his mother’s maiden-name was Ridler.  In 2020, it was Martin who kindly provided the new details regarding himself being the fourth son of Edward R V Collett, where only three had been identified previously.  At that time in his life Martin was Assistant Curate in the Benefice of Dulverton, Brushford, Brompton Regis with Withiel Florey, Skilgate and Upton, in Somerset

 

Neil Francis Vizor Collett [64R12] was born on 17th July 1929, the only known child of Kenneth Vizor Collett and Joyce Eileen Dunsford, his birth recorded at Amersham in Buckinghamshire (Ref. 3a 1510) during the third quarter of that year, when his mother’s maiden-name confirmed as Dunsford and his name was written as Neil F V Collett.  His marriage to Shelagh Kathryn Farrell in British Columbia, Canada, produced four sons, all of whom were born in Canada.  Shelagh was born at Edmonton in Alberta on 23rd November 1937, the daughter of Conway MacAllister Farrell and Clare Cenia Ward.  Tragically she suffered a premature death at the age of 33, when she died on 14th December 1970 at North Vancouver, either during or just after the birth of her fourth child.  She was then buried at Capilano View Cemetery in West Vancouver.  What happened to Neil and his son after losing Shelagh is not yet known

 

64S18 – Tim Collett was born in 1963 in Canada

64S19 – Hugh Collett was born in 1965 in Canada

64S20 – Anthony Collett was born in 1968 in Canada

64S21 – Max Collett was born in 1970 in Canada

 

Bernard Arthur Collett [64R13] was born at Bradford in 1926 and was the first of the four children of Arthur Collett and Florence Jackson.  His birth was recorded at Bradford register office (Ref. 9b 128) during the second quarter of 1926 when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Jackson.  Bernard A Collett married Ellen P Wardall at Bradford (Ref. 2b 236) during the third quarter of 1949.  The marriage produced two children whose births were recorded at Bradford

 

64S22 – Susan J Collett was born in 1954 at Bradford, Yorkshire

64S23 – Steven J Collett was born in 1960 at Bradford, Yorkshire

 

Margaret R Collett [64R14] was born at Bradford in 1930, where her birth was recorded (Ref. 9b 236) during the last three months of 1930, when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Jackson.  Just around the time she was twenty-one, the marriage of Margaret R Collett and Leslie E Wells was recorded at Leeds register office (Ref. 2c 405) during the final quarter of 1951

 

John Collett [64R15] was born at Bradford in 1938, the third child of Arthur and Florence Collett, whose birth was recorded at Bradford (Ref. 9b 147) during the first three months of the year, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Jackson.  It was during the last quarter of 1962 that the marriage of John Collett and Ann McLean was recorded at Bradford (Ref. 2b 139), where the couple’s first child was born one year later

 

64S24 – Paul D Collett was born in 1963 at Bradford, Yorkshire

64S25 – Jonathan David Collett was born in 1967 at Bradford, Yorkshire

64S26 – Mark Andrew Collett was born in 1969 at Bradford, Yorkshire

 

Derek Collett [64R16] was born at Bradford in 1943 and was the last child born to Arthur Collett and Florence Jackson.  Derek’s birth was recorded at Bradford (Ref. 9b 174) during the second quarter of 1943, when once again the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Jackson.  It was also at Bradford, during the fourth quarter of 1966, that the marriage of Derek Collett and Valerie Unwin was recorded (Ref. 2b 268).  The births of the couple’s two sons were also recorded at Bradford register office, with Martin’s during the first months of 1976 (Vol. 4 32), when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Unwin

 

64S27 – Dale Collett was born in 1971 at Bradford, Yorkshire

64S28 – Martin Collett was born in 1976 at Bradford, Yorkshire

 

Violet Elsie Collett [64R22] was born at Hartshill, near Nuneaton, her birth recorded at Nuneaton register office (Ref. 6d 113) during the second quarter of 1928, when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Gardner.  It was only during the first three months of that same year, when her parents were married, and it was at Holy Trinity Church in Hartshill where Violet was baptised on 13th July 1928, the only child of William Stanley Collett and Hilda Janet Gardner.  Tragically, she was nearly four years old when she died at Hartshill, her death recorded at Nuneaton register office (Ref. 6d 89) during the first three months of 1932

 

David John Collett [64R23] was born in 1955 at Nuneaton, where his birth was recorded (Ref. 9c 75) during the fourth quarter of that year, the only known child of John Kenneth Collett and Eileen Mary Garratt.  It has not been discovered, whether or not he was married once or twice in his life, while he would have been forty-nine years old when the marriage of David J Collett and Karen L Dudfield was recorded at the South Warwickshire register office early in 2005

 

Ivor C Collett [64R24] was born at Worcester in 1954, the only child of Stanley J Collett and Doreen H Stiff.  His birth was recorded at Worcester register office (Ref. 9d 281) during the third quarter of 1954, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Stiff.  Just under twenty-two years later the marriage of Ivor C Collett and Valerie J Fisher was recorded at Droitwich register office (Vol. 29 0185) during the second quarter of 1976.  The births of their two known children were recorded at Worcester during the summer of 1981 and early in 1983 when, on both occasions, the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Fisher

 

64S29 – Adam Richard Collett was born in 1981 at Worcester

64S30 – Aimi Leanne Collett was born in 1983 at Worcester

 

Anne Collett [64R25] was born at Worcester in 1952, the eldest of the three children of Leonard W Collett and Doreen Waldron, whose birth was recorded at Worcester (Ref. 9d 339) during the second quarter of that year.  The record also confirmed that her mother’s maiden-name was Waldron

 

Susan Collett [64R26] was born at Worcester in 1954 and was the second child of Leonard and Doreen Collett.  It was also at Worcester that her birth was recorded (Ref. 9d 304) during the last three months of 1954, when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Waldron

 

James Leonard Collett [64R27] was born at Worcester in 1961, the youngest of the three children of Leonard and Doreen Collett.  His birth was recorded there during the second quarter of 1961 (Ref. 9d 353) when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Waldron.  Although not proved, it seems highly likely that James was the James L Collett who married Alison L Bond during the spring of 1985, when the event was recorded at the Chiltern & Beaconsfield register office in Buckinghamshire (Vol. 12 1221).  If validated, then the couple ended up with twin daughters, the births of which were recorded at Aylesbury Vale register office (Ref. 3241c c27c) towards the end of 1994.  The mother’s maiden-name was Bond

 

64S31 – Jessica Mary Collett was born in 1994 at Aylesbury

64S32 – Hannah Alice Collett was born in 1994 at Aylesbury

 

Raymond Henry Collett [64R28] was born in 1923, possibly at Bramley, with his birth recorded at Wharfedale register office (Ref. 9a 91) during the fourth quarter of the year, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Mortimer, Raymond being the only child of Clement Henry Collett and Mary Agnes Mortimer [aka Agnes Mary Mortimer].  He was twenty-two when his marriage to Emily G Stonebridge was recorded at the London Shoreditch register office (Ref. 5d 32) during the third quarter of 1946, most likely after he had taken some part in the Second World War.  Over the following years, Emily presented Raymond with two daughters, the births of both of whom were recorded Bradford register office, with their mother’s maiden-name confirmed as Stonebridge.  It was during the summer of 1947 that daughter Linda was born (Ref. 2b 53) and she married Derek Welch during the spring of 1971, the event recorded at Sheffield register office.  The birth of daughter Jill was recorded (Ref. 2b 1) during the third quarter of 1953, for whom no marriage has been found.  The later death of Raymond Henry Collett was recorded at Bradford (Ref. 08 11c) during the third quarter of 1997, when he was 76

 

64S33 – Linda A Collett was born in 1947 at Bradford, Yorkshire

64S34 – Jill E Collett was born in 1953 at Bradford, Yorkshire

 

Raymond George Collett [64R29] was the only child of Alden George Charles Collett and Elsie Close.  He was born at Winterbourne with his birth recorded at Bristol register office (Ref. 6a 306) during the first three months of 1930, his mother’s maiden-name confirmed as Close.  He was twenty-two years of age, when the marriage of Raymond G Collett and Ina R Hale was recorded at Chipping Sodbury register office (Ref. 7b 11) during the third quarter of 1952.  Although it is known that they had a son and a daughter, the only birth so far found is that of their son, which was recorded at Bristol (Ref. 7b 124) during the first three months of 1960, when the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Hale

 

64S35 – Christopher Collett was born in 1960 at Bristol

 

Wilfred G W Collett [64R32] the only son of Wilfred Collett and Betty Jones was born around 13th May 1945, approximately eleven days after his father drowned during a swimming incident on the same day that the German forces surrendered in Italy.  His birth was recorded at Monmouth register office (Ref. 11a 316) during the second quarter of 1945.  During the first two decades of the 21st Century, Wilfred was living in Australia, where he is married with a son and daughter of his own.  No further details have been revealed at this time

 

The only daughter [64R33] of Henry Collett and Jean McCutcheon was married and had one son and one daughter

 

Michael William Collett [64R34] was born in 1953, his birth recorded at the Kingswood register office in Bristol (Ref. 7b 704) during the third quarter of the year.  His mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Stephens, Patricia Stephens being the wife of Thomas William Collett.  Michael was twenty-nine when he married Colleen M Dalton at Bristol, where their wedding was recorded (Vol. 22 0954) during the spring months of 1982.  Their marriage resulted in the birth of two children, the births of whom were recorded at Bristol, when the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Dalton

 

64S36 – Tomas Michael Collett was born in 1984 at Bristol

64S37 – Meg Elizabeth Collett was born in 1987 at Bristol

 

Amanda Collett [64R36] was born at Winterbourne in 1960, her birth recorded at Sodbury register office (Ref. 7b 817) during the third quarter of 1960.  Her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Stephens, Amanda being the daughter of Thomas Collett and Patricia Stephens.  Amanda was nearly twenty-one when she married Gary D Jenkins, the event recorded at Bristol (Vol. 22 0502) during the second quarter of 1981

 

Brian M T Collett [64R37] was the eldest of the two children of Thomas Charles Collett and his first wife Hilda Plumridge, who later divorced.  His birth was recorded at Willesden in Middlesex (Ref. 3a 110) during the fourth quarter of 1941, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Plumridge.  The later marriage of Brian M T Collett and Evelyn D Pratt was recorded at Ealing register office (Ref. 5e 151) during the third quarter of 1963.  Four children were born into a Collett-Pratt family, two at Cleethorpes in Lincolnshire – Debra J Collett in 1963 during the same quarter Brian marriage Evelyn, the other Darren Richard Collett in 1970.  Another, Phillipa L Collett at Swindon in 1965 and the last, Graham Barry Collett born at Northampton in 1967.  Whether any of these were the children of Brian and Evelyn has still to be confirmed

 

Terence William Collett [64R40] was born in 1951, the son of Ronald W Collett and Daphne B Holtom, whose birth was recorded at Ealing register office (Ref. 5e 6) during the third quarter to the year, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Holtom.  He married later in his life, when the wedding of Terence W Collett and Kay Smith was recorded at Hounslow register office (Vol. 13) towards the end of 1985.  No record of any children has been found

 

June Collett [64R41] was the daughter and the eldest child of Stanley Clifford Collett and Elsie Downey.  She was born at Liverpool and her birth was recorded at the Liverpool South register office (Ref. 10d 20) during the second quarter of 1948, when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Downey.  The marriage of June Collett and Raymond Aspinall was recorded at Prescot register office in Lancashire (Ref. 10f 340) during the fourth quarter of 1969.  Over the following years June and Raymond had two sons.  Philip Lee Aspinall was born in 1971 and Andrew Simon Aspinall was born in 1975, their births recorded at Liverpool during the second and third quarter of each year respectively.  On both occasions, the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett

 

Allan Collett [64R42] was the son and last child born to Stanley Collett and Elsie Downey.  He was born in Liverpool and his birth recorded at Liverpool South register office (Ref. 10d 52) during the last three months of 1949.  His birth record confirmed that his mother’s maiden-name was Downey.  He later married and the marriage produced three sons for the couple of which no details have been revealed.  It was in the town of Prescot, to the east of Liverpool, that Allan’s sister June (above) was married in 1969.  Therefore, it is possible that the marriage of Allan Collett and Georgina Wiseman, also recorded at Prescot register office (Ref. 10f 77) during the first three months of 1973, relates to the son of Stanley and Elsie Collett.  However, so far though, only two of the three children credited to Allan Collett had been positively identified.  They are Stephen Allan Collett and Michael Paul Collett, whose births were recorded at Liverpool during the spring of 1978 and 1980 respectively, the mother’s maiden-name in each case being Wiseman.  It is the unusual spelling of the name Allan that perhaps indicates the connection is correct

 

An earlier birth of Sharon Marie Collett was recorded at the Somerset Taunton register office (Ref. 7c 18) during the third quarter of 1969, when the mother’s maiden-name was Wiseman.  As far as can be determined, hers is the only other birth of a Collett-Wiseman partnership, but does not match the male gender listed below

 

64S38 – a Collett son whose date of birth has not been revealed

64S39 – Stephen Allan Collett was born in 1978 at Liverpool

64S40 – Michael Paul Collett was born in 1980 at Liverpool

 

Patricia Collett [64R43] was the eldest of the six children of Thomas Collett and Elizabeth Louisa Perry, whose birth was recorded at the Cardiff register office (Ref. 8b 265) during the third quarter of 1948, the same year her parents were married.  Her birth record also confirmed that her mother’s maiden-name was Perry.  Today, in 2020, Patricia was living abroad, where she was married, and gave birth to a son.  Her son is now also married and has one daughter and three sons, all of them living abroad too

 

Peter Collett [64R44] was the second child and eldest son of Thomas Collett and Elizabeth Louisa Perry, his birth recorded at the East Glamorgan register office (Ref. 8b 399) during the third quarter of 1950, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Perry.  Peter Collett married Carole A Galozzi, the event recorded at Pontypridd (Vol. 27 0532) during the third quarter of 1976, with whom he had three sons.  For all of them, the births were recorded at the South Glamorgan register office and in each case the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Galozzi.  In 2020, Peter and Carole are divorced, with the marriages of the two older sons having taken place abroad, from which Paul has no children and James has a son and daughter, all of them still residing in Wales

 

64S41 – Paul Collett was born in 1978 at South Glamorgan, Wales

64S42 – James Collett was born in 1982 at South Glamorgan, Wales

64S43 – Symon Peter Collett was born in 1986 at South Glamorgan, Wales

 

Allen Collett [64R45] was born at Cardiff in 1953, the third child of Thomas and Betty Collett, whose birth was recorded at East Glamorgan register office (Ref. 8b 411) during the first quarter of 1953, his mother’s maiden-name confirmed as Perry.  Eighteen years later the marriage of Allen Collett and (1) Janet Yorath was recorded at Cardiff (Ref. 8b 436) during the first three months of 1971, while six years later Allen Collett married (2) Shirley D Morris.  That marriage was recorded at South Glamorgan register office (Ref. 28 0685) during the first quarter of 1977.  It is known that Allen and Janet had a daughter, while Allen and Shirley had two daughters and a son.  As regards the three daughters, the first of them is Tracey Ann Collett, born in 1972, whose birth was recorded at Cardiff when the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Yorath, next is Nicola Jayne Collett, born in 1979, her mother’s maiden-name confirmed as Morris, the youngest being Abigail Jessica Collett whose birth details have not been discovered. The birth of his son, Michael David Collett, was recorded at Pontypridd (Vol. 27 1500) during the third quarter of 1977, the mother’s maiden-name again stated as being Morris

 

The following is the only child of Allen Collett by his first wife Janet Yorath:

64S44 – Tracey Ann Collett was born in 1972 at Cardiff

The following are the three children of Allen Collett by his second wife Sheila Morris:

64S45 – Michael David Collett was born in 1977 at Pontypridd, Wales

64S46 – Nicola Jayne Collett was born in 1979 at South Glamorgan

64S47 – Abigail Jessica Collett whose date of birth is not known

 

MAUREEN COLLETT [64R46] was born in Wales the fourth child of Thomas and Betty Collett, whose birth was recorded at East Glamorgan register office (Ref. 8b 409) during the second quarter of 1955, when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Perry.  It was Maureen who kindly provided much of the basic detail that has enabled this family line to be constructed.  The May 2009 update of the file was also thanks to Maureen who provided all of the additional information now contained in the appendix, together with more precise details of the children of her great grandfather Charles Collett and his wife Sarah.  In addition to this, very special thanks must go to Maureen who, during the autumn of 2009, provided the vital information that confirmed the common start point for Part 35 – The Melksham to Wisconsin Line and Part 44 – The New Malmesbury Line.  That new information also affected Part 31 – The Third Wiltshire Line which now also has the same origin at Broughton Gifford in 1595.  Maureen, who is Maureen Iliffe, having married Mark during the spring of 1976, lives in Cardiff with their two children, a son and a daughter.  Then later, during 2019 and 2020, she very generously provided even more details about her branch of the Collett family back to her great grandparents, Charles Collett and Sarah Deborah Wicks (Vol. 64O21)

 

Pauline A Collett [64R47] was born in Cardiff, her birth recorded there (Ref. 8b 392) during the last quarter of 1958, when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Perry.  The marriage of Pauline A Collett and Nigel R Hallam was recorded at South Glamorgan register office (Vol. 28 0832) during the second quarter of 1980.  Their marriage produced a son and daughter for the couple, their son married twice abroad, with no children arising from the first marriage.  From his second marriage, he has a stepson and three sons, who all live abroad

 

Jayne Alison Collett [64R48] was the sixth and last child of Thomas Collett and Elizabeth (Betty) Louisa Perry.  Her birth was recorded at Cardiff register office (Ref. 8b 392) during the first three months of 1966, where her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Perry.  The marriage of Jayne A Collett and Michael W Parramore was recorded at South Glamorgan register office (Vol. 28 850) during the spring of 1989.  They have one son and one daughter

 

The only son [64R49] of Benjamin Cyril Collett (or Cyril Benjamin Collett) is married and he has two sons of his own.  No details are available at this time

 

64S48 – a Collett son whose date of birth has not been revealed

64S49 – a Collett son whose date of birth has not been revealed

 

Christine Collett [64R50] was born at Cardiff in 1953, the only known child of Alexander Collett and Violet Sainty, her birth recorded at Cardiff (Ref. 8b 359) during the first three months of that year, when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Sainty.  Christine was eighteen when she gave birth to a son, whose birth was recorded at Cardiff register office during the summer of 1971, with the mother’s surname confirmed as Collett.  Three years later, the marriage of Christine Collett and Paul Harris was recorded at Merthyr Tydfil (Vol. 27 0040) during the last three months of 1974 when she was twenty-one.  It might be that Christine was already carrying her husband’s baby on their wedding day, since it was during the second quarter of the following year that the birth of their son Simon Harris was recorded at Merthyr Tydfil (Vol. 27 0274), although he may have been a honeymoon baby.  Afterwards, two daughters were born into the family, Sheree Harris in 1981 and Holly Ann Harris in 1986, their births also recorded at Merthyr Tydfil register office, when their mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett.  Paul Harris passed away during the month of July in 2017 when he was only 64

 

64S50 – Neil Tarot Collett was born in 1971 at Cardiff

 

Gladys Caroline Collett [64R51] was born in 1916 at West Ham, the only surviving child of John Thomas Collett and Caroline Bartlett.  Her birth was recorded at West Ham register office (Ref. 4a 128) during the second quarter of that year, when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Bartlett.  It was there also, that she was baptised on 26th June 1916.  She was a child-bride, being only sixteen years of age when her marriage to Frank E Wainwright was recorded at Essex Epping register office (Ref. 4a 114) during the fourth quarter of 1932.  Their only son, William A Wainwright was born in 1935 his birth, like his mother’s, was also recorded at West Ham (Ref. 4a 127) during the third quarter of the year

 

George E Collett [64R53] was born at Billericay in Essex during the second quarter of 1923, where his birth was recorded (Ref. 4a 140), when the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Weaver.  He was the first of the three children of Henry Edward Collett and Violet Weaver

 

Edith H Collett [64R54] was born in 1925 at Billericay, her birth recorded there during the third quarter of the year (Ref. 4a 65), her mother’s maiden-name confirmed as Weaver.  Edith was almost twenty-one years old when she married, the marriage of Edith H Collett and Alfred S King was recorded at Brentwood in Essex (Ref. 4a 7) during the third quarter of 1946.  Two children were born to Alfred and Edith, and they were Jeanette A King whose birth was recorded at Brentwood (Ref. 4a 81) during the first three months of 1948, and Marion E King with her birth recorded at the Essex Thurrock register office (Ref. 4a 110) during the fourth quarter of 1951.  For both births, the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett

 

Gwendoline J Collett [64R55] was born in 1928 and her birth was recorded at Billericay register office (Ref. 4a 22) during the third quarter of the year, the last child of Henry Edward Collett and Violet Weaver.

 

Joan E Collett [64R56] was the first-born child of William Albert Collett and Edith Emily Watts.  Her birth was recorded at West Ham register office (Ref. 4a 52) during the third quarter of 1922, when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Watts.  It is possible, although not proved, that she was the Joan E Collett who married Frederick J Carter at Islington in 1948, where the event was recorded (Ref. 5a 77) during the last three months of the year.  If so, then the birth of their first child Alan E Carter, was recorded at the Essex South-Western register office during the summer of 1951, with the birth of the second child Janice A Carter recorded at East Ham early in 1954

 

Norman William Collett [64R57] was born at East Ham on 13th August 1924, the son of William Albert Collett and his wife Edith Emily Watts.  Whether an error in transcription, his birth was recorded at West Ham register office (Ref. 4a 36) during the third quarter of the year, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Watts and when the year was said to be 1929 (sic).  The later marriage of Norman William Collett and Muriel Cornford was recorded at the Lewisham London register office (Ref. 5d 10) during the third quarter of 1952.  Muriel was born at Forest Hill in south-east London on 25th August 1928, with whom Norman had a son who was born at Bromley in Kent during 1958.  And it was in 2012 that Norman kindly provided new information regarding his branch of this Collett family

 

64S51 – David William Collett was born on 8th April 1958 at Bromley, Kent

 

Joyce A M Collett [64R58] was born in 1925 at West Ham where her birth was recorded (Ref. 4a 56) during the last quarter of the year, when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Osborne.  Joyce was the only child of Leonard Arthur Collett and Alice F Osborne.  It was also as Joyce A M Collett that she married John W Chandler, their wedding recorded at East Ham register office (Ref. 4a 149) during the second quarter of 1944.  The birth registers across the country provide details of eight children born into a Chandler-Collett family, some at Aldershot and some at Islington, and just one at West Ham in 1960

 

Alan Collett [64R59] was born in 1930 at Birmingham with his birth recorded at the Birmingham South register office (Ref. 6d 37) during the third quarter of the year.  His mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Fellows, being the eldest of the two sons of Alfred George Collett and Elsie Elizabeth Fellows.  Alan was baptised on 9th July 1930 at St Michael & All Angel’s Church in Smethwick and it was twenty-five years later that that he marriage Jean Beatrice Weatherall.  Their wedding was recorded at Smethwick register office (Ref. 9b 5) during the third quarter of 1955. The couple’s only child was born three years later

 

64S52 – Yvonne Beatrice Collett was born in 1958 at Smethwick

 

Gary Mark Collett [64R61] was born in Birmingham during 1967, the older of the two children of Douglas Collett and June M Hillman.  His birth, like that of his younger sister (below), was recorded at Birmingham register office (Ref. 9c 154 and 9c 97) during the third quarter of 1967, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Hillman.  He was still living in the same area of the country when Gary Mark Collett married Kerry A Waldron in 1986, the event recorded at Sandwell register office during the month of October that year.  Their marriage resulted in the birth of three children, all of them recorded at Birmingham register office, when their mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Waldron

 

64S53 – Leigh Collett was born in 1987 at Birmingham

64S54 – Joel Collett was born in 1989 at Birmingham

64S55 – Rose Collett was born in 1992 at Birmingham

 

Penni Louise Collett [64R62] was born in 1973 at Birmingham.  She was the second of the two children of Douglas Collett and June M Hillman, whose birth was recorded at Birmingham register office (Ref. 9c 97) during the third quarter of that year.  The birth record confirmed that her mother’s maiden-name was Hillman.  She was eighteen years old, when the marriage of Penni Louise Collett and Nicholas C Mapp was recorded at Sandwell register office during August 1991.  Over the following years, Penni presented Nicholas with two children.  Their births were recorded at Birmingham register office in December 1998 and July 2002 respectively, and they were Brandon Nicholas Mapp and Ellese Louise Mapp

 

Lorraine Lesley Collett [64R63] was born in 1950 at Birmingham, and baptised at Smethwick on 4th June 1950, the eldest of the two daughters of Leslie Charles Collett and Dorothy Ethel Hancox.  The subsequent marriage of Lorraine Lesley Collett and Victor J J Lampon was recorded at Sandwell register office (Vol. 33 17), just north of Smethwick, during the summer of 1974 and a year after the wedding of her younger sister (below).  Over the following eight years Lorraine gave birth to two sons, whose births were recorded at Birmingham register office, when Collett was confirmed as the mother’s maiden-name.  They were Adam James Lampon during the summer of 1980 and Paul James Lampon at the end of 1982.  Their father, Victor James J Lampon was born at Saffron Walden in 1943, and it was his mother’s maiden-name of James was given to him and his two sons

 

Maureen Elizabeth Collett [64R64] was born in 1952 at Smethwick, where she was baptised on 11th May 1952, the youngest daughter of Leslie and Dorothy Collett.  Although she was the younger sister of Lorraine (above), she was the first of the two siblings to be married.  The marriage of Maureen Elizabeth Collett and Michael J Cresser was recorded at nearby Warley register office (Ref. 9d 36) during the second quarter of 1973.  The births of their two children were recorded at Birmingham register office, Elizabeth Louise Cresser near the end of 1978 and Martin Stephen Cresser towards the end of 1981.  On both occasions, the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett

 

Eric R Collett [64R65] was born at Smethwick in 1946, the only child of George Eric Collett and Rita F Box, his birth also recorded there nine months after his parents were married, during the second quarter of 1946 (Ref. 6b 132), when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Box.  It would appear that Eric was married twice in his life, the first marriage not producing any issue.  On that first occasion, the marriage of Eric R Collett and (1) Annette M Foyan was recorded at Warley register office (Ref. 9d 112) during the third quarter of 1967.  Annette was born as Smethwick in 1946, her mother’s maiden-name being Whitehouse, with Eric’s aunt Mavis Collett marrying Frederick W Whitehouse in 1954 at Smethwick.  Eric and Annette were later divorced, with Annette M Collett marrying Robert E Babington at Birmingham in 1974.  Three years later, the marriage of Eric R Collett and (2) Patricia Dempsey was recorded at Sandwell register office (Vol. 33 27) during the third quarter of 1977.  Patricia may have been some years younger than Eric and, whilst it is certain they had two children, it is possible they were followed by another two children, who are yet to be confirmed, with all of their births recorded at Birmingham.  For completeness, all four children are listed here

 

64S56 - Ryan Dominic Collett was born in 1981 at Birmingham

64S57 – Lauren Bethany Collett was born in 1988 at Birmingham

64S58 – Connell James Collett was born in 1995 at Birmingham

64S59 - Liam Collett was born in 1997 at Birmingham

 

Jeremy J Collett [64S1] was born at Swindon in 1949, the first of the two children of Clarence John Collett (known as Peter) and Jean Withey.  His birth was recorded at Swindon register office (Ref. 7c 683) during the third quarter of 1949, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Withey.  The marriage of Jeremy J Collett and Gloria D Winder was recorded at Swindon (Vol. 23 2200) during the spring months of 1980

 

Gillian M Collett [64S2] was born at Swindon in 1951, whose birth, like that of her older brother (above) was recorded at Swindon (Ref. 7c 653) during the second quarter of that year.  Her mother’s maiden-name was also confirmed as Withey

 

Rosemary Elizabeth Collett [64S3] was born at Swindon in 1950, the eldest of the three children of Bryan George Collett and Dorothy Elizabeth Hicks, who was known as Betty.  The birth of Rosemary E Collett was recorded at Swindon register office (Ref. 7c 124) during the second quarter of 1950, when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Hicks.  She was around twenty-one when Rosemary E Collett married Robin W Bishop, their wedding day recorded at Swindon (Ref. 7c 2175) during the second quarter of 1971.  It seems highly likely that Robin was the brother of Joan Bishop who, four years later married Rosemary’s brother Roger (below)

 

Roger Bryan Collett [64S4] was born at Swindon where his birth was recorded (Ref. 7c 113) during the second quarter of 1952 and his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Hicks.  He was eldest son and second of the three children of Bryan and Betty Collett.  Perhaps it was through his brother-in-law Robin Bishop, the husband of his sister Rosemary (above), that he met his future wife, since it was at Chippenham (Vol. 23 1767) during the summer of 1975 that the marriage of Roger B Collett and Joan K Bishop was recorded

 

Russell George Collett [64S5] was born in 1961 with his birth recorded at Swindon register office (Ref. 7c 122) during the second quarter of the year, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Hicks.  The was the third and last child of Bryan George Collett and Dorothy Elizabeth Hicks.  He was around thirty-two years of age when the marriage of Russell G Collett and Jacqueline A Highman was recorded at Chippenham register office (Vol. 23) during the spring of 1993.  Nine years later, Jacqueline presented Russell with a son, whose birth was recorded at the Bath & North East Somerset register office (Ref. 3001c) during the spring of 2002

 

64T1 - William George Collett was born in 2002 at Bath, Somerset

 

Nicholas James Collett [64S10] was born in Wokingham during in 1960 and was the youngest son and fifth of the six children of Michael Alan Collett and his wife Josephine Webb.  When Nicholas was four years old his family emigrated to Australia where, around 1990, he partnered with Shelley Dianne Doherty who was born in 1973.  Their partnership resulted in the birth of three children

 

64T2 - Ben Nicholas Collett was born in 1992 in Australia

64T3 – Tom Michael Collett was born in 1993 in Australia

64T4 – Grace Rose Collett was born in 1997 in Australia

 

Alan F Collett [64S12] was born at Grove in 1951, with his birth recorded at Wantage register office (Ref. 6a 185) during the last three months of that year, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Langford.  Twenty-six years later the marriage of Alan F Collett and Julia C Smith was recorded at Wantage register office (Vol. 20 19) during the spring of 1978

 

Teresa A Collett [64S13] was born in 1954 at Grove, near Wantage, and twenty years later she married Martin M Bulpitt at Grove in the spring of 1974, as recorded at Wantage register office (Vol. 20 68)

 

Angela M Collett [64S14] was born in 1956, possibly at Grove, although her birth was recorded at Wantage register office (Ref. 6a 125) during the third quarter of 1956.  She was the daughter of Douglas A Collett and Margaret E Talmage.  It was at the West Oxfordshire register office that the marriage of Angela M Collett married Mark R Booty during August 1984

 

Michael D Collett [64S15] was born in 1958 at Wantage (Grove), the son of Douglas and Margaret Collett.  His birth was recorded at Wantage (Ref. 6a 114) during the first quarter of that year.  It was towards the end of 1983 that the marriage of Michael D Collett and Deborah J Athawes was recorded at Newbury (Vol. 19 66).  Deborah was born in Newbury during 1959

 

Naomi Leona Vizor Collett [64S16] was born in 1966 at Worthing, where her birth was recorded (Ref. 5h 747) during the first three months of 1966, and when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Wadey.  She married Timothy J Chatwood with whom she had three children, with their marriage recorded at Chichester register office (Vol. 18 990) during the spring of 1988.  It was also at Chichester that the birth of their children was recorded.  Charlie Jack Chatwood was born in 1993, Samuel Harvey Chatwood was born in 1995, and Matilda Alice Chatwood was born in 1998

 

Adam Leonard Vizor Collett [64S17] was born in 1976 and it was at Chichester that his birth was recorded (Vol. 18 584) during the last quarter of the year, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Wadey.  So far, no record of any marriage for Adam has been found

 

Susan J Collett [64S22] was born at Bradford in 1954 where her birth was recorded (Ref. 2b 161) during the third quarter of that year, when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Wardall

 

Steven J Collett [64S23] was born at Bradford in 1960, the second of the two children of Bernard A Collett and Ellen P Wardall.  Steven’s birth was recorded at Bradford register office (Ref. 2b 183) during the second quarter of the year, which confirmed his mother’s maiden-name was Wardall.  He was twenty-five years old when he married Pamela L Elliott, the event recorded at Bradford (Vol. 4 30) during the third quarter of 1985. Their marriage resulted in the birth of two sons, the birth of which were recorded at Keighley register office when their mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Elliott.  The birth of the first child (Ref. 4 859) took place towards the end of 1990, the second during the spring of 1993 (Ref. 0821b b36c)

 

64T5 – Elliott John Collett was born in 1990 at Keighley, Yorkshire

64T6 – Oliver George Collett was born in 1993 at Keighley, Yorkshire

 

Paul D Collett [64S24] was born at Bradford in 1963, the eldest of the three sons of John Collett by his wife Ann McLean.  His birth was recorded at Bradford (Ref. 2b 208) during the last three months of that year, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as McLean.  During the spring of 1997 he married Angela Law, the event recorded at Bradford (Vol. 081 0610)

 

Jonathan David Collett [64S25] was born at Bradford in 1967, his birth recovered there (Ref. 2b 223) during the first three months of the year, confirming his mother’s maiden-name was McLean

 

Mark Andrew Collett [64S26] was born at Bradford, the last of the three children of John and Ann Collett.  It was at Bradford register office, during the second quarter of 1969, that his birth was recorded (Ref. 2b 411), when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as McLean.  It was as Mark A Collett, that his marriage to Tracey L Coates was recorded at Bradford (Vol. 081 0320) during the spring of 1996

 

Dale Collett [64S27] was the eldest of the two children of Derek Collett and Valerie Unwin, whose birth was recorded at Bradford register office (Ref. 2b 104), during the last months of 1971, with his mother’s maiden-name confirmed as Unwin.  It was during the summer of 2001, that the marriage of Dale Collett and Sarah E Hamilton was recorded at Bradford (Vol. 81)

 

Tracey Ann Collett [64S44], whose birth was recorded at Cardiff register office (Ref. 8b 88) during the third quarter of 1972, was the first-born children of Allen Collett and his first Janet Yorath.  The record of her birth also confirmed that her mother’s maiden-name was Yorath.  Tracey is now married and has two children, a daughter and a son

 

Michael David Collett [64S45], whose birth was recorded at Pontypridd register office (Vol. 27 63) during the third quarter of 1977, following the second marriage of Allen Collett and Shirley D Morris at the start of that same year.  His birth also confirmed that his mother’s maiden-name was Morris.  Upon being married Michael and Rebecca had three children in the order, a daughter, a son, and then another daughter.  Tragically Michael’s son, who was born on 3rd May 2013, was very sadly found dead in his cot on 27th July 2014.  The obituary, published by the Media Wales Group on 4th August reads follows: ‘COLLETT Callum Evan Stanley, fell asleep at home July 27 aged 15 months; a dearly loved baby boy of Rebecca and Michael and a loved brother of Caitlin, devoted grandson of Allen and Shirley and Janet and John, and a beloved nephew and cousin.  Callum will be very sadly missed’.  At the inquest, a pathologist informed the Cardiff Coroner's Court that toddler Callum Collett was a victim of cot death and that the cause of his death was unknown, upon which the coroner declared an open conclusion

 

64T7 – Caitlin Collett was born in Wales on an unknown date

64T8 – Callum Evan Stanley Collett was born in 2013 at Cardiff, where he died in 2014

64T9 – a Collett daughter was born during August 2014 at Cardiff

 

Nicola Jayne Collett [64S46], whose birth was recorded at South Glamorgan (Vol. 28 54) during the early months of 1979 when her mother’s maiden-name was stated as being Morris.  It is that fact which confirms the parents of Nicola Jayne were Allen Collett and Shirley D Morris who were married in 1977.  Nicola Jayne Collett has a son and daughter from her first partnership.  She was later married and that second relationship produced another two sons

 

Neil Tarot Collett [64S50] was the base-born son of Christine Collett whose birth was recorded at Cardiff register office (Ref. 8b 33) during the third quarter of 1971, when his mother’s surname was confirmed as Collett.  He was three years of age when his mother married Paul Harris, giving Neil two half-sisters.  Although not yet confirmed, it does seem highly likely that Neil was married in 2002, when the wedding of Neil T Collett and Clare M Jones (possible Welsh connection?) was recorded at the Bath & North East Somerset register office (Vol. 300) during the summer of that year

 

Yvonne Beatrice Collett [64S52] was born at Smethwick in 1958, her birth recorded at Birmingham register office (Ref. 9c 48) during the third quarter of that year.  She was baptised at Smethwick on 26th October 1958, the only child of Alan Collett and Jean Beatrice Weatherall.  The later married of Yvonne Beatrice Collett and Gordon N M Cappell was recorded at Solihull South register office during the month of October in 1984.  It was also at Solihull South where the births of their two children were recorded.  Samuel Callum M Cappell was born in December 1990 and Georgina Rama Cappell in 1994, when their mothers maiden-name was confirmed as Collett

 

Ben Nicholas Collett [64T2] was born in Australia during 1992, the eldest of the three children of Nicholas James Collett and Shelley Dianne Doherty.  In 2012 Ben was living at Yan Yean in Victoria, and it was thanks to the information received from him and his aunt Gillian M Collett (Ref. 64S2) that this new family line has been recreated using details previously included in Parts 12, 28 and 44

 

 

 

 

 

APPENDIX

The Other Collett Families of Hullavington in Wiltshire

 

During the research into this family line, numerous other Colletts have been discovered by Maureen Iliffe nee Collett (Ref. 64R46) amongst the parish registers for the Church of St Mary Magdalene in Hullavington.  Some of them have now been inserted into the main body of this document, with one branch of the family the subject of this appendix.  Whilst no obvious link to any of the aforementioned Collett families has been found, it is hoped, by including them here, that their place within the main body of the document could be found at some date after 2021

 

St Mary Magdalene Church

 

Arthur Collett [64k7] was married to Anne and their three children were born and baptised at Hullavington.  It was also at Hullavington that Arthur died and was buried on 17th January 1798.  The date of birth of the couple’s first-born child would suggest that Arthur was born sometime around 1720, which would make him around 77 when he died

 

64l4 – Mary Collett was born in 1742 at Hullavington

64l5 – Betty Collett was born in 1744 at Hullavington

64l6 – John Collett was born in 1747 at Hullavington

 

Mary Collett [64l4] was born at Hullavington in 1742, where she was baptised on 21st May 1742, the eldest child of Arthur and Anne Collett.  It was also at Hullavington where she married William Farr of Grittleton on 7th September 1773

 

Betty Collett [64l5] was born at Hullavington in 1744 and was baptised there on 13th September 1744, another daughter of Arthur and Anne Collett.  It was on 17th April 1769 at Hullavington that, as Elizabeth Collett, she married Jonas Matthews of Malmesbury.  The witnesses at the wedding ceremony were Mary Collett, her older sister (above), and Gabriel Greenman who were also the witnesses at another Hullavington Collett wedding in 1808 (below).  It is possible that Gabriel Greenman was in some way attached to the church for him to be listed at both ceremonies, especially with an interval of almost forty years between the two events.  That second wedding was between Betty’s niece Ann Collett and Robert Greenman, who was possibly related in some way to Gabriel

 

John Collett [64l6] was very likely born in 1747 and was baptised at Hullavington on 29th January 1748, the only known son and third child of Arthur and Anne Collett.  The later marriage of John Collett, said to be of Easton Grey, near Malmesbury, and Elizabeth Taviner, took place at Hullavington on 7th October 1772, where Elizabeth had been born.  Over the next few years, Elizabeth presented John with seven children, all of whom were born and baptised at Hullavington, the first of which was named after his grandfather.  And it was at Hullavington that John Collett died and was buried on 25th December 1830, at the age of 82.  Interesting Note: It seems very likely that John had a cousin by the name of John Collett who was married to Mary.  The marriage of that couple produced a child who was baptised at Hullavington on 2nd April 1775, although no name was entered in the parish record

 

64m2 – Arthur Collett was born in 1773 at Hullavington

64m3 – Sarah Collett was born in 1775 at Hullavington

64m4 – John Collett was born in 1777 at Hullavington

64m5 – Ann Collett was born in 1779 at Hullavington

64m6 – Mary Collett was born in 1780 at Hullavington

64m7 – Elizabeth Collett was born in 1784 at Hullavington

64m8 – John Collett was born in 1787 at Hullavington

 

Arthur Collett [64m2] was born at Hullavington where he was baptised on 26th June 1773, the first of the six children of John Collett and his wife Elizabeth Taviner.  The parish records at Hullavington confirmed that Arthur Collett, of Hullavington, married Sarah Bromsgrove at Malmesbury on 22nd April 1805, with whom he had at least four children, all of them born at Hullavington.  It would appear, following the birth of their last child at Hullavington, that Arthur and Sarah took their surviving children to live at Kington Langley.  Sadly, it was there, on 6th August 1816, that the couple’s youngest child was buried.  Upon the deaths of both Sarah and Arthur, they were buried at Hullavington, Sarah Collett ‘of Langley’ first on 27th April 1836, when she was 67, following by widower Arthur Collett of Kington Langley on 7th October 1837 at the age of 64

 

64n1 – Louisa Collett was born in 1805 at Hullavington

64n2 – John Collett was born in 1807 at Hullavington

64n3 – Ann Collett was born in 1809 at Hullavington

64n4 – John Collett was born in 1812 at Hullavington

 

Sarah Collett [64m3] was born at Hullavington and was baptised there on 16th March 1775, the eldest daughter of John and Elizabeth Collett.  She suffered an infant death and was buried at Hullavington during the following year on 25th July 1776

 

John Collett [64m4] was born at Hullavington, where he was baptised on 8th July 1777, another son of John Collett and Elizabeth Taviner

 

Ann Collett [64m5] was born at Hullavington and was baptised there on 21st February 1779, the eldest surviving daughter of John and Elizabeth Collett.  When she was twenty-nine years old, she married Robert Greenman at Hullavington on 9th June 1808.  The witnesses at the wedding ceremony were Mary Collett, Ann’s younger sister (below), and the aforementioned Gabriel Greenman.  The parish register recorded the event in the following way.  Robert Greenman was a dealer of Hullavington, and the first bondsman was John Smith from Yatton Keynell, who was also described as a dealer

 

Mary Collett [64m6] was baptised at Hullavington on 14th October 1780, another child of John and Elizabeth. where she was most likely born and where she was a witness at the marriage of her older sister Ann (above) at the Hullavington parish church in 1808.  It would also appear that, not long after that, Mary was married at Hullavington to William Tanner, of nearby Grittleton, although no date for the event has been found.  It is of interest to note that in 1835, Henry Collett (Ref. 64N5) married Hannah Tanner who was the daughter of William Tanner of Grittenham (near Wootton Bassett) and Ellenar Hilliar who was probably his second wife, the first being Mary Collett.  Another connection between the two families, was recorded at Hullavington on 22nd May 1800 for the baptism of Elizabeth Collett Tanner, the illegitimate daughter of Elizabeth Tanner

 

Elizabeth Collett [64m7] was born at Hullavington, where she lived all her life, having been baptised there on 15th August 1784, a daughter of John and Elizabeth Collett.  She never married and died at Hullavington, where she was buried on 7th August 1840, at the age of 55

 

John Collett [64m8] was born at Hullavington on 18th April 1787, where he was also baptised on 5th April 1789, the last child of John Collett and Elizabeth Taviner

 

Louisa Collett [64n1] was born at Kington St Michael near Hullavington towards the end of 1805, or very early in 1806, and was baptised at Hullavington on 13th March 1806, the eldest of the four children of Arthur Collett and Sarah Bromsgrove.  Although no further details regarding Louisa were known prior to 2014, it now seems highly likely that she married Edwin Buckland of Kington St Michael.  Further details of the family of Edwin Buckland and Louisa Collett, and the continuation of this family line, are provided from Ref. 62l3 in Part 62 – The Trowbridge to New Zealand Line

 

John Collett [64n2] was born at Hullavington and was baptised there on 20th May 1807.  Just one year and two days later John Collett, the son of Arthur and Sarah Collett was buried at Hullavington on 22nd May 1808

 

Ann Collett [64n3] was born at Hullavington, where she was baptised on 23rd July 1809, another daughter of Arthur and Sarah Collett

 

John Collett [64n4] was born at Hullavington and it was there also that he was baptised on 25th June 1812, the last child of Arthur Collett and Sarah Bromsgrove.  Shortly after he was born, his parents took the family to live at Kington Langley.  And it was there, at the age of only eighteen months, that John Collett of Kington Langley died, following which he was buried at Hullavington with his brother and namesake