PART THIRTY-THREE

The Bourton-on-the-Water Line

This is the first of two sections of the thirty-third part of the Collett family

Updated October 2011

Part 14 – The John Kyte Collett Line also deals with many Colletts of Bourton-on-the-Water

It seems likely, although not yet proved, that the origins of this line stem from

William Collett (Ref. 2H20) who was baptised at Bourton in 1624

This is the family line of Carole Hiscock to whom thanks must go for

providing much detailed information and photographs relating to her family

33J1	WILLIAM COLLETT may have been the grandson of William Collett (Ref. 2H20) of Bourton-on-the Water. It seems likely that he was born around 1685 and married Elizabeth with whom he had a number of children all baptised at Bourton-on-the-Water where they were probably born.
	It would appear likely that their first born child died in infancy as a later child was given the same name.
	The dates of baptism of the next four children fall within only three years, and the latter three of these within a period of only eight months. The dates may therefore not be necessarily indicative of the age of each child, but perhaps just the order in which they were born. It is more likely that these four were born in 1721, 1722, 1723 and 1724 respectively.
	33K1		Thomas Collett		Baptised on 25.01.1718; infant death
	33K2		WILLIAM COLLETT		Baptised on 25.06.1721
	33K3		John Collett		Baptised on 10.11.1723
	33K4		Thomas Collett		Baptised on 24.01.1724
	33K5		Joshua Collett		Baptised on 05.07.1724
	33K6		Elizabeth Collett		Born circa 1726
	33K7		Jane Collett		Date of birth unknown
33K2	WILLIAM COLLETT was baptised at Bourton-on-the Water on 25.06.1721. He married Elizabeth and their first son was born while the family was living at Lower Slaughter, the birth being recorded in the non-conformist records at Bourton Baptist Church. However, neither of the couple’s two sons was baptised until 1768.
	The adult baptism of sons William and Henry took place in a joint ceremony at Upper Slaughter in June 1768 and were recorded as such.
	33L1		WILLIAM COLLETT		Born on 28.03.1743
	33L2		Henry Collett		Born in 1755
33K4	Thomas Collett was probably born at Bourton-on-the-Water in 1723, and was baptised there on 24.01.1724. He married Sarah and all of their children were born and baptised at Bourton.
	From the later details, relating to their eldest son Thomas, it might appear that the child was not baptised during his infant years but perhaps when he was around seven years of age. And this would support the idea that Thomas married Sarah when he was in his late twenties, rather than during his mid thirties.
	33L3		Thomas Collett	Baptised on 22.05.1757
	33L4		John Collett	Baptised on 14.06.1761 at Bourton-on-the-Water
	33L5		William Collett	Born circa 1763
	33L6		Elizabeth Collett	Born circa 1765
33K6	Elizabeth Collett was born at Bourton-on-the-Water around 1726 where on 07.10.1748 she married Thomas Smith.
33K7	Jane Collett whose date of birth is not known married Richard Packer in 1756 at Bourton.
33L1	WILLIAM COLLETT was born at Bourton-on-the-Water on 28.03.1743, but was not baptised until he was twenty-five years of age. This took place as an adult baptism at Upper Slaughter during June 1768, when his parents were recorded as William and Elizabeth Collett.
	Six years prior to this, William married Anne Matthews on 12.05.1762 at Upper Slaughter, just one mile from his place of birth. Anne or Anna was also later known as Hannah.
	In 1802 Sarah Collett (Ref. 33M15) married William Matthews at Bourton-on-the-Water, thus creating another link between the two families. Sarah was the daughter of William’s cousin Thomas Collett (below).
	It was one year after the birth of the couple’s third child that William was the subject of his adult baptism, and it would have been around this time that his wife Anne announced she was expecting their fourth child. This therefore, may have been the reason that he decided to accept being baptised.
	The Upper Slaughter baptism register confirmed that William Collett was the husband of Anne and also included the adult baptism of his brother Henry Collett in June that same year, both probably conducted on the same day.
	All of William and Anne’s children were born and baptised at Upper Slaughter.
	Very little else is known about William except that he died in 1820 and was buried on 10.12.1820 aged 78 at Bourton-on-the-Water, as recorded in the non-conformist records at the Baptist Chapel.
	33M1		Mary Collett		Baptised on 29.07.1764
	33M2		WILLIAM COLLETT		Baptised on 24.12.1765
	33M3		Hannah Collett		Baptised on 24.05.1767
	33M4		Joseph Collett		Baptised on 25.09.1768
	33M5		Sarah Jane Collett		Baptised on 22.10.1770
	33M6		John Collett		Baptised on 14.06.1773
	33M7		Richard Collett		Baptised on 26.06.1774
	33M8		Thomas Collett		Born in 1776
	33M9		Edward Collett		Baptised on 15.02.1778
	33M10		Benjamin Collett		Baptised on 10.01.1780
33L2	Henry Collett was born at Bourton-on-the Water in 1755, but was not baptised at that time. Instead he was the subject of a joint baptism with his older brother William Collett at Upper Slaughter in June 1768.
	Twelve years later, when he was twenty-five years old, he married Margaret Brain on 11.10.1780 at Barton-on-the-Heath in Warwickshire where Margaret had been born in 1759. Once married the couple settled in Upper Slaughter where all of their children were baptised.
	This was the second marriage between the Collett and Brain families, following the union of Mary Collett and Thomas Brain at Little Rissington on 17.02.1717.
	Henry Collett died in 1828 and his Will was proved on 29.12.1828 in which he was referred to as ‘Henry Collett Yeoman of Upper Slaughter’.
	33M11		John Brain Collett		Baptised on 18.01.1783
	33M12		Henry Collett		Baptised on 14.08.1792
	33M13		Carolina Collett		Baptised on 06.02.1795
	33M14		Keziah Collett		Baptised on 24.12.1797
33L3	Thomas Collett was born at Bourton-on-the-Water and baptised there on 22.05.1757. It is possible that Thomas was around ten years of age when he was baptised. And it was at Bourton on 08.10.1778 that he married Elizabeth Cooper of Lower Slaughter.
	From the date of her death, it is established that Elizabeth was born around 1750, so would have been a similar age to Thomas, had he been around seven years old at the time of his baptism.
	Whilst all of their children were baptised at the church in Bourton, it is possibly that the family was living at nearby Lower Slaughter, from whence Elizabeth came and where she was buried.
	Elizabeth Collett died on 26.10.1827 and was buried in the churchyard of St Mary’s Church at Lower Slaughter. The headstone epitaph reads ‘Elizabeth wife of Thomas Collett died October 26^th 1827 aged 77’. So far no record of the death of her husband has been found.
	33M15		Sarah Collett		Baptised on 15.05.1780
	33M16		Thomas Collett		Baptised on 25.12.1781
	33M17		Mary Maria Collett		Baptised on 09.10.1786
	33M18		John Collett		Baptised on 01.04.1791
33L5	William Collett was born at Bourton-on-the-Water around 1763, the third known son of Thomas and Sarah Collett. William was around seven years old when he died and was buried at Bourton on 20.02.1770.
33L6	Elizabeth Collett was born at Bourton-on-the-Water around 1765, the only known daughter of Thomas and Sarah Collett. It was also at Bourton that she died and was buried on 19.07.1777.
33M1	Mary Collett was born at Upper Slaughter where she was baptised on 29.07.1764. She married Anthony Hall at Eyford on 23.02.1792. Eyford lies to the north of Upper Slaughter and south-west of Stow-on-the-Wold.
33M2	WILLIAM COLLETT was born at Upper Slaughter where he was also baptised on 24.12.1765, the eldest son of William and Anne Collett. He married Sarah Hollands on 12.08.1789 at Upper Slaughter by licence, and it was at Upper Slaughter that all of their children were later baptised.
	However, in the national census data from 1841 onwards, some of their children gave other nearby locations as their place of birth.
	William Collett was buried at Upper Slaughter following his death on 02.09.1847 at the age of eighty-one. Just over six years before this, William was seventy-five years old, when he was recorded in the Upper Slaughter census of 1841 as a widower.
	33N1		Anne Collett		Baptised on 25.07.1790
	33N2		Paris Collett		Baptised on 22.02.1792
	33N3		James Collett		Baptised on 14.07.1793
	33N4		Thomas Collett		Baptised on 11.01.1795
	33N5		John Collett		Baptised on 07.05.1797
	33N6		Hannah Collett		Baptised on 21.09.1800
	33N7		RICHARD COLLETT		Baptised on 01.01.1804
	33N8		George Collett		Born in 1806 (not yet proved)
33M3	Hannah Collett was born at Upper Slaughter where she was baptised on 24.05.1767, the daughter of William and Anne Collett.
	Hannah, who may have been known as Betty, married Thomas Yearp at Upper Slaughter on 28.07.1794 and they had a daughter Rachel Yearp and a son Thomas who were both baptised at Bourton-on-the-Water.
	Their daughter Rachel was recorded as Rebecca Yearp when she married George Collett in 1831, while their son Thomas was a farmer at Lower Slaughter in 1881. Living and working with Thomas Yearp in 1881 was fifteen years old Charles Collett (Ref. 33P6) of Maugersbury, the great grandson of Hannah’s brother William Collett (above).
	33N9	Rachel Yearp married George Collett (Ref. 33N8)					Baptised on 22.04.1807
	33N10	Thomas Yearp – see Ref. 33P6					Baptised on 14.03.1813
33M4	Joseph Collett was born at Upper Slaughter in 1768 where he was baptised on 25.09.1768, the son of William and Anne Collett. In the census of 1851 Joseph was eighty-two, when he was living with his younger brother Thomas Collett (below) at his Upper Slaughter home. Both men were described as ‘annuitant born at Upper Slaughter’.
33M5	Sarah Jane Collett was at Upper Slaughter where she was baptised on 22.10.1770. It would appear that she lived with her parents into their elderly years since she was aged 43 when, as Jane Collett, she married William Rowland (Ref. 10L1) on 14.12.1813 at Bourton-on-the-Water.
	Jane married with the consent of her father William, who with Jane’s mother Hannah was one of the witnesses at the wedding ceremony.
	Jane was William’s second wife and in 1818 the couple were known to be living at Lower Slaughter with William’s daughter Elizabeth born in 1804.
	William died around 1831 and ten years late Jane was listed as living at Shalfleet in Hampshire with her step-daughter Elizabeth Elliott.
	Further details of the Rowland family line are provided in Part Ten – Other Branch Lines (Ref. 10L1 for William Rowland)
33M8	Thomas Collett was born at Upper Slaughter in 1776. He married Elizabeth and in the first national census in June 1841 Thomas of Upper Slaughter was aged 65 and his wife Elizabeth was aged 49.
	Ten years later in the 1851 Census the couple were listed as Thomas Collett aged 75 an annuitant of Upper Slaughter and his wife Elizabeth of Kingham aged 58. Living with them at Upper Slaughter was Thomas’ older brother Joseph (above) who was also described as an annuitant, born at Upper Slaughter.
33M11	John Brain Collett was born at Upper Slaughter and was baptised there on 18.01.1783, the eldest child of Henry Collett and Margaret Brain. He married Ann Lea on 24.12.1812 at Upper Slaughter where their children were born. Ann was the daughter of Thomas Lea, of Kirkham Farm in Upper Slaughter, and his wife Esther Burford.
	By the time of the census in June 1841 the family living at Upper Slaughter comprised John 55 and Ann 50, and their five children John 20 (rounded aged), Sarah 20, Henry 15, Jane 13 and Hester aged 10.
	John and Ann appear in the 1851 Census as follows: John B Collett aged 68 a farmer of 52 acres born at Upper Slaughter with wife Ann aged 62 born at Crudwell in Wiltshire. Living with them was unmarried son Henry aged 26 and born at Upper Slaughter.
	Ann’s brother Edward Lea aged 54 and a farmer of 560 acres was also a resident of Upper Slaughter in 1851 with his wife Elizabeth and their six children, all born at Upper Slaughter.
	John died in early 1852 and his Will was proved on 05.04.1852. Rather strangely he had decided to drop his surname of Collett and had adapted his second Christian name as the Will referred to him as ‘John Braine, otherwise John Brain Collett Yeoman of Upper Slaughter’.
	33N11		John Brain Collett		Baptised on 24.12.1816
	33N12		Sarah Collett		Born in 1821
	33N13		Henry Collett		Baptised on 18.08.1824
	33N14		Jane Elizabeth Collett		Born in 1827
	33N15		Hester Margaret Collett		Baptised on 25.07.1831
33M13	Carolina Collett was baptised at Upper Slaughter on 06.02.1795, the daughter of Henry Collett and Margaret Brain. Tragically she only survived for a few years, when she died at Upper Slaughter on 08.05.1800.
33M15	Sarah Collett was born at Bourton-on-the-Water and was baptised there on 15.05.1780. She later married William Matthews (born 1772) at Bourton on 02.09.1802. It is of interest that in 1762 William Collett (Ref. 33L1), who was the cousin of Sarah’s father Thomas Collett (Ref. 33L4), married Ann Matthews at Upper Slaughter thus creating an earlier link between the two families.
	The marriage between Sarah and William produced a number of children including Thomas C (Collett?) Matthews (born 1804), twins Elizabeth and John Matthews (born 1809), and Marianne (Mary Ann) Matthews (born 1818).
	Eldest son Thomas married Ann (?) and lived the early part of their married life at Bourton before moving to live in Surrey, but it seems likely their first born son was William Matthews born in 1831. In 1861 farmer William Matthews aged 29 was living at Lower Slaughter with his young wife Mary nee Stephens aged 20 and their eight months old daughter Mary. Living with them was Mary’s brother Thomas Stephens aged 15 and a 16 years old servant girl Elizabeth Collett (Ref. 33O17) of Bourton.
	Sarah and William’s youngest daughter Marianne Matthews married Thomas Downing at Bourton on 05.07.1838 and the ceremony was witnessed by Marianne’s brother Thomas Matthews and her mother Sarah Matthews (nee Collett).
	According to the census of 1851 William Matthews was a 79 years old widower who was born at Bourton. His occupation was stated as being that of church warden. Living with him on 30^th March 1851 was his married daughter Elizabeth Colin aged 40 who was working as a dressmaker.
	As Elizabeth Matthews she had married William Colin at Bourton on 27.05.1829. By 1861 William Matthews had passed away but his daughter Elizabeth, now a milliner aged 52, was still living at Bourton, and again without her husband who, it is believed, died when aged 45.
	Elizabeth Colin aged 60 was retired by the time of early April 1871 and was still a resident at Bourton, but during the next few years she must have died as she was not listed in the 1881 Census.
33M16	Thomas Collett was born at Bourton-on-the-Water where he was baptised on 25.12.1781. He later married Elizabeth who was born at Northleach around 1780 and all of their children were baptised at Bourton, although it seem very likely that the family lived at nearby Lower Slaughter.
	The marriage most likely took place during the first few years of the new century and so by mid 1805 the couple were expecting the arrival of their first born child. Tragically the child, a son born in October 1805 died in February 1806.
	Just over twenty years later in 1827 the child’s grandmother Elizabeth Collett died and was buried in the graveyard of the Church of St Mary at Lower Slaughter. The grave is marked by a headstone with an inscription that includes her grandson. This reads ‘Elizabeth wife of Thomas Collett died October 26^th 1827 aged 77 – Also Thomas their grandson who died February 1806 aged 4 months’.
	Two other events confirm a connection with Lower Slaughter. The first that son Joseph was born there in 1814 and secondly that it was there that Thomas died on 04.06.1850. And it was there that he was buried in a tomb in the churchyard of St Mary’s Church. The tombstone that he shared with his wife, confirmed ‘Thomas Collett died June 4^th 1850 aged 68’.
	Following the death of her husband Elizabeth appears to have moved to the nearby village of Wick Rissington where she was listed as living in the 1851 Census. The census return recorded that she was the head of the household aged 71 and a widow. At that time she was the farmer of 350 acres of land and living with her was her son Joseph Collett, age 36 and from Lower Slaughter.
	Also with her was her grand daughter Elizabeth Amelia Collett who was four years old and born at Wick Rissington, the child of her son Thomas James Collett who also farmed in Wick Rissington. The family was supported by two servants, Sarah Earle aged 32 of Northleach and Thomas Harris aged 24 of Churchill.
	When Elizabeth died just over five years later she was buried with her husband in the tomb in the ground of St Mary’s Church at Lower Slaughter. The tombstone epitaph above that of her husband’s reads ‘Elizabeth wife of Thomas Collett who died September 25^th 1856 aged 77 years’.
	33N16		Thomas Collett		Born in October 1805; died Feb 1806
	33N17		Thomas Collett		Baptised on 01.12.1807
	33N18		Elizabeth Collett		Baptised on 29.05.1809
	33N19		Thomas James Collett		Baptised on 07.01.1812
	33N20		John Collett		Baptised on 13.07.1813
	33N21		Joseph Collett		Born in 1814
33N4	Thomas Collett was born at Upper Slaughter and was baptised there on 11.01.1795. He married Ann Eden at Lower Slaughter on 13.10.1823. Not long after they were married the couple moved just over the county boundary into Oxfordshire where they settled in the village of Fifield where their first two children were born.
	The fact that nothing so far has been revealed about Thomas’ older brother Paris Collett might indicate that he suffered an early death and that it was this that prompted Thomas to name his first born son after his late brother.
	Sometime later the family moved to Longborough north of Stow-on-the-Wold where their first daughter was born and baptised. Their time at Longborough was short-lived since their next three children were born and baptised at Little Rissington.
	Sadly by June 1841 Thomas was a widower living at Little Rissington with five of his six children. That year’s census revealed the family was made up of Thomas with a ‘rounded age’ of 45, and his children Paris 16, George 13, Hannah 11, William 9 and Lucy aged 7.
	One of the children was missing from the census and this child was the latest addition to the family, Stephen. His absence may indicate that he died shortly after the baptism and that this event may have been related to the death of his mother Ann who very likely died around the same time.
	By the time of the next census in 1851, family life had been shattered by the death of the children’s father Thomas, who died in 1850. Thomas’ eldest son Paris was living with Thomas’ brother John Collett (below) at Little Rissington in 1851, but it is unclear where his other children were.
	33O1		Paris Collett		Born in 1825
	33O2		George Collett		Born in 1827
	33O3		Hannah Collett		Born in 1829
	33O4		William Collett		Born in 1831
	33O5		Lucy Collett		Born in 1833
	33O6		Stephen Collett		Born in 1835
33N5	John Collett was born at Upper Slaughter and was baptised there on 07.05.1797. He was an agricultural labourer and he married (1) Mary Greening at Upper Slaughter on 21.11.1822. This first marriage for John produced all of his children, with the first three being born at Bourton-on-the-Water and the last one listed below at Little Rissington. There may have been other children born between 1832 and 1840.
	By June 1841 the family was established at Little Rissington and comprised John aged 40 and Mary 35, and their four children William 13, Thomas 11, Elizabeth 8 and one year old Job. However, the couple’s eldest daughter was missing, either away from home or she had died prior to 1841.
	Less than two years later Mary tragically died on 13.03.1843 at the age of 40 and was buried in the family grave at St Lawrence’s Church Cemetery in Bourton.
	John later married (2) Phoebe of Wilstone near Aylesbury and in 1851 the couple were living at Little Rissington. With the couple were John’s son Job Collett and his nephew Paris Collett who had lived with John since the death of his brother Thomas Collett (above) during the previous year.
	The census entry recorded that John was aged 53 and was born at Upper Slaughter and that Phoebe also 53 years of age. John’s son was confirmed as being aged 10 and born at Little Rissington, while his nephew Paris was an agricultural labourer aged 26 who has been born at Fifield by Burford.
	By 1861 John and Phoebe were living on their own with two of John’s children having already died and the other two having left home. John was aged 64 and still an agricultural labourer and Phoebe was 63.
	Phoebe Collett died at Bourton on 14.12.1869 aged 72, followed by John just over two years later on 23.03.1872 aged 76. Both were buried in the family grave in the cemetery at St Lawrence’s Church in Bourton. In total the family grave contained the bodies of John, his two wives and his three eldest children. (see Headstone Epitaphs)
	33O7		Sarah Collett		Born on 09.04.1825
	33O8		William Collett		Baptised on 27.08.1827
	33O9		Thomas Collett		Born on 18.10.1829
	33O10		Elizabeth Collett		Baptised on 30.07.1832
	33O11		Job Collett		Born in 1840
33N7	RICHARD COLLETT was born at Upper Slaughter and was baptised there on 01.01.1804 in the Reign of King George III. He married Sarah Cross on 06.01.1830 at Bourton-on-the-Water with whom he had eight children, all of which were born/baptised at Bourton and where Sarah was born in 1810.
	Richard, with his family, was listed in consecutive census records for Bourton from 1851 to 1871 as being an agricultural labourer, while Sarah was listed in 1851 as being aged 42 and a charwoman. In 1851 the children were listed as Robert aged 17 and a shepherd, John aged 14 an agricultural labourer, Emma 11, Job 9, Elizabeth 6 and Esther only four months old and all were born at Bourton.
	There was no mention of their eldest daughter Amy who was working away from home or Ann who had been born only three years before the census date. It must therefore be assumed for the latter that she had been subject to an infant death.
	By the time of the next census in 1861 nearly all of the children had left home. Only the youngest daughter Esther aged 11 was living with Richard and Sarah but the extra space in the house had been occupied by Sarah’s mother, 73 years old Elizabeth Cross a labourer of Bourton.
	All of the children had left the family home at Bourton by 1871, but on the day of the Census Richard 67 and Sarah 62 were looking after grand-daughter Lydia Collett (Ref. 33P24) aged 6 years and born at Stow-on-the-Wold the second daughter of their son John Collett. She may have been a sick child as she does not appear in the census ten years later and it is known that two of her siblings died very young.
	The details recorded in the later Census of 1881 for Bourton list only Richard, as a 77 years old general labourer born at Upper Slaughter, and his wife Sarah Collett, aged 71 and born at Bourton, living at a house in Sherborne Street in Bourton.
	Ten years later the Bourton Census of 1891 included Richard now aged 87 and Sarah aged 82, the only change being that Richard had retired and was listed as a former general labourer.
	It is interesting to note that Hannah Collett, the widow of Richard and Sarah’s son Job Collett, was also living in Sherborne Street in both 1881 and 1891 and only about five doors away.
	33O12		Amy Collett		Born in 1831
	33O13		Robert Collett		Baptised on 14.09.1834
	33O14		John Collett		Born in 1837
	33O15		Emma Collett		Born in 1838
	33O16		JOB COLLETT		Baptised on 17.06.1842
	33O17		Elizabeth Collett		Born in 1845
	33O18		Ann Collett		Born in 1848; died before 1851
	33O19		Esther Collett		Born in December 1850
33N8	George Collett is believed to have been the youngest son of William Collett and Sarah Hollands of Upper Slaughter and was born in 1806, although all of this still needs to be confirmed. For the record, the baptism of only one George Collett has been found around this time, and this was the child of John and Martha Collett who was baptised at Stow-on-the-Wold on 7^th January 1807.
	However, it is known that George Collett married Rebecca (Rachel) Yearp at Upper Slaughter on 15.08.1831 when she was around thirty-six years old. It was as Rachel that she was baptised at Bourton-on-the-Water on 22.04.1807, the daughter of Hannah Collett and Thomas Yearp.
	Rebecca’s mother Hannah was the sister of George’s father William Collett, thus making her a first cousin to her husband George. One fact that may be an indication this assumption is correct, comes from the census in 1881 when Rebecca’s brother Thomas Yearp had living with him on his farm at Lower Slaughter, Charles Collett (Ref. 33P6) of this family line.
	The marriage of George and Rebecca produced five children for the couple, with the first four being baptised at Upper Slaughter, while the fifth was baptised just two miles away at Wick Rissington. The baptism of each of the five children recorded the parents as George and Rebecca Collett.
	At the time of the census in June 1841, the family was living within the Stow-on-the-Wold & Bourton-on-the-Water registration district and was recorded as George Collett 34, his wife Rebecca 30, and their four children Charles 8, Edward 7, Frederick 5, and Martha who was three.
	Ten years after, the 1851 Census confirmed that the family was living at Bourton-on-the-Water, where George was a blacksmith aged forty-four, while his wife was then recorded as ‘Rachel Collett aged 56’. The fact she used her baptism name was slightly curious, after many years of being Rebecca, while the incorrect age must have been an error in transcription.
	The family at that time comprised sons Charles who was nineteen and a porter, Edward seventeen, Frederick who was fifteen and a blacksmith/agricultural labourer, and daughter Martha A Collett who was fourteen. Emma, the couple’s fifth child does not appear so, may have been an infant death.
	Sometime during the next ten years Rebecca (Rachel) died leaving George a widower, as confirmed in the census of 1861. At that time he was fifty-four and was still living at Bourton with his unmarried children Edward, who was twenty-six and an agricultural labourer, Frederick who was twenty-five and a blacksmith like his father, and Martha who had taken on the role of lady of the house and housekeeper at the age of twenty-three.
	By the time of the next census in 1871 only the blacksmith father and son partnership of George and Frederick were still recorded as continuing to live in Bourton. George was sixty-four and Frederick was thirty-six, and it may be assumed that daughter Martha Ann Collett was married by that time.
	George Collett died on 31.08.1879 at the age of seventy-one and was buried in the churchyard of St Lawrence’s Church in Bourton-on-the-Water, where a headstone marks the site of the grave. Buried in the same plot, but five years earlier, was George’s son Frederick Collett. (see Headstone Epitaphs)
	33O20		Charles Collett		Baptised on 09.09.1832
	33O21		Edward Collett		Baptised on 22.06.1834
	33O22		Frederick Collett		Baptised on 25.12.1836
	33O23		Martha Ann Collett		Baptised on 25.12.1837
	33O24		Emma Collett		Baptised on 18.07.1842; died before 1851
33N11	John Brain Collett was born at Upper Slaughter where he was baptised on 24.12.1816. He married Mary Ann who was born around 1820 at Great Rissington. All of their children were born at Upper Slaughter
	By 1851 the family was living at Upper Slaughter and comprised John B Collett 34 an agricultural labourer, his wife Mary 29 of Great Rissington, and their two young daughters Ann aged 4 and Caroline aged 2.
	Ten years on and the family had grown and John Brain Collett was now a farmer of 52 acres at Upper Slaughter. His wife’s name in the census was given as Mary Jane aged 40 of Great Rissington, rather than Mary Ann.
	Their children were now listed as Ann Eliza 14, Caroline 12, plus John Brain Collett aged 9, Mary Ann aged 4 and George Edward aged 1, and all born at Upper Slaughter.
	For the 1871 Census they were more changes. John was now 54 and his wife Mary Ann 50. Eldest daughter Ann Eliza must have married and moved away as there was no record of her living at Upper Slaughter.
	The couple’s second daughter was listed as Caroline Sarah aged 22 and her siblings at that time were John Brain 19, Mary Jane 14 (rather than Mary Ann), George Edward 11, and new arrivals Margaret Ellen aged 8 and Francis William aged 4, all of Upper Slaughter.
	John Brain Collett had died prior to the 1881 Census in which Mary Ann was listed as a widow aged 60 living in the village of Upper Slaughter with her youngest son Francis William aged 14, a carpenter’s apprentice. The boy’s father, and Mary Ann’s husband, had died on 14.03.1880 aged 63 years and a headstone in the churchyard of St Peter’s Church at Upper Slaughter marks his grave.
	By 1881 Mary Ann’s two other sons had left the family home. Eldest son John Brain Collett was married but was still living at Upper Slaughter, while George Edward was still a bachelor and was living at Deptford in London.
	Within the next few years Mary’s son Francis was married so by 1891 Mary, who was aged 70, was listed in the census records as still living Upper Slaughter but with her son and his young family.
	Mary Ann Collett died at Upper Slaughter on 13.07.1895 and was buried at St Peter’s Church with her husband.
	33O25		Ann Eliza Collett		Born in 1846
	33O26		Caroline Sarah Collett		Born in 1848
	33O27		John Brain Collett		Born in 1851
	33O28		Mary Ann Collett		Born in 1856
	33O29		George Edward Collett		Born in 1859
	33O30		Margaret Ellen Collett		Born in 1862
	33O31		Francis William Collett		Born in 1866
33N14	Jane Elizabeth Collett was born around 1827 and she later married James Cambray. At the time of the 1871 Census Jane’s and James’ eldest daughter Sarah Anne Cambray was recorded as working as a housemaid at the home of Rector Edward Francis Witts the son of the Reverend Francis Edward Witts the author of “The Diary of a Cotswold Parson”.
	By a strange coincidence also visiting the Witts household on 2^nd April in 1871 was twenty-one years old Amy Collett (Ref. 14N14) of Upper Slaughter, whose occupation was also that of a housemaid.
33N19	Thomas James Collett was very likely born at Lower Slaughter where his father had a farm, although he was baptised at nearby Bourton-on-the-Water 07.01.1812, the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Collett. He married Elizabeth Amelia who was born at Northleach in 1822. The couple moved to live at Wick Rissington shortly after they were married, and that was where their children were born and baptised.
	It seems very likely from the naming of their third and fifth child that Thomas’ wife maiden name may have been Elizabeth Amelia Hall. There was also a later ‘Hall’ connection, when one of the couple’s children was staying with John Hall Clack and his wife Elizabeth from Henley-in-Arden.
	At the time of the 1851 Census, Thomas James Collett, age 39, was farming 220 acres of land at Wick Rissington. The census listed his place of birth as Lower Slaughter and living with him was his wife aged 29, their son Thomas James Collett who was two, and daughters Mary Hall Collett who was one year old, and Martha Collett who was just three months old. All three of them had been born at Wick Rissington.
	Also with the family at that time was Hannah Wilcox, a nurse from Great Rissington, and Jane Bowl an 18 years old servant from Lower Slaughter.
	Their eldest daughter Elizabeth Amelia Collett was not at the family’s farm on the day of the census, instead she was staying with her elderly grandmother on a neighbouring farm in Wick Rissington. Four years old Elizabeth Collett was recorded as the grandchild of Elizabeth Collett, age 71, who had living with her, her unmarried son Joseph Collett, age 36, the younger brother of Elizabeth Amelia’s father Thomas James Collett.
	Two years later the couple’s last child was born, and sometime after that the family left Wick Rissington when they moved to Oldberrow, a village midway between Studley and Henley-in-Arden. And it was there that the family was living in 1861, but without all of the five children. Farmer Thomas J Collett of Lower Slaughter was 49, his wife Elizabeth A Collett from Northleach was also 49, and their three children were Elizabeth A Collett 14, Martha J Colett 10, and John Hall Collett who was seven years old.
	The Collett family was supported at that time by five servants, including one carter, two cowmen, one plough boy, and one housemaid.
	The couple’s missing son Thomas J Collet, age 12 and a scholar from Wick Rissington, was living with his uncle, farmer Joseph Collett of Lower Slaughter and his wife Eliza from Lower Swell, at their farmhouse in Lower Slaughter, where he was recorded as nephew. Joseph Collett (below) was the brother of Thomas’ father.
	Their missing daughter Mary Hall Collett, age 11 of Wick Rissington, was a visitor at Church Street in Warwick, where she was staying at the home of London builder John Hall Clack, age 29, his wife Elizabeth, age 25, from Henley-in-Arden. Whether she was related in some way to the family, is not known at this time, although the ‘Hall’ name may well confirm a link.
	Once again the family was divided ten years later, according to the census in 1871. Thomas James Collett was 59 and was a visitor at the Upper Slaughter farm of his brother Joseph Collett (below). With him was his daughter Martha Jane Collett who was 20 and born at Wick Rissington. At that same time, in 1871, his wife Elizabeth Amelia Collett, age 59 and from Northleach, was recorded as married and a farmer’s wife, while living at Bishop’s Farm in Oldberrow, with three of her children. They were Elizabeth Collett who was 24, Mary Hall Collett who was 21, and John Hall Collett who was 17. The family was supported by two farm servants, Thomas Hutton who was 20, and Walter Whyatt who was 17.
	Of the couple’s five children, only their eldest son, Thomas James Collett, has not been located in the census of 1871, when he would have been 22.
	It must be assumed that Thomas James Collett (senior) died sometime during the 1870s since as he does not appear anywhere in Great Britain in the census of 1881. His widow, Elizabeth A Collett of Northleach, was 69 and was an annuitant living in a property in the High Street in Wootton Wawen in Warwickshire, just south of Henley-in-Arden. With her was her youngest daughter, spinster Martha J Collett, age 30 and from Wick Rissington.
	33O32		Elizabeth Amelia Collett		Born in 1846 at Wick Rissington
	33O33		Thomas James Collett		Born in 1848 at Wick Rissington
	33O34		Mary Hall Collett		Born in 1849 at Wick Rissington
	33O35		Martha Jane Collett		Born in 1851 at Wick Rissington
	33O36		John Hall Collett		Born in 1853 at Wick Rissington
33N21	Joseph Collett was born at Lower Slaughter in 1814, the youngest son of Thomas Collett of Bourton-on-the-Water and his wife Elizabeth from Northleach. It would appear that he married later in his life, possible during the 1850s when he was around 40 years old.
	By the time of the 1851 Census Joseph, age 36, was a farmer at his mother’s 350 acre holding at Wick Rissington. With him on the day of the census was his niece Elizabeth Amelia Collett who was four years old and the daughter of his brother Thomas James Collett (above). It was during the following decade that Joseph Collett married Eliza who was born at Lower Swell in 1822.
	Ten years later and Joseph Collett was 46 and was a farmer of only 50 acres at Lower Slaughter, having moved there from Wick Rissington. To assist him with working the farm, Joseph employed two men and 2 boys. With him on that occasion was his wife Eliza Collett, age 38, and their nephew Thomas J Collett who was 12 and born at Wick Rissington, the son of Joseph’s brother Thomas (above). It was three years later that the couple were surprised by the birth of their only child.
	By 1871 Joseph had moved again, this time to Upper Slaughter where he was still a farmer at the age of 56. Living with him was his wife Eliza who was 48, together with their daughter Mary Eliz. Collett who was six years old. Also visiting the family was Joseph’s brother, farmer Thomas James Collett (above), age 59, who had with him his daughter Martha Jane Collett, who was 20.
	Although farming on a much smaller scale than in earlier times, the family still had a servant in the form of Ann Arthurs who was 17 years old and from Stow-on-the-Wold. With no record of Joseph found after that time, it must be assumed that he died during the 1870s.
	By the time of the census in 1881, his widow Eliza Collett, from Lower Swell was 58, and was a visitor at the home of tailor, draper, and postmaster, William Walton, age 60 and a widower from Longborough, at the Market place in Stow-on-the-Wold.
	33O37		Mary Elizabeth Collett		Born in 1864
33O1	Paris Collett was born in 1824 just a short distance from Little Rissington in the Oxfordshire village of Fifield by Burford. And it was there that he was baptised on 28.10.1824. The Bishop’s Transcript for the parish church at Fifield near Burford confirmed that his parents were Thomas and Ann Collett.
	At sometime after he was born his family first moved to Longborough and then to Little Rissington where they were in June 1841 and where Paris was aged 16. His mother Ann had died just a few years earlier leaving Paris and his siblings to be brought up by their widowed father Thomas.
	Ten years later Paris’ occupation was that of an agricultural labourer and according to the 1851 Census he was aged 26 and was not married, but was living with his late father’s brother John Collett (Ref. 33N6) at his home in Little Rissington, his father having died in 1850.
	He married Lucy Ann Palmer and by 1861 he and his young family were living at Bourton-on-the-Water. Paris was aged 37, Lucy 37 was a dressmaker born at Bourton, and their children were William aged 9, Lucy Ann aged 5 and Paris aged 1, all of whom were born at Bourton.
	Living with them was Lucy’s father and agricultural labourer William Palmer aged 71 and a widower who was born at Bourton in 1790. There is an earlier reference to a Thomas Palmer who was born in 1800 and was a grocer of Bourton in 1851 but not in 1861 by which time Charles Collett (above) had taken over the business. William and Thomas Palmer may have been brothers.
	In all, the marriage between Paris and Lucy produced five children, the fifth being born at Bourton around the mid 1860s.
	By 1871 the family was still living at Bourton and comprised Paris and Lucy both aged 46, and their children William 19 an agricultural labourer like his father, Lucy aged 15, Paris aged 11 and Thomas aged 4. Still living with the family was father-in-law William Palmer aged 81.
	According to the Bourton 1881 Census, Paris aged 56 a labourer of Fifield and his wife Lucy Ann also 56 of Bourton, were living at The Bank in Bourton with four of their children and two grandchildren. These were sons William 27, Paris 23 and Thomas 15, and daughter Lucy Ann 25.
	Only eldest son William was married although tragically his wife had died leaving him a widower with his two children Emily aged 6 and Helen S Collett aged 3 again both having been born at Bourton. It is of interest that The Bank was also the address for Albert Collett (Ref. 2O34) aged 40 in 1881.
	Ten years later in 1891 Paris and Lucy Ann were still living in Bourton, both now aged 66. Living with them on this occasion was unmarried daughter Mary Ann aged 30 (who was missing from the family home in 1881 and may have been living and working elsewhere), and unmarried sons Paris aged 32 and Thomas aged 24, both agricultural labourers.
	In addition to these three, the family was still caring for three grandchildren. These were granddaughters Emily aged 16, Ellen aged 13, the children from the first marriage of their son William, and grandson William aged 7, the base born son of their aforementioned daughter Mary Ann.
	Just after the turn of the century Paris, now a retired farm labourer aged 76, and his wife Lucy also 76, were still living at Bourton and the only member of the family still living with them at that time was their seventeen years old grandson William George Collett (Ref. 33Q12).
	33P1		William Collett		Born in 1853
	33P2		Lucy Ann Collett		Born in 1855
	33P3		Paris Collett		Born in 1859
	33P4		Mary Ann Collett		Born in 1860
	33P5		Thomas Collett		Born in 1866
33O2	George Collett was born at Fifield in 1827. Not long after he was born the family moved north to Longborough where they stayed for just over a couple of years. Another moved followed, this time to Little Rissington where George was aged 13 in June 1841.
33O3	Hannah Collett was born in 1829 at Longborough north of Stow-on-the-Wold and was baptised there on 25.10.1829. By the time of the census of 1841 Hannah and her widowed father, together with her siblings, were living at Little Rissington where she was listed as being aged 11.
	No record of Hannah has been found in any subsequent census record. There was however a Hannah Spragg born at Longborough in 1829 who was married to William Spragg in 1881.
33O4	William Collett was born at Little Rissington in 1831 and was aged 9 in the 1841 Census for that village. No further record of William has so far been located.
33O5	Lucy Collett was born at Little Rissington in 1833 and was baptised there on 19.10.1834. She was still there in 1841 when she was 7 years of age. No record of Lucy has been found in any subsequent census record.
33O6	Stephen Collett was born at Little Rissington early in the year of 1835. And it was there that he was baptised on 12.04.1835, the son of Thomas and Ann Collett. It seems very likely that Ann and Stephen both died shortly after the christening since neither of them appeared in the 1841 Census, in which Stephen’s father Thomas was listed as a widower.
33O8	William Collett was born at Bourton-on-the-Water in 1827 and was baptised there on 27.08.1827. He was recorded as being aged 13 in the 1841 Census. It has not be determined if he ever married, but he died at the age of 32 on 26.11.1859 at Bourton where he was buried in the family grave at St Lawrence’s Church. see Headstone Epitaphs)
33O9	Thomas Collett was born at Bourton-on-the-Water on 18.10.1829. In 1851 Thomas was aged 20 and was working as a servant on the 900 acre farm of 70 years old Thomas Hyatt at Snowhill.
	It has not been determined whether he married or not over the following eight years, but he died on 19.03.1859 at the age of 30 and was buried in the family grave at St Lawrence’s Church in Bourton. (see Headstone Epitaphs)
33O10	Elizabeth Collett was baptised at Bourton-on-the-Water on 30.07.1832. In 1851 Elizabeth was aged 19 and was working as a servant on the 300 acre farm of 50 years old George James at Guiting Power. Tragically she died three years later on 31.07.1854 when aged only 22 and was buried in the family grave at St Lawrence’s Church in Bourton. (see Headstone Epitaphs)
33O11	Job Collett was born at Little Rissington in 1840 and was one year old in June 1841. He was listed in the 1851 Census as being aged 10 and was living with his parents at Little Rissington. His cousin Paris Collett (above) aged 26 was also with the family at that time.
	He married Mary of Maugersbury near Stow-on-the-Wold where the couple set up home and where their son and four of their five daughters were born. The sixth child was born at Sherborne, while the seventh child was born after the family had returned to Maugersbury.
	By the time of the census in 1871 the family living at Stow comprised Job who was 30, his wife Mary who was 27, and three of their child, Charles 5, Emma 4, and Ellen aged 2.
	The family appeared in the 1881 Census for Maugersbury as follows: Job aged 40 a groom (non domestic) of Little Rissington; his wife Mary aged 38 of Maugersbury; and daughters Helen aged 12, Annie aged 10, Agnes, aged 8, Rosa aged 6 and Edith aged just five months.
	Living with the family at 22 Well Lane in Maugersbury was unmarried lodger John Jenkins aged 67, an agricultural labourer from Bibury.
	It would appear from the census ten years later that Job who was listed as Joseph was 50 and was living at Stow with his wife Mary who was 47, and with them was their daughter Edith May who was ten years old.
	By March 1901 Job was still referred to as Joseph when he was 60 and still living at Stow with his wife Mary who was 58. During the next ten years Mary died leaving Job a widower. This was confirmed in the census of 1911 when he was 70 and on that occasion his two unmarried daughters Mary and Edith were looking after him in his old age. His place of birth was confirmed as Little Rissington.
	33P6		Charles Collett		Born in 1865
	33P7		Emma Collett		Born in 1866
	33P8		Helen E Collett		Born in 1868 at Maugersbury
	33P9		Annie Collett		Born in 1870 at Maugersbury
	33P10		Agnes Mary Collett		Born in 1872
	33P11		Rosa Collett		Born in 1874
	33P12		Edith May Collett		Born in 1880
33O12	Amy Collett was born at Bourton-on-the-Water in 1831. According to the 1851 Census, Amy was a 21 years old housemaid working at the Upper Slaughter home of Justice of the Peace and Rector Edward Francis Witt. Ten years later her place within the household had been filled by her niece Harriett Collett (Ref. 14N10).
	It seems likely that she married Mr Hall as in 1871 she was livings as Mrs Amy Hall at Bourton where she was looking after Emily Rebecca Collett (Ref. 33P29) aged 11 the daughter of Charles and Sarah Collett.
33O13	Robert Collett was born at Bourton-on-the-Water and was baptised there on 14.09.1834. At the age of 17 years Robert was still living at home with his parents in Bourton where, in the Census of 1851, he was listed as an unmarried shepherd born at Bourton. During the latter half of the 1850s he married Sarah at Great Rissington where she was born in 1840.
	The couple’s first six children were thought to have been born and baptised at Bourton-on-the-Water, the next three were born at Upper Slaughter, and their last child was born at Cold Aston. However, in subsequent census records there are conflicting birthplaces for the older children between Bourton and Upper Slaughter.
	By 1871 Robert aged 37 and Sarah aged 31 had moved to live at Upper Slaughter. With them were their children: Emily 11, Ann 9, Charles 7, and John 5, all born at Upper Slaughter, and Mary 3 and Job who was 9 months who had both been born at Bourton.
	The later Census of 1881 revealed Robert had moved away from Upper Slaughter and was then living in the village of Guiting Power about five miles away and where he was now listed as an agricultural labourer and shepherd aged 47. Living with him was his wife Sarah aged 41 born at Great Rissington and seven of their nine children.
	The “missing” children were (a) eldest daughter Emily who was married by then and (b) eldest son Charles who was working away from home by that time.
	The seven listed children of Robert and Sarah were Ann Collett aged 20, John Collett 16, Mary 12, Job 11, and all of them born at Bourton-on-the-Water, and Frank 8, Thomas 5, and Ellen aged 4 who were all born at Upper Slaughter.
	By 1891 the family had moved again, this time to Bibury and was made up of Robert 55 an agricultural labourer, his wife Sarah 51, and his sons John 25 and Thomas 15 both agricultural labourers, daughter Ellen aged 12, and most recent arrival 7 years old Amy who was born at Cold Aston.
	Robert died sometime during the next ten years as in 1901 Sarah was a widow and a laundress aged 60 still living at Bibury.
	33P13		Emily Collett		Born in 1859
	33P14		Ann Collett		Born in 1861
	33P15		Charles Collett		Born in 1863
	33P16		John Collett		Born in 1865
	33P17		Mary Collett		Born in 1868
	33P18		Job Collett		Born in 1870 at Bourton-on-the-Water
	33P19		Frank Collett		Born in 1873 at Upper Slaughter
	33P20		Thomas Collett		Born in 1876 at Upper Slaughter
	33P21		Ellen Collett		Born in 1877 at Upper Slaughter
	33P22		Amy Collett		Born in 1883 at Cold Aston
33O14	John Collett was born at Bourton-on-the-Water in 1837 and just like his older brother Robert Collett he married a girl from Great Rissington. So the question might be, were the two girls sisters?
	John Collett married Ruth Caroline Timms on 09.02.1862 by licence at Great Rissington. In the two censuses that preceded his wedding John was listed as (a) aged 14 an agricultural labourer living and working at Bourton in 1851 and (b) aged 24 unmarried and a carter working at the Lower Slaughter home of miller Edward Bee.
	There would appear to be other connections between the Collett and Timms families. In the 1851 Census a shoemaker John Timms aged 36 of Chipping Norton was lodging with shoemaker Joseph Collett (Ref. 2N20) aged 45 of Sherborne and his wife Elizabeth at Little Rissington.
	John and Caroline are known to have had four children but only the youngest daughter survived beyond childhood and she was born while John and Caroline were living at Cudham near Biggin Hill in Kent. And it was at Cudham that she was baptised, the baptism record confirming her parents as John and Ruth Caroline Collett.
	By the time of the 1881 Census John, aged 44 and his wife Caroline aged 41, were living at 10 Devonshire Street in Camberwell in Surrey where John’s occupation was that of a carman. Living with them was their 12 years old daughter Eliza.
	It is interesting to note that another John Collett (Ref. 14N26) who was 45 and also born at Bourton in 1835, the son of Thomas Collett and Mary Ransford, was living nearby in Camberwell at that same time in 1881.
	Ten years later the family of three was recorded as still living at Camberwell where John was 52, Caroline was 51 and daughter Eliza was 22.
	In April 1911 John was living in an institution in the Lewisham district of London. He was 74 and his place of birth was confirmed as Bourton-on-the-Water. Ten years earlier he had been 63 and living in Wandsworth and on both occasion there was no wife Caroline with him.
	33P23		John Collett		Born in 1863; died in 1863
	33P24		Lydia Collett		Born in 1864
	33P25		Elizabeth Collett		Born in 1866; died before 1881
	33P26		Eliza Collett		Born in 1868
33O16	JOB COLLETT was born at Bourton-on-the-Water in 1841 where he was baptised on 17.06.1842 and probably at St Lawrence’s Church. He was confirmed as being aged 9 years and of Bourton in the 1851 Census. Ten years later he was listed as aged 17 and was working as a servant/carter at the Northleach home of George Giles, a master baker and grocer of Cirencester.
	Job married Hannah Freeman Goodway at the Church of St Michael in Market Street in Paddington in the third quarter of 1874. The marriage certificate confirmed Job was aged 32 a bachelor and the groom living at 30 Market Street. It also confirmed he was a railway stoker and that he was the son of Richard Collett. Hannah was given as a spinster aged 30 years indicating she was born around 1844.
	However, the 1851 Census for Bourton-on-the-Water listed Hannah as aged 10 the daughter of Joseph Goodway and Elizabeth (Freeman) and that she had been born at Bagendon which would make her year of birth 1841.
	The 1861 Census for Bourton listed Hannah as aged 20 and born at Bagendon living with her parents Joseph aged 60 an agricultural labourer of Great Rissington and Elizabeth aged 58 a laundress of Coln St Dennis. Also making up the rest of the family was brother John aged 27 and sister Elizabeth 17.
	What this census also revealed was that the Goodway family was living right next door to the family of Richard Collett, the father of her future husband Job Collett.
	About nine months after the census day Hannah gave birth to a base born daughter at Bourton. The child was Ellen Elizabeth Goodway and she was born on 27.01.1862.
	This event was confirmed in the 1871 Census when Hannah aged 28 was still living with her parents at Bourton but with the addition in the family of a grand-daughter, this being Hannah’s daughter Ellen aged 9 born at Bourton. At this time Hannah’s occupation was that of a laundress like her mother.
	The next big event in Hannah’s life was her marriage to Job which took place in London in 1874, as detailed above. Less than a year later and the couple were presented with a son Joseph who was born at Bourton indicating that Hannah and Job had returned to their home town.
	It is understood that Job died only a couple of years later in 1877 at the relatively young age of 34 years and that this was recorded at Stow-on-the-Wold. There is also a theory that he actually died while in India where he may have travelled as a result of his association with the railways. It is hoped that further information may be received in due course to verify this.
	Four years after his death, the 1881 Census confirmed that Hannah, now a widow and still a laundress, was aged 38 and that she was living in Sherborne Street in Bourton-on-the-Water just a few doors from her parents-in-law Richard and Sarah Collett.
	The census also revealed that living with her was her son Joseph aged 6 who was born at Bourton, and her grandson John C Parsons who was one month old and born at Charlbury in Oxfordshire. Also living with her was her unmarried older brother John Goodway aged 47, a general labourer who was also born at Moorwood in Gloucester, as was Hannah.
	The existence of the grandson indicates that Hannah’s base born daughter Ellen had in turn given birth to the child and the census also confirms that she was unmarried at the time. Furthermore it is very likely that the initial C in John Parson’ name stood for Collett.
	In 1891 Hannah was still a laundress living in Bourton but was now aged 50 and her only living companion was her brother John Goodway. Ten years previously he gave his place of birth as Moorwood like his sister, but on this occasion it was stated as being Bagendon near Cirencester which was as stated in 1851, 1861 and 1871.
	By 1901 Hannah Collett was a retired laundress of 61 years and was still at Bourton.
	33P27		Ellen Elizabeth Goodway		Born on 27.01.1862
	33P28		JOSEPH COLLETT		Born in March 1875
33O17	Elizabeth Collett was born at Bourton-on-the-Water in 1845 as confirmed in the 1851 Census when she was aged 6. Ten years on and Elizabeth was a servant aged 16 at the Lower Slaughter home of 29 years old farmer William Matthews of Fifield and his wife Mary Stephens aged 20 and their eight months old daughter Mary.
	The great grandparents of Elizabeth Collett were William Collett (Ref. 33L1) and his wife Anne Matthews. The cousin of this William Collett was Thomas Collett (Ref. 33L4) whose daughter Sarah Collett married William Matthews of Bourton. William Matthews of Fifield (above) was very likely the nephew of William Matthews of Bourton, being the eldest son of his brother Thomas Matthews.
33O20	Charles Collett was born at Upper Slaughter where he was baptised on 09.09.1832. In 1851 he was aged 18 and was a porter living at home in Bourton-on-the-Water with his family. Sometime prior to 1859 he married Sarah who was born at Bourton also in 1832.
	It seems very likely that Sarah was Sarah Thornton who was aged 19 in 1851 and was a servant at the Bourton home of grocer Thomas Palmer, particularly as Charles Collett himself was listed as a grocer by 1861.
	The marriage produced children six for Charles and Sarah, all of whom were born and baptised at Bourton. Only daughter Emily Collett appears with her parents in the 1861 Census which indicated that their son Charles was born after 7^th April, the day the census was carried out that year.
	By 1871 grocer Charles aged 38 and his wife Sarah aged 39 were still living at Bourton with children Charles aged 9, Albert aged 4, and George aged 2. Listed with them were servants George Bowles 14 and Elizabeth Townsend 15.
	There was a mystery surrounding their eldest daughter Emily aged 11 in 1871 as she was listed as being with Mrs Amy Hall, also in the town of Bourton-on-the Water. To date, no record has been found to determine where daughter Amy L Collett was on the day of the census.
	According to the 1881 Census the family was living at Lansdowne in Bourton-on-the-Water. Charles was given as aged 48 and grocer from Upper Slaughter, while his wife and six children were all of Bourton including daughter Emily Rebecca Collett aged 21 who was absent from the family home ten years earlier.
	Only the eldest son John aged 19 was working and he was a grocer like his father. Daughter Amy aged 17 who was also absent from the household in 1871 Census had returned to the family and was listed with Albert 14, George 12 and Florence aged 7. It may be of interest to note that Charles’ son Albert was living at Lansdowne with his own family in 1911.
	Working in the family business with Charles and son John was Albert T Edgington aged 16, an apprentice grocer from Turkdean.
	Charles and Sarah were still living at Bourton in 1891 and were aged 58 and 59 respectively. Charles’ occupation was still that of a grocer, as was that of his son Albert aged 24. Son George was listed as a grocer’s assistance aged 22. Neither of the sons was married, nor were daughters Amy aged 27 and Florence aged 17. Living with the family was a servant girl Sarah Weller aged 15 of Filkins north of Lechlade.
	By 1901 Charles, then aged 68, had expanded his grocer’s business in Bourton to include an agency agreement to sell coal. He was still with Sarah his wife aged 69 and with the couple was their unmarried daughter Florence and sons Albert and George.
	However, only a few years later Sarah died on 29.04.1904 aged 72 followed by Charles on 19.05.1906 aged 73. Both were buried at Bourton-on-the-Water was a gravestone bears their names. (see Headstone Epitaphs)
	33P29		Emily Rebecca Collett		Born on 05.12.1859
	33P30		John Charles Collett		Born in 1861 after the April census
	33P31		Amy L Collett		Born in 1863
	33P32		Albert William Collett		Born in 1866
	33P33		George F Collett		Born in 1868
	33P34		Florence Mary Collett		Born in 1873
33O21	Edward Collett was born at Upper Slaughter where he was baptised on 22.06.1834. He appears in 1851 aged 17 living with his parents at Bourton-on-the-Water and again in 1861 with his widower father aged 26. By 1871 he had left the family home and was perhaps married. However, there was no obvious match for him in the 1881 Census so he may have died or even left the country.
33O22	Frederick Collett was born in 1836 at Upper Slaughter where he was baptised on 25.12.1836. By 1851 Frederick aged 15 and his parents had moved to Bourton-on-the Water where he appears for each of the two following censuses in 1861 aged 25 and 1871 aged 36 living with his widower father George Collett and having the same occupation as his father, that of a blacksmith.
	Frederick died on 18.09.1874 aged 38 and was buried in the churchyard at St Lawrence’s Church in Bourton-on-the-Water. A headstone marks the site of the grave which was shared with his father George Collett who died five years later in 1879. (see Headstone Epitaphs)
33O26	Caroline Sarah Collett was born at Upper Slaughter in 1848 and it would appear that she never married. In the churchyard of St Peter’s Church at Upper Slaughter a headstone marks her grave with the following inscription “In Loving Memory of Caroline Sarah Collett who departed this life 28^th August 1926 aged 77 years”
33O27	John Brain Collett was born at Upper Slaughter in 1851. He was listed in the Upper Slaughter Census for 1861 and 1871 as aged 9 and 19. Around five years later he married Annie who was born in 1853 at Chastleton in Oxfordshire which is just four miles north-east of Stow-on-the-Wold.
	By early April 1881 John and Annie were living in the village of Upper Slaughter where John B Collett was aged 29 and a farmer of 90 acres employing one man and one boy. Annie was listed as being aged 28 and her occupation was given as farmer’s wife.
	Living with them at Upper Slaughter was their daughter Mary A Collett aged 4, born at Bourton-on-the-Water, and son John B Collett aged 2 and born at Bledington.
	Rather curiously, no traced of John and his wife Annie has been found in the census 1891 or 1901, even though their son John was recorded within the 1901 Census as living in Birmingham.
	However, both John and Annie featured in the census conducted in April 1911. John Brain Collett was 59, his wife Annie was 58, and living with the couple at Witney was their son Arthur who was 17.
	33P35		Mary Ann Collett			Born in 1876 at Bourton
	33P36		John Brain Collett			Born in 1878 at Bledington
	33P37		Arthur Frederick Collett			Born in 1893
33O29	George Edward Collett was born at Upper Slaughter in 1859 and appeared with his family in the 1861 and 1871 Censuses for Upper Slaughter aged 1 and 11 years respectively.
	On reaching working age he left home to seek his fortune in London and by 1881 was living as a boarder at 61 Pagnell Street in Deptford St Paul. Pagnell Street is still there in the twenty-first century running along the railway near New Cross Station.
	The family there was made up of Richard Cowdrey a 62 years old railway porter and his wife Charlotte of Swindon. George was listed as aged 21 and a baker of Upper Slaughter.
33O31	Francis William Collett was born at Upper Slaughter on 14.03.1867 and it was there that he lived all his life. He appeared in the 1871 Census aged 4 and was living with his family. By 1881 he was an apprentice carpenter living with his widowed mother Mary Ann Collett.
	Ten years later at the age of 24 he was still working as a carpenter and was still living with his mother. Just a few years after the 1891 census date Francis married Margaret Bell with whom he had five children all of whom were born at Upper Slaughter.
	The 1901 Census for Upper Slaughter revealed that the family was still living there and that Francis’ wife Margaret was 43 and a school mistress from Leamington Spa. The census record also confirmed that all five of their children were born at Upper Slaughter.
	These were Francis 6, Marjorie 4, Fred 2, and the twins Violet and Dorothy who were six months old. Francis’ occupation at that time at the end of March 1901 had progressed from simply being a carpenter to being a carpenter and a wheelwright and by which time he was 34.
	Ten years later Francis and the family were still living at Upper Slaughter. Francis William was 44, and Margaret Bell Collett was 53. Their children were recorded as Francis George Brain Collett 16, Margorie Katharine Collett 14, Fred Holt Collett 12, and Violet Mary and Dorothy Elizabeth who were both ten.
	Francis died on 13.02.1933 and was buried at St Peter’s Church in Upper Slaughter where he was joined sixteen years later by his wife Margaret who died on 24.07.1949. The epitaph of the headstone that marks their grave reads “In Loving Memory of Francis William Collett 14^th March 1867 – 13^th February 1933 Also of his wife Margaret Bell died July 24^th 1949 aged 82 years”.
	Recently contact has been made with John Collett at Upper Slaughter, the great great grandson of Francis William Collett who founded the business of F W Collett & Son, General Builders of Upper Slaughter which was established in 1890. The company in 2011 is managed by John and his brother Peter, together with their father Tony Collett, and has premises at Lower Farm Workshop, Upper Slaughter, Cheltenham, GL54 2JB, from where it is carries out property maintenance and repairs.
	33P38		Francis George Brain Collett			Born in 1894
	33P39		Marjorie K Collett			Born in 1896 at Upper Slaughter
	33P40		Frederick Holt Collett			Born in 1898
	33P41		Violet Mary Collett twin			Born in September 1900
	33P42		Dorothy Elizabeth Collett twin			Born in September 1900
33O32	Elizabeth Amelia Collett was born at Wick Rissington in 1846, the eldest known child of Thomas James Collett of Lower Slaughter and his wife Elizabeth Amelia from Northleach. She was not living with her parents on their farm at Wick Rissington in 1851, instead she was staying at the nearby farm of her grandmother Elizabeth Collett, where her unmarried uncle Joseph Collett was also still living with his mother.
	Later, in the middle of the next decade, Elizabeth’s parents left their farm at Wick Rissington, when they took over Bishop’s Farm at Oldberrow near Studley and Henley-in-Arden. And it was there that Elizabeth A Collett, age 14 and from Wick Rissington, was living with her family in 1861.
	Ten years later Elizabeth, age 24, was still unmarried and living with her mother at Bishop’s Farm, while her father was visiting his brother Joseph Collett in Upper Slaughter. With no further record of Elizabeth Amelia Collett, it is assumed that she was married at the time of the census in 1881.
33O33	Thomas James Collett was born at Wick Rissington in 1848, the only son of Thomas James and Elizabeth Amelia Collett. At the age of two years, he was one of three children still living with his parents on their farm at Wick Rissington in 1851, when his older sister Elizabeth (above), was living close by with their grandmother.
	Around four years later Thomas’ parents moved to a new farm at Oldberrow in Warwickshire, and it was there that his family was recorded in both 1861 and 1871. However in 1861 Thomas J Collet, age 12 and a scholar from Wick Rissington, was living with his uncle, farmer Joseph Collett of Lower Slaughter and his wife Eliza from Lower Swell, at their farmhouse in Lower Slaughter, where he was recorded as their nephew. Curiously no record of him has been found in 1871 when he would have been 22.
33O34	Mary Hall Collett was born at Wick Rissington in 1849, the second of three daughters of Thomas and Elizabeth Collett. She was one year old in the census of 1851, when she was living with her parents on their farm at Wick Rissington.
	Ten years later, and by the time her parents were living at Oldberrow near Studley, Mary Hall Collett, age 11 of Wick Rissington, was a visitor at Church Street in Warwick, where she was staying with the family of John Hall Clack, age 29, his wife Elizabeth, age 25, from Henley-in-Arden, and their two daughters Elizabeth who was two, and Kate who was just four months old. John Hall Clack was a builder of some considerable business, since he employed 35 men and 3 boys, and a general domestic servant.
	It is still not known why she was there, or whether she was related to them in some way. Ten years after that in 1871, Mary Hall Collett, age 21, was once again living at her parents farm (Bishop’s Farm) in Oldberrow, although her father was away at Upper Slaughter on the day of the census. It is presumed that Mary became a married woman during the years following the census, since no record of her as Mary Collett of Wick Rissington has been found.
33O35	Martha Jane Collett was born at Wick Rissington in January 1851 and was just three months old at the time of the Wick Rissington census of 1851, when she was living there with her parents and two older siblings (above). During the mid 1850s the family gave up their farm at Wick Rissington, when they moved to another farm at Oldberrow. And it was there that she was living with her parents in 1861 when as Martha J Collett she was 10 years old. With her family still living at Bishop’s Farm in Oldberrow in 1871, Martha Jane Collett age 20 was a visitor with her father Thomas James Collett at his brother’s farm in Upper Slaughter.
	Not long after that census day Martha’s father passed away, and by April 1881 Martha and her widowed mother Elizabeth Amelia Collett had left Oldberrow and were living at Wootton Wawen in Warwickshire. Unmarried Martha J Collett of Wick Rissington was 30 years old with no stated occupation, so presumably she was looking after her elderly mother, who died during the 1880s.
33O36	John Hall Collett was born at Wick Rissington in 1853, the youngest of the five known children of Thomas James Collett and his wife Elizabeth Amelia (Hall?). Not long after he was born his parents left their farm in Wick Rissington when they moved to Oldberrow, near Studley and Henley-in-Arden.
	And it was there that he was living with part of his family in 1861, at the age of seven. He was still living there, at Bishop’s Farm, in 1871 with his mother and two of his sisters, Elizabeth and Mary, while his father was away at Upper Slaughter. John Hall Collett of Wick Rissington, age 17, was simply listed as a farmer’s son.
	John Hall Collett married Jane from Kibworth in Leicestershire around 1874, and by 1875 the couple were living in Norfolk where their first child was born. However, virtually immediately after the birth the family moved to Goldington in Bedfordshire where their next two children were born. There then followed a moved in the town of Bedford itself, where the couple’s fourth child was born.
	According to the census in 1881, John Hall Collett, age 27 and from Wick in Gloucestershire was a farm manager and a farm bailiff living at the Goldington Road Irrigation Farm in the St Cuthbert parish of Bedford. Living there with him was his wife Jane who was also 27, and their four children, Jane E Collett who was five, Mary H Collett who was four, Thomas J Collett who was two years old, and Amelia W Collett who was only eleven months old. Supporting the family was servant Elizabeth Ann Bone, age 20.
	A further four children were added to the family over the next ten years, and by 1891 the family was still living in the Kempston area of Bedford with their eight children. John and his wife Jane were both 38, and their children were Jane E Collett 15, Mary H Collett 14, Thomas J Collett 12, Amelia W Collett 10, Olive A Collett who was seven, Margaret H Collett who was five, John H Collett who was three, and Joseph W Collett who was one year old.
	The final two children were born into the family at Bedford during the next four years. By the time of the next census in March 1901, John’s two eldest daughters Jane and Mary had left the family home, presumably to be married, as they would have been 25 and 24 respectively.
	The remainder of the family living at the Sewage Farm in Bedford St Cuthberts comprised farm manager John H Collett, age 47 and an employer from Wick, his wife Jane also 47 and from Kilworth, and their eight children, Thomas 22, Amelia 20, Olive 18, Margaret 16, John 13, Joseph 11, Winifred who was eight, and Jessie who was five years old.
	By the time of the census in April 1911, John Hall Collett had died, leaving his widow Jane Collett, age 58, still living in Bedford, but with just three of her children. They were Thomas James Collett of Goldington who was 32, Winifred Annie Collett who was 18, and Jessie Wilson Collett who was 15.
	33P43		Jane Elizabeth Collett			Born in 1875 at Massingham, Norfolk
	33P44		Mary Hall Collett			Born in 1876 at Goldington, Beds
	33P45		Thomas James Collett – gas fitter in 1901			Born in 1878 at Goldington, Beds
	33P46		Amelia W Collett – draper’s assist. in 1901			Born in May 1880 at Bedford
	33P47		Olive A Collett– draper’s assistant in 1901			Born in 1883 at Bedford
	33P48		Margaret Hall Collett– draper’s ass. 1901			Born in 1885 at Bedford
	33P49		John Hall Collett			Born in 1887 at Bedford
	33P50		Joseph W Collett			Born in 1889 at Bedford
	33P51		Winifred Annie Collett			Born in 1892 at Bedford
	33P52		Jessie Wilson Collett			Born in 1895 at Bedford