PART THIRTY-FOUR

The Appleford Berkshire Line – 1780 to 2007

Updated September 2011

This is the family line of Stephen & Cheryl Adams in France (Ref. 34S2) as depicted in capitals,

and Martin Edward Collett (Ref. 34S4) as depicted in the names underlined

During the development of Part 37 – The Oxford City Line

a positive connection with the Collett family of Appleford

has been discovered (see Ref. 34P2)

An earlier update and review was prompted by

Jess Metcalfe who kindly provided information relating

to the continuation of the line from Frederick Collett (Ref. 34P8)

	The earliest record of a Collett living in the Berkshire village of Appleford found to date is Robert Collett, and his wife Elizabeth, whose known details can be located in the appendix at the end of this line. The couple do not appear to have been married at the village church of St Peter & St Paul, but it was there that all of their children were baptised. Furthermore the couple’s youngest child, Robert Collett, was born around 1780, so there is a chance that Charles who starts this family line was also their son, although no record of his birth or baptism has so far been found in the parish register at Appleford.
34M1	This line starts with the “still to be determined” parents of Charles Collett. The previous discovery of a Charles Collett baptised in Berkshire at Buscot on 24^th January 1779, to parents John and Elizabeth Collett, needs to be investigated further since this may be the link that connections this family line to the Collett family shown in Part 28 – The Faringdon Line (Ref. 28L14).
	John and Elizabeth Collett of Buscot, which is only eighteen miles west of Appleford, also had two other sons, John who was born in 1781, and William who was born in 1784.
	34N1	CHARLES COLLETT		Born circa 1780
34N1	CHARLES COLLETT was born around 1780, according to his age in the census returns for 1841, 1851 and 1861. In the first of these his place of birth was simply confirmed as Berkshire, whereas in the other two it was stated as being Appleford. However, as stated above, there is a chance he might be the son of Robert and Elizabeth Collett, or perhaps less likely he might be Charles Collett who was baptised at Buscot near Faringdon on 24.01.1779, the first born child of John Collett of Faringdon and his wife Elizabeth.
	On 6^th February 1809 Charles Collett married Mary Sandall [named in error as Mary Randall] at Sutton Courtenay, the village closest to Appleford. Mary had been born in 1787 and earlier information stated she had been baptised at Sutton Courtenay on 6^th January 1788. This conflicts with the parish register at Appleford which includes the baptism of Mary Sandlin, the daughter of labourer Thomas Sandlin and his wife Elizabeth Pead, on 6^th January 1788.
	New information received in August 2011 from a source within the current Sandell family, who does not want to be named, has verified that Mary Sandal married Charles Collett at Appleford on 6^th February 1809 and not at Sutton Courtenay, as previously obtained from parish records.
	Mary Sandall (the surname being later spelt Sandell) was the eldest of the five children of Thomas Sandall and his wife Elizabeth Pead. In addition to Mary, and of particular interest to this family line, is the third of the five children of Thomas and Elizabeth Sandall. He was Moses Sandall who was baptised at Appleford as Moses Sandlin on 16^th December 1792. He married Sarah Coxeter in 1819 and they had three children before Moses died on 3^rd June 1830, aged 38. Following his death, his widow married her nephew-in-law, Stephen Collett, the son of Mary Collett nee Sandall and Charles Collett.
	At the time of his wedding Charles was listed as an agricultural labourer, while Mary was described as a pauper. It now transpires, from the information received from the aforementioned member of the current Sandell family, that Mary had given birth to a son a couple of years before she married Charles. Her base-born son Philip Sandall was baptised at Appleford on 16^th August 1807, when the child’s mother was named as Mary Sandall. With no father listed in the parish register it is not known whether or not Charles Collett was the father of the boy. What is known is that upon reaching adulthood Philip adopted the Collett surname and then as, Philip Collett, the married man gave his two eldest daughters the second forename of Sandell, after his mother.
	Once Charles Collett and Mary Sandall were married, the couple settled in Appleford where all of their children were born and baptised, their baptism records also confirming that their father was a labourer. The couple’s first child was born exactly seven months after their wedding day, which may also be an indicator that Mary’s illegitimate son Philip was fathered by Charles. Although only nine children are listed below, there is a possibility that there may have been other children born into the family, particularly in the years between birth of the couple’s seventh and ninth child.
	In the first national census for Appleford in June 1841 the age of the adults was rounded to 5 or 10 years. In Charles’ case he was recorded as being aged 60, while Mary’s ‘rounded aged’ was stated as being 50. The same census also confirmed that Charles was employed as an agricultural labourer. The only children still living with them at that time was their daughter Keren Happuch Collett [a biblical name taken from Job Chapter 42 Verse 15], who was incorrectly recorded as Karen Collett aged 21, and their youngest son Henry Collett who was seven years old. Also at that time their older married sons Stephen and Charles was living nearby in Appleford, as was their other son Joseph, who was listed as being 15 years old and working as a servant at the Appleford home of farmer John Pullen.
	Ten years later the Appleford census of 1851 provided more accurate assessment of their ages. In that Charles Collett was 70, and was still working as an agricultural labourer, while his wife Mary was 64. The family on that occasion comprised unmarried daughters Mary Collett, age 37, and Keren Collett who was 31, and their youngest child Henry Collett who was 16 and an agricultural labourer like his father.
	Also living with Charles and Mary were their three grandchildren; grandson Moses Collett who was six, and granddaughters Sarah Collett, who was five, and Christian Collett who was just six months old. No positive record has so far been unearthed that might reveal they were the children of Charles’ daughter Mary, or his daughter Keren. It has been assumed that they were Keren’s children, since it has been established that a later grandchild, Thirza Wicks Collett, was definitely Keren’s daughter.
	Later that same year Charles died at Appleford, during the last three months of 1851, his death being recorded with the registrar at Abingdon-on-Thames. Just over nine years later in early April 1861, his widow Mary Collett, age 73, a pauper and head of the household, was still living Appleford.
	Living with her on Main Road were her two unmarried daughters Mary Ann Collett, age 48, and Keren Happuch Collett, age 38, also both described as paupers. In addition to them, three of Mary’s grandchildren were living with her at that time, and they were Moses Collett, who was 16, Sarah Collett who was 15, and eight years old Thirza Collett, who was attending the village school. The widow Mary Collett died during the first quarter of 1869 at the age of 82, the death being recorded at Abingdon.
	34O1	Philip Collett (formerly Sandall)	Born in 1807 at Appleford
	34O2	Stephen Collett	Born on 05.09.1809 at Appleford
	34O3	Mary Ann Collett	Born on 14.11.1812 at Appleford
	34O4	Charles Collett	Born on 11.05.1816 at Appleford
	34O5	Keren Happuch Collett	Born on 28.04.1820 at Appleford
	34O6	Joseph Collett	Born on 15.02.1823; infant death
	34O7	JOSEPH COLLETT	Born on 13.02.1824 at Appleford
	34O8	Henry Collett	Born in 1828; died 17.12.1829 age 1 year
	34O9	Henry Collett	Baptised on 19.10.1834 at Appleford
34O1	Philip Collett was born at Appleford in 1807 and he was the base-born son of Mary Sandall, who married Charles Collett in 1809. It was on 16^th August 1807 that Philip Sandall was baptised at Appleford, the son of Mary Sandall, although later in his life he did adopt the surname Collett. As Philip Collett he was a farm labourer, and he married Martha Ireson at Wantage on 27.01.1828. Once they were married the couple lived at Appleford, where all of their children were born. The IGI records for the birth of the couple’s first two children named both daughters with the second forename of Sandell, after their grandmother.
	The couple was recorded in the 1841 Census for Appleford as Philip Collett, age 35, and his wife Martha who was 30. With them were their six known children, Ann Collett, age 10, Emma Collett who was eight, Elizabeth Collett who was six, Jabez Collett who was four, Hellen (Rhoda) Collett who was two, and new baby Zillah Collett, who just seven weeks old for the census on the sixth day of June. Sadly, Martha died before the thirtieth of March in 1851 and the census that year indicated the family had been split up, with some of the children living at the Union Workhouse in Abingdon.
	By 1861 widower Philip Collett from Appleford was 55 and an agricultural labourer living in Appleford. The only one of his children still living with him on that occasion was his unmarried daughter Rhoda E Collett who was 21, and she had with her, her six months old base-born son Aubrey Collett, who was described as grandson to head of the household Philip.
	Living next door at the adjacent dwelling was Philip’s younger brother Joseph Collett (below) and his family, and one door away in the opposite direct was Philip’s sister-in-law, the widow and pauper Sarah Collett, the wife of his late brother Stephen Collett (below).
	Ten years later, the 1871 Census confirmed that Philip Collett was 65 and that he was still living with his daughter Rhoda in Appleford, although by then she had married Benjamin Dewe, with whom she had two children, in addition to her own base-born children Aubrey and Ellen. And once again, living next door was the family of Philip’s brother Joseph and his wife Eliza.
	It was the same situation ten years later when the 1881 Census recorded that Philip was a widower and that he was living with his married daughter Rhoda Dewe at The Cottages in Appleford, where his occupation was still that of a labourer, even at the age of 74. Philip was still alive and living with daughter Rhoda in 1891 when he was 84. However, he must have died during the 1890s as he was not recorded in the census immediately after the turn of the century.
	34P1	Ann Sandell Collett		Born in 1830 at Appleford
	34P2	Emma Sandell Collett		Born in 1832 at Appleford
	34P3	Elizabeth Collett		Born in 1834 at Appleford
	34P4	Jabez Collett		Born in 1836 at Appleford
	34P5	Rhoda Ellen Collett		Born in 1839 at Appleford
	34P6	Zillah Collett		Born in 1841 at Appleford
34O2	Stephen Collett was born at Appleford on 5^th September 1809 where he was baptised on 12^th November 1809, the son of labourer Charles Collett and his wife Mary Sandall. It is possible that Stephen fathered a son out of wedlock when he was around twenty-one years old. The parish register in Appleford includes the baptism of Stephen Collet Pryor on 18^th December 1831, the son of spinster Rose Pryor.
	One year later on 25^th December 1832, and following the death of her first husband Moses Sandall on 3^rd June 1830 at the age of 38, Stephen married his widow Sarah Sandal (sic) at St Helen’s Church in Abingdon. Stephen was 23 at that time, while Sarah, formerly Sarah Coxeter, was his mother’s sister-in-law. She was 39 and already had three children from her first marriage to Moses Sandall.
	Nine years later, at the time of the census in 1841, Stephen Collett was 32, and his marriage had produced two children by then. The census return revealed that he and his family were living in Appleford where his wife Sarah was shown as having a rounded aged of 40, rather than her actual age of 48. Their two children were listed as Fanny Collett, who was seven, and Frederick Collett, who was five years old. Also living with the family was the youngest son from Sarah’s first marriage, ten years old Moses Sandall.
	It was obviously Sarah’s intention to reduce her age by eight years, since in the next census of 1851, when Stephen Collet (sic) was 42, his wife was recorded as being only 50, as opposed to being 58. Still living with the couple at Appleford was their son Frederick Collet (sic) who was 15. Living nearby, and also within the same registration district, was their daughter Frances Collett who was 17, who was recorded with the correct spelling of her surname.
	Stephen Collett died during the second quarter of 1854 and his death was recorded by the registrar at nearby Abingdon. So by the time of the census in 1861 his widow Sarah was a pauper living alone in Appleford. No longing needing to be embarrassed by the great age difference between her and her late husband, Sarah resorted to informing the numerator of her correct age of 67. On that occasion her place of birth was given as Witney. Living next door but one to Sarah was the Collett family of Philip Collett (above), and next door to him was the family of Joseph Collett (below), both of these being the brothers of her departed second husband.
	34P7	Frances Mary Collett		Born on 22.08.1833 at Appleford
	34P8	Frederick Collett		Born in 1835 at Appleford
34O3	Mary Ann Collett was born at Appleford on 14^th November 1812 and was baptised there of 27^th December 1812, the daughter of Charles and Mary Collett. She was never married and it was in the village of Appleford that she lived for her entire life. By the time of the census in 1851, Mary was 37 when she was living there at the home of her parents and, with the death of her father at the end of that same year, she was still living with her widowed mother in 1861, when she was described as Mary Ann Collett, age 48, a pauper from Appleford.
	Also living with them was her younger sister Keren Happuch Collett (below) and three children who were described as the grandchildren of Mary Ann’s mother, as head of the household. One of these was Thirza Collett who was eight years old and the base-born daughter of her younger sister Keren. It seems likely that the other two, older children, may also have been the children of Mary’s sister Keren, and they were Moses Collett, age 17, and Sarah Collett who was 15.
	According to the Appleford census in 1871, Mary A Collett was 61, rather than 58, by which time her mother had passed away, so she was living with her sister Keren Collett and Keren’s daughter Thirza Collett in a property on Main Road in the village. Once again Mary was described as being unmarried and a pauper.
	Ten years later, in 1881, Mary Ann Collett, age 69, was living as a boarder with her niece Thirza Church, nee Collett, and her husband Henry Church in Appleford. Mary’s younger sister Keren, and the mother of Thirza Church, was also living there at that time. However, it seems that Mary Ann died during the 1880s, since no record of her has been found in the census of 1891.
34O4	Charles Collett was born at Appleford on 11^th May 1816, where he was baptised on 30^th June 1816, the son of Charles and Mary Collett. It was at nearby Sutton Courtenay that Charles Collett married Susan Reynolds on 13.03.1838. Susan was born at Appleford on 13^th March 1818, where she was baptised one week later on 21^st March 1818, the daughter of William Reynolds and his wife Sarah Goodall. It was also at Appleford that all of the children of Charles and Susan were born, the first of which was born towards to end of the year in which they were married.
	By June 1841 the family living at Appleford comprised Charles who was 25, his wife Susanna who was 24, and their first two children Martha Collett, who was three years old, and William Collett who was just one year old.
	Over the next decade Charles and Susan increased their family by a further four children so, by the end of March 1851, the family at Appleford comprised agricultural labourer Charles Collet (sic), age 35, Susan Collet, age 33, Martha Collet who was 13, agricultural labourer William Collet who was 11, scholar John Collet who was seven, Stephen Collet who was five, Emma Collet who was two, and baby Ann Collet who was only three months old. The census return confirmed that every member of the household had been born at Appleford.
	There were further additions to the family over the next ten years, but during the same period the two oldest children left the family home at Appleford. According to the 1861 Census, Charles was 44 and Susan 43, while their children were Stephen 15, Emma 12, Ann age 10, Jane who was eight, Agnes who was six, Frederick who was three, and James who was only one year old.
	During the latter part of the next decade two of Charles’ daughters were married and left the family home in Appleford, so by early in the month of April 1871, living with Charles, age 54, and Susan, age 53, were only William Collett, age 30, Jane Collett, age 18, Frederick Collett, age 13, and James Collett who was 11.
	In 1881 Charles, then aged 64, was a farm labourer living at The Cottages in Appleford. Living there with him was his wife Susan, age 63 and of Appleford, and the couple’s three remaining unmarried children Jane Collett who was 27, Frederick Collett, age 22, and James Collett who was 21.
	Ten years later Charles Collett of Appleford was still recorded as being a farm labourer at the age of 74, while his wife Susan was 73, and by that time they were living alone at Appleford. On that occasion the couple was living just four dwelling from the family of James and Sarah Collett, their youngest son and his wife. No record of them exists in 1901, so it must be assumed that they both died during the 1890s.
	34P9	Martha Collett		Born in 1838 at Appleford
	34P10	William Collett		Born in 1840 at Appleford
	34P11	John Collett		Born in 1843 at Appleford
	34P12	Stephen Collett		Born in 1845 at Appleford
	34P13	Emma Collett		Born in 1848 at Appleford
	34P14	Ann Collett		Born in 1850 at Appleford
	34P15	Jane Collett		Born in 1852 at Appleford
	34P16	Agnes Collett		Born in 1854 at Appleford
	34P17	Frederick Arthur Collett		Born in 1857 at Appleford
	34P18	James Ernest Collett		Born in 1859 at Appleford
34O5	Keren Happuch Collett was born at Appleford on 28^th April 1820, and was baptised there two days after on 30^th April 1820. She was the daughter of Charles Collett and Mary Sandall and, even though it appears that she never married, she was certainly the mother of base-born Thirza Wicks Collett. It also seems highly likely, although not yet verified, that she was also the mother of three earlier base-born children, Moses Collett, Sarah Collett, and Christian Collett, who were living with her in 1851.
	In the various census records for Appleford, Keren was more often recorded as Karen, as she was in 1841 when she was living with her parents at the age of 21. Ten years later in 1851 was the only time she was correctly recorded as Keren Collett, when she was still living there with her parents. By that time in her life she was unmarried at the age of 31, although the three grandchildren also living there at that time are assumed to have been her base-born children.
	They were Moses Collett, who was six years old, Sarah Collett who was five, and Christian Collett who was six months old. During the next few years baby Christian must have died, since in 1861, Keren Happuch Collett, age 38, was living with her widowed mother Mary, together with her sister Mary Ann Collett (above), and Keren’s three surviving base-born children Moses 16, Sarah 15, and Thirza who was eight.
	In 1869, Keren’s mother died, so making Keren as head of the household. That was confirmed in the census of 1871 when Karen Collett, age 51 and a pauper, was living in the property on the Main Road in Appleford with her daughter Thirza Collett, who was 18, along with Keren’s sister Mary A Collett.
	There is confusion in the next census in 1881 when Keren Happuch Collett was referred to as Karen Church, age 61, but this must have been an error made by the census enumerator, probably resulting from the fact she was living at the home of her married daughter Thirza Church. The census also revealed that Keren was listed as being a spinster and mother-in-law to head of the household Henry Church, thus confirming her as the mother of Thirza Collett. Also living with Henry and Thirza Church and their family was Keren’s older unmarried sister Mary Collett (above).
	By the time of the census in 1891 Keren was 70, and there was another misspelling of her name when she was recorded in the census return as Kans Hapook Collett. After a further ten years Keren was still living in Appleford and was recorded as Haron (Karon) Collett age 80 in the census of 1901. There was a further incorrect spelling of her name at the time of her death during the first quarter of 1904 when she was 84. The registrar at Abingdon recorded her name as Kron (Karon) Habbuck.
	34P19	Moses Collett		Born in 1843 at Appleford
	34P20	Sarah Collett		Born in 1845 at Appleford
	34P21	Christian Collett		Born in 1850 at Appleford
	34P22	Thirza Wicks Collett		Born in 1852 at Appleford
34O7	JOSEPH COLLETT was born at Appleford on 13^th February 1824, where he was baptised on 21^st March 1824, the son of Charles and Mary Collett. His age in 1841 was stated as being 15, but this was a ‘rounded age’ and he would have been 17. By that time he was working in Appleford as a servant at the home of farmer John Pullin and his wife Hannah.
	During the fourth quarter of 1847 Joseph married Eliza Carr who was born in 1825 at Berrick Salome, some eight miles east of Appleford in Oxfordshire. Following their wedding the couple settled in Appleford, where all of their children were born.
	Just over three years later Joseph and Eliza were listed in the census of 1851 for Appleford as living at the dwelling right next door to his parents. The census return confirmed that agricultural labourer Joseph Collett was 27, his wife Eliza was 25, and that their two daughters were Petranella Collett who was two, and Abigail Collett who was seven months old.
	By 1861 the marriage had produced two sons for Joseph and Eliza, and their family at Appleford comprised agricultural labourer Joseph and his wife Eliza who were both 36, daughters Patranella who was 12 and Abigail 10 who were both attending the village school, and sons William, who was referred to as Levi Collett aged three years, and David Collett who was just five months old.
	The census in 1861 also showed that the family of Joseph and Eliza Collett was living right next door to Joseph’s widowed brother Philip Collett (above) who had living with him his daughter Rhoda and his grandson Aubrey. And just one further dwelling beyond that was Joseph’s and Philip’s sister-in-law Sarah Collett, the widow of the late Stephen Collett (above) their brother.
	Within two years of the census a further son was born into the family, so by the time of the 1871 Census the Appleford family was made up of ‘ag lab’ Joseph 47, his wife Eliza 46, Levi was 12, David was 10, while Caleb and Ellen who were both aged seven, were very likely twins. It is known that their daughter Abigail was married by then, and their eldest daughter Patranella, who was 22 and unmarried, was working away from home in the adjacent village of Sutton Courtenay on that occasion.
	Once again in 1871 the family of Joseph and Eliza Collett was living right next door to Joseph’s brother Philip who had passed the role of head of household to his daughter’s husband Benjamin Dewe.
	According to the census in 1881, Joseph was 58 when he was living at The Cottages in Appleford, from where he was employed as a farm labourer. With him was his wife Eliza, age 56 from Berrick Salome, who was also listed as a farm labourer, together with two of their sons William, age 23, and Caleb who was 17, both of them born at Appleford. The two missing sons had already made the move to Wales to find work by then.
	By 1891 Joseph and Eliza were living alone at Appleford and both were aged 67. The March census ten years later in 1901 listed Joseph as being 76 and still living at Appleford with his wife Eliza who was then aged 77. Joseph was not credited with an occupation, perhaps because of ailing health, as just after the census day he died and was followed shortly after by wife Eliza who died in 1902.
	34P23	Patranella Collett		Born in 1848 at Appleford
	34P24	Abigail Collett		Born in 1850 at Appleford
	34P25	William Levi Collett		Born in 1857 at Appleford
	34P26	DAVID COLLETT		Born in 1861 at Appleford
	34P27	Caleb Reuben Collett		Born in 1863 at Appleford
34O8	Henry Collett was born at Appleford in 1834 and was baptised there on 19^th October 1834, the last child of Charles and Mary Collett. In the June census for Appleford in 1841 Henry was seven years old, when he was living with his parents and his older sister Keren (above).
	He was still living with his parents ten years later in 1851 when he was 16 and was working as an agricultural labour, most likely with his father who was still listed as an ‘ag lab’ at the age of seventy.
	His father died before 1861, but by the time of the census that year Henry was no longer living with his widowed mother at Appleford, and no record of him has been found after 1851, so whether he suffered a fatal accident at work, or left England for life in another country, is not known.
34P1	Ann Sandell Collett was born at Appleford in 1830, where she was baptised on 23^rd January 1831, the eldest daughter of Philip and Martha Collett. Her second forename came from her grandmother Mary Sandall who married Charles Collett at Appleford in 1809. At the time of the first national census in Great Britain in June 1841 she was recorded as Ann Collett aged ten years, while living at Appleford with her family. Ann Collett was still living in Appleford in 1851, following the death of her mother, while most of her siblings were living in the Abingdon Union Workhouse. The lack of any record of her in 1861 presumably means that she was married sometime during the 1850s.
34P2	Emma Sandell Collett was born at Appleford in 1832 and was baptised there on 27^th January 1833, the daughter of Philip and Martha Collett. It was simply as Emma Collett, at the age of eight years, that she was recorded with her family at Appleford in June 1841.
	Following the death of her mother a few years later, the family was tragically split up, and by 1851 Emma, who by then was 18, was living at the Abingdon Union Workhouse with her teenage sister Elizabeth Collett (below), where also her two youngest sisters Rhoda and Zillah (below) were also living on that occasion, although not with Emma and Elizabeth.
	Around nine years later she gave birth to a base-born son William Collett during 1860, the child first being identified as one year old in the 1861 census for St Aldates in the City of Oxford, where Emma was living at that time.
	Living not far away from Emma in St Aldates was her future husband Charles Collett of Whelford in Gloucestershire, who was possibly the father of her child. Just over two years later between April and June 1863 Emma married Charles Collett at Oxford and was very likely with child as her second son was born later that same year.
	For further details of the continuation of this family line see Part 37 – The Oxford City Line (Ref. 37N5)
34P3	Elizabeth Collett was born at Appleford in 1834, the third daughter of Philip and Martha Collett. In 1841 Elizabeth was six years old when she was living with her parents in Appleford. Sometime after June 1841 and before March 1851, Elizabeth’s mother passed away, so by the time of the census in 1851 Elizabeth’s family had been split up.
	By that time Elizabeth Collett, age 16, and her older sister Emma (above), who was 18, were living in the Union Workhouse in Abingdon-on-Thames. Also living there at that same time, but most likely in a separate section for younger children, were Elizabeth’s two youngest sisters Rhoda and Zillah (below).
34P4	Job Collett was born at Appleford in 1836, the son of Philip and Martha Collett. In the Appleford census of 1841, and at the age of four years, he was named as Jabez Collett, although this was very likely a transcription error, since he was known as Jobey. Perhaps because of his ‘difficult’ name Job has not been positively identified in any later census.
34P5	Rhoda Ellen Collett was born at Appleford in 1839 and was listed as Hellen age two years in the Appleford census of 1841. Ten years later in 1851, and following the death of her mother and the break-up of her family, Rhoda was living with her younger sister Zillah (below) at the Abingdon Union Workhouse in the St Helen parish of the town. Rhoda, who was 11 years old, was confirmed as having been born at Appleford, and was described as a scholar. Listed with the Governor of the Workhouse, Richard Ellis, and his wife who was the matron, were two school masters Thomas and Mary Hassell, so it was also at the workhouse that Rhoda was very likely receiving her education.
	In September 1860 she gave birth to a base-born son, the first of two children she would have as an unmarried mother. According to the census in 1861, Rhoda E Collett was 21 and a dressmaker, when she was living at the home of her father Philip Collett in Appleford, with her six months old son Aubrey Collett.
	Two years later Rhoda gave birth to her second child Ellen, but then, a few years later she married farm labourer Benjamin Dewe, who was born in 1837 at Sutton Courtenay. The marriage produced at least five children for the couple, and all of them were born at Appleford.
	By 1871 Benjamin Dewe from Sutton Courtenay was 33 and an agricultural labourer living in Appleford with his wife Rhoda E Dewe who was 31 and from Appleford. Living with the couple were Rhoda’s two base-born children Aubrey A Collett who was 10, and Ellen M Collett who was seven.
	Also living at the same address was Benjamin’s and Rhoda’s two children Edith Dewe who was three, and Edwin Dewe who was just one year old. The last member of the household was Rhoda’s father Philip Collett, who was 65 and an agricultural labourer, and living in the dwelling next door was his brother Joseph and his family.
	After a further ten years, Rhoda was 42 and was working as a seamstress, while her husband Benjamin was 43 and was working as a farm labourer. Living with them at The Cottages in Appleford in 1881 were their four children who were all born at Appleford.
	They were Edwin Dewe who was 11, Marsden Dewe who was nine, Florence M Dewe who was six, and Annie D Dewe who was two years old. Living and working not far away within the Abingdon & Sutton Courtenay area was their eldest daughter Edith Dewe who was 14. Also still living with the family at that time was Rhoda’s widowed father Philip Collett, age 74, who was listed as a labourer and born at Appleford.
	Rhoda’s father was still living with the family in 1891, as was her illegitimate daughter Ellen Collett who was 27. Following the death of her father during the next few years Rhoda and Benjamin left Appleford, and in 1901 they were living at nearby Culham, close to the River Thames. Both were listed as being aged 62, with Rhoda employed as a tailoress, while Benjamin was working as a cowman on a local farm.
	34Q1	Aubrey Alexander Collett		Born in 1860 at Appleford
	34Q2	Ellen M Collett		Born in 1863 at Appleford
34P6	Zillah Collett was born at Appleford during April 1841 and was seven weeks old on 6^th June, the day of the first national census in Great Britain. She was the youngest child of Philip Collett, formerly Sandall, and his wife Martha Ireson, with whom he was living at Appleford on the day of the census.
	Not long after she was born her mother died, and with a family of six young children to look after, it was inevitable that the Zillah and most of her sibling were taken into care. By the time of the next census in 1851 Zillah Collett, age eight years and from Appleford, was living in the Abingdon Union Workhouse with her older sister Rhoda (above). Whilst Rhoda was described as a scholar, Zillah was simply described as a pauper. No Zillah Collett, or any variation of the name, has been found in any subsequent census return, so she may not have survived the difficult like of living in the workhouse.
34P7	Frances Mary Collett was born at Appleford on 22^nd August 1833, but was baptised at nearby Sutton Courtney on 15^th September 1833, the daughter of Stephen and Sarah Collett. In the 1841 she was simply listed as Fanny Collett aged seven years, who was living in Appleford with her family. Upon leaving the village school in Appleford, Frances Collett was employed as a domestic servant by 1851, when she was 16.
34P8	Frederick Collett was born at Appleford in 1835, where he was baptised on 5^th July 1835, the son of Stephen and Sarah Collett, although curiously the parish record at Appleford gives the names of his parents as Stephen and Mary. In the census of 1841, as Fredrick Collett, he was five years old and was living in Appleford with his parents, Stephen and Sarah, and his older sister Fanny (above). Ten years later in the Appleford census of 1851 Frederick Collet (sic) was the only child still living with his parents at the age of 15, by which time his sister was making her own way in the world.
	By 1861 Frederick Collett from Appleford was 25 and was still a bachelor, then living in Wantage. Sometime after, and possibly in 1865, at Kensington in London, he married the widow Amelia Smith, nee Collett, of Bradford-on-Avon. Just after she reached the age of 17, Amelia Collett had previously married Frederick Smith at Bradford-on-Avon in the final quarter of 1859. By June 1860 her husband had died leaving Amelia with-child, and with only one month to go before the birth to their son.
	The census of 1861 revealed that Amelia Smith, age 19, was a widow who was formerly a servant, who was then living at 15 Church Lane in Bradford-on-Avon with her nine months old son Frederick. Both mother and son were listed as having been born at Bradford-on-Avon.
	Following her marriage to Frederick Collett around four years later, the couple, with Amelia’s son, moved to London where their first two children were born. It was shortly after their move to London that Frederick adopted Amelia’s son, who from that time forward was known as Frederick Collett.
	This was confirmed by the census of 1871 which revealed that railway labourer Frederick Collett, age 35, was living at 27 Hampden Street in Paddington with his wife Amelia, age 28 and of Bradford-on-Avon, and her son Frederick Collett, age 10, who was also born at Bradford-on-Avon. Missing from the family was the couple’s first born child, daughter Amelia Ellen Collett, who was born and died during the second half of 1867. However, two years after the census date Amelia presented her husband with their first son, who was born while they were living in Wandsworth.
	By the mid 1870s the family had left London and had moved to Eastleigh in Hampshire. It was while they were there that their next son was born. Their time at Eastleigh was short lived as they moved again not long after, when they ended up at Barnstaple in North Devon.
	Rather strangely though, there is no record of Frederick or any member of his family listed in the 1881 Census. However, since the couple had children that were born in Barnstaple immediately before and after the date of 1881 Census, this would indicate that they were living there at that time, but that they were missed by the enumerator, or the census return was later lost or accidentally destroyed.
	In fact just six months before the census date of 3^rd April in 1881 Amelia gave birth to a son while she and Frederick were living at Trinity Street in Barnstaple. The birth certificate for their son George Henry born on 5^th September 1880 made reference to the child’s father Frederick Collett working as a railway porter and the child’s mother as Amelia Collett, later Smith and formerly Collett.
	Certainly Frederick and his family were recorded as living at 45 Vicarage Street, Barnstable in North Devon in the next census in 1891. Frederick was 55 and was still employed by the Great Western Railway, but was then employed as a carriage examiner. The family also had a lodger staying with them, and that was John Hancock, a tailor aged 28 of Barnstaple.
	Amelia Collett of Bradford-on-Avon was 49, and their children were William Collett, age 18, Albert Collett 16, Amelia Collett 14, and George Collett who was 10. The two youngest children were confirmed as having been born at Barnstaple, while the two older sons’ place of birth was confirmed as Wandsworth and Eastleigh respectively.
	Within the next ten years the family moved the very short distance from 45 Vicarage Street to number 48 Vicarage Street. At that time Frederick Collett of Appleford in Berkshire was 65 and was still working as a railway carriage examiner, while his wife Amelia was 59. Only the couple’s 28 years old son William Collett of Wandsworth was still living with them at that time, apart that is from a boarder James Moon who was 24.
	On 2^nd April the census day in 1911, Frederick Collett, age 75, was confirmed as having been born at Appleford, when he was living at Barnstaple with his wife Amelia who was 69. Also living with the couple was their son William Alfred Collett with his two daughters.
	Sadly it was around six months after that Frederick Collett died at Barnstaple during the third quarter of 1911 at the age of 76. At the time of the death of Amelia during the March quarter of 1923, when she was 81, she was referred to as Amelia E Collett. It therefore seems likely that she was also Amelia Ellen, as was her daughter.
	34Q3	Frederick (Smith) Collett		Born in July 1860 at Bradford-on-Avon
	34Q4	Amelia Ellen Collett		Born in 1867 at Paddington
	34Q5	William Alfred Collett		Born in 1873 at Wandsworth
	34Q6	Albert Charles Collett		Born in 1875 at Eastleigh, Hants
	34Q7	Amelia Ellen Collett		Born in 1878 at Barnstaple
	34Q8	George Henry Collett		Born on 05.09.1880 at Barnstaple
34P9	Martha Collett was born at Appleford towards the end of 1838 and was three years old in census of 1841 and was 13 in 1851 Census. Around the age of 22 she married Richard Bennett who was born at nearby Shillingford in 1839 and, it would seem likely, that at the time of the 1861 Census Martha was expecting their first child. Martha Bennett was confirmed as being 23 and born at Appleford, while her husband was 21 and born at Shillingford, where they were living at that time.
	It was at Shillingford that the couple’s first four children were born before the family moved, first to Stanford-in-the-Vale, where their next two children were born, and after 1876 to Westrop near Highworth, where their seventh child was born and where the family was living in April 1881.
	At that time Richard Bennett of Shillingford was 42 and was employed as an agricultural labourer, while his wife Martha was 44 and from Appleford. Their three oldest children George Bennett (born in 1861), Charles Bennett (born in 1863) and Elizabeth Bennett (born in 1865) had left the family home, leaving agricultural labourer Paul Bennett, age 13, Ellen Bennett who was eight, James Bennett who was five, and William Bennett who was three years old.
34P10	William Collett was born at Appleford in 1840. He was one year old in 1841, 11 years of age in 1851, and was 20 in 1861. At the time of the 1871 Census he was still a bachelor living at Appleford, when he was 30. Also living in the village was Mary Ann Church, age 24, and her base-born daughter Susannah who was six years old. It was sometime during the years following the census that year William Collett and Mary Ann Church were married.
	Mary Ann Church was born at Sutton Courtenay in 1846 and was the daughter of James and Elizabeth Church. James, who was a shepherd, was born in 1810 at Brightwell near Wallingford, while his wife was two years older and came from Sutton Courtenay. Mary Ann Church was also the sister of Henry Church who married Thirza Collett (below). It seems very likely that the marriage produced no children for William and Mary Ann.
	In 1881 William, age 41, and Mary Ann, who was 35, were living at The Cottages in Appleford where Mary Ann’s parents were also living. William was described as a railway packer and labourer working for the Great Western Railway. The village of Appleford had a small station on the Oxford to Didcot main line, known as Appleford Halt. Living with William and Mary Ann in 1881 was Mary Ann’s base-born daughter Susannah Church, age 16, who was described as ‘daughter-in-law’ to head of the household William Collett.
	Ten years after that William, age 50, and Mary, age 49, were still living at Appleford, as they were just after the turn of the century, when they were aged 60 and 57 respectively. No occupation was stated for William, but his wife Mary A Collett was employed as an agricultural field worker. During the next few years it must be assumed that William passed away since, by April 1911, Mary Ann Collett who was born at Sutton Courtenay and was living at Appleford was a widow at the age of 68.
34P11	John Collett was born at Appleford in 1843 and was seven years old in 1851 when he was living with his family at Appleford. By the age of 17 he had left home and was living and working in the Witney census registration district.
	It would appear that he married Jane towards the end of the 1860s. By the time of the census in 1871 the couple was recorded as John Collett of Appleford, age 28, and his wife Jane E Collett was 26, when they were living in Appleford.
	No later record of the couple has so far been found in any of the census returns so it is not known whether the marriage resulted in the birth of any children, or whether the couple left England for another country.
34P12	Stephen Collett was born at Appleford in 1845 and was five years old in the Appleford census of 1851, and was 15 in the one ten years later in 1861. By the time of the census in 1871 Stephen Collett had married Mary Ody who was born at nearby Clifton Hampden in 1847, the couple settling down to live at Appleford immediately after they were married.
	The census at that time confirmed Stephen Collett was 25, and his wife Mary was 23. However, just a short while after the census day, the couple left Appleford and made their way south on the railway to settle in Reading, where their children were all born.
	By 1881 Stephen, age 36, was employed by the Great Western Railway as a railway guard and was working at Reading Station. At that time he and his family were living at 45 George Street in Reading. His wife Mary was 34 and of Clifton in Oxfordshire, while their three children at that time were Thomas Collett, who was seven, William Collett, who was four, and Frederick who was one year old, with all of them confirmed as having been born at Reading.
	Just one further child was added to the family, and in early April 1891 the family living in the St Mary parish of Reading comprised Stephen Collett, age 46, Mary Collett who was 44, and their children Thomas Collett 17, Charles Collett 14, and Frederick Collett who was 10. Whilst the couple’s last and youngest son James was included in the census of 1901 Census, for some reason he was absent from the family in 1891.
	It would appear that Stephen died during the last decade of the century, since by March 1901, Mary Collett, age 54, was back living in Appleford. However, following the marriage of her eldest son Stephen, Mary later returned to Reading to live with him and his family there, where she was recorded as being 63 and from Clifton Hampden in the census of 1911.
	34Q9	Thomas Stephen Collett		Born in 1873 at Reading
	34Q10	William Charles Collett		Born in 1877 at Reading
	34Q11	Frederick J Collett		Born in 1879 at Reading
	34Q12	James Valentine Collett		Born in 1881 at Reading
34P13	Emma Collett was born at Appleford in 1848 and was two years of age in the census of 1851 and was 12 in 1861, and on both occasions she was living with her family at Appleford. By the time of the next census in 1871 Emma was married and was living at Cholsey near Wallingford. She was Emma Clifton, age 22, and had been born at Appleford. Her husband was John Clifton, age 29, and at that time the marriage had not produced any children for the couple.
	It seems likely though that Emma was with-child on the day of the census since, later that year she presented her husband with their first child. He was born at nearby Wittenham and within a year of his birth Emma and John had returned to live in Appleford, where a further three of their children were born.
	According to the 1881 Census the family was living in a cottage in Appleford, from where John Clifton was working for the Great Western Railway as a platelayer. He was 39 and had been born at Clifton Hampden on the Oxfordshire side of the River Thames. The same census return also confirmed that Emma was 32 and had been born at Appleford, and that their children were Frederick Clifton, who was nine, George Clifton who was eight, Edward Clifton who was six, and Elizabeth Clifton who was four years old.
	During the next ten years a further four children were added to the family. So by 1891 the family living at Appleford comprised parents John 49 and Emma 42, and their children Frederick 19, George 18, Edward 16, Elizabeth 14, Kate 10, Jane who was seven, Mary who was three, and the latest arrival Eliza who was not yet one year old.
	Sometime during the 1890s Emma died and just after the turn of the century widower John Clifton was still working for the GWR as a platelayer, when he was 57. Living with him, and also working for the GWR, was his son Edward Clifton who was a telegraph labourer.
34P14	Ann Collett was born at Appleford during December 1850 where she was living with her parents and was just three months old on the 30^th March 1851, the census day that year. She was still living at Appleford with her family a decade later when she was 10 years old in the April census of 1861.
	On reaching the age of maturity, around the age of twenty years, she married the much older Thomas Church, the son of James Church and his wife Eliza Cotterell, who was born at Benson in Oxfordshire on 1^st September 1838. Shortly after their wedding day Thomas’ brother Henry Church married Thirza Collett (below) who was the cousin of Ann Church nee Collett. So by April 1871 Ann was listed in the census return as Ann Church, age 20 and born at Appleford, where she was still living with her husband.
	By the time of the census of 1881 Ann had presented her husband Thomas Church with four children, all of whom had been born at Appleford. And they were Anne Church, who was eight, John H Church, who was six, Alice Church, was four, and Arthur W Church who was one year old. No occupation or place of birth was given for Ann’s husband on that occasion. Over the following decade a further two children were added to the Appleford family.
	In 1891 Thomas Church from Benson was 50 (sic) and Ann Church from Appleford was 40, and living with them at Appleford were their children John H Church 16, Alice Church 14, Arthur W Church 11, James E Church who was eight, and Nellie (Nelly) Church who was three years old. Ten years after that the family was still together when Thomas from Benson was 63 and Ann from Appleford was 50, although after a further ten years the only child still living with the couple at Appleford was Nellie Church, age 23. Her father Thomas Church was 73 and her mother Ann Church was 60.
34P15	Jane Collett was born at Appleford in 1852 and was eight years old in 1861 and was 18 in 1871. She was still a spinster in 1881 at the age of 27, when she was working as a machinist. At that time she was still living with her parents at The Cottages in Appleford. Shortly after that time, Jane married Francis Prior and in 1891 the couple was still living in Appleford, where Jane Prior was 38 and Francis, who was referred to as Frank Prior, was 39.
	Just after the turn of the century Jane was 48 in March 1901, when her husband Francis, age 50, was working as a labourer in a local Hay & Corn Store. Jane’s place of birth was confirmed as Appleford, where the couple was living at that time, while Francis had been born at East Hagbourne, to the south of Didcot.
34P16	Agnes Collett was born at Appleford in 1854 and she was six years old and 15 years of age in the 1861 and 1871 census records for Appleford. She married William Belcher during the late 1870s and presented him with their first child in April 1880.
	The 1881 Census confirmed that Agnes and William had left Appleford following their wedding and that they had moved to live in the village of Basildon, just south of the Goring Gap. Agnes was 25 and had been born at Appleford, while her husband was 26 and had been born at Long Wittenham. William Belcher was working as a shepherd at that time in his life, and their daughter Jane E Belcher was twelve months old and had been born after the couple settled in Basildon.
	By the turn of the century Agnes and William had returned to William’s home village of Long Wittenham, where Agnes Belcher was 45, and her husband was 47 and was still employed as a shepherd.
34P17	Frederick Arthur Collett was born at Appleford in 1857 and was three years old in 1861 and 13 in 1871. At the aged of 23 he was still a bachelor living at the family home in Appleford, from where he was working as a farm labourer. Sometime during the 1880s it is believed, although not proved, that Frederick married Kezia Harvey who was born at Sutton Courtenay. In the earlier census of 1881 Kezia Harvey, age 23, was living with her parents at West St Helens Street in Abingdon, and was working as a tailoress at a local factory.
	It looks very much like the couple settled down to live in Sutton Courtenay after they were married, but so far no record has been found to confirm the marriage produced any children. In the 1901 Census for Sutton Courtenay, Frederick A Collett was 43 years of age and working as the publican at an inn in the village, while his wife, referred to as Sarah Collett of Sutton Courtenay was 42 and was employed as a jacket maker.
	The couple same was still residing within the Sutton Courtenay area in April 1911, although by then Frederick was not working as a publican but was recorded using his full name of Frederick Arthur Collett. He was 53, as was his wife Sarah Collett.
34P18	James Ernest Collett was born at Appleford in 1859, the youngest child of Charles and Susan Collett of Appleford. However, in all of the following census records he was simply referred to as James Collett, and it was only much later in his life that his full name was used.
	In the first of the census returns to feature James, in 1861, he was one year old, and ten years later in 1871, he was 11 years of age, when he was still living in Appleford with his family. By the time of the census in 1881, he was still living with his parents at The Cottages in Appleford where, at the age of 21, he was working as a farm labourer, like his brother and his father.
	A few years later James Collett married Sarah Brookland from the next village of Sutton Courtenay, and they lived the early part of their life at Appleford, where all of their children were born. It is of interest that, on the occasion of the marriage of his son Stephen in 1914, James was referred to as James Ernest Collett, a labourer.
	By the time of the census of the 1891 the family living at Appleford comprised James Collett, age 31 and a groom and a gardener from Appleford, his wife Sarah Collett, age 25 and from Sutton Courtenay, who was working as a ‘jacket head’ employed by a nearby clothing factory, and their three children. They were Edward Collett who was six, Ernest Collett who was three, and Stephen Collett who was only nine months old.
	Also lodging with the family in 1891, was Sarah’s younger brother James Brookland, age 22 and also from Sutton Courtenay, who was working as a farm labourer. Also living in Appleford in 1891 and just four dwellings away from the home of James Collett and his family, were his parents Charles and Susan Collett.
	It was during the following year that the fourth child of James and Sarah, and their first daughter, was born into the family, and she was followed by a further three more children up to the start of the new century. By the time of the census in March 1901, James was 40 and was still working as a domestic groom and a gardener, while his wife Sarah, age 36, was still employed on work for the local factory as a clothing maker. Also by that time, the couple’s two eldest sons were working on a local farm, where Edward Collett was a teamster at the age of 15, while 13 years old Ernest Collett was a plough boy.
	The remaining children on that occasion were Stephen Collett who was ten, Florence Collett who was eight, Sidney Collett who was five, Margaret Collett who was two, and baby Elizabeth Collett who was under one year old.
	Two more children were born into the family during the next decade, while they were still living at Appleford. They were confirmed in the Appleford census of 1911 when James was 51, his wife Sarah was 45, and the children still living with them were Ernest Collett 23, Stephen Collett 20, Sidney Collett 15, Elizabeth Collett 10, Lawrence Collett who was seven, and Frederick Collett who was two years old.
	The two main absentees on that occasion were daughter Florence, who was already married by then, and Margaret who would have been 12. Since no trace of Margaret has been found it is possible, although not confirmed, that she may have died while still a child.
	34Q13	Edward John Collett		Born in 1885 at Appleford
	34Q14	Ernest James Collett		Born in 1888 at Appleford
	34Q15	Stephen Collett		Born in 1890 at Appleford
	34Q16	Florence Collett		Born in 1892 at Appleford
	34Q17	Sidney Collett		Born in 1895 at Appleford
	34Q18	Margaret Collett		Born in 1898 at Appleford
	34Q19	Elizabeth Collett		Born in 1900 at Appleford
	34Q20	Lawrence Collett		Born in 1903 at Appleford
	34Q21	Frederick Collett		Born in 1908 at Appleford
34P19	Moses Collett was born at Appleford in late 1844 or very early in 1845, the birth being registered during the first quarter of 1845 and recorded on page 174 of Volume VI of the register of births at Abingdon. He was the first of four base-born child of Keren Happuch Collett of Appleford. In 1851, when he was six years old, he was living with his mother and his two sisters, Sarah and Christian, at the home of his grandparents in Appleford.
	Ten years later when he was 16, Moses had already left the village school and was working as an agricultural labourer, while still living with his mother and two sisters, Sarah and Thirza, at the home of his widowed grandmother in Main Road in Appleford. Also living there was his maiden aunt Mary Ann Collett.
	Around the middle of the 1860s Moses Collett married Mary Ann who was born at Sutton Courtenay in 1846 and, by the time of the next census in 1871, Mary Ann had presented Moses with their first two children. The census that year for Appleford listed the family as Moses Collett, age 27, his wife Mary 24, and their two children John H Collett who was three years old, and Emma A Collett who was one year old, both children having been born at Appleford. In the later census records Emma A Collett was referred to as Emily A Collett.
	Ten years later according to the census in 1881, Moses was 36 and was employed as a platelayer working for the Great Western Railway. He and his wife were living at The Cottages in Appleford, where all of their children had been born. The children at that time were John H Collett 13, Emily Collett 11, Susan Collett who was seven, Walter Collett who was five, and Martha Collett who was two years old. The children’s mother Mary Ann, age 34 and from Sutton Courtenay, was working as a machinist.
	At the next census in 1891 Moses was 46 and his wife Mary was 44. They were still living at Appleford with their children John Collett 23, Susan Collett 17, Walter Collett 15, Martha Collett 12, Robert Collet who was eight, and Francis Collett who was five years old. The couple’s absent eldest daughter had left home by then and was living and working in Richmond. She was referred to as Emily A Collett and was confirmed as being aged 21 and born at Appleford.
	Just after the turn of the century Moses Collett was 56, when he was working as a carpenter on the railway, while his wife Mary Ann Collett was 54. At that time all of their children, with the exception of the two youngest children, were also living in Appleford. See separate entries for exact details.
	By 1911 Moses Collett was 67 and the census that year confirmed he was born at Appleford where he was also still living. Listed with him was his wife Mary Ann who was 64, and his two sons Walter William Collett, age 36, and Francis Collett who was 24.
	34Q22	John Henry Collett		Born in 1867
	34Q23	Emily A Collett		Born in 1869
	34Q24	Susan M Collett		Born in 1873
	34Q25	Walter William Collett		Born in 1875
	34Q26	Martha Collett		Born in 1878
	34Q27	Robert Collett		Born in 1882
	34Q28	Francis Samuel Collett		Born in 1886
34P20	Sarah Collett was born at Appleford in 1845, the second of four base-born children of Keren Happuch Collett. She was five years old in the Appleford census of 1851, when she was living at the home of her grandparents, together with her mother, her older brother Moses Collett (above), and younger sister Christian Collett (below).
	During the following years, her sister Christian appears to have died, although during that time her mother gave birth to her fourth base-born child. By 1861, Sarah Collett, age 15, was a house servant at the home of her grandmother, the widow and pauper Mary Collett. Also living at the same dwelling was Sarah’s mother Keren Collett, her brother Moses Collett, and younger sister Thirza Collett (below).
	By 1871, and at the age of 25, it must be assumed that she was married, as there was no record of a Sarah Collett of that age, born at Appleford in that census or any later census records.
34P21	Christian Collett was born at Appleford during September 1850, the third base-born child of Keren Happuch Collett. On the day of the census in 1851, she was described as Christian Collett, age six months, the granddaughter of Charles and Mary Collett.
	Also living at her grandparents home was her mother Keren, her siblings Moses and Sarah (above), and her maiden aunt Mary Collett and her bachelor uncle Henry Collett. Christian’s absence from the family at the time of the next census in 1861 probably indicates that she suffered an infant death during the early years of the 1850s.
34P22	Thirza Wicks Collett was the fourth base-born child of Keren Happuch Collett and was born at Appleford during 1852, the birth being registered at Abingdon during the last quarter of that year. The village of Appleford was the home to many members of the Wicks family, one of whom it must be assumed was Thirza’ father. In 1861 she was eight years old while living with her mother, her brother Moses and sister Sarah, and her aunt Mary Ann Collett at the Appleford home of her widowed grandmother on Main Road. Eight years after that her grandmother died, at which time her mother Keren became head of the household.
	Two years later in 1871 Thirza Collett, age 18 and from Appleford, was described as being a seamstress. It is interesting that she was the only one of the three Collett ladies living at the dwelling on the Main Road in Appleford who was in employment, while her mother Keren, and aunt Mary were both listed as paupers.
	Sometime during the following year Thirza married Henry Church at Appleford. Within the first eight years of their life together the marriage produced three children for the couple, as confirmed by the next 1881 Census. According to the census that year Henry Church, who was born at nearby Sutton Courtenay, was 27 and a farm servant, while his wife Thirza was aged 28. The couple were living at The Cottages in Appleford with their three children Albert Church who was eight, Sarah Church who was six, and George Church who was two years old, all of whom had been born at Appleford.
	Also living with the family were Thirza’s mother Keren Collett, age 61, who was described as mother-in-law to head of the house Henry Church, together with Thirza’s maiden aunt and her mother’s older sister Mary Collett, who was 69.
34P23	Patranella Collett was born at Appleford in 1848, the eldest child of Joseph and Eliza Collett. In the Appleford census returns for 1851 and 1861 she was recorded as Petranella Collet, age two years, and Patranella Collett, age 12 and a scholar, and on both occasions she was living at the home of her parents.
	On leaving school it would appear that Patranella left the village of Appleford, since in 1871, at the age of 22, she was living and working in the Nuneham Courtenay area of Oxfordshire, where she was incorrectly recorded as Paternalla Collett. No further record of her has been found after 1871, which may suggest that she was married by the time of the census in 1881.
34P24	Abigail Collett was born at Appleford in 1850 and was just seven months old on the census day on 30^th March 1851 when she was recorded as living at Appleford with her parents and her older sister Petranella (above). By the time of the next census in 1861 she was 10 years old and was still living at Appleford with her family.
	Around the time that she was twenty Abigail married John Barrett of Ewelme near Wallingford, and by 1881 the couple was living at Ewelme Street within that her husband’s home village. Abigail Barrett was 30 and born at Appleford, while John Barrett was 31. Their children at that time were Joseph Barrett, age 10, Harry Barrett who was eight, Frances Barrett who was six, John Barrett who was four, James Barrett who was two, and William Levi Barrett, age 8 months, who was named after Abigail’s brother (below). All of the couple’s children were confirmed as having been born at Ewelme.
	By the turn of the century Abigail Barrett was a widow at the age of 50, and following the death of her husband she had returned to her roots and was once again living in Appleford by the time of the census in 1901. This confirmed she had been born there and that she working as a domestic servant.
34P25	William Levi Collett was born at Appleford in 1857, the eldest son of Joseph Collett and Eliza Carr. According to the Appleford censuses of 1861 and 1871, he was referred to as Levi Collett aged three years and 12 years old respectively. However, in the 1881 Census he was listed as William L Collett, age 23, who was unmarried and who was working for the Great Western Railway, while still living with his parents at The Cottages in Appleford.
	It seems very likely that he married Elizabeth within the first few months following the 1881 census. Elizabeth was born at Appleford in 1858 and both she and William were 32 years old in 1891 when they were living at Abingdon, where their children had been born. At that time the couple had just three children, Elizabeth Collett who was eight, Oliver Collett who was five, and Alfred L Collett who was two years old, although a fourth child was added to the family around three years later.
	By 1901 William L Collett, age 43, with his wife Elizabeth who was 42, were living at Sutton Courtenay where William was employed as an ordinary agricultural labourer. The couple’s eldest child has so far not been traced in 1901 and is assumed to have been married by then, but their three sons were confirmed as Oliver Collett, who was 15, Alfred L Collett, who was 12, and Jesse J Collett who was six years old, and all of them born at Abingdon.
	Over the next few years the family left Sutton Courtenay and moved towards the west. William, Elizabeth, Oliver and Jesse ended up in Swindon, but not all living together, while Alfred was living at Faringdon in 1911. The Swindon census of 1911 placed William Levi Collett, age 53, and Elizabeth Collett, age 52, both of Appleford, living there with their youngest son Jesse Collett, who was 16.
	34Q29	Elizabeth Collett		Born in 1882 at Abingdon
	34Q30	Oliver Collett		Born in 1885
	34Q31	Alfred Levi Collett		Born in 1888
	34Q32	Jesse James Collett		Born in 1894
34P26	DAVID COLLETT was born at Appleford during October 1860, the son of Joseph Collett and Eliza Carr. In the census the following year he was recorded as being five months old, and ten years later in 1871 he was still living at Appleford with his family when he was 10 and was attending the village school.
	Sometime after leaving school, David Collett joined forces with his cousin Rhoda’s illegitimate son Aubrey Alexander Collett (Ref. 34Q1), who was the same age, when they left their respective families in Appleford, to seek work on the railway in South Wales. David initially set up home at 13 Oxford Street in Roath in Glamorgan where he was living in 1881, when he was 20 years old and employed by the Great Western Railway as a porter.
	He later became a gasworks labourer and he married Harriet Judith Free at Cardiff Registry Office on 12^th February 1883. Harriet was born in Cardiff on 24^th April 1863 and, two years prior to her marriage to David, she was employed as the cook at Park Grove School in Cardiff St Johns. Over the next ten years the marriage produced four children for David and Harriet, all of whom were born at Cardiff, where they were living in 1891. At that time David was recorded as 30 and born at Appleford, while Harriet was 28 and their children were William Collett who was seven, Joseph Collett who was five, Alice Collett who was three, and Harriet Collett who was two years old.
	It would appear from the birth dates of the couple’s next four children that the family continued to live at Cardiff until the end of the century, when they followed Aubrey Alexander Collett (below) to live in the Aston area of Birmingham. According to the 1901 Census, David was confirmed as having been born at Appleford, and that he was 40 and employed as a labourer at the local gas works. His wife Harriet was 39 and from Cardiff, where all of their eight children at that time had been born.
	Their children on that occasion were listed as William L Collett, age 17, (Joseph) C Collett, age 15, Alice Collett 13, Harriet Collett 12, Abigail Collett who was nine, Patranella Collett who was seven, David Collett who was four, and Mary Collett who was two years old. As David named some of his children after his own brothers and sisters is it very likely that the L in son William’s name was Levi, like that of his oldest brother William Levi Collett.
	On the actual census day at the end of March 1901, it seems highly likely that David’s wife was expecting their ninth child, which was born later that same year, and that this was followed two years later by the couple’s final addition to the family.
	The family’s address in April 1911 was 71 St Margaret’s Road at Ward End in the Aston district of Birmingham. Head of the household David Collett from Appleford was 50 and at that time he was still employed as a gasworks labourer. The census return confirmed that he had been married to his wife for twenty-eight years and that she, Harriet Judith Collett, was 49 and from Cardiff in South Wales.
	Seven of their ten children were still living with them at that time, and they were their sons Joseph Collett, age 25, David Collett, age 15, Caleb Collett who was nine, and James Collett who was seven, and their daughters Abigail Collett, age 19, Patranella Collett, age 17, and Mary Collett who was 12 years old. The birthplace for all of the older children was confirmed as Cardiff, while the two youngest children were confirmed as having been born after the family had moved to Birmingham.
	There was one other person living with the family at Ward End in 1911 and this was a Harriet Judith Collett’s nephew J A Free from Cardiff who was thirteen years of age and attending school locally. Of the couple’s three missing children, their eldest son William was known to have been married before 1911, and this may well have applied to their two daughters Alice and Harriet, since no record of them as Collett has been found in the 1911 Census.
	No further details are available regarding the family’s later life, except that it is known that Harriet Judith Collett died in 1951 at nearly ninety years of age.
	34Q33	William L Collett		Born in 1883 at Cardiff
	34Q34	JOSEPH CHARLES COLLETT		Born in 1885 at Cardiff
	34Q35	Alice E Collett		Born in 1887 at Cardiff
	34Q36	Harriet P Collett		Born in 1889 at Cardiff
	34Q37	Abigail Collett		Born in 1891 at Cardiff
	34Q38	Patranella Collett		Born in 1893 at Cardiff
	34Q39	David Collett		Born in 1896 at Cardiff
	34Q40	Mary Collett		Born in 1898 at Cardiff
	34Q41	Caleb Collett		Born in 1901 at Birmingham
	34Q42	James Collett		Born in 1903 at Birmingham
34P27	Caleb Reuben Collett was born at Appleford in 1863 and was the youngest child of Joseph Collett and Eliza Carr, with whom he was living in 1871 at the age of seven. He initially found work as a farm labourer in the early part of his life after leaving school and in 1881 when he was 17 he was still living at the family home at The Cottages in Appleford.
	It seems very likely, although not proved, that he left Appleford and moved to London where he met and married Mary Ann who was born at Stoke Newington and who was three years older than Caleb. It would also appear that they had just the one child who was born at Bayswater. At the time of the census in 1891 Caleb Reuben Collett from Appleford was 27 and was living and working in the Paddington St Mary district of London. His wife was confirmed as Mary Ann Collett, age 30, and their daughter was Beatrice Mary Collett who was one year old.
	By the time of the 1901 Census the family had moved out of London and was living in the All Saints district of Hereford. Caleb was confirmed as being 37 and born at Appleford and was working as a railway engine driver. Mary Ann was 40 and their daughter Beatrice was 11.
	By 1911 the family of three was still living in the City of Hereford where Caleb was 47, his wife Mary Ann was 50, and their daughter Beatrice Mary Collett was 21.
	34Q43	Beatrice Mary Collett		Born in 1889 at Bayswater
34Q1	Aubrey Alexander Collett was born at Appleford in September 1860, the base-born son of Rhoda Ellen Collett. He was recorded as being six months old in the Appleford census of 1861 when, as Aubrey Collett, he was living with his unmarried mother at the Appleford home of his grandfather Philip Collett.
	Two years later his mother gave birth to a base-born daughter, just after which she married Benjamin Dewe. In 1871 Aubrey A Collett, age 10, was living at the home of his stepfather Benjamin Dewe in Appleford, with his sister Ellen (below), their mother Rhoda Dewe, and their two Dewe half siblings.
	Between the years after leaving school and before his twentieth birthday, Aubrey accompanied his mother’s cousin David Collett (Ref. 34P26) when the pair of them left Appleford and made the move to South Wales, where both of them were employed by the Great Western Railway.
	It was while he was in Wales that he met and married Mary Jane who was born in 1857 at Llaneddarne in Wales. After living in Cardiff for only a few months, where their first child was born, the young family settled at Chippenham in Wiltshire. Their home in Chippenham was in Union Road from where Aubrey, at the age of 20 in 1881, was employed as a telegraph clerk with the Great Western Railway. At that same time his wife Mary Jane was 23, and their daughter Florence was one year old.
	Again the family only stayed for a short while at Chippenham, where a second daughter was born, before another move took the family to Swindon, the spiritual home of the Great Western Railway. It was while they were living in Swindon that Aubrey’s and Mary’s third daughter was born. Shortly after the birth of that child the family left Swindon when they made their way north to Worcester. And it was there that the couple’s next child was born and where the family was recorded in the census of 1891.
	The North Worcester census that year listed the family as Anbrey (sic) A Collett, age 30 and from Appleford, his wife Mary Jane Collett, age 32 from Cardiff, and their four daughters Florence M Collett from Cardiff who was 11, Beatrice F Collett who was seven and from Chippenham, Margaret R Collett who was three, and Ellen L Collett who was one year old and born at Worcester.
	Mary Jane may well have been expecting her fifth child on the day of the census, since not long after she presented Aubrey with his first son while they were still living in Worcester. It would appear that another family move took place sometime between 1892 and 1893, because the next two children were born in the Aston area of Birmingham, where the family was also still living at the time of the census in 1901.
	Aubrey Collett was recorded as being 40 years old and born at Appleford in Berkshire, and his occupation was that of a railway clerk. Living with him was his wife Mary who was 42 and from Llaneddarne in Wales. Of their seven children, only six were living there with them, following the premature death of their daughter Ellen, possibly while the family was still living in Worcester. So the remaining children were listed as Florence M Collett, age 21 from Cardiff, Beatrice E Collett, age 19 and from Chippenham, Margaret R Collett, age 13 and from Swindon, Philip J Collett, who was nine and from Worcester, Harold E Collett, who was six and from Birmingham, and Edgar B A Collett who was not yet one year old and also born in Birmingham.
	A further move for the family took place sometime over the following years, since by 1911 they were living in the St Thomas district of Exeter in Devon. Aubrey Alexander Collett from Appleford was 50 and Mary Jane Collett, his wife, was 52. The children still living with them on that occasion were Margaret Rhoda Collett, age 23, Harold Edward Collett, age 17, and Edgar Boden Alexander Collett who was ten years old.
	34R1	Florence Mary Collett		Born in 1880 at Cardiff
	34R2	Beatrice Emily Collett		Born in 1882 at Chippenham
	34R3	Margaret Rhoda Collett		Born in 1887 at Swindon
	34R4	Ellen L Collett		Born in 1889 at Worcester
	34R5	Philip James Collett		Born in 1891 at Worcester
	34R6	Harold Edward Collett		Born in 1894 at Birmingham
	34R7	Edgar Boden Alexander Collett		Born in 1900 at Birmingham
34Q2	Ellen M Collett was born at Appleford in 1863, the base-born daughter and second child of unmarried Rhoda Ellen Collett and an unknown father. Not long after she was born, Ellen’s mother married Benjamin Dewe, and it was at the home of the Dewe family that Ellen M Collett, aged seven years, was living at Appleford with her mother and her illegitimate brother Aubrey A Collett (above) in 1871.
	Ellen would have been 17 in 1881, but so far no record of her has been found at that time. However, during the following years she returned to live with her mother Rhoda Dewe in Appleford, where she was recorded in 1891 as Ellen Collett, age 27, from Appleford. The absence of any record of her as Ellen Collett in the next census of 1901 probably indicates that she was married by then.
34Q3	Frederick Collett was born at Bradford-on-Avon around the month of July in 1860 and was originally named Frederick Smith. His mother was Amelia Collett who had been born eighteen years earlier and who had married Frederick Smith at Bradford-on-Avon during the last quarter of 1859. Sadly Frederick Smith senior never got to see the birth of his son, as he died within six months of being married to Amelia, his death being registered at Bradford-on-Avon during the second quarter of 1860.
	Frederick’s mother then met and married Frederick Collett of Appleford, following which the three of them left Wiltshire and headed for London. Once there, arrangements were made for Frederick Smith to take up the Collett surname, as confirmed by the entry in the census of 1871. The census that year listed him as Frederick Collett who was 10 years old, who had been born at Bradford-on-Avon. He was living at 27 Hampden Street in Paddington with his mother Amelia Collett, age 28, who was also from Bradford-on-Avon, and her husband Frederick Collett who was 35 and from Appleford in Berkshire.
	By 1873 the family was living at Wandsworth and by 1875 they had moved again, that time to Eastleigh in Hampshire. Another move followed very soon after that, which took Frederick and his family to settle at Barnstaple in North Devon.
	Curiously no record of Frederick, his parents, nor any member of his family, has been found in the 1881 Census even though it is established that he had siblings who were born at Barnstaple either side of the date of the census. And no further records have been found for Frederick in subsequent census details, even though his parents reappeared at Barnstaple in the following census of 1891.
	In addition to his absence in 1881 and 1891, a further search of the census returns for 1901 and 1911 has also revealed no evidence that Frederick was still alive and living in the UK, so it may be that he had left there shores or had passed away.
34Q4	Amelia Ellen Collett was born in London and was baptised at the Holy Trinity Church in Paddington on 7^th July 1867. Tragically she survived for only a few months and died during the final quarter of that same year.
34Q5	William Alfred Collett was born at Wandsworth in London in 1873. Although there is no apparent record of him or his family in 1881, he was 18 years old in the census of 1891 when he was living in the family home at 45 Vicarage Street in Barnstaple. His occupation at that time was that of a cabinet maker. Ten years later and William was still working as a cabinet maker and was still living in Barnstaple, although the address by then was 48 Vicarage Street. The census entry confirmed he was 28 and that he had been born at Wandsworth, the only member of the family still living with his parents.
	During the third quarter of 1902 he married Emily Eliza Kidd at Barnstaple. However, the marriage only last for three years when Emily died at Barnstaple at the age of 30 during the third quarter of 1905, leaving William with twin daughters.
	Only one Emily E Kidd was listed in the 1881 Census and she was six years old and born at Bedlington in Northumberland. Her parents were saddler Thomas Kidd and his wife Sarah, both from Northumberland, who were living at Front Street in Bedlington at that time.
	The year before Emily married William she was living with her widowed mother and younger brother Watson Kidd at Jesmond near Newcastle when she was 26. Following the death of his wife in 1905, William took his two daughters to live with their grandparents. This was confirmed by the census in 1911 when William was 38 and was living at the home of his parents Frederick and Amelia Collett in Barnstaple with the twins who were seven years old.
	34R8	Doris Gwendoline Emily Collett		Born in 1903 at Barnstaple
	34R9	Edna Queenie Ellen Collett		Born in 1903 at Barnstaple
34Q6	Albert Charles Collett was born at Eastleigh in Hampshire in 1875. Like all of his family, there was no record of him in 1881, but by 1891 he was 16 and was a cabinet maker working with his older brother William (above) while living in the family home at 45 Vicarage Street in Barnstaple.
	Sometime, during the months of July to September 1900, Albert married Emily Darch who was born at Barnstaple in 1872. Emily was the daughter of John and Ann Darch of 11 Union Street in Barnstaple and her place of birth in the 1881 Census was given as Barum in Devon, like that of all of the Darch children.
	The census in the spring of 1901 recorded Albert as 26 and his place of birth as Southampton (near Eastleigh). His occupation at that time was that of a cabinet maker. Emily was 28 and her place of birth was given as Barnstaple. Although there was no child listed with the couple on that occasion, it is very likely that Emily was pregnant with the first of their six children on the day of the census.
	By April 1911 the census return for Barnstaple listed the family as Albert Charles Collett of Southampton who was 38, his wife Emily Collett who 39, and their six children Ada May Collett, who was nine, Florrie Amelia Ellen Collett, who was seven, Annie Maude Mary Collett, who was six, Frederick George Henry Collett, who was four, Alfred Ernest John Collett, who was two, and baby Emily Collett who was just seven months old.
	34R10	Ada May Collett		Born in 1901 at Barnstaple
	34R11	Florrie Amelia Ellen Collett		Born in 1903 at Barnstaple
	34R12	Annie Maude Mary Collett		Born in 1904 at Barnstaple
	34R13	Frederick George Henry Collett		Born in 1906 at Barnstaple
	34R14	Alfred Ernest John Collett		Born in 1908 at Barnstaple
	34R15	Emily Collett		Born in Aug/Sept 1910 at Barnstaple
34Q7	Amelia Ellen Collett was born at Barnstaple in early 1878 and was 12 years old in the census of 1891, although she and her family have not been located in 1881. She was living with her parents at 45 Vicarage Street in Barnstaple at the time of the census in 1891, where she was employed as a dressmaker. Living with the family as a lodger was 28 years old tailor John Hancock of Barnstaple. It may have been through him that Amelia was introduced to the nineteen year tailor John Lavercombe when she was fourteen, to whom she was later married.
	And so it was towards the end of 1899 that Amelia married John Lavercombe who was born at Bratton Fleming, on the western edge of Exmoor. John was the son of William and Elizabeth Lavercombe of Bratton Fleming. Just over one year after they were married the couple was living in Barnstaple at the time of the 1901 Census and already had one child by then. The census revealed that Amelia was 23 and her husband John was 27, and that his occupation was that of a tailor.
	The child living with them at Barnstaple was new born baby Hilda M E Lavercombe who was born at Barnstaple. Four years later Amelia presented John with a son. So by the time of the next census in 1911 the family, which was living at Crediton by then, was made up to John Lavercombe, age 37, Amelia Ellen Lavercombe, age 33, Hilda Maud Ellen Lavercombe, who was ten, and Herbert John Lavercombe, who was six years old.
34Q8	George Henry Collett was born at Barnstaple on 5^th September 1880. His mother Amelia registered the birth while the family was living at Trinity Street in Barnstaple. George’s father was employed as a railway porter by the Great Western Railway and no record of the family has been found in the April census of 1881. Ten years later though, George was 10 years old and was living with his family at 45 Vicarage Street in the Barnstaple census of 1891.
	By the end of the century George had left Devon and headed north to Leeds, where in 1901 he was 20 and was working as a coachsmith. At that time he was living in the Headingley-with-Burley registration district and his place of birth was confirmed as Barnstaple.
	It may be of interest to note that also living in that same area were two other Colletts. They were photographer Clara Collett nee Elliott, who was 26 and from Moorthorpe in Yorkshire, and Lina Collett a 16 years old domestic servant who was born at Barwick-in-Elmet near Leeds.
	It has since been established that Lina Collett, who was born in 1884, was the daughter of blacksmith William Richard Collett of Barwick-in-Elmet and Mary Hannah Todd of nearby Thorner. Details of her family can be found in Part 36 – The Leeds Line under the Ref. 36Q8.
	A couple of years later George married Emily, with whom he had a daughter during the following years. According to the census in April 1911 George was still living in the Headingley-with-Burley district of Leeds. The census return listed George Henry Collett of Barnstaple as 31, and with him was his wife Emily who was 35 and their daughter Emily Gladys who was five years old.
	34R16	Emily Gladys Collett		Born in 1905.
34Q9	Thomas Stephen Collett was born at Reading in 1873 and was seven years old in the census of 1881 when he was living with his parents at 45 George Street in the town. By 1891 he was 17 and was still living with his family in the parish of St Mary in Reading.
	Ten years later Thomas was once again residing in Reading where he was 27, and where he married Emily not long after the census day in 1901. Over the next ten year Emily presented Thomas with four children while they were living in Reading, and during that time Stephen’s widowed mother also joined the household.
	All of this was confirmed by the Reading census of 1911 when Thomas Stephen Collett was 37, his wife Emily was 35, and their four children were Emily Collett, who was nine, Thomas Collett, who was six, Eva Collett, who was three, and Vera Collett who was eleven months old. Living with the family was Thomas’ mother, the widow Mary Collett of Clifton Hampden, who was 63.
	34R17	Emily Collett		Born in 1902
	34R18	Thomas Collett		Born in 1904
	34R19	Eva Collett		Born in 1907
	34R20	Vera Collett		Born in May 1910
34Q10	William Charles Collett was born at Reading in 1877 and was four years of age and was living with his family at 45 George Street at the time of the Reading census in 1881. He was still living there ten years after that, when he was 14.
	Just before the end of the century he married Louisa, a Reading girl who was born there in 1871, with whom he had one child prior to the 1901 Census. The census return for Reading listed the family of three as William, age 24, who was working as a shunter with the Great Western Railway. His wife Louisa was 30, and their son Robert was not yet one year old.
	Later that same year Louisa gave birth to the couple’s second child, and over the next nine years a further four children were added to the family. By the end of the decade William Charles Collett and his eldest son Robert William Collett were both absent from the 1911 census return and have not been traced to any in the UK, so it is possible they were aboard.
	The remainder of their family was recorded in the Reading census of 1911 as follows. Louisa Collett of Reading was 40, and the five children with her were listed as Walter James Collett, who was nine, William Frederick Collett, who was seven, Leslie Albert Collett, who was five, Leonard Ernest Collett, who was two, and Stanley Thomas Collett who was one year old. Every member of the household was confirmed as having been born in Reading.
	34R21	Robert William Collett		Born in 1899 at Reading
	34R22	Walter James Collett		Born in 1901 at Reading
	34R23	William Frederick Collett		Born in 1903 at Reading
	34R24	Leslie Albert Collett		Born in 1905 at Reading
	34R25	Leonard Ernest Collett		Born in 1908 at Reading
	34R26	Stanley Thomas Collett		Born in 1910 at Reading
34Q11	Frederick J Collett was born at Reading in 1880 and was just one year old at the time of the 1881 Census when he was living at 45 George Street in Reading with his parents Stephen and Mary Collett. He was still there with his family in 1891, when he was 10 years old. No record of Frederick has been found in either of the census returns for 1901 and 1911, so he may have left the country or been abroad with the military services during that time.
	Certainly there was Frederick J Collett listed in the British Army records, who served in the Great War. The only detail provided in the records is that he was Private Frederick J Collett No. 446101 who served with the Royal Army Medical Corps.
34Q12	James Valentine Collett was born at Reading in 1881 but after the census that year. He was the youngest son of Stephen and Mary Collett but was not living with them in 1891, when the census that year placed him living in the Paddington area of London. James V Collett was 10 years old and his place of birth was confirmed as Reading. Ten years later he was living and working in the Kensington area of London as a commercial clerk, when has was 20 and recorded as James V Collett from Reading.
	It would appear that James was not married by the time of the census in 1911. At that time in his life James Valentine Collett, age 30, was still living and working within the Kensington district of London. The only other Collett living within that same area of London was Susannah Elizabeth Collett who was 56 years of age, although so far no connection with her has been made.
34Q13	Edward John Collett was born at Appleford in 1885 and, as Edward Collett he was six years old in the Appleford census of 1891. It was again as Edward Collett that he was still living there with his family in 1901 at the age of 15, when he was working as a teamster on a farm with his brother Ernest (below).
	During the next ten years he moved to Oxford and in the April census of 1911 he was living and working in the Cowley area of the city, within the Headington registration district, where he was recorded as Edward John Collett, age 24, and from Appleford. It was very likely, while he was in Oxford, that Edward met and married Rose Elizabeth, the wedding taking place prior to Edward joining the army in preparation for the First World War.
	However, it was as Sergeant E J Collett, service number 12748, with the 5^th Battalion Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry Regiment, that Edward John Collett was tragically killed in action on 1^st May 1917.
	At the time of his death his wife was living at Bedford Road in Wilshamstead, which today is known as Wilstead, and is just south of Bedford. He was buried at Warlincourt Halte British Cemetery at Saulty in Pas de Calais – Grave IX.F.II. His name is also listed on the War Memorial in the village of Wilstead.
34Q14	Ernest James Collett was born at Appleford on 21^st January 1888 and was two years of age in the April census of 1891, when he was simply recorded as Ernest Collett. It was also as Ernest Collett that he was listed with his family at Appleford in March 1901, when he was 13 and was working with his older brother Edward (above) as a plough boy at a local farm in Appleford.
	Thirty months later Ernest ceased working on the land, when he took up employment with the Great Western Railway at the nearby mainline station in Didcot. That happened on 12^th October 1903 but, for whatever reason, his employment there did not last very long when, less than five month later, his contract ceased at Didcot on 25^th February 1904.
	Seven years later, in the census of 1911, Ernest Collett was still a single man of 23, when he was still living at home with his parents in Appleford.
34Q15	Stephen Collett was born at Appleford on 17^th June .1890, the third son of James Ernest Collett of Appleford and Sarah Brookland of Sutton Courtenay. He was only nine months old at the time of the Appleford census in 1891, and was 10 years old in 1901, and 20 years old in 1911, when he was still living with his parents at the family’s home in Appleford.
	It was three and a half years later, when Stephen Collett, age 23, married Emma Maud Barnet at Appleford on 21^st October 1914. Emma was also 23, and at the time of the census in 1911, when she too was 20, she was living in Appleford, although not with her family. The census return listed her as Emma Maud Barnett and gave her place of birth as Appleton, to the north of Abingdon-on-Thames, rather than Appleford, and she was recorded ten years earlier in the Abingdon registration district as Emma M Barnett, age 10 years.
	It would appear from the birth of their two known children that Stephen may have been away from his wife during the war years, since it was only at the end of the Great War that their daughter was born, closely followed by their son.
	Stephen Collett died during April in 1957 at the age of 66, and was buried in the churchyard of St Mary the Virgin at Long Wittenham on 12^th April 1957.
	34R27	Winifred Evelyn Collett		Born on 16.03.1918 at Appleford
	34R28	William Edward Henry Collett		Born on 10.08.1919 at Appleford
34Q16	Florence Collett was born at Appleford in 1892, where she was living with her family in March 1901 at the age of eight years. It was around ten years later that Florence Collett married Albert W Meadham who was almost twice her age. According to the Appleford census of 1911, Albert Meadham was 35, while his wife Florence was 18.