PART EIGHTY-THREE

The Collett Families of Willenhall, Staffordshire

Issued April 2024

The first family line here was previously Appendix Two in Part 9

from where it has been extracted following discovery of more Colletts of Willenhall

Section One - The Coachsmith Colletts

The family of coachsmith John Collett, who was born at West Bromwich in 1853,

starts with his great grandfather John Collett, a lock manufacturer, via his son William Collett, a locksmith.

And it is William’s younger brother Joseph Collett, another locksmith, who starts Section Two – The Locksmith Colletts

John Collett [83L1] who was born around 1780, was a lock manufacturer having his own lock making company. His future wife was Phoebe Perry who was born at Willenhall on 4^th November 1780. It was on 20^th November 1799 that the marriage of John Collett and Phoebe Perry was conducted at St Peter’s Collegiate Church in Wolverhampton. As far as we know, John and Phoebe had at least the five children listed below, who were all born at Willenhall. According to the Willenhall census in 1841, John Collett was sixty and living at Stafford Street with his wife Phoebe who was fifty-five (both rounded ages not reflecting their actual age. Also living nearby on Stafford Street in Willenhall that year was the family of their younger son Joseph. During the next decade John Collett died and Phoebe took over management of her late husband’s business. That was confirmed in the Willenhall census of 1851, when widow Phoebe Collett aged 70 was described as a lock manufacturer employing fifteen lads (apprentice locksmiths) at Stafford Street. Also employed by Phoebe was one female domestic servant, who also had staying with her three of her apprentices, plus her granddaughter Amelia Collett, daughter of her son Joseph

The next census in 1861 was very detailed and recorded Phoebe Collett still living at Stafford Street in Willenhall, where she was described as having been born at Willenhall, a widow of 85, who was a South American Lock Manufacturer employing eighteen men. The only people listed with her were Thomas Hughes aged 12 years and an apprentice lock-maker, and domestic servant Mary Johnson from Leicester who was eighteen. Five years later, and following the death of Phoebe Collett on 17^th September 1866 at Stafford Street in Willenhall, her Will was proved on 13^th October 1866, when the main beneficiary was her son Joseph Collett

As regards the couple’s three other children who did not survive, they were: Samuel Collett who was born on 8^th July 1804, was baptised on 18^th September 1804, and was 24 when he died and was buried at Willenhall on 18^th March 1929; Enoch Collett who was born on 1^st May 1807, was baptised on 14^th September 1807, and was six years old when he died on 8^th August 1913 and was buried that same day at St Giles’ Church Cemetery; and Enoch Collett who was born in 1812 and was two years old when he was baptised on 14^th March 1814, just before he died and was buried on 10^th April 1814

83M1 - William Collett was born in 1803 at Willenhall

83M2 - Samuel Collett was born in 1804 at Willenhall

83M3 - Enoch Collett was born in 1807 at Willenhall

83M4 – Joseph Collett was born in 1810 at Willenhall – go to Section Two

83M5 - Enoch Collett was born in 1812 at Willenhall

William Collett [83M1] was born at Willenhall around 1803 and his mother was Phoebe Collett, a lock manufacturer employing fifteen apprentice lock-makers at the age of 70 in 1851, when she was a widow living at Stafford Street in Willenhall. William married Sarah Disturnal on 11^th May 1928 at the Church of St Mary in Bushbury within Wolverhampton. Once they were married the couple settled in nearby Wednesbury where all their children were born and where they were living on the day of the census in June 1841. William Collett was a locksmith living at Church Hill in Wednesbury and was given a rounded age of 35, while Sarah had a rounded age of 30. The couple’s five children were recorded as John Collett who was 12, Samuel Collett who was 11, Josiah Collett who was eight, Letitia (Lettisha) who was three years of age, and Sarah Collett was just sixteen days old. Recorded with the family that day was Sarah’s widowed mother Phoebe Disturnal aged 60.

Two more children were born into the family over the following years but, it seems likely that, William’s wife lost her life during the birth of an eighth child, who also did not survive. The death of Sarah Collett nee Disturnal took place at Wednesbury and was registered at West Bromwich (Ref. xviii 414) during the second quarter of 1850. It was at St Bartholomew’s Church in Wednesbury that she was buried, as was the second of those two children. By the time of the Wednesbury census in 1851 William Collett, incorrectly recorded as William Colles, was a widower at 48 when he was still living at Church Hill. Living there with him were six of his children, with just eldest son John absent from the family home that day. Samuel was 21, Josiah was 18, Letitia was 14, Sarah Ann was 10, William was seven and George was four years old

After a further eight years, the death of William Collett was registered at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 412) during the last three months of 1859. Following his passing, only his four sons John, Samuel, William, and George were recorded in the census on 1861 and that is because the three middle children all died between 1851 and 1855

83N1 – John Collett was born in 1828 at Wednesbury

83N2 – Samuel Collett was born in 1830 at Wednesbury

83N3 – Josiah Collett was born in 1832 at Wednesbury

83N4 – Letitia Collett was born in 1837 at Wednesbury

83N5 – Sarah Ann Collett was born in 1841 at Wednesbury

83N6 – William Collett was born in 1843 at Wednesbury

83N7 – George Collett was born in 1847 at Wednesbury

John Collett [83N1] was born at Wednesbury in 1828, the eldest child of William Collett and Sarah Disturnal. He was baptised there on 22^nd February 1829 and was 12 years old in the Wednesbury census of 1841 when he and his family were living at Church Hill. Sadly, his mother died just before the census day in 1851, by which time John Collett was 22 and living and working in West Bromwich, while the remainder of his family was still living with his widowed father at Church Hill in Wednesbury. It was later that same year when John Collett married Ann Stokes at Rushall, to the north of Walsall, on 4^th August 1851. Ann was the daughter of Enoch and Ann Stokes and was baptised at the Church of St Bartholomew in Wednesbury on 21^st April 1833. The record of their marriage confirmed that John was the son of William Collett, and that Ann was four years younger than John

During their first ten years together, Ann may have presented John with more than just the three children who were with them at the time of the next census in 1861. On that day, the family was recorded at Holloway Bank in Wednesbury, with there being nine years between the birth of the couple’s third and fourth child. Sadly though, by that time, their youngest child had only survived for a few short months, when John Collett from Wednesbury was 32 and a coachsmith, Ann Collett from West Bromwich was 28, and their two surviving sons were Arthur who was nine and at school, unlike John who was seven years of age. The surname recorded in the census return that year was Coller, a misinterpretation of Collett. The couple’s next two children were named after John’s parents while, again, there may have been other children who did not survive

On the day of the census in 1871, the family of six was again residing at Holloway Bank in Wednesbury, to the north of West Bromwich. John Collett from Wednesbury was 42 and a coachsmith, his wife Ann Collett from West Bromwich was 38, and their two eldest sons were working alongside their father. Arthur Collett from Wednesbury was 19 and a clerk at the coachworks, and John Collett from West Bromwich was 17 and employed as a labourer at coachworks. The couple’s two youngest sons were William Collett who was five years of age and was attending the local school, and Enoch Collett who was two years old, both also born at West Bromwich

According to the next census in 1881, coachsmith John Collett was 52 and his place of birth was curiously recorded as Willenhall, less than four miles north of Wednesbury. His wife Ann Collett was 49, and the only child still living with them at 89 Albert Street in Wednesbury was their son William Collett who was 14 and a pupil teacher whose place of birth was recorded as Hill Top in West Bromwich. In the following census for Wednesbury in 1891, John Collett was 62 and his wife Ann Collett was 59, by which time all their children had gone their own way in the world. Just over a year after that census day, the death of Ann Collett aged 59 was recorded at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 503) during the second quarter of 1892. The later death of John Collett aged 71, was recorded at West Bromwich register office (Ref. 6b 561) during the last quarter of 1900

83O1 – Arthur Collett was born in 1851 at Wednesbury

83O2 – John Collett was born in 1854 at Wednesbury

83O3 – George Collett was born in 1856 at Wednesbury

83O4 – William Collett was born in 1865 at Wednesbury

83O5 – Enoch Collett was born in 1868 at Wednesbury

83O6 – Ann Collett was born in 1871 at Wednesbury

Samuel Collett [83N2] was born at Wednesbury in 1830, the second son of William and Sarah Collett, and was baptised at the Church of St Bartholomew in Wednesbury on 30^th May 1830. In 1841 Samuel was 11 when the family home was recorded in the census that year at Church Hill in Wednesbury. He was 21 years of age in the following Wednesbury census of 1851 when he was a coachsmith with his brother Josiah (below), who still living with his family at Church Hill. Samuel has not been identified within the census of 1861 although, prior to that, he had married (1) Rebecca Tonks, the daughter of Simeon and Mary Tonks, who had also been baptised at St Bartholomew’s Church, on 5^th August 1832. It was at Sedgley, between Wolverhampton and Dudley, that they were married, with the event recorded at Dudley (Ref. 6c 190) during the last three months of 1853. Samuel was 23 and the son of William Collett, while Rebecca was 21,with her father confirmed as Simeon Tonks

It would appear Samuel and Rebecca only had two children during the remainder of that decade, with only their son surviving, when their daughter suffered an infant death at two years of age. Within nine months of losing their daughter, Rebecca gave birth to a son. While no record of the death of Rebecca Collett has been found, both Samuel and son George have not been identified in the census of 1861

Whether widowed or divorced, Samuel Collett was 35 when he married (2) Catherine Benton during the last three months of 1865, when their wedding was recorded at Aston in Birmingham (Ref. 6d 398). Like Samuel, Catherine had also been baptised at St Bartholomew’s Church, on 28^th April 1839, the daughter of Walter and Elizabeth Benton. That marriage produced another four children for Samuel, and all of them born at Wednesbury, where the family was living at Mesty Croft in 1871. At that time in his life, Samuel Collett was 41 and an axle-smith, and his wife Catherine was 32. Still living with his father was Samuel’s older son George Collett who was 10, together with three of his half-siblings, Martha E Collett who was four, Samuel Collett who was three, and Elizabeth Collett who was only a few months old

One more child was added to the family two years later and, according to the census in 1881, the family was residing at 23 Piercy Street in Wednesbury. The census return that year confirmed that Samuel, aged 49, had followed his father by being a coachsmith and an axle builder. His wife Catherine was 42 and completing the household were George who was 20 with no occupation, Martha who was 14, Samuel who was 13, Lizzie who was nine and William James Collett who was seven, all of them attending school, when every member of the household had been born at Wednesbury. It is interesting to note that Samuel’s nephew John Collett [83O2], another coachsmith, was recorded as living at 20-21 Piercy Street in Wednesbury when he died in October 1900, where his widow Rebecca Collett and daughter Beatrice Mary Collett were residing in 1901

Six years later the death of Samuel Collett was recorded at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 436) during the third quarter of 1887. His widow Catherine was living at 11 Piercy Street in Wednesbury in 1891 when she was 52 and was described as “being kept by her family”. The three children living there with her were: her daughter Elizabeth who was 19 and a domestic servant; William who was 17 and a groom; and her married son Samuel, aged 23 and a labourer. He had with him, his wife Leah Collett who was 21 and from Walsall, plus their son Samuel Collett who was just three months old. Not long after that, Catherine and son William, travelled to Lancashire where in 1891 her eldest daughter Martha Elizabeth Collett, aged 24, was living with relatives at Oak Street in Newton, Prestwich, from where she was working a general domestic servant. And it was there also that Martha Elizabeth was married, with her brother William as one of the witnesses

The move to North Manchester was confirmed in the census of 1901, where widow Catherine Collett from Wednesbury was 62 and her son William, also from Wednesbury, was 25 and a labourer at a local brewery. On that occasion, the pair of them was staying at the Bath Street, Newton Heath home of Catherine’s married daughter Martha Elizabeth Houlton and her husband James, another brewery labourer, and their three sons. Also living at the same address was John Lloyd from Lincoln, with whom Catherine’s unmarried daughter Martha had been living in 1891 with John’s mother Ann Lloyd from Staffordshire, who was related to the Collett family through Catherine’s Benton family

Catherine Collett from Wednesbury was still alive and living in Newton Heath in 1911 when she was 82 and described as the aunt of John Lloyd, at whose home she was living. That stated relationship certainly suggests that John’s mother Ann Lloyd was formerly Ann Benton, and so was Catherine’s older sister. Also living with her mother that day in 1911 was Catherine’s unmarried daughter Elizabeth Collett from Wednesbury who was 39 and working as a servant. It is rather odd, but no record of the death of Catherine Collett has been found

83O7 – Sarah Ann Collett was born in 1857 at Wednesbury

83O8 – George Collett was born in 1860 at Wednesbury

The following are the children of Samuel Collett by his second wife Catherine Benton:

83O9 – Martha Elizabeth Collett was born in 1866 at Wednesbury

83O10 – Samuel Collett was born in 1867 at Wednesbury

83O11 – Lizzie Collett was born in 1871 at Wednesbury

83O12– William James Collett was born in 1873 at Wednesbury

Josiah Collett [83N3] was born at Wednesbury in 1832 and was baptised there at St Bartholomew’s Church on 7^th October 1932, the son of William and Sarah Collett. He was eight years old in the census of 1841 and was again living at Church Hill in Wednesbury with his family in 1851 when he was 18 and a coachsmith working alongside his older brother Samuel (above). Four years later the death of Josiah Collett was recorded at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 387) during the second quarter of 1855, which was just after the death of his sister Sarah (below), most likely from the same illness, with their sister Letitia (below) having died four years earlier in 1851

Letitia Collett [83N4] was born at Wednesbury in 1837 when her birth was registered at West Bromwich (Ref. xviii 410) during the last three months of the year. She was three years of age in the Wednesbury census of 1841 when she and her family were residing at Church Hill. It was also at that same address that she was living with her family in 1851 when she was 13. By that time her mother had been dead for a year, and it was later that same year that the death of Letitia Collett was recorded at West Bromwich (Ref. xviii 388) during the third quarter of 1851, when she was buried at Wednesbury on 11^th September 1851. Less than four years later, two of her siblings, Josiah (above) and Sarah (below) died, perhaps of the same ailment that caused the premature death of Letitia at the age of nearly 14

Sarah Ann Collett [83N5] was born at Church Hill in Wednesbury on 21^st May 1841 and was sixteen days old in the June census that year. Her birth was registered at West Bromwich (Ref. xviii 561) during the second quarter of that year. Upon being baptised at Wednesbury on 20^th June 1841 she was simply recorded as Sarah Collett, daughter of William and Sarah. When she was nine years old her mother suffered a premature death, leaving Sarah Ann Collett aged 10 years living at Church Hill in Wednesbury with her widowed father. The death of Sarah Ann Collett was recorded eight years later at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 420) during the last three months of 1859

William Collett [83N6] was born at Church Hill in Wednesbury in 1843, another son of William and Sarah Collett, whose birth was registered at West Bromwich (Ref. xviii 539) during the third quarter of the year. He was subsequently baptised St Bartholomew’s Church in Wednesbury on 30^th July 1843 and was seven years old in the Wednesbury census of 1851 when his family was still residing at Church Hill. After completing his education he worked alongside his father, learning the skills to become a coachsmith. However, by the time of the census in 1861, and at the age of 17, William Collett from Wednesbury was a coachsmith who was in lodgings at Holloway Bank in Wednesbury. Four years later the marriage of William Collett and Harriet Allen was recorded at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 849) during the third quarter of 1865. By 1871 they had given birth to three children, all born in Wednesbury, where the family was residing that year. William Collett was 26 and a coachsmith, with his wife Harriet being the same age and recorded as also born at Wednesbury (sic). Their three children were Josiah G Collett who was four years old, Sarah J Collett who was two, and George A Collett who was under one year old

According to the next census in 1881, the family had increased to eight children when, on that day they were living at 6 Bridge Street off Palmers Terrace in Wednesbury. William Collett from Wednesbury was 37 and a coachsmith like his older brother John (above) when, on that day, 37-year-old Harriet gave her place of birth as Golds Hill (which is in West Bromwich). Working with William was his eldest son Josiah Collett who was 14. The next six children were all attending school, and they were Sarah Jane who was 11, Arthur (George A) who was 10, Phoebe who was seven, Lizzie who was six, William who was four, and Ernest who was three. Completing the family was latest arrival Alfred Collett who was one-year-old

The couple’s ninth child was born during the following year and two years after that Harriet presented William with their tenth and last child. A total of seven children were still living with the couple at Bridge Street in Wednesbury in 1891. William Collett was 48 and continuing his work as a coachsmith, Harriet Collett was 47, George Collett was 20, Elizabeth Collett was 16, William Collett was 15, Samuel Collett who was 13, Alfred Collett was 11, Alice Collett was nine, and Dennis Sidney Collett was seven years of age, and all attending school

At the end of March in 1901, only the six youngest children were still living in Wednesbury with William and Harriet, at 60 Sparrows Forge Road, when the three older sons were working with their father. Head of the household William was 56 and an axletree forger, and Harriet was also 56 and confirmed she had been born in West Bromwich (Golds Hill). Their unmarried daughter Lizzie was 27, and their sons were William who was 23, Samuel who was 22, and John who was 21. Daughter Florrie Collett was 18 who, with no stated occupation, was very likely helping her mother with housekeeping duties, and youngest son Dennis was a hairdresser with his own account at 16. Completing the family group was John Collett from Stoke-on-Trent, recorded in error as born at Wednesbury who, despite being only eight years old, was described as son, rather than grandson, which he was. He was the eldest child of William and Harriet’s eldest son Josiah George Collett who had become a married man in 1892, but was widowed in 1903. It is rather strange that no record of any member of the family has been found anywhere within the census conducted in early April 1911, while seven years early the death of Harriet Collett was recorded at West Bromwich register office (Ref. 6b 571) near the end of 1904, although her age was report to be 62, so she may not have been William’s wife

83O13 - Josiah George Collett was born in 1866 at Wednesbury

83O14 - Sarah Jane Collett was born in 1868 at Wednesbury

83O15 - George Arthur Collett was born in 1870 at Wednesbury

83O16 - Phoebe Mary Letitia Collett was born in 1872 at Wednesbury

83O17 - Elizabeth Anne Collett was born in 1874 at Wednesbury

83O18 - William Collett was born in 1876 at Wednesbury

83O19 – Samuel Ernest Collett was born in 1877 at Wednesbury

83O20 – Alfred John Collett was born in 1879 at Wednesbury

83O21 – Florence Alice Collett was born in 1881 at Wednesbury

83O22 – Dennis Sidney Collett was born in 1883 at Wednesbury

George Collett [83N7] was born at Wednesbury in 1847, the youngest child of William Collett and Sarah Disturnal, when his birth was registered at West Bromwich (Ref. xviii 567) during the second quarter of the year. It was at St Bartholomew’s Church in Wednesbury on 4^th July 1847. He was four years old in the Wednesbury census of 1851 when he was one of six children still living with his widowed father, his mother possibly having not survived his birth. No record of his father and most of his older siblings has been found within the next census, when George Collett from Wednesbury was 13 years of age and was already working as a butcher’s apprentice. On that day in 1861 he was described as the nephew of Henry and Fanny Walker, both born at Willenhall, when staying with them at their home on Stafford Street in Willenhall, where George eventually he met his future wife

Eight years later George Collett was a butcher when he married Sarah Carver from Willenhall. Their wedding was recorded at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 610) during the third quarter of 1869 and took place at Holy Trinity Church in Willenhall on 12^th September 1869. The wedding register confirmed that George was 22 and the son of William Collett, with Sarah being 21 and the daughter of John Carver. It was also at Willenhall where they settled once they were married, and where all their children were born. In the Willenhall census of 1871 George was 24, Sarah was 23 and their first child William was still under one year old. It was at 15 Union Street in Willenhall where the enlarged family was residing in 1881. The census return that year listed the family as George Collett who was 34 and a butcher from Wednesbury, his wife Sarah Collett who was 32, William Collett who was 10, George Collett who was three, and Lettie Collett was not yet one year old

One more child was added to the family seven years after that census day although, that child did not survive. The family was still residing at Clarks Lane in Willenhall in 1891, when George was 43 and a pork butcher, Sarah was 41, William was 20, George was 13, and Letitia was 10. By March 1901 the two sons had left home which, by then, was in the Heath Town district of Wolverhampton where George Collett from Wednesbury was 53 and a butcher. His wife Sarah Collett was 52 and, still living the couple, was their daughter Letitia Collett who was 20 years old, but with no stated occupation

Absent son George was married by then, and daughter Letitia was subsequently married shortly thereafter. Living on there on during the early years of the new century, George and Sarah moved to Birmingham and, on the day of the next census in 1911, the couple was living within the Saltley district of the city. George Collett was 63 and Sarah Collett was 62. Living there with them was their son George Frederick Collett who, by then, had been widowed following the death of his first wife. It was later that year when the death of Sarah Collett was recorded at Aston register office (Ref. 6d 493) during the third quarter of 1911 when she was 62. Having lost his wife, George senior moved again, possibly back to the Willenhall area, since his death was recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 609) during the last three months of 1919, when he was 72

83O23 - William Collett was born in 1870 at Willenhall

83O24 - George Frederick Collett was born in 1877 at Willenhall

83O25 - Letitia Collett was born in 1881 at Willenhall

83O26 - John Carver Collett was born in 1888 at Willenhall

Arthur Collett [83O1] was born at Wednesbury in 1851, the first of the six known children of John Collett and Ann Stokes, whose birth was registered at nearby West Bromwich (Ref. xviii 609) during the last three months of that year. Arthur was baptised at St Bartholomew’s Church in Wednesbury on 23^rd November 1851, when the parish register confirmed that he was the son of John and Ann Collett. He was recorded in error as seven years old in the census of 1861 with the family residing at Holloway Bank in Wednesbury. Ten years after that, Arthur’s family was still living at Holloway Bank when Arthur Collett from Wednesbury was 19 and employed as a clerk at the coachworks where his father and younger John (below) also worked. It was during the second quarter of 1878 that the marriage of Arthur Collett and Sarah Jane Lealan was recorded at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 962).

Once married, the couple settled in Nuneaton where their only known child was born. The baptism of their son was conducted at home, a private baptism, perhaps indicating the child was not well enough to attend the parish church in Chilvers Coton, to the south of Nuneaton. The parish record of the event confirmed the parents as Arthur Collett, a clerk, and Sarah Jane Collett, of Chilvers Coton. Less than two years later, the three members of the family were still living within the parish of Chilvers Coton for the census in 1881. Chilvers Coton was absorbed into the Borough of Nuneaton in 1920

The census in 1881 listed the family living at Coton Road in Chilvers Coton where Arthur Collett was 28 and a commercial clerk working for a coal and iron trader. His wife Sarah J Collett was 27 and had been born in Wednesbury, and their son Arthur H Collett was two years old. It was a similar situation after a further ten years, when the census of 1891 identified the family living at 61 Dugdale Street in Chilvers Coton, as Arthur Collett who was 39 and a cashier at a local colliery, Sarah J Collett was 38 and their son Arthur H Collett was 11 and still at school. The census in March 1901 told the same story, when the family was again living at 61 Dugdale Street in Chilvers Coton. Arthur Collett from Wednesbury was 49 and was employed as a clerk at a colliery, Sarah J Collett was 48 and Arthur H Collett from Nuneaton was 21 and an ironmonger’s assistant

Three years later, the death of Sarah Jane Collett, nee Lealan, was recorded at Nuneaton register office (Ref. 6d 356) during the first three months of 1904, after which she was buried at Chilvers Coton on 15^th February 1904, aged 52. Sarah and Arthur were living at 33 Firton Street in Chilvers Coton when she died, with the funeral service conducted by Arthur’s brother William Collett (below), the vicar from St Mary’s Church in Wolverhampton. The later marriage of widower Arthur Collett and Catherine Ellen Wilson from Huntingdon was recorded at Nottingham register office (Ref. 7b 879) during the third quarter of 1907. This was confirmed in the next census for Nuneaton in 1911 when Arthur Collett from Wednesbury was 59 and an accountant at East Works in Nuneaton, with Catherine Ellen Collett from Huntingdon being 58. On that day they had been married for three years, when Arthur’s married son and his family were living nearby

Sixteen years after that census day Arthur Collett died at the age of 75, with his passing recorded at Warwickshire register office (Ref. 6d 581) in 1927. After a further eleven years, Catherine Ellen Collett, nee Wilson, was 87 when her death was also recorded at Warwickshire register office (Ref. 6d 771) in 1938. Her Will was proved at Warwick on 17^th March 1938 when the beneficiary was Percy Dixon, presumably a child from an earlier marriage, with the probate documentation confirmed the date that she died as 13^th January 1938

83P1 – Arthur Horace Collett was born in 1879 at Chilvers Coton

John Collett [83O2] was born at Wednesbury in 1854, the second child of John and Ann Collett. His birth was registered at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 577) during the first three months of the year. It was on 19^th February 1854 at the Church of St Bartholomew in Wednesbury that he was baptised and confirmed as the son of John and Ann Collett. He was seven years old and 17 years of age in the two census returns of 1861 and 1871 when living with his family at Holloway Bank in Wednesbury. On that latter occasion John from Wednesbury was working as a labourer at a local coachworks company with his father and his older brother Arthur. Just over four years later John Collett, a bachelor and a coachsmith of full age, residing in Birmingham, was married by licence at the Parish Church in Sutton Coldfield on 5^th July 1875 to spinster Rebecca Ball. She was 20 years old and born at Sutton Coldfield, the daughter of Charles Ball, an engineer, deceased. The father of John Collett was confirmed as John Collett, a coachsmith, who was also one of the two witnesses, with Mary Anne Halford. All four participants signed the parish register in their own hand

During the next six years Rebecca presented John with four children while they were living in Wednesbury, where the family was recorded in the next census in 1881. It was at 43 Oxford Street in Wednesbury that John Collett from West Bromwich was living when he was 27 and his occupation was that of a coachsmith and grocer. His wife Rebecca was 26 and from Wednesbury and later census records would indicate that it was she who managed the grocery shop. Their children on that occasion were Alfred who was five, John who was three, Edith who was two and Charles who was only two months old, all of them having been born at Wednesbury. Their business must have been flourishing as they could afford to employ a general servant in the form of 14-year-old Ann Maria Gwilt of Darlaston

Over the next couple of years Rebecca presented John with a further two children and by 1891 the family comprised coachsmith John aged 37, Rebecca aged 36, Alfred who was 15, John who was 13, Edith who was 12, Ernest who was 10, Arthur who was eight, Harold who was seven, Florence who was five, and Beatrice who was four years of age. Sadly, Beatrice was only thirteen years old when her father died at Wednesbury; the death of John Collett at the age of 46 being recorded at West Bromwich register office (Ref. 6b 556) during the third quarter of 1900. After he died on 19^th September 1900, the body of John Collett was laid to rest in the grounds on Wood Green Cemetery in Wednesbury. The Will of John Collett of 20-21 Piercy Street in Wednesbury was proved at Lichfield on 22^nd October 1900 when his personal effects were valued at £551 16 Shillings and 6 Pence and the executor of his estate was his widow, Rebecca Collett. Nineteen years earlier, according to the census in 1881, John’s uncle Samuel Collett, a coachsmith, was living at 23 Piercy Street in Wednesbury

Five months later, according to the Wednesbury census of 1901, widow Rebecca Collett was still living in Wednesbury, but at 21-22 Piercy Street, with just six of her seven children. Where her son John was at that time has not been determined, nor has he been identified in the census of 1911 when his family was living at Piercy Street in Wednesbury. Rebecca was 46 and was listed as a beer retailer having her own account, presumably running an outdoor beer house, the colloquial name for such shops. Still living with her on that occasion were her sons Alfred 25, Charles 20, Arthur 18, and Harold 17, and daughters Edith 22, Florence 15, and Beatrice who was 14. Following the death of her husband it would appear, that Rebecca, together with her daughter Florence, travelled to North Devon sometime after 1901. By 1911 the two of them were staying at a boarding house in the market town of Northam, near Bideford in Devon where Rebecca of Wednesbury was 56 and a widow living on private means, accompanied by her unmarried daughter Florence Collett who was 25. That may have been a temporary arrangement, since the remainder of the unmarried members of the family were still residing in Wednesbury, to where daughter Florence returned to be married and raise a family of her own

Rebecca Collett, formerly Rebecca Ball, died on 5^th November 1926 and was buried with her husband at Wood Green Cemetery, Wednesbury, in the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell. She was 72 years of age and her death was recorded at Staffordshire register office (Ref. 6b 880)

83P2 – Alfred John Collett was born in 1875 at Wednesbury

83P3 – John Brittain Collett was born in 1877 at Wednesbury

83P4 – Edith M Collett was born in 1879 at Wednesbury

83P5 – Charles Ernest Collett was born in 1881 at Wednesbury

83P6 – Arthur Collett was born in 1882 at Wednesbury

83P7 – Harold Collett was born in 1883 at Wednesbury

83P8 – Florence Amy Collett was born in 1885 at Wednesbury

83P9 – Beatrice Mary Collett was born in 1887 at Wednesbury

George Collett [83O3] was born at Wednesbury in 1856, with his birth registered at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 668) during the second quarter of the year. He was baptised at Wednesbury on 8^th June 1856 the third son of John and Ann Collett. Tragically, just after he was baptised, he died with his infant death recorded at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 330) during the third quarter of 1856

William Collett [83O4] was born at Wednesbury in 1865, another son of John and Ann Collett, whose birth was registered at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 758) during the second quarter of the year. He was baptised on 18^th June 1865 at St Bartholomew’s Church in Wednesbury, when his parents were confirmed as John and Ann. It was at Holloway Bank near West Bromwich that William’s family was living in 1871 when he was five years of age and attending school. Ten years later it was just William who was the only child still living with his parents who by then were living at 89 Albert Street in Wednesbury when William Collett was 14 and a pupil teacher whose place of birth was recorded as Hill Top in West Bromwich. According to the next census in 1891 William Collett from West Bromwich was 25 when he was one of two people of that surname recorded within the Cannock registration district of Staffordshire, the other being his eighteen-year-old cousin Phoebe Collett [83O16], the daughter of William and Harriet Collett

At that time in his life William was a clergyman within the Church of England and in 1893, when he was 27, he married Mary Florence Guy who was 32 and born at Wednesbury. William from Wednesbury was the son of John Collett, and Mary of Church Hill was the daughter of George Silas Guy. Once married William was appointed to a post at Walsall where he and Florence were living in March 1901 at Lysways Road in Walsall South. The census that month confirmed that William Collett from Wednesbury was 35 and a clergyman priest in the Church of England, while his wife was described as Mary Florence Collett from Wednesbury who was 40. On that day William employed a 24-year-old general domestic servant.

Three years after that census day William Collett, the Vicar of St Mary’s Church in Wolverhampton, officiated at the funeral and burial at Chilvers Coton, near Nuneaton, of his sister-in-law Sarah Jane Collett, the wife of his eldest brother Arthur Collett (above). The move to Wolverhampton was also confirmed by the next census in 1911. By then William Collett from West Bromwich was 45 was a Clerk in Holy Orders residing at St Mary’s Vicarage in Wolverhampton, with his wife of eighteen years being Florence Collett from Wednesbury who was 50. Florence had help managing the vicarage by employing two domestic servants, Maud Badger aged 21, and Alice Crowshaw who was 16

William Collett was 60 years of age when he died, with his death recorded at the Staffordshire register office (Ref. 6b 507) during 1925. Seven years later, his widow was residing in the Wolverhampton area where Mary Florence Guy Collett died on 24^th February 1932 when she was 71, having been born at Wednesbury during the summer of 1860, and was buried at Merridale Cemetery (Plot 19361). Her Will was proved at Wolverhampton on 20^th April 1932, when the main beneficiaries were Ethel Rose Guy and Majorie May Guy

Enoch Collett [83O5] was born at Wednesbury, maybe at the end of 1868, with his birth registered at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 737) during the first month of 1869, followed by his baptism at St Bartholomew’s Church in Wednesbury on 24^th January 1869, the fifth child and youngest son of John and Ann Collett. He was two years old in the Wednesbury census of 1871 when he and his family were living at Holloway Bank and, just over two years after, the death of Enoch Collett was recorded at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 422) during the third quarter of 1873

Ann Collett [83O6] was born at Wednesbury in 1871 and was the last of the six children of John Collett and Ann Stokes. Her birth was registered at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 722) during the third quarter of 1871, after which she was baptised at Wednesbury on 20^th August that year. Very tragically, she was the third child in the family who did not survive, with the death of Ann Collett recorded at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 540) during the first quarter of 1872

Sarah Ann Collett [83O7] was born at Wednesbury in 1857 and was the daughter of Samuel Collett and his first wife Rebecca Tonks. Her birth was registered at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 577) during the fourth quarter of 1857, and she was baptised at the Church of Bartholomew on 25^th December 1857. Two years later the death of Sarah Ann Collett was recorded at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 420) during the last three months of 1859

George Collett [83O8] was born at Wednesbury in 1860, the only known surviving child of Samuel Collett and Rebecca Tonks. His birth was registered at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 688) during the second quarter of that year and was baptised at St Bartholomew’s Church in Wednesbury on 3^rd July 1860. He was 10 years old in the Wednesbury census of 1871 and was 20 but with no stated occupation in 1881, when he and his family was living at 23 Piercy Street in Wednesbury. Two years later the marriage of George Collett, the son of Samuel, was recorded at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 922) during the second quarter of 1883. His bride was (1) Eliza Lavinia Griffiths, aged 18, the daughter of John Griffiths, whose birth was recorded at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 792) during the second quarter of 1865. The wedding ceremony was conducted at All Saints Church, Moxley in Darlaston on 4^th June 1883 when, both the bride and the groom were residing in nearby Wednesbury

It is likely that Eliza was already with-child on their wedding day, and that once married they disappear to Newton, near Rugeley in Staffordshire where their son was born at the end of that year. However, it is established that his birth was registered at West Bromwich and was raised as if born in Wednesday where he lived most of his life. Tragically, the child was around one year old when Eliza died, most likely during the birth of the couple’s second child at Wednesbury, who also did not survive. The death of Eliza Lavinia Collett was recorded at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 539) during the first quarter of 1885, when she was 19 years old. That tragic event left George with a one-year-old baby to look after and presumably enlisted his family’s help and advice. By the time of the census in 1891, widower George Collett was 29 and a labourer, when he and his son, Samuel Collett aged seven years, were lodging at 32 Alma Street in Wednesbury, the home of Richard and Marion Steadman

Within the next fifteen months, George Collett married (2) widow Mary Ann Evans. The wedding took place at the Wednesbury Church of St Paul and St Luke on 4^th July 1892, when George was 31 and the son of Samuel Collett, when Mary was 27 and the daughter of Joseph and Mary Smith. Both George and Mary were said to be residing at Crankhall Lane in Wednesbury prior to that day, while Mary Ann Smith was baptised at Wednesbury on 14^th September 1862. It should be noted that, whilst the church records at St Bartholomew’s, for both her baptism and marriage, used the forenames Mary Ann, the record of her second marriage to George Collett at West Bromwich register office (Ref. 6b 1136) gave her name as Mary Jane Evans

A year later, and five years again after that, Mary presented George with two sons, when they were still living in Wednesbury. In addition to those two boys, plus George’s son from his first marriage, there was another member of the family listed with them in the census of 1901, and she may have been Mary’s daughter from her first marriage, or though, no record of the birth or baptism for the child has been discovered. The Wednesbury census in 1901 recorded the family living at Albert Street as George Collett who was 40 and an ironworks labourer, Mary J Collett aged 37, Samuel Collett who was 17 and a labourer at the iron works, Mary A Collett aged 13, William A Collett who was seven, and George E Collett who was three years old. Every member of the household had been born at Wednesbury

Mary A Collett was described as the daughter of George Collett, while her age suggests she was born around 1888, three years after his first wife had passed away. If she was the daughter of Mary Evans, she had already taken up the Collett surname. However, no record of her has been discovered in 1911, by which time she may have been married. During the next decade George took his family to Wolverhampton where they were living on the day of the census in 1911. George Collett was 50 and still an ironworks labourer, Jane Collett was 45, and their son George Collett was 13. As regards the two other sons of George Collett, Samuel was living with George’s brother Samuel (below) in West Bromwich on that day, while no record of William has been found for that day

9P10 – Samuel John Collett was born in 1884 at Newton, near Rugeley

The following were the sons of George Collett by his second wife Mary Ann Evans, nee Smith:

9P11 – William Arthur Collett was born in 1893 at Wednesbury

9P12 – George Edwin Collett was born in 1898 at Wednesbury

Martha Elizabeth Collett [83O9] was born at Wednesbury in 1866, the eldest of the four children of Samuel Collett by his second wife Catherine Denton. Her birth was registered at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 709) during the third quarter of the year. Martha E Collett, aged four years, and her family were living at Mesty Croft in Wednesbury in 1871 and was 14 years old in 1881, by which time the family home was residing at 23 Piercy Street in Wednesbury. On completing her education, Martha secured a job as a general domestic servant in Lancashire and in 1891 she was staying with relatives at Oak Street in the Newton, Prestwich area of North Manchester. General domestic servant Martha from Wednesbury was unmarried at the age of 24, but was married shortly thereafter. The relatives who Martha was lodging with were Ann Lloyd aged 63 who had been born in Staffordshire and her son John Lloyd from Lincoln who was 36

Three years after the census day, the marriage by banns of Martha Elizabeth Collett aged 26 and of Hadfield Street, the daughter of Samuel Collett deceased, and James Houlton aged 27 and a labourer of 224 Oldham Road, the son of James Houlton deceased, took place at St Anne’s Church in Newton on 11^th February 1894. It is established that her mother Catherine, and her brother William James Collett (below), moved to that same area of the country between 1891 and 1894 and it was William who was one of the witnesses at Martha’s wedding. Furthermore, for the next census in 1901, Martha Houlton and her family had her mother and brother living with them at Bath Street in Newton (Newton Heath), North Manchester

Once married, Martha initially presented James with their first three children prior to the end of the century and the census in 1901 confirmed that the following people were residing with them in Bath Street. James Houlton was a brewery labourer from Newton Heath, Martha from Wednesbury was 33, James Houlton was six, William Houlton was four, Fred Houlton was two, all born at Newton Heath, Catherine Collett from Wednesbury was 62, and William Collett, also from Wednesbury, was 25. Completing the household was John Lloyd from Lincoln who was 47, and it was with him and his elderly mother that Martha Collett had been living in 1891

The only daughter of Martha and James, Lizzie Houlton, was baptised at Newton Heath on 23^rd December 1903, whose death was recorded at Prestwich register office (Ref. 8d 261) during the last quarter of 1904. It was in the grounds of All Saints’ Church in Newton Heath on 22^nd October 1904, aged ten months. The remainder of the family was residing in Stockport in 1911, when James Houlton was 44 and an unemployed general labourer, Martha Houlton was 43, James Houlton was 17 and a messenger boy employed at a railway book stall, William Houlton was 14 and working at a brewery as a beer bottled, and Fred Houlton was 12 and at school. An error by the census enumerator had recorded everyone’s place of birth as Newton Heath

Samuel Collett [83O10] was born at Wednesbury, the third child of Samuel and Catherine Collett, who may have been born at the end of 1867 or early in 1868, with his birth registered at Werst Bromwich (Ref. 6b 750) during the first three months of 1868. He was three years old in the Wednesday census of 1871 and was 13 and still at school in 1881. At that time in his life, he was still living with his family which was recorded at 23 Piercy Street in Wednesbury. The marriage of Samuel Collett and Leah Slinn took place at St Peter’s Church in Walsall on 9^th November 1890. Leah was 21 and the daughter of coal miner David Slinn, of 31 Whitehouse Street in Walsall, with Samuel being 22, the son of Samuel Collett, who was living at 31 Day Street in Walsall. Within three months of their wedding day, Leah gave birth to the couple’s first child, who was three months old on the day of the census in 1891 when the three members of the family were staying with Samuel’s widowed mother at 11 Piercy Street in Wednesbury

Head of the household was Catherine Collett, when her labourer son Samuel Collett was 23, and his wife Leah Collett from Walsall was 21. Their three-month-old son Samuel Collett had been baptised on 22^nd February 1891. Two more children were born into the family during the following five years but, just after the birth of the couple’s third child, son Samuel suffered a premature death and was six years old when he died early in 1897

March 1901 the family of four was visiting Leah’s home town of Walsall and were recorded at Wellington Street, the home of Leah’s father David Slinn. According to the census that month, son-in-law Samuel Collett was 33 and an iron worker, daughter Leah Collett was 31, granddaughter Lily Collett was seven, and grandson David Collett was five, both born at Wednesbury. How long they were there has not been determined but, by 1911, the family was once again living in Wednesbury. Samuel was 43 and described as a labourer working in the yard of an engineering works, Leah was 42, Lilian was 18, and David was 16. Staying with the family on the day of the census was Samuel’s nephew Samuel Collett who was the 28-year-old son of Samuel’s brother George (above), who later married his daughter Lily

The death of Leah Collett nee Slinn was recorded at West Bromwich register office (Ref. 6b 1301) during the first three months of 1927 when she was 56 years old. Samuel survived for a further five years, when his death was also recorded at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 689) during the third quarter of 1932, at the age of 64

83P13 – Samuel Collett was in 1891 at Wednesbury

83P14 – Lily Collett was in 1893 at Wednesbury

83P15 – David Thomas Collett was in 1895 at Wednesbury

Lizzie Collett [83O11] was born at Wednesbury at the end of 1871 or at the start of 1872, whose birth as Lizzie, was registered at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 838) during the first three months of 1872. She was one of the daughters of Samuel and Catherine Collett. She was referred to as Lizzie Collett in the census of 1881 when she was nine years old and living with her family at 23 Piercy Street in Wednesbury. It was also there, at 11 Piercy Street, that she was described as Elizabeth Collett who was 19 and a domestic servant in 1891. Ten years later she had left the family home and, in the Birmingham census of 1901, she was listed as Lizzie Collett from Wednesbury who was 29 and still employed as a domestic servant. After a further ten years, unmarried Elizabeth Collett from Wednesbury was 39 and employed as a general domestic servant at the Newton Heath Manchester home of her cousin John Lloyd, the son of the sister of Elizabeth’s mother, Ann Lloyd nee Benton. Also living at the Lloyd’s home was Elizabeth’s mother Catherine Collett nee Benton

It was later that same year when the wedding of Lizzie Collett and Sidney V Brookes was recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 1037) during the third quarter of 1911. Lizzie Brookes was 82 and living in Shropshire when she passed away, with her death recorded at Shropshire register office (Ref. 9a 161) in 1954

William James Collett [83O12] was born at Wednesbury in 1873, the youngest known child of Samuel Collett and Catherine Benton, his birth registered at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 832) during the third quarter of 1873. It was at 23 Piercy Street in Wednesbury that the family was living in 1881 when William James Collett was seven years old. His father died during the next decade, so William was one of three children still living with their widowed mother in 1891 at 11 Piercy Street in Wednesbury. By that time William Collett was 17 and working as a groom. Sometime before 1894 William and his widowed mother left Wednesbury and moved north to Newton Heath, where William’s sister Martha Elizabeth Collett was already living and working in 1891. In 1894 William Collett was one of the witnesses at his sister’s wedding and by 1901 William and his mother were living with married Martha and her family

It was at Bath Street in Newton Heath (Prestwich) in the North-East Manchester area of Lancashire that the two parts of the family were living in 1901, when William Collett from Wednesbury, as was his mother Catherine, was 25 and a labourer at a local brewery. Just over one year later, on 11^th May 1902, William James Collett aged 23, a labourer and the son of Samuel Collett deceased, a coachsmith, was married by banns at All Saints’ Church in Newton to Sarah Gent, also 23, and the daughter of Samuel Gent, a greengrocer. As far as can be determined, the marriage produced two children. According to the census in 1911, William James Collett from Wednesbury was 37 when he was married to Sarah Collett, also 37, who were living at Miles Platting within the Newton Heath registration district of North-East Manchester. Recorded there with them was their son Harry Collett who was four years of age. It would also appear that William had taken over his father-in-law’s business, since his occupation that year was that of a greengrocer and shopkeeper in the fruit and vegetable industry

On the day of the census, Sarah was expecting the arrival of the couple’s second child when, just a few weeks later, Robert H Collett was born at Newton Heath. His father lived all his life in the Manchester area and it was there that the death of William J Collett was recorded (Ref. 10e 392) during the final quarter of 1960 when he was 87

83P16 – Harry Collett was born in 1906 at Newton Heath

83P17 – Robert H Collett was born in 1911 at Miles Platting

Josiah George Collett [83O13] was born at Wednesbury in 1866, the eldest of the ten children of William Collett and Harriet Allen, whose birth was registered at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 692) during the third quarter of the year. It was also at Wednesbury where he was baptised on 15^th July 1866. As Josiah G Collett he was four years old in 1871 and was 14 and already a coachsmith by 1881, when he was living and working with his father at 6 Bridge Street, Palmers Terrace in Wednesbury. During the next decade he left Wednesbury when he became a policeman in Stoke-on-Trent where, in 1891 Josiah George Collett from Wednesbury was 23 and a boarder at Heathcote Road, the only Collett living in that area at that time

Less than one year later Josiah George Collett married (Alice) Maud Bradbury with their wedding recorded at Stoke-on-Trent (Ref. 6b 279) during the first three months of 1892. The marriage produced three sons and a daughter for the couple who, by the time the next census was conducted in 1901, only had two children living with them at New Street in Longton. The couple’s eldest child, eight-year-old John Collett from Longton, was living with his grandparents William and Harriet Collett at 60 Sparrows Forge Road in Wednesbury. That day, Josiah George Collett from Wednesbury was 31 (sic) and a fish salesman by then, his wife Alice Maud Mary Collett from Hanley near Stoke-on-Trent was 29, and their younger sons were George Ernest Collett who was six, and William Edward Collett who was four, both born in Longton

Having had to suffer the loss of daughter Florence, Josiah’s situation was made even worse when he was widowed two years later. The death of Alice M Collett was recorded at Stoke register office (Ref. 6b 172) during the first three months of 1903, when she was only 31. Her husband survived for just four years on his own, with two young sons to look after, when the death of Josiah George Collett was recorded at Stoke register office (Ref. 6b 213) during the first quarter of 1907, when his age was incorrectly recorded by the informant of his passing as being only 37, when he would have been 41 later that year

The next census in 1911 revealed Josiah’s two surviving sons were staying with Josiah’s married sister Florence (below) at 115 Mill Street in Kings Hill, Wednesbury. The two brothers were described as the nephews of Florence’s husband David Butler and were listed as George Collett aged 16, who had been born at Fenton in Stoke-on-Trent, and William Collett who was 14 from New Street in Longton

83P18 – John William George Collett was born in 1893 at Longton, Stoke-on-Trent

83P19 – George Ernest Collett was born in 1894 at Longton, Stoke-on-Trent

83P20 – William Edward Collett was born in 1896 at Longton, Stoke-on-Trent

83P21 – Florence Mary Ann Collett was born in 1900 at Longton, Stoke-on-Trent

Sarah Jane Collett [83O14] was born at Wednesbury on 12^th October 1868 and was the eldest daughter of William Collett and Harriet Allen. Her birth was registered at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 717) during the fourth quarter of that year. She was baptised at St Bartholomew’s Church in Wednesbury on 8^th November 1868 and was two years old in the census of 1871. By 1881 she was eleven years of age when Sarah and her family were living at 6 Bridge Street (Palmers Terrace) in Wednesbury, but was no longer living with them in 1891

It was one year later, at Wednesbury on 6^th March 1892, that 23-year-old Sarah Jane Collett of 6 Palmer’s Building, Bridge Street in Wednesbury, and the daughter of William Collett, married William Henry Harper, aged 23 of 63 Bridge Street and the son of William Henry Harper senior, with their wedding day recorded at West Bromwich register office (Ref. 6b 876). One other name on the marriage record, was that of Hannah Elizabeth Berlaw who, shortly after, married Sarah’s brother George (below). Their eldest child, and namesake, was William Henry Harper III who was born at Wednesbury on 11^th October 1892 and, upon his death in America on 27^th May 1987, his parents were confirmed as William Henry Harper II and Sarah Jane Collett

The young family was living at Hill Street in West Bromwich in 1901 where William H Harper from Wolverhampton was 30 and a fitter in the holloware trade, Sarah J Harper from Wednesbury was 29, William Henry Harper was eight, Harriet Agnes Harper was six, Marion Gertrude Harper was three, and Samuel Ernest Harper was under one year old. All four children had been born in West Bromwich but, within days of that census day, the death of Samuel Ernest Harper was recorded at West Bromwich register office (Ref. 6b 502) during the second quarter of 1901. In total Sarah gave birth to eight children, the first five born in England before the family sailed to America in 1902, where another three children were added to the family in Pennsylvania

After the census day in 1901, but in that same year, Sarah’s husband sailed to America ahead of the family who made the same journey during the following year. Once there, they made their home at Irwin in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, where they were living in 1910 on Nineth Street. The census return that year confirmed the couple had been married for eighteen years, during which time they had given birth to eight children, seven of whom were still living. However, whilst Sarah Jane Harper from England was 40, her husband was recorded in error as John N Harper (sic) from England who was 41 and a labourer at an electric works. Working there with him, was his son William H Harper aged 17. Their other children that day were Harriet A Harper 15, Marion G Harper 13, Elizabeth C Harper who was eight, Florence Harper who was six, Harry J Harper who was three, and baby Howard G Harper who was eighteen months

The census in 1920 identified the whole family living on 614 Eighth Street in Irwin, Westmorland County, Pennsylvania. Head of the household William Harper from England was 51 and a labourer with the steam railroad. Sarah J Harper from England was 50, their three English-born children were: William H Harper was 27 and a machinist on the steam railroad; Marion G Harper was 22 and a clerk in an electric shop; and Elizabeth C Harper was 17. The couple’s three children born after settling in Pennsylvania were Florence Harper who was 15, Harry Harper who was 13, and Howard S Harper was ten years old. By 1930 the reduced family was again living at 614 Eighth Street in Irwin, when steam railroad labourer William was 60 and the owner of their home, having a value of $5000, Sarah was 61, Harry was 23 and a carpenter’s assistant, and Howard was 21 and a labourer. The same census return confirmed that William had first arrived in America in 1902, with Sarah and their first four children following in 1903, when both dates were one year difference from that stated in the census of 1920. Four years after that census day, Sarah Jane Collett Harper died at Irwin, in Westmorland, Pennsylvania, America, on 13^th March 1934

George Arthur Collett [83O15] was born at Wednesbury in 1870, whose birth was registered at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 805) during the second quarter of the year. He was a son of William and Harriet Collett, who was baptised at St Bartholomew’s Church on 19^th June 1870. As simply Arthur Collett, he was 10 years old in 1881 when living at 6 Bridge Street (Palmers Terrace) in Wednesbury, and was George Arthur Collett aged 20 in 1891 when he was still living with his family and working as a striker in the coach building trade. Just after that, life for George changed dramatically. Firstly, the young lady he was seeing discovered she was with-child. Next their marriage was hastily arranged, following which the first of their two daughters was born a short while after. The wedding of George Arthur Collett, aged 21, and Hannah Elizabeth Berlaw, also 21, took place at Wednesbury on 14^th February 1892. George of 6 Palmers Terrace was confirmed as the son of William Collett, while Hannah of 42 Potters Lane was the daughter of Thomas Berlaw. Once married the couple moved to Walsall, probably out of embarrassment for their predicament, only returning to Wednesbury over a year after the baby was born

Exactly three months after their wedding day their daughter Florence was born at Walsall and she was over one year old when she was baptised at Wednesbury, when her parents were named as George Arthur and Anna Elizabeth Collett. Three years after that, the couple’s second daughter was born at Wednesbury on 27^th July 1896 and when she was baptised her parents were named as George Arthur Collett and his wife Elizabeth. By 1901 the family of four was residing at Palmers Croft, Bridge Street in Wednesbury, from where George Collett, aged 28, was an axle-smith. His wife Hannah Collett, also from Wednesbury, was 28 and their two daughters were recorded as Florence Collett from Walsall who was eight, and Phoebe Collett from Wednesday who was four years old

Less than one year after that census day a double tragedy hit the Collett household, with an illness or accident claiming the lives of, first George’s wife, closely followed by the death of his youngest daughter. The death of Hannah Collett (Ref. 6b 538) was recorded at Bromwich register office during the first three months of 1902, with the death of her also 6b 538. According to the next census in 1911, widower George Collett was 40 and a coach spring axle forger with a coach manufacturer, who had living at Wednesbury with him, his surviving child, Florence Collett who was 19. On that day her place of birth was recorded as Wednesbury, while having no stated occupation, she had very likely been acting as housekeeper for her father since leaving school

That role was short-lived, since it was later that same year that Florence was married and started a family of her own. George Arthur Collett was probable involved in some way with his daughter and her family, while it was forty-five years later when the death of George A Collett was recorded at Wednesbury register office (Ref. 9b 918) during the first quarter of 1956 when he was 85 years old

83P22 – Florence Alice Gertrude Collett was born in 1892 at Walsall

83P23 – Phoebe Letitia Collett was born in 1896 at Wednesbury

Phoebe Mary Letitia Collett [83O16] was born at Wednesbury in 1872 and her birth was registered at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 826) during the first two weeks of the year. She was baptised at Wednesbury on 14^th January 1872 when she was confirmed as the daughter of William and Harriet Collett. She and her family were living at 6 Bridge Street off Palmers Terrace in Wednesbury in 1881 when Phoebe Collett was seven years old. With a large family of brothers and sisters it seems highly likely that Phoebe left home on completing her education because, by the time of the next census in 1891, Phoebe Collett from Wednesbury was 18 and a domestic servant living and working at the Cannock home of Willim Hewson, a draper and milliner. The only other Collett recorded in that registration district was Phoebe’s cousin William Collett [83O4]

Six years later the occasion of her wedding, Phoebe’s names were reversed, when the marriage of Phoebe Letitia Mary Collett and was recorded at Walsall register office (Ref. 6b 1217) during the last three months of 1897. The much later death of Phobe M L Pittaway was recorded at Bilston register office (Ref. 9b 20) during the summer of 1955 when she was 83 years of age

Elizabeth Anne Collett [83O17] was born at Wednesbury in 1873, with her birth registered at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 804) during the last quarter of 1873. It was on 2^nd November 1873 at St Bartholomew’s Church in Wednesbury that she was baptised, when her parents were confirmed as William and Harriet Collett. She was described as Lizzie Collett who was six years of age in 1881, when she living with her family at 6 Bridge Street, Palmers Terrace in Wednesbury. It was there also that she was still living in 1891 when Elizabeth Annie was 16 and a bottle washer for a ginger beer manufacturer. She was still living with her family in 1901, but at 60 Sparrows Forge Road, when Lizzie Collett was a mineral water manufacturer at the age of 27

William Collett [83O18] was born at Wednesbury in 1875,when his birth was registered at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 828) during the last three months of that year. William was baptised at St Bartholomew’s Church in Wednesbury on 3^rd October 1875 when his parents were confirmed as William and Harriet Collett. He was four years old in 1881 when he and his family were recorded at Palmers Terrace, 6 Bridge Street in Wednesbury. He was still living with his family at Bridge Street in 1891, when he was 15 and a straw hammer driver, and again in 1901 when he was an axletree forger but incorrected recorded in the census return as age 23

Samuel Ernest Collett [83O19] was born at Wednesbury in 1877 and was another son of William and Harriet Collett. His birth was registered at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 877) during the fourth quarter of the year and it was on 11^th November 1877 that he was baptised at the Church of St Bartholomew in Wednesbury. He may have been born at 6 Bridge in Wednesbury, where he and his family were residing in 1881. On the day of the census, he was described as Ernest Collett aged three years. Ten years later, in the Wednesbury census of 1891, he was listed as Samuel E Collett who was 13 years of age and a straw hammer driver, while continuing to live with his family at Bridge Street. After a further ten years, he was simply Samuel Collett aged 22 and working alongside his older brother William (above) as an axletree forger, when he was again living at the family home in Wednesbury which, by 1901 was at 60 Sparrows Forge Road

Two years after that, was when the marriage of Samuel Ernest Collett was recorded at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 1428) during the third quarter of 1903, although it is not clear whether he married Emily Haddock or Alice Ward. As with most of his family, no record of Samuel and his wife has been found within the census of 1911

Alfred John Collett [83O20] was born at Wednesbury in 1879 a son of William and Harriet Collett, whose birth was registered at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 851) during the third quarter of the year. It was at Wednesbury that he was baptised on 7^th September 1879. He was one year old on the day of the census in 1881 when Alfred Collett was living at 6 Bridge Street in Wednesbury. In 1891 it was as Alfred John Collett, aged 11 years, that he and his family were living at 60 Sparrows Forge Road in Wednesbury. On leaving school he joined his father and older brother working in coach building when John Collett was an axletree work striker at the age of 21. Def: axletree - a bar, fixed crosswise under an animal-drawn vehicle, with a rounded spindle at each end upon which a wheel rotates. Five years later the marriage of Alfred John Collett and Sarah was recorded at West Bromwich register office (Ref. 6b 1436) during the third quarter of 1906 and, within the next two years, their daughter was born

Where Alfred was in 1911 has not been confirmed, but it seems highly likely that he was already in America, awaiting the arrival of his wife and daughter later that year. On that census day they were visiting the home of Alfred’s married sister Florence Alice Butler nee Collett (below) at 115 Mill Street in Kings Hill, Wednesbury. The census return confirmed that Sarah Collett from Palfrey, Walsall, had been married for five years and was 29 years old, while her daughter ‘Nellie Collett’ was two years of age and had been born at 208 Prince Street in the Pleck area of Walsall. By that time in their life, Alfred’s nephew John William George Collett [83P18], the first-born child of Joshua George Collett (Alfred’s eldest brother) was already living in the Newark area of New Jersey in America, where he raised his family. The stories that might have come back to England about starting a new life in the USA may have been all the encouragement that Alfred needed, because Sarah and Nellie initially travelled north to Liverpool, where they boarded the S S Baltic, and arrive in New York on 13^th October 1911, to be met by Alfred

83P24 – Lucy Ellen Collett was born in 1908 at Pleck, Walsall

Florence Alice Collett [83O21] was born at 6 Bridge Street in Wednesbury in 1881, when her birth was registered at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 827) during the third quarter of 1881. It was at Wednesbury that she was baptised on 25^th September 1881, one of the ten children of William and Harriet Collett who were living at 6 Bridge Street on the day of the census a few months earlier that year. She was named as Florrie Alice Collett who was nine years old in 1891 and by 1901 Florrie was 18 with no occupation when she was living with her family at 60 Sparrows Forge Road in Wednesbury. It was in 1904 that she married David Butler and during 1908 she gave birth to their son and first child

According to the census return in 1911 the family was living at 115 Mill Street in Kings Hill, Wednesbury. David Butler, a machinist at a tube works, was 27 and from Wednesbury, while his slightly older wife of six years Florence Butler, claimed she was also 27 when the census form confirmed she had been born at Bridge Street in Wednesbury. Their son was Bernard Butler who was born at Forge Lane in Wednesbury who was two years of age. Living with the family on that day were four members of the Collett family. Nephews George and William, the teenage sons of Florence’s eldest brother Josiah, who had been made orphans four years earlier. The other two were Sarah Collett from Palfrey, Walsall, aged 29 and married for five years, the wife of Florence’s brother Alfred John Collett (above), who was a visitor with her daughter Nellie Collett who was two years old and born at Princes Street in Pleck

Dennis Sidney Collett [83O22] was born at Wednesbury in 1883, the youngest child of William and Harriet Collett, whose birth was registered at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 857) during the fourth quarter of the year, shortly after which, he was baptised at Wednesbury on 27^th December 1883. It may have been at 6 Bridge Street in Wednesbury that he was born, where his family had been living in 1881. The Wednesbury census in 1891 included Dennis Sidney Collett who was seven years old and after a further ten years, and after leaving school, Dennis Collett aged 16 was a hairdresser with his own account who was still living with his family. Tragically, just less than six years later the death of Dennis Sidney Collett was recorded at West Bromwich register office (Ref. 6b 600) during the first quarter of 1907

William Collett [83O23] was born at Willenhall in 1870, the eldest of the three surviving children of George Collett and Sarah Carver. His birth was registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 539) during the third quarter of 1870 and, unlike his three siblings below, no baptism record has been found for William who was under one year old in the Willenhall census of 1871. It was at Union Street in Willenhall that William was 10 years old in the census of 1881. Ten years later the family was living on Clarks Lane in Willenhall, where William was 20 and working with his father as a pork butcher. After a further three years as a bachelor, the marriage of William Collett and Emily Marston took place at Willenhall and was recorded at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 951) during the third quarter of 1894. By the time of the birth of the couple’s first child, William and Emily had settled in Walsall, where two more children were born before the end of the century. Those three children may have been born at Oxford Street in Walsall, where the family of five was recorded in the census of 1901. William Collett from Willenhall was 30 and a railway engine stoker, his wife Emily Collett, also from Willenhall, was 29, Letitia Collett was six, Emily Collett was four, and Frederick W Collett was one year old

Emily gave birth to a further two children over the next few years but was tragically made a widow just after the birth of the couple’s last child. The premature death of William Collett aged 36 was recorded at Walsall register office (Ref. 6b 423) during the fourth quarter of 1906. According to the next census in 1911, his widow Emily Collett and her five children were residing at Pleck Park within the Borough of Walsall. To provide for her children Emily was working as a charwoman at the age of 38. Her five children were recorded as Letty Collett who was 16 and employed at a local book-binding and printing company, Emily Collett who was 14, Fred Collett who was 11, George Collett who was nine, and Harry Collett who was five years old. Despite being a single parent with a young family to look after, Emily never re-married and was still living in Walsall when she passed away twenty-five years later. The death of Emily Collett aged 65, was recorded at Walsall register office (Ref. 6b 697) during the last quarter of 1937

83P25 – Letitia Collett was born in 1895 at Walsall

83P26 – Emily Collett was born in 1897 at Walsall

83P27 – Frederick William Collett was born in 1899 at Walsall

83P28 – George Collett was born in 1902 at Walsall

83P29 – Harry Collett was born in 1905 at Walsall

George Frederick Collett [83O24] was born at Willenhall on 28^th May 1877 and was baptised there at St Giles Church on 25^th July 1877, the son of George and Sarah Collett. His birth was registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 684) during the second quarter of that year. It was at Union Street in Willenhall that three-year-old George was living with his family in 1881, while it was at Clarks Lane that he and his family were living in the town in 1891 when George was 13. Where he was in 1901 has not been discovered, although he was married and widowed during the years between 1899 and 1911 when, once again, he was living with his parents in 1911, just prior to him marrying for a second time

The most likely, but still unconfirmed, marriage of George Collett took place in Birmingham in 1897 when he was 20 years old. His wife may have been Charlotte Griffiths, aged 17 and from Willenhall, the daughter of Thomas and Lucy Griffiths. In 1901, Charlotte Collett was 21 when she and her brother John Griffiths, aged 13 and from Willenhall, were staying with their elderly grandmother Mary A Griffiths at her home on the High Street in Willenhall. That raises the query that Charlotte may have been with-child by that time, while her husband might have been in the army somewhere abroad. Upon the return of her husband from wherever he was, he unfortunately discovered his wife and child has died during the birth. However, no record of the death of Charlotte Collett has been found

On the day the census was conducted in 1911, George Frederick Collett, aged 32 and from Willenhall, was a widower and a railway fireman, who was living within the Saltley district of Birmingham with his father George Collett and his mother Sarah Collett, who were both in their sixties. Less than six months later George’s mother died, and it was a year later than George Frederick Collett married (2) Lily May Townsend, with the event recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 1066) during the third quarter of 1912. With their two known children born seven years apart, it is possible that George served in some capacity during the First World War and was therefore absent from the family home during most of those years. The birth of their son was recorded at Wolverhampton register office, while the birth of their daughter was recorded at Dudley register office when, on both occasions, the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Townsend

George and Lily continued to live in the Dudley area after the birth of their daughter, and it was there that George Frederick Collett aged 57 died on 13^th December 1934 after which he was buried at Dudley Cemetery. His Will was proved at Canterbury in Kent on 22^nd January 1935 when the main beneficiary was his widow Lily May Collett. Almost exactly sixteen years after suffering the loss of her husband, Lily was 62 when she was still living in that same part of the country when Lily May Collett died on 29^th December 1950 and was buried with George at Dudley Cemetery

83P30 – George C Collett was born in 1914 at Wolverhampton

83P31 – Ellen E Collett was born in 1921 at Dudley

Letitia Collett [83O25], who was known as Lettie, was born at Union Street in Willenhall on 5^th March 1881 and her birth was registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 639) during the second quarter of the year. She was baptised at St Giles Church on 30^th March 1881, the daughter of George and Sarah Collett. She was two months old in the Willenhall census of 1881 and by 1891 10-year-old Letitia was with her family, but at Clarks Lane in Willenhall. Another family move took place during the next decade because, by 1901 it was at Heath Town in Wolverhampton that Letitia Collett from Willenhall was 20 years of age and was the only child still living with her parents

Within nine months she was married, with the wedding of Letitia Collett, aged 20, and Arthur Bould, aged 21, recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 759) during the first three months of 1902. The wedding ceremony was conducted in Wednesfield on 13^th January 1902, when the bride’s father was confirmed as George Collett. Arthur had been baptised at Heath Town on 1^st June 1880, the son of Joseph and Matilda Bould. And it was at Moseley Village in Heath Town where the couple was living in 1911 and where their five children were born. On the day of the census that year, both Arthur and Letitia were 30 years old and their place of birth was recorded as Willenhall. At that time in his life Arthur was described as a bread deliveryman. The five children were named as Flora Bould who was seven, Winifred Bould who was six, Arthur Bould who was four, Dorothy Bould who was three, and Leslie Bould who was just one year old

One year after the end of the Second World War, the death of Letitia Bould nee Collett was recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 9b 646) during the third quarter of 1946, when she was 65 years old. Eleven years later the death of Arthur Bould was also recorded at Wolverhampton (Ref. 9b 787) during the second quarter of 1957, when he was 77

John Carver Collett [83O26] was born at Willenhall on 2^nd February 1888, perhaps at Clarks Lane, where his family was recorded in 1891. The birth of John Carver Collett, the son of George Collett and Sarah Carver, was registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 617). He was baptised at St Giles’ Church in Willenhall on 7^th March that same year. Tragically, he was around eighteen months old when the death of John Carver Collett was recorded at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 311) during the third quarter of 1889

Arthur Horace Collett [83P1] was born at Chilvers Coton, to the south of Nuneaton, in 1879, the only child of Arthur and Sarah Jane Collett, with his birth registered at Nuneaton (Ref. 6d 477) during the last quarter of the year. He was privately baptised at home in Chilvers Coton on 18^th December 1879, when his father’s occupation was a clerk, and it was at Coton Road in Chilvers Coton that he and his parents were living in 1881 when Arthur Horace Collett was two years old. They were still living there in 1891 when Arthur H Collett was 11, but in 1901 the family of three was residing at 61 Dugdale Street in Chilvers Coton, by which time Arthur H Collett was working as an ironmonger’s assistant at the age of 21. It was in 1905 that Arthur Horace Collett married Appalina Stokes, their wedding was recorded at Nuneaton register office (Ref. 6d 828) during the third quarter of that year. Appalina was born at Tatenhill, south-west of Burton-on-Trent, the daughter of John and Elizabeth Stokes

By the time the next census was conducted in 1911 his wife had presented Arthur with their first child, although others may have been born to the couple after that year. Arthur Horace Collett was 31 and said he had been born in Chilvers Coton, while his wife Appalina (Appalura) Collett was 33, and their son Ronald Arthur Collett was two years of age. At that time in their lives the family was still living in Nuneaton, not far away from where Arthur’s father was living, following the death of Arthur’s mother. Arthur Horace Collett died in 1927 at the age of 47, with his death recorded at Warwickshire register office (Ref. 6d 865) when he was presumably still a resident of Nuneaton, since his widow Appalina Collett nee Stokes died twenty years after at 7 St Nicholas Road in Nuneaton on 7^th November 1947. However, it was nearly four years later that her considerable estate, valued at £19,160 13 Shillings and 5 Pence, was settled through probate in favour of her son Ronald Arthur Collett, an ironmonger

83Q1 – Ronald Arthur Collett was born in 1908 at Nuneaton

Alfred John Collett [83P2] was born at Wednesbury in 1875, the first-born child of John Collett and Rebecca Ball, whose birth was registered at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 844) during the final three months of that year. On that occasion the second forename of John was not included. However, on being baptised at the Church of St Bartholomew in Wednesbury on 26^th December 1875 his full name was recorded with it. In the census for Wednesbury in 1881 Alfred Collett was five years of age, the eldest of four children at 43 Oxford Street. At the age of fifteen Alfred Collett had left school and was working as a clerk when he was still living at the family home in Wednesbury in 1891

It was the same situation in 1901, when once again as just Alfred Collett, he was 25 and still living with his mother at 21-22 Piercy Street in Wednesbury, by which time his occupation was that of a commercial clerk, like his later father, who had died six months earlier. During the next few years Alfred changed from being a commercial clerk and took up the occupation of constructional engineer. It was during the second quarter of 1909 that the marriage of Alfred Collett and Minnie Baker was recorded at West Bromwich register office (Ref. 6b 1326). Minnie was born at Walsall in 1876. Two year later, the census of 1911 revealed that Alfred Collett of Wednesbury was 35 and a constructional engineer in steel roof work and ginder work. His wife Minnie Collett of Walsall was 34 when they were living at 20 Richmond Park in Olton, just north of Solihull. As far as can be determined, Alfred and Minnie, appear not to have had any children

John Brittain Collett [83P3] was born at Wednesbury in 1877, with his birth registered at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 829) during the third quarter of that year. He was baptised at Wednesbury on 15^th July 1877 and confirmed as the son of John and Rebecca Collett. He was three years old in the census of 1881 when he was recorded as John B Collett when he was staying with his grandparents in Wednesbury, who said he had been born at Coseley, a village within the Dudley area of Staffordshire. That same day, his parents included the name of John Brittain Collett (recorded as Briton) as being with them at 43 Oxford Street in Wednesbury. In the later census of 1891, he was simply named as John Collett who was 13 and employed as a steam-hammer driver, when he was living with his family in Wednesbury. No record of him after that date has so far been found, until that is, his death was recorded at Birmingham register office (Ref. 9c 292) during the third quarter of 1951 at the age of 74. It is therefore a mystery why his whereabouts has not been discovered in Great Britain between 1891 and 1951

Edith M Collett [83P4] was born at Wednesbury in 1879, when her birth was registered at West Bromwich as simply Edith Collett during the first three months of 1879 (Ref. 6b 908). It was again as Edith Collett that she was baptised at Wednesbury on 11^th May 1879, the eldest daughter of John and Rebecca Collett. She was two years old in 1881 when she was living with her family at 43 Oxford Street in Wednesbury, and was 12 and 22 in the two subsequent census returns. For the latter in 1901 she was recorded as Edith M Collett who still living with her widowed mother at 21-22 Piercy Street in Wednesbury, together with four of her brothers and two of her sisters. She was not described as having any occupation, but was probably helping her mother to look after the family and possibly assisting her in the shop

Edith Collett Knowles died at Wednesbury on 6^th June 1960 and was buried at Wood Green Cemetery, where her father and her mother were buried in 1900 and 1926 respectively. That might appear to provide a clue as to her married name, but unfortunately nothing has been found to support that the theory

Charles Ernest Collett [83P5] was born at 43 Oxford Street in Wednesbury on 5^th February 1881 with his birth registered at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 883). As Charles Ernest Collett, he was two months old in the census that year and it was at St Bartholomew’s Church in Wednesbury that he was baptised on 15^th May 1881, another son of John and Rebecca Collett. As Ernest Collett he was ten years old in 1891 and nine years later his father died so, by the time of next census in 1901, Charles E Collett was 20 and living with his widowed mother Rebecca at 21-22 Piercy Street in Wednesbury where he was a coach axle-smith. The Wednesbury census of 1911 revealed that Charles Ernest Collett was a temporary head of the household while his mother was in Devon and, at the age of 30 was again a coach axle-smith, who had living there with him his two brothers Arthur and Harold (below), together with their youngest sister Beatrice Mary Collett. Despite a search for more information on him, nothing

Arthur Collett [83P6] was born at Wednesbury in 1882 when his birth was registered at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 897) during the second quarter of the year. He was later baptised at Wednesbury on 13^th July 1882 when he was named as the son of John and Rebecca Collett, and was eight years of age in the Wednesbury census of 1891. Just like his father and his older brother Charles (above), Arthur was also a coachsmith who, in 1901 was 18 years old and was living with his widowed mother at Piercy Street in Wednesbury, six months after his father had died. Ten years later Arthur was still living with two of his brothers Charles and Harold at Wednesbury when he was 29 and a coachsmith, while their youngest sister Beatrice Mary (below) was managing the home for them in the absence of their mother who was in Devon on the day of the 1911 Census. A few months later the marriage of Arthur Collett was recorded at West Bromwich register office (Ref. 6b 1454) during the summer of 1911, although it is not known whether he was the son of John and Rebecca

Harold Collett [83P7] was born at Wednesbury in 1883 with his birth registered at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 843) during the third quarter of that year. It was at Wednesbury that he was baptised on 6^th September 1883, another son of John and Rebecca Collett. He was seven years old in 1891 and was 17 in 1901, six months after the premature death of his father. At that time in his life Harold was a railway employee, where he was working as a clerk, when living with his widowed mother at Piercy Street in Wednesbury. In April 1911 Harold was still living in Wednesbury when he was 27 and continuing his work as a clerk with the railway company. Living at the same address with him were his two brothers Charles Ernest and Arthur Collett (above) and his youngest sister Beatrice Mary Collett (below). Curiously, at the West Bromwich register office, the marriage of Harold Collett and Florence L Read was recorded there on two occasions; the first time was during the third quarter of 1913 (Ref. 6b 1722), and again in 1915 during the third quarter (Ref. 6b 1895). Their only child was born either at the end of 1919 or at the start of 1920, when her birth was recorded at West Bromwich register office (Ref. 6b 1741) during the first quarter of 1920 when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Read

83Q2 – Vivienne Collett was born in 1920 at Wednesbury

Florence Amy Collett [83P8] was born at Wednesbury on 17^th June 1885 and was another daughter of John and Rebecca Collett whose birth was registered at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 834). It was also at Wednesbury that she was baptised on 6^th August 1885. She was five years of age in the Wednesbury census of 1891, and was 15 years old in 1901 when she was living with her widowed mother Rebecca at 21-22 Piercy Street in Wednesbury six months after her father died there During the next decade Florence left Staffordshire for work reasons, when she travelled down to the West Country where, in April 1911, she was recorded as Florence Amy Collett aged 25 from Wednesbury who was living and working at Northam to the north of Bideford in North Devon. Staying with her, at the same boarding house, was her mother who may have been acting as her chaperone. At that time in her life, Florence was a certified assistant at an elementary school and an employee of the Education Department of Devon County Council. Her mother was living on private means, when the remainder of their family was still living in Wednesbury

It was shortly after that census when Florence returned home to Wednesbury where, three years later, the marriage of Florence Amy Collett and Harold L Brook was recorded at West Bromwich register office (Ref. 6b 1551) during the third quarter of 1914. It was while the couple was still living in the Wednesbury area that their four children were born, with their births recorded at West Bromwich, when their mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett. They were Helen Margaret Brook (11^th November 1915 to 7^th January 1948 on the Isle of Wight), Harold J Brook in 1918, Daphne E Brook in 1919, and Douglas G Brook in 1924. Florence Amy Brook was 81 years old when she passed away on Isle of Wight on 19^th December 1966, when her death was recorded at Hampshire register office (Ref. 6b 973)

Beatrice Mary Collett [83P9] was born at Wednesbury possibly near the end of 1886, with her birth registered at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 844) during the first quarter of 1887, the last child born to John Collett and Rebecca Ball. She was baptised at St Bartholomew’s Church in Wednesbury on 9^th February 1887 and was four years old in the Wednesbury census of 1891. After another decade Beatrice M Collett was 14 years of age when she was one of seven children still living with her widowed mother at 21-22 Piercy Street in Wednesbury 1901. When her mother and sister Florence were recorded in Devon in April 1911, Beatrice Mary Collett was still living at Wednesbury at the age of 24, when she was living with, and perhaps was the housekeeper for her three working brothers Charles, Arthur, and Harold (above). Five years later the marriage of Beatrice Mary Collett and Godfrey W Jenkins was recorded at West Bromwich register office (Ref. 6b 1354) during the summer of 1916. However, nothing of the couple has been found after their wedding day

Samuel John Collett [83P10] was born at Newton near Rugeley at the end of 1883, but was raised at Wednesbury, the only child of George Collett and Eliza Lavinia Griffiths, who were married six months earlier. The birth of Samuel John Collett was recorded at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 875) during the first three months of 1884 and he was one year old when his mother suffered a premature death. By 1891 Samuel Collett was seven years of age when he and his father were lodging at 32 Alma Street in Wednesbury. Just over one year later his father remarried and in 1901 the new family was residing at Albert Street in Wednesbury, where Samuel was 17 years old and employed as a labourer at the nearby ironworks, where his father also worked as a labourer

Samuel continued to live and work in Wednesbury after his father and stepmother moved to Wolverhampton. On the day of the census in 1911, Samuel Collett was unmarried at 28 when he was a fitting maker stocker and employed at the local tube works who was described as the nephew of head of the household Samuel Collett, his father’s younger brother. Two records for the First World War military service of Samuel John Collett have been found. The first of them was in 1915 when he was 31 and serving with the Royal Garrison Artillery, service number 58426, and again later in 1919 when he was 35 and a member of the Labour Corps, service number 527597. Both record sheets stated that he was a resident of Wednesbury and that his place of birth was Newton in Staffordshire. For the latter, it is assumed that his parents disappeared to Newton where his mother gave birth with six months of their wedding day, to cover their embarrassment before returning to Wednesbury

The marriage of Samuel J Collett and his cousin Lily Collett was recorded at West Bromwich register office (Ref. 6b 1776) during the first three months of 1921. Lily was ten years younger than Samuel and was the daughter of his uncle Samuel, with whom he was living ten years earlier when Lily Collett was 17. Later that same year, Lily presented Samuel with their first child, which was followed by a further two children. The births of all three children were recorded at West Bromwich register office, when the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett, their daughter named after Lily’s mother

Tragically, the couple’s youngest son was around six months old when he was taken ill and died, followed by their daughter, both deaths recorded at West Bromwich during the spring of 1925. Less than four years after losing her two of her three children, Lily had to suffer the painful of loss of her husband, when the death of Samuel J Collett was recorded at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 1570) during the first three months of 1929 when he was only 45 years old. After son David had been married for twenty-two years, his mother passed away at the age of 73, when the death of Lily Collett was recorded at West Bromwich register office (Ref. 9b 815) during the last three months of 1966

83Q3 – David John Collett was born in 1921 at Wednesbury

83Q4 – Leah C Collett was born in 1923 at Wednesbury

83Q5 – Samuel Arthur Collett was born in 1924 at Wednesbury

William Arthur Collett [83P11] was born at Wednesbury in 1893, with his birth recorded at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 875) during the last three months of the year. He was the eldest of the two sons of George Collett and his second wife Mary Ann Evans, formerly Smith. As William A Collett, he was seven years old in the Wednesbury census of 1901 when he and his family were living on Albert Street. So far, no record of him has been found within the next census of 1911, and it was nine years later that he became a married man.

The marriage of William A Collett and Annie F Pemberton was recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 1026) during the first three months of 1920. The births of their three sons were also recorded at Wolverhampton, Henry W Collet (Ref. 6b 900) in the fourth quarter of 1923, Arthur L Collett (Ref. 6b 921) in the fourth quarter of 1924, and Arnold J Collett (Ref. 6b 903) in the first quarter of 1927. In each case the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Pemberton. The later death of William A Collett was recorded at Staffordshire register office (Ref. 9b 307) during the third quarter of 1961, when he was 67

83Q6 – Henry William Collett was born in 1923 at Wolverhampton

83Q7 – Arthur Leonard Collett was born in 1924 at Wolverhampton

83Q8 – Arnold John Collett was born in 1927 at Wolverhampton

George Edwin Collett [83P12] was born at Wednesbury in 1898, the younger of the two sons of George and Mary Ann Collett, also known as Jane. His birth was also recorded at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 940) during the second quarter of that year. As George E Collett, he was with his family at Albert Street in Wednesbury in 1901 and, sometime during the first decade of the new century, his father took the family to Wolverhampton, where George Collett from Wednesbury was recorded with his mother and father in 1911, when he was 13. The WWI military record for George Edwin Collett, dated 1^st June 1918, confirmed he was 20 years old, had been born in 1898, whose occupation was that of a clerk who, on enlistment was cadet for pilot. Just over one year later, later the marriage of George E Collett and Laura H Eaton was recorded at Walsall register office (Ref. 6b 1711) during the third quarter of 1919. The births of their two children were also recorded at Walsall, where their mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Eaton

83Q9 – Vera Collett was born in 1921 at Walsall

83Q10 – Peter B Collett was born in 1935 at Walsall

Samuel Collett [83P13] was born at Wednesbury in 1891 and his birth was recorded at West Bromwich register office (Ref. 6b 909) during the first quarter of the year, the first of the three children of Samuel Collett and Leah Slinn. His subsequent baptism was conducted at the Church of St Paul in Wednesbury on 22^nd February 1891, when he was confirmed as the son of Samuel and Leah Collett. He was three months old in the census of 1891, when he and his parents were living at the home of Samuel’s grandmother Catherine Collett at 11 Piercy Street in Wednesbury. Over next half decade, Samuel probably enjoyed the arrival of two sibling, but died just after, when the death of Samuel Collett, aged six years, was recorded at West Bromwich register office (Ref. 6b 579) during the first quarter of 1897

Lily Collett [83P14] was born at Wednesbury in 1893, her birth recorded at West Bromwich register office (Ref. 6b 966) during the second quarter of the year, the daughter of Samuel Collett and Leah Slinn. She was baptised at St Paul’s Church in Wednesbury on 20^th June 1893. In 1901, when Lily was seven years of age, she and her family were recorded at Wellington Street in Walsall, the home of her grandfather David Slinn. Ten years later, it was at Wednesbury that the family was living, when Lily was named as Lilian Collett aged 18 in the 1911 census. The marriage of Lily Collett and her older cousin Samuel Collett was recorded ten years later at West Bromwich register office (Ref. 6b 1776) during the first three months of 1921. Lily was ten years younger than Samuel and gave birth to their first child later that same year. For the continuation of this family see Samuel John Collett (above) [83P10]

David Thomas Collett [83P15] was born at Wednesbury on 6^th August 1895, the only surviving son of Samuel and Leah Collett. His birth was recorded at West Bromwich register office (Ref. 6b 927) during the third quarter of that year, after which he was baptised at St Paul’s Church in Wednesbury. It was at his maternal grandfather’s house at Wellington Street in Walsall that he and his family were living in 1901, when David Collett was five years old. Back at Wednesbury in 1911, David was 16 years of age and employed as a labourer in a workshop of a company making metal tubes, when he was still living there with his family. At that time in his life, he had started work as a labourer in a shop. Just over ten years after that day, the marriage of David T Collett and Emily J Cottrell was recorded at West Bromwich register office (Ref. 6b 1803) during the third quarter of 1921. The marriage produced a daughter and a son, the births of which were also recorded at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 1650) during the third quarter of 1922, and (Ref. 6b 1444) during the second quarter of 1928. On both occasions, the children’s mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Cottrell. When his son was celebrating being twenty-one years of age, the death of David T Collett was recorded at Wednesbury register office (Ref. 9b 699) during the second quarter of 1949, at the age of 53

83Q11 – Cissie Collett was born in 1922 at West Bromwich

83Q12 – Samuel Collett was born in 1928 at West Bromwich

Harry Collett [83P16] was born at Newton Heath, Lancashire on 17^th June 1906, the eldest of the two known children of William James Collett and Sarah Gent. His birth was recorded at Prestwich register office (Ref. 8d 306) during the third quarter of the year. By 1911, four-year-old Harry Collett from Newton Heath was living with his family at Miles Platting in North Manchester. There is then a big gap in his life, being 76 years of age when he died in Manchester towards the end of 1982, his death recorded at Lancashire register office (Ref. 38 1530). It is possible, although not proved, that Harry Collett was in his mid-forties when he married Mabel Crookes, the event recorded at Manchester register office (Ref. 10e 364) during the first quarter of 1951. Mabel was born on 17^th January 1917 in the Prestwich area of Manchester, and her death was also recorded at Lancashire register office in 2001, at the age of 84

Robert H Collett [83P17] was born at Miles Platting in North-East Manchester just after the census day in 1911, the second son of William and Sarah Collett, whose birth was recorded at Prestwich register office (Ref. 8d 334) during the second quarter of 1911. No further record of Robert has been found

John William George Collett [83P18] was born at Longton in Stoke-on-Trent on 21^st March 1893, with his birth recorded at Stoke-on-Trent (Ref. 6b 308) during the second quarter of that year. At his baptism on 25^th June 1893 at St John’s Church in Longton, he was confirmed as John William Collett, the son of Josiah George Collett and his wife Alice Maud Collett. He was the first of their four children, with the family shocked by the premature death of their fourth child in 1900. That sad incident may have been the reason why John was not living with his family at Longton in 1901. Instead, eight-year-old John Collett was staying with his grandparents William and Harriet Collett at 60 Sparrows Forge Road in Wednesbury that day. No record of him has been found within the census of 1911, because it was in May the previous year that he had sailed to America

As John William Collett he was married to Minnie Catherine Frank, who was born on 21^st May 1893 at Newark, New Jersey, and their sons were: Harold Collett who was born at Fort Pierce, St Lucie, Florida on 2^nd June 1918, who died on 22^nd February 2006; and John George Frank Collett was born at Newark, Essex County in New Jersey on 18^th February 1925, who died on 9^th April 1991. Two other sons were Henry and Milton

In the US Census of 1930, the Collett family was renting a property on 504 Bergen Street in Newark City, where John Collett from England was 37 and a painter in the building industry, who had entered the country in 1912 and had married at the age of 21 during 1914. His wife Minnie was also 37, and their three sons were Henry Collett who was 15, Harold Collett who was 11, and John Collett who was five years of age, who were all said to have been born at New Jersey

Ten year later the family was still residing on 504 Bergen Street in Newark, by which time John Collett was 47 and still earning a living as a painter of buildings. Minnie was 47, John Collett was 15, and Milton Collett was nine years old. Living with the family at that time was their married son Harold who was 21 and a polisher in a factory, and his wife Mrs Harriet Collett who was 20. It was on 11^th July that year in 1940, that John William Collett of Newark, born at Longton England on 21^st March 1893, secured American citizenship at the age of 47. The following additional details were provided on the Declaration of Intention form. John and Minnie were married at Newark on 6^th June 1914, and by 1940 John had lost the sight in one eye. Prior to leaving England he had lived at Wensbury (Wednesbury – a silent d) and it was onboard the S S Mauretania out of the Port of Liverpool, that he had arrived in New York on 8^th April 1910

The same form contained the names and dates of birth of the couple’s four Newark born children. They were listed as Henry Collett born on 13^th March 1915, Harold Collett born on 2^nd June 1918, John Collett born on 18^th February 1924, and Milton Collett who was born on 9^th September 1930. The passing of John William Collett from Longton in England, born on 21^st March 1893, happened on 27^th June 1964 at Newark, Essex County at the age of 71, as reported in the Newark Star Ledger newspaper on 30^th June 1964. The obituary provided confirmation that his widow was Minnie Frank Collett, and that his four sons were Henry, Harold, John, and Milton

83Q13 – Henry Collett was born in 1915 at Newark City, New Jersey

83Q14 – Harold Collett was born in 1918 at Newark City, New Jersey

83Q15 – John Collett was born in 1924 at Newark City, New Jersey

83Q16 – Milton Collett was born in 1930 at Newark City, New Jersey

George Ernest Collett [83P19] was born at Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, on 8^th August 1894, his birth recorded at Stoke register office (Ref. 6b 280) during the third quarter of the year. It was at the Church of St John in Lane End, Longton, that he was baptised on 23^rd August 1894, the second son of Josiah George Collett and Alice Maud Collett. George was six years old in the Stoke census of 1901 when living at New Street, one of only two surviving children of Josiah and Alice Collett. Less than two years later George’s mother died, and four years later his father passed away, leaving George and his brother William (below) in the care of Florence Butler nee Collett, their father’s married sister

On the day of the census in 1911, Florence and David Butler and their family were residing at 115 Mill Street in Kings Hill, Wednesbury. Their nephew George Collett, aged 16, was a wooden box maker at a candle works, who had been born at Fenton in Stoke-on-Trent. At the age of 21, George E Collett of Wednesbury, whose place of birth was Longton in Staffordshire, was serving with the 3^rd Battalion of the South Staffordshire Regiment in 1916, service number 32106. It was many years later that the death of George E Collett was recorded at Wednesbury (Ref. 9b 760) during the last quarter of 1961, when he was 67

William Edward Collett [83P20] was born in 1896 at Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, his birth registered at Stoke (Ref. 6b 277) during the second quarter of the year. He was four years of age in the census of 1901 when he and his family were residing at New Street in Stoke, by which time two of his siblings had already passed away. Two years later his mother Alice Maud Mary Collett nee Bradbury suffered a premature death, and after a further four years William and his older brother George (above) were orphaned following the death of their father Josiah George Collett. As a result of those tragic events, the brothers were taken into the family of their father’s married sister Florence (below) at 115 Mill Street in Kings Hill, Wednesbury. And it was there that they were recorded in the census of 1911. On that occasion he was described as William Collett aged 14 from New Street in Longton, who was a driller and an engineering worker

It was six years after that when William E Collett married Martha Simkin, their wedding recorded at Walsall register office (Ref. 6b 843) during the first three months of 1917. Their first child, possibly a honeymoon baby, was born later that same year at Walsall, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Simkin. Surprisingly the couple’s first child was nearly ten years old when their daughter was born, and again, her birth was also recorded at Walsall, during the spring of 1927. What happened to the family over the following years has not yet been discovered, although the death of William E Collett was recorded at Wednesbury register office (Ref. 9b 748) during the first quarter of 1948, when he was 52 years of age

83Q17 – William B Collett was born in 1917 at Walsall

83Q18 – Dorothy E Collett was born in 1927 at Walsall

Florence Mary Anne Collett [83P21] was born at Edensor in Stoke-on-Trent during 1900. While her birth was recorded at Stoke register office (Ref. 6b 326) during the second quarter of that year, it was at Edensor that she was baptised on 9^th August 1900, the daughter of Josiah George Collett and Alice Maud Bradbury. Tragically, it was during that same third quarter of 1900, that the death of Florence Mary A Collett was recorded at Stoke register office (Ref. 6b 194)

Florence Alice Gertrude Collett [83P22] was born at Walsall on 13^th May 1892, just a couple of months after the wedding of her parents George Arthur Collett and Hannah Elizabeth Berlaw. It was also at Walsall register office that her birth was recorded (Ref. 6b 769) when her parents were born at Wednesbury where they were living before and after Florence was born. It was therefore very likely that the temporary move to Walsall was out of embarrassment of having a baby so quickly after their wedding day. It was only when Florence was one year that the three of them returned to Wednesbury, where Florence was baptised on 30^th August 1893. It was at Palmers Croft, Bridge Street in Wednesbury, that the family was living in 1901 when Florence from Walsall was eight years old. By the time of her ninth birthday Florence’s mother and younger sister had died, leaving her to be looked after by her father, as confirmed in the census of 1911, when Florence Collett of Wednesbury was 19 years of age and having no stated occupation, so was very likely acting as housekeeper for her widowed father

Only a few months later, the marriage of Florence A G Collett and Percy Howard was recorded at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 1451) during the third quarter of 1911. Life was repeating itself, in that Florence was already with-child when she married Percy, their son being born just a few months later. The birth of George Arthur Howard, named after Florence’s father, was recorded at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 1645) during the last three months of 1911, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett. Further children followed, Percy Howard in 1913, John H Howard in 1914, Florence Howard in 1915 and Olive H Howard in 1921

Phoebe Letitia Collett [83P23] was born at Wednesbury on 27^th July 1896 and was the youngest child of George Arthur Collett and Hannah Elizabeth Berlaw, with her birth recorded at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 918). She was baptised at Wednesbury on 1^st September 1896 when her parents were named as George and Elizabeth Collett. The family was residing at Palmers Croft, Bridge Street in Wednesbury in 1901, where Phoebe Collett from Wednesday who was four years old. Nine months after that census day, a terrible tragedy occurred for the young Collett family which took the lives of Phoebe and her mother. The deaths of Hannah Collett (Ref. 6b 538/315), and Phoebe Letitia Collett (Ref. 6b 538/332) aged six years, were recorded at Bromwich register office during the first three months of 1902

Lucy Ellen Collett [83P24], who was known as Nellie, was born at 208 Prince Street in Pleck, south-west of Walsall, on 25^th June 1908 and was the daughter of Alfred John Collett and his wife Sarah who were married in 1906. Her birth as Lucy Ellen was recorded at Walsall register office (Ref. 6b 745) during the summer of 1908. It was as Nellie Collett that she was living with her mother in 1911 at two years of age. That day, Nellie’s father had already sailed to America to establish at home there for his family, so on that census Nellie and her mother had left their home in Prince Street and were temporarily staying at 115 Mill Street, Kings Hill in Wednesbury, the home of Nellie’s aunt Florence Alice Butler nee Collett, her father’s sister. Later that same year, and following other members of the extended family who were already residing at Newark in New Jersey, Nellie and her mother sailed from Liverpool on 5^th October 1911, on the S S Baltic, arriving at Ellis Island on 13^th October. The passenger list described Sarah Collett as 29 years old of 208 Prince Street in Pleck, Walsall, England, travelling with her daughter Nellie Collett aged three years, whose onward destination was New York

The later form completed by Lucy Ellen Collett for Petition of Citizenship provided further confirmatory details, as follows. It was from the Port of Liverpool that the family sailed onboard the S S Baltic to New York, where they arrived on 13^th October 1911. The petition was presented to the District Court of Newark, New Jersey, dated 4^th February 1927, for Lucy Ellen Collett of 12 Pocohantas Avenue, Hillside, Union County, New Jersey. She was a stenographer who had been born at Walsall, England on 25^th June 1908, who had been living in Union County since 15^th April 1922 who, on arrival at New York in 1911, entered the country as Nellie Collett

Letitia Collett [83P25], who was known as Lettie, was born at Walsall in 1895, the eldest of the five children of William Collett and Emily Marston, whose birth was recorded at Walsall (Ref. 6b 821) during the first quarter of the year. Letitia Collett was six years old in the census of 1901, when her family was living at Oxford Street in Walsall. Five years later the family was rocked by the premature of her father, which forced the family to move to Pleck Park in Walsall, where Lettie Collett was 16 years old and bringing home some much needed income from her work at a book-binding and printing company

Around the end of the First World War, Lettie and sister Emily (below) became friends with the Sunderland brothers John and Joseph. As a result, the marriage of John W Sunderland and Letitia Collett was recorded at Walsall (Ref. 6b 1729) during the third quarter of 1919, her sister having already married Joseph Sunderland. Their marriage produced children, the first of which was daughter Letitia E Sunderland, whose birth was recorded at Walsall (Ref. 6b 1573) during the second quarter of 1920, the second being John W Sunderland, whose birth was also recorded at Walsall (Ref. 6b 1410) during the third quarter of 1921. In each case, the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett

Emily Collett [83P26] was born at Walsall in 1897, perhaps at Oxford Street, while her birth was recorded at Walsall (Ref. 6b 771) during the first three months of that year. Emily was four years of age in the Walsall census of 1901 when she and her family were still residing at Oxford Street. Seven years after that the marriage of Emily Collett and Joseph Sunderland was recorded at Walsall (Ref. 6b 1038) during the first quarter of 1918. One year later Emily’s older sister Letty (above) married Joseph’s brother John Sunderland. The first child for Joseph and Emily was Frederick J Sunderland whose birth was recorded at Walsall (Ref. 6b 1610) during the second quarter of 1920, when the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett. Many years after the birth of the couple’s first child, and the Sunderland children of Emily’s sister Letty, a further child, Margaret Sunderland with the mother’s maiden-name of Collett, was recorded at Walsall (Ref. 6b 895) during the last three months of 1932. However, from this scant information it is not clear to which of the two families she belonged

Frederick William Collett [83P27] was born at Oxford Street in Walsall on 11^th June 1899, the third child and the first of the three sons of William and Emily Collett. His birth was recorded at Walsall (Ref. 6b 743) during the third quarter of 1899. As Frederick W Collett, he was one year old in the census of 1901, and was 11 years of age in the following census of 1911, by which time the family was headed by Fred’s widowed mother at Pleck Park in Walsall, after the death of his father five years earlier. The later marriage of Frederick W Collett and Doris E Spinks was recorded at Walsall (Ref. 6b 1459) during the third quarter of 1922, and that union produced three children for the couple. The births of all three children were recorded at Walsall, when their mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Spinks

83Q19 – Joyce E Collett was born in 1923 at Walsall

83Q20 – Jean L Collett was born in 1927 at Walsall

83Q21 – Derek H Collett was born in 1931 at Walsall

George Collett [83P28] was born at Oxford Street in Walsall in 1902, his birth recorded at Walsall register office (Ref. 6b 787) during the first three months of the year. He was four years of age when his father died, after which the family moved to Pleck Park in Walsall where George was nine years old in 1911. Just over twelve years after that, George Collett married (1) Sarah A Williams, the event recorded at Walsall (Ref. 6b 1448) during the last three months of 1923. It seems highly likely that Sarah died not long after they were married, perhaps even during giving birth to a child who also did not survive. The reason for making that assumption, is that a second marriage for George Collett was recorded at Walsall (Ref. 6b 1693) during the second quarter of 1927, his bride on that occasion named as (2) Ada Edwards. Ada may have already been carrying George’s daughter on that day, as the child was born later that same year. George Collett spent his whole life living in the Walsall area, and it was at Walsall register office (Ref. 9b 724) that his death was registered during the quarter of 1968 when he was 66 years old

83Q22 – Gwendoline Ada Collett was born in 1927 at Walsall

Harry Collett [83P29] was born at Walsall in 1905, the last child of William Collett and Emily Marston, whose birth was recorded at Walsall (Ref. 6b 704) during the last three months of the year. Exactly one year later his father suffered a premature death at the age of 38, after which the family left Oxford Street, where Harry may have been born, to settle in the Pleck Park area of Walsall. In 1911 Harry Collett was five years old. It was only eleven years after that when Harry Collett married Ann M Marney, the wedding recorded at Walsall (Ref. 6b 1003) during the first three months of 1922. After a further six years, Ann presented George with a daughter whose birth was also recorded at Walsall. Tragically, her father died at the age of only 25, when the death of Harry Collett was recorded at Walsall register office (Ref. 6b 784) in the final three months of 1930

83Q23 – Joyce G Collett was born in 1928 at Walsall

George C Collett [83P30] was born at Wolverhampton in 1914 with his birth recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 1242) during the second quarter of that year, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Townsend. He was the older of the two children of George F Collett and his second wife Lily M Townsend. George was 24 when he became a married man, with the wedding of George C Collett and Edith L Goldie recorded at Dudley register office (Ref. 6c 37) during the third quarter of 1938. Edith Lilian Goldie was born at Dudley and was slightly older than George with her birth recorded at Dudley register office (Ref. 6b 2027) during the second quarter of 1913. And it was as Edith Lilian Collett, who was born on 1^st May 1913 that her death was recorded at Staffordshire register office in 1990 (Vol. 33 551). Although not yet confirmed as this George C Collett, eighteen years prior to the passing of Edith May, the death of George Clive Collett, born on 5^th May 1914, was recorded at Bedfordshire register office (Ref. 4a 349) during 1972

Ellen E Collett [83P31] was born at Dudley in 1921, where her birth was recorded (Ref. 6b 1940) during the fourth quarter of 1921 when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Townsend, the daughter and youngest child of George Frederick Collett and Lily May Townsend

Ronald Arthur Collett [83Q1] was born at Nuneaton on 29^th May 1908, where his birth was recorded (Ref. 6d 473). He was two years old in the census of 1911 when he was living in Nuneaton with his parents Arthur Horace Collett and Appalina Stokes. By the time of the death of his widowed mother at Nuneaton in November 1947, Ronald was described as an ironmonger when he was named as the sole executor of her estate of over £19,000. For some reason it may appear that the Will was contested since, it was nearly four years after her passing that probate was finalised in favour of Ronald Arthur Collett. The death of Ronald Arthur Collett was recorded at the Nuneaton & Bedworth register office (Vol. 31 233) during the first months of 1986

David John Collett [83Q2] was born at Wednesbury in 1921, and was the first of the three children born to married cousins Samuel John Collett and Lily Collett. His birth was recorded at West Bromwich register office (Ref. 6b 1778) during the third quarter of the year, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett. David had two younger siblings, so it must have been a great shock for him when they both died when he was only four years of age. It was at the end of WW2, when he was 23, that the marriage of David J Collett and Florence A M Bentley was recorded at Walsall register office (Ref. 6b 1439) during the second quarter of 1944. No children have been identified arising from the marriage

Leah C Collett [83Q3] was born at Wednesbury in 1923 with her birth recorded at West Bromwich register office (Ref. 6b 1566) during the first quarter of the year. Her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett since she was one of the three children born to Collett cousins. Sadly, she was only two years old when her younger brother Samuel (below) died part way through his first year, with Leah following very shortly after, presumably from the same cause. The death of Leah C Collett was recorded at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 915) in the spring of 1925

Samuel Arthur Collett [83Q4] was born at Wednesbury in 1924, the last of the three children of Samuel John Collett and Lily Collett. His birth, like his two older siblings, was recorded at West Bromwich register office (Ref. 6b 1446) towards the end of the year. He was around six months old when he became ill, with his infant death recorded at West Bromwich (Ref. 6b 908) during the second quarter of 1925, and was followed days later by his sister Leah

Henry William Collett [83Q5] was born at Wolverhampton on 22^nd September 1923 and was the eldest of the three sons of William A Collett and Annie F Pemberton. His birth was recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 900) during the fourth quarter of that year. With the Second World War resolved, it was in the summer of 1947 that the marriage of Henry William Collett and Iris Audrey Harris was recorded at Staffordshire register office (Ref. 9b 2502). Iris was born on 14^th November 1920 at Pontypridd in South Wales. No record of any children for the couple has been found. Later in their life together Henry and Iris settled in Shropshire where they both passed away within two months of each other. First was Henry William Collett who was 76 years old when he died in Shropshire, with his death recorded at Wrekin register office (Vol. 7161b) during the last three months of 1999. That was also the same quarter-year that his wife passed away at the age of 78, just after being made a widow, when the death of Iris Audrey Collett was recorded at Bridgnorth in Shropshire (Vol. 7101 13a)

Arthur Leonard Collett [83Q6] was born at Wolverhampton on 30^th October 1924, another son of William and Annie Collett whose birth was recorded there (Ref. 6b 921) towards the end of the year. Arthur was the first of the three brothers to be married, just a few months before his older brother Henry (above). It was during the second quarter of 1947 when the marriage of Arthur L Collett and Eunice D Price was recorded at Staffordshire register office (Ref. 9b 2356). The following year their son and only child was born, with his birth also recorded at Staffordshire register office, when the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Price. The later death of Arthur Leonard Collett was also recorded at Staffordshire register office (Vol. 0771c c47a) in 1994 at the age of 73. His widow was born on 12^th July 1926 and she was 76 years old when the death of Eunice Dorothy Collett was recorded at Staffordshire register office (Vol. 0771c c68a) in 2002 after she had died in Wolverhampton on 1^st August 2002

83R1 – David William Arthur Collett was born in 1948 at Staffordshire

Arnold John Collett [83Q7] was born at Wolverhampton on 26^th January 1927 and was the third and last child of William and Annie Collett. His birth, like those of his two older brothers, was recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 903) during the first three months of the year, when their mother’s maiden-name was Pemberton. Arnold was 22 when he became a married man, with the wedding of Arnold J Collett and Mabel E Parsons conducted by licence and recorded at Staffordshire register office (Ref. 9b 2578) during the summer of 1949. Mabel was born in Wolverhampton, either at the end of 1925 or early in 1926, so it is possible, but not yet verified, that it was many years later that she presented Arnold with two sons. The birth of their first son was recorded at Cannock in Staffordshire, the second at Walsall, and on both occasions the mother’s maiden-name was Parson

83R2 – Michael John Collett was born in 1962 at Cannock

83R3 – Neil Alan Collett was born in 1966 at Walsall

Vera Collett [83Q8] was born at Walsall on 14^th June 1921 and was the older of the two children of George E Collett and Laura H Eaton. Her birth was recorded at Walsall register office (Ref. 6b 1309) during the third quarter of the year. Vera was twenty-six when she married Harry T Aston, with their wedding recorded at Wednesbury register office (Ref. 9b 2158) during the third quarter of 1947. It is possible that after they were married the couple settled within the Wolverhampton and Bilston area of the West Midlands, since it was there that three children’s birth were registered to Aston-Collett parents. They were Fiona S E Aston born in 1953 (Ref. 9b 1396) at Wolverhampton, where the birth of Penelope E Aston was recorded in 1961 (Ref. 9b 1452) while, between them, was Lesley C Aston whose birth in 1955 was recorded at Bilston (Ref. 9b 7). The much later death of Vera Aston nee Collett was recorded at Staffordshire register office (Vol. 30 873) in 1991

Peter B Collett [83Q9] was born in 1935, the second child of George and Laura Collett, whose birth was recorded at Walsall (Ref. 6b 856) during the first quarter of 1935. It was also at Walsall where his marriage to Frances D Merrett was recorded (Ref. 6b 1316) during early 1971. Their only known child was born just over one year later and recorded at Dudley in the spring of 1972 with Merrett confirmed as his mother’s maiden-name

83R4 – Mark Peter Collett was born in 1972 at Dudley

Cissie Collett [83Q10] was born at Wednesbury on 5^th August 1922, when her birth was recorded at West Bromwich register (Ref. 6b 1650) during the third quarter of year, the first-born child of David T Collett and Emily J Cottrell, when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Cottrell. It was at Staffordshire register office (Ref. 6b 1771) that the marriage of Cissie Collett and Samuel Morris was recorded during the third quarter of 1944. Their marriage produced two children for Samuel and Cissie, with both births recorded at Staffordshire register office when the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett. They were Doreen V Morris in 1945 (Ref. 6b 1235) and Raymond Morris in 1948 (Ref. 9b 1109). Cissie Morris nee Collett died at Sandwell in Staffordshire during the month of June in 1999 at the age of 76, with her death recorded at Sandwell register office (Vol. 0701a a61)

Samuel Collett [83Q11] was born at Wednesbury on 27^th March 1928 with his birth recorded at West Bromwich during the second quarter of the year (Ref. 6b 1444), with his mother’s maiden-name recorded as Cottrell. No obvious record for Samuel to become a married man has been found, with only the later death of Samuel Collett discovered at Staffordshire register office (Vol. 0701a a48) in 1994. His whole life may have been spent residing in Wednesbury, since it was there that died on 22^nd May 1994

William B Collett [83Q16] was born at Walsall in 1917, the first of the two children of William E Collett and Martha Simkin, whose birth was recorded at Walsall register office (Ref. 6b 1014) during the third quarter of the year, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Simkin. William was around 35 years old when the marriage of Willam B Collett and Annie Foster, arranged by licence, was recorded at Staffordshire register office (Ref. 9b 2109) during the summer of 1952. Eight years after their wedding day, Annie gave birth to a son, whose birth was recorded at Birmingham

83R5 – Keith E Collett was born in 1960 at Birmingham

Dorothy E Collett [83Q17] was born at Walsall in 1927 nearly ten years after her older brother. Her birth was also recorded at Walsall (Ref. 6b 1075), during the second quarter of 1927, when once again the mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Simkin

Joyce E Collett [83Q18] was born at Walsall in 1923 where her birth was recorded (Ref. 6b 1213) during the second quarter of the year. Joyce was the first of the three children of Frederick William Collett and Doris E Spinks. It was during the first three months of 1949 that Joyce married Franciszek Zagorski, the wedding recorded at Walsall (Ref. 9b 1598). Joyce was expecting the birth of a child on her wedding day, the birth of Marie J Zagorski recorded at Walsall (Ref. 9b 1139) during the second quarter of that same year. Tragically, the death of Joyce E Zagorski was recorded at Walsall only two years later (Ref. 9b 647) during the last three months of 1951

Jean L Collett [83Q19] was born at Walsall in 1927 where her birth was recorded (Ref. 6b 1119) during the third quarter of 1927. Jean was 19 years of age when she married Leslie Goodman, the wedding recorded at Walsall (Ref. 6b 1321) during the first three months of 1946. The married produced a daughter for the couple, when the birth of Jill L Goodman was recorded at Walsall (Ref. 9b 970) during the second quarter of 1955

Derek H Collett [83Q20] was born at Walsall in 1931, the last of the children of Frederick and Doris Collett. His birth was recorded at Walsall (Ref. 6b 1172) during the first quarter of 1931, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Spinks. It was also at Walsall that the marriage of Derek H Collett and Sheila A White was recorded (Ref. 9b 1358) during the second quarter of 1955. It was during that same three months that the birth of Linda M Collett was registered at Birmingham (Ref. 9c 43) when the mother’s maiden-name was stated as being White. Whether this was the child of Derek and Sheila has not been confirmed, nor is it determined whether the wedding or the birth was the first of the two events. Less than five years after that, the birth of Ann Collett was recorded at Walsall (Ref. 9b 1010) during the first three months of 1960. However, the mother’s maiden-name was recorded as Siverns, which may have been a second wife for Derek

83R6 - Linda M Collett was born in 1955 at Birmingham

83R7 - Ann Collett was born in 1960 at Walsall

Gwendoline Ada Collett [83Q21] was born at Walsall in 1927, the only child of George Collett and his second wife Ada Edwards. She was born in the same year that her parents were married, when her birth was recorded at Walsall register office. (Ref. 1079) during the final quarter of the year

Joyce G Collett [83Q22] was born at Walsall in 1928 and was the only child of Harry Collett and Ann M Marney, whose birth was recorded at Walsall register office (Ref. 6b 1075) during the second quarter of that year. Joyce was three years old her father died, after which it is not yet known what happened to Joyce and her mother. The later marriage of Joyce G Collett and Charles H Baldwin was recorded at Wednesbury register office (Ref. 9b 2053) during the summer of 1962

David William Arthur Collett [83R1] was born in Staffordshire in 1948, where his birth was recorded (Ref. 9b 1537), .when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Price. David was the only child of Arthur Leonard Collett and Eunice Dorothy Price whose additional forenames came from his grandfather and his father. The 1973 marriage of David W A Collett and Aileen L Hickey was recorded at Walsall register office (Ref. 9b 1522) during the last three months of the year. By the time their son David Arthur Collett was born, David and Aileen were residing in Birkenhead in Chester, where his birth was recorded

83S1 – David Arthur Collett was born in 1977 at Birkenhead

Michael John Collett [83R2] was born at Cannock, Staffordshire, in 1962 and was the first of the two brothers who was believed to be the children of Arnold John Collett and his wife Mabel E Parsons who were married in 1949. Michael’s birth was recorded at Cannock register office (Ref. 9b 255) during the second quarter of 1962, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Parsons

Neil Alan Collett [83R3] was born at Walsall on 19^th March 1966, seven years after his parents Arnold and Mabel Collett were married. It was at Walsall register office (Ref. 9b 1042) that his birth was recorded during the spring of that year, with his mother’s maiden-name confirmed as Parsons. Sadly, Neil was only 26 years old when he died, with the death of Neil Alan Collett recorded at Staffordshire register office (Vol. 34 324) in 1992

Mark Peter Collett [83R4] was born in the Dudley area of the West Midlands in 1972, the only known child of Peter B Collett and Frances D Merrett who were married at Walsall the previous year. The birth of Mark Peter Collett was recorded at Dudley register office (Ref. 9b 817) during the spring of 1972, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Merrett. Although not verified as Mark Peter Collett from Derbyshire, in the summer of 2000, when he would have been 28, the marriage of Mark P Collett and Kelly A Hopgood was recorded at Crawley, Sussex, register office (Vol. 780 1361)

Keith E Collett [83R5] was born at Birmingham in 1960, where his birth was recorded (Ref. 9c 261) during the third quarter of the year with his mother’s maiden-name was Foster, being the only child of William B Collett and Annie Foster.

David Arthur Collett ]83S1] was born at Birkenhead on 9^th October 1977 and was the only known child of David William Arthur Collett and Aileen Hickey. His birth was recorded at the Cheshire Birkenhead register office (Vol. 37 458) towards the end of 1977, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Hickey. Tragically, it was before the end of that year when the premature death of baby David Arthur Collett was also recorded in Cheshire (Vol. 37 0888)

Section Two - The Locksmith Colletts

Joseph Collett [83m1/83M4] was born at Willenhall in 1810 and was the son of John Collett, a lock manufacturer, and his wife Phoebe Perry of Willenhall. The later marriage of Joseph Collett and Fanny Wootton of Willenhall conducted on 25^th November 1832 and recorded at Wolverhampton, when they were both described as residing in Wolverhampton. Fanny was the daughter of Thomas and Sarah Wootton and was baptised at Willenhall on 27^th November 1814. All their children were born at Willenhall, with their births registered at Wolverhampton. By the time of the first Willenhall census in 1841 the family was living at Stafford Street where the five members of the family were recorded as Joseph Collett with a rounded age of 30, Fanny Collett with a rounded age of 25, daughter Amelia Collett was eight, Shadrach Collett was four, and Meshach Collett was two years of age

With five more children added to their family over the following decade, it is perhaps not surprising that the couple’s eldest child was living with her widowed grandmother Phoebe Collett nearby on Stafford Street in Willenhall in 1851. Once again, every member of the household had been born at Willenhall, with the family recorded in the census as Joseph Collett who was 41 and a locksmith, Fanny Collett who was 36, Shadrach Collett who was 13, Meshach Collett who was 11, Abednego Collett who was nine, Fanny Collett who was five, Joseph Collett who was three, and John Collett who was one year old. Two more sons were added to the family just after 1851, and sometime later that decade Joseph took on his late father’s business being managed by his widowed mother in 1851, as confirmed by the next census returns in 1851 and 1861. By the time of the latter event, the couple’s two eldest children were married and, together with son Joseph, were not living with them although, by then, a granddaughter was living with the family, who could only be the base-born child of their daughter Amelia, who must have given birth to the child while she was living with her grandmother in 1851, with the child born later that same year, or early the following year

Joseph Collett of Stafford Street, Willenhall, was 51 when he was described as a South American Locksmith which, under the management of his father, and his mother, was then reported as a South American Lock Manufacturer. That year in 1861, his wife Fanny was 47, and the children living with them were Meshach who was 21, Abednego who was 18, Fanny who was 16, John who was 10, Charles who was nine, and Henry was seven years old. The couple’s granddaughter was Emily Collett of Willenhall who was nine years of age. The three youngest sons, and Emily, were all attending school. Six years later, the death of Joseph Collett of Stafford Street in Willenhall, aged 57, was recorded at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 387) during the first quarter of 1867.

According to the Willenhall census of 1881, widow Fanny Collett was 66 and head of the household, having no occupation, when just her youngest child, son Henry, was the only member of her family still living with her, and he was single at the age of 27. Twelve years after being made a widow, Fanny Collett, nee Wootton, died on 27^th April 1889 at the age of 74, following which her Will was proved on 17^th May 1889 when the two named beneficiaries were her daughter Amelia Morgan and her husband Abraham Morgan

83n1 – Amelia Collett was born in 1833 at Willenhall

83n2 – Shadrach Collett was born in 1837 at Willenhall

83n3 – Meshach Collett was born in 1839 at Willenhall

83n4 – Abednego Collett was born in 1842 at Willenhall

83n5 – Fanny Collett was born in 1844 at Willenhall

83n6 – Joseph Collett was born in 1848 at Willenhall

83n7 - John Collett was born in 1850 at Willenhall

83n8 – Charles Collett was born in 1852 at Willenhall

83n9 – Henry Collett was born in 1854 at Willenhall

Amelia Collett [83n1] was born at Willenhall early in 1833 and within four months of her parents being married. She was baptised at Willenhall on 7^th April 1833 and was the first-born child of Joseph Collett and Fanny Wootton, and was eight years old in the census of 1841 when the family was living at Stafford Street in Willenhall. With her family increasing in number and, with her father’s widowed mother also living at Stafford Street, it seems that on discovering Amelia was with-child she was sent to live with her grandmother, where the child was very likely born later in 1851 or early in 1852. Amelia Collett was 18 in 1851 when she was living at the nearby home of her grandmother Phoebe Collett who, despite her 70 years of age, was employing fifteen young men as apprentice lock-makers, with three of them living with Phoebe and Amelia. Her grandmother also employed a female domestic servant, so maybe Amelia was assisting with domestic duties having no stated occupation. Five years later, at the Church of St Stephen-the-Martyr on Wolverhampton Street in Willenhall, 23-year-old Amelia Collett married Abraham Morgan in 1856. Amelia was confirmed as the daughter of Joseph Collett, while Abraham was 27 and the son of Isaac Morgan

By the time of the census of 1861, Amelia had presented Abraham with three children, when the family was living at Bloxwich Road in Willenhall, where Abraham Morgan was 32 and a key-smith, Amelia was 28, Samuel Morgan was three, Joseph Morgan was two, and baby Fanny Morgan had just been born. All five members of the family had been born at Willenhall. Twenty years later the enlarged family was again residing at Willenhall where, in addition to Amelia and their six children, two of Abraham’s older brothers were living and working with him. Key-smith Abraham was 53, Amelia was 48, Joseph was 22 and a key-smith, Abraham Morgan was 16 and a locksmith’s key filer, Amelia Morgan was 15, David Morgan was 12 and a locksmith, Harry Morgan was 10, and Charles Morgan was four years old. Abraham’s brothers were Enoch Morgan 61 and key-smith, and David Morgan 59 and a mortice locksmith. Upon the death of Amelia’s mother in 1889, her Will named only two beneficiaries, and they were Amelia and Abraham Morgan

Only three of their children were still living at Willenhall with key-smith Abraham aged 63 and Amelia aged 58 in 1891, and they were Joseph 32 and a key-smith, Abraham 26 and a lock maker, and Charles 14 who was a draper’s assistance, with just Abraham’s brother Enoch aged 71, a key-smith. Over all those years, the Morgan family home had been living on Bloxwich Road in Willenhall, where Abraham Morgan died during the 1890s, leaving Amelia as widow at the age of 68, still living there on the day of the census in 1901, when she was living on her own means. The only member of her direct family living with her, was her granddaughter Ellen Fox who was 19 and the daughter of Amelia Fox nee Morgan, who husband was Humphrey Fox. Still living with her was her brother-in-law Enoch Morgan aged 81. Just less than five years after that day, Amelia Morgan, nee Collett, died at Willenhall on 26^th February 1906 at the age of 72. When her Will was proved on 21^st April 1906, the main beneficiary was her son Joseph Morgan, the second named being her son-in-law Humphrey Fox

83o1 - Emily Collett was born in 1852 at Willenhall

Shadrach Collett [83n2] was born at Willenhall on 5^th December 1837, with his birth registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. xvii 260) before the end of that year. He was baptised at Willenhall on 24^th December 1837, the second child and eldest son of Joseph and Fanny Collett. In June 1841 his parents were living at Stafford Street where Shadrach was recorded as being four years old in the census that month. At the age of 13 he had left school and was working for his father as a locksmith when the family home was still at Stafford Street in Willenhall. It was nine years later that he was married via the reading of banns.

He was 22 years old when the marriage of Shadrach Collett and 21-year-old Emily Dugmore was conducted at Willenhall on 6^th February 1860 and recorded at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 564). The groom was confirmed as the son of Joseph Collett, and Emily was described as the daughter of Daniel Dugmore, both residing in Willenhall prior to the day. No record of the family in 1861 has been found, but by 1871 they were settled in Willenhall when Shadrach Collett was 34 and a rim lock maker, Emily Collett was 31, and their two surviving children were Fanny Collett who was 12, and Emily Collett who was three, following the infant death of daughter Sarah Jane in 1865. The birth of Fanny Collett was registered at Wolverhampton at the start of 1859, but using her mother’s maiden-name of Dugmore, one year before she married Shadrach. It is not known for sure whether Fanny was the couple’s first child, or that of another man

For his last appearance in the census records, it was as Frederick (sic) Collett that Shadrach was 44 and a lock manufacturer living in Willenhall in 1881. That day his wife Emily was 41, when the couple’s three children were listed as Emily Collett who was 13, Shadrach Collett who was seven, and Minnie Collett who was five years of age. During the next few years something caused the family to London where Shadrach Collett died on 17^th July 1890, with his death recorded at Shoreditch (Ref. 1c 38) in the third quarter of the year. The census the following year included his widow Emily Collett from Willenhall who was 52 and head of the household at a property in Islington, London, when she was described as a charwoman. Two of her Willenhall born children were living there with her, and they were son Shadrach who was 17, and daughter Minnie Collett aged 16. After that day Emily returned to Willenhall, presumably with her daughter, with son Shadrach staying there, and just over nine years after being widowed, Emily Collett died at Willenhall towards the end of 1899, with her death recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 393) during the last quarter of the year, when she was 59

83o2 – Fanny Collett was born in 1859 at Willenhall

83o3 – Sarah Jane Collett was born in 1863 at Willenhall

83o4 – Emily Collett was born in 1868 at Willenhall

83o5 – Shadrach Collett was born in 1873 at Willenhall

83o6 – Minnie Collett was born in 1876 at Willenhall

Meshach Collett [83n3] was born at Willenhall in 1839, with his birth registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. xvii 326) during the final three months of the year, another son of Joseph and Fanny Collett. He was two years old in the census of 1841 when he and his family were living at Stafford Street in Willenhall. On finish his education he worked with his father and by 1851 Meshach Collett aged 11 was a locksmith and after a further ten years he was still living with his family in 1861 when he was 21 and a South American locksmith. Seven weeks later he became a married man

It was also in 1861 that the marriage of Meshach Collett, son of Joseph, and Mary Ann Sheppard (Shepherd), daughter of Thomas, took place in Wolverhampton on 20^th May 1861, when the groom was of full-age and the bride was a minor, both residing at Monmore Green to the west of Willenhall. The wedding was recorded at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 619) and, prior to the next census in 1871, Mary Ann give birth to four children, with the six members of the family recorded as Meshach 31 and a padlock maker, Mary Ann aged 30, Henry who was nine, Fanny who was five, Winifred who was three, and Mary who was one year old. Staying with the Collett family that census day was Meshach’s niece Mary Croft who was 12, when every member of the household had been born at Willenhall.

Eleven months before the next census Meshach Collett died on 8^th May 1880, with his Will proved at Stafford on 20^th November 1880, when the beneficiary was named as Daniel Knowles. His loss to the family coincided with the arrival of the couple’s last child. The following year his widow Mary Ann Collett was 39 and an annuitant at Willenhall who had with her son Henry who was 19, Winifred Collett who was 14, Mary Collett who was 12, Sarah A Collett was 10, Lucy Collett who was seven, Joseph T Collett who was four, and Ellen Collett who was two years old. On that day, daughter Fanny was living and working in Walsall. In 1891 Mary, a widow and padlock varnisher, was 49 and still living in Willenhall with her three daughters. They were Mary who was 21, Sarah who was 19, Lucy who was 16, Joseph who was 14, and Nellie who was 12. During the next decade the family moved to Malthouse Lane in Willenhall where lock varnisher Mary Ann was 58 in 1901. Just two of her eight children were living with her by then, and they were unmarried Mary Collett who was 30, and Ellen Collett who was 21

Unmarried daughter Mary was the only child still living with her widowed mother at Willenhall in 1911, by which 69-year-old Mary Ann was no longer in work, when her daughter Mary was 40 and described as working at a hardware warehouse store. Completing the household that day was the grandson of Mary Ann Collett, George Tonkinson from Willenhall who was 14 and working with his aunt Mary at the same hardware warehouse. It was three years later that Mary Ann Collett aged 73 died at Willenhall in 1914. Her death was recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 681) during the summer of 1914. The earlier birth of Mary Ann Shepherd was registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. xvii 309) during the third quarter of 1841. She was baptised at Willenhall on 20^th August 1841, the daughter of Thomas and Mary Shepherd

83o7 - Henry Collett was born in 1862 at Willenhall

83o8 - Fanny Collett was born in 1865 at Willenhall

83o9 - Winifred Collett was born in 1867 at Willenhall

83o10 – Mary Collett was born in 1869 at Willenhall

83o11 - Sarah Ann Collett was born in 1872 at Willenhall

83o12 - Lucy Collett was born in 1874 at Willenhall

83o13 – Joseph Thomas Collett was born in 1877 at Willenhall

83o14 - Ellen Collett was born in 1879 at Willenhall

Abednego Collett [83n4] was born at Stafford Street in Willenhall in 1842 and his birth was registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. xvii 309) during the third quarter of that year. He was another son of locksmith Joseph Collett and Fanny Wootton and was nine years old in the Willenhall census of 1851. By 1861 Abednego Collett was 18 and a South American locksmith who was still living with his family in Willenhall. Nine years later, during 1870, the marriage of Abednego Collett and Esther Emma Hopkins was conducted at Willenhall, where they were both living prior to their wedding day, and was recorded at Wolverhampton (Ref. ). The groom was 28 and the son of Joseph Collett, while the bride was 22 and the daughter of Frederick Hopkins. Once they were married, Abednego and Esther settled in Willenhall, where they were living in 1871, when the childless couple was described as Abednego Collett aged 28, who was a rim locksmith, and Esther E Collett was 22 years old. Over the following fourteen years Esther gave birth to seven children, although not all of them survived

Just over ten years after their wedding day, the couple was residing in Willenhall where Abednego was 39 and a rim lock manufacturer, Esther E Collett was 33, Fanny was nine, Joseph was seven, Frederick was six, and Abednego junior was one year old. That day daughter Mary Ann had already suffered an infant death, with head of the household Abednego employing a general domestic servant, Alice Booker who was 13. According to the Willenhall census in 1891 Abednego was 48 and a grid iron maker, Esther was 42, son Joseph was 18, Frederick was 14, Meshach was eight, and Edith was five years of age. Ten years later it was just three children who were still living with Abednego and Esther at Peel Street in Willenhall. Locksmith Abednego was 59, Esther was 52, Frederick, as Fred, was 25, Meshach was 18, and Edith was 15. Just over two years after that census, Abednego Collett was 61 when he died at Willenhall in 1903, with his death recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 383) during the last three months of the year.

By 1911, widow Esther Emma Collett was 62 who, to provide an income was taking in two male boarders, when she was described as a boarding house keeper. In addition to the two men boarding with her, two of her unmarried sons Frederick and Meshach were still living there with her, and they were and Frederick aged 33, and Meshach who was 28. Seventeen years later the death of Esther Emma Collett was recorded at Staffordshire register office (Ref. 6b 679) during 1928

83o15 – Fanny Collett was born in 1871 at Willenhall

83o16 – Joseph Henry Collett was born in 1873 at Willenhall

83o17 – Mary Anne Collett was born in 1874 at Willenhall

83o18 – Frederick Collett was born in 1875 at Willenhall

83o19 – Abednego Collett was born in 1878 at Willenhall

83o20 – Meshach Collett was born in 1882 at Willenhall

83o21 – Edith Collett was born in 1885 at Willenhall

Fanny Collett [83n5] was born at Stafford Street in Willenhall in the summer of 1844, when her birth was registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. xvii 318) during the third quarter of that year. She was incorrectly given the age of five years in the Willenhall census of 1851, and was 16 in 1861 when she and her family were again living at Stafford Street. By that time, she was no longer at school, but had no stated job of work. While no record of the family has been found for the 1871 census, it would appear the death of Fanny Collett recorded at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 329) in the spring of 1873 was the unmarried daughter of Joseph and Fanny Collett even though no age at the time of passing was included in the record

Joseph Collett [83n6] was born at Stafford Street in Willenhall in 1848 with his birth registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. xvii 390) during the second quarter of the year. He was the sixth of the nine children of Joseph Collett and Fanny Wootton and was three years old in the 1851 census. Ten years later, when Joseph would have been 13, he was no living with his family in Willenhall. Instead, he was one of two teenage boys serving an apprenticeship with ironmonger Henry Flaton at his home and business in Madeley, Shropshire. Twelve years later, it was at St Stephen’s Church on 13^th April 1873, when Joseph was 25, that his marriage to 29-year-old Elizabeth Brown took place at Willenhall, where the bride and groom were residing, and was recorded at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 794). Joseph was confirmed as the son of Joseph Collett, with Elizabeth’s father named as Reuben William Brown

Elizabeth may have been a widow when she married Joseph, having her own home in Willenhall, where they were living in 1881 when it was Elizabeth who was head of the household. Joseph was 33 and a tinman, who was described as the husband of the head of the family. As far as can be determined, they had no children. On the day of the census in 1891 the childless couple was recorded as Joseph who was 43 and a tin plate worker, and Elizabeth who was 47, when they were still living in Willenhall. By 1901 their home was on Chapel Street in Willenhall, where Joseph Collett of Willenhall was 52 and continuing to earn a living as a ton plate maker, when Elizabeth Collett was 57. Just three weeks after the census day in 1901, Joseph died on 21^st April 1901 at the age of 52, and ten years after his widow was living alone in Willenhall at the age of 67. Eighteen years after that census day, the death of Elizabeth Collett, nee Brown, was recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 539) during the third quarter of 1929 when she was 85. The Will of Elizabeth Collett, who died on 13^th September 1929, was proved at Staffordshire on 9^th December 1929, when the two beneficiaries were Ada Ann Abernathy, nee Brown, and her husband Thomas Charles Abernathy, who were married in Willenhall on 5^th September 1904

John Collett [83n7] was born at Stafford Street in Willenhall in 1850 when his birth was registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. xvii 410) during the second quarter of the year, another son of Joseph and Fanny Collett. He was one year old in 1851, and was 10 years of age in 1861 when he was at school and when his family was still residing on Stafford Street. At the age of 20, John Collett the son of Joseph married Hannah Millington at Holy Trinity Church in Willenhall on 28^th February 1870. Hannah was 19 and the daughter of Daniel Millington. Their marriage certainly produced a son for the couple, while there may have been other issue wo did not survive. The family of three was recorded in the 1881 census living at Willenhall where John Collett was 31 and a Spanish Rim Lock Maker, Hannah was 30, and John Collett junior was seven years old and at school

By 1891 John was 41 and a lock manufacturer, Hannah was 40, and son John was 17 and a clerk. Staying with the family that day was Fanny Collett aged 20 and a general domestic servant, who was described as the niece of John and Hannah being the daughter of John’s older brother Abednego (above). According to the next census in 1901, John Collett from Willenhall was 51 and residing at March End in Wednesfield, just to the north of Willenhall, from where he was working as a rim lock maker. Living there with him was his wife and unmarried son who were recorded as Hannah Collett aged 50 and John Collett who was 27 and a commercial clerk. To supplement the family income, Hannah was taking in boarders which, that day was William Smith aged 22 and from nearby Wolverhampton who was a coalmine way cleaner.

When John Collett died seven years later his age at his passing was recorded in error as 56 rather than 58, with his death recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 357) during the last three months of 1908. Following the loss of her husband, widow Hannah Collett was 60 and the head of the household in Wednesfield in 1911, who still had her unmarried son John Collett living with her. He was 37 and a clerk at ‘Comgates Works’. His earlier birth had been registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 637) during the first quarter of 1874, and it was there also that the death of John Collett was recorded in 1970 (Ref. 9b 1212), when his date of birth was confirmed as 30^th March 1874

83o22 – John Collett was born in 1874 at Willenhall

Charles Collett [83n8] was born at Willenhall in 1852 and his birth was registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 403) during the second quarter of the year. He may have been born at Stafford Street in Willenhall where Charles was nine years old and living with his family in 1861. The census details from 1871 for Willenhall may have been destroy, because none of them have been found for any member of this Collett family line. However, just over two-and-half years later, the marriage of Charles Collett and (1) Sarah Causer took place at Walsall on 29^th December 1873, when Charles from Willenhall was 21 and the son of Joseph Collett, and Sarah from Pleck in Walsall was 20 and the daughter of William Causer.

Charles’s occupation in 1881 was that of an iron rim lock maker and licenced victualler at the age of 29. His wife Sarah from Bilston was 27, and their son Charles was two years old. Visiting the family that day was Bilston born Annie Causer who was 29 who was Sarah’s older sister. By 1891 the family had increased in size and was living at Willenhall when it comprised Charles Collett who was 38 and a lock maker, Sarah Collett who was 37, Charles Collett junior who was 12, Meshach Collett who was nine, Abednego Collett who was seven, all three at school, Henry Collett who was two years old, and Ernest Collett who was under one year old.

Two years after the day of the census in 1891, Sarah Collett, nee Causer, tragically died with her death recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 423) at the end of 1893 when she was only forty years of age. Her premature death and the fact that Charles then married Sarah’s married, but widowed, sister Annie, provides the answers to the strange census return completed in 1901. It was at St Peter’s Church in Aston, Birmingham, on 23^rd July 1894, that Charles Collett, a widower aged 42 and the son of Charles Collett, married (2) Annie Belten (Bolton) a widow aged 42 and the daughter of William Causer

That census return in 1901 stated that Charles was 44 (actual age nearer 48) and a rim locksmith who, with his family, was living on Bilston Lane in Willenhall. His wife Annie was 43 and born at Bilston, Abednego was 18, Thomas was 17, Henry was 11, and Ernest was nine. The couple’s eldest son Charles was 23 and staying in a boarding house close by at Walsall Street in Willenhall when, living with the Collett family that day, but incorrectly recorded as Charles Collett, was Annie’s twelve-year-old son Charles Bolton, who was still living with them in 1911 when again he was recorded as Charles Collett

Nine years later the death of Charles Collett was recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 287) during the summer of 1910 when he was reported to be 56 instead of 58. The following year his widow was again confirmed as Annie Collett in the 1911 census when she and her son Charles Bolton had three of late husband’s sons, her nephews/stepsons, still living with her in Willenhall. Annie Collett from Bilston was 54, Thomas Collett was 26, Harry Collett was 22, Ernest Collett was 20, and Charles Collett aka Charles Bolton was 22 and an iron locker maker, the same occupation as the two older Collett brothers

83o23 – Charles William Collett was born in 1878 at Willenhall

83o24 – Meshach Collett was born in 1881 at Willenhall

83o25 – Abednego Collett was born in 1882 at Willenhall

83o26 – Thomas Collett was born in 1885 at Willenhall

83o27 – Shadrach Henry Collett was born in 1886 at Willenhall

83o28 – Harry Collett was born in 1889 at Willenhall

83o29 – Ernest Collett was born in 1890 at Willenhall

Henry Collett [83n9] was born at Willenhall in 1854, the last of the nine children of Joseph Collett and Fanny Wootton. His birth, like those of his older siblings, was registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 420) during the first three months of 1854. It was at Stafford Street in Willenhall that he was seven years of age in 1861 and, after a gap of twenty years, Henry was the only member of his family still living with his widowed mother Fanny in 1881, when his occupation as a single man was that of a carpenter at the age of 27. Two years later, the premature death of 29-year-old Henry Collett was recorded at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 377) during the second quarter of 1883

Fanny Collett [83o2] was born at Willenhall in 1859, with her birth registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 459) during the first three months of that year, when her name was recorded as Fanny Dugmore. She was the daughter of unmarried Emily Dugmore who married Shadrach Collett in 1860 and who, by 1871 was Fanny Collett aged 12 years in the Willenhall census that year. Five years after that day, the marriage of Fanny Dugmore Collett and George Henshaw was recorded at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 818) during the second quarter of 1876.

Sarah Jane Collett [83o3] was born at Willenhall in 1863 when her birth was registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 503) during the second quarter of the year. It was at St Giles’ Church in Willenhall that she was baptised on 3^rd May 1863, a daughter of Shadrach Collett and Emily Dugmore. Sarah was approaching her second birthday when she died at Willenhall and her death was recorded at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 352) during the first quarter of 1865

Emily Collett [83o4] was born at Willenhall on 6^th January 1868, another daughter of Shadrach and Emily Collett. Her birth was registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 537) during the first three months of 1868. It may have been the premature deaths of her two older sister that was the reason for her delayed naming ceremony, because Emily was six years old when she was baptised at Willenhall on 4^th January 1874 in a joint ceremony with her brother Shadrach (below). Prior to that event, Emily Collett was three years of age in the Willenhall census of 1871 and was 13 years old in 1881 when she was still attending school. Seven years later, the marriage of Emily Collett and Edwin Pritchard was recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 846) during the third quarter of 1888

Shadrach Collett [83o5] was born at Willenhall at the end of 1873, the only son in a family of daughters, with his birth registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 623) just after the start of 1874. He was baptised at Willenhall on 4^th January 1874, the same day that his six-year-old sister Emily was baptised with him. He was seven years old in the Willenhall census of 1881, and later travelled to London with his parents, where his father died in 1890, and where Shadrach Collett from Staffordshire was 17 and a baker’s assistant living in Islington with his widowed mother and sister Minnie (below) in 1891. Shadrach stayed in London when his mother and sister returned to Willenhall, where he continued to work and where he married Alice, and it was just three years later that he was married

The marriage of Shadrach Collett and Alice Perry was recorded at Islington register office (Ref. 1b 481) during the last quarter of 1894 when he was nearly twenty-one years old. After being together for nearly five years, Alice had given birth to three children but the third of them, their only son, did not survive. His birth was recorded at Islington (Ref. 1b 233) during the first three months of 1899, where his infant death was also recorded (Ref. 1b 164) during the second quarter of 1900. Twelve months later the remaining four members of the family were living at Bedford Terrace in Islington, where Shadrach was recorded in that census as Sam Collett from Willenhall who was 27 and a baker. His wife Alice was 30, and their daughters were Florrie Collett who was five, and Alice Collett who was three

Ten years later the family was still residing at Islington where Shadrach Collett from Willenhall was 36 and a baker, and Alice Collett was 42 and born at Portland Avenue in Hackney. The two girls living there with them that day were listed as Florence Collett aged 15 who was working in the production of metallic capsules, and Alice Collett was 13. When Alice died in London during 1941, she was 71 years old, with the death of Alice Jane Collett recorded at London register office (Ref. 1b 278). Her birth as Alice Jessie Perry was recorded at Hackney register office (Ref. 1b 426) in the final quarter of 1869. The birth of Florence Deborah Collett was recorded at Islington register office (Ref. 1b 199) during the second quarter of 1896, and that of Alice Emily Collett was recorded there (Ref. 1b 199) during the first three months of 1898

83p1 – Florence Deborah Collett was born in 1896 at Islington

83p2 – Alice Emily Collett was born in 1898 at Islington

83p3 – Shadrach Collett was born in 1899 at Islington; died in 1899

Minnie Collett [83o6] was born at Willenhall in 1876 and was the last child of Shadrach Collet and Emily Dugmore. Her birth was registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 653) during the second quarter of the year. Apart from that initial recording of Minnie, only two others have been found, the first being the 1881 census when he was five years old and living with her family in Willenhall, and ten years later with just her widowed mother and her older brother Shadrach at Islington in London when she was 16, following the death of her father in London the previous year

Henry Collett [83o7] was born at Willenhall in 1862 and was the first of the eight children of Meshach Collett and Mary Ann Shepherd. His birth was registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 463) during the first three months of 1862. He was nine years old in 1871 and, following the death of his father in 1880, Henry was 19 and a rim lock maker living with his family in 1881. Five years later two things happened in quick succession; the marriage of Henry Collett and Maria Marston in the summer of 1886 and recorded at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 710); and the birth of the first of their eight children. On the day of the next census in 1891, Henry was married, with a wife and two children living in Willenhall, even though his wife had already given birth to four children. Henry Collett from Willenhall was 28 and a locksmith, his wife Maria Collett was also 28 and from Willenhall, when their sons were Meshach Collett who was five, and Harry was one year old. Three more children were added to their family during the next decade, as confirmed in the later census of 1911, with son Bertie missing from the family in 1901

The families’ home in 1901 was at Doctors Piece in Willenhall where 38-year-old Henry Collett was a lock maker’s till (?), Maria was 37, Meshach was 15, Harry was 11, Gertrude A Collett was nine, and Alice M Collett was five. Tragically, for his young family, the untimely death of Henry Collett was recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 449) during the first quarter of 1905, when his age was recorded as 44 rather than 43. Maria Collett then married Henry Barnett, who was known as Harry, with their wedding day recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 1085) during the third quarter of 1907. Harry was the younger partner with Maria not giving her true age in the next census in 1911, probably a result of being some years older than her husband. On that day Harry Barnett was 43 and a forger and a stamper working at a stamping works, and Maria Barnett was listed as 44, instead of 47 or 48. Maria’s five children were recorded as Harry Collett aged 20, Gertrude Collett who was 18, Bertie Collett 17, Mary Collett was 15, and Elsie Collett was 14. Every member of the household had been born at Willenhall, but curiously no earlier record of son Bertie has been found

83p4 – Meshach Collett was born in 1886 at Willenhall

83p5 – Shadrach Collett was born in 1887 at Willenhall

83p6 – Maud Collett was born in 1888 at Willenhall

83p7 – Harry Collett was born in 1889 at Willenhall

83p8 – Gertrude Annie Collett was born in 1892 at Willenhall

83p9 – Bertie Collett was born in 1894 at Willenhall

83p10 – Alice Mary Collett was born in 1895 at Willenhall

83p11 – Elsie Miriam Collett was born in 1897 at Willenhall

Fanny Collett [83o8] was born at Willenhall in 1865 and her birth as the second child and eldest daughter of Meshach and Mary Ann Collett was registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 541) during the second quarter of 1865. She was five years of age in 1871 and after finishing her education, she entered the world of domestic service and in 1881 was recorded in error as being 17 when Fanny Collett from Willenhall was a domestic servant at the Walsall home of master draper Martin Hawker and his wife Ann.

Winifred Collett [83o9] was born at Willenhall in 1867 when her birth was registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 572) during the second quarter of the year. She was three years old in 1871, and was 14 and a school in 1881. The marriage by banns eight years later of 21-year-old Winifred Collett, daughter of Meshach, and Arthur Hancox aged 20 and the son of William took place in Willenhall on 24^th November 1889. Both the bride and the groom were residing on Malthouse Lane, prior to that day. Less than two years after their wedding day the couple was recorded at Willenhall where Arthur Hancox was 20 and a key stamper, and Winifred Hancox was 22 and a lock polisher. During the following decade Winifred gave birth to four children, with the six members of the family recorded at Malthouse Lane in Willenhall in the census of 1901. Arthur was 30 and a key stamper, Winifred was 33, William Hancox was nine, Lily Hancox was seven, Harry Hancox was four, and Arthur Hancox junior was two years old and all born at Willenhall

Two further daughters were added to the family after that day, with all six children living with their parents in 1911 at Willenhall. By that time Arthur was 40 and an iron stamper, Winifred was 42, William was 19 and a warehouse man at a lock works, Lily was 17 and a driller, Harry was 14 and a brass locksmith, Arthur junior was 12, Annie Hancox was seven, and Polly Hancox was three years old. Winifred Hancox, nee Collett, was 72 years old when she died, with her death recorded at Staffordshire register office (Ref. 6b 1432) in 1940

Mary Collett [83o10] was born at Willenhall in 1869, whose birth was registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 514) during the last three months of that year, another daughter of Meshach and Mary Ann Collett. She was one year old in 1871 and nine years later her father died, leaving 12-year-old Mary living with her widowed mother in 1881. After another ten years, Mary Collett was 21 and a card box maker, one of three daughters living with her widowed mother at Willenhall in 1891. She continued to live with her mother as she was in 1901 at Malthouse Lane in Willenhall, when Mary was 30 and a lock sorter at a nearby warehouse, and it was the same situation in 1911 by which time her mother was nearly seventy years of age, when Mary was 40 was working in the hardware section of a warehouse store.

Sarah Ann Collett [83o11] was born at Willenhall in 1872 with her birth registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 576) during the second quarter of that year. Nine years later, she was recorded in error as being 10 years of age in the 1881 Willenhall census, when Sarah A Collett was still at school. By the time she was 19 in 1891, Sarah Ann Collett was living her widowed mother and two younger sisters at Willenhall, when she was described as a warehouse woman. After another five years, the marriage of Sarah Ann Collett, daughter of Meshach, and William Griffiths, son of William senior, took place at Willenhall on 10^th October 1896 when they we both 24 and living at Water Glade Lane in Willenhall, with their wedding recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 971)

Up to the start of the new century, Sarah Ann presented William with three children while they continued to reside in Willenhall. According to the census in 1901 it was at Rose Hill in Willenhall that William Griffiths was 28 and working as a brass caster, Sarah was 29, Dorothy Griffiths was four, Harry Griffiths was two, and William Griffiths was only a few months old, and all born in Willenhall. Two more daughter were born to the couple after that, and confirmed in the next census in 1911. By then William was 38 and an iron moulder, Sarah was 39, Dorothy was 14, Harry was 12, William was 10, Clara Griffiths was six, and Elsie Griffiths was two years old. Two years later their family was completed with the birth of Norton Griffiths, whose birth at Willenhall was recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 5b 1209) towards the end of 1913 when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett.

Lucy Collett [83o12] was born at Willenhall in the autumn of 1874, when her birth was registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 597) during the fourth quarter of the year. She was baptised at Willenhall on 24^th September 1874, a daughter of Meshach and Mary Ann Collett, shortly after she was born. Lucy was six years old when her father died, was seven years of age in 1881, was 16 and still at school in 1891, and was 21 when the marriage of Lucy Collett and Samuel Tonkinson was recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 5b 1084) during the second quarter of 1896.

Samuel was a locksmith and was 28 in 1901 when he and his family were residing at Railway Lane in Willenhall. Lucy Tonkinson was 26, and their two children were George Tonkinson who was four, and Lucy Tonkinson who was under one year old. Two years later a double tragedy hit the young family, with first the premature death of Lucy Tonkinson, nee Collett, who died at Willenhall on 28^th June 1903, and was followed soon after by the death of her three-year-old daughter of the same name. When that happened, a devastated Samuel Tonkinson could not take care of his son, who was placed in the care of his grandmother Mary Ann Collett and his maiden aunt Mary Collett, Lucy’s older sister. In the Willenhall census of 1911, 14-year-old George Tonkinson was working alongside unmarried Mary Collett at hardware warehouse store

Joseph Thomas Collett [83o13] was born at Willenhall in 1877 when his birth was registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 638) during the first three months of that year. He was the youngest son of Meshach and Mary Ann Collett. As Joseph T Collett he was four years old in the Willenhall census of 1881, his father having died during the previous year, and was 14 and a brass padlock maker in 1891 when he was still living with his widowed mother. Eight years later, towards the end of 1899, the marriage of Joseph Thomas Collett and widow Cecilia Anslow was recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 1200) during the last quarter of that year. Cecilia already had a son from her first marriage, and she gave birth to Joseph’s first child during the following year. So, by the time of the next census in 1901, Joseph T Collett was 23 when he was residing at Walsall Street in Willenhall from where he was employed as a brass founder, his wife Cecilia Collett was 25 and was also born at Willenhall, when their son Meshach was one year old. Living with the family was Cecilia’s son Joseph T Anslow who was two years of age

Four more children were added to the family during the next ten years, plus Cecilia’s son had taken up the Collett name by 1911. On that day the family was continuing to live in Willenhall when Cecilia was already pregnant with the couple’s second child, and was followed by the birth of another three children before the end of the decade. The larger family was recorded at Willenhall as Joseph Thomas Collett aged 34 and a brass dresser at the brass foundry, Cecilia was 32, adopted son Joseph Thomas Collett was 12, Meshach Collett was 11, Mary Ann Collett was eight, Annie Collett was seven, William Collett who was six, all attending school, and Alice Collett who was not yet one year old. One week after that census day, Joseph Thomas Collett died at Willenhall, with his shocking death recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 326) during the second quarter of 1911 when he was still only 34 years of age. When his Will was proved at Staffordshire Probate Office on 2^nd May 1911 it revealed he had died on 10^th April 1911 and that the main beneficiary was his widow, Cecilia Collett. It was only eighteen months later when the death of Cecilia Collett, aged 34, was recorded at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 656) during the last three months of 1912

83p12 – Joseph Thomas Anslow was born in 1898 at Willenhall

The following five below are the children of Joseph Thomas Collett and Cecilia Anslow:

83p13 – Meshach Shadrach Collett was born in 1900 at Willenhall

83p14 – Mary Ann Collett was born in 1901 at Willenhall

83p15 – Annie Collett was born in 1903 at Willenhall

83p16 – William Collett was born in 1904 at Willenhall

83p17 – Alice May Collett was born in 1910 at Willenhall

Ellen Collett [83o14] was born at Willenhall in 1879, the last child of Meshach Collett and Mary Ann Shepherd, whose birth was registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 642) during the second quarter of the year. Ellen was almost two years old in 1881, by which time her mother was a widow following the death of Ellen’s father during the previous year. In 1891 as Nellie Collett, she was 12 years of age in the family home at Willenhall which, by 1901, was at Malthouse Lane in Willenhall from where 21-year-old Ellen Collett was working as a lock presser. Six years later, the marriage of Ellen Collett and Arthur Bentley was recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 1104) during the third quarter of 1907

Fanny Collett [83o15] was born at Willenhall in 1871 and was the first of the seven children of Abednego Collett and Esther Emma Hopkins. Her birth was registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 583) during the second quarter of the year, following which Fanny was baptised at Willenhall on 25^th June 1871. She was nine years old in 1881, and on leaving school she took up work as a general domestic servant, which was how she was described at the age of 20, when she was the niece of lock manufacturer John Collett and his wife Hannah, with whom she was living and working in 1891. John was her father’s younger brother.

Fanny Collett was 22 and living at 41 New Hall Street in Willenhall at the time of her marriage on 16^th April 1893 to Thomas Dunton who was 23 and living at 23 Spring Vale Street in Willenhall. Fanny was confirmed as a daughter of Abednego Collett, and Thomas’ father was recorded as William Dunton, with their wedding day recorded at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 886). Eight years later the childless couple was residing at Field Street in Willenhall, where Thomas Dunton from Willenhall was 32 and a teamster the nearby galvanising works, when his wife Fanny Dunton was 31 with no stated occupation. After a further ten years, Fanny was 39 and was employed in plain sewing and, although she was described as married, Thomas was not listed with her at Willenhall on the day of the census in 1911. Thirteen years after that, the death of Fanny Dunton aged 54 was recorded at Staffordshire register office (Ref. 6b 630) in 1924

The birth of Thomas Dunton was registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 563) during the first three months of 1869, the son of William and Emma Dunton of Willenhall. Seventeen years after being made a widower, Thomas was living in Warwickshire when he died at the age of 72, with the death of Thomas Dunton recorded at Warwickshire register office (Ref. 6d 1470) in 1941

Joseph Henry Collett [83o16] was born at Willenhall in 1873, the eldest son and second child of Abednego and Esther Collett, his birth registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 582) in the fourth quarter of the year, and was baptised at Willenhall on 25^th December 1873. He was seven years of age in 1881 and was at school, which he later left to take up the work of a brass caster, which was his occupation in 1891 when he was 18. Six years later, the service for marriage of Joseph Henry Collett and Susan Maud Harper took place in Willenhall on 25^th July 1897, when the groom was 24 and the son of Abednego Collett living at Peel Street, as was the bride who was 22 and the daughter of Joseph Harper. Once married the couple lived at Gomer Street in Willenhall where, in 1901, Joseph was 28 and a brass caster, Susan was 25, Joseph was two years of age, and Arthur was under one year old.

The Willenhall census in 1911 listed the family as Joseph Henry Collett aged 38 and a brass caster, Susan Maud Collett aged 32, Edith Maud Collett who was eight, Cyril Collet who was seven, and Beatrice Lilian Collett who was three years old. Fifteen years after that day the death of Joseph Henry Collett was recorded at Staffordshire register office (Ref. 6b 623) in 1926, when he was 54

83p18 – Joseph Thomas Collett was born in 1898 at Willenhall

83p19 – Arthur Collett was born in 1900 at Willenhall

83p20 – Edith Maud Collett was born in 1902 at Willenhall

83p21 – Cyril Collett was born in 1903 at Willenhall

83p22 – Beatrice Lilian Collett was born in 1907 at Willenhall

Mary Anne Collett [83o17] was born at Willenhall in 1874, with her birth registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 618) during the summer of the year. She was baptised at Willenhall on 16^th August 1874, another daughter of Abednego and Esther Collett. It was during the last three months of that same year when the infant death of baby Mary Ann Collett was recorded at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 375)

Frederick Collett [83o18] was born at Willenhall most likely near the end of 1875 and was the third child of Abednego and Esther, whose birth was registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 664) during the first quarter of 1876. He was six years old and attending school in 1881 when Frederick and his family were living at Willenhall. On leaving school he followed other members of his extended family by becoming a lock maker, which was how he was described in 1891 when he was 14. Frederick was unmarried in 1901 when he was Fred Collett aged 25 and living with his family at Peel Street in Willenhall, where he was a locksmith working alongside his father. After his father died a couple of years after that census day, Frederick gave up his career in lock making and in 1911 when he was one of only two children living with their widowed mother in Willenhall, unmarried Frederick was 33 and a labourer. It is assumed that he never married and that as Frederick Collett he passed away at the age of 76, with his death recorded at Rowley Regis register office (Ref. 9b 310) during the last three months of 1951

Abednego Collett [83o19] was born at Willenhall in 1879 and his birth was registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 618) at the start of 1880, and was living with his family at Willenhall in 1881 at the age of one year. Two years later, when he was three years of age, the death of Abednego Collett was recorded at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 408) during the first three months of 1883

Meshach Collett [83o20] was born at Willenhall in 1882 and was another son of Abednego and Esther Collett. His birth was registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 611) during the first quarter of the year. It would be easy to mistake Meshach as the child of Charles Collett [83n8] and Sarah Causer because his birth was also registered at Wolverhampton with the same reference number, although his birth was reported during the second quarter of 1881. In the Willenhall census of 1891, Meshach was eight years of age and in 1901 he was 18 and a painter still living with his family, but a Peel Street in Willenhall. He was still a single man in 1911, when he was a house painter aged 28, when he was one of the two children still living with his widowed mother. The death of Meshach Collett was recorded at the Staffordshire Bilston register office (Ref. 6b 484) during the second quarter of 1943 when he was 61 years old

Edith Collett [83o21] was born at Willenhall on 20^th December 1885 and was baptised there on 18^th January 1886, the last child of Abednego Collett and Esther Emma Hopkins. Her birth was registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 628) and Edith was five years of age in the census of 1891 and was 15 in 1901, by which time the family home was on Peel Street in Willenhall. Just less than nine years later the marriage of Edith Collett and Arthur Davies was recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 839) during the first three months of 1910. Shortly after their wedding day, the couple settled at Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, as confirmed by the 1911 census. On that day the childless pair were recorded there when Arthur Davies from Madeley in Shropshire was 25 and a coal miner loader, and Edith Davies from Willenhall was also 25. Before the end of that year Edith presented Arthur with a son, the couple’s only known child, when the birth of William Davies was recorded at Mansfield register office (Ref. 7b 257) during the final quarter of 1911.

Charles William Collett [83o23] was born at Willenhall in 1878 with his birth registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 610) during the last three months of the year. He was most commonly referred to by his first name, with William rarely used, and was the first-born child of Charles Collett and Sarah Causer. As Charles Collett he was two years old in 1881, and was 12 and attending school in 1891. He had moved out of the family home in Willenhall before the start of the new century and, at the age of 23, Charles Collett was unmarried and working as a tool maker in 1901, when he was one of eight boarders at the Walsall Street, Willenhall home of boarding house owner Bridget Tyris from Ireland. No later record of Charles William Collett has found unearthed in Britain after that day, and with no record of his either in the country either, it must be assumed he sought a new live in another country, possibly one of the colonies

Meshach Collett [83o24] was born at Willenhall in 1881, another son of Charles and Sarah Collett, whose birth was registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 611 during the second quarter of 1881, not to be confused with Meshach Collett [83o20] with his birth recorded there during the first three months of 1882 as (Ref. 6b 611), the son of Abednego and Esther Collett. Those are the only records of his existence in Britain prior to 911 and, since his eldest brother Charles (above) was also was not heard of after 1901, it is likely they emigrated, perhaps with their younger brother Abednego (below). who later returned to England where he died in 1959

Abednego Collett [83o25] was born at Willenhall on 15^th November 1882 and was baptised there on 24^th December 1882, with his birth registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 624). His parents gave his age as only seven years in the Willenhall census of 1891 and two years after that day, his mother Sarah suffered a premature death. His father then married Sarah’s sister, who was living with the Collett family at Willenhall in 1901 by which time Abednego was 18, but with no occupation, when he and his family were living at Bilston Lane. With no record of Abednego and his two older brothers (above) in or after 1911 in the British Isles, the question must be, did all three move abroad? However, it may have worked out for the eldest of the three brothers, but no so the two younger ones, as their later death were recorded in Staffordshire. In the case of Abednego Collett, his death was recorded at the Staffordshire register office (Ref. 9b 310) in 1959, when he was 76. He was buried at Gornal Wood Cemetery & Crematorium in Dudley when 16^th April 1959 was recorded as the day he passed away, with his date of birth confirmed as above

Thomas Collett [83o26] was born at Willenhall in 1885, with his birth registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 609) during the third quarter of the year. Where he was in 1891 remains an unsolved mystery and two years later his mother Sarah died. However, he was living with his father and his second wife in 1901 at Bilston Lane in Willenhall when Thomas was 17 and a cabinet locksmith. After his father Charles died in 1910, Thomas was one of the three males living with their widowed stepmother at Willenhall, when he was 26 and an iron lock maker. His stepmother was formerly Annie Causer, his mother’s sister, who was married and widowed before she married Thomas’ father. While it has not been proved yet, but the later marriage of Thomas Collett and Mary J Causer was recorded at Walsall register office (Ref. 6b 1498) during the spring of 1925

Mary Jane Causer was born at Burntwood, near Lichfield in Staffordshire, the eldest child of Edward and Mary Ann Causer, whose birth was recorded at Lichfield register office (Ref. 6b 481) during the summer of 1901. The first of the couple’s two daughter was born at Burntwood, with her birth recorded at Lichfield register office (Ref. 6b 722) during the last three months of their wedding year, 1925, with the birth of the second child recorded at Walsall (Ref. 6b 1083) during the first quarter of 1928. The mother’s maiden-name on both occasions was confirmed as Causer. The later marriage of Mary A Collett and David W Banks was also recorded at Walsall register office (Ref. 9b 1311) during the fourth quarter of 1957

83p23 – Joyce Collett was born in 1925 at Burntwood

83p24 – May A Collett was born in 1928 at Walsall

Shadrach Henry Collett [83o27] was born at Willenhall on 1^st November 1886 after which his birth was registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 604) during the last two months of the year. Three weeks later he was baptised at Willenhall on 23^rd November 1886, another son of Charles and Sarah Collett. He was just over six months old when the death of baby Shadrach Henry Collett was recorded at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 345) during the spring of 1887

Harry Collett [83o28] was born at Willenhall on 5^th February 1889, sometimes referred to in error as Henry, whose birth was registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 602) during the first three months of that year. It was at Willenhall where he was baptised at Harry Collett on 5^th March 1889, another child of Charles and Sarah Collett who, as Henry Collett was two years old in the Willenhall census of 1891. His mother died in 1893 after which his father married his widowed sister-in-law, with whom he was living in 1901 and again recorded as Henry Collett aged 11 at Bilston Lane in Willenhall. By 1911, and a year after his father had died, Harry Collett was 22 and working with his older brother Thomas (above) as an iron lock maker, when he was one of the three brothers still living with their stepmother Annie Collett

Ernest Collett [83o29] was born at Willenhall on 22^nd December 1890, when his birth was recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 642) during the first quarter of 1891. He was one month old when he was baptised at Willenhall on 23^rd January 1891, the last child of Charles Collett, and his first wife Sarah Causer who died in 1893. In the census of 1901 Ernest was nine years of age when he was living at Bilston Lane in Willenhall with his remarried father and stepmother, who was also his aunt, being his late mother’s sister Annie. After his father died at Willenhall in 1910, Ernest was 20 and a carter at the Albion Works who, with his brothers Thomas and Harry (above), were still living there with their stepmother in 1911

Meshach Collett [83p4] was born at Willenhall in 1886 and was the first-born child of Henry Collett and Maria Marston. Unlike his younger siblings, whose births were registered at Wolverhampton, no such birth record has been found for Meshach, nor has any baptism record. It was in the Willenhall census of 1891 that Meshach was five years of age, and in 1901 he was 15 but without an occupation when he and his family were residing at Doctors Piece in Willenhall. His father died four years later, and his mother later married Henry Barnett. Two years later the marriage of Meshach Collett and Annie Best was recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 1044) during the last three months of 1909

On the day of the next census in 1911, the childless couple was living in Willenhall, here they were both born, who had Annie’s younger sister staying with them. That day Meshach was 25, whose occupation was that of a metal turner working with iron and brass, his wife Annie was 24, and Meshach’s sister-in-law Alice Best was 15 and a domestic servant. No record of any children being born to the couple has been found, with Meshach and Annie spending their life together in that part of the country, with the death of Meshach Collett aged 72 recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 9b 757) during the summer of 1957. However, it is possible that Annie Best was his first wife, with Sarah J Blakemore his second wife, with the marriage of Sarah and Meshach Collett recorded at Wolverhampton in 1930 (Ref. 6b 1402) during the third quarter of the year

Shadrach Collett [83p5] was born at Willenhall on 11^th September 1887 and was baptised there on 6^th October 1887, another son of Henry and Maria, with his birth registered at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 554). He did not survive, when the death of Shadrach Collett was also recorded at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 391) during the first quarter of 1889

Maud Collett [83p6] was born at Willenhall on 4^th November 1888 and it was there that she was baptised on 2^nd December 1888. Her birth was recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 593) during the last three months of 1888 but, sadly, it was there also that her infant death was recorded (Ref. 6b 391) during the first quarter of 1889

Harry Collett [83p7] was born at Willenhall towards the end of 1889 with his birth recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 617) during the fourth quarter of the year. He was one year old in 1891 and was 11 years of age in the 1901 census when he and his family were residing at Doctors Piece in Willenhall. On leaving school Harry went to work at the local cycle works and, following the death of his father, Harry was 20 years old in 1911 when he was living with his mother after she had married Henry Barnett, when his occupation was that of a cycle maker at the cycle works. Six years after that census day, when he was 27, the marriage of Harry Collett and Nellie Wilcox was recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 1000) during final quarter of 1917. One year later Harry Collett was a casualty of WW1 when, at the age of 28, he was serving with the South Staffordshire Regiment, service number 39538, when he died on 29^th October 1918 and was buried at Stagleno, Genoa in Italy. His name is also included amongst those detailed on the Willenhall War Memorial

Gertrude Annie Collett [83p8] was born at Willenhall in 1892, when her birth was recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 605) during the first three months of that year. As nine-year-old Gertrude A Collett she was living with her family at Doctors Piece in Willenhall in 1901. In 1905 her father died and her mother remarried in 1907, with Gertrude being 18 years old in the Willenhall census of 1911, when she was working as a warehouse woman and living with her mother, stepfather, and her surviving siblings. The only other reference to Gertrude was when she passed away at the age of only 36, with the death of Gertrude Annie Collett recorded at Staffordshire register office (Ref. 6b 1025) in 1929

Bertie Collett [83p9] was born at Willenhall in 1894 and was another son of Henry and Maria Collett. However, Bertie may have been derived from Albert or Herbert, while no birth at Wolverhampton has been found, nor was he living with his family at Doctors Piece in Willenhall on the day of the census in 1901. It is only the next census in 1911 records him as Bertie Collett from Willenhall who was living there with his family when he was 17 and a caster in a toon foundry, by which time his father had died and his mother was remarried. Nothing further is known about this man of mystery

Alice Mary Collett [83p10] was born at Willenhall on 29^th June 1895 and was baptised at Willenhall on 27^th July 1895, another daughter of Henry and Maria Collett. Her birth was recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 639) during the third quarter of the year. As Alice M Collett, she was five years of age in 1901 when living with her family at Doctors Piece in Willenhall. After her father died in 1905 and her mother was subsequently married two years after, Mary Collett was still living with her mother at Willenhall in 1911, when she was 15 and already working as a warehouse woman at a lock works. Many years later, it was at Walsall in the spring of 1984, that Alice Mary Collett died at the age 88

Elsie Miriam Collett [83p11] was born at Willenhall and was the last of the eight children of Henry Collett and Maria Marston. Unlike most of her older siblings, no recorded of her birth or baptism has been found. Also not found is the record of her in the census of 1901 when her family were residing at Doctors Piece in Willenhall. The first record of her existence was in the census of 1911, by which time her father had died and her mother was remarried. Elsie Collett of Willenhall was 14 with no occupation when she was the daughter of Maria Barnett and the stepdaughter of Harry Barnett. According to the much later record of her death at the age of 89, which was reported to the Staffordshire register office (Vol. 33 1102) in 1986, her date of birth was confirmed as 22^nd March 1897

Joseph Thomas Anslow [83p12] was born at Willenhall on 14^th October 1898, when his birth was recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 640) during the last three months of the year. He was two weeks old when he was baptised at Willenhall on 3^rd November 1898. He was the son of Cecilia Anslow whose husband must have died before or around the time of his birth, after which widow Cecilia married Joseph Thomas Collett, following which Joseph T Anslow was three years of age in the Willenhall census of 1901 when he was living with the Collett family at Walsall Street. Ten years later, within the census return for 1911, he was recorded as Joseph Thomas Collett who was 12 and at school in Willenhall. No record of him after that day has been found either as Joseph Thomas Anslow or Joseph Thomas Collett

Meshach Shadrach Collett [83p13] was born at Willenhall on 10^th January 1900, with his birth recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b ), after which he was baptised at Willenhall on 28^th January 1900, the first of the five children of Joseph Thomas Collett and Cecilia Anslow. As simply Meshach he was 11 years old and attending school in Willenhall in 1911 when living there with his family. It is possible that Meshach Collett married Ada Herds (aka Hurd) in 1941, when their wedding was recorded at Staffordshire register office (Ref. 6b 1525) during the spring of that year. Despite Meshach being forty, Ada was born in 1910 at Willenhall, a daughter of Thomas and Clara Hurd, and was therefore ten years younger. As Ada Hurd her birth was recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 629) during the first three months of 1910. Over the six years following their wedding day Ada gave birth to four children. The births of the first two were recorded at Bilston register office (Ref. 6b ), the latter two at Staffordshire register office when, in all four cases the mother’s maiden-name was conformed as Herds. Meshach who was born in 1900 died in 1962 at the age of 62, when his passing was recorded at Staffordshire register office (Ref. 9b 9)

83q1 – Joyce Collett was born in 1941 at Bilston

83q2 – Thomas Collett was born in 1943 at Bilston

83q3 – Graham Collett was born in 1945 at Staffordshire

83q4 – Peter Collett was born in 1947 at Staffordshire

Mary Ann Collett [83p14] was born at Willenhall on 20^th July 1901 with her birth recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 660) during the summer of that year. She was the eldest daughter and second child of Joseph and Cecilia Collett, with whom she was living in 1911 at the age of eight. The marriage of Mary Ann Collett and Ernest Trubshaw was recorded at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 1352) towards the end of 1920. Their marriage produced a son and a daughter with their births recorded at Wolverhampton when their mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett. They were Norman E Trubshaw in 1921 (Ref. 6b 1169) during the fourth quarter of that year, and Kathleen M Trubshaw in 1927 (Ref. 6b 810) during the third quarter of the year. The much later death of Mary Ann Trubshaw at the age of 96 was recorded at Walsall register office (Vol. 0751b b56a) in 1998. Her headstone at Willenhall Lawn Cemetery confirmed both her date of birth, as above, and the date that she passed away as 12^th April 1998

Annie Collett [83p15] was born at Willenhall on 4^th April 1903 and her birth was recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 639) during the second quarter of the year, another daughter of Joseph and Cecilia Collett. In the Willenhall census of 1911 Annie was seven years of age. She was 26 years old when she married John Whitehead, when their wedding day was recorded at the Staffordshire Tamworth register office (Ref. 6b 787) during the second quarter of 1929. The death of Annie Whitehead was recorded at Yorkshire register office (Vol. 0921b b18c) in 2002

William Collett [83p16] was born at Willenhall in 1904 and his birth was recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 666) during the last three month of the year. He was the fourth child of Joseph and Cecilia Collett and was six years old and at school in the Willenhall census of 1911. It was during the spring of 1932 that the marriage of William Collett and Nellie Bolus was recorded at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 1002), her birth also recorded there (Ref. 6b 668) in the summer of 1908. By the time their son was born, the couple was living in Worcestershire, just south of Wolverhampton, where the birth of Nicholas D Collett was recorded in 1948 (Ref. 9d 13). William Collett was 53 when he died, with his death recorded at Wolverhampton (Ref. 9b 1133) during the first three months of 1958

Alice May Collett [83p17] was born at Willenhall in 1910, the last child of Joseph Thomas Collett and Cecilia Anslow. Her birth was recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 655) during the second quarter of the year, and was one year old in the Willenhall census of 1911. One week after the census day Alice’s father died and eighteen months later her mother died; they were both 34 years of age. Between those two sad events, the infant death of Alice May Collett at Willenhall was recorded at Wolverhampton registered office (Ref. 6b 719) during the fourth quarter of 1911

Joseph Thomas Collett [83p18] was born at Willenhall on 14^th July 1898, possibly at Gomer Street, when his birth was recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 674) during the third quarter of the year. He was the eldest of the five children of Joseph Henry Collett and Susan Maud Harper, and as baptised at Willenhall on 31^st July 1898. The census in 1901 included two-year-old Joseph T Collett living with his family at Gomer Street in Willenhall. He would have been twelve years old in 1911, but curiously, he was not living with his family in Willenhall. One unverified source, suggest that it was Joseph T Collett who had been born on 14^th July 1898, that died in County Durham where his death was recorded (Ref. 10a 932) during the second quarter of 1942 when he was 44 years old. That may therefore make him the Joseph Thomas Collett who was married after the First World War to Laura Isabel Mather, their wedding recorded at the Durham South Sheilds register office (Ref. 10a 1985) during the summer of 1919

Laura was two years younger that Joseph, having been born on 28^th October 1900 at South Sheilds, the daughter of Henry and Isabella Mather, as confirmed at the time of her baptism at Jarrow on 25^th November 1900. All three of their children had their births recorded at South Sheilds register office, when their mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Mather. The later death of Laura Isabel Collett, forty-seven years after being made a widow, was recorded at the Durham Jarrow register office (Vol. 2 1445) towards the end of 1989 when she was 89 years old

83q5 – Thomas H Collett was born in 1923 at South Sheilds

83q6 – Joseph Raymond Collett was born in 1927 at South Sheilds

83q7 – Thelma Isabel Collett was born in 1931 at South Sheilds

Arthur Collett [83p19] was born at Gomer Street in Willenhall in 1900, another son of Joseph and Susan Collett, whose birth was recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 680) during the second quarter of that year. It was at Willenhall that Arthur was baptised on 13^rd May 1900 and where he was one year old in 1901 when he and his family were living at Gomer Street. Five years later the death of six-year-old Arthur Collett was recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 333) during the spring of 1906. It is possibly, but not yet proved, that Arthur Collett married Elsie Shrimpton when their wedding day was recorded at West Bromwich register office (Ref. 6b 1821) during the second quarter of 1935. No children have been found for the couple

Edith Maud Collett [83p20] was born on 2^nd May 1902 and that may have been born Gomer Street in Willenhall, where her family was living one year earlier. Her birth was recorded at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 709) during the second quarter of the year. She was then baptised at Willenhall on 25^th May 1902, the daughter of Joseph and Susan Collett, and was eight years of age in the Willenhall census of 1911. Much later in her life the marriage of Edith Maud Collett and Edward E Walton was recorded at Bilston register office (Ref. 6b 1573) during the spring of 1940, without issue. Edith was around 88 years of age when she died, with her passing as Edith Maud Walton was recorded at Staffordshire register office (Vol. 34 628) in 1990

Cyril Collett [83p21] was born at Willenhall in 1903, with his birth recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 665) during the summer of that year. He was baptised at Willenhall on 19^th July 1903 and was seven years old in 1911 when he and his family were still residing in Willenhall. Cyril was 22 years old when he married Ida T Ash, with the event recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 1161) during the last three months of 1925. The births of their two children were recorded at Wolverhampton register office when their mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Ash. Cyril Collett was 53 when he died early in 1957, when his death was recorded at Bilston register office (Ref. 9b 35). Eight years after being made a widow, Ida T Collett married William B Norman with the second marriage recorded at Bilston (Ref. 9b 107) during the last three months of 1965

83q8 – Irene C Collett was born in 1926 at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 971) Qrt 4

83q9 – Cyril D Collett was born in 1928 at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 930) Qrt 1

Beatrice Lilian Collett [83p22] was born at Willenhall either at the end of 1907, or early in 1908, and was the youngest child of Joseph Henry Collett and Susan Maud Harper. Her birth, like all her older siblings, was recorded at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 691) during the first quarter of 1908, and was three years old in the Willenhall census of 1911. The later marriage of Beatrice L Collett and John T Tate was also recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 1284) during the summer of 1933. Nine months after their wedding day, Beatrice gave birth to a son and when his birth was recorded at Wolverhampton (Ref. 6b 856) at the start of 1934 he was simply reported as male Tate when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett. His death was also recorded there a while later (Ref. 6b 734) in 1934

Joyce Collett [83q1] was the first of the four children of Meshach Shadrach Collett and Ada Hurd (Herds) and was born during the last three months of 1941, when her birth was recorded at Bilston register office (Ref. 6b 1021) and where her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Herds. Joyce was 22 when her married to Raymond H Jenkinson was recorded at Bilston register office (Ref. 9b 54) during the last three months of 1964. The births of their two children were recorded at Walsall register office when their mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett. They were Michelle Louise Jenkinson (Ref. 9b 1150) in 1968 Qrt 4, and Nicolas Rae Jenkinson (Ref. 9b 2636) in 1971 Qrt 1

Thomas Collett [83q2] was the eldest of the three sons, and second child, of Meshach and Ada Collett. His birth was also recorded at Bilston register office (Ref. 6b 756) during the fourth quarter of 1943 when, again, Herds was recorded as his mother’s maiden-name. The marriage of Thomas Collett and Margaret E Phillips was recorded at Bilston register office (Ref. 9b 5) during the first quarter of 1963.

83r1 – Mark Anthony Collett was born in 1968 at Wolverhampton (Ref. 9b 1666) Qrt 1

83r2 – Wendy Dawn Collett was born in 1969 at Wolverhampton (Ref. 9b 3520) Qrt 4

83r3 – Collett was born in 1970 at Wolverhampton (Ref. 9b 3994) Qrt 3

Graham Collett [83q3] was born in 1945, by which time his family had moved away from the Bilston area, when his birth was recorded at the Staffordshire register office (Ref. 6b 817] in 1945. Graham was eighteen when he was married, with the wedding of Graham Collett and Eileen Goodall recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 9b 2472) during the first three months of 1963. Their marriage produced five children, with all their birth also recorded at Wolverhampton, when their mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Goodall. The first of them, daughter Karen was born only a few months after the couple’s wedding day

83r4 – Karen Collett was born in 1963 at Wolverhampton (Ref. 9b 1712) Qrt 2

83r5 – Janice E Collett was born in 1965 at Wolverhampton (Ref. 9b 1710) Qrt 4

83r6 – Sally Ann Collett was born in 1968 at Wolverhampton (Ref. 9b 1741) Qrt 1

83r7 – Jayne Collett was born in 1969 at Wolverhampton (Ref. 9b 3386) Qrt 4

83r8 – Wayne Patrick Collett was born in 1975 at Wolverhampton (Vol. 34 1452) Qrt 1

Peter Collett [83q4] was the fourth and last child of Meshach Shadrach Collett and Ada Hurd (Herds). He was born in 1947 and his birth was recorded at Staffordshire register office (Ref. 9b 44), when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Herds. It was early in 1971 that the marriage of Peter Collett and Frances D Merrett was recorded at Walsall register office (Ref. 9b 1316) during the first quarter of the year. By the time their son and only child was born, Peter had returned to the Bilson/Dudley area of the West Midlands, and it was at Dudley register office (Ref. 9b 817) during the second quarter of 1972 that the birth of Mark Peter Collett was recorded, when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Merrett

83r9 – Mark Peter Collett was born in 1972 at Dudley

Thomas H Collett [83q5] was born at Durham on 11^th March 1923 with his birth recorded at South Sheilds register office (Ref. 10a 1753) during the second quarter of the year. Thomas was the eldest of the three children of Joseph Thomas Collett and Laura Isabel Mather, when his birth record confirmed his mother’s maiden-name was Mather. The marriage of Thomas H Collett and Annie H Keers was recorded at Durham register office (Ref. 10a 2293) during the summer of 1945. The births of their two daughters were recorded at Durham, when their mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Keers. An unverified source suggests that Thomas H Collett died at Sunderland in 1975

Joseph Raymond Collett [83q6] was born at Durham on 6^th April 1927 when his birth was recorded at South Sheilds register office (Ref. 10a 1494) during the second quarter of the year, and when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Mather. Joseph Raymond Collett was married by licence to Elizabeth Lloyd at Durham (Ref. 1a 1147) during the last three months of 1947. Over the next seven years Elizabeth presented Joseph with three children whose births were recorded at Durham when their mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Lloyd. It was also at Durham that Joseph Raymond Collett died when his passing was recorded there (Vol. 2 2270) in 1985

83r10 – Thelma Collett was born in 1948 at Durham (Ref. 1a 694)

83r11 – Graham Collett was born in 1951 at Durham (Ref. 1a 620) Qrt 3

83r12 – Elizabeth A Collett was born in 1954 at Durham (Ref. 1a 623) Qrt 3

Thelma Isabel Collett [83q7] was born at Durham in 1931, the third and last child of Joseph and Laura Collett. Her birth, like her two older brothers, was recorded at South Sheilds register office (Ref. 10a 1239) during the final three months of 1931, when her mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Mather. Thelma was only 11 years of age when her father died at the age of 44. It was at the start of 1952, when Thelma I Collett was married by licence to Raymond Jenkins, when their wedding was recorded at Durham (Ref. 1a 1349). The marriage produced two children for the couple, and they were Linda Jenkins in 1953, and Raymond Jenkins in 1956, their births recorded at Durham register office (Ref. 1a 644) and (Ref. 1a 651) when their mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Collett

Cyril D Collett [83q9] was born in 1928 with his birth recorded at Wolverhampton register office (Ref. 6b 930) during the first quarter of the year when his mother’s maiden-name was confirmed as Ash, being the son of Cyril Collett and Ida Ash. He was 21 years old when the marriage by licence of Cyril D Collett and Constance Ruby was recorded at Staffordshire register office (Ref. 9b 104) during the third quarter of 1949. No issue has been found