PART SEVENTY-EIGHT

The Collett Families of Oaksey & Poole Keynes, Wiltshire

including the village of Kemble near Cirencester

Issued March 2023

Back in 2018 my cousin Richard Goddard (Ref. 1Q42) sent in a photograph he had taken of a headstone at Green Road Cemetery in Stratton-St-Margaret relating to Jane Collett, wife of William Jacob Collett of Breach Farm, Stratton-St-Margaret, who died in 1875. A quick check at the time revealed William was descended from a Collett family with its origins in and around the Wiltshire triangle of the villages of Oaksey, Poole Keynes, and Somerford Keynes on the county boundary with Gloucestershire. A year later, during 2019, I was very grateful to receive from Stephen Carpenter, the Wiltshire births, deaths, and marriages registers recently transcribed by him. Much of what Stephen sent, back then, was assimilated into many of the existing Collett family lines that were already established by that time. However, for those members of the families associated with the three aforementioned neighbouring villages, nothing has ever done, that is, until now

William Collett [78L1], about whom nothing else is known, married Betty Southwood on 20^th October 1794 at Ashton Keynes, just east of Poole Keynes and Somerford Keynes. William was described as a servant in the employ of Mr Bown. Betty was the daughter of John and Ann Southwood and was baptised on 15^th May 1757 at Hillmarton, midway between Lyneham and Calne in Wiltshire, fifteen miles due south of Ashton Keynes. It is established that Betty Collett was a widow residing at Poole Keynes in 1841, when her age was recorded as being 85, coinciding with the date of her baptism. On that day in June, she had two grandchildren living with her at Poole Keynes, two of the older children of her son James. Sadly, no record for the birth of James Collett has been found although the same census in 1841 gave him a rounded age of 40. By the time James was born, there were four older sons in the family of William and Betty. It is interesting that, whilst they were baptised at All Saints Church in Oaksey, it is possible that they were born at Poole Keynes, under two miles from Oaksey, according to later census records. Either that or the family moved the short distance to Poole Keynes not long after the family was completed. The church at Poole Keynes, St Michael & All Angels, was rebuilt in 1775.

However, just to complicate things, the baptisms of their four older sons were credited to William Collett and his wife Elizabeth, with one source considering that she was Elizabeth Barnes (1777-1801), who could not possibly be the mother of James. On the day of the census in June 1841, Betty Collett was 85 years old and her two grandchildren with her living at Poole Keynes were siblings Henry Collett who was nine and Jane Collett who was seven. They were the children of James Collett by his wife Susanna, whose surname is still not known, having found no record of the couple’s wedding day

78M1 – William Collett was born in 1795 at Oaksey

78M2 – Robert Collett was born in 1796 at Oaksey

78M3 – William Collett was born in 1797 at Oaksey

78M4 – John Collett was born in 1799 at Oaksey

78M5 – James Collett was born in 1801 at Oaksey

Sarah Collett [78L2] was more than likely the younger sister of William Collett (above). Just over three years after William was married, so too was Sarah, when the marriage of Sarah Collett and Robert Lewis from nearby Coates, over the county boundary in Gloucestershire, was conducted at Oaksey on 13^th May 1798. On the day of the wedding, Sarah was already with-child, their daughter Elizabeth Lewis born in September that same year and baptised not very far away at Kemble in Gloucestershire, three miles due north of Oaksey. See Appendix for more details about the Collett family of Kemble, which precedes the Collett’s in this family line, so may have an earlier connection to William who starts this line.

The first child of Sarah and Robert Lewis did not survive and, by the time the couple’s second daughter was born at Purton, to the west of Swindon in 1803, she too was given the name Elizabeth Lewis. After that a further five children were added to the family at Purton, and they were Mary Lewis in 1806, Nevil Lewis in 1809, John Lewis in 1811, Richard Lewis in 1813, and Hannah Lewis in 1816. In every case, when they were baptised at Purton, the parents were confirmed as Robert and Sarah Lewis

William Collett [78M1] was born at Oaksey in 1795 the first-born child of William Collett and Betty Southwood. He only survived for a short time and was buried at Oaksey on 1^st November 1795. It is worth pointing out that the three youngest brothers of William (below) moved to nearby Poole Keynes at some time in their lives, where his widowed mother Betty Collett and two of her Collett grandchildren were living in 1841

Robert Collett [78M2] was born in 1796 at Oaksey, where he was baptised on 19^th July 1796, the eldest surviving son of William and Betty Collett. Around the time he celebrated his twenty-seventh birthday, Robert Collett and Jemima Blackwell were married at Oaksey on 23^rd June 1823, following which Jemima presented Robert with six children. All of the children were born and baptised at Oaksey, using a variety of interpretations of the surname recorded in the Bishop’s Transcripts from Collet, to Collette, and Collett. Their six acknowledged children were: Elizabeth Collett and Margaret Collett who were baptised together on the same day, but who may have been born a year apart; Ann Marie Collett; William Collett; George Collett; and Emma Collett. In every case, their parents were confirmed as Robert and Jemima, with their father’s occupation being that of a baker although, in the subsequent census returns he was a labourer

On the day of the census in 1841 the eight members of the family were still living in Oaksey. Head of the household was Robert Collett who, like all his children had been born in Wiltshire, with his wife recorded as not born in the county, both him and Jemima having a rounded age of 35. The six children living with them were Elizabeth and Margaret, both with a rounded age of 15, Ann who was 12, William who was ten, George who was nine, and Emma who was six years of age

By 1851 the census for Oaksey revealed that the eldest daughter Elizabeth had left the family home, and had been replaced by Robert and Jemima’s grandson James Collett who was two years old and also born at Oaksey. That raises the question that James was very likely the base-born child of Robert’s eldest daughter Elizabeth who was absent from the family home in Oaksey that year. Furthermore, James was again living with the family ten years later. The census in 1851 listed the remainder of the family as Robert Collett of Oaksey who was 54 and working as a labourer and no longer a baker, his wife Jemima who was 56 and had been born at Miserden, near Stroud in Gloucestershire, Margaret Collett who was 25, Anna Maria Collett who was 22, William Collett who was 20, George Collett who was 18, and Emma Collett who was 16. The couple’s missing daughter Elizabeth Collett had already left the family home and was working as a domestic servant in the City of Bath, in Somerset

After a further ten years, only one of their children was still living at the family home on Wick Road in Oaksey in 1861, and that was unmarried Emma Collett who was 26. Agricultural labourer Robert was 64, and Jemima was 66 when her place of birth was recorded as Edgeworth, less than two miles south of Miserden. Three members of the couple’s extended family were staying with them at that time, and they were James Collett (aka Robert James Collett) their eleven-year-old grandson from Oaksey who was already working alongside his grandfather, George Collett (aka George Blackwell Collett) aged three years and from Thetford in Norfolk, the only known child of their son George, and granddaughter Margaret Collett (aka Margaret Jemima Collett) who was one year old and born at Oaksey. Baby Margaret may have been the base-born child of their unmarried daughter Emma

It was during the following year that Robert Collett died at Oaksey, with his death recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 22) during the last three months of 1862. According to the Oaksey census in 1871, his widow Jemima was 77 and head of the household, who only had her 12-year-old grandson George living there with her. Once again, Jemima reported that she had been born at Edgeworth, with George confirmed as having been born at Thetford. Four years later, at the age of 82, Jemima Collett passed away, with her death also recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 38) during the first three months of 1875.

78N1 - Elizabeth Collett was born in 1824 at Oaksey

78N2 - Margaret Collett was born in 1825 at Oaksey

78N3 - Ann Marie Collett was born in 1828 at Oaksey

78N4 - William Collett was born in 1830 at Oaksey

78N5 - George Collett was born in 1831 at Oaksey

78N6 - Emma Collett was born in 1834 at Oaksey

William Collett [78M3] was born in 1797 at Oaksey and was named after his older brother of the same name who died two years earlier. Unless he was the twin-brother of John (below), his naming ceremony was delayed until his was approaching two years of age, when his was baptised in a joint ceremony with brother John at Oaksey on 31^st March 1799. William had just reached full age when he married Jane Bunce of Purton on 8^th November 1818 at Oaksey, each of them residing in Oaksey, with the witnesses being named as James Brown and Sarah Hammond, according to the Bishop’s Transcript. Jane was baptised at Purton, near Swindon, on 25^th February 1799, the daughter of Robert and Rebecca Bunce. The couple had eleven children between 1818 and 1840, all as listed below, the first three baptised at Poole Keynes, the next four at Somerford Keynes, and the last four at Oaksey

Tragically, a few days before the June census in 1841, head of the household William Collett died at Oaksey, where he was buried on 30^th May 1841, when his death was recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. viii 247) during the second quarter of the year. That must have been a hard time for his widow Jane, as she had already suffered the loss of her baby son William in 1828, two-year-old daughter Rebecca in 1832, and 17-year-old son Maurice who died just one month before the census day in 1841. Almost exactly one year later, son Robert was 21 when he died at Oaksey during the first week of May in 1842. The census return completed on 6^th June 1841 recorded 42-year-old Jane as still living at Oaksey, within the Malmesbury registration district with seven of her children. They were James who was 20, Robert who was 18, Jane who was 15, Alfred who was 11, Lucy who was five, and the twins Emma and Thirza who were one year old. Every member of the household was confirmed as having been born within the county of Wiltshire. No record of her son Richard has been found in 1841, when he would have been 12, nor has any later record been unearthed

During the following ten years daughter Jane left home, leaving Jane Collett from Purton aged 52 and a widow, working as a market woman and a carrier residing at Moor Road in Oaksey in 1851. Still living there with her, was James Collett who was 30, Alfred Collett who was 19, Lucy Collett who was 14, and the twins Emma and Thirza Collett who were both eleven years of age. It was a similar situation in 1861 when Jane Collett from Purton was 62 and a carrier living at Moore Cross in Oaksey, with daughter Jane from Poole Keynes aged 33, son Alfred aged 29, and twins Emma and Thirza who were 21 with no occupation, all three of them born at Oaksey. Jane Collett was 72 in the Oaksey census of 1871, when she was described as a farmer. The only member of the family living with her that day was her unmarried daughter Emma who was 31. Three years later, the death of Jane Collett at Oaksey was recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 28) during the second quarter of 1874, when she was 74 years old

78N7 - James Collett was born in 1819 at Somerford Keynes

78N8 - Robert Collett was born in 1821 at Somerford Keynes

78N9 - Maurice Collett was born in 1823 at Somerford Keynes

78N10 - Jane Collett was born 1826 at Poole Keynes

78N11 – William Collett was born in 1828 at Poole Keynes

78N12 – Richard Collett was born in 1829 at Poole Keynes

78N13 – Rebekah Collett was born in 1829 at Poole Keynes

78N14 – Alfred Collett was born in 1831 at Oaksey

78N15 – Lucy Ann Collett was born in 1835 at Oaksey

78N16 – Emma Collett was born in 1840 at Oaksey

78N17 – Thirza Collett was born in 1840 at Oaksey

John Collett [78M4] was born at Oaksey at the start of 1799, after which he was baptised there in a joint ceremony with his older brother William (above) on 31^st March 1799, the sons of William and Betty Collett. Unlike his three surviving brothers, who remain living in and around the Oaksey and Poole Keynes area, John eventually initially settled in Poole Keynes where his was married, and where his two children were born, before moving to Swindon, where he was married for a second time, and then finally to Stratton-St-Margaret where he died

In was on 23^rd April 1829 when John Collett married (1) Elizabeth Weeks, with their wedding conducted at Poole Keynes, when the witnesses were Reuben Weeks and Mary Ann Weeks. The Bishop’s Transcript also recorded that, prior to that day, the couple had been residing in Plaitford near Salisbury. Two children were born to John and Elizabeth, before Elizabeth suffered a premature death, perhaps as a result of not recovering from the ordeal of the second birth. Just a week after celebrating their first wedding anniversary, their son William Jacob Collett was born at Poole Keynes in 1830, when the Bishop’s Transcript recorded at his baptism there, that his parents were John Collett, a farmer, and his wife Elizabeth. Less than two years later the couple’s daughter Mary Anne Collett was also born and baptised at Poole Keynes, when once again the Bishop’s Transcript stating that she was the daughter of farmer John and Elizabeth Collett

Three years after the birth of his daughter, widower John Collett married spinster (2) Olive Whitfield on 28^th May 1835 at Christ Church in Swindon. Both of them were residing in Swindon at that time, when the witnesses at their wedding ceremony were Rebecca Reynolds and John Harding, all as recorded in the Bishop’s Transcript. Six years later John and Olive had the rounded age of 35 in the Westcott (Place) census in Swindon in June 1841, when living there with John’s son William Collett who was 11 years old

Two and a half years later, Olive Collett died in Swindon at the start of 1844 and was buried at Poole Keynes on 8^th January 1844 at the age of 49 according to the Bishop’s Transcript. According to the census in 1851, John Collett was a widower who was living in Stratton-St-Margaret with his two children. John was a yeoman farmer, having 59 acres, his son William Collett was 20 and helping his father with the farm, and his daughter Mary Ann Collett was 19, all three of them recorded in error as having been born at Poole Keynes.

Employed by John that day in 1851 was unmarried housekeeper Maria Norton who was 38, plus outdoor servant Henry Kemble who was 21 and from Stratton-St-Margaret.

After a further decade, the 1861 census for Stratton-St-Margaret, recorded John Collett from Oaksey as being a widower aged 59 who was living at The Cross Road in Stratton, where he was still working as a farmer. Still living with him was his unmarried daughter Mary A Collett aged 28 and from Poole Keynes, and their housekeeper Maria Wolton aged 42. By that time, son William had been married for three years and, sometime during the 1860s, John moved in with his son and his wife at Breach Farm. Four years after the census in 1871, the death of John Collett of Breach Farm was recorded at Highworth (Ref. 5a 3) at the beginning of 1875. The loss of his father was followed later that same by the death of William’s wife, at which point he took over sole ownership of Breach Farm, which he worked up until 1891

78N18 - William Jacob Collett was born in 1830 at Poole Keynes

78N19 - Mary Anne Collett was born in 1832 at Poole Keynes

James Collett [78M5] was born at Oaksey around 1801 and had a rounded age of forty years in the nearby Poole Keynes census of 1841. On that census day, and living close by, was James’ elderly mother, who had staying with her two of James’ older children. The marriage of James Collett and Susanna Creed, who was baptised at Ampney St Peter on 16^th April 1802, daughter of Henry and Mary Creed, has not been found. However, prior to their wedding day, Susanna had already given birth to a daughter was born at Easington around 1824. All nine of her children with James were born and baptised at Poole Keynes and confirmed in the Bishop’s Transcripts. The records for the first five children reported that James was a labourer but, from 1833 until his death in 1844 his occupation was that of a butcher. On the majority of cases, James’ wife was recorded as Susanna, but occasionally as Susan

Still living with the couple in 1841 were just three of their children and they were Margaret Collett who was eleven, Hester (Esther) Collett who was four, and Sarah Collett who was two years old. Their mother again was recorded as Susan Collett who was 39. Staying with the family on that occasion was 28-year-old James Hutchinson who had not been born in Wiltshire. Of the couple’s eight children born before 1841, excluding the three listed above, two had already suffered infant deaths, Elizabeth and Jane, while the other three children were living nearby in Poole Keynes. Henry aged nine and Jane who was seven, were staying at the home of their grandmother Betty Collett, while eldest surviving daughter Mary was also recorded in the village, where maybe she was already employed as a domestic servant

Three years later James Collett died at Poole Keynes, where he was buried on 14^th June 1844, the Bishop’s Transcript stating that he was 43 years old, and therefore born around 1801. It is possible that he died prior to Susanna revealing that she was expecting another baby. Seven years after being made a widow, Susan Collett aged 49 and from Easington was working as a farm servant and was head of the household at Poole Keynes in 1851. Living there with her were her three youngest children, 13-year-old Esther being a scholar, as was Sarah who was eleven, and Louisa Collett who was six years old

Louisa Collett of Poole Keynes aged 16, was the only child still living with her mother at Poole Keynes in 1861, when Susan Collett from Easington, near Stroud, was 59 and a field labourer. Six years later, Susan suffered the loss of her youngest child and companion in her old age, when Louisa died at the age of only 22. Despite her loss, she continued living at Poole Keynes, where Susan Collett aged 67 was living on her own in 1871. Shortly thereafter, she travelled to London to be reunited with her first-born child Ann, prior to Susan marrying James Collett. That was confirmed in the Lambeth census of 1881 when Susan Collett from Easington was 77 and the mother-in-law of carpenter William Wheeler from Thatcham in Berkshire who was 65 and head of the household at Archbishops Place. Ann Wheeler from Easington was 57 and a laundress, and the couple’s two daughters were Sarah Wheeler who was ten and born at Brixton, as was Eliza Wheeler who was nine.

78N20 – Elizabeth Collett was born in 1826 at Poole Keynes

78N21 – Mary Collett was born in 1827 at Poole Keynes

78N22 – Jane Collett was born in 1829 at Poole Keynes

78N23 – Margaret Collett was born in 1830 at Poole Keynes

78N24 – Henry Collett was born in 1832 at Poole Keynes

78N25 – Jane Collett was born in 1835 at Poole Keynes

78N26 – Esther Collett was born in 1837 at Poole Keynes

78N27 – Sarah Collett was born in 1838 at Poole Keynes

78N28 – Louisa Collett was born in 1845 at Poole Keynes

Elizabeth Collett [78N1] was born at Oaksey in 1824 and was the eldest of the six children of Robert Collett and Jemima Blackwell. Curiously, the first two children, Elizabeth and her sister Margaret (below) were first baptised together at Somerford Keynes on 7^th November 1825, as recorded in the Bishop’s Transcripts, when it was also confirmed they were the children of baker Robert and Jemima Collett and had been born at Oaksey. Two months after that, they were recorded in the Oaksey parish register as being baptised there on 8^th January 1826. The two girls were recorded with their family at Oaksey in 1841, both with a rounded age of 15 years, although they were not twins. That was confirmed ten years later when unmarried Elizabeth Collett from Oaksey was 26 and a servant working at the Union Street, Bath home of shoe manufacturer Sam Solomon 56 and his daughter Angeline Solomon who was 34 and born in France

It seems likely that two years earlier, unmarried Elizabeth discovered she was with-child and later gave birth to a son who was raised by Elizabeth’s parents at Oaksey, with whom he was living in 1851 and 1861. After he was born it is possible that Elizabeth was then sent away to work in Somerset where no one would know her back story

78O1 – Robert James Collett was born in 1849 at Oaksey

Margaret Collett [78N2] was born in 1825 at Oaksey and was baptised twice with her older sister (above), on the first occasion at Somerford Keynes on 7^th November 1825. On that day it as the Bishop’s Transcripts that confirmed they were the daughters of baker Robert and Jemima Collett and had been born at Oaksey. Two months later they were baptised at Oaksey on 8^th January 1826, when the parish records said their parents were Robert and Jemima Collett. In the Oaksey census in 1841, Margaret was 15 and in 1851 she was 25. Ten months after that census day, the marriage of Margaret Collett and Daniel Hitchings took place at Stroud on 18^th January 1852. Margaret was 24 and the daughter of Robert Collett and Daniel was 29 and the son of George and Sarah Hitchings, who was baptised at Minchinhampton on 25^th May 1823. In the previous year Daniel was 28 and a labourer who was still living in Minchinhampton with his family

It is unclear as to what happened to Daniel and Margaret after they were married, but it is established that Daniel Hitchings from Stroud was a widower in the Chelsea census of 1891 when he was 68 and a pensioner who was a patient in the Royal Chelsea Hospital. A year after that was when Daniel died on 17^th March 1892 and was buried at Brompton Cemetery in London. It is therefore assumed that the death of Margaret Hitchings was the one recorded at Stroud (Ref. 6a 191) during the first three months of 1857 only five years after their wedding day. It was also at Stroud that Margaret was buried on 23^rd March 1857

Ann Marie Collett [78N3] was another daughter of Robert and Jemima Collett born at Oaksey where she was baptised on 28^th December 1828. Ann Collett was 12 years of age in the Oaksey census of 1841, and as Ann Marie Collett was 22 in 1851 and still living with her parents at Oaksey.

William Collett [78N4] was the fourth child and eldest son of Robert and Jemima Collett born in 1830 at Oaksey, where he was baptised on 22^nd June 1830. In the Oaksey census of 1841, William Collett was ten years old, and was 20 years of age in 1851, by which time he was working as a labourer, with his brother George (below), when they were still living at the family home in Oaksey. It was only four years later that William Collett aged 24 died at Oaksey, where he was buried on 2^nd February 1855, as recorded in the Bishop’s Transcripts

George Collett [78N5] was born in 1831 at Oaksey and was baptised there on 29 January 1832, the second son of Robert and Jemima Collett. George was nine years old in 1841, and later on, having completed his schooling, he worked with his brother William as a labourer, as confirmed in the Oaksey census of 1851, when George was 18. Five years later the marriage of George Collett and Emma Hammond was recorded at West Ham in London (Ref. 4a 10) during the third quarter of 1856, following which the couple was in Thetford, Norfolk, for the birth of their son one year later. The child’s baptism record stated that his father George Collett was a machine fitter

It is very odd that no record of George and Emma has been found after the birth and baptism of their likely only child who, in 1861 was living with George’s parents at Wick Road in Oaksey, where George Collett from Thetford was three years of age. Ten year later he was still living with his grandparents at Wick Road, when George B Collett was recorded as 12 years of age

78O2 – George Blackwell Collett was born in 1857 at Thetford, Norfolk

Emma Collett [78N6] was born at Oaksey in 1834, where she was baptised on 31^st August 1834, and was the last child born to Robert Collett and Jemima Blackwell. She was six years old, 16, and 26 years of age in the Oaksey census returns in 1841, 1851, and 1861, when living there with her parents at Wick Road. During the previous year Emma had given birth to a daughter who she named after her recently deceased eldest sister and her mother. Although no record of her has been found in the census returns of 1871 and 1881, it was five years later when the death of Emma Collett was recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 29) during the last three months of 1886 when she was 54

78O3 - Margaret Jemima Collett was born in 1860 at Oaksey

James Collett [78N7] was the first child born to William Collett and Jane Bunce at Somerford Keynes, where he was baptised on 12^th September 1819, when the Bishop’s Transcript confirmed that his father’s occupation was that of a miller. On the day of the census in 1841, James had a rounded age of 20, and ten years later, in 1851, he was still living with his widowed mother at Moor Road in Oaksey, his father having died ten years earlier, just one week before the census day in 1841. In 1851 James Collett was recorded as a 30-year-old labourer who had been born at Oaksey. Because no record of him has been found with the census of 1861, it is possible that it was this James Collett whose death was recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 29) during the second quarter of 1856

Robert Collett [78N8] was born in 1821 at Somerford Keynes and was baptised there on 25^th March 1821, the son of miller William Collett and his wife Jane. He was twenty-years old when his father died at Oaksey near the end of May in 1841, with Robert aged 18 in the Oaksey census of 1841, suffering the same fate one year later, when he died and was buried at Oaksey on 5^th May 1842

Maurice Collett [78N9] was born at Somerford Keynes in 1823, where he was baptised on 28^th December 1923, another son of miller William Collett. He was a couple of years old when his family moved the very short distance to nearby Poole Keynes, followed by another move in 1831 to nearby Oaksey. One month prior to the census during the first week of June in 1841, Maurice Collett aged 17 died and was buried at Oaksey on 2^nd May 1841. Four weeks later his father passed away and almost exactly one year later, Maurice’s older brother Robert (above) also died

Jane Collett [78N10] was possibly born at the end of 1826, at Poole Keynes where she was baptised on 4^th March 1827, the daughter of butcher William Collett. On the day of the census in 1841, fifteen-year-old Jane and her family had just suffered the loss of her father and four weeks earlier the premature death of her brother Maurice (above) and their father. Ten years later, Jane was not living with her widowed mother at Oaksey in 1851 but had returned to be with her elderly mother at Moore Cross in Oaksey in 1861, where unmarried Jane Collett from Poole Keynes was 33 and working as a servant. That day she was the oldest of the three siblings living with their mother

Shortly after that census day in 1861, Jane Collett married John Morse, who was very likely the brother of Jane Morse who had married Jane’s cousin William Jacob Collett (below) three years earlier in 1858 but at Stratton-St-Margaret, Swindon. It was at Oaksey where they raised their family which, in 1871, comprised farmer John Morse from Somerford Keynes who was 50, his wife Jane from Oaksey who was 43, Arthur John Morse who was nine, Una Jane Morse who was seven, Frederick William Morse who was six, Florence E Morse who was five, and Albert Edward Morse who was three

In 1881 the family living in Oaksey comprised farmer John Morse who was 60 and from Somerford Keynes, his wife Jane Morse from Oaksey who was 53, plus their five Oaksey born children. They were: Arthur J Morse aged 19; Una J Morse aged 18; Frederick W Morse aged 16; Florence E Morse aged 15; and Albert E Morse who was 14. Listed with the Morse family that day was John Morse’s sister-in-law Emma Collett (below), one of Jane’s younger unmarried twin-sisters. On the day of the next census John and Jane were visitors at the Wood Street home in Cliffe Pypard, near Cricklade, the home of John’s younger married brother William Morse, another farmer, and his wife Elizabeth. John Morse was 71 and Jane was 63

Just after the start of the new century, the members of the family still living in Oaksey were 80-year-old farmer John Morse, 74-year-old Jane Morse, their unmarried children Arthur John Morse who was 39, Una Jane Morse who was 37, Albert Edward Morse who was 33. Less than four years later, Jane Morse nee Collett, was 78 when she died at Oaksey, with her death recorded at Malmesbury register office (Ref. 5a 33) during the first three months of 1905.

William Collett [78N11] was born at Poole Keynes in 1828, another son of William Collett and Jane Bunce, who died there and was buried there on 27^th June 1828, as recorded in the Bishop’s Transcript

Richard Collett [78N12] was born in 1829 at Poole Keynes and was quite possibly the twin brother of Rebecca (below) as they were baptised together in a joint service at Poole Keynes on 1^st November 1829, the children of carrier William Collett. No further record of him has been found

Rebekah Collett [78N13] was born in 1829 at Poole Keynes and was baptised there with her twin brother on 1^st November 1829. Tragically, she was two years old when she died at Oaksey where, as Rebecca Collett daughter of carrier William Collett, she was buried on 29^th May 1832

Alfred Collett [78N14] was born in 1831 at Oaksey where he was baptised on 26^th February 1832, the son of labourer William Collett. He was recorded incorrectly as being 11 years old in the Oaksey census of 1841, but correctly aged 19 in 1851, when he was a labourer who was still living at the family home at Moor Road in Oaksey, as he was again in 1861 but at Moore Cross in the village, when he was 29 and a carrier working alongside his mother, who was also a carrier

Three and a half years later, it was Alfred’s time to leave his family, when he married Maria Jane Lewis, their wedding day recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 89) during the fourth quarter of 1864. Their wedding was the second Collett/Lewis marriage service at Oaksey, the first being Sarah Collett and Robert Lewis back in 1798. It is a great shame that the 1871 census return for the family has not been found

By 1881 Alfred Collett from Oaksey was 49 and his occupation was that of a farm bailiff when he was living at Stroud Road in Frocester near Wheatenhurst in Gloucestershire. His wife Maria Jane Collett from Slimbridge was 39 and, recorded with the couple, were their two daughters, 16-year-old Sarah Collett of Oaksey, and Zipporah Collett who was not yet one year old and had been born at Frocester, plus the couple’s niece Maud Beatrice Collett who was two years old and born at Blakeney in Gloucestershire. It was at George Street in Minchinhampton that farm bailiff Alfred Collett from Oaksey, aged 59, was living with his family in 1891. His wife was simply named as Jane Collett in the census that year when she was 49. According to the census return that year, the couple still had two daughters living with them, who were reported to be Maud Collett who was 12, and Zipporah Collett who was 10, with both of them attending school in Minchinhampton

Sometime during the next few years, the family left Minchinhampton when they moved to Rodborough near Stroud, where they were living in 1901. However, within the six months prior to the census day that year, Alfred Collett with his death recorded at Stroud register office (Ref. 6a 225) during the last three months of 1900 when he was 68. That event was confirmed in census return, when Maria Jane Collett, aged 58 and from Slimbridge, was recorded as a widow. On that day, and still living with her, was her youngest daughter Zipporah Collett who was 20 and a tailoress from Frocester, when they were residing at Bowl Hill in Rodborough. After a further decade, and at the age of 69, Jane Collett from Slimbridge was a visitor at the Upton St Leonards home (midway between Painswick and Gloucester) of her youngest daughter Maud Dainty from Lydney and her husband Alfred Dainty from Whaddon near Upton St Leonards

78O4 - Sarah Ann Collett was born in 1864 at Oaksey

78O5 - Maud Beatrice Collett was born in 1878 at Lydney, near Blakeney

78O6 – Zipporah Josephine Collett was born in 1880 at Frocester

Lucy Ann Collett [78N15] was born at Oaksey in 1835 and it was there also that she was baptised on 6^th March 1836, another daughter of carrier William Collett. It was simply as Lucy Collett that she was recorded in 1841 at the Oaksey family home, by which time her mother Jane was a widow who had also suffered the premature death of four of children, with Lucy’s older brother Robert Collett (above) dying one year later. At the age of 14 (sic) in 1851, Lucy was still living with her mother at Moor Road in Oaksey, together with two older unmarried brothers James and Alfred (above), and the twins Emma and Thirza (below). Just over a year later, 16-year-old Lucy Collett died and was buried at Oaksey on 6^th May 1852, as recorded in the Bishops Transcripts. The death of Lucy Collett was recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 28) during the second quarter of 1852

Emma Collett [78N16] was born in 1840 at Oaksey and was baptised there with her twin sister Thirza (below) on 3^rd May 1840, the last two children of carrier William Collett. The twins were thirteen months old when William died just a couple of days prior to the June census in 1841. On that day Emma Collett was one year old and living with her widowed mother Jane and four older siblings, plus her twin sister. It was a similar situation at Morse Road in Oaksey in 1851, when Emma was 11, and again in 1861 at Moore Cross in Oaksey, when Emma was 21 but with no stated occupation, as was the case for her twin sister. It is therefore likely that the twins were looking after the housekeeping, while their mother and two older siblings were at work earning a living

Ten years later 31-year-old Emma Collett, still having no occupation, was the only child living with her mother that day, when widow Jane Collett was a farmer at the age of 72, who died two years after during 1873. At the age of 41, Emma was still a single lady in 1881, by which time she was recorded as a visitor at the Oaksey home of farmer John Morse aged 60 and from Somerford Keynes. His wife Jane Morse from Oaksey was 53 and the former Jane Collett, Emma’s older sister. Why nothing after 1881 has been found for Emma who, it is established lived a long life, when her death at the age of 83 was recorded at Wiltshire register office (Ref. 5a 53) in 1924

Thirza Collett [78N17] was born at Oaksey in 1840, when her birth was registered at Malmesbury (Ref. viii 369) during the first three months of that year. It was also at Oaksey that she was baptised with her twin sister Emma (above) on 3^rd May 1840, the two youngest daughters and the last two children born to William Collett, a carrier, and his wife Jane Bunce. Their father died when the girls were only one year and one month old who, in 1851 were eleven years of age and living with their widowed mother at Moor Road in Oaksey. By the time of the next census in 1861, the twins were 21 and with no stated occupation, where they were again still living with their family but at Moore Cross in Oaksey. When twin Emma was still living with, and looking after, their elderly mother in 1871, Thirza Collett aged 31 was employed by Oaksey farmer John L Hawkins and was recorded in the Oaksey census that year as his unmarried domestic servant. Seven years later the death of Thirza Collett was recorded at Wheatenhurst (Ref.6a 179) during the third quarter of 1878 when she was 38

William Jacob Collett [78N18] was born at Poole Keynes in 1830, the first child of John Collett and Elizabeth Weeks. On being baptised at Poole Keynes on 2^nd May 1830, William was confirmed as the son of farmer John Collett and his wife Elizabeth. He and his sister Mary Ann Collett (below) were looked after by their father after their mother died shortly after Mary Ann was born. That loss resulted in their father being remarried at Swindon in 1835, with the family subsequently recorded at living at Westcott Place in Swindon in June 1841, when William Collett was 11 years old. Where his younger sister was that day, has still to be determined

The later wedding of William Jacob Collett and (1) Jane Morse at Stratton-St-Margaret was recorded at Highworth (Ref. 5a 27) during the second quarter of 1858. Jane was the eldest child of Charles and Elizabeth Morse, and had been baptised at Brinkworth in Wiltshire on 8^th March 1832. She was nine years old in the Stratton-St-Margaret census of 1841, when her father was 31 and her mother was 41. Ten years later Jane Morse aged 19 was living at Stratton Street where her father Charles was 40 years of age and a shopkeeper who, during the past decade had been widowed and had remarried, Jane’s stepmother being Rebecca Morse who was only 28. Also still living with them, was Jane’s younger brothers Paul Morse aged 19 and Charles Morse junior aged 12, and their half-sister Lydia Morse, who was not yet one year old. Completing the household was house servant Hannah Reynolds who was 13. It is interesting that Jane Collett (above), the cousin of William Jacob Collett, married John Morse a few years after William married Jane Morse, so it is possible that they were related in some way

Three years after William and Jane were married, the childless couple was still living at Stratton-St-Margaret, when they were both recorded in the census of 1861 as having been born there (sic). William Collett was 30 and the farmer at Breach Farm, comprising 40 acres of land for which he was employing one man, who may have been his father, while Jane Collett was 28. No record of the couple has been positively identified in 1871, although it is known they were still working the land at Breach Farm. Four years later Jane Collett, the beloved wife of William Jacob Collett of Breach Farm in Stratton-St-Margaret, died on 22^nd October 1875 aged 43. A large headstone marks her grave at Green Road Cemetery, with Breach Farm being only a few hundred yards due east of St Margaret’s Church. William’s father had already passed away earlier that same year

Two years after being widowed, the marriage of William Jacob Collett and (2) Eliza Webb was recorded at Stroud (Ref. 6a 457) during the first quarter of 1877, where Eliza had been born. Elizabeth Webb was born on 9^th November 1832 and was baptised on 31^st May 1833, the daughter of William and Sarah Webb. On 3^rd March 1877 William Collett of Breach Farm placed an advertisement in the local newspaper seeking ‘a strong boy and a young girl as farm assistants’ to help him on the farm. The advert was successful, as confirmed by the census in 1881, which recorded William J Collett from Poole Keynes as being 50 years of age and a farmer at Breach Farm, now 60 acres and employing one man, one boy, and one woman. William’s new wife was also 50, and helping her look after the family home was general servant Esther White who was 21 and from Reading. After a further decade, William J Collett aged 60 was still the farmer at Breach Farm, Church End in Stratton-St-Margaret, together with Eliza who was 62, whose general domestic servant that year was Catherine Adams aged 22

Prior to that census day, during 1887, William gave notice not the trespass, hunt or sport on his land at Breach Farm, and two years afterwards he was advertising two cottages to let. The same advert also included a notice to say he was looking to employ a servant and a cowman. During the following year, William Collett was listed in the North Wilts Directory of 1890 as residing at Breach Farm where, in March 1891, he was again seeking a cowman to work at the farm. It is unclear what happened after 1891, since it was towards the end of the following year when the death of William Jacob Collett was recorded at Reading register office (Ref. 2c 211) during the last three months of 1892, at the age of 62. How, or why, he died in Reading is not yet know, nor is it known what happened to Eliza after he passed away

Mary Anne Collett [78N19] was born in 1832 at Poole Keynes, where she was also baptised on 4^th March 1832, the daughter of John Collett, a farmer, and his wife Elizabeth who died around that same time or just after. It was after her father had married for a second time in 1835, that Mary Ann was not living with her father, her brother William (above) and their stepmother at Westcott Place in Swindon in 1841. In 1851 and 1861, Mary was living with her father in Stratton-St-Margaret aged 19 and 28 respectively, when her place of birth was confirmed as Poole Keynes.

Six years later, during the spring months of 1867, the marriage of Mary Ann Collett and John Henry Taylor took place at Stratton-St-Margaret and was recorded at Highworth (Ref. 5a 26). After being married for four years, the childless couple was residing at Poole Keynes where farmer John Taylor from Cowley in Gloucestershire was 42, and Mary Ann Taylor of Poole Keynes was 39. Employed by John was 17-year-old John Green from Arlington (Bibury) who was described as a servant and an agricultural labourer

No record of the couple has been found in 1881 or 1891, but by 1901, when John Henry Taylor was 72 and a retired farmer he and his wife were living at The Hut in Withington, Gloucestershire, where Mary Ann Taylor from Poole Keynes was 68. The only person living with them that day was John’s niece Agnes E Brassington from Poole Keynes who was unmarried at the age of 33. A few weeks prior to the next census in 1911, the death of Mary Ann Taylor, aged 78, was recorded at Northleach register office (Ref. 6a 287) during the first quarter of 1911. Even though John was older than his wife, it was nine years after being widowed when the death of John Henry Taylor was also recorded at Northleach register office (Ref. 6a 431) during the second quarter of 1920, at the age of 91.

Elizabeth Collett [78N20] was very likely born in 1826 at Poole Keynes and was baptised there on 5^th March 1827, the eldest child of labourer James Collett and his wife Susanna. She was around five years of age when she died at Poole Keynes where she was buried on 7^th May 1832, according to the Bishop’s Transcripts

Mary Collett [78N21] was born at Poole Keynes where she was baptised on 17^th June 1827, another daughter of James and Susanna Collett. By the time Mary was 13 years old she was no longer living with her parents, although she was recorded at Poole Keynes in the census of 1841, but at the home of Frederick Neve, aged 30, and Edith Barnes aged 25, where she was most likely employed as a servant. Ten years later, Mary Collett from Poole Keynes in Wiltshire was 23 and a housemaid and one of 14 servants, at the London, Eaton Square residence of Richard Bulkeley aged 49 the Baronet Member of Parliament and Lord Lieutenant of the County of Carnarvon, his wife Maria, and their nine-year-old son Charles

No obvious record of her has been found in 1861, by which time she was preparing for her forthcoming wedding day. Although not proved as Mary Collett from Poole Keynes, it was in the City of London during the last three month of 1861 that the marriage of Mary Collett and Mark Levy was recorded there (Ref. 1c 249). Once again, no record of the couple has been found after that day, but the later death of Mary Levy, born around 1828, was recorded at Bethnal Green register office (Ref. 1c 91) during the last four moths of 1903, when she was 75 years old

Jane Collett [78N22] was born in 1829 at Poole Keynes and was baptised there on 24^th May 1829. Tragically, four months after that event, she died at Poole Keynes and was buried there on 20^th September 1829, her passing recorded in the Bishop’s Transcripts

Margaret Collett [78N23] was born at Poole Keynes in 1830, and it was there that she was also baptised on 1^st August that year. The Poole Keynes census in 1841 included Margaret aged eleven living there with her parents and two younger siblings, Esther and Sarah. Knowing that Margaret’s brother Henry Collett (below) was working in domestic service at Stroud in 1851, it is possible that she had gone there with him, or vice versa. Either way, the death of a Margaret Collett was recorded there during the second quarter of 1855 (Ref. 6a 200), after which she was buried there on 7^th June 1855. It has not been proved that she was from Poole Keynes

Henry Collett [78N24] was the only son in a family of girls, the child of James and Susanna. By that time in his father’s life, his occupation had changed from being a labourer to being a butcher, as confirmed in Henry’s baptism record at Poole Keynes on 13^th January 1833, who may have been born in 1832. While Henry’s parents, together with younger members of the family were recorded at Poole Keynes in the census of 1841, Henry Collett aged nine and his younger sister Jane Collett (below) were staying with their paternal grandmother Betty Collett nearby in Poole Keynes. Ten years after that census day, Henry Collett from Poole Keynes was 19 and was working as a servant at the Stroud home of a farmer of 350 acres employing ten men, Thomas Shill aged 60 and from Bisley in Gloucestershire

During the following decade Henry married Fanny and in 1871 they were living within the St George Hanover Square area of central London. Henry from Poole Keynes was 38 and a drayman, while Fanny was 46 and had three boarders with the same surname. After another decade, the couple was residing at Gillingham Street in Middlesex (London). By that time in his life Henry Collett from Poole Keynes was 47 and employed as a labourer at the brewery. His wife Fanny E Collett from Hale in Hampshire was 56 and had two paying boarder who were both brewery labourers. Henry was still living in that area of London four years later, with the death of Henry Collett, aged 50, recorded at St George Hanover Square (Ref. 1a 331) during the first quarter of 1885.

Jane Collett [78N25] was born in 1835 at Poole Keynes and was named in honour of her older sister who died while still an infant. She was baptised at Poole Keynes on 18^th June 1835, the sixth child of butcher James Collett and his wife Susanna. In the Poole Keynes census of 1841, Jane Collett was seven years old, when she and her older brother Henry (above) were staying with their paternal grandmother Betty Collett, not far from the children’s nearby family home. On leaving school, Jane entered domestic service and in 1851 at the age of 16 she was employed as the only servant of veterinary surgeon Ann Toombs from Oxfordshire at her home in Cirencester

Seven years after that day the marriage of Jane Collett and Isaac Bryan was recorded at Cirencester (Ref. 6a 522) during the third quarter of 1858). Isaac had been born during 1833 at nearby Daglingworth, a son of George and Sarah Bryan, with both father and son being cordwainers (shoemakers)

Esther Collett [78N26] was born in 1837 at Poole Keynes, where she was also baptised on 28^th May 1837, another daughter of James and Susanna Collett. She was recorded as Hester Collett in the Poole Keynes census of 1841 where she was four years of age and living there with her family. After a further ten years, and following the death of her father in 1844, Esther was 13 years of age and still attending the village school in Poole Keynes, when she was living with her widowed mother and two younger sisters. It would appear that she spent her life in domestic service, as confirmed in the Thornbury (Glos) census in 1861, when she was 23 and one of seven servants employed by Colonel Francis W Fitzhardinge at his home “Crowles” in Berkeley. Another of the servants was 33-year-old Magnus Collett who was a widow born in France, which raises the question, was Magnus somehow relating to Esther, certainly not through her only brother Henry Collett (above) whose wife was Fanny E Collett from Hampshire, unless Fanny was his second wife

By 1871 unmarried Esther Collett from Poole Keynes was 33 and had been promoted to housekeeper at a grand residence in Berkeley, where 45-year-old Francis W Fitzhardinge and his wife Georgina had a private school. On that occasion, Esther was just one of nineteen domestic staff. Where she was in 1881 has still to be revealed, while in 1891, at the age of 53, Esther Collett was the housekeeper of the High Street home in Berkeley of Elton Vivian Gifford, Deputy M T H Lieutenant with the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars.

Esther never married and in 1901 was a retired housekeeper living on her own means at the High Street in Berkeley when she was 64, presumably having been given some financial benefits after her years of continuous service. Once again, the census return confirmed that she had been born at Poole Keynes. Four years later Esther Collett died at Berkeley on 13^th December 1905, with her death recorded at Thornbury register office (Ref. 6a 168) at the age of 69. Two months later her Will passed through probate in Gloucester on 9^th February 1906, when the two beneficiaries were named as John Alpass and Richmond Sayce

Sarah Collett [78N27] was one of the daughters born into the family of James Collett, a butcher, and his wife Susanna, at Poole Keynes in 1839 where she was baptised on 24^th February 1839. Her birth was registered at Cirencester (Ref. xi 235) during the first quarter of that year. She was two years old in the Poole Keynes census of 1841 and was eleven and one of three daughters still living there with their widowed mother in 1851

Louisa Collett [78N28] was born at Poole Keynes where she was baptised on 30^th March 1845, nine months after her father had passed away. She was the last child of butcher James Collett and his wife Susanna, with her birth registered at Cirencester (Ref. xi 279) during the first three months of 1845. Louisa was six years old in the Poole Keynes census of 1851, the youngest of the three daughters who were still living with their widowed mother. By 1861 she was the only child living with her mother at Poole Keynes when Louisa was 16. Six years later, when she was only 22, the premature death of Louisa Collett was recorded at Cirencester (Ref. 6a 222) during the fourth quarter of 1867

Robert James Collett [78O1] was born at Oaksey near the start of 1849, with his birth recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. viii 400). He was raised as James Collett by his unmarried mother’s parents Robert Collett and Jemima Blackwell of Oaksey, with whom he was living in 1851 and again in 1861. It seems highly likely that he was the base-born child of Robert and Jemima’s eldest daughter Elizabeth Collett who was born in 1824. In the first of those two census days, when James was two years of age, unmarried Elizabeth was 26 and not living with her family, but was working as a servant in Bath, Somerset. As again as James Collett he was 11 years old in the census of 1861 when he was still living with his grandparents at Wick Road in Oaksey, from where he was working with his grandfather as an agricultural labourer

George Blackwell Collett [78O2] was born in August 1857 at Thetford in Norfolk, where his birth was registered there (Ref. 4b 382) during the last quarter of 1857 under his full name, with Blackwell being his grandmother’s maiden-name. It was also at St Mary’s Church in Thetford that he was baptised on 22^nd January 1860 and confirmed as the son of machine fitter George Collett and his wife Emma Hammond who were residing within the parish of Thetford St Mary. It is very interesting that the church records show the vicar at St Mary’s was William Collett who conducted the baptisms there from around 1839 until 1862. He was William Collett (Ref. 18N21) 1796-1865, all as detailed in Part 18 – The Suffolk Line 1770 to 1850

When George was three years of age, he was staying with his paternal grandparents at Wick Road in Oaksey in 1861, one of three grandchildren with Robert Collett and Jemima Blackwell. After his grandfather passed away, George continued to live with his grandmother at Oaksey and was recorded in error as 12 years old in 1871. Six years after the death of his grandmother, George B Collett from Thetford was 23 and an engine fitter, boarding with the Mansell family from Kemble – three miles north of Oaksey, at Zulu Crescent in the Battersea area of South London. The later marriage of George and Eliza was recorded at Wandsworth (Ref. 1d 887) during the third quarter of 1888

However, by 1891, when George B Collett was 33 and still working as an engine fitter, he was staying a lodging house on Albert Street in Reading, presumably working away from home. That same year, the Electoral Roll for Chelsea, included the home address for George Blackwell Collett as 62 Uverdale Road, as it was again in 1892. Living at that address on the day of the census in 1891 was Eliza B Collett aged 30, together with her one-year-old son John B Collett whose birth had been registered at Chelsea in the spring of 1889 as John Blackwell Collett, making him very nearly two years old in 1891. During the next decade, Eliza gave birth to four more children, although no record of any member of the family has been found in England for the 1901 Census, nor was eldest son John living with his family in 1911

After that gap of twenty years, George Blackwell Collett was 54 and residing in Fulham in 1911, where he was described as an engine fitter in a private capacity, perhaps indicating it was his own business. By that time his missing eldest son John, was a married man. George’s wife was Eliza Blackwell Collett from Muswell Hill, London, who was 50, and with them were three of their four surviving children, their youngest child having suffered an infant death in 1900. They were Sidney Blackwell Collett aged 18, James Blackwell Collett aged 16, and Margaret Blackwell Collett aged 14 with no stated occupation. All three children were confirmed in the census as having been born in Chelsea. The later death of Eliza Collett was recorded at the London register office (Ref. 1b 286) in 1932, when she was 70 years old

78P1 – John Blackwell Collett was born in 1889 at Chelsea

78P2 – Sidney George Blackwell Collett was born in 1893 at Chelsea

78P3 – James Blackwell Collett was born in 1894 at Chelsea

78P4 – Margaret Blackwell Collett was born in 1896 at Chelsea

78P5 – Lily Blackwell Collett was born in 1898 at Fulham

Margaret Jemima Collett [78O3] was born at Oaksey in 1860 when her birth was recorded at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 38) during the first three months of that year. She is believed to be the base-born daughter of Emma Collett, who was born in 1834 and the youngest child of Robert Collett and Jemima Blackwell, after whom she was named. In 1861 unmarried Emma Collett was 26 and still living with her parents at Wick Road in Oaksey, when the only other person living at that address was one-year-old Margaret Collett.

Sarah Ann Collett [78O4] was born at Oaksey either at the end of 1864 or early in 1865, since her birth was registered at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 351) during the first quarter of 1865. She was the eldest of the three known daughters of farm bailiff Alfred Collett and his wife Maria Jane Lewis. It was as Sarah Ann aged 16, that she was living with her family at Stroud Road in Frocester when her sister Zipporah had been born ten years earlier.

It was during the second quarter of 1907 when the marriage of Sarah Ann Collett and Samuel Champion was recorded at Malmesbury register office (Ref. 5a 115). It seems rather odd that no further record of the couple has been found, except that of the record of the death of Sarah Ann Champion at Gloucester register office in 1936 (Ref.6a 271), when she was 70 years old

Maud Beatrice Collett [78O5] was born at Blakeney in 1878, with her birth registered at Westbury-on-Severn (Ref. 6a 267) during the second quarter of the year. She was living with the family of farm bailiff Alfred Collett and his wife Maria in 1881 and in 1891. Curiously, in the first of them she was described as the niece of Alfred Collett when she was two years of age and living at Stroud Street in Frocester, while in 1891 and at the age of 12, she was described as his youngest daughter when they were living at George Street in Minchinhampton. It is therefore possible that the couple had adopted her as their own by then. Maud had left the home by 1901 and, at the age of 22, Maud Collett from Coleford, just west of Blakeney, was employed as a domestic cook at the Stroud Road, Gloucester home of shirt manufacturer Henry Higgins and his family. Just over three years later the marriage of Maud Beatrice Collett and Alfred Thomas Dainty was recorded at Gloucester register office (Ref. 6a 723) during the last three months of 1904

By 1911 Maud was confirmed as a married woman with a husband and two children living at Upton St Leonards, who also had visiting her that census day, her elderly widowed mother Jane Collett from Slimbridge. Maud Dainty from Lydney, very near Blakeney, was 32, Alfred Dainty from nearby Whaddon was 31 and a railway platelayer employed by the Midland Railway Company, and their sons were Sidney Dainty who was five and born at Whaddon, and Alfred Dainty who was three and born in Gloucester. It was nearly forty years after that census day when Maud Beatrice Dainty died on 30^th May 1950 at the age of 62, following which her Will was proved at Gloucester Probate Office on 27^th June 1950, the sole beneficiary being her husband Alfred Thomas Dainty

Zipporah Josephine Collett [78O6] was born at Stroud Road in Frocester, near Wheatenhurst, Gloucestershire in 1880, the youngest of the three daughters of Alfred Collett, a farm bailiff, and his wife Maria Jane Lewis. Her birth was registered at Wheatenhurst (Ref. 6a 322) during the third quarter of that year. It was also at Stroud Road that she was living with her family in 1881 where her place of birth was confirmed as Frocester, when she was under one year old. By 1891 Zipporah was attending school in Minchinhampton where the family was living at that time, when Zipporah from Frocester was ten years old. Although no record of her has been found within the next census of 1901, it was exactly around that time when the marriage of Zipporah Josephine Collett and William Seccombe Willsher was recorded at Stroud register office (Ref. 6a 745) during the second quarter of 1901.

After being married for ten years, the couple was residing at Sparkhill, between Solihull and Birmingham, where William Seccombe Willsher was 30 and a railway clerk with the Midland Railway Company. He had been born at Kingswood in Bristol, while his wife Zipporah Josephine Willshire was the same age and from Frocester. Their two children were Violet Heather Willsher who was seven and born at Rodborough near Stroud, and Kenneth Vernon Willsher who was not yet one year old and had been born just before the family settled in Sparkhill, having been born at nearby Yardley.

With the Birmingham area being bomb during the First World War, Zipporah took two young children back to the county of her birth where in 1915, she gave birth to her third child, perhaps even when her husband away on active service. The birth of Barbara J Willsher was recorded at Stroud register office (Ref. 6a 626) during the second quarter of that year. Josephine Willsher was 69 when she died in 1949, with her death recorded in Yorkshire (Ref. 2a 132), after which she was buried at Selby in the West Riding of Yorkshire

John Blackwell Collett [78P1] was born in 1889 at Chelsea where his birth was recorded (Ref. 1a 334) during the second quarter of the year, the eldest of the five known children of George Blackwell Collett and his wife Eliza. It is possible that he was born at 62 Uverdale Road in Chelsea, where one-year-old John B Collett was the only member of the family living there with his mother Eliza B Collett in 1891. On that day his father was working in Reading. Seven years later the family was living in Surrey, when John’s sister Lily (below) was born, who died in Fulham just over a year later. No record of John or his parents has been found in 1901, who were living in Fulham in 1911.

Two years earlier, the marriage of John Blackwell Collett and Rebecca Morris was recorded at Kensington register office (Ref. 1a 403) during the third quarter of 1909 and in 1911 John and his wife were also living in Fulham. John Collett from Chelsea was a newsagent aged 21 in the census that year, when his wife Rebecca Collett was 19 and born with the St George-in-the-East area of London. Rebecca was born in the summer of 1892 at Old Montague Street in Spitalfields and was living at Pattison Street in Mile End Old Town in 1901 one of the many children of Abraham Morris and his Russian born Jane Morris. Four years later, at the age of 27, John Blackwell Collett joined the Royal Army Service Corps service number ME/131777, with whom he served until discharged in 1920. In 1917 Joan L Collett was born whose mother’s maiden name was Morris, with the birth recorded at Wandsworth register office (Ref. 1d 748) during the second quarter of the year. It thought the L may be for Lily, John’s deceased baby sister

78Q1 – Joan L Collett was born in 1917 at Wandsworth, London

Sidney George Blackwell Collett [78P2] was born at 62 Uverdale Street in Chelsea in 1893, with his birth recorded at Chelsea register office (Ref. 1a 398) during the second quarter of that year. He was the second child of George Blackwell Collett and his wife Eliza. Where he and his family were in 1901 has still not been discovered, while ten years later it was at Fulham that he was living with parents and his three younger siblings, when Sidney Blackwell Collett from Chelsea was 18 and a draper’s porter. Thereafter, Sidney G B Collett married Nellie E Clark in 1915, their wedding recorded at Brentford register office (Ref. 3a 169) during the third quarter of the year. By then, and earlier that same year, Nellie had given birth to a son Thomas whose birth, like all of their children, was recorded at St Olave Bermondsey register office in South London, where their mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Clark. It was also as Sidney G B Collett that he died in 1960 at the age of 67, with his passing recorded at the London register office (Ref. 5c 698)

78Q2 – Thomas James Collett was born in 1915 at Bermondsey

78Q3 - Francis A Collett was born in 1917 at Bermondsey

78Q4 - Sarah L Collett was born in 1920 at Bermondsey

78Q5 – Alice E Collett was born in 1921 at Bermondsey

78Q6 – Henry S Collett was born in 1924 at Bermondsey

James Blackwell Collett [78P3] was born at 62 Uverdale Street in Chelsea in 1894 and his birth was also recorded at Chelsea register office (Ref. 1a 397) during the third quarter of 1894, another son and George and Eliza Collett. With no record found for any member of the family in 1901, 16-year-old James Blackwell Collett from Chelsea was 16 and employed by the General Post Office as a telegraph messenger. It was in 1914 that James enlisted with the Royal Engineers at a time in his life when he was living in Middlesex, having been born in 1894, all according to his military records. He was assigned to the 8^th Reserve Battalion of the London Regiment and, by the time he was discharged in 1919, the records show he was 28, service number 558208 with the 1^st London Divisional Signals Company of the Royal Engineers. He was still credited with living in Middlesex on completing his military service, and it was at Brentford, like his older brother Sidney (above), that his marriage to Elizabeth Harmes was recorded (Ref. 3a 396) during the second quarter of 1924. It seems their marriage did not produce any children, with the later death of James Collett recorded at the London register office (Ref. 5c 107) in 1958, when he was 62

Margaret Blackwell Collett [78P4] was born at 62 Uverdale Street in Chelsea in 1896, when her birth was recorded at Chelsea register office (Ref. 1a 418) during the during the second quarter of the year. The eldest daughter of the five children of George and Eliza Collett. By 1911 the family was residing in the Fulham area of West London, when Margaret Blackwell Collett from Chelsea was 14 years old, but with no stated occupation. It is possible that she was evacuated out of London during the First World War, because her death as Margaret B Collett aged 22, was recorded at the Yorkshire Thirsk register office (Ref. 9d 1024) during the last three months of 1918

Lily Blackwell Collett [78P5] was born in Surrey in the summer of 1898 with her birth recorded at Kingston-upon-Thames register office (Ref. 2a 414) during the third quarter of that year. She was the youngest of the five known children of George Blackwell Collett and his wife Eliza. Shortly after she was born the four members of the family moved to Fulham, where they were living at 9 Broughton Road in St James Fulham on 29^th December 1899 when Lily Blackwell Collett died. Whether there was an inquest into her death is not known at this time, but her burial took place one week later at Fulham Church Cemetery on 5^th January 1900. Her infant death was recorded at Fulham register office (Ref. 1a 271), when Lily was reported to be one year old. That tragic event may be the reason why no record of her family has been found in 1901, while it was at Fulham that her parents were still living in 1911, by which time her older brother John (above) was a married man

Thomas J Collett [78Q2] was born near the start of 1915, the same year in which his parents were later married, maybe because of the intervention of the war. His birth was recorded at St Olave Bermondsey register office in South London (Ref. 1d 286), when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Clark. He was the eldest of the five children of Sidney George Collett and Nellie E Clark. It was also at Bermondsey register office that the marriage of Thomas J Collett and Mary Felton was recorded (Ref. 1d 324) during the last three months of 1938. That appears to have been a very rushed wedding, because the couple’s only known child was born very soon afterwards, the birth of their son recorded at Bermondsey register office (Ref. 1d 74) during the first three months of 1939, when the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Felton

78R1 – Richard W Collett was born in 1939 at Bermondsey

Francis Alexander Collett [78Q3] was born on 12^th October 1917 with his birth recorded at St Olave Bermondsey register office (Ref. 1d 212) as Francis A Collett, another son of Sidney and Nellie Collett, whose mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Clark. It was on the later occasion of his death that his full name and date of birth were revealed, when the death of Francis Alexander was recorded at Kent register office (Vol. 11 986) in 1987 at the age of 69. He became a married man nine years after the end of the Second World was when he was 36. It was at Lewisham register office in Kent (Ref. 5d 7) where the wedding of Francis A Collett and Jean M Page was recorded at the start of 1954

There were four people with the name Jean M Page born in Kent, and all of them at the end of the 1920s and beginning of the 1930s. Being that much younger than Francis meant that even at the age of 36 the raised a family of their own. The births of their two sons were also recorded at Lewisham register office, the second of them during the first three months of 1961 (Ref. 5d 17), when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Page

78R2 – Mark F Collett was born in 1958 at Lewisham

78R3 – Paul E Collett was born in 1961 at Lewisham

Sarah L Collett [78Q4] was born within the Bermondsey area of South London, when her birth was recorded there at the start of 1920 (Ref. 1d 469). She was the third child of Sidney and Nellie Collett and their eldest daughter. It is possible, although not yet proved that she may have died in Kings College Hospital in Southwark, just a few miles south of Bermondsey, with the death of Sarah L Collett recorded at Southwark register office (Ref. 1d 142) during the second quarter of 1920, possibly around six months old

Alice E Collett [78Q5] was born at the end of 1921 with birth also recorded at St Olave Bermondsey register office (Ref. 1d 221), the younger daughter of Sidney and Nellie Collett. She was 22 years of age when she married Ernest T Woodgate, their wedding recorded at Bermondsey register office (Ref. 1d 137) during the third quarter of 1943. The marriage produced two children for Ernest and Alice; the birth of David Ernest Woodgate recorded at Southwark register office (Ref. 1d 28) during the second quarter of 1946, where the birth of Stephen J Woodgate (Ref. 5a 615) during the first three months of 1953. In both cases, the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett

Henry S Collett [78Q6] was born early in 1924 and was the last child of Sidney George Collett and Nellie E Clark. His birth was recorded at St Olave Bermondsey register office (Ref. 1a 283), when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Clark

Mark F Collett [78R2] was born in 1958 within the South London Borough of Lewisham where his birth was recorded (Ref. 5d 12) during the second quarter of that year, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Page. He was the older of the two sons of Francis Alexander Collett and Jean M Page. It would appear that he was still living in the Lewisham when he became a married man on two different occasions. The marriage of Mark F Collett and (1) Linda S Seabrook was recorded at the register office there in 1981 (Vol. 14 0213). Nine years after the marriage of Mark F Collett and (2) Sarah T McAleavey was also recorded at Lewisham register office (Vol. 14 440) in 1990.

No children have been found first the first marriage, while four have been identified for the second when, in each case the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as McAleavey. The births of the first two children were again recorded at Lewisham register office, the second two after the family had moved seven miles to the east, to Bexley. Rachel was born during June 1991 (Vol. 14 1039), Thomas during November 1993 (Vol. 2421a a56a), Joel during September 1998 (Vol. 2201b a58b), and Eleanor during September 2001 (Vol. 2201b a71b)

78S1 – Rachel Marie Collett was born in 1991 at Lewisham

78S2 – Thomas Vincent Collett was born in 1991 at Lewisham

78S3 – Joel James Collett was born in 1998 at Bexley, Kent

78S4 – Eleanor Louise Collett was born in 2001 at Bexley, Kent

APPENDIX

The Collett Families of Kemble

The earliest record of members of the Collett family in Kemble start with Thomas Collett [78j1] who was married to Ann. They would appear to have been born during the 1680s and were living in the village of Kemble, just four miles from Cirencester, on the boundary of Gloucestershire with Wiltshire, eight years into the eighteenth century. The son of Thomas and Ann, John Collett [78k2], was baptised there on 11^th July 1708. Just over one month later another of the couple’s sons, Thomas Collett [78k1], was buried there on 17^th August 1708. Only two other facts are known about the family, the first of them being the death of Ann Collett, wife of Thomas, who was buried at Kemble on 28^th February 1730, followed eight months later by the death of presumably her youngest child, when the burial of William Collett [78k3], son of Thomas and Ann, was carried out on 26^th October 1730. All four events were recorded in the Bishop’s Transcripts

Also residing in Kemble early in the 1700s was Arthur Collett [78j2] and his wife Mary, whose daughter Jane Collett [78k5] was buried there on 12^th June 1718. It is therefore possible that Thomas and Arthur were brothers. Either side of that event, the Bishop’s Transcript for Kemble provided details of the baptism of Mary Collett [78k4] on 2^nd May 1714, and the baptism of Betty Collett [78k6] on 10^th December 1718, both recorded as the daughters of Mary Collett – no husband named

Half a century later, the marriage of John Collett [78l1] and Amy Smith was conducted at Kemble on 13^th October 1769, followed by the marriage of Eleanor Collett [78l2] and Henry Archard which took place at Kemble on 2^nd October 1773. It is therefore possible that John and Eleanor were siblings and perhaps even another two children of James Collett and Susanna, who start this family line (below).

A much later marriage was conducted at Kemble between Amy Collett [78m1] and John Blackwell on 24^th October 1814, may place Amy as the daughter of John Collett and Amy Smith (above), there being another family connection between the families of Collett and Blackwell nine years later, when Robert Collett [78M2] of Oaksey married Jemima Blackwell at Oaksey in 1823

James Collett [78k7], who was born around 1718 or earlier, may have been another child of either Thomas or Arthur Collett (above). His wife was Susanna had the following children, with all of their baptisms confirmed in the Bishop’s Transcripts. Although no such record has been found for John and Eleanor (above), they too may have been two further children of James and Susanna. It was also the Bishop’s Transcript that recorded the death of Susanna Collett, when she was buried at Kemble on 1^st February 1795

78l3 - James Collett was born in 1738 at Kemble

78l4 - Robert Collett was born in 1741 at Kemble

78l5 - Sarah Collett was born in 1746 at Kemble

78l6 - Richard Collett was born in 1747 at Kemble

78l7 - Catherine Collett was born in 1750 at Kemble

James Collett [78l3] was born in 1738 at Kemble and was baptised there on 7^th January 1739, the first-born child of James and Susanna Collett

Robert Collett [78l4] was born at Kemble in 1741, where he was baptised on 22^nd February 1741, another son of James and Susanna. He later married Elizabeth, also referred to as Betty, and their children were born and baptised at Kemble, the details recorded in the Bishop’s Transcripts.

78m2 - William Collett born in 1771 at Kemble

78m3 - James Collett was born in 1774 at Kemble

78m4 - John Collett was born in 1779 at Kemble

78m5 - Dinah Collett was born in 1781 at Kemble

78m6 - Robert Collett born in 1785 at Kemble

78m7 - William Collett born in 1788 at Kemble

Sarah Collett [78l5] was born at Kemble in 1746, where she was later baptised on 10^th October 1747, the eldest daughter of James and Susanna Collett

Richard Collett [78l6] was born in 1747 at Kemble, three miles due north of Oaksey as the crow flies, the son of James and Susanna Collett. It was also at Kemble that he was baptised on 16^th January 1748, as recorded by the Bishop’s Transcript, his age at his later death confirming those dates. The marriage of Richard Collett and his Betty Paish was conducted at Kemble on 11^th October 1772, when Betty was already expecting the birth of the couple’s first child. Betty Paish was baptised at nearby Ampney St Peter on 10^th June 1744, the daughter of William and Mary Paish

It was as Elizabeth Collett that she was recorded as the mother of some of her children, others as Betty, but it was as Elizabeth that she died and was buried at Kemble on 26^th August 1818, at the age of 74, as recorded in the Bishop’s Transcript. Richard survived his wife by just over two years, when he died and was buried with her Kemble on 21^st December 1820, aged 73, again as confirmed by the Bishop’s Transcript. During their early life together, Betty presented Richard with seven known children who were all baptised at Kemble, where they were most likely born. In the case of all seven births, the Bishop’s Transcripts confirmed the parent’s names were Richard and Betty Collett

Curiously, no record for the birth of a son, also named Richard, has been found, but in the much later census of 1851 Richard Collett aged 53 and born at Kemble was living at Cricklade Street in Cirencester with his wife Ann Collett of Cirencester who was 55, and their son Edwin Collett who was ten and also born there. Father and son were working together as agricultural labourers

78m8 -Ann Collett was born in 1773 at Kemble

78m9 - Sarah Collett was born in 1775 at Kemble

78m10 - Eliza Collett was born in 1778 at Kemble

78m11 - William Collett was born in 1781 at Kemble

78m12 - Hannah Collett was born in 1785 at Kemble

78m13 - Esther Collett was born in 1790 at Kemble

78m14 - Elizabeth Collett was born in 1793 at Kemble

78m15 – Richard Collett was born in 1797 at Kemble

Catherine Collett [78l7] was born at Kemble in 1750 and was baptised there on 2^nd February 1751, the last child of James and Susanna Collett. The later marriage of Catherine Collett and William Radway was also conducted at Kemble, on 30^th April 1777

Amy Collett [78m1] married John Blackwell at Kemble on 24^th October 1814 and she may have been a younger daughter of John Collett and Amy Smith who were married at Kemble towards the end of 1769

William Collett [78m2] was born in 1771 at Kemble and baptised there on 3^rd September 1771, the eldest child of Robert and Elizabeth (Betty) Collett. Fifteen years later William Collett died and was buried at Kemble on 24^th December 1786, when he was again confirmed as the son of Robert Collett and his wife Elizabeth

James Collett [78m3] was born at Kemble in 1774, where he was baptised on 8^th May 1774, the second child of Robert and Betty Collett

John Collett [78m4] was born at Kemble in 1779 and was baptised there on 2^nd June 1779, another son of Robert and Betty Collett

Dinah Collett [78m5] was the only confirmed daughter of Robert and Betty Collett who was born at Kemble in 1781 and baptised there on 31^st December 1781. Dinah was approaching 30-years-of-age when she married Peter Aldridge, of Oaksey, at Kemble on 7^th October 1810

Robert Collett [78m6] born in 1785 at Kemble and was baptised there on 30^th July 1785 another son of Robert and Betty Collett

William Collett [78m7] born in 1788 at Kemble where he was baptised on 14^th December 1788, the last known child of Robert and Elizabeth (Betty) Collett

Ann Collett [78m8] was born in 1773 at Kemble and was baptised there on 24^th January 1773, the eldest child of Richard Collett and Betty Paish. Ann was twenty-one years of age when she married Thomas Warren at Kemble on 1^st September 1794

Sarah Collett [78m9] was the second of the seven known children of Richard and Betty Collett and was born at Kemble in 1775, where she was baptised on 16^th December 1775

Eliza Collett [78m10] was born at Kemble in 1778 and baptised there on 22^nd March 1778 as Elizabeth. However, she was more commonly known as Eliza, and on 25^th September 1799, the marriage of Eliza Collett and William Wrighton (or Waighton), of Westonburt near Tetbury, was conducted at Kemble

William Collett [78m11] was born in 1781 at Kemble, where he was baptised on 6^th March 1781, the only known son of Richard and Betty Collett

Hannah Collett [78m12] was born at Kemble in 1785 and was baptised there on 11^th February 1786, another daughter of Richard and Betty Collett

Esther Collett [78m13] was born in 1790 at Kemble and baptised on 4^th April 1790, the sixth child of Richard and Betty Collett

Elizabeth Collett [78m14] was the last child born to Richard Collett and Betty Paish at Kemble, where she was baptised on 24^th September 1793

Richard Collett [78m15] was born in 1797 at Kemble and he was married (1) Ann in the early 1820s. By the time of the census in 1841, Richard and Ann were living in Cirencester, within the Caswell Ward of the town, where Richard and Ann both had a rounded age of 40, and by which time they still had four children living there with them. It is possible other children had been born to the couple to fill the gaps between the children’s ages. The four children were named as Thomas Collett and Frederick Collett, both with a rounded age of 15, Ann Collett who was nine, and Edwin Collett who was under one-year-old

By 1851 it was only the couple’s youngest child who was still living with them at their home on Cricklade Street in Cirencester. Richard Collett was a labourer of 53 who had been born at Kemble in Wiltshire (today in Gloucestershire). His wife Ann was 55 and from Cirencester, while their Cirencester born son Edwin was only 10 years old but had already started work as an agricultural labourer. After a further ten years, Richard and Ann were still residing at Cricklade Street, where their eldest son Thomas was in lodgings in 1861. According to the census return that year, labourer Richard from Kemble was 60 (when he was nearer 63) and Ann from Cirencester was 66. Richard was made a widower within eighteen months, with the passing of his wife, whose death was recorded at Cirencester (Ref. 6a 166) during the third quarter of 1862

After eight years as a widower, Richard married (2) Amy Bowler, a widow, with their wedding recorded at Cirencester (Ref. 6a 676) during the second quarter of 1870. Amy entered the marriage with three children from her first marriage, who were all living together in Cirencester on the day of the census in 1871. Richard Collett of Kemble was 76 (sic) with no stated occupation, his wife Amy Collett from nearby Harnhill was 56, and her three Harnhill born children were named as Elizabeth Bowler aged 21, Francis Bowler aged 19, and Mary Bowler aged 10 years

Just over eight years later, the death of Richard Collett was recorded at Cirencester (Ref. 6a 197) during the third quarter of 1879, at the age of 83. The Cirencester census in 1881, included Amy Collett aged 64, a widow and an agricultural labourer, as head of the household at Cricklade Street. Her place of birth was recorded at Ashbrook, which today refers to Ampney St Mary, very near Harnhill. It was ten years after losing her second husband, when the death of Amy Collett, aged 75, was recorded at Cirencester (Ref. 6a 220) during the fourth quarter of 1889

78n1 – Thomas Collett was born in 1823 at Kemble

78n2 – Frederick Collett was born in 1825 at Cirencester

78n3 – Ann Collett was born in 1831 at Cirencester

78n4 – Edwin Collett was born in 1841 at Cirencester

Thomas Collett [78n1] was born at Kemble on 6^th September 1823, where he was baptised on 2^nd November 1823, the eldest child of labourer Richard and Anne Collett. He had a rounded age of 15 in the Cirencester census of 1841 when he was still living there with his family. Where he was in 1851 has still to be discovered, when his parents and youngest brother Edwin were recorded at Cricklade Street in Cirencester, where Thomas’ parents were still living in 1861. On the occasion of the census that year, Thomas Collett from Cirencester was still a bachelor at the age of 38, and working as a labourer, when he was a lodger at the Cirencester home of Ann Swinford, also in Cricklade Street. Head of the household Ann, was described as having been born at North Cerney, was 41 years old and was employed as a glover. Two months later, Thomas Collett was married by banns to Ann Swinford from Fairford, where she had been living and working in 1841 at the home of William Baker, and his teenage son, in Mill Town End. The details of their wedding day, on 25^th May 1861, were recorded at the parish church in Cirencester (Ref. 6a 549) during the second quarter of 1861, as follows:

Both Thomas and Ann signed the church register by making the mark of a cross. Thomas Collett was a bachelor and a labourer aged 37, who was residing at Cricklade Street in Cirencester, the son of labourer Richard Collett. His bride Ann was a widow, who gave her age as being 40, who had no stated occupation and who was the daughter of labourer James Sly. From this, we now know that Ann Sly was baptised at South Cerney on 14^th April 1918, the daughter of James Sly and Ann (Susannah) Cruse

According to the 1871 census return completed by the couple at Cirencester, ten years after they were married, Thomas Collett of Cirencester was 47 and a labourer, his wife Ann was 54 and from Fairford, while lodging with them on that day was Jane Lewis from Taunton who was 38. Just less than six years later the death of Ann Collett, formerly Swinford nee Sly, was recorded at Cirencester (Ref. 6a 257) during the first three months of 1877, when her age was incorrectly recorded 70. Her death appears to have resulted in widower Thomas being evicted from her home because, in the next census of 1881, Thomas Collett was an inmate at the Cirencester Union Workhouse

Curiously, he gave his age as 61, while his place of birth was confirmed as being Kemble in Wiltshire, when he was described as being a blind road labourer. It was the same situation in 1891, when Thomas was still an inmate at the Cirencester Union Workhouse at the age of 69, and again in 1901 when he was 79, although by then, he was listed as being a pauper and a former general labourer from Kemble. It was just over seven years later when the death of Thomas Collett was recorded at Cirencester register office (Ref. 6a 217) during the second quarter of 1908 when he was 86. Also recorded as an inmate at the Cirencester Union Workhouse in March 1901, was Lily Collett aged six years. She was the granddaughter of Thomas’ youngest brother Edwin (below)

Edwin Collett [78n4] was born at Cirencester in 1841, the youngest of the four known children of Richard and Ann Collett of Castle Street, who was baptised there on 6^th June 1841. He was therefore listed with his parents in the census return completed that same day in 1841. It was the same situation again in 1851, when he was living with his parents at Cricklade Street in Cirencester, by which time he was 10 years old and already working on the land as an agricultural labourer. Edwin later secured a position with the Great Western Railway and by 1861 he had left the family home in Cirencester, when he was working within the Bedminster area of Bristol, where he was 20 and a railway policeman, one of four boarders staying at the home of Henry Jones in Colston Street. His time in Bristol was short-lived, because it was two years after that on 25^th May 1863 when Edwin Collett, aged 23 and a policeman living in Wootton Bassett, the son of Richard Collett, was married by banns to Emily Robbins who was 21, the event recorded at Cirencester (Ref. 6a 562) during the second quarter of 1863. Emily Anne Robbins was the daughter of William and Jane Robbins, whose birth was recorded at Cirencester (Ref. 6 323) during the third quarter of 1841. By 1861 she was the only child living with her widowed mother at Watermoor Road in Cirencester when she was 19 and a laundress

Their marriage is known to have produced eight children, even though only six of them (in the list below) are confirmed as the offspring of Edwin and Emily. Although their first child was born in Cirencester, the early years of their marriage were spent in Wootton Bassett where the second child was born, perhaps up until Edwin ceased to be a policeman. From Wootton Bassett, the young family eventually returned to Cirencester where all of the couple’s remaining children were born and where the family was living at 6 Sealeys Row in Watermoor Road in 1871, by which time Edwin’s occupation was that of a stonemason. Edwin from Cirencester was 30, his wife Emily was 29, their two Cirencester born daughters were Annie Collett who was six, and Emily Collett who was just six months old, while their son Herbert Collett, who was four, was confirmed as having been born at Wootton Bassett. The next three children added to their family were all baptised together in a joint ceremony at Cirencester on 27^th October 1880, when labourer Edwin and wife Emily were residents of Watermoor

It was at 72 Watermoor Road in Cirencester that the enlarged family was residing at the time of the census in 1881 when Edwin Collett was a general labourer at the age of 41. His wife Emily was 40, son Herbert was 14, and their four daughters were Emily who was 10, Lizzie who was eight, Louisa who was five, and Alice who was three. Where their eldest child Annie, was on that day, is not yet known, since no record of her has been found within the 1881 census. Just three of the couple’s four youngest children were still living with Edwin and Emily at Watermoor Road in 1891, when Edwin was 49 and employed as a gardener, Emily was 48, Emily junior was 20, Lizzie was 18, and Alice was 13. Still living nearby in Cirencester was their daughter Louisa Collett who was 16 and a servant

Some confusion has been caused by the next census in 1901 when Edwin Collett, aged 60 and a domestic gardener, was living alone at 72 Watermoor Road in Cirencester, where he was described in error as a widower. The accommodation comprised three rooms and was right next door to the family of the late Nehemiah Collett (Ref. 47N18), whose widow Elizabeth had remarried John Hulbert. On that same day Edwin’s wife, aged 59 and a laundress, was staying at 68 Watermoor Road, the home of her son-in-law Richard Merchant who had married her daughter Louisa a few years earlier. Also, living nearby, was Edwin and Emily’s unmarried daughter Emily who, with her base-born daughter Lily, were inmates at the Cirencester Union Workhouse. The couple’s youngest child was living and working at Stonehouse, near Stroud where, at the age of 22, Alice Collett from Cirencester was employed as a domestic housemaid

After a further ten years the family was recorded together, according to the census conducted in April 1911. The family was still residing at 72 Watermoor Road in Cirencester, when Edwin Collett was a general labourer at a nearby nursery, at the age of 69, as was his wife Emily, to whom he had been married for 47 years. During that time Emily had given birth to eight children with only six of them surviving. Living there with the couple were their unmarried daughters Emily Collett who was 36 and Alice Collett who was 30. Every member of the family was confirmed as having been born at Cirencester and, in reality, Emily – who had suffered the loss of her second base-born daughter during the previous year - would have been nearer 40 years of age and Alice nearer 33

Although not proved, one of the two children previously missing from the list below could be Frank Collett who was born in 1868, who died in 1869. He was born in Cirencester, where his death, at the age of one-year, was recorded (Ref. 6a 211) during the third quarter of 1869. The other may have been Jane Collett, whose birth was recorded at Cirencester (Ref. 6a 333) during the third quarter of 1869. The death of Edwin Collett was recorded at Cirencester register office (Ref. 6a 435) during the second quarter of 1918, when he was 77, following which he was buried in the grounds of the parish church on 1^st May 1918. His wife survived him by eight months, when the death of Emily Anne Collett nee Robbins, aged 77, was recorded at Cirencester register office (Ref. 6a 673) during the first quarter of 1919. Emily was buried with her husband on 16^th January 1919

78o1 – Ann Mary Elizabeth Collett was born in 1865 at Cirencester

78o2 – Herbert Collett was born in 1866 at Wootton Bassett

78o3 – Frank Collett was born in 1868 at Cirencester; died 1869

78o4 – Jane Collett was born in 1869 at Cirencester; died 1869

78o5 – Emily Collett was born in 1870 at Cirencester

78o6 – Lizzie Collett was born in 1872 at Cirencester

78o7 – Louisa Collett was born in 1875 at Cirencester

78o8 – Alice Jane Collett was born in 1877 at Cirencester

Ann Mary Elizabeth Collett [78o1] was born at Cirencester in 1864, most likely at the home of her maternal grandparents, since her father Edwin was a policeman at Wootton Bassett, where her brother was born during the following year. Her birth was registered at Cirencester (Ref. 6a 320) during the third quarter of 1865. By 1871 her family had settled in Cirencester where Annie was six years of age. She was not living with her family in 1881, nor has her whereabouts been identified in the census conducted that year. However, Annie Collett from Cirencester was 27 and a dairymaid/servant at the Park Street home of the Earl and Countess of Bathurst in Cirencester on the day of the 1891 Census. With no record of her as Annie Collett after that day, it is highly likely she was married before the end of the century. However, if she never married, there is a death recorded at Cirencester (Ref. 7b 312) of an Ann Collett aged 92, who passed away during the third quarter of 1956. If this was Ann from Cirencester, why can she not be identified in the census returns for 1901 and 1911

Herbert Collett [78o2] was born at Wootton Bassett in 1866, the eldest son of Edwin Collett and Emily Robbins, although his birth was registered at Cricklade (Ref. 5a 24) during the second quarter of 1866. However, it was a Wootton Bassett where he was baptised on 10^th June 1866. Not long after he was born his family moved to Cirencester where Herbert was four years old in the census of 1871. Ten years later, when Herbert from Wootton Bassett was 14 and a farm labourer, he was still living with his family at Watermoor Road in Cirencester. What happened to Herbert after 1881 is not currently known

Emily Collett [78o5] was born at Cirencester (Ref. 6a 336) during the last quarter of 1870, the third of the six surviving children of Edwin and Emily Collett. She was baptised at Cirencester on 30^th January 1871 and was six months old in the census of 1871. it is likely that she was born at 72 Watermoor Road in Cirencester, where she was living with her family in 1881 at the age of 10, and again in 1891 when Emily was 20, the last two occasions when her correct age was informed to the census enumerator. Three years later the births of her base-born twin daughters Lily and May were recorded at Cirencester register office (Ref. 6a 336 and 6a 337) respectively, during the second quarter of 1894. Both daughters were baptised in a joint ceremony at Cirencester on 4^th May 1894 when their mother was confirmed as Emily Collett, an inmate at the Cirencester Union Workhouse. Tragically, baby May died very shortly after being christened, her death also recorded at Cirencester register office (Ref. 6a 206) during that same quarter of 1894

Life in the workhouse could not have been easy for single parent Emily who, on 3^rd December 1900, was charged by the court with “neglecting to send her daughter to school” and ordered to pay a fine of 11 Shillings. On that day, Emily Collett was described as being 27 years of age, a laundress, who was 5 feet 2½ inches tall, and a member of the Church of England from Cirencester. It was made clear that, failure to pay the fine, would result in seven days in prison. By the time of the census on 31^st March 1901 Emily and her daughter Lily were still inmates and paupers at the Cirencester Union Workhouse. Emily was 27 and single - formerly a laundress, while Lily was six years of age, both of them born in Cirencester. When Emily did not settle the payment, she served her seven days in The County Gaol in Gloucester starting on 21^st June 1901, from where she was discharged on 27^th June

Six months before the next census day, the death of Lily Collett aged 16 years was recorded at Cirencester register office (Ref. 6a 190) during the third quarter of 1910. That second tragedy in her life resulted in Emily returning to live with her parents, where she was recorded in the census of 1911. The three-room dwelling at 72 Watermoor Road in Cirencester was occupied by Emily’s parents, who were both 69 years old, and her youngest sister Alice (below). Emily, or her parents, stated in error that she was 36 years of age, instead of 40, who had no occupation, and was described as being “feeble-minded from birth”. Neither Emily, nor her parents, admitted to the census enumerator that she had given birth to two children, neither of which was living

Once again, as previously recorded in census returns completed in 1901 and 1911, the age of Emily Collett from Cirencester was incorrectly stated at the time of her death. It was during the first three months of 1920, just a year after her widowed mother died, that the passing of Emily Collett was recorded at Cirencester register office (Ref. 6a 505), when she was said to be 48 years old. Only a couple of months after her death, her younger sister Alice (below) was married

78p1 – Lily Collett was born in 1894 at Cirencester

78p2 – May Collett was born in 1894 at Cirencester

Lizzie Collett [78o6] was born at Cirencester in 1872, where she was baptised with her two sisters Louisa and Alice (below) on 27^th October 1880, the three children of Edwin Collett and Emily Robbins. Her birth was recorded at eight years earlier at Cirencester (Ref. 6a 345) during the last three months of 1872. According to the census returns for 1881 and 1891 Lizzie Collett aged eight years and 18 years of age respectively was living with her family at 72 Watermoor Road in Cirencester

Louisa Collett [78o7] was born at Cirencester in 1875, with her birth registered at Cirencester (Ref. 6a 379) during the second quarter of that year. It was also at Cirencester that she was baptised on 27^th October 1880 in a combined ceremony with her older sister Lizzie (above) and younger sister Alice (below), the youngest children of Edwin and Emily Collett. She was five years old in the census of 1881, when listed with her family at 72 Watermoor Road in Cirencester. On leaving school she entered domestic service and by 1891, Louisa from Cirencester was 16 and a general domestic servant at a house on Victoria Road in Cirencester, the home of widow Elizabeth Lawrence. Four years after that, at the end of 1895, Louisa gave birth to a base-born son, and three years later Louisa Collett was married by banns to Richard Merchant at Cirencester (Ref. 6a 726) during the last three months of 1898. Richard was the son of Mildred and Mary Ann Merchant, whose birth was recorded at Cirencester (Ref. 6a 394) during the second quarter of 1876

The marriage took place on 24^th December 1898 at the parish church in Cirencester, the certificate for which provided the following information. Richard Merchant was 22 and a bachelor and a labourer living at 64 Whatleys Row in Cirencester, the son of Mildred Merchant, who was a painter. Spinster Louisa Collett was also 22, with no occupation, who was residing at 72 Whatleys Row in Cirencester, the daughter of labourer Edwin Collett. The couple signed the register in their own hand, while one of the witnesses was Edwin Merchant, Richard’s brother, who made the mark of a cross

The couple’s first child was living with them at 68 Watermoor Road in 1901, when Richard Merchant was 23 and a general labourer, his wife Louisa Merchant was 24 and a laundress, and their son Richard E Merchant was one-year old. The other two occupants at the property that day were Louisa’s son Percival Collett who was five years of age and the stepson of Richard Merchant, and Louisa’s mother Emily Collett who was 59 and another laundress, who described as the mother-in-law of Richard Merchant

Five more children were added to their family during the first decade of the new century, which was once again residing at 68 Watermoor Road in Cirencester in 1911. By that time, Richard Merchant was 34 and a foundry worker, Louisa was 35 and had been married to Richard for twelve years, during which time they had given birth to six children, all of them still living. The couple’s five sons were named as Richard who was 11, Herbert Merchant who was eight, John Merchant who was six, William Merchant who was five, and Edgar Merchant who was three. Completing the family was their daughter Louisa Merchant who was just seven months, and Percy Collett who was 15 and the stepson of Richard Merchant. Every member of the household had been born at Cirencester

78p3 –Percival Arthur Collett was born in 1895 at Cirencester

Alice Jane Collett [78o8] was born at Cirencester (Ref. 6a 385) during the third quarter of 1877, most likely at 72 Watermoor Road, and was baptised there on 27^th October 1880, on the same day that her two sisters Lizzie and Louisa were also baptised there. It was at 72 Watermoor Street that Alice was three years old in 1881, where she was again living with her parents in 1891 aged 13. After a further ten years, Alice Collett was 22 and a domestic housemaid at a property in Stonehouse, near Stroud. By the time of the census in 1911, unmarried Alice Collett was an employee at the Steam Laundry in Cirencester when she was once again living with her family at 72 Watermoor Road in Cirencester, although her age was incorrectly recorded as 30, rather than 33. Following the death of her father in 1918, her mother in 1919, and her sister Emily in 1920, spinster Alice Collett, aged 40 (sic) was married by banns to bachelor Percy Robert Soles at the parish church in Cirencester on 10^th May 1920. Alice was actually 43, but perhaps intentionally gave a reduced age because her husband was only 28. Percy was a farm labourer residing at 184 Gloucester Street in Cirencester, the son of deceased farm labourer Stephen Soles, while Alice was still residing in her late parents’ home at 72 Watermoor Road, and both of them signed the register in their own hand

Percy Robert Soles was born at Crudwell, Wiltshire, on 4^th September 1891, his birth registered at Malmesbury (Ref. 5a 51) but during the fourth quarter of that year and was the youngest son of Stephen and Eliza Soles of Gloucestershire. He was therefore around fourteen years younger than his wife Alice. It was during 1914, when he was 23, that he enlisted for military service at the outbreak of the First World War, following which he served with the 8^th Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment – service number 12051. The death of Alice J Soles, aged 62, was recorded at Cirencester register office (Ref. 6a 982) during the third quarter of 1940. She was survived by her husband, whose later passing was recorded at Cheltenham register office (Ref. 7b 759) during the month of June in 1972 when he was 80

Percival Arthur Collett [78p3] was born at Cirencester on 23^rd December 1895, the base-born son of unmarried Louisa Collett. His birth was recorded at Cirencester register office (Ref. 6a 344) during the first three months of the following year, where he was baptised on 18^th January 1896, when his mother was described as Louisa Collett, a single woman, residing at the Union Workhouse. He was three years old when his mother married Richard Merchant and, in the census of 1901, stepson Percival Collett, aged five years, was living at the Cirencester home of Richard and Louisa Merchant on Watermoor Road, the same location of Percy’s maternal grandparents. Shortly after leaving school, Percy worked as a grocer’s errand boy while still living with his mother and stepfather in Cirencester

Eight years later the marriage of Percival Arthur Collett and Beatrice Jennings took place at the parish church in Cirencester on 21^st June 1920. Not much more is currently known about his life, except that it was at Cirencester register office that the death of Percival Arthur Collett, aged 80, was recorded (Ref. 22 2163) during the first three months of 1976