PART TWENTY-EIGHT

 

The Faringdon Line

 

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 Bob Collett (Ref. 28Q50) of Stratton St Margaret in Swindon.  To date no direct ancestral link to any other line has been found but it does have two ‘sideways’ connection by marriage with Part One – The Main Line.  These can be found at John Willis (Ref. 28Q52) and Robert Martin Collett (Ref. 28R42)

 

Faringdon has always been part of the County of Berkshire.  However, following local government boundary changes, it became part of Oxfordshire in April 1974

 

In addition to Bob Collett of Stratton who supplied the bulk of the initial information, thanks must also go to David Considine of Hillingdon in Middlesex, Pam Kuyt of Cookstown in Canada, June Keating of Carterton in New Zealand, Susan Hoskins (Ref. 28S36) of Lincolnshire in England, Heather Preston (Ref. 28R11) of New South Wales in Australia, Kathy Belcher (Ref. 28P87) of Florida in South Africa, Thomas G Collett (Ref. 28R30) of Cranwell in Lincolnshire, Darren Collett (Ref. 28R59) of Swindon, and Ben Nicholas Collett (Ref. 28T1) in Australia, who were all instrumental in providing some of the details.

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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).

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

28J1

John Collett

Born in 1698 at Longcot, nr Faringdon

 

28J2

ANTHONY COLLETT

Born in 1690 at Buscot

 

28J3

William Collett

Born in 1695 at Faringdon

 

 

 

 

28J1

John Collett was born at Faringdon in 1698 and he married Margaret.  It also seems very likely that they too were residents of Faringdon since that was where their son was born.

 

 

 

28K1

Richard Collett

Born in 1720 at Faringdon

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

28K2

Betty Collett

Born in 1722 at Faringdon

 

28K3

Anthony Collett

Born in 1725 at Faringdon

 

28K4

JOHN COLLETT

Born in 1728 at Faringdon

 

28K5

Sarah Collett

Born in 1732 at Faringdon

 

28K6

Ann Collett

Born in 1734 at Faringdon

 

28K7

William Collett

Born in 1736 at Faringdon

 

 

 

 

28J3

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.

 

 

 

 

28K1

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.  Elizabeth was born in 1728 and all of their children were born at Faringdon.

 

 

 

28L1

Sarah Collett

Born in 1745 at Faringdon

 

28L2

Martha Collett

Born in 1747 at Faringdon

 

28L3

William Collett

Born in 1748 at Faringdon

 

28L4

Elizabeth Collett

Born in 1753 at Faringdon

 

28L5

Lucy Collett

Born in 1755 at Faringdon

 

28L6

Alan Collett

Born in 1757 at Faringdon

 

28L7

Isaac Collett

Born in 1761 at Faringdon

 

28L8

Letitia Collett

Born in 1762 at Faringdon

 

28L9

Deborah Collett

Born in 1769 at Faringdon

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

28L10

Henry Collett

Born in 1748 at Faringdon

 

28L11

Stephen Collett

Born in 1750 at Faringdon

 

28L12

Mary Collett

Born in 1752 at Faringdon

 

28L13

Elizabeth Collett

Born in 1755 at Faringdon

 

28L14

Jane Collett

Born in 1757 at Faringdon

 

28L15

John Collett

Born in 1759 at Faringdon

 

28L16

ROBERT COLLETT

Born in 1762 at Faringdon

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

28L1

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.

 

 

 

 

28L2

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.

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

28M1

Sarah Collett

Born in 1776 at Buscot

 

28M2

Rachel Collett

Born in 1779 at Buscot

 

28M3

John Collett

Born in 1781 at Buscot

 

28M4

William Collett

Born in 1785 at Buscot

 

 

 

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. 

 

 

 

For the continuation of the family line of William Collett and Elizabeth Walker

see Part 39 – The Clanfield Oxfordshire Line (Ref. 39L1)

 

 

 

 

28L4

Elizabeth Collett was born at Faringdon where she was baptised on 4th February 1753, the daughter of Richard and Betty Collett.

 

 

 

 

28L5

Lucy Collett was born at Faringdon in 1755 and was baptised there on 19th October 1755, the daughter of Richard and Betty Collett.

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

28L9

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.

 

 

 

 

28L10

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.

 

 

 

 

28L11

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.

 

 

 

 

28L12

Mary Collett was born at Faringdon in 1752 where she was baptised on 19th April 1752, the daughter of John and Lettice Collett.

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

28L15

John Collett was born at Faringdon where he was baptised on 15th April 1759, the son of John Collett and his wife Lettice.  It seems likely, although not proved, that John married Elizabeth, since in 1779 a son Charles Collett was baptised at Buscot on 24th January 1779, he being the son of John Collett and his wife Elizabeth.  Two years later the same couple had another son baptised at Buscot, and that was John Collett who was baptised there on 16th June 1781. 

 

 

 

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).

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

28M5

Charles Collett

Born in 1779 at Buscot

 

28M6

John Collett

Born in 1781 at Buscot

 

28M7

William Collett

Born in 1784 at Buscot

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

28M8

Jane Collett

Born on 17.01.1781 at Faringdon

 

28M9

Mary Collett

Born on 09.11.1781 at Faringdon

 

28M10

Thomas Collett

Born on 24.07.1782 at Faringdon

 

28M11

Elizabeth Collett

Born on 09.03.1785 at Faringdon

 

28M12

Robert Collett

Born on 31.12.1786 at Faringdon

 

28M13

Leonard Collett

Born on 30.08.1789 at Faringdon

 

28M14

Mary Collett

Born on 30.10.1791 at Faringdon

 

28M15

WILLIAM COLLETT

Born on 30.10.1793 at Faringdon

 

28M16

Sarah Collett

Born on 19.06.1796 at Faringdon

 

 

 

 

28M1

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.

 

 

 

 

28M2

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.

 

 

 

 

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).

 

 

 

 

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. 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

28N1

Sarah Collett

Born in 1819 at Buscot

 

28N2

Rachel Collett

Born in 1821 at Buscot

 

28N3

William Collett

Born in 1822 at Buscot

 

28N4

Hester Collett

Born in 1824 at Buscot

 

28N5

Martha Collett

Born in 1828 at Buscot

 

28N6

Thomas Collett

Born in 1829 at Buscot

 

28N7

Jane Collett

Born in 1832 at Buscot

 

28N8

Elizabeth Collett

Born in 1838; infant death at Buscot

 

 

 

 

28M5

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.

 

 

 

For further details on this possible link go to Ref. 34N1 in Part 34

 

 

 

 

28M6

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.

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

For further details on this possible link go to Ref. 34N2 in Part 34

 

 

 

 

28M10

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

28N9

William Collett

Born in 1814 at Langford

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

28N10

Sarah Bond

Born in 1826 at Highworth

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

28N11

Lawrence Collett

Born in 1808 at Abingdon-on-Thames

 

28N12

Esther Collett

Born in 1815 at Abingdon-on-Thames

 

28N13

Ann Collett

Born in 1820 at Abingdon-on-Thames

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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. 

 

 

 

28N14

Thomas Collett

Born in 1813 at Faringdon

 

28N15

Jane Collett

Baptised in 1815 at Faringdon

 

28N16

Charles Collett

Baptised in 1817 at Faringdon

 

28N17

Mary Collett

Born in 1818 at Faringdon

 

28N18

Eliza Collett

Baptised in 1820 at Faringdon

 

28N19

George Collett

Baptised in 1821 at Faringdon

 

28N20

Sarah Collett

Born in 1823 at Faringdon

 

28N21

Robert Collett

Baptised in 1824 at Faringdon

 

28N22

Mary Ann Collett

Baptised in 1827 at Faringdon

 

28N23

William Collett

Baptised in 1829 at Faringdon

 

28N24

Henry Collett

Born in 1830 at Faringdon

 

28N25

Elizabeth (Betsey) Collett

Baptised in 1832 at Faringdon

 

28N26

Hester (Esther) Collett

Baptised in 1834 at Faringdon

 

28N27

Ellen Collett

Born in 1836 at Faringdon

 

28N28

Clara Collett

Born in 1840 at Faringdon

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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. 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

28N29

Stephen Collett

Born on 27.07.1825 at Alvescot

 

28N30

Elizabeth Ann Collett

Baptised on 29.07.1827 at Alvescot

 

28N31

George Collett

Baptised on 29.11.1829 at Alvescot

 

28N32

Mary Collett

Baptised on 25.03.1832 at Alvescot

 

28N33

Harriett Collett

Baptised on 20.04.1834 at Alvescot

 

28N34

Anne Collett

Baptised on 16.04.1837 at Alvescot

 

28N35

Lucy Collett

Born on 06.03.1839 at Alvescot

 

28N36

WILLIAM COLLETT

Born on 29.01.1842 at Alvescot

 

28N37

Joseph Collett

Baptised on 01.02.1846 at Alvescot

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

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. 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

In 1881 Rachel and Henry were living at the Denton and Gutsum Varnish Works on the Albert Embankment at Lambeth in London.  Henry, age 59 was listed as a Chelsea Pensioner from Faringdon, while his wife Rachel was also from Faringdon.  The only member of the family living with them at that time was their youngest daughter Ruth Hollick who was 16 and a machinist, who had been born at Bromley in Bow.  By that time their son Harry Hollick, who was living in Chelsea, was married with two children of his own. 

 

 

 

28O1

John Wheeler Collett

Born in 1842

 

28O2

Martha Hollick

Born in 1851

 

28O3

Harry Pinel Hollick

Born in 1856

 

28O4

Ruth Hollick

Born in 1865

 

 

 

 

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).

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

28O5

William Collett

Born in 1844 at Eaton Hastings

 

28O6

Maria Collett

Born in 1845 at Eaton Hastings

 

28O7

Elizabeth Collett

Born in 1847 at Eaton Hastings

 

28O8

Mary A Collett

Born in August 1850 at Eaton Hastings

 

28O9

Harriett Collett

Born in 1853 at Eaton Hastings

 

28O10

Ann Collett

Born on 04.09.1855 at Eaton Hastings

 

28O11

Susan Collett

Born in 1857 at Aldridge, near Walsall

 

28O12

George Collett

Born in 1863 at Hardwick, near Walsall

 

 

 

 

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. 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

28O13

Anne Collett

Born in 1846 at Buscot

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

Also on the same passenger list for the journey was part of the Stranks family from Thomas’ home village of Buscot.  They were mother Esther (Hester) Stranks nee Betts, her daughter Elizabeth, age 18, and her son Nathaniel who was six.  See earlier reference to Betts family name at Ref. 28M15.  Her husband Thomas Stranks had made the journey during the previous year with their two other children on board the ship ‘Sultana’ which arrived at Victoria in January 1856.  Accompanying them on the voyage was his older brother Nathaniel, his wife and an older sister.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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 Victoria in Australia but at seven different locations – see individual entries for exact details.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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:

 

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 John Collett

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

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. 

 

 

 

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 village of Hullavington where all of their children were born.  By the time of the census of 1841 Lawrence’s rounded aged was 30, while his wife Sarah was 27. 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

Sometime during the following years it would appear that Sarah passed away leaving Lawrence a widower with his younger daughters.  The census of 1881 confirmed Lawrence as a widower aged 72 and born at Abingdon.  He was listed as a pauper living at Newtown in Hullavington with his unmarried daughter Mary, age 31, and who was also referred to as a pauper and who was confirmed as having been born at Hullavington.

 

 

 

For other references to the Collett families of Norton and Hullavington see

Part 44 – The Wiltshire to New Zealand Line

 

 

 

28O26

Elizabeth Collett

Born in 1838 at Hullavington

 

28O27

Ann Collett

Born in 1840 at Hullavington

 

28O28

Jane Collett

Born in 1843 at Hullavington

 

28O29

Mary Collett

Born in 1849 at Hullavington

 

 

 

 

28N14

Thomas Collett was baptised at Faringdon on 24th October 1813, the eldest of the fourteen children of shoemaker Leonard Collett and his wife Elizabeth Scott who were married at Faringdon eleven months earlier.  It was in the late 1830s that Thomas married Esther (Hester) Vigor and by the time of the first national census the marriage had produced a son for the couple when they were living in the Westport parish of Malmesbury.  Westport no longer exists as a village, but is now part of the enlarged town of Malmesbury.  Thomas was recorded as Thos Collett, who had a rounded age of 30, while his wife was named as Esther Collett who had a rounded age of 25.  Living there with them was their son Aaron Collett who was two years old.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

28O30

AaronVigor Collett

Born in 1838 at Westport, Malmesbury

 

28O31

Joseph Collett

Born after June 1841 at Westport

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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 Crewe. 

 

 

 

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 16 Hospital Street.  And it was at that address where the family was living in 1871.  William of Faringdon was aged 42 as was his wife Hannah, and their children were Eliza J aged 14, William John 12, Leonard 10, Emma, who was six, Thomas, who was two, Walter who was just two months old.

 

 

 

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 London Road home in nearby Willaston. 

 

 

 

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 30 Jupps Road in Mile End Old Town in London.  The family comprised: Henry a tailor aged 52 of Faringdon, his wife Frances a 54 years old tailoress of London, and children Alice age 20, Mary age 18, Victoria age 16, and George who was 11, with each of the three girls being listed as a tailoress just like their mother.

 

 

 

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

George Collett was born at Alvescot and baptised there on 29th November 1829.  He married Jane Stanton at Brackley in Northamptonshire during 1850, and she was baptised on 20th April 1828 at Marston St Lawrence, which is midway between Banbury and Brackley, the daughter of Matthew and Anne Stanton.  By the time of the Alvescot census in the following year the marriage had already produced the couple’s first child.  George Collett was 21, his wife Jane was 22, and their daughter Mary was not yet one year old, while five more children were added to their family during the next decade.  However, the last of those five, Caroline, died after eight months and just ten months prior to the census day in 1861.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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 George Collett who died on July 12th 1906 aged 76 years.  Also of Jane Collett wife of the above who died February 7th 1895 aged 66 years – They rest from their labours”

 

 

 

28O52

Mary Ann Collett

Born on 13.10.1850 at Alvescot

 

28O53

John Collett

Born on 28.12.1851 at Alvescot

 

28O54

George Collett

Born on 06.02.1853 at Alvescot

 

28O55

Lucy Collett

Born on 26.11.1854 at Alvescot

 

28O56

Annie Collett

Born on 12.09.1858 at Alvescot

 

28O57

Caroline Collett

Born on 16.10.1859 at Alvescot

 

28O58

Elizabeth Collett

Born on 26.05.1861 at Alvescot

 

28O59

William Collett

Born on 21.06.1863 at Alvescot

 

 

 

 

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. 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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 George Collett (above)

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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. 

 

 

 

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 Greenock on 30th October 1874 on the Wild Deer and arrived at Port Chalmers on 20th January 1875.  That was one of ten successful trips the former China tea clipper made to New Zealand.  Making the journey with them was Charles’ sister Fanny Richards who had married William Woodley, their son William and Fanny’s two daughters from a previous marriage.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

“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.”

 

 

 

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:

 

 

 

“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’.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

28O60

Mary Ann Richards

Born in 1858

 

28O61

William Charles Richards

Born in 1860

 

28O62

Fred Richards

Born in 1865

 

28O63

Susan Richards

Born in 1866

 

28O64

Bertram Edwin Richards

Born in 1875

 

 

 

 

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. 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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. 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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”

 

 

 

28O65

WILLIAM JOHN COLLETT

Born in 1864 at Faringdon

 

28O66

Mary Ann Collett

Born in 1865 at Faringdon

 

28O67

James Collett

Born in 1867 at Faringdon

 

28O68

Caroline Collett

Born in 1869 at Faringdon

 

28O69

George Royal Collett

Born in 1871 at Rodbourne

 

28O70

Tom Alfred Collett

Born in 1873 at Swindon

 

28O71

Fanny Collett

Born in 1876 at Dauntsey

 

28O72

Frederick Collett

Born in 1878 at Wroughton

 

28O73

Elizabeth Collett

Born in 1881 at Stratton St Margaret

 

28O74

Cecil Albert John Collett

Born in 1883 at Stratton St Margaret

 

28O75

Albert Collett

Born in 1886 at Stratton St Margaret

 

28O76

James Collett

Born in 1890 at Crudwell

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

28O77

Francis William Collett

Born in 1872 at Eynsham

 

28O78

Amelia Collett

Born in 1874 at Eynsham

 

28O79

Ada Collett

Born in 1876 at Eynsham

 

28O80

Louisa Caroline Collett

Born in 1878 at Fyfield

 

28O81

Richard Edward Collett

Born in 1881 at Fyfield

 

28O82

Ellen M Collett

Born in 1889 at Fyfield

 

28O83

Gertrude Jane Collett

Born in 1892 at Fyfield