PART ELEVEN

The Welford-on-Avon Line

(including a branch line to Canada)

Updated December 2011

Whilst primarily set up as the Welford-on-Avon Line, this line now

contains many references to the Collett families of the hamlet of Admington.

The original details in this family line were supplied by Bob Collett (Ref. 11R21)

of Cheshire via Stephen Collett of Solihull and are marked #1

This has now been developed further by Brian Collett and marked #2

Further contributions received from Desmond Hancox (Ref. 11R27) of Australia are

marked #3, with the associated photographs having been kindly supplied by his cousin

Anita Jeffrey (Ref. 11R34). Additional information marked #4 has been provide by

Desmond’s sister Dawn Wood (Ref. 11R29)

The new information added for the June 2010 update has been generously

provided by Daniel Richard Sylvester (Ref. 11Q44) in Canada and is marked #7

Other contributors have been:

Yvonne the wife of John Collett (Ref. 11R22) the additional details being marked #5; and

Les Bradshaw (see Ref. 11P25) whose contributions are denoted by #6

The December 2010 update is thanks to new information received from Paul Boreham of

Arkell in Canada (marked #8), whose mother is Gwen Boreham nee Collett (Ref. 11R6),

and Doreen North whose late husband Tony North was the grandson of

Florence Gertrude Ann Hall Collett (Ref. 11P12), the new details marked #9

In February 2011 new material was gratefully received from Linda and Paul Collett of

Wolstanton whose grandfather was Cecil John Collett (Ref. 11P68), about whom

nothing was previously written. This new information is denoted by #10

The new information included in this file in December 2011 was kindly supplied by

Joan Fay Robertson nee Collett (Ref. 11R20) in Canada, as denoted by #11

To date no connection has been made to any other of the Collett family lines.

However, it has should be noted that Mary Collett (Ref. 4G2),

who was born in 1616, married John Holtham at Welford-on-Avon.

This is detailed in Part 4 – The Great Western Line

Today Welford-on-Avon lies just a few miles west of Stratford-on-Avon in Warwickshire. In the very early records the village was listed as being in the County of Gloucestershire. The aforementioned Admington completes a triangle, being equal distant from Stratford and Welford.

11J1

This family line starts with THOMAS COLLETT who is believed to have been born around 1686 at Welford-on-Avon, often spelt as Whelford-on-Avon.

#1

He married Mary Holtham (or Holtam or Holtom) on 15^th July 1711 at Welford-on-Avon. Mary is believed to have been born there in 1690.

#2 #1

A couple of years later Thomas and Mary produced a son who was born in 1714 who was given the name Thomas Collett and he, like his father, also married a girl by the name of Mary Holtham.

#1

His place of birth, like that of the first four children of the family was Weston-on-Avon which is the village closest to Welford-on-Avon. Thomas’ and Mary’s fifth and sixth children were both baptised after the family had moved to Welford-on-Avon.

#1

It seems rather curious that the baptism record for the couple’s last children listed the child’s name as Elizabeth Holtam or Collett, even though the parents were confirmed as Thomas Collett and Mary Holtam.

#2

Thomas Collett (senior) died on 24^th January 1739 at Welford-on-Avon but, to date, no record has been found of the death of his wife Mary.

#1

11K1

Susannah Collett

Baptised on 07.12.1711

#1

11K2

Thomas Collett

Born in 1714

#1

11K3

Ann Collett

Baptised on 26.05.1717

#1

11K4

Anthony Collett

Baptised on 12.12.1720

#1

11K5

Mary Collett

Baptised on 30.12.1730

#1

11K6

Elizabeth Collett

Baptised on 13.09.1733

#2

11K1

Susannah Collett was baptised at Weston-on-Avon on 7^th December 1711. She later married Edwards Wells on 26^th December 1732 at Welford-on-Avon.

#1 #2

11K2

What happened next is very interesting in that THOMAS COLLETT who was born at Weston-on-Avon in 1714 married Mary Holtham (or Holtam or Holtom) of Welford-on-Avon who was presumably his cousin by marriage, she being the niece of his mother Mary Collett nee Holtham (above).

#1

Thomas and Mary were married on 28^th October 1735 at Welford-on-Avon, having already produced their first children some seven months before they were married.

#2 #1

Mary is understood to have died in August 1772 at Welford-on-Avon but, to date, no record has been found of Thomas’ death.

#1

There is yet a further reference to the Holtom name later in this family line.

#2

11L1

Ann Collett

Baptised on 21.03.1735 at Welford

#1

11L2

Richard Collett

Baptised on 30.04 1738 at Welford

#1

11L3

Thomas Collett

Baptised on 22.02.1739 at Welford

#2

11L4

Mary Collett

Baptised on 23.05.1742 at Welford

#1

11L5

John Collett

Baptised on 13.02.1745 at Welford

#2

11K3

Ann Collett was baptised at Weston-on-Avon on 26^th May 1717 and it was there that she married Richard Pacey on 1^st January 1744.

#2

11K4

Anthony Collett was baptised at Weston-on-Avon on 12^th December 1720 and he married Anne Brain of Quinton at St Swithun’s Church in Quinton on 16^th February 1747. It was also there that their children were baptised, their only known son being named after his grandfather.

#1 #2

It may be of interest to note that, over many years, there had been previous occasions when the Collett name had been linked with that of the Brain family, although all of them had taken place in Gloucestershire.

#2

The earliest recorded event took place at Little Rissington in 1717 when Mary Collett married Thomas Brain, followed in 1828 when Henry Collett (Ref.33L2) married Margaret Brain at Upper Slaughter, again in 1881 when Hannah Reeson Collett (Ref. 37O4) was in service with retired farmer William Brain of Oxford.

#2

11L6

Mary Collett

Baptised on 02.04 1749 at Quinton

#1

11L7

Anne Collett

Baptised on 28.06.1752 at Quinton

#2

11L8

Thomas Collett

Baptised on 18.05.1755 at Quinton

#1

11K5

Mary Collett was baptised on 30^th December 1730 at Welford-on-Avon where she died just over a year later on 13^th February 1732.

#1

11L2

Richard Collett was born in 1738 at Quinton south of Stratford-on-Avon, but was baptised on 30^th April 1738 at Welford-on-Avon.

#1

Richard married Mary Freeman on 3^rd August 1773 at Willersey some miles south of Welford-on-Avon near Broadway, Willersey being the place where Mary was born in 1752.

#2 #1

Shortly after the wedding the couple produced what would have been a honeymoon baby in the form of son Robert Collett who was also born at Willersey, as was their second son.

#2

11M1

Robert Collett

Baptised on 27.05.1774 at Willersey

#2

11M2

Edward Collett

Baptised on 30.11.1776 at Willersey

#1

11L4

Mary Collett was baptised on 23^rd May 1742 at Welford-on-Avon, where she died a few months later on 13^th August 1742.

#1

11L5

John Collett was baptised on 13^th February 1745 at Welford-on-Avon. This is the family line of John Collett of Australia who, in 2004, was living at Mount Albert in Victoria and with whom contact has been made in an attempt to extend this line into the 21^st Century.

#2

Although not proved to be this particular John Collett, there was the marriage of a John Collett to an Elizabeth Butler recorded at Mickleton on 17^th October 1778.

#2

11L8

Thomas Collett was baptised at Quinton on 18^th May 1755 and he later married Anna. It seems very likely that they lived at Welford-on-Avon where their son John was baptised and where son Richard was married in 1819 and raised his own family, as did son Thomas.

#2

11M3

Thomas Collett

Date of birth unknown

#1

11M4

William Collett

Date of birth unknown

#2

11M5

John Collett

Baptised on 14.01.1793 at Welford

#2

11M1

Robert Collett was baptised at Willersey on 27^th May 1774, the parish register confirming him as the son of Richard and Mary Collett. He was twenty-three when he married Ann Hughes at St Swithun’s Church in Quinton on 31^st October 1797. Ann had been born at Quinton on 1^st September 1776, the daughter of George Hughes and Anne Rogers. See later connections between the Collett family and the Hughes and Rogers families.

#9 #2 #1

The couple settled in the hamlet of Admington, close by the village of Quinton where all of their children were baptised, since there was no church in Admington at that time. Robert, who was a blacksmith in 1841, died at Admington in 1848 and was buried in the grounds of the parish church of St Swithun’s in Quinton on 25^th April 1848, at the age of 71. Presumably it was his wife who gave his age as being 71, which was actually her age at that time. Ann died less than three years later in 1851, when she was buried with her husband on 23^rd February 1851.

#1 #3 #9

The inclusion of Robert’s son Thomas, who was born in 1812, is the result of an entry on the website www.familysearch.org. However, already included under the family of William and Ann Collett is their son Thomas who, according to the IGI, was also baptised at Quinton on the same day. The ‘familysearch’ website also acknowledges the IGI record, so it is possible both are correct.

#1 #2

11N1

Richard Collett

Baptised on 18.03.1798

#2

11N2

Mary Collett

Baptised on 13.10.1799 at Quinton

#2

11N3

Nancy Collett

Baptised on 13.10.1800 at Quinton

#2

11N4

Robert Collett

Baptised on 05.04.1801

#2

11N5

Ann Collett

Baptised on 25.12.1802 at Quinton

#2

11N6

John Collett

Baptised on 14.10.1804

#1

11N7

Peggy Collett

Baptised on 03.08.1806 at Quinton

#2

11N8

Rachel Collett

Baptised on 19.09.1808 at Quinton

#2

11N9

Elizabeth Collett

Baptised on 11.09.1810

#2

11N10

Thomas Collett

Baptised on 25.10.1812

#1

11N11

GEORGE COLLETT

Baptised on 09.04.1817

#2

11N12

William Joshua Collett

Baptised on 28.11.1819

#2

11N13

Maria Collett

Baptised on 30.12.1821 at Quinton

#2

11N14

Sarah Collett twin

Baptised on 12.10.1823 at Quinton

#2

11N15

Elizabeth Collett twin

Baptised on 19.10.1823 at Quinton

#2

11M3

Thomas Collett, whose date of birth is not known, married Elizabeth just before the turn of the century and the two children listed below were born and baptised at Welford-on-Avon.

#2

11N16

Thomas Collett

Baptised on 29.09.1800 at Welford

#2

11N17

Mary Collett

Born circa 1803

#2

11M4

William Collett, whose date of birth is not known, married Ann and their son was born at Admington and baptised at Quinton.

#2

Although the birth of their son has been included here since the initial compilation of this family line and was obtained from the IGI, more recent information suggests that the Thomas baptised at Quinton on 25^th October 1812 was the son of Robert and Ann (above).

#2

However, the same source for the new information, the website www.familysearch.org, also confirms the IGI entry, which states that Thomas’ parents were William and Ann Collett.

#2

11N18

Thomas Collett

Baptised on 25.10.1812 at Quinton

#1

11M5

John Collett was baptised at Welford on 14^th January 1793, the son of Thomas and Anna Collett.

#2

11N1

Richard Collett was born at Admington and baptised at the parish church of St Swithun’s in Quinton on 18^th March 1798, the son of Robert and Ann, whose surname was recorded as Collit. It was also at Quinton that Richard later married Hannah Fletcher on 7^th June 1819, Hannah coming from Preston-on-Stour, just two miles north of Quinton. Their marriage produced ten children who were all baptised at St Swithun’s Church in Quinton.

#2 #9

By the time of the first national census in June 1841 the family was living at Admington Farm Fields. Richard Collett, with a rounded age of 40, was a farm worker, while his wife Hannah’s rounded age was 45. Still living with the couple were six of their ten children. Missing from the family was Richard’s eldest daughter Martha, age 20, who was living nearby in the same registration area, and daughter Eliza who, at the age of 14, was also working as a domestic servant by then. However, it seems more than likely that the other absent child, Richard’s son John, who would have been 16, may have not survived beyond childhood.

#2 #9

The children who were still living with their parents were Robert Collett, who was 20, Richard Collett, who was 15, George Collett, who was 11, Elizabeth Collett who was seven, William Collett who was five, and Jane Collett who was two years old. For whatever reason, their daughter Ann, age nine, was living close by at the home of elderly Ann Savage on the day of the census, perhaps to ease the over-crowding in the farmer worker’s cottage. It is understood that Admington Farm Fields was very likely later referred to as Admington Grounds.

#2

Over the next ten years many of the children left the family home, so by 1851 Richard was 51, Hannah was 54, and on that occasion the children still living with them were Richard, who was 28, Ann who was 19, and William who was 14. It was six years later during the second quarter of 1857 that Hannah Collett nee Fletcher died, so by the time of the census in 1861 widower Richard, at the age of 64, had moved to Upper Admington where he was living on his own, and from where he was working as a carter, possibly on a local farm.

#2 #11

According to the next census in 1871, Richard Collett, age 73, was living at The Milking Pail beer house at 5 Sheep Street in Mickleton with his youngest son William with his wife Ann, and with them Richard’s first grandchild. It was just two years later that Richard Collett died at Mickleton in 1873.

#2 #11

11O1

Robert Collett

Baptised on 02.11.1819

#2

11O2

Martha Collett

Baptised on 29.10.1820

#2

11O3

Richard Collett

Baptised on 20.01.1822

#2

11O4

John Collett

Baptised on 25.04.1824

#2

11O5

Eliza Collett

Baptised on 19.11.1826

#2

11O6

George Collett

Baptised on 19.04.1829

#2

11O7

Ann Collett

Baptised on 02.10.1831

#2

11O8

Elizabeth Collett

Baptised on 15.09.1833

#2

11O9

William Collett

Baptised on 07.02.1836

#2

11O10

Jane Collett

Baptised on 30.12.1838

#2

11N4

Robert Collett was born at Admington in 1800 and was baptised at Quinton on 5^th April 1801. There is a mystery surrounding Robert’s early adult years, but it seems very likely that he married (1) Mary when he was 21 years of age. Their marriage is known to have produced at least one child who was born at Welford-on-Avon in 1822, although there may have been others.

#2

It seems likely that Mary died during the birth of a subsequent child, since it is established that that almost ten years later Robert, then aged 32, married (2) Mary Hughes at St Swithun’s Church in Quinton on 26^th October 1832. This Mary was born at Ilmington in 1812, so could not have been the Mary that presented Robert with his daughter Ann Collett in 1822.

#2

The second marriage produced a further eleven children for Robert, and all of them were born at Admington and baptised at Quinton. It should be noted that Robert’s father Robert Collett senior (Ref. 11M1) married Ann Hughes at Quinton parish church in 1797. So it seems very likely that Mary Hughes may have been her niece.

#2

By the time of the census in 1841, Robert’s rounded age was 35 and Mary’s was 30. The only children listed were them at that time were Daniel who was eight, Rachel who was six, Dinah who was four, and Siena (Selena) who was two years old, the whole family living in the village of Admington where the children were all born.

#2

By 1851 the family living at Admington within the parish of Quinton, in the Shipston-on-Stour & Chipping Campden census registration district. Head of the household was agricultural labourer Robert, who was 50 and from Admington. Living there with him was his wife Mary who was 41, and their eight children, Daniel 17, Dinah 13, Lena (Selena) 11, Jn (John) 9, Mark 7, Ann 5, Joe (Joseph) 2, and Jane who was just three months old. Not with the family, but living nearby was their daughter Rachel who was 16.

#2

Ten years later in 1861, the family was still living within the Shipston-on-Stour & Campden registration district where Robert was 61 and his wife Mary was 49. The children still living with them at Admington on that occasion were Daniel 28, Rachel 25, Leanah (Selena) 21, Joseph 12, and George who was eight years old.

#2

By 1871 the family was living in the Campden & Shipston-on-Stour where Robert was 70 and Mary was 61. Still listed with them were daughter Susannah, age 31, and sons Mark 26, Joseph 22 (with his wife Anne 24), and George who was 17. Also living with them was the couple’s grandchild Mary F Collett who was under one year old and the first child of Joseph and Anne.

#3

Robert died when he was 73 years of age, following which he was buried in the grounds of St Swithun’s Church in Quinton on 5^th February 1873.

#3

So by the time of the 1881 Census Mary was a widow aged 71 living at Lower Admington with her two unmarried children Selina and George. In addition to her two children, Mary had taken a lodger, 23 years old Walter Hughes, an agricultural labourer of Admington who was very likely her nephew or the son of her nephew. On the day of the national census on 3^rd April 1881 there were twenty-four people with the surname of Hughes living in the village of Admington, of which twenty-one of them had been born there.

#2

Widow Mary Collett was still living at Admington in 1891 at the age of 82 and living with her was seventeen years old Mary A Collett who may have been her granddaughter Mary F Collett referred to above.

#2

11O11

Ann Collett

Baptised on 15.01.1822

#2

11O12

Daniel Collett

Baptised on 10.05.1833

#2

11O13

Rachel Collett

Baptised on 22.03.1835

#2

11O14

Dinah Collett

Baptised on 22.01.1837

#2

11O15

Sarah Collett

Baptised on 10.02.1839

#2

11O16

Selena Collett

Born in 1839

#3

11O17

John Collett

Born in 1841

#2

11O18

Mark Collett

Born in 1844

#2

11O19

Ann Collett

Born in 1846

#2

11O20

Joseph Collett

Born in 1849

#2

11O21

Jane Collett

Born in 1851

#2

11O22

George Collett

Born in 1853

#3

11N6

John Collett was born at Admington and was baptised at St Swithun’s Church in Quinton on 14^th October 1804, the sixth child of Robert Collett and Ann Hughes.

#1

It is possible, although not proved, that it may have been this John Collett who married Ann Webster at nearby Alderminster, just north-east of Admington, on 28^th February 1824.

#2

11N9

Elizabeth Collett was born at Admington in 1806 according to later census records. However, within the Gloucestershire IGI there are two entries for the baptism of Elizabeth the daughter of Robert and Ann at Quinton parish church. The first took place on 11^th September 1810, and the second a year later on 11^th October 1811. In addition to these two, there is an unreliable pedigree on the internet that gives her date of baptism as 19^th September 1809.

#2

It seems very unlikely that Robert and Ann would have had two consecutive daughters named Elizabeth, unless the first had died while still an infant, particularly since a further Elizabeth was born into the family in 1823. From the similarity in the dates it has therefore been assumed that the two IGI entries relate to the same child, the actual date not clearly written in the original parish register.

#2

On 9^th November 1829 Elizabeth married John Gilkes by banns, John having been born at Great Rollright in Oxfordshire in 1803. Their wedding certificate carried the mark of her father Robert Collett. The marriage produced ten children for Elizabeth and John, all of whom were born at Great Rollright between 1831 and 1852.

#5

These were Thomas (1831-before 1844), John (1833-1919), Henry (1835-1917), George (1837-1910), Mary (1840-1900), Catherine (1842-1932) who may also have been known as Teresa, Thomas (1844-1895), Joseph (1847-1869), Ann (see below), and Martin (1852-1932).

#5

Elizabeth and John spent the whole of their married life together at Rollright where John died between January and March in 1881. By the time of that year’s census Elizabeth was described as a widow aged 75 and born at Admington. The only member of her family still living with her at Great Rollright was her daughter Teresa (Catherine) who was a spinster at 38.

#2

Curiously there was a visitor staying with Elizabeth and Teresa, and she was spinster Eliza Ann Holtom, age 33 and from Long Compton in Warwickshire. See earlier references to the Holtom name and its connection to the Collett family.

#2

There was no reference to Elizabeth in the 1891 Census so it must be assumed that she died sometime after the census of 1881.

#2

11O23

Ann Winifred Gilkes

Born in 1849

#2

11N10

Thomas Collett was born at Admington in 1812 and was baptised at St Swithun’s Church in Quinton on 25^th October 1812, the tenth child of blacksmith Robert Collett and his wife Ann Hughes. While the IGI gives the father’s name as William Collett, Thomas was living with Robert and Ann Collett in 1841.

#2

He later married Elizabeth who was born at Great Wolford near Moreton-in-Marsh in 1808, although this date does not coincide with her age in the census returns, when she may have said she was younger than her actual age. It would also appear that the marriage may have taken place during the early half of the 1840s, when both Thomas and Elizabeth were into their thirties, particularly since their only known child was born around 1846.

#2

At the time of the Admington census in 1851, Thomas Collett was 37 and his occupation was that of a blacksmith. Living in the village with him was his wife Elizabeth from Woolford who was also 37 (sic), and their son Josiah who was four years old and born at Admington. In the same census return, and listed next to the Collett family entry, was that of county magistrate Corbett H Corbett of Admington Hall, whose kitchen maid was Elizabeth Collett, age 19 and from Ilmington – see Appendix for more details.

#2

Ten years later, in 1861, the Collett family was still living at Admington within the parish of Quinton, by which time Thomas was 47, Elizabeth was 47 (sic), and their son Josiah Collett was 14. It was the same situation again in 1871, except that William and Elizabeth were then both 57 and Josiah was 24. It was during the following decade that Thomas Collett died, leaving his widow Elizabeth and his son Josiah still living in Admington in 1881.

#2

According to the census that year, Elizabeth Collett of Great Wolford, near Moreton-in-Marsh, was a widow and a grazier at the age of 57. Living with her at Upper Admington was her unmarried son Josiah Collett whose occupation was that of a blacksmith, like his father before him. He was 34 years old and his place of birth was confirmed as Admington.

#2

11O24

Josiah Collett

Born in 1846 at Admington

#2

11N11

GEORGE COLLETT was born at Admington and baptised on 9^th April 1817 at nearby Quinton. He later married Maria Jennings at St Swithun’s Church in Quinton on 20^th November 1843. Maria, who was recorded as of Snowshill, was born in 1821 at Snowshill near Broadway, and was the daughter of Thomas Jennings an agricultural labourer who was also born at Snowshill in 1798.

#2

George’s and Maria’s first four children were born at Admington, but baptised at Quinton, following which the family appears to have moved the five miles south to Chipping Campden, where their next four children were born. Her absence from all of the census records may indicate that the couple’s eldest daughter suffered an infant death.

#2

The move took place around 1850, since by March 1851 the family was living at Back Ends in Chipping Campden. Back End still exists as a road today, although the area and the old property there has since been the subject of redevelopment.

#1

Ten years later in 1861 the family was still living in Chipping Campden, but had moved from Back Ends to Cow Fair. Cow Fair is now known as Upper High Street and the terrace cottage ‘The Old Bakehouse’ is reputed to be the former home of the Collett family.

#1

At that time in April 1861, George gave his age as 40, rather than 43, Maria was 38, and their children still living with them were Robert Collett 12, Walter Collett who was nine, Mark Collett who was six, George Collett who was three, and Charles Collett who was one year old. By that time George’s eldest son John had already left the family home and was living and working in the Rugby area at the age of 16.

#2

It would appear that sometime after 1861 another family move took place, this time only two miles north to Mickleton where the couple’s last two children were baptised. It may be of interest that these two children gave their place of birth as Admington within later census records.

#2

Also within the next ten years some of the older children had left the family home, so by 1871 the family living at The Butts in Mickleton was reduced to just George, who was 53, Maria who was 47, Walter 19, George 13, Charles 11, and the couple’s two youngest children Sarah, who was seven, and Thomas who was under one year old.

#2

Sometime during the next ten years George and Maria moved even further north, this time to Staffordshire, to where their sons Walter and Mark had also moved sometime earlier.

#2

According to the Census of 1881 George, age 64, was an inn keeper and blacksmith from Admington in Gloucestershire. He was ‘head of the house’ at the Swan Inn on Small Lane in Eccleshall which lies eight miles north-west of Stafford. Living with him was his wife Lydia, age 60, their daughter Sarah 17 and their son Thomas 11, all three described as having been born at Admington.

#2

Was the reference to George’s wife as Lydia just a transcribing error? A thorough search of the 1881 Census has revealed no Maria of the right age born in Gloucestershire. Furthermore there is no appropriate Lydia Collett in any of the other census records, so this points towards an error in translation.

#2

George Collett died at Stoke-on-Trent in 1896 while Maria passed away five years earlier in 1891 at Wolstanton near Newcastle-under-Lyme.

#1

11O25

John Collett

Baptised on 05.05.1844

#2

11O26

Jane Collett

Baptised on 05.11.1845

#1

11O27

Louisa Collett

Baptised on 11.07.1847

#2

11O28

Robert Collett

Baptised on 03.06.1849

#1

11O29

Walter Collett

Born on 21.10.1851

#2

11O30

Mark Collett

Born in 1854

#2

11O31

HENRY GEORGE COLLETT

Born in 1857

#2

11O32

Charles Collett

Born in 1859

#2

11O33

Sarah Ann Collett

Baptised on 03.07.1863

#2

11O34

Thomas Collett

Baptised on 05.09.1869

#2

11N12

William Joshua Collett was born at Admington in 1819 and baptised at St Swithun’s Church in Quinton on 28^th November 1819. By 1851 William had married Caroline Downes who was born in 1827 at Pebworth less than five miles from Admington. The married of William and Caroline, which was registered at Evesham during the first quarter of 1848, very likely took place at nearby Pebworth.

#2 #3 #9

The 1851 Census confirmed that William, age 29, and Caroline, age 25, were living in the Evesham, Broadway and Weston Subedge registration district. Shortly after the census day they settled in Admington where their ten children were born, although they were all baptised at the parish church of St Swithun’s in nearby Quinton.

#2

So ten years later the family at Admington comprised William 41, Caroline of Pebworth 35, and their first five children Alfred Collett who was eight, Louisa J Collett who was seven, James (referred to as Jabeth/Sabath) who was five, Hannah Collett who was three, and ‘Zilla’ Collett who was two years old.

#2

A further five children were born into the family over the following decade, although by 1871 the four oldest children had left the family home which, by then was living at Ilmington Road in Admington. William Collett, age 50 from Admington, was an agricultural labourer William, his wife Caroline from Pebworth was 44, and with them were ‘Zilla’ Collett who was 12, Selina who was nine, Richard who was eight, John who was five, and Josiah who was three years old.

#2

All of the children had been born at Admington, although no trace has so far been found of daughter Edwina who may have died while still a child. Son James (Jabez/Jabey) Collett, who was 15, and his sister Hannah Collett who was 13, were both living and working separately within the same registration district at that time, not far from their parents and the rest of their family.

#2

Just over seven years later William died at Admington on 18^th December 1878. So by the time of the 1881 Census, Caroline Collett, age 55, was listed as a widow and was head of the household.

#2 #3

Living with her at Lower Admington were her three youngest sons Richard Collett, who was 18 and an apprentice blacksmith following in the family tradition, and farm labourers John Collett who was 15, and Josiah Collett who was 13, all three boys having been born at Admington.

#2

Also living with the family at that time was Caroline’s five years old granddaughter Lucy Hannah Collett (Ref. 11P73) who was also born at Admington and was the base-born daughter of Caroline’s eldest daughter Louisa Jane.

#2

According to the next census in 1891, widow Caroline Collett, age 64 and from Pebworth, was living at Admington, where she was described as living on her own children. Still living with her was her granddaughter Lucy Collett who was 15. Living in the two adjacent properties were Daniel and Sarah Collett (Ref. 11O12), and his cousin George Collett (Ref. 11O6) and his wife Emma Collett nee Rogers.

#2

Ten years later in 1901 Caroline was 74 and still had her granddaughter Lucy living with her. On that occasion they were no longer living at Admington, but had moved to nearby Ilmington. Lucy H Collett of Admington was 25 and was working as a charwoman.

#2

Also living with Caroline and Lucy were two children, Mabel Collett who was five and of Admington, and William Collett who was two years old and of Ilmington, who were the base-born offspring of unmarried Lucy H Collett.

#2

A few years later in 1904 Lucy was married and left her grandmother’s home. Sadly within a year Caroline died at the age of 78 and was buried in the churchyard of St Mary the Virgin at Ilmington on 11^th February 1905.

#3

11O35

Alfred Collett

Baptised on 20.06.1852

#2

11O36

Louisa Jane Collett

Baptised on 19.03.1854

#2

11O37

James Collett

Baptised on 23.12.1855

#2

11O38

Hannah Collett

Baptised on 30.08.1857

#2

11O39

Zillah Collett

Baptised on 19.06.1859

#2

11O40

Selena Collett

Born in 1861

#2

11O41

Richard Collett

Born in 1863

#2

11O42

Edwina Collett

Born in 1864

#2

11O43

Christopher John Collett

Born in 1865

#2

11O44

Josiah Collett

Born in 1867

#1

11N13

Maria Collett was born at Admington but was baptised Quinton on 30^th December 1821, the daughter of Robert Collett and Ann Hughes, although the IGI incorrectly gave her father’s name as Richard. However, at the time of her marriage to John Such during the second quarter of 1843, she confirmed that her father was Robert Collett. The marriage produced four children for Maria and John, and they were George Such, born 1843, Hannah Such, born 1845, Robert Such, born 1847, and Sarah Ann Such, born in the June quarter of 1850.

#2 #9

Maria died during the same quarter of 1850, and probably during the birth of her daughter. It is interesting to note that after Maria's death, John Such married again, on that occasion to Lucy Hughes. Lucy Hughes was the mother of Ann Hughes, Ann being her illegitimate daughter, who later married Josiah Collett (Ref. 11O24). After Josiah died, Ann then married William Collett (Ref. 11O9), following the death of his first wife Ann Hall. Ann Collett nee Hughes is curiously named as Ann Such within an old family tree held by the family.

#9

11N14

Sarah Collett was born at Admington and may have been a twin sister to Elizabeth Collett, since both of them were baptised at Quinton one week apart. Sarah was baptised first on 12^th October 1823, while Elizabeth was baptised on 19^th October 1823, both confirmed as the daughters of Robert Collett and Ann Hughes.

#2

Sarah gave birth to a base-born daughter in 1845, and when the child was baptised at Quinton parish church the following year, it was just the name of Sarah Collett that was entered in the parish records as being the child’s mother. Sometime thereafter, and before the next census in 1851, Sarah Collett married William Mason who then appears to have adopted the child.

#2

The Admington census of 1851 confirmed that Sarah Mason was 26, as was her husband William, who was working as an agricultural labourer. Living with the couple were two children, Ann Collett Mason, who was six years old, and Leah Mason, who was only three months old, perhaps suggesting that Sarah had only married William within the previous twelve months.

#2

Also living at Admington, and just two dwellings away from the Mason family, was George Collett and his wife Emma Rogers.

#2

11O45

Ann Collett (later Ann Collett Mason)

Baptised on 14.06.1846 at Quinton

#2

11N17

Mary Collett was born at Welford-on-Avon around 1803 and it was there that she married William Gibbs on 24^th January 1825.

#2

11O1

Robert Collett was born at Admington in 1819 and was baptised at Quinton on 2^nd November 1819, the eldest child of Richard Collett and his wife Hannah Fletcher. As an adult, his rounded age in the 1841 Census was stated as being 20, rather than 21, in which he was recorded as living with his family at Admington Farm Fields within the parish of Quinton.

#2

It is possible, although not proved, that this Robert Collett died in 1849, when his death was recorded at Shipston-on-Stour. This would then account for his absence from the 1851 census and all later census returns. His brother Richard (below) was living within the Shipston registration district in 1851.

#9

11O2

Martha Collett was born at Admington in 1820 and was baptised at Quinton on 29^th October 1820, the eldest daughter of Richard and Hannah Collett. Like her brother Robert (above), her rounded age in the census of 1841 was recorded as 20, and at that time she had already left the family home in Admington, but was living not that far away within the Quinton area.

#2

11O3

Richard Collett was born at Admington in 1821 and was baptised at Quinton on 20^th January 1822, the son of farm worker Richard Collett and his wife Hannah Fletcher. In 1841 he was living at the family home at Admington Farm Fields when his rounded age was stated as being 15, rather than his actual age of 19.

#2

By 1851, according to the census that year, Richard Collett was 28 and was still unmarried and was still living at the family home with his parents Richard and Hannah, his sister Ann and his brother William (both below). It was later that same year that Richard emigrated to America, where he arrived in New York on 19^th November 1851.

#9

Three years later, in 1854, he married Sarah Randall who, at 17, was considerably younger than Richard, having been born in England during 1837. Sarah Randall had also sailed to America with her family in a party of twenty-five in 1851, and it may have been on the same voyage that she met Richard Collett, although she was only 14 at that time.

#9

At the time of the Great Britain census in 1851 Sarah Randall, age 14, was living with her family at Great. Wolford. Her father Edward was 60, her mother Jane was 58, and her three siblings were William 23, and Ann who was 12. Also living with the family was grandson George Randall who was four years old. Perhaps because of his age, or because he had died by then, Sarah’s father did not make the journey to America with his family.

#9 #2

Richard was a farmer at Farmington in Ontario County, New York State, where he had 69 acres. A map dated 1874 shows the extent of the farm, alongside which runs Collett Road, which is still there to this day. However, in 1890 the Buffalo to Geneva Railroad cut through his land and around that time the railroad company paid a John Young of Farmington $1,000 to secure a right of way for the route, and in that way perhaps Richard received some compensation for the loss of his land.

#9

During their life together, Sarah presented Richard with five children while the couple were living in New York State. This was confirmed by the US Census of 1880 which placed the family living at Farmington in Ontario County, New York State, which lies south-east of Rochester on the southern shore of Lake Ontario, and 100km west of Syracuse.

#9

Curiously the family was listed as Richard Collett, age 58 and married, from England, who was a farmer, Sarah Collett, age 44, also married and from England, who was not described as his wife, but was simply listed as ‘other’. This was also the description given to the couple’s eldest child, Alfred Collett, who was 24 and a farm labourer. At that time Alfred was also listed as being married, although there was no reference to his wife.

#9

The other members of the household were Hiram Collett, age 16 and a farm labourer, Lettie Collett who was 13, and Sidney Collett who was five years old. All of the children were born in New York State.

#9

Twenty years later, according to the US Census in 1900 for Farmington, the members of the Collett household at that time were Richard, Sarah, Fred, Hiram, Lettie and Sidney, the missing child being the couple’s daughter Mary Jane.

#9

It was just three years after that when Richard Collett died and was buried at South Farmington Cemetery on Shortsville Road in 1903. Seven years later he was reunited with his wife, when Sarah died in 1910 and was buried there with him. A single headstone marks the combined grave of Richard and Sarah, which carries the following inscription “Richard Collett 1821 – 1903, Sarah Randall his wife 1837 – 1910”.

#9

In the same cemetery are the graves of Richard’s and Sarah’s son Hiram and his wife Cora, who were buried there in the 1920s. However, in addition to these, there is also a single commemorative stone for Lloyd L Collett junior and his wife Donna J Goff who are still alive in 2010. The inscription on the stone indicates that the couple were married on 25^th March 1955 and that they were born on 20^th November 1936, and 5^th March 1936 respectively.

#2

There is speculation that Lloyd may have been the grandson of either Hiram K Collett and his wife Cora, or his younger brother Sidney Collett and his wife Harriet. It is the website www.veromi.com in 2010 that lists Lloyd L Collett and Donna as being 74. The same website also links the couple to other Colletts, namely Amy C Collett (Vandermeere) of Farmington, age 40, her husband Stephen R Vandermeere, 41 of Farmington., Steven T Collett age 54 of Canandaigua NY, Karen L Collett age 51 of Manchester NY, Todd M Collett age 46 of Clifton Springs NY, Jason Lyle Collett age 36 of Canandaigua NY, and Sara S Collett

#2

11P1

Alfred Collett

Born in 1856 at New York State

#9

11P2

Mary Jane Collett

Born in 1858 at New York State

#9

11P3

Hiram K Collett

Born in 1863 at New York State

#9

11P4

Lettie Collett

Born in 1867 at New York State

#9

11P5

Sidney Collett

Born in 1874 at New York State

#9

11O4

John Collett was baptised at Quinton on 25^th April 1824 but was not listed as living with his family at Admington Farm Fields in June 1841. He would have been 16 years of age on that occasion, and since all of his three older siblings were still alive and recorded in the census, it may be safe to assume that John had died prior to 1841.

#2

11O5

Eliza Collett was born at Admington and baptised at Quinton on 19^th November 1826, the daughter of Richard Collett and Hannah Fletcher. By the time of the census in 1841, when she was 14 years old, she had already left the family home at Admington Farm Fields, and had entered into the world of domestic service. On that particular occasion she was a servant at the home of Robert Fletcher, a carpenter, his wife and their four children in Preston-on-Stour. As Eliza’s mother’s maiden name was also Fletcher, coupled with the fact she was born at Preston, it is very likely that Robert Fletcher may well have been an uncle to Eliza to some other relative.

#2 #9

In 1851 Eliza Collett, age 26, was employed as the housekeeper for Thomas Slatter, age 30, and an unmarried solicitor living in the Old Stratford area of Stratford-on-Avon. Also working at the same house was Eliza’s younger sister Elizabeth who was 17 and employed there as a housemaid. A third servant at the house was a groom. It was on 4^th April in 1852 that Eliza married her employer Thomas Slatter, the marriage taking place at the parish church in the St Marylebone in London.

#9 #9

Eliza and Thomas were married after notice of banns, when the bride’s father was named as Richard Collett, whose occupation was that of a land bailiff. The couple’s addresses were simply recorded as St Marylebone, while the witnesses were Thomas Snape and Mary Nelson. With Thomas Slatter being a solicitor it seems highly likely that Thomas Snape was the attorney Thomas Snape from Warwickshire who was slightly older than Thomas Slatter. Why the couple travelled to London to be married remains a mystery, but it may have been something to do with the stigma attached to a solicitor marrying his housekeeper. However, after they were married the couple returned to Old Stratford where they continued to live for the next two decades.

#9

Over the remainder of the 1850s Eliza presented Thomas with three children, so by the time of the census in 1861 the family living at 7 Warwick Road in Old Stratford comprised Thomas Slatter 40, Eliza Slatter 34, John Slatter who was six, Katherine A Slatter who was five, and Florence S Slatter who was two years old. Also living at the house as a domestic servant to the family, was Eliza’s unmarried sister Ann Collett (below) who was 27, and a male servant Thomas Burman who later married Ann Collett.

#9 #9

On the occasion of the next census in 1871 the Slatter family was still at the same address, but by that time no member of the Collett family was in service with them, although they still employed three servants in a cook, a housemaid, and a groom. Sometime before 1881 the family left Old Stratford and by the time of the census that year they were living at Evesham Road in Salford Priors, midway between Stratford-on-Avon and Evesham. However, still living in their house at 7 Warwick Road in Old Stratford was their son John with his wife Mary, and their young daughter Marianne Katherine Slatter. John, age 26, was a solicitor employing a cook and a housemaid. It was the same situation ten years later in 1891, and again in 1901, when John and Marianne were still living at 7 Warwick Road in Old Stratford with two servants.

#9 #9

While Eliza and Thomas were still living at 7 Warwick Road, Eliza received a letter from her brother Richard Collett at Farmington in America. The letter dated 4^th February 1872 referred to the loan of some money which had been used to purchase some land. It may have been two years after that, when their son John was married, that the couple left Stratford and moved to Salford Priors.

#9

According to the census in 1881 Thomas Slatter, age 60, was a solicitor who had been born at Salford Priors. His wife Eliza Slatter was 56 and from Admington, and their two unmarried daughters were Katherine Ann Slatter, age 25, and Florence Sarah Slatter who was 22, both of them born at Stratford-on-Avon. The family was still supported by three servants, a cook, a housemaid, and a groom.

#2

It was just over three years later that Eliza Slatter nee Collett, age 57, died at Salford Priors during the June quarter of 1884, and was followed shortly after by her husband Thomas, who died there on 1^st September 1884, at the age of 64. According to his obituary he was very well thought of and was also generous with money, especially to the church. He was obviously a very successful lawyer as his probate record shows that he left a sum of £20,002.16s.2d.

#9 #9

Thomas Slatter, who at the time of his passing was referred to as Thomas Slatter of Salford Priors, was born there on 1^st July 1820. He was very likely the son of farmer John Slatter and Elizabeth Brands who were married at Honington, near Shipston-on-Stour, on 3^rd November 1814, where Elizabeth was born.

#9

In 1851 widower John Slatter, age 61, was farming 200 acres of land at Salford Priors, midway between Alcester and Evesham, where he employed six men, two boys, and two labourers. In addition to his son Thomas, John also had an older son, Henry Brands Slatter, who was born in 1816, whose daughter Mary Hannah Maria Slatter, born in 1848, married her cousin John Slatter, who was born in 1854, the aforementioned son of Thomas Slatter above.

#9

11O6

George Collett was born at Admington on 4^th March 1829 and was baptised at Quinton on 19^th April 1829, the son of Richard and Hannah Collett. His age was recorded as 11 years at the time of the 1841 Census, when he was living with his family in Admington Farm Fields.

#2

Nine years later George married Emma Rogers at Quinton parish church on 17^th December 1850. Emma was born at Admington in 1824, and was baptised at Quinton on 27^th June 1824, the daughter of Richard and Martha Rogers. The witnesses at their wedding were George’s sister Ann Collett (below) and Jacob Cox.

#2

Just over three months later, the census in 1851, recorded George, age 22, and his wife Emma, age 25, living at the Admington home of Emma’s widowed mother Martha Rogers. George was working as a groom, while Emma was pregnant with the couple’s first child which was born later that same year. All three occupants were noted as having been born at Admington.

#2

Living next door to Martha Rogers was her son Richard Rogers 38, who was a game keeper, with his family, and next to him was the family of William Mason, age 26, and his wife Sarah, also 26 and from Admington. Living with them was Sarah’s daughter Ann Collett Mason (Ref. 11O45) who was six years old and of Admington, and William’s and Sarah’s daughter Leah Mason who was three months old. Sarah was very likely Sarah Collett (Ref. 11N14). And living next door to them was the family of carpenter John Rogers, age 64, who was Martha Rogers’ brother-in-law.

#2

During the following two years Emma presented George with their second son who was born at Admington and baptised at Quinton. However, it would appear that he did not survive, since no further record of him has been found to date.

#2

According to the census in 1861, George Collett of Admington was described as being 32, while he was working away from home, and was recorded as a coachman, employed by Corbett Holland Corbett, County Magistrate at his home at Arlington House in the East Ward of Cheltenham St Mary.

#2

Six years earlier, in 1855, Corbett Holland Corbett, of Admington Hall (described as near Stratford-on-Avon), held the office of High Sheriff of Gloucestershire, and was therefore the principal law enforcer in the county. He was also listed in the Warwickshire Poll Book of 1865 as Corbett Holland Corbett of Ilmington and Compton Scorpion.

#2

At that same time in 1861 when George Collett was working in Cheltenham, his wife Emma Collett, age 35 and a dressmaker, was living at Admington was their son John Collett who was 10 years old. Interestingly, a space had been provided on the census form above Emma’s name for her husband’s details, presumably because it was known that he was working away from the family home on that occasion.

#2

By 1871 son John had left home and George and Emma were living in the village of Western Subedge in Gloucestershire, where George was still a coachman. At that same time, John Collett, age 20, was living and working at Campden (Chipping Campden), and it was during the following years that he became a married man. By 1881 he was living in Lancashire.

#2

However, in census of 1881, George Collett of Admington was recorded as being age 57, a transcription error perhaps for 52, when his occupation was still that of a domestic coachman. Living with him at Cross Cottage in Blaisdon, within the Westbury-on-Severn area on the edge of the Forest of Dean, was his wife Emma Collett of Admington who was 55.

#2

By 1891 the couple were once again living at Admington where George was 62 and was still working as a domestic coachman, perhaps even for the Corbett family. His wife Emma was 66, and living next door to the couple was George’s cousin Daniel Collett (below) with his wife, and in the next dwelling was the widow Caroline Collett (Ref. 11N12) and her granddaughter Lucy Collett.

#2

It was almost exactly three years later that George Collett died at Willcote Grounds on 4^th March 1894, his sixty-fifth birthday. Willcote Grounds is likely to have been in Admington, since it was at Admington Grounds in the village that his parents were living in 1851. Certainly it was at the parish church in Quinton that George was buried on 8^th March 1894, and where a headstone marks his grave.

#9

A memorial card found by Doreen North reads as follows: “In Loving Memory of George Collett who died at Willcote Grounds March 4^th 1894 on his birthday aged 65 years and was interred at Quinton Church March 8^th – Thy Will Be Done”

#9

Following the death of her husband, his widow Emma left Admington and by March 1901 she was living at the Shipston-on-Stour Union Workhouse where she died during the following three months. Sadly in the census of 1901 she was described as a pauper and a dressmaker from Admington, who was 75.

#9

11P6

John Collett

Born in 1851

#2

11P7

Richard Collett

Born in 1853

#2

11O7

Ann Collett was born at Admington in 1831 and was baptised at Quinton on 2^nd October 1831, the daughter of Richard and Hannah Collett. She was nine years old in June census of 1841, but on that occasion was not living with her family at Admington Farm Fields, but was staying at the Admington home of Ann Savage, age 70.

#2

However, she was back with her family at Farm Fields in Admington in 1851, when she was 19, but with no stated occupation. Just over three months prior to the census in 1851, Ann was one of the witnesses at the Quinton wedding of her brother George Collett (above) and Emma Rogers which took place in December 1850.

#2

Following the marriage of her older sister Eliza Collett (above) to Thomas Slatter in 1853, Ann was employed as a servant at their home at 7 Warwick Road in Old Stratford at the time of the census in 1861, when unmarried Ann Collett was stated as being 27, rather than 29. Also working for Eliza and Thomas was bachelor Thomas Burman who was 24 and also a house servant like Ann.

#9

Their close working relationship over the following six years lead to Ann Collett marrying Thomas Burman at Leamington Priors on 19^th December 1867. Thomas Henry Burman was born at Snitterfield, just north of Stratford-on-Avon, where he was baptised on 7^th May 1836, the son of Sarah Burman. This may indicate that he was base-born, and certainly at the age of 14, in 1851, he was not living with his mother.

#9 #9

Once married, Thomas was offered a better job, when he accepted the post of a gentleman’s servant and, by the time of the census in 1871, the childless couple was living at Wolverton, near Snitterfield, where Thomas was 35, and Ann was 38. Over the years Thomas had other jobs, and by 1881 he and Ann were living at 48 St. George's Road in Leamington Priors, today known as Leamington Spa, where Thomas was 45 and employed as a coachman, while Ann was 48.

#9

Living with the couple at that time was unmarried Cecilia Mountford, who was 19 and a dressmaker from Harbury in Warwickshire. Cecilia was the daughter of Ann’s sister Elizabeth Collett (below) and her first husband William Mountford. By the time of the next census in 1891 they had moved on again. On that occasion they were living at Garden Terrace, Wellesbourne to the east of Stratford on Avon, where Thomas was an agricultural labourer at 54.

#9

That was then the most stable period in their lives, since it was at Wellesbourne where they were still living in 1901, when Thomas was employed as a labourer on a farm. It was almost exactly four years later that Ann Burman nee Collett died at Wellesbourne during March 1905, at the age of 73, her death being recorded at Stratford-on-Avon. According to the following census in April 1911 Thomas Burman from Snitterfield was 74 when he was still living alone in Wellesbourne. It was there also that he died three years later during 1914, aged 78.

#9 #2 #9

During their life together, their marriage produced at least two children, both of whom died in infancy. Sarah Burman was born and died during the last quarter of 1868, while Thirza Caroline Burman was born during the last quarter of 1876 and died during the first three months of the following year. It is therefore possible that they were their children during the nine years between these two.

#9

11O8

Elizabeth Collett was born at Admington in 1833 and was baptised at Quinton on 15^th September 1833, the daughter of Richard and Hannah Collett. She was seven years of age at the time of the census in 1841 when she was living with her family at Admington Farm Fields. Ten years later, age the age of 17, she was employed as a kitchen maid by bachelor and solicitor Thomas Slatter at his home in Old Stratford, where her older sister Eliza (above) was the housekeeper, the household also being supported by a groom.

#2 #9

It has not been determined when exactly she left the employment of Thomas Slatter, but it may only have been just over two years after the census day in 1851, since it was during the second quarter of that year when her sister Eliza Collett married Thomas Slatter in London. Three and a half years later, during the last quarter of 1856, Elizabeth Collett was living in the Warwick area when she gave birth to a base-born son Frank Collett.

#2 #9

Curiously no record of Elizabeth Collett has been found in the next census of 1861 when she would have been 27. Instead her son Frank Collett was four years old and described as a visitor at the Warwick home of elderly couple William Bromwich or Bromage, age 60, and his wife Elizabeth, age 70, and their son James Bromarch, age 32.

#2

It was during the third quarter of that same year, when Elizabeth Collett married William Mountford in Birmingham. He was a widower with a son Thomas Mountford, following the 1857 death of his wife Mary Sheila Brown, whom he had married in 1846. According to the census six months earlier William Mountford, age 37, was a widower and a carpenter, living at Mill Street in Harbury with his son Thomas who was 10. Once they were married Elizabeth and William appear to have continued to live at Mill Street, since it was there that Elizabeth Mountford was still living in 1871, although by that time she was a widow.

#9

Sadly for Elizabeth, her husband had died around the time of their ninth wedding anniversary in December 1870, at the age of 48. The census listed Elizabeth Mountford as a widow, age 32 and a milliner who had been born at Admington. Living with her were her two children; her base-born son Frank Collett (recorded as Frank Mountford) who was 14, and her daughter Cecilia Mountford who was seven years old. In addition to her own children, Elizabeth was also looking after a baby by the name of Edith Ann Gallaway.

#9

Living very close by to Elizabeth in 1871, was Henry Verney who, had been widowed himself, following the death of wife Elizabeth Verney during the previous year, just like Elizabeth with her very recent loss. The census at that time listed Henry Verney, age 33, living at Farm Street in Harbury with his four children; Mary Verney who was 10, Caroline Verney who was eight, Jessie Verney who was seven, and Harry Verney who was five years old.

#9

It was therefore possibly inevitable that Elizabeth Mountford, nee Collett, formed a relationship with Henry Verney later that same year, and during the following year the first of their two daughters was born. No marriage record for the couple has been found to date, but by 1881 their combined families were living together at Mill Street in Harbury, where Henry Verney of Harbury was 43 and a machinist. His ‘wife’ Elizabeth Verney from Admington was 45 (sic), and living with the couple was Henry’s son Harry Verney who was 15, and his and Elizabeth’s two daughters Amy Mountford Verney who was eight, and Lilley Verney, who was six, both of them having been born at Harbury.

#2

Also on the occasion of the census in 1881, Elizabeth’s eldest daughter Cecilia Mountford, was living with Elizabeth’s married sister Ann Burman and her husband, coachman Thomas Burman, at 48 St Georges Road in Leamington Priors, which today is Leamington Spa. Cecilia was described as being 19 and a dressmaker from Harbury, who was a visitor at their home. Seven years after that, Cecilia Mountford married Alfred Samuel Taylor at St Pancras in London during 1888. He was a travelling sorter for the Post Office, so very likely worked on the mail trains.

#2 #9

No record of her son Frank has been located in 1881, although the next census in 1891 revealed that labourer Frank Collett, age 32 and an invalid, was living at Harbury with his mother. He was described as the son-in-law of Henry Verney who was the owner of a threshing machine at the age of 53. His wife Elizabeth Verney from Admington was 55, and the only other person living at the family home was Harry Verney who was curiously 23 and from Plaistow in Essex, rather than 25 and from Harbury.

#2

By 1891 Elizabeth’s daughter, Amy Verney was one of three domestic servants working at the home of retired Colonel Henry Pratt and his wife, at 36 Clarence Square in Leamington. The couple employed a cook and a parlour maid, while Amy was the housemaid.

#9

In March 1901 Henry Verney and his wife Elizabeth were living at 28 Mill Street in Harbury. Henry, from Harbury, was 63, and was still described as the owner of a threshing machine, while his wife from Admington was 65. Still living at Harbury with them was Henry’s son Harry Verney from Plaistow who was 35 and a ‘labourer working for his father’, and Elizabeth’s son Frank Collett who was 40 (sic) and described as Henry’s step-son, and as having fits since childhood.

#2 #9

Elizabeth Verney nee Collett died at Harbury during 1909, age 74, so by the time of the Harbury census of 1911 widower Henry Verney, age 73, was still living there, with just his son Harry Ernest Verney, age 45, for company. And by that time Amy Verney, age 28, was working at The Western Hospital in Fulham, London, where she was employed as a housemaid.

#2

Also living nearby in Harbury was another of his sons, widower Albert Edwin Verney of Harbury who was 48, who had living with him his three children, Victor Albert 19, Beatrice Maud Mary 17, and Doris Verney who was 10 years old. It was in 1922 that Henry Verney died at the age of 84.

#2

Elizabeth’s son Frank Collett died in 1912.

#9

Other members of the Collett family were living in Harbury around that time, but they were members of an apparent unconnected branch of the family from Murcott in Oxfordshire, as detailed in Part 46 – The Charlton-on-Otmoor (Oxon) Area Line. In addition to Elizabeth Mountford Verney Collett, the details of another Elizabeth Collett of Admington and Ilmington, whose origins have yet to be determined, can be found in the Appendix at the end of this file for completeness.

#2

11P8

Francis Collett

Born in 1856 Warwickshire

#2

11O9

William Collett, who was born at Admington in late 1835 or early 1836 and was baptised at St Swithun’s Church in Quinton on 7^th February 1836, the youngest son of Richard Collett and Hannah Fletcher. He was recorded as being five years old in the census of 1841 for the parish of Quinton, when he was living at Admington Farm Fields with his family.

#2

Ten years later he was one of only three children still living there with his parents at the age of 14. It was just over eight years late that William, the son of Richard Collett, was working in Leamington where he married (1) Ann Hall at Leamington Prior (Leamington Spa) on 13^th June 1859. William was described as a labourer of Cross Street in Leamington, while his bride gave her address as Rosefield Street in the town. The witnesses at the wedding ceremony were William Hall, Ann’s brother, and Sarah Hall, his wife, while both they, and the bride and groom, signed the register in their own hand.

#2 #9

Ann Hall was the daughter of the late Edward Hall and Ann Pargeter, and was baptised at the church of St Mary the Virgin in Ilmington on 6^th November 1836. Following the death of her father, her brother William Hall had take over the family carpentry business at Campden Road in Ilmington. It is therefore curious why Ann and William were not married in Ilmington.

#2 #9

Once they were married the couple initially settled in Admington where their first child was born just nine months after they were married. So by the time of the census in 1861 the family living at Admington comprised agricultural labourer William, age 25, his wife Ann who was 24, and their son Francis who was just one year old, having been baptised at Quinton not long after he was born.

#2

Over the next ten years a further four children were added to the family, and the first of these was James who born after the family had moved to Atherstone midway between Tamworth and Nuneaton. However, a few years later and before the end of the 1860s, the family moved to the village of Mickleton where all of the remaining children were born, and where they were living at the time of the census in 1871.

#9

Up until the move to Mickleton William’s occupation had been that of a carrier, transporting produce and passengers to Stratford-on-Avon and Evesham, but the move to Mickleton was the result of him appointed the landlord of The Milking Pail beer-house on Sheep Street. In 1871 he and his family were confirmed as living there, when rather curiously he gave his age as 31, rather than 36. His wife Rose A Collett of Ilmington said she was 30. Living there with them were their three sons, Francis, who was 11, James who was seven, and baby Albert who was not yet one year old.

#9 #2

Two years later Ann presented William with their fourth child, their first daughter, and four years after that she discovered she was once again with-child, except she was expecting twins. On that occasion she gave birth to a fourth son, Edward, and a second daughter Agnes, both of whom were born at Mickleton, although sadly neither of them survived the ordeal.

#9

According to the next census in 1881, William was still a publican in Mickleton, where he was living with his wife Ann and their two youngest children. The census confirmed that William was 42 and from Admington, Ann was 41 and from Ilmington, and their children were Albert who was 10, and Florence who was seven, both of them born at Mickleton, and both attending the school in Mickleton.

#2

Although not specifically mentioned by name, the establishment where William was the landlord was the beer-house known as The Milking Pail, in Sheep Street, which today is Lawson Square in Mickleton. Within the family, the story is that William’s wife Ann insisted on serving each pint of beer with a piece of bread, which she thought would help to prevent the customers getting too drunk. Pictured here is the same property in 1900 and 2000.

#9

The couple’s eldest son Francis had already left home by 1881 and was working as a footman in Devon, while son James was working as a groom in Worcestershire. The family continued to live in Mickleton until around 1887, when they moved to Admington. The move was confirmed by a school book belonging to daughter Florence, on the front of which was written “Florence Gertrude Ann Hall Collett, Admington Grounds, Quinton – 16^th April 1887”.

#2 #9

However, just three years after that, tragedy struck the family when, on 1^st February 1890, William’s wife Ann passed away, following which she was buried in the churchyard in Quinton, where a headstone marks her grave. The cause of death was gout and influenza.

#9

One year later William married (2) Ann Collett on 24^th March 1891. She was the widow of Josiah Collett (Ref. 11O24), William’s cousin, and was formerly Ann Hughes. Ann was the illegitimate daughter of Lucy Hughes who married shoemaker John Such when Ann was around two years old, and from whence she was also known within the family, as Ann Such. In the census that year, William was 54 years of age and was living at Admington with new wife Ann, who was 42, and his daughter Florence G A H Collett who was 17. During the following year Ann presented William with their only child, son Thomas William Collett. This is a photograph of farmer William Collett around the end of the century, relaxing in a hammock on the farm, while smoking his pipe.

#9

The birth of their son was registered during the second quarter of 1891, indicating that Ann Collett was well advanced in her pregnancy on the day of the census in early April 1891. By the time of the next census in March 1901 the family still living at Admington was made up of William, who was 64 and a farmer, his wife Ann who was 52 and also from Admington, and their son Thomas W Collett who was nine years old.

#2

It was the same situation at Admington ten years later in April 1911, when William Collett, a retired farmer, was 76, his wife Ann Collett was 64, and their son Thomas Collett was 19. It was during the next year that William Collett died of heart failure on 10^th April 1912, at the age of 77.

#2 #9

11P9

Francis Richard Edward Hall Collett

Born in 1860 at Admington

#2

11P10

James Collett

Born in 1864 at Atherstone

#2

11P11

Albert Frederick William Collett

Born in 1870 at Mickleton

#2

11P12

Florence Gertrude Ann Hall Collett

Born in 1873 at Mickleton

#2

11P13

Edward Shirley Collett twin

Born in 1877 at Mickleton

#9

11P14

Agnes Beatrice Collett twin

Born in 1877 at Mickleton

#9

The following is the only child of William Collett and his second wife Ann:

11P15

Thomas William Collett

Born in 1891 at Admington

#9

11O10

Jane Collett was born at Admington in 1838. She was baptised at Quinton on 30^th December 1838, the youngest child of farm worker Richard Collett and his wife Hannah Fletcher. On the occasion of the first national census on the sixth of June in 1841, Jane Collett was living with her family at Admington Farm Fields when she was listed as being two years old.

#2

11O11

Ann Collett was born at Welford-on-Avon and was baptised there on 15^th January 1822, the only known child of Robert Collett and his first wife Mary. Sometime after she was born her mother died, and when she was just ten years of age her father married Mary Hughes in 1832.

#2

Ann’s rounded age in the 1841 Census was 20, when she was recorded as living in the Alcester & Stratford-on-Avon registration district.

#2

11O12

Daniel Collett, who was born at Admington in late 1832 or early 1833 and was baptised at St Swithun’s Church in Quinton on 10^th May 1833, the eldest children of agricultural labourer Robert Collett and his second wife Mary Hughes. He was eight years old in the June census of Admington in 1841. He was one of four children still living with his parents at Admington, in the parish of Quinton, at that time.

#2

He was working as an agricultural labourer in 1851, when he was 17 and was still living at Admington with his family. It may have been around ten years later that he married Sarah A who was born in 1832 at Aston Magna, just north of Moreton-in-Marsh.

#2

By the time of the Admington census of 1871, the marriage had produced two children for Daniel and Sarah. Daniel was 34, Sarah was 33 and their children were Jane Collett, who was five, and William Collett, who was two years old. Both of the children were born at Admington, as was the couple’s third child, but all of them were baptised at St Swithun’s Church in Quinton.

#2

Ten years later in 1881, Daniel Collett, an agricultural labourer from Admington, and his wife Sarah from Aston Magna, were both listed as 48, when they were living at Lower Admington. Living there with them were their sons William H Collett, who was 12 and who had already started work as an agricultural labourer with his father, and Dan Collett who was six years old, both boys confirmed as having been born at Admington.

#2

By that time in her life, the couple’s only daughter Ellen Jane Collett was working away from home and was in domestic service at a house in nearby Stratford-on-Avon at the age of 15.

#2

In 1891 Daniel Collett, age 57, was an agricultural labourer still living at Admington with his wife Sarah A Collett who was 55 and from Aston Magna. Living in the adjacent dwellings on either side of their property were other members of the Collett family. On one side was Daniel’s older cousin George (Ref. 11O6) and his wife Emma Collett nee Rogers, while on the other side was Daniel’s aunt Caroline Collett (Ref. 11N12) and her granddaughter Lucy Collett.

#2

Sometime within the next ten years Daniel Collett died leaving his wife Sarah A Collett as a widow in the census of 1901. By that time she was living with her eldest son William H Collett and his family at their home in Admington. Curiously on that occasion Sarah was recorded as being 67 and from Admington, rather than 64 and from Aston Magna.

#2

During the next decade her son William took his family from Admington to live in nearby Stratford-on-Avon, where Sarah also joined them. According to the census in April 1911 Sarah Ann Collett, age 73 and from Aston Magna, was living there with her son William Henry Collett, his wife Ellen Collett, and their four children.

#2

11P16

Ella Jane Collett

Born in 1865

#2

11P17

William Henry Collett

Born in 1868

#2

11P18

Daniel Collett

Born in 1874

#2

11O13

Rachel Collett was born at Admington and baptised at Quinton on 22^nd March 1835. She was six years of age in the 1841 census when she was living with her family, but by 1851, perhaps for reasons of overcrowding, Rachel at 16 was not living with them, but was living nearby in Admington. Ten years later she was unmarried at the age of 25 and, by then, had returned to the family home in Admington. It is assumed that she was married shortly thereafter since no further record of her as Rachel Collett has been found.

#2

11O14

Dinah Collett was born at Admington and baptised at Quinton on 22^nd January 1837. By June 1841 she was four years old and was living with her family in Admington, as she was ten years later when she was still attending the local school at the age of 13. Six years later she married Thomas Tomlinson at Pebworth on 08.04.1857.

#2

According to the census in 1871, Dinah was referred to as Diana Tomlinson, age 33, when she was living with her husband Thomas Tomlinson, age 34, at Pebworth with their four children, Joseph who was 11, William who was nine, Caleb who was six, and Jane who was four years old.

#2

Ten years later Dinah and Thomas were both 44 and were still living at Pebworth, where Thomas was born and was working as an agricultural labourer at that time.

#2