PART
TWENTY-EIGHT
The
Faringdon
This
is the first of three sections of the twenty-eighth part of the Collett family
Updated September 2012
This is the family line of
Faringdon has always been part of the
In addition to
Many of the more recent Australian
Collett family members in this line are still alive in 2007 and therefore only
brief outlines of their personal details are available.
The family line of BOB
COLLETT can be traced by the names in block capitals, while the family line of Thomas G Collett can be traced by
names that are underlined, and
the family line of Ben Nicholas Collett can be traced by the names in italics and underlined.
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During
a visit to the records office in January 2011, Dave Considine unearthed the
following Collett records with a Faringdon connection, none of which have so
far been identified as being linked to any family in this file. By listing them here there is a chance that
the link may be made at sometime in the future. |
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The
earliest record of any Collett found within in the marriage register
(1653-1710) was the marriage of Sarah Collet to William Bevis which took
place on 1st December 1694. From that
marriage, according to the IGI, they had a son William Bevis who was baptised
at Great Faringdon on 10th November 1695. It is possible that Sarah was the sister of
John Collett who starts this family line (Ref. 28I1). |
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Also
found amongst the birth records was Charles the son of Mary Colet who was
baptised on 17th October 1710.
Sadly he was mentioned again in the burial pages, where his burial was
recorded on the 24th October 1710. |
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28I1 |
JOHN COLLETT was born at Faringdon around 1665. He married Elizabeth Petty who was born
around 1670 but at Evenlode near Stow-on-the Wold in Gloucestershire. The first known son Anthony was born at
Longcot near Faringdon, their second son William was possibly born at Buscot
between Faringdon and Lechlade, and their third son at Faringdon. |
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Please note that the
order of the date of birth of their three children does not correspond to the
children’s reference numbers. To place
them in their correct order would require the complete re-ordering of the
whole of the three sections of this family line which would be a mammoth task. |
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28J1 |
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Born in 1698
at Longcot, nr Faringdon |
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28J2
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ANTHONY COLLETT |
Born in
1690 at Buscot |
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28J3
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William Collett |
Born in
1695 at Faringdon |
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28J1 |
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28K1
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Richard Collett |
Born in 1720
at Faringdon |
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28J2 |
ANTHONY COLLETT was born in 1690 at Longcot to the
south of Faringdon. It was also at
Longcot on 19th May 1717 that he married Sarah Jacobs who was born
in Faringdon during 1690. It may be
assumed that they lived all their life at Faringdon as that was where all six
of their children were born.
Furthermore, within the Faringdon burial records is the burial of
Anthony Collett on 14th September 1741, and it has been assumed
that this refers to the husband of Sarah Jacobs. |
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28K2 |
Betty Collett |
Born in
1722 at Faringdon |
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28K3 |
Anthony Collett |
Born in
1725 at Faringdon |
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28K4
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JOHN COLLETT |
Born in
1728 at Faringdon |
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28K5 |
Sarah Collett |
Born in
1732 at Faringdon |
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28K6 |
Ann Collett |
Born in
1734 at Faringdon |
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28K7 |
William Collett |
Born in
1736 at Faringdon |
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28J3
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William Collett was possibly born at Buscot to the
west of Faringdon in 1695 where he was certainly baptised on 13th
February 1695. The baptised record
confirmed that his parents were John and Elizabeth Collett. |
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28K1
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Richard Collett was born at Faringdon in 1720 and
was baptised at neighbouring Great Coxwell on 24th April 1720. He married Elizabeth Gough at Faringdon on 5th
May 1745. |
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28L1
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Sarah Collett |
Born in
1745 at Faringdon |
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28L2
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Martha Collett |
Born in
1747 at Faringdon |
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28L3 |
William Collett |
Born in
1748 at Faringdon |
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28L4 |
Elizabeth Collett |
Born in
1753 at Faringdon |
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28L5 |
Lucy Collett |
Born in
1755 at Faringdon |
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28L6 |
Alan Collett |
Born in
1757 at Faringdon |
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28L7 |
Isaac Collett |
Born in
1761 at Faringdon |
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28L8 |
Letitia
Collett |
Born in
1762 at Faringdon |
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28L9
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Deborah Collett |
Born in
1769 at Faringdon |
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28K2 |
Betty Collett was born at Faringdon in 1722 and
she was the first of the six known children of Anthony and Sarah
Collett. Betty was baptised at
Faringdon on 1st July 1722. |
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28K3 |
Anthony Collett was born at Faringdon in 1725 where
he was baptised on 7th March 1725.
He was the eldest son of Anthony Collett and his wife Sarah. Although not proved, an Anthony Collett
married Ann and in 1746 their son was baptised at Buscot. That was James Collett who was baptised on
5th January 1746 who later married Mary Sheppard at Faringdon on 6th
March 1783. Mary Sheppard (Shepherd)
may have been the daughter of Thomas and Betty Shepherd of Faringdon, who was
baptised there on 23rd September 1750. |
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28K4 |
JOHN COLLETT was born at Faringdon in 1728 and
was baptised there on 24th October 1728, the son of Anthony and
Sarah Collett. It seems very likely,
although not proved, that John married (1) Susannah when he was around twenty
years of age and that the marriage produced two sons for John and Susannah,
but tragically Susannah appears to have died giving birth to their second
child. In a cruel twist it might
appear the child may have been blamed for the death of his mother, because he
was not baptised until he was around seven years old. |
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However,
it would also seem not long after the death of his wife, that John married (2)
Lettice Evans on 19th August 1751 at Faringdon. Letitia Evans was the daughter of Thomas
Evans and was born on 18th November 1725 at Ramsbury south-east of
Swindon. Over the following eight
years John and Lettice continued to live in Faringdon, where four of their
five children were born. Sometime
around the end of the decade, the family left Faringdon when they moved to
the village of Little Faringdon six miles to the north-west and just north of
Lechlade. And it was while they were
living there that their last child was born. |
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28L10
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Henry Collett |
Born in
1748 at Faringdon |
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28L11
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Stephen Collett |
Born in
1750 at Faringdon |
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28L12
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Mary Collett |
Born in
1752 at Faringdon |
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28L13 |
Elizabeth Collett |
Born in
1755 at Faringdon |
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28L14 |
Jane Collett |
Born in
1757 at Faringdon |
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28L15 |
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Born in
1759 at Faringdon |
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28L16
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ROBERT COLLETT |
Born in
1762 at Faringdon |
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28K5 |
Sarah Collett was born at Faringdon in 1732 where
she was baptised on 13th August 1732. The baptism record confirmed that Sarah was
the daughter of Anthony and Sarah Collett. |
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28K6 |
Ann Collett was born at Faringdon in 1734 and it
was there that she was baptised on 7th April 1734, the daughter of
Anthony and Sarah Collett. |
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28K7 |
William Collett was born at Faringdon in 1736 and
was baptised there on 6th February 1737, when his parents were
confirmed as Anthony and Sarah Collett.
Although not verified at this time as being this particular William,
but included here for completeness, a William Collett married Elizabeth
Mikson (Nixon) at Faringdon on 9th September 1778. |
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28L1
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Sarah Collett was born at Faringdon in 1745 where
she was baptised on 10th November 1745, as the eldest daughter of
Richard and Betty Collett. |
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28L2
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Martha Collett was born at Faringdon in 1747. She was the daughter of Richard and Betty
Collett and was baptised at Faringdon on 30th August 1747. It may be interesting to note that another
Martha Collett, the daughter of John Collett and his wife Susannah was
baptised at Faringdon on 7th January 1746, although that family
has not been identified at this time. |
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28L3 |
William Collett was born at Faringdon in 1748 where
he was baptised on 23rd October 1748, the baptism record stating that
he was the son of Richard and Betty Collett.
William
married Rachel, possibly at Buscot, around the mid 1770s since it was there
that they settled and it was there that all of their four known children were
born and baptised at the Church of Mary (see right). Buscot
lies between to the west of Faringdon is situated just two miles south-east
of Lechlade. William’s
wife Rachel was born in 1750. |
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28M1
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Sarah Collett |
Born in 1776
at Buscot |
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28M2
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Rachel Collett |
Born in 1779
at Buscot |
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28M3 |
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Born in
1781 at Buscot |
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28M4 |
William Collett |
Born in
1785 at Buscot |
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It was originally
thought that William had married Elizabeth Walker at Faringdon on
29.04.1771. However that William, with
his wife Elizabeth, lived at Clanfield in Oxfordshire about four miles to the
north of Faringdon where all of their children were born and baptised. |
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For the continuation of the family
line of William Collett and Elizabeth Walker see Part 39 – The Clanfield
Oxfordshire |
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28L4 |
Elizabeth Collett was born at Faringdon where she was
baptised on 4th February 1753, the daughter of Richard and Betty
Collett. |
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28L5 |
Lucy Collett was born at Faringdon in 1755 and
was baptised there on 19th October 1755, the daughter of Richard
and Betty Collett. |
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28L6 |
Alan Collett was born at Faringdon in 1757 and it
was there that he was baptised on 7th August 1757, the son of
Richard and Betty Collett, although the baptism entry appears to have spelt
his name as Allen. |
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28L7 |
Isaac Collett was born at Faringdon in 1761 where
he was baptised on 28th June 1761, the son of Richard Collett and
his wife Betty. |
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28L9
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Deborah Collett was born at Faringdon in 1769 and
it was there also that she was baptised on 2nd July 1769, the
daughter of Richard and Elizabeth Collett. |
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28L10
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Henry Collett was born at Faringdon in 1748 where
he was baptised on 7th April 1748, the eldest of two sons of John
and Susannah Collett. |
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28L11
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Stephen Collett was the second of two sons of John
and Susannah Collett. He was born at
Faringdon in 1750, but his birth was overshadowed by the death of his
mother. It was perhaps for that reason
that Stephen was not baptised at Faringdon until 24th April 1757. |
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28L12
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Mary Collett was born at Faringdon in 1752 where
she was baptised on 19th April 1752, the daughter of John and
Lettice Collett. |
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28L13 |
Elizabeth Collett was born at Faringdon and it was
there also that she was baptised on 13th July 1755 as the child of
John and Lettice Collett. |
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28L14 |
Jane Collett was born at Faringdon and baptised
there on 3rd April 1757, the baptism record confirming that she
was the daughter of John and Lettice Collett. |
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28L15 |
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It
is also believed that John and Elizabeth had a third son William who was born
at Buscot in 1784, although no baptism record for the child has yet been
found, nor has any other record been found that would confirm this. There is a chance though that he did exist,
and that he moved with his brother Charles to Appleford (see below). |
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It
seems likely that John’s son Charles eventually moved east, towards the
larger market town of Abingdon-on-Thames where he settled in the nearby
village of Appleford. Others in this
family line also moved to Abingdon, perhaps attracted by better employment
opportunities, and that may have applied to John’s ‘mysterious’ brother
William. |
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28M5
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Charles Collett |
Born in
1779 at Buscot |
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28M6
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John Collett |
Born in
1781 at Buscot |
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28M7
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William Collett |
Born in
1784 at Buscot |
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28L16 |
ROBERT COLLETT was born at Little Faringdon and
baptised in Faringdon on 3rd January 1762, the son of John and
Lettice Collett. Two months before his
nineteenth birthday he married Mary Harris at Faringdon on 11th
November 1780. Mary was seven months
pregnant at the time of the wedding and two months later she gave birth to
the first of three children all born virtually born nine months apart. All of their children were born at
Faringdon except William who was born at Little Faringdon. Robert died on 22nd July 1800. |
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28M8
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Jane
Collett |
Born on
17.01.1781 at Faringdon |
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28M9
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Mary
Collett |
Born on
09.11.1781 at Faringdon |
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28M10
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Thomas Collett |
Born on
24.07.1782 at Faringdon |
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28M11
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Elizabeth Collett |
Born on
09.03.1785 at Faringdon |
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28M12
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Robert Collett |
Born on
31.12.1786 at Faringdon |
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28M13
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Leonard
Collett |
Born on
30.08.1789 at Faringdon |
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28M14
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Mary
Collett |
Born on
30.10.1791 at Faringdon |
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28M15
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WILLIAM COLLETT |
Born on
30.10.1793 at Faringdon |
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28M16
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Sarah
Collett |
Born on
19.06.1796 at Faringdon |
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28M1
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Sarah Collett was born at Buscot in 1776 and it
was there that she was baptised on 14th July 1776 as the daughter
of William and Rachel Collett. |
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28M2
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Rachel Collett was born at Buscot in 1779 where she
was baptised on 9th April 1780, the baptism record confirming that
her parents were William Collett and his wife Rachel. |
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28M3 |
John Collett was born at Buscot in 1781 where he
was baptised on 9th September 1781. He was the son of William and Rachel
Collett, and it is worth highlighting that another John Collett was also
baptised at Buscot earlier that same year, he being the son of John Collett
and his wife Elizabeth (below). |
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28M4 |
William Collett was born at Buscot in 1785 and was
baptised there on 4th December 1785, the son of William and Rachel
Collett. He married Susannah Loosey
who was born at Little Faringdon around 1792, although one source gives her
surname as Livesey. The marriage
produced at least eight children for the couple, all of whom were born and
baptised at Buscot. It seems rather
strange that no record of the family has been located in the June census of
1841. |
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However,
ten years later in 1851 the depleted family was living in Broadlease Cottage
in Buscot. Missing from the family
were daughters Sarah, Rachel, and Martha, who were all married by then. Also absence was youngest daughter
Elizabeth who would appear to have died by then. |
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William
Collett of Buscot was 65 by then, and was still working as an agricultural
labourer. At the time,
and certainly for the next ten years at least, he was employed by Horatio
Weston on Broadlease Farm in Buscot.
The farm comprised 340 acres and farmer Weston employed 6 men, 4
women, and three boys. Four of them,
two men and two women, came from the Collett family in their tied cottage. |
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William’s
wife was recorded as Susanna Collett who was 59 and her place of birth was
confirmed as Little Faringdon. Still
living with William and Susannah in 1851 were three
of their children, they being Esther, age 26, Thomas, age 21, and Jane, who was
18, and all three of them were employed by farmer Weston. Also living with the family in 1851 was
William’s and Susannah’s granddaughter Anne Collett who was five years old
and born at Buscot. She was very
likely the base-born child of their daughter Hester (Esther) Collett. |
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Ten
years after that in 1861, William and Susannah were still occupying
Broadlease Cottage and William was still employed as an agricultural labourer
on Broadlease Farm. All of their
children had left home by that time, but still living there with them was
their granddaughter Anne, together with her brother John who was very likely the
older base-born child of their daughter Hester. |
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The
family was therefore listed as William 77, Susan 68, John 18, and Anne
15. It was previously thought that the
older of the two grandchildren (missing in 1851) was the issue of the
couple’s eldest son William, but that has proved not to be the case since, in
1851 he and his family were living in Eaton Hastings overlooking the River
Thames on the county boundary between Berkshire and Oxfordshire, and by 1861
they had moved to Aldridge near Walsall. |
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In
view of their advancing years, and the fact that no record of William has
been found in 1871, it is inevitable that William died during the 1860s. That was confirmed by the census in 1871,
in which his widow, Susan Collett age 82 (sic) and from Little Faringdon, was
living at the Buscot Wick home of her married granddaughter Anne Hart nee
Collett. It was previously stated here
that Susan Collett died at Abingdon-on-Thames on 25th June 1875. However, it has yet to be determined whether
or not she was William’s widow. |
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28N1 |
Sarah Collett |
Born in
1819 at Buscot |
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28N2 |
Rachel Collett |
Born in
1821 at Buscot |
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28N3 |
William Collett |
Born in 1822
at Buscot |
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28N4 |
Hester Collett |
Born in
1824 at Buscot |
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28N5 |
Martha Collett |
Born in
1828 at Buscot |
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28N6 |
Thomas Collett |
Born in
1829 at Buscot |
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28N7 |
Jane Collett |
Born in
1832 at Buscot |
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28N8 |
Elizabeth
Collett |
Born in
1838; infant death at Buscot |
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28M5
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Charles Collett was born at Buscot in 1779 where he
was baptised on 24th January 1779, the first child of John and
Elizabeth Collett. Although not
proved, it is possible that he later moved to Appleford near
Abingdon-on-Thames where he married Mary Sandall and had six children. If this can eventually be verified to be
true, then this would prove to be the link between this line of the Collett
family and that shown in Part 34 – The Appleford Berkshire Line. |
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For further details on this possible
link go to Ref. 34N1 in Part 34 |
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28M6
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John Collett was born at Buscot in 1781 and was
baptised there on 16th June 1781 as the son of John and Elizabeth
Collett. Not a great deal is known
about the long life of John Collett, except that he was a widower in the
Buscot census of 1851 when he was recorded as being 69. At that time he was a lodger in the home of
William Barnard and his wife Esther, both of them from Buscot. Although the census return stated that he
had no occupation, it also stated that he was supported by
...... ....., which unfortunately is not clearly enough written to
read the two words. He was still
living in Buscot in 1861 when he was 79.
Whether his marriage produced any children is not known at this time. |
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28M7 |
William Collett was believed to have been born at
Buscot in 1784 and was the son of John Collett, whose wife may have been
Elizabeth, as no baptism or birth record has so far been found to confirm
this. If this was proved, it is possible
that he left Buscot with his older brother Charles (above) when they settled
in Appleford near Abingdon-on-Thames. |
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For further details on this possible
link go to Ref. 34N2 in Part 34 |
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28M10
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Thomas Collett was born at Faringdon on 24th
July 1782 and he married Mary Pawling.
Their son William was born at Langford just north of Little Faringdon. Thomas and Mary were still alive and living
within the Cirencester, Faringdon & Northleach registration district in
June 1841 when both of them were recorded in the census as being 55. |
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It may be of interest to note that
Sarah Pawling, who was born in 1790 at Grafton near Clanfield, just across
the River Thames in Oxfordshire, may have been the sister of Mary
Pawling. That may be of particular
significance because Sarah Pawling married Thomas Collett who was born at
Clanfield in 1791 and they and their family feature in Part 39 – The
Clanfield Oxfordshire Line. |
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28N9
|
William
Collett |
Born in
1814 at Langford |
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28M11
|
Elizabeth Collett was born at Faringdon on 9th
March 1785 and she married William Bond.
Their daughter Sarah was born at Highworth west of Faringdon. |
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28N10
|
Sarah Bond |
Born in
1826 at Highworth |
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28M12
|
Robert Collett was born at Faringdon on 31st
December 1786. The first national
census indicated that he had moved from Faringdon to Abingdon-on-Thames where
certainly his children were born. The
1841 census for Abingdon listed Robert as 55 and his wife Elizabeth as
50. Their son was both married by that
time and had moved to live in Wiltshire.
However, still living with the couple were their two daughters Esther
who was 25 and Ann who was 20. It is
very likely that Robert and Elizabeth had more than just the three children
listed below. |
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28N11
|
|
Born in
1808 at Abingdon-on-Thames |
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28N12
|
Esther
Collett |
Born in
1815 at Abingdon-on-Thames |
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28N13
|
Ann Collett |
Born in
1820 at Abingdon-on-Thames |
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28M13
|
Leonard Collett was baptised at Faringdon on 30th August 1789,
the son of Robert
Collett and Mary Harris. He
married Elizabeth Scott on 15th November 1812 at Faringdon,
Elizabeth having been born at Kidlington north of Oxford in 1791. All of their children were baptised at Faringdon,
even though the IGI simply stated the location as Berkshire on each occasion. At the time of the census in 1841, Leonard
and his wife Elizabeth were both listed with a rounded age of 50. Living with them at that time at Grove
Lodge in Faringdon were nine of the couple’s fifteen known children and they were Jane, age
25, Sarah, age 15, Ann, age 14, William, age 12, Henry, age 10, Betsy, who
was eight, Esther, who was six, Ellen who was four, and baby Clara who was
only three months old. Leonard’s wife
was obviously helping him with his shoemaker business, since Elizabeth was
described as being a shoe binder. |
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Over
the next ten years some of the older children left the family home in
Faringdon to make their own way in the world.
By 1851 the family still living in Faringdon comprised Leonard 61 and
Elizabeth 60, together with five of their children, they being William 22,
Elizabeth 18, Esther 17, Ellen 15, and Clara who was ten years old. Of their ‘missing’ children at that time,
Charles was married and living in London where sister Ann was also living and
working and was soon to be married, while the other two absent daughters Jane
and Sarah were both married by that time in 1851. |
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It
is interesting that Leonard’s son Henry was also in London on the actual day
of the census on 30th March 1851, as that was the same day that he
became a married man. By the time of
the census in 1861, only the couple’s youngest daughter Clara was still
living with her parents. Leonard
Collett was 72, Elizabeth his wife was 71, and daughter Clara was twenty
years of age. Leonard died nine years
later on 17th April 1870, whilst living at The (Grove) Lodge in
Faringdon. |
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|
The
Faringdon census of 1871 confirmed that Elizabeth Collett was a widow of
eighty years, and that living with her at Grove Lodge was her thirty years
old daughter Clara, together with her base-born son Leonard Collett who was
seven years old. Elizabeth Collett
died at Faringdon just over four years later, when she passed away on 15th
January 1875. |
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28N14
|
|
Born in 1813 at Faringdon |
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28N15 |
Jane Collett |
Baptised in 1815 at Faringdon |
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28N16 |
Charles Collett |
Baptised in 1817 at Faringdon |
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28N17 |
Mary
Collett |
Born in 1818 at Faringdon |
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28N18 |
Eliza
Collett |
Baptised in 1820 at Faringdon |
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28N19 |
George
Collett |
Baptised in 1821 at Faringdon |
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|
28N20 |
Sarah Collett |
Born in 1823 at Faringdon |
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28N21 |
Robert
Collett |
Baptised in 1824 at Faringdon |
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28N22 |
Mary
Ann Collett |
Baptised in 1827 at Faringdon |
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28N23 |
William Collett |
Baptised in 1829 at Faringdon |
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28N24 |
Henry Collett |
Born in 1830 at Faringdon |
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28N25 |
Elizabeth (Betsey) Collett |
Baptised in 1832 at Faringdon |
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|
|
28N26 |
Hester (Esther) Collett |
Baptised in 1834 at Faringdon |
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|
|
28N27 |
Ellen
Collett |
Born in
1836 at Faringdon |
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|
|
28N28 |
Clara Collett |
Born in
1840 at Faringdon |
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28M15
|
WILLIAM COLLETT was born at Little Faringdon on 30th
October 1793. He married Ann Maisey on
29th November 1824 at Fulbrook, Burford in Oxfordshire. She was the daughter of Stephen Maisey and
Ann Butler (1776-1831) and was born on 12th January 1806 at
Shilton just south of Burford. Once
married the couple settled in the village of Alvescot just five miles from
Burford. |
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|
By
1861 William was 65, Ann was 55, and the only two children still living with
them was 19 years old William and Joseph who was 15, both of them confirmed
as having been born at Alvescot where all of their siblings were also born. Exactly eight month later Ann died when she
was still only 55 and was buried at Alvescot on 7th December 1861. |
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|
Ten
years later William Collett appeared in the 1871 Census for Alvescot living
there with his son George and his family in which he was described as being a
widower aged 75 and a former agricultural labourer. Following the death of his wife William
remained a widower until his death on 3rd November 1880. Like Ann, William was buried at St Peter’s
Church in Alvescot although the parish burial record noted that he was living
at Witney at the time of his death. |
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The
surname Maisey appears connected to the Collett on a number of occasions –
see Ref. 1O47 for Sarah Maisey who was baptised at Fairford on 30th
June 1811 and Ref. 3N8 for Ann Maisey who married James Margetts around
1805. |
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|
William
Collett’s father-in-law Stephen Maisey was baptised on 15th
November 1773 at Shilton (married on 19th January 1804 and died in
1855) and was the son of John Maisey born at Black Bourton, Oxon on 9th
March 1736 who married Ann Betts on 14th August 1763 at
Shilton. His father was another
Stephen Maisey (born circa 1710), the 6x great grandfather of Jennie Cordner
who has kindly provided many details relating to numerous branches of the
Collett family over the past couple of years. |
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|
28N29 |
|
Born on
27.07.1825 at Alvescot |
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28N30 |
Elizabeth Ann Collett |
Baptised on
29.07.1827 at Alvescot |
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28N31 |
|
Baptised on
29.11.1829 at Alvescot |
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28N32 |
Mary Collett |
Baptised on
25.03.1832 at Alvescot |
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28N33 |
Harriett
Collett |
Baptised on
20.04.1834 at Alvescot |
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28N34 |
Anne Collett |
Baptised on
16.04.1837 at Alvescot |
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28N35 |
Lucy Collett |
Born on 06.03.1839
at Alvescot |
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|
|
28N36 |
WILLIAM COLLETT |
Born on 29.01.1842
at Alvescot |
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28N37 |
Joseph Collett |
Baptised on
01.02.1846 at Alvescot |
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28N1 |
Sarah Collett was born at Buscot in 1819 and was
baptised there on 7th March 1819, the eldest daughter of William
and Susannah Collett who, in 1851, were living at Broadlease Cottage in Buscot
with Sarah’s brothers and sisters.
Prior to that Sarah had married George Pettifer who was born at
Bampton in Oxfordshire in 1818. They
are known to have had one child, John Pettifer who was born at Faringdon in
1840. |
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28N2 |
Rachel Collett was born at Buscot in 1821, and it
was there that she was baptised on 18th February 1821, the
daughter of William and Susannah Collett.
She had a base-born son with John Wheeler who was born in 1842 when John
was only sixteen years old. About seven
or eight years later, when Rachel was around 28, she married Henry Hollick
who was born at Shellingford in Berkshire in 1821. |
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|
The
wedding would have taken place around 1849, and three years earlier Henry
Hollick was serving with the 50th Regiment of Foot in the First
Anglo-Sikh War when he was wounded in both legs by grapeshot during the
Battle of Sobraon on 10th February 1846. As a result of his injuries Henry was
invalided out of the army, all as confirmed in his Chelsea Pension records,
which also included reference to the medals he had earned during his
service. The Battle of Sobraon was fought between
the forces of the British East India Company and the Sikh Khalsa
Army, the army of the Sikh Empire
of the Punjab. The Sikhs were completely defeated on
the day that Henry was shot, marking it as the most decisive battle of the First Anglo-Sikh War. |
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|
The
first of the couple’s three child was born at Shellingford which lies midway
between Faringdon and Stanford in the Vale.
Their next two children were born at Bromley by Bow following a move
to London. However, according to the
census in 1861, Rachel’s son John W Collett, age 18 and from Buscot, was
living with his grandparents William and Susannah Collett at Broadlease
Cottage in Buscot. At that time in his
life, John was working with his grandfather as an agricultural labourer for
Horatio Weston at Broadlease Farm. |
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|
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|
|
In
1881 Rachel and Henry were living at the |
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|
28O1
|
John Wheeler Collett |
Born in
1842 |
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28O2
|
Martha Hollick |
Born in
1851 |
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|
|
28O3
|
Harry Pinel Hollick |
Born in 1856 |
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|
28O4
|
Ruth
Hollick |
Born in
1865 |
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|
28N3 |
William Collett was born at Buscot in 1822 and was
baptised there on 27th April 1823, the baptism record confirming
that he was the son of William and Susannah Collett. Although not located in the census of 1841
when he would have been eighteen years old, it was around three years later, on
26th May 1844 at Eaton Hastings to the east of Buscot, that William
Collett married Charlotte Lockey of Buscot. Charlotte had been born at Buscot in 1826,
and was the daughter of George Lockey, and the sister of George Lockey who,
eight years later, married Esther Collett, William’s younger sister (below). |
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|
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|
It
was also at Eaton Hastings that the couple initially settled after they were
married, and where their first six children were born. The village of Eaton Hastings lies on the south
bank of the River Thames, downstream from Lechlade, and just two miles from
Buscot. And it was there that the
family was still living at the time of the census in 1851 when William
Collett, age 28, was working as a gamekeeper. |
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|
|
His
wife Charlotte was 25, and despite having four children, she was described as
a labourer. The children were William Collett
who was six years old, Maria Collett who was five, Elizabeth Collett who was
three, and Mary Collett who was only seven months old. Lodging with the family at Eaton Hastings
on that occasion was farm worker Jonathan Cattrick who was 30 and from
Alvescot. |
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|
Two
further children were born while the family continued to live in Eaton
Hastings, but then William was offered another game-keeping job in the Great
Barr area of the West Midlands near Walsall, and that prompted the family to
leave Eaton Hastings around 1856. It
was at Great Barr that the couple’s seventh child was born and she was
baptised at Aldridge in Staffordshire on 14th February 1858 when
she was named Susan Collett after her grandmother Susannah Collett nee
Loosey. |
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|
The
Great Barr census in 1861 placed the family living at Hardwick in the parish
of Aldridge, near Great Barr, where William was 38 and a gamekeeper,
Charlotte was 35, William was 16 and an agricultural labourer, Elizabeth was
13, Mary was 10, Harriet, was seven, Ann was five, and Susan was three years
old. It might be right to assume that
the couple’s missing eldest daughter Marie had left home by then to start her
working life. Two years later
Charlotte presented her husband with their last child while they were still
living at Hardwick near Walsall and Great Barr. |
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|
What
happened to William after that time is not known, since he was absent from
the next census in 1871. By that time
his widow Charlotte Collett of Buscot had returned to live in a tied
farmhouse in Eaton Hastings, where she was working as an agricultural
labourer at the age of 45. Living with
her on that occasion were her two youngest children, Susan Collett who was
13, and George Collett who was seven years old, both confirmed as having been
born at Great Barr. |
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|
28O5
|
William
Collett |
Born in
1844 at Eaton Hastings |
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|
28O6
|
Maria
Collett |
Born in
1845 at Eaton Hastings |
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28O7
|
Elizabeth
Collett |
Born in
1847 at Eaton Hastings |
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|
28O8
|
Mary A
Collett |
Born in
August 1850 at Eaton Hastings |
|||
|
|
28O9
|
Harriett
Collett |
Born in
1853 at Eaton Hastings |
|||
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|
28O10
|
Ann Collett |
Born on
04.09.1855 at Eaton Hastings |
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|
|
28O11
|
Susan
Collett |
Born in
1857 at Aldridge, near Walsall |
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|
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28O12
|
|
Born in
1863 at Hardwick, near Walsall |
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|
28N4 |
Hester Collett, who was sometimes referred to in the
records as Esther Collett, was born at Buscot in 1824 and was baptised there
on 13th March 1825, the daughter of William and Susannah Collett. While she was still living at Buscot, it is
understood that she gave birth to a base-born daughter when she was around 21
years old. |
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|
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|
|
By
the time of the census in 1851, and at the age of 26, Esther Collett of
Buscot was living with her parents at Broadlease Cottage in the village. At that time in her unmarried life, she was
an agricultural labourer working for Horatio Weston at Broadlease Farm where
her father worked, together with her two siblings Thomas and Jane (both
below). Also recorded as living with
the family at that time, was five years old Anne Collett, the base-born
daughter of Hester Collett and George Lockey. |
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|
It
was ten months later that Hester, recorded as ‘Esther Collett’ married George
Lockey at Buscot on 26th January 1852. George was the son of George Lockey senior,
and was also the brother of Charlotte Lockey who eight years earlier had
married Hester’s brother William Collett (above). George was born around 1831 and was
therefore in his mid-teenage years when their base-born daughter was
conceived. |
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|
|
|||||
|
|
Following
her married to George Lockey, the couple moved to Lower Swell in
Gloucestershire, and it was there at Chalk Hill Cottage that they were living
at the time of the census in 1861. Gamekeeper
George from Eaton Hastings was 30, his wife Esther from Buscot was 36, and
their six children were Edward Lockey, who was nine, George Lockey, who was
seven, Harriet Lockey, who was five, Elizabeth Lockey, who was three, Fanny
Lockey, who was two, and William Lockey who was four months old. Twenty years after that the family was
still living in Lower Swell, but by then their place of dwelling was Braggs
Lodge. |
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|
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|||||
|
|
George
Lockey, age 49 and from Eaton Hastings, was still working as a gamekeeper,
his wife Esther was 55, and living with them were five of their children,
plus a grandchild, who was very likely the base-born child of their daughter
Fanny Lockey. Fanny was 22, and her
child was Arthur Lockey who was six years of age. The other children of George and Esther
were William Lockey, age 25, a slater maker, Harry Lockey, age 15 and a
domestic groom, Dennis Lockey, age 12 and an agricultural labourer, and Susan
Lockey who was nine years old. |
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28O13
|
Anne Collett |
Born in
1846 at Buscot |
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|
28N5 |
Martha Collett was born at Buscot in 1827 and was
baptised there on 14th October 1827, the baptism record confirming
her parents were William and Susannah Collett. By 1851 she had left the family home in
Buscot where her family of farm workers were living at Broadlease Cottage. She married William Claydon of Great
Sampford in Essex where he was born in 1827.
Together they had nine children the first being Louisa born at
Camberwell in 1858 and the rest being born at Battersea between 1859 and
1870. |
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|
|
For
the 1881 Census Martha and William Claydon were living at 56 Bridge Road West
in Battersea, where Martha was 53 and from Buscot, while her husband William was
54 and a dairyman from Great Sampford.
Living with them were their six children, all of whom were born at
Battersea. |
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|
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|
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|||||
|
28N6 |
Thomas Collett was born at Buscot during 1829 and
it was there later that same year on 27th September 1829 that he
was baptised, the son of William and Susannah Collett. In 1851 at the age of twenty-one Thomas
Collett was living at Broadlease Cottage in Buscot with his parents and was a
farm worker at Horatio Weston’s Broadlease Farm where his father, and sister
Hester (above) and Jane (below) all worked.
Just over three years later he became a married man and left the
village of Buscot. |
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|
|
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|
|
On
25th December 1854 at Highworth he married (1) Mary Hughes of
Gloucestershire who was also born in 1829.
The marriage produced two children who were both born at Coleshill
near Highworth. In early 1857 Thomas
and Mary, with son Henry and daughter Elizabeth, sailed to Australia on board
the ship ‘Grand Trianon’. The ship’s
passenger list included the following details. Thomas and Mary Collett both aged 27 and
their children Henry and Elizabeth both recorded as being one year old, although
Henry would have been around 15 to 18 months, while Elizabeth was probably
only three to six months old. |
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|
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|
|
Also
on the same passenger list for the journey was part of the Stranks family
from Thomas’ home |
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|
|
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|
|
However,
perhaps as a result of ill health following their long journey, which would
have taken three to four months, Thomas’ wife and baby daughter both died
within a year of them arriving in Victoria in May 1857. Mary Collett nee Hughes died on 16th
April 1858 at Moorabin and was buried at Great Brighton in Victoria, with
baby Elizabeth Jane having died nine months earlier on 31st July 1857. |
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|
|
|
|||||
|
|
Following
the death of his wife, Thomas married (2) Elizabeth Stranks the eldest
daughter of Thomas Stranks and Esther Betts who had coincidentally travelled
half way round the world with Thomas and his family from January to May in
1857. Elizabeth Stranks was born at
Hardwick, north of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, and was baptised on 19th
August 1838 at the parish church in Hardwick. |
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|
|
|
|||||
|
|
The
wedding ceremony, which took place at the Primitive Methodist Chapel at Broadmeadows
in Victoria on 2nd January 1860, was conducted by Samuel Bracewell
in the presence of Elizabeth’s father Thomas Stranks and Joseph Hughes. All eleven of the children of Thomas and
Elizabeth were born at |
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|
|
|
|||||
|
|
Thomas
Collett died on 4th July 1902 at Benambra in Victoria at the age
of 73, and it was there also that he was buried. Being nine years younger than her husband,
Elizabeth lived for a further twenty-seven years before she died on 26th
April 1929 at East Bairnsdale in Victoria and was buried the following day at
Bairnsdale. |
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|
|
|
|||||
|
|
28O14
|
Henry Thomas Collett |
Born in
1855 at Coleshill, Wiltshire |
|||
|
|
28O15
|
Elizabeth Jane Collett |
Born in 1856
at Coleshill, Wiltshire |
|||
|
|
The
following were the children of Thomas Collett and his second wife Elizabeth Shranks: |
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|
|
28O16
|
Eliza Matilda Collett |
Born in
1860 at Yuroke, Victoria |
|||
|
|
28O17
|
Salome Collett |
Born in
1864 at Moorabbin, Victoria |
|||
|
|
28O18
|
William Collett |
Born in
1866 at Brighton, Victoria |
|||
|
|
28O19
|
Esther Collett |
Born in
1869 at Brighton, Victoria |
|||
|
|
28O20
|
Susannah Collett |
Born in
1871 at Broadmeadows, Vic. |
|||
|
|
28O21
|
Susannah Collett |
Born in
1872 at Broadmeadows, Vic. |
|||
|
|
28O22
|
George Collett |
Born in 1874
at Campbellfield, Victoria |
|||
|
|
28O23
|
Thomas Collett |
Born in
1876 at Campbellfield, Victoria |
|||
|
|
28O24
|
Frederick |
Born in
1878 at Shepparton, Victoria |
|||
|
|
28O25
|
Herbert Ebenezer Collett |
Born in
1880 at Numurkah, Victoria |
|||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
28N7 |
Jane Collett was born at Buscot towards the end
of 1832 and was baptised the following year on 24th February 1833
at the parish church in Buscot, the parish record confirming she was the
daughter of William and Susannah Collett.
Her father, her sister Hester, and brother Thomas, were all employed
by farmer Horatio Weston by 1851, when the census that year placed the family
living in Broadlease Cottage attached to Broadlease Farm in Buscot. Jane was 18 years old at that time and
described as an agricultural labourer. |
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|
|
|
|||||
|
|
It was original
believed that, just a few years later, Jane married
William Monk of Watchfield which lies midway between Faringdon and
Swindon. William was born in 1836 and
all of the couple’s three children were born at Shrivenham between 1858 and
1861. The only member of the family
located in 1881 was Albert Monk aged 20 of Shrivenham, an apprentice to coach
and carriage builder Thomas Hill of 26 Marlborough Road in Swindon. |
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
However,
this is now considered to be incorrect and new research indicates that Jane
Collett, age 23, married farmer Thomas Brown, age 20 and the son of Stephen
Brown, at the Church of St Mary in Buscot on 19th May 1858. Later that same year their first child
Sarah Ann Brown was born, the birth being registered in the parish records
during the third quarter of the year, perhaps indicating that Jane was
already with-child on her wedding day.
On 28th February 1859 Thomas Brown, his wife Jane, and
their daughter Sarah Ann sailed out of Plymouth harbour on the ship ‘The
Herald’ to a new life in Australia. |
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|
|
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|
|
Three
months later their three-month sea voyage ended when they disembarked at
Melbourne on 1st June. Once
there the family initially settled in Cape Schank in Victoria where Thomas
secured employment with John Barker Esquire.
There was work for one year, for which Thomas was paid sixty-five
pounds. After the family’s arrival in
Australia the marriage produced another three children for Thomas and Jane,
one of which was Martha Brown who married Alexander McKelvie in 1885 at
Brighton, Victoria. |
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28N11
|
Lawrence Collett was born at Abingdon in 1808. He married Mary Salter on 23rd
May 1836 at Norton near Malmesbury in Wiltshire where Mary was born in
1814. Mary was referred to as Sarah in
the census records so she may have been Mary Sarah or Sarah Mary Salter. When Lawrence moved to Norton is not known,
except that he was certainly there seven months before the couple were
married since both he and Sarah were the witnesses at the marriage of Henry
Collett (Ref. 44N1) and Hannah Tanner at Norton. |
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|
|
Six
years later in 1842 the marriage of Lucy Collett (Ref. 44N4) of Norton and
Caleb Salter of Norton took place in the village. It seems very likely that Caleb was Mary’s
younger brother, while Lucy was the daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Collett
as detailed in Part 44 – The Wiltshire to New Zealand Line. Shortly after they were married Lawrence
and Sarah moved two miles south of Norton to live in the |
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|
|
The
couple was still living at Hullavington at that time with their two daughters
Elizabeth, who was three, and Ann who was one year old. Ten years later the family had increased in
size with the addition of two more daughters.
The family living at Hullavington in 1861 comprised Lawrence 41, Sarah
37, and their daughters, Elizabeth who was 12, Ann, who was 10, Jane, who was
seven, and Mary who was two years old. |
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|
|
Sometime
during the following years it would appear that Sarah passed away leaving |
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|
|
For other references to the Collett
families of Norton and Hullavington see Part 44 – The Wiltshire to New
Zealand Line |
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|
|
28O26 |
Elizabeth Collett |
Born in
1838 at Hullavington |
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|
|
28O27 |
Ann Collett |
Born in
1840 at Hullavington |
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|
|
28O28 |
Jane Collett |
Born in
1843 at Hullavington |
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|
|
28O29 |
Mary Collett |
Born in
1849 at Hullavington |
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28N14
|
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|
|
Although no birth or baptism record
has been found for Esther (or Hester) Visor, members of her family were also
born in Foxley, such Daniel Walter Vigor, who was
baptised there on 24th May 1812 the son of Jane Vigor. In addition
to him Esther’s younger brother Aaron Vigor was born
at nearby Easton Grey in 1820 where her own son, Aaron Vigor
Collett, and his family were living during the second half of the 1870s. |
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|
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|
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|
|
Esther
may well have been carrying Thomas’ second child on the day of the census,
since later that same year the couple’s second son and last known child was
born. At the time of the next Malmesbury
census in 1851 Thomas’ age was curiously recorded as 41, while his wife
Hester from Foxley was
32, which was also where their eldest son had been born according to the census
that year. He was listed in error as Aron Viser Collett, who was 12,
while his younger brother Joseph Collett was nine years of age. The village of Foxley lies two miles west
of Malmesbury. |
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|
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|
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|
|
According
to the St Mary Westport census for Malmesbury in 1861 Thomas’s age was more
realistically noted as being 46, when his wife Esther Collett was fairly
consistent at 41. Their son Aaron
Collett was 21, whilst no record of the couple’s other son has been found at
all after 1851, so it seems very likely that he did not survive. Within the next ten years Aaron left home
to be married, leaving Thomas, age 58, and Hester, age 52, living alone at Westport
in Malmesbury in 1871, not far from where their married son had set up home. On both occasions in 1861 and 1871 Thomas gave his place of birth as
Abingdon in Berkshire, perhaps because the town had more prominence than
nearby Faringdon. Abingdon-on-Thames
was once the county town of Berkshire, but following the boundary changes in
1974 it became part of Oxfordshire. |
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
In
April 1881 Thomas Collett and was still listed as a labourer, even at the age
of 76. Living with him at Clyatts in
Westport St Mary in Malmesbury was his wife Hester from Foxley who was
66. Thomas’ place of birth was once
again confirmed as Abingdon. Thomas Collett
died during the 1880s, while his widow Esther was 75 in the Malmesbury census
of 1891, although she passed away shortly thereafter. |
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|
|
|
|||||
|
|
28O30 |
AaronVigor Collett |
Born in
1838 at Westport, Malmesbury |
|||
|
|
28O31 |
Joseph
Collett |
Born after
June 1841 at Westport |
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|
|
|
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|
|
|
|||||
|
28N15 |
Jane Collett was baptised at Faringdon on 16th April 1815,
the eldest daughter of Leonard and Elizabeth Collett. According to the census in 1841, Jane was
25, and was working as a dressmaker while still living with her parents at
Grove Lodge in Faringdon. It was later
that same year that Jane Collett married Thomas Harris, and in 1851 the pair
of them were still living in the Faringdon area with
their family. Jane was 36, and Thomas
was 38. |
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|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
28N16 |
Charles Collett was baptised at Faringdon on 26th January 1817,
the son of Leonard and Elizabeth Collett.
By June 1841 Charles was married with two children. The census that year listed the young
family living at Faringdon as Charles Collett, age 25, his wife Elizth Collett, who was also 25, when their two children
were Henry Collett, who was four, and Elizth
Collett who was not yet one year old. During
the next ten years a further three children were added to the family. It was also during that time that the
family moved to London and in 1851 they were settled in Marylebone. |
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
Charles
and Elizabeth were both 35, their son Henry was 14 and their daughter
Elizabeth, referred to as Ann was ten.
The new additions to the family were Thomas who was eight, Clara who
was six, and Emma who was two, all of whom had been born after the family
move to London. Charles was still
living in Marylebone in 1871 when he was 56, but by then all of his family
had left home and his wife had passed away.
However, no record of him has been found in the census of 1881 or in
any later census. |
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|
|
|
|||||
|
|
28O32 |
Henry
Collett |
Born in
1836 at Faringdon |
|||
|
|
28O33 |
Elizabeth
Ann Collett |
Born in
1840 at Faringdon |
|||
|
|
28O34 |
Thomas Collett |
Born in
1842 at Marylebone, London |
|||
|
|
28O35 |
Clara
Collett |
Born in
1845 at Marylebone, London |
|||
|
|
28O36 |
Emma
Collett |
Born in
1848 at Marylebone, London |
|||
|
|
28O37 |
Alice L
Collett |
Born in
1854 at Marylebone, London |
|||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
28N17 |
Mary Collett was born at Faringdon on 14th
September 1818, where she was baptised on 11th October 1818 the
daughter of Leonard and Elizabeth Collett. Although Mary would have been 22 by the time
of the census in 1841 and could have been married by then, it is more than
likely that she died while she was still very young, as a second Mary was
born into the same family in 1827. |
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
28N18 |
Eliza Collett was baptised at Faringdon on 9th
July 1820, the daughter of Leonard and Elizabeth Collett. |
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
28N19 |
George Collett was baptised at
Faringdon on 26th October 1821, the son of Leonard and Elizabeth Collett.
|
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
28N20 |
Sarah Collett was born on 19th February 1823 at Faringdon,
where she was baptised on 12th April 1823, the daughter of Leonard
Collett and Elizabeth Scott. At the
time of the Faringdon census in 1841 Sarah was 15 when she was still living
with her family at Grove Lodge in the town, where her father was a shoemaker. |
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
28N21 |
Robert Collett was baptised at
Faringdon on 30th August 1824, the son of Leonard and Elizabeth
Collett. |
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
28N22 |
Mary Ann Collett was baptised at Faringdon on 5th June 1827, the
second daughter of Leonard and Elizabeth Collett to be given the name of
Mary, perhaps indicating that the couple’s first Mary suffered a childhood
death. In 1841 Ann was 14 when
living with her family at Grove Lodge in Faringdon. Ten years later she had left Grove Lodge
and was living and working in London.
The census in 1851 recorded her as Ann Collett from Faringdon, aged 23
and residing in the St Pancras & Regents Park district of the city. |
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
She
married Joseph Smallwood possibly that same year, since the first of their
children was born during 1852. The
child was born at Epsom where all of their later children were also
born. It is interesting that the
children’s names recorded in the next three census returns varied between
their first and second forenames. The
Epsom census in 1861 listed the family as Joseph, age 35, Ann, age 34, Ann,
who was eight, Emily, who was seven, and Frederick C Smallwood who was under
one year old. Their son Leonard, age
six, was staying with family in Faringdon on that occasion. Ten years later Joseph was 45, Ann was 44,
and their children were Emily 17, William L Smallwood 16, Charles H
Smallwood, who was eight, Edgar, who was six, Reginald, who was four, Alfred,
who was two, and Harry who was under one year old. |
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
By
1881 Ann Smallwood and her family were living at 6 Goldstone Street in Hove,
Sussex. The census details that year
confirmed that she was 53 and that she had been born at Faringdon. Although the census return stated that she
was married, she was also listed as head of the household, so her husband may
have been away on business at the time.
Her family, who were all confirmed as having been born at Epsom in
Surrey, comprised Sarah E Smallwood [Emily], age 27 and an unmarried
schoolteacher, Charles H Smallwood, age 18 and a draper and shopman, Joseph E
Smallwood [Edgar], age 17 and a boot maker, Thomas R Smallwood [Reginald],
age 15 and a painter, and scholars Ernest A Smallwood [Alfred], age 13 and
Benjamin H Smallwood [Harry], age 10. |
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
What
is very interesting is that there was a visitor at the house and he was
Frederick Beams who was seven years old and also born at Epsom. See another member of the Beams family at
Ref. 28O65. Ann’s eldest son had
already left home to be married by 1881.
He was shoe maker son William Leonard Smallwood, age 26 from Epsom,
who was living at Ellen Street in Hove with his wife Louisa and two sons,
both of whom were born in Brighton. |
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
In
1891 Ann Smallwood, age 63 and from Faringdon, was residing in the Steyning
& Shoreham registration district, where other members of her family were
also living. By the time of 1901
Census William Leonard Smallwood’s family had increased to four sons and four
daughters with the family living at Hastings.
It seems very likely that William Leonard Smallwood had a younger
brother Leonard Smallwood who was also born at Epsom in the mid 1850s and
that Leonard married Ann Collett’s youngest sister Clara Collett (below). |
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
28N23 |
William Collett
was baptised at Faringdon on 7th
June 1829, another son of Leonard and Elizabeth Collett. In June 1841 William was 12 years old and
was living at Grove Lodge in Faringdon with his shoemaker family and the rest
of his family. He was still there ten
years later in 1851 at the age of 22. Having
moved to Nantwich in Cheshire during the next couple of years, it was there
that he married Hannah Pick on 8th November 1855 at The Wesleyan
Methodist Chapel. Hannah was born in
1827 at nearby Willaston which lies midway between Nantwich and |
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
At
the time of their marriage, William was recorded as being an Attorney's Clerk
and Registrar of Births, Marriages and Deaths. He was also recorded as being a Relieving
Officer for Nantwich Poor Law Union Workhouse. It was at Nantwich that the couple’s six
children were born, and all at number |
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
However,
it would appear that the family was split up after William died, possibly
around 1876 but certainly before April 1881.
In the 1881 Census Hannah was living at 16 Hospital Street with her
sons William James aged 21, who was working as a chemist’s assistant, and
Leonard aged 19, who was a joiner’s apprentice. Of their four other children, daughter Emma
was 18 and was working as an apprentice confectioner with spinster and
confectioner Ann Fitton in her shop at 4 High Street in Nantwich. |
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
Hannah’s
eldest daughter Eliza Jane was 24 and her youngest son Thomas was 12, and
they were living with Hannah’s older brother James Pick at his London Road
home in nearby Willaston. Although
William’s and Hannah’s youngest son Walter featured in the 1871 census, there
was no record of him thereafter so it must be assumed that he suffered an
infant death. The couple’s oldest
daughter Eliza Jane aged 24, and son Thomas aged 12, were both living with
Hannah’s older brother James Pick at his |
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
James
Pick aged 64 was the superintendent registrar of births, marriages and
deaths. Living with him in April 1881
were his two sisters Eliza A Pick aged 61 and Jane Pick aged 47, all three
having been born at Wistaston which is about half a mile north of Willaston. The record stated that Hannah’s daughter
Eliza Jane Collett was an assistant school mistress, while son Thomas was
still attending school. Their
relationship to head of the house James Pick was stated as being niece and
nephew. |
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
28O38 |
Eliza Jane Collett |
Born on
18.03.1857 at Nantwich |
|||
|
|
28O39 |
William James Collett |
Born on
12.04.1859 at Nantwich |
|||
|
|
28O40 |
Leonard Collett |
Born on
17.04.1861 at Nantwich |
|||
|
|
28O41 |
Emma Collett |
Born on
16.01.1863 at Nantwich |
|||
|
|
28O42 |
Thomas Collett |
Born on
28.11.1869 at Nantwich |
|||
|
|
28O43 |
Walter
Collett |
Born on
25.01.1871 at Nantwich |
|||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
28N24 |
Henry Collett was born at Faringdon in 1830 and
was recorded as being 10 years old in the census of 1841, when he was living
with his family at Grove Lodge in Faringdon.
He was one of only
three children of the fourteen children of shoemaker Leonard Collett and his
wife Elizabeth for whom no baptism record has been found, the other two being
his younger sisters Ellen and Clara.
Ten years later, on the same day that the 1851 Census was conducted,
Henry Collett from Faringdon married Frances Ann Hawkins, the daughter of
George Hawkins. The wedding ceremony
took place on 30th March 1851 at St Marylebone in London where
Francis had been born in 1827, and the couple’s first child was born not long
after they were married. |
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
All
of their children were born in London, except Alice who was born at Epsom in
Surrey. According to the census in
1861, Henry and his family were living at 3 Meards Court in the Strand &
St Anne Soho district of London. Henry
from Faringdon was 32 and a military tailor, his wife Frances Ann was 33 and
had been born at St Georges Hanover Square, and at that time they had four
children. |
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
They
were Georgina Collett, age 10, Harry L Collett, who was eight, Helena E
Collett, who was six, and Alice Collett who was two. Judging by her absence from the next census
in 1871, it might be assumed that Henry’s and Frances’ eldest daughter
Georgina was married by then, either that or she had
suffered a premature death. By 1871
the family was living at Eagle Street within the St Andrew Holborn district
of London where Henry Collett from Berkshire was 42 and Frances A was aged
43. Their children at that time were
Harry L Collett, age 19 and a tailor like his father, Helen who was 15, Alice
who was 11, Mary who was nine, Victoria who was six, and George aged just one
year. |
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
In
1881 the family was living at |
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
Ten
years later in 1891 Henry was a 61 and his wife ‘Francis’ was 63. The only one of their children still living
with them at 87 Bridge Street in Mile End Old Town at that time was their
youngest child, who was listed as George F Collett a tailor, like his father,
aged 21 and born at St Pancras. Henry’s
place of birth was once again confirmed as Faringdon, while his wife was
recorded as having been born in the St George Hanover Square district of
London. With no record of either of
them in the March census of 1901, it must be assumed that they both passed
away during the last decade of the century. |
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
28O44
|
Georgina
Collett |
Born in
1851 at St Marylebone, London |
|||
|
|
28O45
|
Harry Leonard Collett |
Born in
1852 at Holborn St Margaret |
|||
|
|
28O46 |
Helena Elizabeth Collett |
Born in
1855 at Holborn St Margaret |
|||
|
|
28O47 |
Alice Collett |
Born in
1859 at Epsom, Surrey |
|||
|
|
28O48
|
Mary
Collett |
Born in
1863 at London |
|||
|
|
28O49 |
Victoria
Collett |
Born in
1865 at London |
|||
|
|
28O50 |
George F Collett |
Born in
1869 |
|||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
28N25 |
Elizabeth Collett was born at Faringdon during 1832, but it was as Betsey
Collett the daughter of Leonard and Elizabeth Collett that she was baptised
on 23rd October 1832.
In 1841 it was as Betsy age eight years that she was recorded living
with her family at Grove Lodge in Faringdon.
Ten years later in 1851 still was still living there, when she was
listed as Elizabeth Collett, age 18. It
is believed that she married William Henry Taylor who was also born at
Faringdon in 1831. And it was while
living at Faringdon that their two known children were born, although it is
likely that there may have been earlier children from their marriage. |
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
Sometime
after 1870 Elizabeth and William moved to Earley near Reading when William
secured work at the Huntley & Palmers Biscuit Factory. According to the 1881 Census, William aged
49 was a labourer at the biscuit factory, his wife was aged 48 and living
with them at 22 Amity Street in Earley was their daughter Jane Taylor, who
was 12, and their son Thomas Henry Taylor who was nine years old. |
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
28N26 |
Esther Collett was born at Faringdon during 1834 and was baptised there on
14th December 1834 as Hester Collett, the daughter of Leonard and
Elizabeth Collett. She later married
Joseph Nah Whipp. The marriage
presented the couple with five children, and they were Joseph Henry Whipp,
Louise Elizabeth Whipp, Adelaide Whipp, Jessie Whipp, and Amy Whipp. |
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
28N28 |
Clara Collett was born at Faringdon around
February or March in 1840 and was just three months old at the time of the
census in June 1841 when she was living with her family at Grove Lodge in
Faringdon. Clara was the last child of
fourteen born to shoe maker Leonard Collett and his wife Elizabeth Scott. Clara was still living at Grove Lodge with
her family in 1851 when she was ten years old, but by 1861 she was the only
child of Leonard and Elizabeth still living at Grove Lodge with them in their
old age, when Clara was 20 years of age. |
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
During
the following year unmarried Clara became with-child and her base-born son
was born in the subsequent year. It
was also around that time when her father Leonard died, so Clara considered
it would be a fitting tribute to name the child after her late father. By the time of the census in 1871 Clara and
her son were living with her widowed mother Elizabeth at Grove Lodge. According to the census that year, Clara
Collett was 30 and she and her seven-year old son Leonard Collett were still
living at Grove Lodge with her eighty years old mother Elizabeth Collett. |
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
It
is known that Clara later married (1) Leonard Smallwood during the
1870s. Leonard is understood to have
been born at Epsom around 1852 so he could not have been the father of her
base-born son Leonard. However, that
Leonard Smallwood may well have been William Leonard Smallwood the eldest son
of Clara’s sister Ann Smallwood nee Collett (above). It is therefore possible the Clara’s
husband may have been the younger brother of Joseph Smallwood who was the
husband of Ann Collett who she married in 1851. |
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
Neither
Clara, her husband Leonard, nor son Leonard, featured in the 1881 UK National
Census under the name of Collett or Smallwood and the reason is that by that
her husband had died prior to that and Clara had then married (2) Isaac
Whittle. According to the census in
1881, Clara Whittle, age 40 and born at Faringdon, was living with her son
Leonard Whittle (formerly Leonard Collett), age 17, at the home of her new
husband Isaac Whittle at 133 Spoke Road in Battersea, London. |
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
Isaac
Whittle was 44 and a railway signalman was born at Upton in Dorset, while
Clara’s son Leonard was listed as the stepson of Isaac. In addition, Isaac had three children from
his previous marriage. They were Fred,
age 13 and an errand boy, Amy, age 12, and Edward who was eight. By 1891 the family was living in the
Wandsworth registration district of London where Clara was aged 50, Isaac 54
and his stepson Leonard 27 and both mother and son were confirmed as born at
Faringdon. |
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
A
further ten years later on and Clara was 60 and her husband Isaac was
64. By then they had moved and were
living alone at Walton-on-Thames, where Isaac was still working as a railway
signalman. On leaving home sometime
during the 1890s Clara’s son Leonard reverted back to the Collett surname and
by 1901 he was living in Birmingham. |
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
28O51
|
Leonard Collett |
Born in
1863 at Faringdon |
|||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
28N29 |
Stephen Collett was born at Alvescot on 27th
July 1825 and was buried at St Peter’s Church in Alvescot following his death
one day after he was born. |
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
28N30 |
Elizabeth Ann Collett was born at Alvescot and was
baptised there on 29th July 1827.
It was also at Alvescot that she married David Johnson on 25th
November 1849. |
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
28N31 |
|
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
That
situation was confirmed by the Alvescot census that year, when the family was
recorded under the incorrect spelling of their surname as Collet. George was 31, Jane was 32, and their five
surviving children were Mary Ann, age 10, John, who was nine, George, who was
eight, Lucy, who was six, and Anne who was two years of age. On the day of the census in 1861 Jane was
expecting the birth of the couple’s seventh child, which was born six weeks
later and was followed by the birth of their last child just over two years
after that. Four years later, during
the autumn of 1867, the couple’s first grandchild was born, when their eldest
daughter Mary gave birth to a base-born daughter. |
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
That
grandchild, Emma Collett, was living with George and Jane at their cottage in
Alvescot at the time of the census in 1871, while the whereabouts of her
mother Mary has not yet been discovered, even though it is known that she was
married at Alvescot seven months later that same year. Once again the family’s surname was
recorded with one t, so George Collet was 41 and an agricultural labourer,
while his wife Jane was 43. The
children still living with them on that day were George, who was 18 and a
farmer’s groom, Anne, who was 12, Elizabeth, who was nine, and William who
was seven, all of whom were confirmed as having been born at Alvescot. |
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
In
addition to their granddaughter Emma Collett (Ref. 28P54), who was four years
old, there was one other person living with the family at that time, and that
was George’s father William Collett, a widower of 75, who was described as
being a former agricultural labourer who had been born at Little
Faringdon. George’s missing daughter
Lucy was still living nearby in Alvescot, where she was also working at the
age of 16. |
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By
the time of the census in 1881 for Alvescot, George was 51 and was an
agricultural labourer living with his wife Jane who was 52. Living with them were their two youngest
children, Elizabeth, age 19, and William, who was 17, both of them were
employed as agricultural labourers and both were listed as having been born
at Alvescot. Also living with them was
their grandson Albert Collett (Ref. 28P68) who was two years of age and of
Alvescot, the base-born son of their daughter Elizabeth who was to be married
later that same year. By that time
their daughter Lucy, age 26, was married with three children, while unmarried
daughter Annie, age 21, was living and working in Berkshire, not far from her
married brothers John and George. |
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Even
after their daughter Elizabeth was married, George and Jane continued to look
after her son. By 1891 Albert was
still living with the couple at Alvescot, when George and Jane were both 61,
and their grandson was 12. Just after
the turn of the century George was still living at Alvescot, but was a
widower by then, following the death of his wife at Alvescot on 7th
February 1895. In March 1901 George
was recorded as being 71 and his occupation was that of an ordinary farm
labourer. |
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George
Collett died at Alvescot on 12th July 1906, following which he was
buried with his wife Jane in the graveyard of Peter’s Church in Alvescot,
where a single headstone marks the grave with the following epitaph. “In
Loving Memory of |
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28O52 |
Mary Ann Collett |
Born on
13.10.1850 at Alvescot |
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28O53 |
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Born on
28.12.1851 at Alvescot |
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28O54 |
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Born on
06.02.1853 at Alvescot |
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28O55 |
Lucy Collett |
Born on
26.11.1854 at Alvescot |
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28O56 |
Annie Collett |
Born on
12.09.1858 at Alvescot |
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28O57 |
Caroline Collett |
Born on
16.10.1859 at Alvescot |
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28O58 |
Elizabeth Collett |
Born on
26.05.1861 at Alvescot |
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28O59 |
William Collett |
Born on
21.06.1863 at Alvescot |
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28N32 |
Mary Collett was born at Alvescot where she was
also baptised on 25th March 1832.
She married (1) Thomas Smith in 1858 at Bicester but tragically the
marriage did not last long before Thomas Smith died at Bicester during the
following year. That short marriage
produced no children for Mary. Two
years later the 1861 Census for Bicester confirmed that Mary Smith aged 28
and born at Alvescot, was a widow and a servant at the home of Thomas Henry
Shillingford in Bicester. |
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It
was during the following year that Mary married (2) Joseph Wise at
Witney. Joseph was born at
Weston-on-the-Green near Bicester in 1833 and was the oldest son of Joseph
Wise and Ann Porter. The Wise family
comprised Mary born 1829, Emma born 1832, Joseph, Thomas born 1836, Sarah
born 1838, Elizabeth born 1840, John born in 1844 and William who was
baptised on 22nd May 1853. |
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In
1871 Joseph Wise was 38 and an agricultural labourer living at Step Farm in
Faringdon. With him was his wife Mary
39, and their children Mary, who was six and born at Shellingford just south
of Faringdon, Joseph, who was four and born at Faringdon, Sarah who was two,
and one year old William, both of them born at Eaton Hastings just north-west
of Faringdon. |
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Also
living with then at that time was Joseph’s youngest brother William Wise, age
16, whose occupation was that of a shepherd.
And it was that William Wise who married Mary Ann Collett (Ref. 28O52)
who was the niece of Mary Wise nee Collett (Joseph’s wife), Mary Ann being the
daughter of Mary’s brother |
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By
1881 Mary Wise, age 49 and from Alvescot, and Joseph Wise, age 48 and a gas
fitter from Weston on the Green, were living at 4 Henry Street, Rodbourne
Cheney in Swindon. According to census
details Mary and Joseph’s family had increased to six children, with the
addition of John who was seven and Thomas who was five, both of them born at
Swindon. |
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28N34 |
Ann Collett was born at Alvescot and baptised
there on 16th April 1837.
She married (1) Charles Richards on 25th October 1856 at
Buckland Parish Church. Charles was
born at Buckland in Berkshire on 17th January 1830, the son of
William Richards. Both William and
Charles were listed as labourers on the marriage certificate, although later
Charles became a baker. A witness at
the wedding was Charles’ brother Thomas Richards. |
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The
couple’s five children were born at three different locations perhaps
indicating that they moved around to suit Charles’ work as a
labourer/baker. The first child was
born at Alvescot, the second at Great Coxwell near Faringdon, the third at
Woolstone between Uffington and the White Horse Hill, and the fourth at again
at Great Coxwell. |
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Ann
and Charles emigrated to New Zealand with their first four children in 1875,
and it was there, at Arrowtown in Otago that same year, that their fifth
child was born. The family sailed out
of |
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Once
established, Ann and Charles set up home at Queenstown where Charles
continued his occupation as a baker.
However, just over a year later he tragically died in suspicion
circumstances on 12th May 1876.
An item in The Arrow Observer for Wednesday 17th May
included the following report. |
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“Mr Richards, some
time resident of this town and engaged at Gilmour’s Mill, was drowned at
Wakatipu Lake on Friday morning. On
leaving the family home he had stated he would not be very long, but it was
the next morning that his body was found in two feet of water. No one seems able to account for what
happened as he was always seen as a steady, sober and industrious man.” |
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However,
at the inquest held on 15th May 1876, and reported in the
Queenstown Southland Times newspaper on 18th May, the situation
was made a little clearer. That stated
that: |
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“An inquest was held
today on the body of a man named Richards.
He was found drowned in the lake at Bob’s Cove on Sunday morning. The man had been a servant of one Gilmour,
a miller near Arrow, and had taken his wages in sheep and land. Upon going to view his property, he found
the land covered with water. This is
supposed to have preyed upon his mind, inducing him to commit a most
determined suicide. He was picked up
in about two feet of water with his hands desperately crossed upon his
chest. The verdict was ‘temporary
insanity’. |
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Following
his death Ann, as the sole provider, then established a successful boarding
house called ‘Pleasant View’ on Eastern Terrace in Queenstown. She
later married (2) Thomas Mantle and as Ann Mantle she died on 2nd
November 1919 and was buried at Queenstown Cemetery. At the time of her death she was still
living at Eastern Terrace and had been a keen supporter of the Wakatipu
Horticultural Society. Ann’s
obituary stated that she was born at Coleshill which is situated midway
between Faringdon and Highworth some ten miles from Alvescot. It is also referred to her three sons and
two daughters, three of whom had already died prior to her death. This photo of Ann was provided by
her great granddaughter June Keating. |
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28O60 |
Mary Ann Richards |
Born in
1858 |
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28O61 |
William Charles Richards |
Born in
1860 |
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28O62 |
Fred Richards |
Born in
1865 |
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28O63
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Susan Richards |
Born in
1866 |
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28O64
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Bertram Edwin Richards |
Born in
1875 |
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28N35 |
Lucy Collett was born at Alvescot on 6th
March 1839, and it was there that she was baptised on 31st March
1839, the daughter of William Collett and his wife Ann Maisey. Lucy later married John Pill who was born
on 10th May 1829 at Eaton Hastings near Faringdon. The marriage produced nine children between
1858 and 1877, although only seven survived beyond infancy. The last six children were born at Eaton
Hastings, Thrupp, Wantage, Buscot, with the final two having been born at
Coleshill. |
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And
it was at Coleshill that the family was living in 1881 when John Pill was 51
and an agricultural labourer, his wife Lucy was 42, and still living there
with them were their five youngest children.
They were Mary A Pill, age 19, Fanny Pill, age 16, Elizabeth Pill, age
10, Emily Pill who was seven, and William John Pill who was four years
old. On the day of the census Lucy was
expecting the birth of her last child, Percy who was born later that same
year. |
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Twenty
years later in March 1901 Lucy and John were still living at Coleshill, where
cattleman John Pill from Eaton Hastings was 72, while his wife Lucy from
Alvescot was 63. By April 1911 John
Pill was a farm labourer at the age of 82, his wife of 53 years was Lucy Pill, who was 72,
and living with them at Coleshill near Highworth was their grandson Percy Pill of Coleshill who was 30
and a stone digger in a quarry. The
census also confirmed that they had had nine children of which seven were
still alive. Lucy Pill nee Collett
died in 1917. |
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28N36 |
WILLIAM COLLETT was born at Alvescot on 29th
January 1842 and was baptised there on 27th February 1842. At the time of the census of 1861 William
was 19 and was still living with his parents and younger brother Joseph (below)
at Alvescot. Two years later William
married Elizabeth Lander at Faringdon on 30th October 1863. Elizabeth was the daughter of John Lander
and Hannah Davis and was born on 7th July 1844 at Faringdon. William’s work meant that the family was
widely travelled around the Swindon area, judging from the many places that
the couple’s children were born. |
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The
first four children were born while William and Elizabeth were living in
Faringdon. There then followed a quick succession of four location where the
next four children were born, they being, Rodbourne, Swindon, Dauntsey,
Wroughton. The next three children
were born after the family moved to Stratton St Margaret and the last child
was born at Crudwell. |
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Rodbourne
and Dauntsey lie close to Malmesbury to the west of Swindon, while Crudwell
is situated to the north between Malmesbury and Cirencester. However, in the census of 1911 William’s
son George who was born at Rodbourne said he was born in Swindon which may
mean he was born at Rodbourne Cheney. |
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At
the time of the census in 1871 the family was confirmed as living at
Cheltenham Street in Swindon and comprised father William, his wife
Elizabeth, son William, and daughters Mary Ann and Caroline. The couple’s second son James, who would have
been three, had already passed away by then. |
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Ten
years later according to the 1881 Census, William 39 and born at Alvescot was
a brewer’s labourer living with his wife Elizabeth aged 37 and of Faringdon
and his family at Stratton Green in Stratton St Margaret. The family at that time comprised William
16, Caroline 12, George 10, Fanny, who was five, and Fred who was two years
old. Missing from the family was their
daughter Mary Ann Collett who would have been 15, son Tom Alfred Collett who
would have been eight years old. |
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A
wider search of the 1881 Census has located Mary Ann Collett living with her
aunt Caroline Mayersbach
at Hove in Sussex. Caroline Mayersbach was
formerly Caroline Lander the sister of Elizabeth Collett nee Lander, Mary Ann’s
mothers. A further search for
Tom Collett revealed that he was a visitor at the home of Charles and Sophie
Lander at Gloucester Street in Faringdon, where he was listed as being seven
years of age. Charles Lander, who was
52, was a builder’s labourer from London, and was very likely the older
brother of Elizabeth Collett nee Lander, Tom’s mother. |
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Following
the birth of their last child at Crudwell, the family lived for a while
within the Wootton Bassett & Cricklade registration district. That was confirmed by the census of 1891 in
which William was 48, Elizabeth was 47, and their children were George, age
20, Fanny, age 14, Frederick, age 12, Elizabeth, age 10, John, who was eight,
Albert, who was five, and James who was one year old and born at nearby
Crudwell. |
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During
the next decade the family returned to Stratton St Margaret where they were
recorded as living in March 1901. On
that occasion William and Elizabeth still had eight of their children still
living with them, although two of their sons were married by then with
families of their own. William was 59
and a general labourer born at Alvescot, and his wife Elizabeth was 57 and of
Faringdon. Living with them were their
sons William 36 born at Faringdon and George 29 born at Swindon, John 17 and
Albert 15, both born at Stratton, and all four of them employed as general
labourers. |
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In
addition to the older boys, there was also daughter Elizabeth, age 20 of
Stratton, and the family’s youngest son James who was 11 and born at Crudwell. The ‘missing’ married sons were Tom and
Frederick and their census record details are provided under their own names. |
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By
1911 the only member of the family still living with William and Elizabeth
was their youngest son James. The
family was still living at Stratton St Margaret where William Collett was 69,
his wife Elizabeth was 65, and their son James was 21. A short while later Left the family home to
be married. |
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William
Collett died on 16th December 1923 and was followed three years
after by his wife Elizabeth who died on 26th December 1926, and
both deaths were registered in Swindon.
The single headstone that marks their grave at Stratton St Margaret
bears the following inscription “In Loving Memory of William Collett who died
Dec 16th 1923 aged 80 years, Also of Elizabeth wife of the above
who died Dec 26th 1926 aged 81 years – Reunited” |
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28O65
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WILLIAM JOHN COLLETT |
Born in
1864 at Faringdon |
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28O66
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Mary Ann Collett |
Born in
1865 at Faringdon |
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28O67
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James Collett |
Born in
1867 at Faringdon |
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28O68
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Caroline Collett |
Born in
1869 at Faringdon |
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28O69
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George Royal Collett |
Born in
1871 at Rodbourne |
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28O70
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Tom Alfred Collett |
Born in
1873 at Swindon |
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28O71
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Fanny Collett |
Born in
1876 at Dauntsey |
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28O72
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Frederick Collett |
Born in
1878 at Wroughton |
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28O73
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Elizabeth Collett |
Born in
1881 at Stratton St Margaret |
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28O74
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Cecil Albert |
Born in
1883 at Stratton St Margaret |
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28O75
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Albert Collett |
Born in
1886 at Stratton St Margaret |
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28O76
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James Collett |
Born in
1890 at Crudwell |
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28N37 |
Joseph Collett was born at Alvescot and was
baptised there on 1st February 1846. According to the census of 1861, Joseph was
15 and was one of only two children still living with his parents at
Alvescot, the other being his brother William (above). Around ten years later Joseph married
Caroline Robinson at Abingdon-on-Thames in 1871, Caroline having been born at
Wroughton near Swindon in 1845. |
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The
census of 1881 listed the family as living at Fyfield in Berkshire just east
of Kingston Bagpuize. Joseph was 34
and from Alvescot who was a shepherd, his eldest son Francis was eight and
had been born at Eynsham, as was Amelia who was six and Ada who was four,
while Louisa was two years old and had been born at Fyfield. |
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All
of the next three children born into the family were also born at Fyfield,
and it was there that the family was living in 1891. Joseph and Caroline were both 45, Francis
was 18, Ada was 14, Louisa was 12, Edward was nine, and Ellen was five years
old. The eldest daughter Amelia was
already living and working away from home in the Wallingford area. |
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By
1901 farm foreman Joseph and his wife Caroline, who were both 55, had moved
to Burcot on the Oxfordshire side of the River Thames just east of Abingdon
and just north of Wallingford. Living
with them were three of the couple’s five daughters. They were Ada, age 24 who was born at
Eynsham, Ellen who was 11, and Gertrude who was eight, both of whom were
confirmed as having been born at Fyfield.
By that time the
couple’s absence son Richard, who was once again recorded as Edward, was
working and was staying at a boarding house in the Camberwell area of London. |
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Caroline
Collett died during the next ten years leaving Joseph as a widower who, by
April 1911, only had his unmarried daughter Ada Collett still living with
him. All of his other children had
left home and were married by that time.
Joseph was 65 and from Alvescot according to the census return that
year, and was living at Clifton Hampden within the Abingdon registration
district and just a mile from Burcot.
His daughter Ada, who was acting as his housekeeper, was 34 and her
birthplace was confirmed as Eynsham. |
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28O77
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Francis William Collett |
Born in
1872 at Eynsham |
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28O78
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Amelia Collett |
Born in
1874 at Eynsham |
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28O79
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Ada Collett |
Born in
1876 at Eynsham |
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28O80
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Louisa Caroline Collett |
Born in
1878 at Fyfield |
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28O81
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Richard Edward Collett |
Born in
1881 at Fyfield |
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28O82
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Ellen M Collett |
Born in
1889 at Fyfield |
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28O83
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Gertrude Jane Collett |
Born in
1892 at Fyfield |
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