PART SIXTY-SEVEN

 

The Collett Family of Cleobury Mortimer in Shropshire

 

Updated June 2024

 

 

The details in this family line have been kindly gather by Jennie Cordner in England and arose from an enquiry by Les Durham in Italy regarding Ronald W Collett and his parents William E Collett and Olive Maud Bilboe, Olive being related to Les

 

Prior to the first named member in this family line, the village of Claverley near Bridgnorth in Shropshire, had George Collett living there, where his daughter Mary Collett was baptised there on 15th March 1700.  Thirty years later another George Collett was baptised there on 30th August 1730 and he was the son of George Collett and his wife Mary.  Sadly, their son George died three months later at Claverley on 6th December 1730.  Eight years after that Mary Collett was baptised at Claverley on 10th July 1738 and she was the daughter of George Collett and his wife Elizabeth, who may have been George’s second wife

 

This family line commences with Richard Collett [2M46], whose earlier family members can be found in Part 2 – The Second Gloucestershire Line, and beyond that through Part 1 – The Main Gloucestershire Line back to the 1400s

 

 

Richard Collett [67M1<2M46] was born at Cold Aston (Aston Blank) in 1792, where he was baptised on 16th December 1792, the son of Joseph Collett and Betty Beauchamp.  Richard, an agricultural labourer, was also the uncle of William Collett [67M2<2N53] who was also born at Aston Blank and an agricultural labourer, both of whom later raised families in Shropshire.  Richard Collett married (1) Mary Humphries at Guiting Power on 30th September1822 and, nine months later, their first child was born at Cleobury Mortimer.  Mary was the daughter of James and Sarah Humphries and was baptised at Hazelton, two miles west of Cold Aston, on 8th September 1805.  Therefore, she was over ten years younger than Richard, with whom she had a total of eight children, the first four baptised at Cleobury Mortimer, the next at nearby Ludlow, with the remainder born and baptised at Neen Savage, just north of Cleobury Mortimer

 

The Neen Savage census in June 1841, within the Cleobury Mortimer registration district, recorded the family living at Stone House, as Richard Collett who was 48, Mary Collett who was 38, Samuel Collett who was 18, Mary Collett who was 15, Esther Collett who was 13, Joseph Collett who was eight, Elizabeth Collett who was five and Susan Collett who was three years of age, her birth recorded under the name of Louisa Collett.  Missing from the family that day was their son John who had suffered an infant death shortly after he was born.  Also, on that census day, Mary was over halfway through the pregnancy of her eighth child, who was born just a couple of months later in 1841 when, at the child’s baptism, Richard’s occupation was that of a waggoner.  Having already suffered the loss their son John, there followed four further deaths within the family, the first of them being the couple’s last child Abraham, who was two months old when he died at the end of November 1841

 

Just over two months after the death of his youngest child, Richard was made a widower, when Mary Collett of Stone House in Neen Savage, died and was buried there on 9th February 1842.  At every baptism, except that of son Joseph, the child’s mother was confirmed as Mary Collett, whereas for Joseph it was Mary Ann Collett, the name given to her eldest daughter.  The next death in the family, was that of son Joseph, who was approaching his twelfth birthday when he died in 1843.  Ten months later daughter Louisa, aged six years, died and was buried at Neen Savage with her siblings

 

What happened to Richard and his four surviving children after 1844 is not known, because it was not until around nine years after losing his wife that Richard was married for a second time.  To achieve that, Richard had returned to Gloucestershire and it was at Stow-on-the-Wold that the marriage of widower Richard Collett and (1) Sarah Gillett was recorded (Ref. xi 12) during the first three months of 1851. Just after their wedding day, Richard Collett from Cold Aston was 55 and an agricultural labourer residing in Bourton-on-the Water, while his wife Sarah Collett was 47, whose place of birth was recorded as Pinnock (?) in Gloucestershire.  Still living with her father and her stepmother, was Richard’s youngest surviving daughter Elizabeth Collett who was 16 and born at Neen Savage (Salop)

 

The other three surviving children of Richard Collett, for whom further details have been found, were his son Samuel Collett, married daughter Mary Anne Tavener nee Collett, and unmarried daughter Esther Collett.  After another ten years, Richard Collett from Aston Blank was 67 and a coal dealer who was living at Sherborne Street in Bourton-on-the-Water with his wife Sarah Collett from Pinwall (?) Glos, who was 57, while it was nine years later, that the death of Richard Collett was recorded at Stow-on-the-Wold (Ref. 6a 275) during the second quarter of 1870, when he was 77 years old.  By the time of his passing, nearly all his children had died so, when his Will was proved at Gloucester on 5th July 1870, following his death on 22nd June 1870, the sole beneficiary was Richard Boswell Belcher

 

67N1 – Samuel Collett was born in 1823 at Cleobury Mortimer, Salop

67N2 – Mary Ann Collett was born in 1825 at Cleobury Mortimer, Salop

67N3 – Esther Collett was born in 1828 at Cleobury Mortimer, Salop

67N4 – Joseph Collett was born in 1831 at Cleobury Mortimer, Salop

67N5 – John Collett was born in 1834 at Ludlow, Salop

67N6 – Elizabeth Collett was born in 1835 at Ludlow, Salop

67N7 – Louisa Collett was born in 1838 at Neen Savage, Salop

67N8 – Abraham Collett was born in 1841 at Neen Savage, Salop

 

William Collett [67M2<2N53] was born at Aston Blank in 1815 and was baptised at Ashton-under-Hill on 22nd October 1815, the son of John Collett and Hannah Leech.  William was therefore the nephew of Richard Collett (above), both of whom travelled to Shropshire from Gloucestershire, either separately or together.  William married Sara Deuce at Neen Savage on 2nd July 1837 and it was only then, and on the birth of her first child, that her name was recorded as Sara.  In the Neen Savage census of 1841 William Collett had a rounded age of 25, Sarah Collett had a rounded age of 30, and their daughter Ann Collett was one year old, their son having presumably died by then, when they were living at Wilkes Cottage.  Tragically Sarah gave birth to her third child later in 1841 and it seems he too suffered an infant death.  During the next decade two more children were added to their family and, by the time of the Neen Savage census in 1851, when the family was residing on The Common, they were listed as William Collett from Aston Blank who was 36 and an agricultural labourer, Sarah Collett from Stottesden (Salop) was 35, Ann Collett was 11, Eliza Collett was nine, and Alice Collett was five, all three girls had been born at Neen Savage

 

During the next two decades William Collett passed away, after which Sarah married for a second time to become Sarah Taft or Toft.  Although no record of William or Sarah has been found in 1861, by 1871 Sarah Taft, aged 61 and from Cleobury Mortimer was a widow living at 63 Bromsgrove Street in Kidderminster.  Living there with her was her married daughter Alice Oakley, who was 24 and also from Cleobury Mortimer, together with her husband Samuel Oakley a carpenter from Upton-on-Severn who was 30.  The couple’s only child at that time was their daughter Agnes Oakley who was five months old and born at Kidderminster.  Also living at the same address was Sarah’s unmarried Eliza Collett who was 28 and a domestic servant from Cleobury Mortimer

 

67N9 – John Collett was born in 1837 at Neen Savage, Salop

67N10 – Ann Collett was born in 1839 at Neen Savage, Salop

67N11 – a male Collett was born in 1841 at Neen Savage, Salop

67N12 – Eliza Collett was born in 1842 at Neen Savage, Salop

67N13 – Alice Collett was born in 1845 at Neen Savage, Salop

67N14 – Sarah Jane Collett was born in 1853 at Neen Savage, Salop

67N15 – Harriet Collett was born in 1857 at Neen Savage, Salop

 

For the earlier details of the Gloucestershire family of William Collett [67M2]

go to [2N53] in Part Two – The Second Gloucestershire Line

 

Samuel Collett [67N1] was born at Cleobury Mortimer on 4th July 1823, the eldest child of Richard Collett and Mary Humphries who was baptised there on 20th July 1823.  He was 18 in 1841, by which time he and his family were living at Stone House in Neen Savage, to the north of Cleobury Mortimer.  Less than three years later Samuel was convicted of the crime of larceny during a Shropshire trial held on 1st January 1844, when his age was recorded as 20 years, as a result of which he was imprisoned for one month.  According to the census in 1851 he was married and was living in the village of Stottesdon which is midway between Cleobury Mortimer and Ditton Priors.  It was at Ditton Priors, ten miles north of Cleobury Mortimer, that Samuel Collett married Elizabeth Garbett on 9th June 1850

 

In the Stottesdon census of 1851 Samuel Collett was 27, while his wife Elizabeth was recorded as being 38.  It is highly likely that they never had any children, because by 1861 the childless couple had moved north to Much Wenlock between Bridgnorth and Shrewsbury where Samuel Collet from Ditton Priors was 37 and an agricultural labourer from Cleobury Mortimer, while his wife Elizabeth Collett from Ditton Priors was 48.  Living with them, and described as a house servant, was Elizabeth’s niece Eliza Garbett who was 14 and also from Ditton Priors.  Towards the end of the following year Samuel was again brought before the judge, on that occasion the charge was one of horse stealing.  At the court case held in Shropshire on 13th October 1862 Samuel Collett was sentenced to four years imprisonment for horse stealing and being previously convicted for felony.  No record of him has been found in any subsequent census, which might indicate he was subject to transportation

 

Mary Anne Collett [67N2] was born at Cleobury Mortimer on 21st August 1825, the daughter of Richard and Mary Collett who was baptised there on 4th September 1825.  As Mary Collett, she was 15 years old in the Neen Savage census of 1841, when she was living there with her family at Stone House.  Nine years later, during the third quarter of 1850, Mary Anne Collett married John Tavener, their wedding day recorded at Wolverhampton (Ref. xvii 15).  Mary was already expecting the birth of the couple’s first child on the day, daughter Jane Tavener baptised at St John’s Church in Wolverhampton on 30th October 1850.  Tragically, both Jane and the couple’s next child, did not survive, following the baptism of Reginald Tavener at St George’s Church in Wolverhampton on 9th May 1852, both children’s parents confirmed as John and Mary Anne Tavener.  However, four more children were born into the family which was living at Tettenhall Road in Wolverhampton by 1861.  The census that year confirmed that John Tavener was 37 and a stonemason from Bradford-on-Avon, Mary A Tavener from Cleobury Mortimer was 35, and their two children were Rhoda Tavener who was six and James Tavener was four years old, both born at Wolverhampton

 

The completed family was still living in Wolverhampton in 1871, where stonemason John was 47, Mary Anne was 45 and a laundress, Rhoda was 16, James was 14, Sidney Tavener was nine and John Tavener was seven years of age.  John Tavener junior was baptised at St Mark’s Church in Wolverhampton on 31st January 1864.  Living with the family in 1871, was Sarah Collett, who was described as a laundress, being 16 years old and from Cleobury Mortimer, and the niece of John Tavener.  That was because Sarah was a daughter of Mary Anne’s younger unmarried sister Esther Collett (below).  The Tavener children lost both of their parents during the next seven years, with the death of John Tavener, aged 49, recorded at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 276) during the last three months of that census year.  Just over six years after losing their father, the death of Mary Anne Tavener, nee Collett, was also recorded at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 136) during the first quarter of 1878, when she was 50 years of age

 

Esther Collett [67N3] was born on 28th June 1828 at Neen Savage (according to the census in 1861), although it was at Cleobury Mortimer that she was baptised on 13th July 1828, another daughter of Richard and Mary Collett.  Coincidentally, in the Neen Savage census of 1841, Esther Collett was 13 years old when living there with her family.  When Esther was nineteen years of age, she gave birth to the first of her four base-born children by an unknown father.  That was confirmed in the Cleobury Mortimer census of 1851 where unmarried Esther Collett was 24 and her daughter Mira Collett was five years of age when they were living at the home of the family of Nathaniel and Hannah Patchet.  On the day of the census Esther was heavily pregnant with her second child who was born within the following weeks, while two more children were added to her family in the mid-1850s, with all of them born at Cleobury Mortimer

 

In 1861 when Esther was a spinster at the age of 33 and from Neen Savage, she was a house servant at the Cleobury Mortimer home of confectioner and baker James Pric,e aged 49, and his wife Mary Price who was 52 and also born at Neen Savage.  Staying with Esther at the Price’s home and baker’s shop in the High Street, next door to the grocer’s shop, were three of her four Cleobury Mortimer born children.  They were George Collett who was nine, Sarah Ann Collett who was six, and Charles Collett who was four.  Living nearby in 1861, having already left school and started work, was Esther’s eldest child Mira Collett who was 14

 

Esther Collett died in 1868 at the age of 40, when her death was recorded at Cleobury Mortimer (Ref. 6a 367) during the second quarter of that year.  Curiously so far, only Esther’s eldest daughter Mira, and youngest son Charles, have been identified within the next census of 1871, so the whereabouts of Esther’s two other children has still to be discovered.  What is also surprising is that, upon the marriage of Charles Collett in 1881, he gave his father’s name as James Collett, a confectioner, which was most likely a reference to James Price, confectioner and baker, who may have adopted Charles who was nine years old when his mother died

 

67O1 – Mira Collett was born in 1846 at Cleobury Mortimer, Salop

67O2 – George Henry Collett was born in 1851 at Cleobury Mortimer, Salop

67O3 – Sarah Anne Collett was born in 1854 at Cleobury Mortimer, Salop

67O4 – Charles Collett was born in 1857 at Cleobury Mortimer, Salop

 

Joseph Collett [67N4] was born at Cleobury Mortimer during 1831 and was baptised there on 1st December 1831, the son of Richard and Mary Ann Collett.  He was eight years old in 1841, when he and his family were residing at Stone House in Neen Savage.  However just over two years later he tragically died and was buried there on 23rd July 1843.  The death of Joseph Collett of Neen Savage was recorded at Cleobury Mortimer (Ref. xviii 140) during the third quarter of that year

 

John Collett [67N5] was born in 1834 at Ludlow, to the west of Cleobury Mortimer, where his family had been living up to 1832.  It was also at Ludlow where he was baptised on 7th March 1834, another son of Richard and Mary Collett.  He was around nine months old when he died and was buried at Ludlow on 16th December 1834, the first of four children to suffer a premature death

 

Elizabeth Collett [67N6] was born at Ludlow in 1835 and it was there also that she was baptised on 7th October 1835, a daughter of Richard and Mary Collett.  Her family moved the short distance to Neen Savage during the years after she was born, where Elizabeth Collett was five years old in 1841, when living at Stone House with her family.  Just a few weeks prior to the next census in 1851. her father was married for a second time, following the death of Elizabeth’s mother nine years earlier, at the beginning of 1842

 

Louisa Collett [67N7] was born at Neen Savage in 1838, with her birth recorded at Cleobury Mortimer (Ref. xviii 37) during the second quarter of the year.  It was also at Neen Savage that she was baptised on 20th May 1838, another daughter of Richard and Mary Collett.  For some reason, when she was three years old, she was named as Susan Collett in the 1841 census of Neen Savage, at the time she and her family were living at Stone House in the village.  Three years later, Louisa Collett died at Neen Savage, where she was buried on 9th May 1844, when she was six years of age

 

Abraham Collett [67N8] was born at Neen Savage after June in 1841 and was baptised there on 9th October 1841, the last known child of Richard Collett and his wife Mary Humphries.  There may well have been an illness in the family home because Abraham Collett, of Stonehouse in Neen Savage, was only thirteen weeks old when he was buried on 1st December 1841, and two months later his mother Mary Collett, also of Stone House in Neen Savage, was buried in the churchyard there at the start of the second week of February in 1842

 

John Collett [67N9] was born at Neen Savage in 1837, his birth recorded at Cleobury Mortimer (Ref. xviii 27) during the third quarter of the year.  It was at Neen Savage where he was baptised on 7th August 1837, the eldest child of William Collett and Sara Deuce who were only married during the previous month.  It seems highly likely that John suffered an infant death because he was not listed with his family at Neen Savage in 1841 or 1851

 

Ann Collett [67N10] was born at Neen Savage in 1839, the first of five daughters of William and Sarah Collett, who was baptised at Neen Savage on 16th June 1839 as Ann Collet.  Her birth was recorded at Cleobury Mortimer (Ref. xviii 19) during the third quarter of 1839.  She was one year old in the Neen Savage census in June 1841 and was 11 in 1851 when she was the eldest of the three children living with her family at Cleobury Mortimer.  Where she was in 1861 has still to be revealed, but during the next decade she gave birth to four base-born children and by 1871 Ann and the four children were inmates at the Union Workhouse in Cleobury Mortimer.  Ann Collett from Neen Savage was 31, Harriet Collett was nine and born at Cleobury Mortimer, Sarah Collett was seven and born at Farlow four miles north of Cleobury Mortimer, and John Collett was four and from Farlow.  The fourth child was Mary A Collett who was one year old whose place of birth was dittoed as Farlow, but was later revealed to be Cleobury Mortimer

 

It was during mid-November in 1872 that Ann took her children north to the village of Quatt Malvern to the south of Bridgnorth, although the move happened just after her youngest child Mary Ann was baptised at Cleobury Mortimer on 7th November 1872, when she was confirmed as the daughter of Ann Collett.  After the family’s arrival at Quatt Malvern Ann arranged for her three older children to be baptised on the same day at the Church of Andrew, that day being 26th November 1872.  In each case it was just the children’s mother who was named in the parish register as Anne Collett

 

It was nearly five years later that Ann Collett, the daughter of William Collett, married John Bridgewater the son of James Bridgewater.  The wedding took place at Cleobury Mortimer on 18th October 1877 when Ann was 40 and John was 46 and was recorded there (Ref. 6a 1249).  On the day of the next census in 1881, Ann Bridgewater from Neen Savage was 42 and had given birth to a daughter Fanny Bridgewater who was three years old who had been born at Burford in Shropshire.  The census return confirmed that Ann was married and that she was had been a former field worker and agricultural labourer who was then an inmate with her daughter at the Cleobury Mortimer union Workhouse.  Her husband John Bridgewater, a farm labourer from Cleobury Mortimer who was 48, was employed by farmer Thomas Turner at 48 Harwood Street in West Bromwich

 

It is not known what happened to Ann’s eldest child Harriet, while her three younger children were all recorded at three separate locations, although daughter Sarah had also returned to Cleobury Mortimer, presumably with her mother, and was also an inmate at the Union Workhouse there.  Ann’s only son John was working on a farm at Rock in Worcestershire, while Ann’s youngest Collett daughter Mary Ann was an inmate at the school for the children of paupers in Quatt Malvern

 

67O5 – Harriet Collett was born in 1862 at Cleobury Mortimer

67O6 – Sarah Collett was born in 1863 at Farlow, Salop

67O7 – John Collett was born in 1867 at Farlow, Salop

67O8 – Mary Ann Collett was born in 1869 at Cleobury Mortimer

 

A Collett [67N11] son was born to William and Sarah at Neen Savage after the census in 1841, the birth being recorded at Cleobury Mortimer (Ref. 18 37) during the third quarter of that year.  It would appear that he died shortly after

 

Eliza Collett [67N12] was born at Neen Savage in 1842 and was baptised there on 6th November 1842 the daughter of William and Sarah Collett.  By the time of the census in 1851 Eliza was nine years old and she and her family were still living in Neen Savage.  Following the death of her father, Eliza’s mother re-married and by 1871 she had been made a widow for the second time, leaving unmarried Eliza Collett aged 28 and from Cleobury Mortimer were with her elderly mother at 63 Bromsgrove Street in Kidderminster when she was described as a domestic servant.  Also living with them was Eliza’s younger married sister Alice (below) with her husband and their first child.  Ten years later Eliza Collett from Neen Savage was 39 and still a spinster when she was an inmate at the Kidderminster Union Workhouse.  Also listed as inmates at the same workhouse was Stephen Collett [45O1] and his family, who were all born in Walsall.  See Part 45 – The Worcestershire connection

 

Alice Collett [67N13] was born at Neen Savage in 1845, while it was as Alice Collet that she was baptised at Neen Savage on 6th July 1845 the daughter of William and Sarah Collet.  She and her family were recorded in the 1851 census for Neen Savage when Alice Collett was five years old, but sometime thereafter her father died and her mother re-married, although no record of them has been found in 1861.  By 1871 Alice Collett was married to Samuel Oakley and had just given birth to their first child by the time of the census that year, at which time the young family was residing at 63 Bromsgrove Street in Kidderminster, the home of Alice’s twice married and twice widowed mother Sarah Taft

 

The census on that occasion recorded the family as Eliza Oakley who was 24 and from Cleobury Mortimer, her husband Samuel Oakley, a carpenter from Upton-on-Severn who was 30, and their daughter Agnes Oakley who was five months old and born at Kidderminster.  Also living at the same address was Alice’s older unmarried sister Eliza Collett (above) a domestic servant from Cleobury Mortimer.  Five more children were added to the Oakley family at Kidderminster during the 1870s which, by the time of the next census in 1881, was living at 78 Bromsgrove Street in Kidderminster.  Alice Oakley from Cleobury Mortimer was 39, Samuel Oakley was 43, Agnes Oakley was 10, Mary Jane Oakley was eight, Charles Henry Oakley was five, William Oakley was four, Thomas Samuel Oakley was two and Kate Ellen Oakley was one year old

 

Sarah Jane Collett [67N14] was born at Neen Savage in 1853, and baptised there on 15th May 1853, the daughter of William and Sarah Collett.  It was simply as Jane Collett from Neen Savage that she was recorded in the census of 1871 at the age of 18, when she was an inmate at the Cleobury Mortimer Union Workhouse.  Three years later she gave birth to a base-born son while she was still at Cleobury Mortimer, where the child’s birth was recorded (Ref. 6a 582) during the last quarter of that year

 

67O9 - Clement Collett was born in 1874 at Cleobury Mortimer

 

Harriet Collett [67N15] was born at Neen Savage in 1857 and it was there also that she was baptised on 31st May 1857, the last of the six children of William Collett and Sarah Deuce.  Her birth was recorded at Cleobury Mortimer (Ref. 6a 512) during the second quarter of 1857

 

Mira Collett [67O1] was born at Cleobury Mortimer on 20th December 1846, the first of the four base-born children of Esther Collett from nearby Neen Savage.  Her birth was recorded at Cleobury Mortimer (Ref. xviii 37) as Mira Collett during the last few days of that year.  As Mira Collett aged five years, she was living with her mother at Cleobury Mortimer in 1851 and, ten years later, she had left school and her family, and had already started work in Cleobury Mortimer, not far away from her family.  Once again, as Mira Collett, she was 14 years of age when she was a domestic servant employed by widow Maria Hare, a proprietor of houses, at her home on the High Street in the census of 1861.  By 1871 unmarried Mira Collett from Cleobury Mortimer was recorded in Hertfordshire where, at the age of 24, was employed as a domestic servant at the Rickmansworth home of John and Sophia Taylor and their family

 

George Collett [67O2] was born at Cleobury Mortimer in 1851 where he was baptised on 20th May 1851, the son of Esther Collett.  His birth was recorded at Cleobury Mortimer (Ref. xviii 43) during the second quarter of that year.  According to the census in 1861 George, at the age of nine, was living with his unmarried mother at the baker’s shop on the High Street in Cleobury Mortimer where his mother was a house servant for the Price family of confectioners and bakers.  Following the premature death of his mother in 1868, it is possible that George and his two younger siblings (below) may have been adopted by James and Mary Price

 

Sarah Anne Collett [67O3] was born at Cleobury Mortimer in 1854, where her birth was recorded (Ref. 6a 12) during the third quarter of that year, another child of unmarried Esther Collett.  And it was also there that she was baptised on 27th August 1854, the daughter of Esther Collett.  As Sarah Ann Collett she was six years old in the census of 1861 when her mother was a live-in domestic servant for baker James Price and his wife Mary at their High Street premises in Cleobury Mortimer.  Seven years later Sarah’s mother died, after which she and her two brothers, George and Charles, were very likely adopted by James and Mary Price

 

Charles Collett [67O4] was born at Cleobury Mortimer in 1857, the birth recorded there (Ref. 6a 532) during the first quarter of that year.  He was the fourth child of unmarried mother Esther Collett, and was baptised there on 26th April 1857  He was four years old in 1861 and was the youngest of the three children living with their unmarried mother, a house servant at the High Street home of James and Mary Price in Cleobury Mortimer.  His mother died in 1868 and by 1871 Charles had left school and, at the age of 14, was an apprentice tailor working and living with tailor Joseph Hopkins and his family at Westbury-on-Severn.  It was at the Church of St James-the-Great in Pensax on 7th February 1881 that he was married following the reading of banns to Alice Morris.  The parish register confirmed that bachelor Charles was 24 and a tailor at Pensax.  Rather curiously, the same record stated that his father was James Collett, a confectioner, most likely a reference to James Price, the confectioner and baker, with whom he was living up to the day his mother died, who may have adopted the three youngest siblings.  Alice Morris was described as a spinster of 24, the daughter of James Morris, a labourer.  The two witnesses were William Postans and Mary Morris

 

The birth of Alice Morris was registered at Tenbury Wells, west of Kidderminster, (Ref. 6c 271) during the first three months of 1857, when she was born in the hamlet of Menithwood within the Worcestershire parish of Pensax.  As simply Alice Morris, she was baptised at the Church of St Lawrence in Lindridge on 18th January 1857, the daughter of James and Marianne Morris.  By the time she was 14, Alice and her family were living in Pensax

 

It was at New Road in Cleobury Mortimer that the couple settled once they were married, and it was there that the majority of their fourteen children were born, of which three did not survive and with one of them is missing from the list below.  The first child was born one month before the census in 1881 but she was not the only child listed with Charles and Alice in the census return that day.  Charles and Alice Collett were 24 and, in addition to baby Alice M Collett, completing the family was scholar Elizabeth Morris who was seven and a visitor from Menithwood, so she may have been the younger sister of Charles’ wife.  The couple’s first three children had a delayed baptism, when they were all baptised on the same day in 1885, not long before the birth of the couple’s fourth child

 

By the time of the census in 1891 tailor Charles and his young family were living on the High Street in Cleobury Mortimer.  Charles and his wife Alice from Pensax were both 34, Alice M Collett was ten, Hetty J Collett was eight, Beatrice M Collett was seven, George H Collett was five, Elizabeth M Collett was three, and Charles J Collett was two years of age.  After the birth of a further three children and around 1898, the family left Cleobury Mortimer and moved approximately four miles south to a new home on Clows Top Road, running south-east from the village of Clows Top

 

According to the census in 1901 the family was recorded at a dwelling on Clows Top Road passing midway between the villages of Rock and Pensax, where Charles was a tailor having his own account working at home at the age of 44, his wife Alice from Tenbury Wells (?) was also 44, and their children were George Collett who was 15 and a tailor like his father, Elizabeth M Collett who was 13, Charles J Collett who was 12, Edith W Collett who was seven, William E Collett who was five, and Sarah A A Collett who was three.  All the children, and their father, had been born at Cleobury Mortimer.  However, shortly after that census day, the family moved to nearby Pensax, and it was there that the couple’s last two children were born

 

In April 1911 the reduced family was residing at 31 Leswell Street in Kidderminster which was a six-roomed property.  Charles Collett was 54 like his wife of thirty-one years Alice.  During those years together, the census return confirmed that the couple had given birth to fourteen children, with only eleven of them still alive in 1911.  Working at home with tailor maker Charles were three members of his family.  His wife Alice was a sewing machinist and his sons Charles James aged 22, and William Ernest aged 15, were described as tailor’s sons assisting in the family business, while undertaking domestic duties was his daughter Edith Winifred who was 17.  Attending school were the three youngest children Sarah Ann who was 13, Albert Edward who was nine, and Elsie who was six.  The census return also confirmed that Charles senior, Charles junior, Edith, William and Sarah were all born at Cleobury Mortimer, while Alice and her two youngest children had been born at Pensax

 

Eleven years after that census day Charles and Alice were still residing in Worcestershire when first the death of Alice Collett, nee Morris, at the age of 65, was recorded at Worcestershire register office (Ref. 6c 110) in 1922.  Charles was only a widower for two years by the time he died, with his passing also recorded at Worcestershire register office (Ref. 6c 98) during 1924 when he was 66

 

67P1 – Alice Mary Collett was born in 1881 at Cleobury Mortimer

67P2 – Hetty Jane Collett was born in 1882 at Cleobury Mortimer

67P3 – Beatrice Myra Collett was born in 1883 at Cleobury Mortimer

67P4 – George Henry Collett was born in 1885 at Cleobury Mortimer

67P5 – Elizabeth May Collett was born in 1887 at Cleobury Mortimer

67P6 – Charles James Collett was born in 1889 at Cleobury Mortimer

67P7 – Percy Albert Collett was born in 1890 at Cleobury Mortimer

67P8 – Jessie Adelaide Collett was born in 1891 at Cleobury Mortimer

67P9 – Edith Winifred Collett was born in 1893 at Cleobury Mortimer

67P10 – William Ernest Collett was born in 1895 at Cleobury Mortimer

67P11 – Sarah Ann Amelia Collett was born in 1897 at Cleobury Mortimer

67P12 – Albert Edward Collett was born in 1901 at Cleobury Mortimer

67P13 – Elsie May Collett was born in 1904 at Pensax

 

Harriet Collett [67O5] was born at Cleobury Mortimer in 1862, her birth recorded there (Ref. 6a 550) during the last three months of the year when her mother was confirmed as Ann Collett.  Harriet was the oldest of the four base-born children of Ann Collett and was nine years old in 1871 when the young family were all inmates at the Cleobury Mortimer Union Workhouse.  The baby of the family, Mary Ann (below) was baptised at Cleobury Mortimer at the end of the first week of November in 1872 and within the next few days Harriet’s mother took the four children to the village of Quatt Malvern near Bridgnorth where Harriet was baptised in a joint ceremony with her two other siblings on 26th November, the service taking place at St Andrew’s Church.  Harriet’s mother eventually married at the age of forty, but unlike her three younger siblings, no record of Harriet has been discovered within the census of 1881

 

Sarah Collett [67O6] was born at Farlow four miles to the north of Cleobury Mortimer in 1863, her birth recorded at Cleobury Mortimer (Ref. 6a 555) during the second quarter of that year.  Sarah was seven in 1871 when she and her mother Ann and her three siblings were inmates at the Union Workhouse in Cleobury Mortimer.  They were still living there in early November the following year for the baptism of Sarah’s youngest sister but during the fourth week of that month Sarah Collett, the daughter of Anne Collett was baptised at the Church of St Andrew in Quatt Malvern just south of Bridgnorth.  It was on 26th November 1872 that Sarah, her older sister Harriet (above) and her brother john (below) were baptised in a joint naming ceremony

 

By 1877 Sarah and her mother (and perhaps her brother John Collett below) had returned to Cleobury Mortimer where her mother married John Bridgewater that year.  Shortly thereafter Sarah’s mother gave birth to a half-sister for Sarah and by 1881 all three of them were recorded as inmates at the Cleobury Union Workhouse.  At that time in her life Sarah Collett was 17 and described as formerly being a general servant who had been born at Farlow in Shropshire.  That would appear to indicate that she had previously been in employment, most likely at a private house, but had been dismissed from the job, as a result of which she had therefore been made homeless

 

John Collett [67O7] was born at Farlow in 1867 although his birth was registered at Cleobury Mortimer (Ref. 6a 577) during the third quarter of the year.  He was the base-born son of Ann Collett with whom he was living at the Cleobury Mortimer Union Workhouse in 1871 at the age of four years.  Twenty months later John Collett, the son of Anne Collett, was baptised at St Andrew’s Church in Quatt Malvern near Bridgnorth on 26th November, the same day that his two older sisters Harriet and Sarah were baptised there.  By 1881 John Collett from Farlow was 14 when he was employed as an indoor farm servant at the home of farmer George Hingley and his family at their 150-acre farm at Lane End in the Worcestershire village of Rock.  Ten years later, the census in 1891, identified John Collett from Cleobury Mortimer as being 23 and living and working within the town of Pershore

 

It has yet to be determined where John was in March 1901, since no record of him has been found in the census that year.  However, during his absence he became a married man and in April 1911 he and his wife were recorded within the census for Ipswich.  John Collett from Cleobury Mortimer was 42, the same age as his wife Jessie Collett, to whom he had been married for fifteen years, during which time they had not given birth to any children

 

Mary Ann Collett [67O8] was born at Cleobury Mortimer either at the end of 1869 or at the beginning of 1870, since her birth was registered there (Ref. 6a 613) during the first quarter of 1870.  In the census of 1871, when Mary A Collett was one year old, she was listed with her mother and her three siblings were inmates at the Cleobury Mortimer Union Workhouse.  She and her family were still in Cleobury Mortimer on 7th November 1872 for the baptism of Mary Ann Collett, the daughter of Ann Collett.  However, not long after that day the family moved north to Quatt Malvern near Bridgnorth where Mary Ann’s three older siblings were baptised on 26th November 1872.  Just over eight years later, on the day of the census in 1881 Mary Ann Collett aged 11 and from Cleobury Mortimer was attending the Southeast Shropshire District School for the children of paupers at Quatt Malvern, where she was one of the 170 inmates.  Her cousin Clement Collett (below) was also an inmate there.  The large house that was the school up to early 1900s is still there, but as a private residence

 

Clement Collett [67O9] was born at Cleobury Mortimer in 1874 and was baptised there on 25th August 1874, the only known child of unmarried Jane (Sarah Jane) Collett from Neen Savage.  By the time he was seven years old he was an inmate at the paupers’ school, which was the Southeast Shropshire District School at Quatt Malvern near Bridgnorth.  Another inmate at the school in 1881 was his cousin Mary Ann Collett (above).  By 1891 Clement Collett from Cleobury Mortimer was 15 and the only Collett recorded within the Kidderminster & Wolverley registration district.  Ten years later he had returned to the village of his birth when the 1901 Census described him as being unmarried at the age of 27 and employed as a carter on a farm in Cleobury Mortimer.  After a further ten years he was still a bachelor, although by then he was listed in the Stottesdon census of 1911 as Clement Collett who was 36.  Nothing more is known about his life after that time, except that the death of Clement Collett was recorded at Kidderminster register office (Ref. 9d 95) during the third quarter of 1947 when he was 74

 

Alice Mary Collett [67P1] was born at Cleobury Mortimer during March 1881 and her birth was registered there (Ref. 6a 609) during the second quarter of that year.  She was one month old in the census that year when she was living with her parents at New Road in Cleobury Mortimer.  However, she was four years old when she was baptised in a joint ceremony with her two sisters Hetty and Beatrice (below) at Cleobury Mortimer on 5th April 1885.  The three sisters were confirmed as the daughters of Charles and Alice Collett.  At the time of the census in 1891 Alice M Collett was 10 and living at Cleobury Mortimer with her large family, while by 1901 she and her two sisters Hetty and Beatrice were in domestic service in the City of Worcester.  Alice M Collett from Cleobury Mortimer was 20 and was employed as a general domestic servant.  It was while she was in Worcester that she met her future husband whom she married during the first decade of the new century.  Alice Mary Collett and her husband Edward White, the son of Gloucestershire farm labourer Herbert White and Lucy White, were living in Pershore in 1911 where Alice Mary White from Cleobury Mortimer was 30 and Edward White was 28

 

Hetty Jane Collett [67P2] was born at Cleobury Mortimer in 1882 where her birth was recorded (Ref. 6a 587) during the last three months of that year.  She was also baptised there in a joint ceremony with her two sisters Alice (above) and Beatrice (below) on 5th April 1885, the daughters of Charles and Alice Collett.  Hetty J Collett was eight years old in 1891 but left Cleobury Mortimer on leaving school to join her sisters in Worcester where in 1901 she was recorded in error as Hellen Collett aged 18 from Cleobury Mortimer who was a general servant.  Just over six years after that census day the marriage of Hetty Jane Collett and Alfred Davies was recorded at St Asaph in Denbighshire (Ref. 11b 503) during the third quarter of 1907.  With no record of the couple in 1911, it might be that by then they already had issue.  However, after that census day, three births for Alfred and Hetty were recorded at St Asaph, when the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett.  They were Maurice A I Davies in the summer of 1911 (Ref. 11b 599), George M Davies in 1913 (Ref. 11b 589), and Ronald A Davies in 1916 (Ref. 11b 513).  It is possible that Hetty had returned to Shropshire towards the end of her life, with her likely death as Jane H Davies recorded at Shropshire register office (Ref. 9a 118) in 1951 when she was 69, with her year of birth reported as 1882

 

Beatrice Myra Collett [67P3] was born at Cleobury Mortimer on 22nd March 1883 and her birth was registered there (Ref. 6a 612) during second quarter of the year.  It was there also where she was baptised with her two older sisters on 5th April 1885, the daughter of Charles and Alice Collett.  As Beatrice M Collett she was seven years old in 1891, while by march 1901 she was reunited with her two older sisters who were in domestic service in Worcester when Beatrice Collett from Cleobury Mortimer was 17 and a general domestic servant.  It was nearly ten years later that Beatrice married the younger (1) James Albert Falconer.  James was born at Birmingham during the summer of 1889 (Ref. 6d 149) and was the son of James Falconer, a silversmith from Scotland and his Sheffield born wife Sarah.  The following year the childless couple was living in Birmingham where Beatrice Myra Falconer from Cleobury Mortimer was 26, having no stated job of work, and her husband James Albert Falconer was 21 and employed at a local dairy as a milk delivery man

 

It was much later in their married life that Beatrice presented James with two daughters after the First World War.  They were Dorothy B Falconer born in mid-1920 (Ref. 6d 1100), and a year later Muriel J Falconer (Ref. 6d 1087).  Both births were recorded at Aston register office, when the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett.  It is debatable as to whether James ever saw his youngest daughter, since the premature death of James A Falconer was recorded at Warwickshire register office (Ref. 6d 617) during 1921 when he was 31 years of age.  Nine years after being widowed the marriage of Beatrice M Falconer married (2) Fredrick Evans was recorded at Birmingham North register office (Ref. 6d 1265) during the third quarter of 1930.  That second marriage had lasted for forty years when Beatrice died, with her passing recorded at Warwickshire register office (Ref. 9c 1808) in 1970, when the year of her birth was reported as 1883

 

George Henry Collett [67P4] was born at Cleobury Mortimer on 5th August 1885, the son of tailor Charles Collett and Alice Morris, and his birth was registered there (Ref. 6a 595) during the third quarter of 1885.  It was also there that he was baptised on 6th June 1886 when his parents were confirmed as Charles and Alice Collett.  As George H Collett he was five years old in the Cleobury Mortimer census of 1891 and sometime after the birth of his youngest sibling George’s parents took the family to the village of Rock near Bewdley in Worcestershire.  The census in 1901 confirmed the family was residing at a dwelling on Clows Top Road in Rock, where George Collett from Cleobury Mortimer was 15 and a tailor like his father Charles.  It was on 3rd August 1908 at Christ Church in Battersea, London, that George Henry Collett married (1) Olive Huggins of Kensington in London, with their first child born at Battersea during the following year.  The couple’s marriage certificate confirmed that bachelor George was 22 and a tailor, the son of Charles Collett, and that spinster Olive was 19 and the daughter of Thomas Huggins, a cabman.  The same address was given for both the bride and the groom, which was 22 Lubech Street in Battersea, both signing the register in their own hand, when the witnesses were Olive’s father and her brother Thomas

 

According to the next census in 1911, the young family was residing at 89 Kingston Road in New Malden, Surrey.  Living at the six-roomed property was employer and tailor George Collett aged 25 and from Cleobury Mortimer, his wife of two years Olive Collett who was 23, and their daughter Alice Collett who was one year old and born at Battersea.  Staying with the family was Olive’s brother James Huggins who was 17 and a boot repairer from Fulham while, on the day of the census, George and Olive were expecting the birth of their second child, with four more added to the family over the following decade.  At some time after the birth of their last child in 1922, the family moved out of London and settled within the Croydon area of Surrey, as confirmed by the later death of George’s wife and the subsequent marriages of his three youngest daughters.  The first of those four events happened during the summer of 1934, when the death of Olive Collett, nee Huggins, was recorded at Croydon register office (Ref. 2a 482) during the third quarter of 1934 when she was 45.  And it was during the following year that daughter Edith was married there, with the two youngest daughters married there five years later in 1940

 

It was two years after losing his wife that George Henry Collett, a widower and a tailor of 51, the son of Charles Collett deceased, married 45-year-old (2) Gertrude Gladys Condon, the daughter of Ambrose Edward Kendall Condon.  The wedding took place at the Church of All Saints and St Margaret in Upper Norwood, Surrey.  George and Gertrude had been married for thirty-five years when George was made a widower for the second time.  Gertrude Gladys Collett nee Condon was born on 24th June 1892 and her death was recorded at Croydon register office (Ref. 5a 1717) during the third quarter of 1969 when she was 77.  It was just less than five years later that the death of George Henry Collett was also recorded at Croydon (Vol. 11 1954) during the first three months of 1975 at the age of 89

 

In an earlier version of this family tree, it was listed that during the second quarter of 1919 at Kidderminster, George Collett married Eva M Churchett, although it is now known that gentleman was not George Henry Collett

 

67Q1 – Alice Georgina F Collett was born in 1909 at Battersea

67Q2 – Arthur J Collett was born in 1911 at St Pancras

67Q3 – Edith W Collett was born in 1912 at Southwark

67Q4 – George Henry Collett was born in 1915 at Southwark

67Q5 – Ivy Doris Collett was born in 1917 at Southwark

67Q6 – Gladys H Collett was born in 1922 at Southwark

 

Elizabeth May Collett [67P5] was born at Cleobury Mortimer in 1887, her birth recorded there (Ref. 6a 590) during the second quarter of the year, while it was on 2nd October 1887 that she was baptised there, the daughter of Charles and Alice Collett.  In the census of 1891 for the village Elizabeth M Collett was three years old when she was still living there with her large family.  Before the end of the century Elizabeth’s family moved to Rock near Bewdley and in 1901 they were living at Clows Top Road in that village where Elizabeth M Collett was 13.  When Elizabeth was twenty-one, she married John Bunce at Kidderminster where the event was recorded (Ref. 6c 382) during the second quarter of 1908, in front of witnesses William Henry Davies and Ethel May Harradine

 

By 1911 Elizabeth had presented John with two children.  The family that year living at the two-roomed premises that was 3 Foundry Street in Stourport-on-Severn, within the Lower Mitton sub-district of Kidderminster, comprised John Bunce who was 25 and an electric tramcar conductor from Astley near Stourport, Elizabeth May Bunce from Cleobury Mortimer who was 23 and a tailoress, and their children were Olive Barbara Beatrice Bunce who was two, and Wallace Eric Charles Bunce who was four months old.  Both children had been born at Stourport-on-Severn

 

Tragically, Elizabeth May Bunce nee Collett was only 31 when she died in 1918, her death being recorded at Kidderminster register office (Ref. 6c 69) during the second quarter of that year.  Almost eight years after the premature death of his wife, the second marriage of John Bunce to Ida Lewis was recorded at Bromsgrove register office (Ref. 6c 303) during the first three months of 1926.  Upon the later death of John Bunce in Worcestershire on 11th October 1955, probate was granted to his son Wallace Eric Charles Bunce following the proving of his Will at Birmingham on 6th December 1955

 

Charles James Collett [67P6] was born at Cleobury Mortimer very early in 1889, since it was during the first three months of 1889 that the birth was recorded there (Ref. 6a 568).  He was also baptised there on 5th May 1889 when his parents were confirmed as Charles and Alice Collett.  By the time of the census in 1891 Charles J Collett, aged two years, was the youngest member of his family, meaning his baby brother Percy had already passed away by then. Just before the start of the new century Charles’ family settled between the villages Pensax and Rock where they were living in March 1901 at Clows Top Road where Charles J Collett was 12.  Just after the census day that year the family moved again, the short distance to Pensax where Charles two youngest siblings were born before settling at 31 Leswell Street in Kidderminster.  It was at that address that Charles James Collett aged 22, was still living with his family in 1911, when he was described as the son of a tailor, assisting with the family tailoring business

 

No obvious record has been unearthed that would suggest that he ever married, although the death of Charles Collett born in 1889 was recorded at Worcestershire register office (Ref. 9d 70) during 1967 when he was 78 years old

 

Percy Albert Collett [67P7] was born at Cleobury Mortimer in October 1890 whose birth was registered there (Ref. 6a 516) during the last three months of the year.  He was still a baby when he was baptised there on 20th October 1890 when he and his parents were recorded as Percy Albert Collette the son of Charles and Alice Collette.  Five days later Percy was buried at Cleobury Mortimer on 25th October and his infant death was recorded there (Ref. 6a 393) as Percy Albert Collett

 

Jessie Adelaide Collett [67P8] was born at Cleobury Mortimer and may have been born at the end of 1891 or during the first few weeks of 1892.  Her birth was registered there (Ref. 6a 551) during the first quarter of 1892 and she was baptised there on 6th March 1892, the daughter of Charles and Alice Collett.  Sadly, she was one of the three children of Charles and Alice Collett who did not survive, with her death recorded at Cleobury Mortimer (Ref. 6a 448) during the first quarter of 1894 when she was just two years old

 

Edith Winifred Collett [67P9] was born at Cleobury Mortimer in 1893 and her birth was recorded there (Ref. 6a 651) during the final quarter of 1893.  Her baptism took place almost two years later when she was baptised there in a double christening with her baby brother William (below) on 17th November 1895, the daughter of Charles and Alice Collett.  By the time of the census in 1901 the family was living at Clows Top Road when Edith W Collett was seven years old, while in 1911 as Edith Winifred Collett aged 17, she was still living with her family, who by then were living at 31 Leswell Street in Kidderminster.  With her family heavily involved in the family tailoring business it was Edith who was undertaking domestic duties.  The later marriage of Edith Winifred Collett and Thomas Frederick Rooke was conducted at Kidderminster on 30th September 1925, with the event recorded at Worcestershire register office (Ref. 6c 147).  Their marriage was blessed by a very late arrival, with the birth of Margaret E Rooke recorded at Kidderminster (Ref. 6c 139) at the end of 1936, when the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett

 

William Ernest Collett [67P10] was born at Cleobury Mortimer in 1895 and was baptised there with his sister Edith (above) on 17th November 1895.  His birth was also recorded there (Ref. 6a 578) during the third quarter of that year.  After the birth of his sister Sarah (below) the family left Cleobury Mortimer and moved to Clows Top Road, where William E Collett was five in 1901.  It was as William Ernest Collett aged 15, a tailor’s son assisting with the family business, that he was still living with his family in 1911 but, at that time, they were residing at 31 Leswell Street in Kidderminster.  It was during 1918 that William Ernest Collett married Olive Maud Bilboe, the wedding recorded at Kidderminster register office (Ref. 6c 133) during the last three months of that year

 

Olive was born at Kidderminster on 19th February 1896 (Ref. 6c 242) and died there in 1971 when she was 75, her passing recorded at the Kidderminster register office (Ref. 9d 303) during the first quarter of that year.  Interestingly, her husband was not listed in the Register of 1939, perhaps because he was may have been hospitalised, as his death was recorded at Worcester register office (Ref. 6c 463) during the first few weeks of 1940.  The Register included Olive and her son living at 89 Mill Street in Kidderminster.  Olive was working as a carpet passer and Ronald was a carpet creeler at the age of 15, both working at a local carpet works.  Olive’s date of birth was recorded as 19th February 1896.  Living in the adjoining property was married Ethel M Collett, born on 10th May 1901, carrying out unpaid domestic duties, with her unmarried son James A Collett, another carpet creeler who was born on 22nd November 1922 – see below

 

Further information regarding the family of Olive Maud Bilboe can be found on the Les Durham website at http://digidownload.libero.it/DURHAM_FAMILY/DURHAM-MARTIN-BILBOE-1.htm, Les already being connected to the Collett family depicted in Part 1 – The Main Gloucestershire Line 1480 to 1800

 

The birth of the aforementioned James A Collett was recorded at Kidderminster register office during the fourth quarter of 1922, when his mother’s maiden-name was stated as being Davies.  It was during the previous year, that the marriage of  William’s youngest brother Albert Edward Collett (below) and Ethel May Davies was recorded at Kidderminster during the first quarter of 1921

 

67Q7 – Ronald William Collett was born in 1924 at Kidderminster

 

Sarah Ann Amelia Collett [67P11] was born at Cleobury Mortimer at the end of 1897 with her birth being registered there (Ref. 6a 555) during the first three months of 1898.  It was also there that she was baptised on 1st May 1898, the daughter of Charles and Alice Collett.  Not long after she was born the family spent a short period in their life at Clows Top Road, between the villages of Rock and Pensax, where Sarah A Collett was three in 1901, before they moved to nearby Pensax where Sarah’s two younger siblings were born.  From Pensax the family then settled in Kidderminster and in 1911 Sarah Ann Collett was 13 when with her family at 31 Leswell Street.  Seventeen years later, during the final quarter of 1928, the marriage of Sarah Ann Amelia Collett and Albert Ernest Price was recorded at Kidderminster register office (Ref. 6c 203)

 

What is particularly interesting is that Sarah’s father Charles Collett, on the day he was married, stated that his father was James Price, which begs the question, was Albert Ernest a member of that family.  What is known is that Albert Ernest Price died at Kidderminster on 18th September 1965, following which his Will was proved in London on 9th December 1965.  At that time in his life, he was already a widower residing at 17 Lyndhold Road in Kidderminster, when probate of his personal effects of Ł6,261 was granted to Jeffrey James Harold, credit draper.  It was only five years earlier that the death of Sarah A A Price, nee Collett, was recorded at Kent register office (Ref. 5b 318) in 1960 aged 63.  Why she was in Kent is a mystery that has yet to be resolved

 

Albert Edward Collett [67P12] was born at Pensax on 31st December 1901 although, according to his death certificate he was born one year earlier on 31st December 1900.  However, his birth was recorded at the Worcestershire Martley register office (Ref. 6c 269) during the first three months of 1902, and was therefore not recorded with his family at Clows Top Road in 1901.  In fact, he was nine years of age in the following census in 1911, when he was the youngest son of Charles Collett and Alice Morris, with whom he was living at Kidderminster, when the census return confirmed his place of birth was Pensax.  Just less than ten years later, the marriage of Albert E Collett and Ethel M Davies was recorded at Kidderminster register office (Ref. 6c 171) during the first quarter of 1921

 

Ethel May Davies was born on 10th May 1901, the daughter of William and Sarah Davies.  The birth of the couple’s only known child was recorded at Kidderminster in 1922, when his mother’s maiden-name was stated as being Davies.  When the Register of 1939 was compiled, the family home was at Mill Street in Kidderminster, when Ethel was undertaking unpaid domestic duties and her unmarried son James A Collett was a carpet creeler.  Living next at 89 Mill Street was Ethel’s sister-in-law Olive Collett and her son Ronald (above).  Where Albert was that day has not been established.  Ethel May Collett, nee Davies, was 72 years old when she died, with her death recorded at Worcestershire register office (Ref. 9d 334) in 1973.  Thirteen years after losing Ethel, the death of Albert Edward Collett was recorded at Evesham register office (Vol. 29 237) during the month of May in 1986, when he was 85

 

67Q8 – James A Collett was born in 1922 at Kidderminster

 

Elsie May Collett [67P13] was born at Pensax in 1904 and was six years old in the Kidderminster census of 1911.  The birth of Elsie May Collett was recorded at Martley register office (Ref. 6c 264) during the second quarter of 1904.  She was the youngest of the fourteen children of Charles Collett and Alice Morris, although only thirteen of them have been positively identified in this family history.  Elsie was eighteen years old when her mother died, and within two years her father had also passed away.  At the age of 23, the marriage of Elsie M Collett and Herbert J Longmore was recorded at Kidderminster register office (Ref. 6c 210) during the spring of 1927.  Tragically, five years later she was dead, with the death of Elsie May Longmore recorded at Worcestershire register office (Ref. 6a 82) in 1932.  Four years after being widowed, the second marriage of Herbert J Longmore and Emily W Yeomans was recorded at the Martley register office (Ref. 6c 403) during the spring of 1936.  Herbert was born in 1907 and died in 1953

 

Alice Georgina F Collett [67Q1] was born Battersea in 1909, her birth recorded at Wandsworth register office (Ref. 1d 520) during the third quarter of the year, the first of the six children of George Henry Collett and Olive Huggins.  Eighteen months later Alice and her parents were living at 89 Kingston Road in New Malden, Surrey, where they were awaiting the arrival of Alice’s brother Arthur (below).  She was in her late twenties when the marriage of Alice G F Collett and Alfred R Bone, the event recorded at Battersea during the third quarter of 1938 (Ref. 1d 108).  The marriage provided the couple with four children, with all the births recorded at Surrey register office.  They were Carol M Bone in 1945, Andrew T Bone in 1946, Jeffrey S Bone in 1951, and Edward W Bone in 1953, when their mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett

 

Arthur J Collett [67Q2] was born at 89 Kingston Road in New Malden within six months of the census day in 1911, the second child and eldest son of tailor George Henry Collett and Olive Huggins.  His birth was recorded at St Pancras register office (Ref. 1b 25) during the third quarter of 1911, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Huggins.  Arthur was twenty-three years old when his marriage to Winifred A Port was recorded at Woolwich register office (Ref. 1d 127) during the second quarter of 1935.  Winifred was born at Greenwich during the summer of 1914, when her mother’s maiden-name was Taylor.  Two years into their marriage, Winifred gave birth to their only child, whose birth was recorded at Uxbridge in 1937

 

67R1 – Adrian George Collett was born in 1937 at Uxbridge

 

Edith W Collett [67Q3] was born in South London in 1912 and was the third child of George and Olive Collett and the first one born after the family had moved to Southwark where her birth was recorded during the fourth quarter of 1912 (Ref. 1d 8) and when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Huggins.  It was during the spring of 1935 that the wedding of Edith W Collett and Ernest H Smith was recorded at Croydon register office (Ref. 2a 1735).  Over the next fifteen years Edith gave birth to five children, whose births were all recorded in Surrey, with the first two at Croydon, when their mother’s maiden name was confirmed at Collett.  They were Anne Olive Smith in 1936, Paul B Smith in 1940, Brian Ernest Smith in 1945, Terence R Smith in 1947, and Martyn C Smith in 1950.  Martyn was fifteen years old when Edith died at the age of 53, with the death of Edith W Smith recorded at Surrey register office (Ref. 5a 813) in 1965

 

George Henry Collett [67Q4] was born in South London on 26th March 1915, when his birth was recorded at Southwark register office (Ref. 1d 54) during the second quarter of the year.  He was the fifth of the six children of George and Olive Collett, with his mother’s maiden-name confirmed as Huggins at the time of his birth.  It was at Kensington register office in London, that his marriage to Evelyn J Petley was recorded (Ref. 5c 2220) during the last quarter of 1949.  George was 34 and Evelyn was only 21, with her birth also recorded at Kensington register office (Ref. 1a 127) during the first three months of 1928, when her mother’s maiden-name was recorded as Marshall.  Just over two years after their wedding day, Evelyn gave birth to a daughter, whose birth was recorded at Lambeth in London.  Her father was still residing within the County of Surrey when he passed away at the age of 87, with the death of George Henry Collett recorded at Surrey register (Vol. 2251c c84b) in 2002

 

67R2 – Valerie J Collett was born in 1952 at Lambeth

 

Ivy Doris Collett [67Q5] was born in South London on 19th January 1917, another daughter of George and Olive Collett, whose birth was recorded at Southwark register office (Ref. 1d 65) during the first three months of that year, and her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Huggins.  The marriage of Ivy Doris Collett and Cecil T C Carter was recorded at Croydon register office (Ref. 2a 2441) during the summer of 1940.  Cecil Thomas T Carter was born on 19th December 1915 within the Wandsworth area of London.  Their first child was Jeannette Ivy O Carter whose birth was recorded at Croydon register in 1942 (Ref. 2a 1587) when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett.  Another two child were born after the family moved from Surrey to Essex, and they were Alan E Carter in 1952, and Janice A Carter in 1954, and again their mother’s maiden-name was Collett

 

Towards the end of her life Ivy was living in Essex, and it was at Essex register office (Ref. 4a 1789) that the death of Ivy Doris Carter was recorded in 1972 when she was only 55.  He husband survived her by twenty-one years, when the death of Cecil Thomas T Carter also recorded at Essex register office (Vol. 4721b b10) in 1993, after he had died in Harlow aged 77

 

Gladys H Collett [67Q6] was born in South London in 1922, the sixth and last child of George Henry Collett and Olive Huggins.  As with three of her five older siblings, her birth was also recorded at Southwark register office (Ref. 1d 64) during the first quarter of the year, when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Huggins.  It was inevitable, after her two older sisters Edith and Ivy (above) were married in Croydon, when they were both 23 years old, that Gladys was also married there.  However, she was only eighteen when the wedding of Gladys H Collett and Robert J Cousins was recorded at Croydon register office (Ref. 2a 2200) during the last three months of 1940.  Within the first six months of 1941, Gladys gave birth to the first of the couple’s two children, when the birth of Spencer J Cousins was recorded at Croydon (Ref. 2a 1466).  Two years later their family was completed with the birth of Sandra A Cousins also recorded at Croydon (Ref. 2a 1277) during the spring of 1943.  On both occasions the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett

 

Ronald William Collett [67Q7] was born at Kidderminster on 20th August 1924 and his birth was recorded there (Ref. 6c 147) during the third quarter of the year, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Bilboe.  It was at the Church of St John-the-Baptist in Kidderminster that he was baptised on 7th October 1924, the only known child of William Ernest Collett and Olive Maud Bilboe.  In 1939, Ronald W Collett was a carpet creeler working in a carpet works, where his mother Ethel was a carpet passer.  At that time in their lives, the pair of them were residing on Mill Street in Kidderminster.  Ronald’s father was absent from the family home and died during the early part of the following year

 

It was during the first three months of 1962 that Ronald W Collett married Jean Hodges, with the event recorded at Kidderminster register office (Ref. 9d 382).  As far as can be determined Ronald and Jean had just one child, when the birth of their daughter was recorded at Kidderminster three years later.  It was also at Kidderminster that the death of Ronald W Collett was recorded (Ref. 29d 199) during the summer of 1996, at the age of 72.  On the website ancestry.com the name of Ronald William Collett of Kidderminster is linked to the Adcock family

 

67R3 - Julie A Collett was born in 1965 at Kidderminster

 

James A Collett [67Q8] was born at Kidderminster on 22nd November 1922, the only known child of Albert Collett and Ethel Davies.  His birth was recorded at Kidderminster register office (Ref. 6c 147) during the fourth quarter of 1922, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Davies.  At the age of 17 years, the 1939 Register recorded James with his mother at Mill Street in Kidderminster, where James A Collett was a carpet creeler.  The possible death of James A Collett, at the age of 65, was recorded at Worcester (Vol. 29 882) towards the end of 1987, except that it was recorded simply as James Collett.  Furthermore, no record of any marriage for him has been discovered

 

Adrian George Collett [67R1] was born in 1937, his birth recorded at Uxbridge register office (Ref. 3a 241) during the third quarter of that year, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Port.  It was also at Uxbridge where his marriage to Sheila W Plested was recorded (Ref. 5f 379) during the fourth quarter of 1960.  Sometime after that, the family appear to have settled in Easthampstead, Berkshire, where the birth of their son was recorded in 1973

 

67S1 – Matthew Richard Collett was born in 1973 at Easthampstead

 

Valerie J Collett [67R2] was born in London during 1952 and was the only child of George Henry Collett and Evelyn J Petley.  Her birth was recorded at Lambeth register office (Ref. 5c 1767) in the first quarter of year, when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Petley.  Later on there were three marriages of Valerie J Collett in England, but only one within the London area of the country, the others being in Oxfordshire and Lincolnshire.  Therefore, included here, is the marriage of Valerie J Collett and Kenneth C Ingram which was recorded at the Middlesex Hillingdon register office (Ref. 5c 759) during the spring of 1971 when she was 19 years old.  The births of the only Ingram/Collett children were recorded in Berkshire, to the west of Hillingdon, in 1973 and 1973.  They were Scott Ingram (Ref. 6a 868) during the first quarter of 1973 at Reading register office, and fifteen months later Kelly Louise Ingram (Vol. 19 0774) during the second quarter of 1974 at the Reading & Wokingham register office.  In both cases, the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett

 

Julie A Collett [67R3] was born in 1965 at Kidderminster, the only known child of Ronald William Collett and Jean Hodges.  It was at Kidderminster register office that her birth was recorded (Ref. 9d 60) during the third quarter of that year, with her mother’s maiden-name confirmed as Hodges.  Julie was 21 years of age when she was married to Steven J Conder, with their wedding day recorded at Kidderminster register office (Vol. 29 537) during the second quarter of 1987

 

Matthew Richard Collett [67S1] was born in 1973, the only known child of Adrian and Sheila Collett, his birth recorded at Easthampstead register office in Berkshire (Ref. 6a 142) during the summer of 1973, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Plested.  Also born at Easthampstead at that same time was Caroline Ann Oxspring, who perhaps attended the same schools as Adrian since, it was when they were both twenty-six years of age, that their marriage was recorded at Pershore register office in Worcestershire (Vol. 523 1069) during the spring of 2000

 

 

 

 

APPENDIX

 

During the investigation into this family a further birth and death has been revealed at Cleobury Mortimer, but at this time it has not been determined who the parents of the child may have been.  It was in 1908 that Richard John Collett was born, his birth record there (Ref. 6a 501) during the last three months of that year, while his death was also recorded there (Ref. 6a 351) during the same quarter of the year