PART THIRTY-FIVE

The Melksham Line – 1600 to 2007

Updated October 2011

		New information generously provided by Maureen Iliffe nee Collett (Ref. 44R15) in 2009 confirmed that Part 44 – The Malmesbury District Line also commenced in Broughton Gifford and confirmed the vital link that connects Part 35 to Part 44, and from Part 44 there is a line that leads to New Zealand through Part 31
		This is the family line of Allan Simnett (Ref. 35Q5) of Ledbury in Herefordshire, Don Cameron (Ref. 35O60) in Australia, Ian Hextall (Ref. 35N94) in Scotland, and Geraldine Hopkins nee Collett (Ref. 35P63) of Strathroy in Ontario
	The new version of this file, issued in December 2010, was largely due to the contribution made by Gerri Hopkins which has added more detail to the branch of the family that settled in Canada in 1906.
	A previous update of this file was thanks to information received from Gloria Davies which has helped to determine some of the earlier generations of this family, which previously had just been estimations.
	The information used in the December 2008 update of this file was kindly provided by Barry Collett of the USA who is currently carrying out a Collett DNA Study. The line confirmed by DNA testing is denoted by the names that are underlined.
	The village of Broughton Gifford lies approximately one mile west of Melksham and it was there that this family line commenced in the late 1500s, as set out in Part 44 – The Malmesbury District Line (incorporating Broughton Gifford).
	Luke Collett, who starts this line was the younger brother of William Collett (Ref. 44H1) of Broughton Gifford, and the second known son of Daniel Collett (Ref. 44G1) of Broughton Gifford, who in turn was the son of Anthony Collett (Ref. 44F1) of Great Chalfield, a very small hamlet just one mile from Broughton Gifford. All of these details can be found in Part 44 – The Malmesbury Line (incorporating Broughton Gifford).
35H1	LUKE COLLETT (Ref. 44H2) may have been born around 1640 to 1645. He was married to Grace around 1666, and all of their children were baptised at Broughton Gifford.
	35I1		Thomas Collett	Baptised on 24.05.1668 at Broughton Gifford
	35I2		Luke Collett	Baptised on 31.01.1669 at Broughton Gifford
	35I3		William Collett	Baptised on 18.02.1671 at Broughton Gifford
	35I4		JOSEPH COLLETT	Born circa 1673 at Broughton Gifford
	35I5		John Collett	Baptised on 20.09.1674 at Broughton Gifford
	35I6		Jane Collett	Baptised on 04.12.1681 at Broughton Gifford
	35I7		Grace Collett	Baptised on 11.11.1683 at Broughton Gifford
35I3	William Collett was baptised at Broughton Gifford on 18.02.1671, the third of seven known children of Luke and Grace Collett. He later married Sarah around 1693 with whom he had a number of children, and all of them were born at Broughton Gifford.
	35J1		John Collett	Born in 1694; likely infant death at B G
	35J2		John Collett	Born on 22.11.1698 at Broughton Gifford
	35J3		William Collett	Born on 08.02.1700 at Broughton Gifford
	35J4		Sarah Collett	Born on 07.06.1703 at Broughton Gifford
	35J5		Isaac Collett	Born on 07.01.1705 at Broughton Gifford
35I4	JOSEPH COLLETT was baptised at Broughton Gifford on 20.09.1674 in a joint ceremony with his brother John. The two boys may have been twin brothers, although there is a possibility that Joseph was born in 1672 or 1673, a year or two before his brother John.
	Joseph later married Mary Wakeley at Broughton Gifford around 1695, with whom he had seven children, and all of them were baptised at Broughton Gifford. The Wakeley surname appears many times in the records for Broughton Gifford and, on one occasion in the 1800s, it was once again linked to the Collett family when the daughter of Joshua Mortimer and Ruth Wakeley married Benjamin Collett. In addition to this, the Mortimer family also had many ties with the Collett family.
	35J6		Martha Collett	Born circa 1695
	35J7		Mary Collett	Baptised on 15.10.1699
	35J8		Jane Collett	Baptised on 11.06.1701
	35J9		JOHN COLLETT	Baptised on 05.08.1705
	35J10		Joseph Collett	Baptised on 24.10.1714
	35J11		Leah Collett	Baptised on 08.09.1717 at Broughton Gifford
	35J12		Daniel Collett	Born circa 1720
	35J13		James Collett	Baptised on 17.03.1722
35J2	John Collett was born at Broughton Gifford on 22.11.1698, the son of William and Sarah Collett. It was also at Broughton Gifford that he later married Ann Archer on 18.04.1720.
35J6	Martha Collett was born at Broughton Gifford around 1695, the eldest daughter of Joseph Collett and Mary Wakeley. However, it was four years later that she was baptised there in a joint ceremony with her sister Mary (below) on 15.10.1699. And it was also at Broughton Gifford that Martha married Stephen (Steven) Dark on 25.12.1714.
35J7	Mary Collett was born at Broughton Gifford and was baptised there on 15.10.1699 in a double baptism with her older sister Martha (above). She later married John Bull and the couple settled in Broughton Gifford where their son William was born and was baptised on 15.10.1732.
	Almost twenty years later William Bull married Martha Mortimer at Broughton Gifford on 17.09.1752. The couple were only married for twenty-six years, when Martha died and was buried in the churchyard of the parish church at Broughton Gifford on 16.07.1778.
	It is very likely that the couple’s grandchild was Martha Bull who was born in 1779, who married William Mortimer in 1801, but who died in 1804. Following which William Mortimer married Amelia (Millicent) Collett (Ref. 35L16).
35J8	Jane Collett was baptised at Broughton Gifford on 11.06.1701, the daughter of Joseph Collett and Mary Wakeley. Twenty years later she married William Brossire at Broughton Gifford on 08.06.1721.
35J9	JOHN COLLETT was baptised at Broughton Gifford on 05.08.1705. He later married (1) Millicent (Millie) Gearish at Broughton Gifford on 07.08.1729, with whom he had four children, and all of them baptised at Broughton Gifford. Millie was born around 1707.
	It would appear that Millicent died around 1740, following which John married (2) Ann who may have been much younger than John, possibly by nearly fifteen years, judging by the baptism dates of their children.
	One hundred and twenty-five years after John Collett married Millicent Gearish, a certain Samuel James Collett married a Sarah Gearish. This took place at Melksham on 18^th January 1855. Samuel was the son of Richard Collett and was born at Melksham on 21^st December 1831, and Sarah was born at Melksham on 5^th March 1833. Sarah died on 15^th August 1877, while Samuel survived for nearly another fifty years, when he died on 16^th February 1926. No link has yet been found that connects this couple to this particular family line.
	35K1		Patience Collett	Baptised on 11.06.1730 at Broughton Gifford
	35K2		Mary Collett	Baptised on 30.08.1733 at Broughton Gifford
	35K3		Millicent Collett	Baptised on 09.08.1736
	35K4		John Collett	Baptised on 16.05.1739
	35K5		Mary Collett	Baptised on 11.09.1743 at Broughton Gifford
	35K6		William Collett	Baptised on 19.04.1745
	35K7		John Collett	Baptised on 04.04.1748
	35K8		Sarah Collett	Baptised on 26.12.1750 at Broughton Gifford
	35K9		HENRY COLLETT	Born circa 1746
35J10	Joseph Collett was possibly born at Broughton Gifford, where he was baptised on 24.10.1714. He married (1) Ann and together they had five daughters who were all baptised at Broughton Gifford. Ann’s name was spelt without an e, until the baptism of the fifth child, when both the child’s name and the mother’s name were recorded as ‘Anne’.
	What happened next in the life of Joseph and Ann is not known precisely, but it is possible that Ann may have died after the birth of their fifth child, following which Joseph then married (2) Mary with whom he had a further two children, both of them being baptised at Broughton Gifford.
	It is also conceivable that Ann and Mary were one and the same person, only from the fact that Joseph’s first child was named Mary and that Marianne (Mary Ann) was a name used by later generations of the family.
	35K10		Mary Collett	Baptised on 14.07.1738 at Broughton Gifford
	35K11		Martha Collett	Baptised on 24.02.1739 at Broughton Gifford
	35K12		Betty Collett	Baptised on 17.04.1743 at Broughton Gifford
	35K13		Sarah Collett	Baptised on 23.06.1745
	35K14		Anne Collett	Baptised on 14.01.1749 at Broughton Gifford
	35K15		Rebecca Collett	Baptised on 16.11.1751 at Broughton Gifford
	35K16		Joseph Collett	Baptised on 20.10.1754
35J12	Daniel Collett was possibly born around 1720, the son of Joseph and Mary Collett. He later married (1) Ruth and their two known children were baptised at Broughton Gifford. It is also possible, although not proved, that Ruth died during or shortly after the birth of her second child.
	This tragic event would then have enabled Daniel to marry (2) Ann with whom he had another daughter soon after.
	35K17		Thomas Collett	Baptised on 25.12.1753 at Broughton Gifford
	35K18		Ruth Collett	Baptised on 02.02.1756 at Broughton Gifford
	35K19		Ann Collett	Baptised on 24.02.1758 at Broughton Gifford
35J13	James Collett was baptised at Broughton Gifford on 17.03.1722, the youngest child of Joseph Collett and Mary Wakeley.
35K3	Millicent Collett was born at Broughton Gifford and it was there that she was baptised on 09.08.1736, the daughter of John Collett and Millicent Gearish. And it was at Broughton Gifford that she married James Hill on 03.02.1761.
35K4	John Collett born at Broughton Gifford where he was baptised on 16.05.1739, the only son of John Collett and his first wife Millicent Gearish. When he was around 24 years of age he married Ann (Anna) Matthews at Broughton Gifford on 11.03.1763.
	With their son James being born within three months of their wedding, Ann was obviously with-child on the day that they were married. At the child’s baptism in Broughton Gifford on 22.05.1763 his parents were stated as being John and Anna Collett, whereas it was John and Ann for their other two children.
	35L1		James Collett	Born in 1763
	35L2		Martha Collett	Baptised on 11.05.1766 at Broughton Gifford
	35L3		Henry Collett	Baptised on 19.02.1769
35K6	William Collett was born at Broughton Gifford where he was baptised on 19.04.1745. Tragically four days later the parish register at Broughton Gifford confirmed that he died there on 23.04.1745.
35K7	John Collett was baptised at Broughton Gifford on 04.04.1748. He later married Mary White at Broughton Gifford on 20.11.1792. Judging by the birth years for John’s and Mary’s children it seems highly likely that Mary was quite a few years younger than John and that she was very likely his second wife. All of the couple’s known children listed below were baptised at Broughton Gifford.
	It is possible that, at the time of the wedding in 1792, John Collett of Broughton Gifford was already a widower and that it was his first married that had produced his eldest son James, who was born prior to the date of his marriage to Mary White. It is therefore likely his first wife may have died at the birth of their son James, or shortly thereafter.
	35L4		James Collett	Born circa 1785
	35L5		William Collett	Baptised on 17.02.1793
	35L6		Mary Collett	Baptised on 05.04.1795 at Broughton Gifford
	35L7		Henry Collett	Baptised on 29.04.1798
	35L8		Elizabeth Collett	Baptised on 23.11.1800
	35L9		Millicent Collett	Baptised on 11.09.1803 at Broughton Gifford
35K9	HENRY COLLETT was born at Broughton Gifford around 1746. Twenty years later he married Mary Hayward at Broughton Gifford on 20.06.1768, where all of their children were born and baptised, as confirmed for some of them by the Wiltshire IGI Records.
	Curiously a Henry Collett and his wife Anne had a son James who was baptised at Broughton Gifford on 05.04.1777 who would sit comfortably in this family. So for completeness James Collett has been inserted into the family, until such time as it can be verified or dismissed.
	35L10		Ann Collett	Baptised 25.12.1768 at Broughton Gifford
	35L11		John Collett	Baptised 20.10.1771 at Broughton Gifford
	35L12		Harry Collett	Baptised 31.01.1774 at Broughton Gifford
	35L13		HENRY COLLETT	Born circa 1775
	35L14		James Collett	Baptised on 05.04.1777
	35L15		William Collett	Baptised on 28.09.1778
	35L16		Amelia (Millicent) Collett	Baptised on 04.03.1781
	35L17		Thomas Collett	Baptised on 30.05.1784
	35L18		Stephen Collett	Baptised on 04.03.1787
	35L19		Mary Collett	Baptised on 25.07.1789 at Broughton Gifford
35K13	Sarah Collett was baptised at Broughton Gifford on 23.06.1745, the daughter of Joseph and Ann Collett. And it was at Broughton Gifford that she married Stephen Bevan on 24.04.1768.
35K16	Joseph Collett was baptised at Broughton Gifford on 20.10.1754. However, it is possible that he was born in 1752, since he was 20 years of age at the time of his marriage in 1772, although his age at the time of his death in 1809 was 55.
	On the occasion of his wedding, Joseph was described as a yeoman of Trowbridge. He married Jane Rudman (Redman) at Melksham on 29.10.1772, the Sarum Marriage Licence Bond having been issued the previous day.
	Jane was a spinster also aged 20, and the Bondsman was her father John Rudman (Redman) who was described as a yeoman of Melksham. John Redman (Rudman) was also the father of Hester Redman (Rudman) who married William Collett (Ref. 44K7) in 1780, Joseph and William being first cousins.
	Once they were married, Joseph and Jane left the Broughton Gifford and Melksham area, following the birth there of their first child. It was just north of Chippenham where they settled, in the village of Kington St Michael. And it was there that all of their remaining children were born and where Joseph died on 07.11.1809.
	He was buried in the churchyard of St Michael’s Anglican Church on 11^th November 1809 and the burial record confirmed his aged as 55 and that he was the husband of Jane Collett. At the time of the baptism of his two daughters in January 1784 Joseph was the churchwarden at St Michael’s Church.
	In his Will of 1809 Joseph was referred to as ‘gentleman of Kington St Michael’.
	In an earlier edition of this family line there was reference to Daniel Collett who was born at Kington St Michael in 1803. However, it has since been revealed from census returns for 1841, 1851 and 1861 that he was actually born in 1779, and was therefore he was over twenty years older than his wife.
	It is established that Daniel Collett (of Kington St Michael) married Mary Buckland, while Joseph Collett married her sister Elizabeth Buckland, and all were born and married in Kington St Michael. For these reasons it has been assumed that Daniel and Joseph were brothers and therefore, that both of them were the sons of Joseph Collett and Jane Redman, resulting in Daniel’s placement into this family.
	35L20		William Henry Collett		Baptised on 08.02.1774
	35L21		Ann Collett		Born circa 1777
	35L22		Daniel Collett		Born circa 1779
	35L23		Martha Collett		Born circa 1782
	35L24		Sarah Collett		Baptised on 08.01.1784
	35L25		John Collett		Baptised on 17.01.1786
	35L26		Hester Collett		Baptised on 30.04.1788
	35L27		Joseph Collett		Baptised on 02.12.1790
	35L28		John Collett		Baptised on 17.06.1794
	35L29		Stephen Collett		Baptised on 01.02.1797
35L1	James Collett was born at Broughton Gifford in 1763 and was baptised there on 22.05.1763. His parents John Collett and Anna Matthews had only been married eleven weeks prior to his baptism.
	James Collett married Margaret Adams at Broughton Gifford on 21.10.1787 and, two years later, they were still living there when their three known sons and one daughter were born.
	35M1		John Collett	Baptised on 01.11.1789
	35M2		Daniel Collett	Baptised on 20.11.1794
	35M3		James Collett	Baptised on 20.06.1799
	35M4		Mary Collett	Baptised on 25.01.1808 at Broughton Gifford
35L3	Henry Collett was baptised at Broughton Gifford on 19.02.1769, the son of John and Ann Collett. It was also at Broughton Gifford that Henry married Hannah Mortimer on 04.01.1801 and nine months later their only known child was born. The IGI baptism record for the child noted the parents as Mary and Anna which, it is assumed, was a misinterpretation of Henry and Hannah.
	Hannah Mortimer was possibly the daughter of William Mortimer and Mary Redman, whose son George married Amelia Collett at Broughton Gifford in 1804, Amelia being the cousin of Henry Collett.
	35M5		Thomas Collett	Baptised on 27.09.1801
35L4	James Collett was born at Broughton Gifford around 1785 and he later married Sarah Clack at Broughton on 25.05.1806, where all of their children were born and baptised.
	James and Sarah of Broughton Gifford both featured in the first national census in June 1841, when they were both recorded with a rounded aged of 55. Living with them at that time were five of their children, Elizabeth 25, Sarah, Mary and Henry all with a rounded age of 20, and Jane with a rounded age of 15.
	No record has so far been found in 1841 for their son James who would have been 22, so he may have died by then. Also by that time their eldest surviving son Samuel was married with children of his own, and this may have also been the reason for the absence of their eldest daughter Ann.
	35M6		Samuel Collett	Baptised on 25.12.1808; likely infant death
	35M7		Ann Collett	Baptised on 05.08.1810 at Broughton Gifford
	35M8		Samuel Collett	Baptised on 15.11.1811
	35M9		Elizabeth Clack Collett	Baptised on 21.11.1813
	35M10		Sarah Collett	Born possibly in 1815 or 1816
	35M11		Mary Collett	Baptised on 23.02.1817
	35M12		James Collett	Baptised on 18.10.1818; likely infant death
	35M13		Henry Clack Collett	Baptised on 02.07.1820
	35M14		Jane Collett	Baptised on 20.01.1823
35L6	William Collett was baptised at Broughton Gifford on 17.02.1793, and it was there that he married Jane Webb. What was slightly curious, was that Jane was recorded using her maiden name at the baptism of their first child, perhaps indicating that the couple were not yet married at that time.
	35M15		Tabitha Collett	Born on 28.03.1816
	35M16		Elizabeth Collett	Baptised on 22.04.1821
	35M17		William Collett	Born in 1828
35L7	Henry Collett was born at Broughton Gifford, where he was baptised on 29.04.1798. Henry married Mary Morris on 03.05.1825 at Melksham, where they settled and where all of their children were born.
	By the time of the census in June 1841, the family living at Melksham comprised Henry, age 40 who was listed as Harry, his wife Mary who was also 40, and their seven children. They were Henry and Sarah who were both 14, Eliza 12, Elizabeth 9, Ann 6, Everest 4, and John who was two years old.
	35M18		Henry Collett	Born in 1826
	35M19		Sarah Collett	Baptised on 17.06.1827 at Melksham
	35M20		Eliza Collett	Baptised on 05.04.1829 at Melksham
	35M21		Elizabeth (Betsy) Collett	Baptised on 11.12.1831 at Melksham
	35M22		Ann Collett	Baptised on 31.05.1835 at Melksham
	35M23		Everest Collett	Baptised on 30.04.1837 at Melksham
	35M24		John Collett	Born in 1839
35L8	Elizabeth Collett was born at Broughton Gifford in 1800 and was baptised there on 23.11.1800, the daughter of John Collett and Mary White. When Elizabeth was 24 years old she married Francis Miles of Weston near Bath, the marriage taking place in the village of Weston on 12.10.1824.
	The marriage produced four children for Elizabeth and Francis, and these were Mary Miles who was born in 1825, John Miles born in 1827, Francis Miles born in 1830, and Thomas Miles who was born in 1836.
	By the time of the first national census in June 1841, the family was still living within the Bath registration district and comprised Francis who was 40 (rounded age), Elizabeth who was 35 (rounded age), and their four children Mary 15, John 13, Francis 10, and Thomas who was four years old.
	Ten years later the family was recorded living in the Bath & Lansdown area, which included the village of Weston. The census of 1851 listed the family as Francis 52, Elizabeth 49, and their two sons Francis who was twenty years old and Thomas who was fourteen.
	By 1861 Elizabeth was a widow aged 59 who was living within the Bath & Walcot area with her unmarried son Francis Miles, who was 30 years old.
35L13	HENRY COLLETT was born at Broughton Gifford around 1775, and it was around the turn of the century that he married Maria. Three of their children, listed below, were baptised at Broughton Gifford where the others may have also been born and baptised.
	35M25		William Collett	Baptised on 27.09.1801
	35M26		Daniel Collett	Born in 1805
	35M27		Thomas Collett	Baptised on 18.10.1807 at Broughton Gifford
	35M28		Maria Collett	Born in 1812
	35M29		STEPHEN COLLETT	Born in 1817
35L14	James Collett was baptised at Broughton Gifford on 05.04.1777, where he was described as being the son of Henry and Anne Collett, rather than Henry and Mary Collett as in the case of all of the other children. This therefore may indicate that he was not of this family, but has been included in the absence of any better information.
35L15	William Collett, who was baptised at Broughton Gifford on 28.09.1778, married Mary and they are known to have had at least two children who were baptised at Broughton Gifford.
	35M30		James Collett	Baptised on 12.04.1807 at Broughton Gifford
	35M31		Mary Ann Collett	Baptised on 14.01.1811 at Broughton Gifford
35L16	Amelia (Millicent) Collett was born at Broughton Gifford, where she was baptised in the parish church on 04.03.1781. She was the daughter of Henry and Mary Collett of Broughton Gifford and, at the time of her marriage, she was referred to as Millicent Collett.
	It was at the parish church in Broughton Gifford that, on 24.09.1804, she married widower George Mortimer of Broughton Gifford. George was the youngest son of William Mortimer and Mary Redman and was baptised at Broughton Gifford on 09.10.1785.
	George had previously married Martha Bull on 18.01.1801, but sadly she died just three years into their life together and was buried at Broughton Gifford on 10.01.1804. It was just over eight months later that same year, when he married Amelia.
	George died sometime between 1841 and 1850, and was followed by Amelia who was buried at the Baptist Chapel in Broughton Gifford on 23.11.1850.
	Amelia’s and George’s eldest son Henry (Harry) Mortimer, who was baptised at Broughton Gifford on 30.06.1805, later married (1) Eliza Gay at Broughton Gifford on 07.04.1828.
	Just as had happened to his father George Mortimer, Harry’s first wife also died shortly after they were married, and less than a year later, on 15.01.1829, he married (2) Anne Mortimer who was born at Kington Langley in 1809. Anne was very likely his cousin.
	Harry Mortimer was 47 when he died in 1852, following which he was buried in the graveyard at the Baptist Chapel in Broughton Gifford on 27.03.1852, just sixteen months after his mother Amelia had been buried there.
	35M32		Henry (Harry) Mortimer			Baptised on 30.06.1805 at Broughton G
	35M33		Joseph Mortimer			Born in 1807 at Broughton Gifford
	35M34		Sarah Mortimer			Born in 1809 at Broughton Gifford
	35M35		Hannah Mortimer – see Ref. 35M8			Born in 1813 at Broughton Gifford
	35M36		George Mortimer			Born in 1815 at Broughton Gifford
	35M37		Joseph Mortimer			Born in 1817 at Broughton Gifford
	35M38		Elizabeth Mortimer			Born in 1818 at Broughton Gifford
35L17	Thomas Collett was baptised at Broughton Gifford on 30.05.1784, and it was there that he married Maria, and where their sons were baptised.
	35M39		Stephen Collett	Baptised on 30.08.1807
	35M40		William Collett	Baptised on 12.02.1809 at Broughton Gifford
	35M41		Thomas Collett	Baptised on 02.06.1811
35L18	Stephen Collett was possibly born in 1786, but was baptised on 04.03.1787 at Broughton Gifford. He married Hannah Mortimer on 21.05.1808 at Broughton Gifford, where their children were born and baptised.
	The couple were still living at Broughton Gifford at the time of the marriage of their daughter Mary, when Stephen Collett was recorded as being a shoemaker, a trade that was later taken up by his sons Henry and Simeon.
	35M42		Sarah Collett	Baptised on 25.12.1809 at Broughton Gifford
	35M43		Anne Collett	Baptised on 21.05.1812 at Broughton Gifford
	35M44		John Collett	Born circa 1815
	35M45		Henry Collett	Baptised on 23.02.1817
	35M46		Mary Collett	Born in 1819
	35M47		Simeon Collett	Born in 1823
35L20	William Henry Collett was the son of Joseph Collett and Jane Redman and he was baptised at Melksham on 08.02.1774. There is however a question-mark as to whether he may have been born at Yatton Keynell, the nearest next village to Kington St Michael. Since it was to Kington St Michael that his parents had moved after leaving Broughton Gifford and Melksham, and it was at Kington St Michael where all of his siblings were born.
	At the age of 32, William married Sarah Kearsey on 20.02.1806 at Ashley to the east of Corsham. The Sarum Marriage Licence Bond was issued two days before the event and the bondsman was Sarah’s brother John Kearsey, a yeoman of Ashley.
	Sarah Kearsey was born at Chedworth in Gloucestershire in 1782 and was baptised at Chedworth on 28^th December 1782. She was one of nine children of Richard Kearsey who was born at Bisley in Gloucestershire in 1745 and who died at Ashley in 1807.
	Richard Kearsey’s wife (and Sarah’s mother) was Judith Dane, who was the daughter of Giles Dane and Mary Clerk who are the five times great grandparents of Judy Brown of Australia who has kindly provided some of the details in this family line..
	It is also interesting to note that the husband of Judy Brown, Keith Brown, is related to Doris Mason who married Roscoe Collett whose family details are provided in Part 53 – The South Wales Branch Line.
	At the time of their marriage, William Collett was described as a yeoman of Slaughterford, while Sarah was a spinster of Ashley. Slaughterford lies between Ashley and Kington St Michael / Yatton Keynell. In addition to being a yeoman, William was also a churchwarden, but this must have been at neighbouring Biddestone, just to the west of Chippenham.
	Whilst all of William’s and Sarah’s children were born at Slaughterford they were not baptised there, since the Church of St Nicholas was destroyed by Cromwell’s New Model Army during the Civil War.
	However, it was through the efforts of William Henry Collett of Slaughterford that the church was rebuilt around 1823. In the church today there is a plaque bearing his name as an acknowledgement of this event. Until that time, all religious ceremonies had to be conducted in the church at nearby Biddestone.
	Within the “Land Tax Assessments 1780 to 1830 for Slaughterford” there is a reference to William Collett leasing land from 1803 right through to 1826. This included a statement that ‘in 1827 the land that William Collett had been leasing was taken over by John Gibbs at the same tax rate’.
	It continued by saying ‘After 1826 William Collett ceased to be a land tax payer in Slaughterford’. He would have been 46 years old at that time and perhaps this might suggest that he and Sarah were no longer living there.
	The full statement regarding the lands leased by William Collett can be found in Appendix 1 at the end of this family line.
	It has not been determined when William died, but it is known that his wife Sarah passed away at Cornwell House in the Walcot district of Bath on 08.10.1867 at the age of 85.
	35M48		Mary Anne Collett				Born in 1807
	35M49		William Collett				Born in 1808
	35M50		John Collett				Born in 1810
	35M51		Thomas Collett				Born in 1811
	35M52		George Collett				Born in 1813
	35M53		Stephen Collett				Born in 1814
	35M54		Sarah Collett				Born in 1816
	35M55		Joseph Collett				Born in 1818
	35M56		Edwin Collett				Born in 1819
35L21	Ann Collett was believed to have been born around 1777 and most likely at Kington St Michael, where all of her younger siblings were born. It was also there that she was married by licence to William Mogers on 21.02.1801. The witnesses at the ceremony were her father Joseph Collett, and her two sisters Hester and Sarah (below).
35L22	Daniel Collett was born at Kington St Michael around 1779, according to the census returns completed by him in 1841, 1851 and 1861. And it is these which place him as most probably the eldest son of Joseph Collett and Jane Redman, although no birth or baptism record to verify this has been found to date.
	Daniel Collett was in his late forties when he married Mary Buckland of Kington St Michael at Kington on 18^th February 1828. Mary, who was twenty-two years younger than Daniel, was the eldest daughter of Jacob Buckland and Mary Day, and the sister of Elizabeth Buckland who married Daniel’s younger brother Joseph Collett (below), and the sister of Edwin Buckland who married Louisa Collett.
	Who Louisa Collett was has still not been determined, but one option may be that she was the child from a first marriage of Daniel Collett, thus making Mary Buckland his second wife. This seems very reasonable, considering his age when he married Mary.
	Because of the complex inter-relationship between the Collett family and the Buckland family, details of the latter have been included in Appendix 2 at the end of this family line, to help clarify the situation.
	Once married, Daniel and Mary settled in the Wiltshire village of Keevil, to the east of Trowbridge, where their four known children were all born.
	In the first national census in June 1841, Daniel was recorded as being 60 years old, while his wife Mary was 40. Although it is well established that adult ages were rounded in the first census, the two ages do correspond closely with their respective ages in the next two census returns.
	The couple’s four children were more accurately recorded in 1841 as Henry Collett who was eleven, Mary Collett who was ten, Joseph Collett who was six, and Rosa Collett who was three years old.
	Ten years later, in the more detailed census of 1851, Daniel Collett, age 72, was a farmer of 164 acres at Keevil, where he employed six men. His wife Mary was 50, and the children still living at Keevil with them were Henry who was 21, Marianne who was 19, Joseph who was 16, and Rosa who was 13.
	Not long after that Daniel’s and Mary’s eldest son Henry left the family home in Keevil to be married and started a family of his own at Lushill near Castle Eaton by the River Thames within the Highworth registration district of Swindon. Then, towards the end of the 1850s, the couple’s other son Joseph became a married man, but continued to live at Keevil.
	Between these two events their two daughters were also married and left Keevil. So by the time of the census in 1861, Daniel and Mary had no members of their family living with them, just son Joseph living nearby with his new family. On that occasion Daniel Collett was 83, while his wife Mary was 60.
	It was later that same year that Daniel Collett died at Keevil on 26.10.1861. His Will was proved one month later on 26^th November 1861 and listed effects of under £4,000. The oaths were given by Daniel’s two sons, farmer Henry Collett of Pew Hill, and farmer Joseph Collett of the said parish, and by Joseph Maslen of the said parish, his executors. Joseph Maslen was Daniel’s son-in-law through the marriage to his daughter Marianne.
	Nearly ten years after the death of her husband, his widow Mary Collett, age 70, was living at the home of her daughter Marianne Maslen at Longlease Farm in Westbury, by which time she too was a widow.
	It was a similar situation ten years after that in 1881, except by that time Marianne Maslen had left Westbury and was living at Wick Farm in the village of Goosey, near Wantage in Berkshire. Still living with her was her mother Mary Collett from Kington St Michael who was 80, who must have passed away shortly after that time.
	35M57		Henry Collett					Born in 1829
	35M58		Marianne Collett					Born in 1830
	35M59		Joseph Collett					Born in 1834
	35M60		Rosa Collett					Born in 1837
35L23	Martha Collett was born around 1782, and was baptised in a joint ceremony at Kington St Michael with her sister Sarah (below) on 08.01.1784. At that time the girls’ father Joseph Collett was the churchwarden at St Michael’s Anglican Church, where they were baptised.
	Twenty-seven years later Martha married John Stump by licence at Kington St Michael on 23.09.1811. The parish register recorded that Martha was living of Easton (Piercy) near Chippenham at that time, while her husband was of Leigh Delamere, close by Kington St Michael.
	The witnesses at the ceremony were Joseph Stump and Ann Stump who may have been John’s parents. It may also be of interest that the second wife of Thomas Collett (Ref. 22M1) was Anne Pheunecia Stump, who were married at Corsham on 14.06.1831. Anne having been born around 1785, making her around 46 when she married Thomas.
35L24	Sarah Collett was born in 1783 and was baptised on 08.01.1784 at Kington St Michael in a joint ceremony with her sister Martha (above). Sarah was over 40 years of age when she married Joseph Mattick (or Mattock) on 22.12.1825.
	The wedding took place at Yatton Keynell courtesy of a Sarum Marriage Licence Bond issued on 16^th December 1825. The witnesses at the ceremony were John Collett who may have been Sarah’s brother, and Mary Ann Collett.
	In view of Sarah’s age, the couple only had one child who was baptised John Collett Mattick who was born in 1827 and who died in 1883.
35L25	John Collett was born at Kington St Michael, where he was baptised on 17.01.1786. Tragically he was around five years of age when he died in 1791 and was buried at Kington St Michael on 6^th March 1791.
35L26	Hester Collett was born at Kington St Michael and she was baptised there on 30.04.1788, the daughter of Joseph Collett and Jane Rudman (Redman). She was 26 years old when she married HENRY COLLETT at Yatton Keynell on 27.10.1814. The witnesses at the wedding ceremony were William Redman and Sarah Collett.
	William Redman was presumably related to Hester’s mother Jane Collett nee Rudman (Redman), while Sarah Collett was very likely Hester’s older sister (above) who was not married herself until 1825, but who was also married at Yatton Keynell.
	The marriage between Hester and Henry produced six known children one of which, their son Henry, later gave his place of birth as Giddea Hall. And it was at Giddea Hall in Yatton Keynell that Hester died in 1842, and where she was buried on 13^th January 1842.
	All that is known about Hester’s husband Henry Collett is that he was a butcher, a trade carried on by his son Henry, and that he was born around 1793. Henry outlived his slightly older wife by almost forty years and was buried at Yatton Keynell on 24.02.1880.
	There is another later Collett connection with Giddea Hall in 1881, the details of which can be found in the Appendix at the end of Part 31 – The Wiltshire to New Zealand, where it relates to the Collett family of South Wraxall.
	35M61		Jane Collett		Born in 1815 at Yatton Keynell
	35M62		Llewellyn Collett		Born in 1817 at Yatton Keynell
	35M63		Caroline Collett		Born in 1818 at Yatton Keynell
	35M64		Elizabeth Collett		Born in 1821 at Yatton Keynell
	35M65		Henry Collett		Born in 1827 at Yatton Keynell
	35M66		William Collett		Born in 1830 at Yatton Keynell
35L27	Joseph Collett was baptised at Kington St Michael on 02.12.1790, the son of Joseph Collett and Jane Redman. It was also at Kington St Michael on 09.05.1833 that Joseph married Elizabeth Buckland, the eldest daughter of Jacob Buckland and Mary Day of Kington St Michael where she was born in 1805. In addition to this, Elizabeth’s sister Mary Buckland married Joseph’s older brother Daniel Collett (above).
	Even at the age of 43, Joseph Collett was recorded in the parish’s marriage register as being a bachelor of Kington St Michael. The couple were married there by licence and the witnesses were Edwin Buckland and Ann Buckland, who are now known to be two more of Elizabeth’s siblings, as detailed in Appendix 2 at the end of this family line.
	Furthermore, it was the aforementioned Edwin Buckland who married Louisa Collett at Kington St Michael in 1830, and again the details of their family can be found in Appendix 2 at the end of this family line.
	By June 1841 Joseph Collett was 40 (rather than 50) and his wife ‘Eliza’ was 30 (rather than 35), by which time Elizabeth had presented Joseph with three children, although their first born son did not survive. So the two daughters living with the couple at the time of the census were Emma who was 6 and Mary who was 4.
	According to the census of 1851 for Kington St Michael, Joseph Collett was 58 and was a yeoman farmer of 220 acres, employing seven farmer workers. His wife ‘Eliza’ was 45, and listed with the couple were their children Emma 15, Mary 13, Henry 9, and Eliza who was five years old.
	Having already lost his eldest son Henry as a baby, Joseph’s youngest son Edward, who would have been seven years old, must have suffered the same fate, since he was not listed with the family in 1851 or in any later census.
	Ten years later the family was still living at Kington St Michael within the Chippenham & Christian Malford registration district and comprised Joseph 68 and Eliza 55, and their children Emma 25, Mary A Collett 23, Henry 19, and fifteen years old Eliza.
	When Joseph died five years later on 18.12.1865 at the age of 74, he was recorded as living at Lower Piercy (Priory) Farm in Kington St Michael. He was buried in the churchyard of St Michael’s Anglican Church. Sadly for his family, his youngest daughter Eliza died just over a year later.
	By 1881 Eliza was aged 75 and was living alone at New Priory Farm in Kington St Michael, which was described as a holding of 268 acres for which she employed two men, three boys, and three women.
	35M67		Emma Jane Collett				Baptised on 10.06.1835
	35M68		Mary Anne Collett				Baptised on 13.05.1837
	35M69		Henry Collett				Born in 1838
	35M70		Henry Collett				Born on 17.08.1841
	35M71		Edward Collett				Born on 18.08.1843
	35M72		Eliza Collett				Baptised on 21.07.1845
35L28	John Collett was baptised at Kington St Michael on 17.06.1794. However, with the previous child in the family having been baptised four years earlier, it is possible that John was a few years old when he was baptised. It also seems likely that it was in early 1811 that he married Sarah of Broughton Gifford, where they lived and where all of their children were born and baptised.
	In the first national census held in the UK in June 1841, John was recorded with a rounded age of 50, as was his wife Sarah. Living with them at that time were four of their children, Samuel who was 25, William who was 20, Sarah who was 11, and Eliza who was nine years old.
	35M73		Anne Collett	Baptised on 13.10.1811; infant death
	35M74		Thomas Collett	Baptised on 25.09.1814
	35M75		Samuel Collett	Baptised on 22.09.1816
	35M76		Elizabeth Collett	Baptised on 18.10.1818 at Broughton Gifford
	35M77		William Collett	Baptised on 01.04.1821
	35M78		Anne Collett	Baptised on 01.06.1823 at Broughton Gifford
	35M79		Sarah Collett	Baptised on 14.11.1830
	35M80		Eliza Collett	Baptised on 18.11.1832
35L29	Stephen Collett was baptised at Kington St Michael on 01.02.1797, the youngest child of Joseph Collett and Jane Redman. Like his brother Joseph (above), Stephen was also a yeoman farmer and on 24.02.1832 he was married by licence to (1) Sophia Rawlings. The wedding took place at Writhlington in Somerset, near Radstock, just south of Bath.
	The parish register stated that the groom was Stephen Collett, a bachelor of Writhlington, and that the bride was Sophia Rawlings, a spinster of Writhlington. The marriage produced five children for the couple before Sophia died, at which point in his life Stephen then married (2) Louisa Davis
	Not long after that, Stephen died at Chippenham during the third quarter of 1850, where he was buried. Two of the children of Stephen and Sophia, Clara and Constance, were christened at Kington St Michael, where the other children were most likely also born.
	In his Will, proved in 1852, Joseph was referred to as ‘yeoman of Kington St Michael’.
	35M81		Clara Jane Collett				Baptised on 27.02.1833 at Kington
	35M82		John Collett				Born in 1834 at Kington St Michael
	35M83		Constance Prudence Collett				Baptised on 21.06.1836 at Kington
	35M84		Lot Collett				Born in 1838 at Kington St Michael
	35M85		Daniel Collett				Born in 1841 at Kington St Michael
35M1	John Collett was born at Broughton Gifford in 1789 and was baptised there on 01.11.1789, the son of James Collett and Margaret Adams. Around the time he was 22, John married Sarah Elmes at Broughton Gifford on 29.07.1811. Sarah was the daughter of William Elmes and had been baptised at Broughton Gifford on 09.05.1790.
35M2	Daniel Collett was baptised at Broughton Gifford on 20.11.1794, the son of James Collett and Margaret Adams. He was just over 21 years of age when he married Sarah Gowin at Broughton Gifford on 24.12.1815. The parish register confirmed this event as follows. Daniel Collett, aged 21 years of this parish, and Sarah Gowin, aged 23 years of this parish, were married in this church by banns this twenty-fourth day of December in the year One Thousand eight hundred and fifteen by me James Gisborne, curate. This marriage was solemnised between us Daniel Collett (who signed his name) and Sarah Gowin (who made her mark) in the presence of Thomas Gowin and James Bugg.
35M3	James Collett was baptised at Broughton Gifford on 20.06.1799, the son of James Collett and Margaret Adams. James was still living at Broughton Gifford when he married Martha Tarrant on 02.04.1821.
	According to the census of 1841 James had a rounded age of 40, while his wife Martha was 44. Their children were Mary and Ann, both 15, George who was 12, Elizabeth who was 10, Margaret who was nine, (Mary) Jane who was six, and Martha who was two years old.
	35N1		Mary Collett	Baptised on 06.07.1823 at Broughton Gifford
	35N2		Anne Collett	Baptised on 21.08.1825 at Broughton Gifford
	35N3		George Tarrant Collett	Baptised on 11.11.1827 at Broughton Gifford
	35N4		Elizabeth Collett	Baptised on 06.06.1830 at Broughton Gifford
	35N5		Margaret Collett	Baptised on 30.09.1832 at Broughton Gifford
	35N6		Jane Collett	Baptised on 18.10.1835 at Broughton Gifford
	35N7		Martha Collett	Baptised on 25.07.1839 at Broughton Gifford
35M5	Thomas Collett was baptised at Broughton Gifford on 27.09.1801, the son of Henry and Hannah, although the IGI listed the parents as Mary and Ann.
	It is possible that he was married twice, but this has not been fully confirmed. On the first occasion, a Thomas Collett married (1) Ann Taylor at Melksham on 26.05.1823. She may have died after presenting Thomas with three children, and may even have died during the birth of the third child.
	Thomas Collett was then recorded as marrying (2) Ann at Melksham around1830, with whom he had a further five children. All of the children from both marriages were born at Melksham. According to the first national census in June 1841, Thomas and his family were living at Melksham. Thomas was 40, Ann was 35, and their children were listed as Stephen 15, Jane 15, Maria 12, James 10, William who was seven, Henry who was five, Sarah who was two, and Frederick who was under one year old.
	Ten years later in 1851 Thomas Collett was 50, and was still living at the family home in Melksham with his wife Ann, who was 48, James Collett, age 20, William Collett, age 17, Sarah Collett, who was 12, and Frederick Collett who was 10 years old, and by which time their eldest son Stephen was married with children of his own.
	Thomas Collett died during the month of June in 1872, while his wife Ann died less than two years later on 10^th January 1874.
	35N8		Stephen Collett				Born in 1824 at Melksham
	35N9		Jane Collett				Born in 1826 at Melksham
	35N10		Maria Collett				Baptised on 01.03.1829 at Melksham
	The following were the children of Thomas Collett and his second wife Ann:
	35N11		James Collett				Born in 1832 at Melksham
	35N12		William Collett				Born in 1834
	35N13		Henry Collett				Baptised on 18.10.1835 at Melksham
	35N14		Sarah Collett				Born in 1838
	35N15		Frederick Collett				Born in 1841 at Melksham
35M8	Samuel Collett was born at Broughton Gifford in 1811. He was the son of James and Sarah Collett, and was baptised at Broughton Gifford on 15.11.1811.
	He later married (1) Hannah Mortimer (Ref. 35M35) on 06.04.1837. Hannah was Samuel’s cousin ‘one-step removed’ and was baptised at Broughton Gifford on 24.07.1813. She was the daughter of George Mortimer and Amelia (Millicent) Collett, who was a cousin of Samuel’s father.
	This was yet another of the many links between the Collett and Mortimer families. Others were (a) Ann Mortimer who married James Gay, who were the parents of Jacob Gay who later married Mary Collett (Ref. 35M46), who was the daughter of Stephen Collett and Hannah Mortimer (Ref. 35L18), and (b) Ruth Mortimer the daughter of Joshua Mortimer and Ruth Wakeley, who married Benjamin Collett (Ref. 35O9) the son of Stephen and Catherine Collett (Ref. 35N8).
	By June 1841 the family living at Broughton Gifford comprised Samuel, with a rounded age of 30, his wife Hannah who was 25, and their two children, James aged two years, and baby Sarah who was not yet one year old.
	All of Samuel’s and Hannah’s children were born and baptised at Broughton Gifford and, according to the next census in 1851, Samuel was an agricultural labourer at 39 and was living in the main street in Broughton Gifford with his wife Hannah, age 37, and the rest of his family. The children listed with them on that occasion were children James 13, Sarah 11, and George who was two years old.
	Missing from the family home in Broughton Gifford, which was only two doors from the home of Samuel’s ‘one step removed’ cousin Simeon Collett (Ref. 35M47), was their son Edwin who was five. He was staying elsewhere but within the same registration area at that time, perhaps to ease the burden on Samuel’s wife Hannah, who may have been troubled by illness at that time in her life.
	Tragedy struck the family in late 1853, when Hannah died and was buried at the Baptist Chapel in Broughton Gifford on 01.12.1853. Sometime during the following years Samuel married (2) Fanny who was fourteen years younger than him, and to whom he was married by the time of the census in 1861.
	The couple moved to nearby Bradford-on-Avon and within the next few years Fanny presented Samuel with three further children. By 1871 the family had left Bradford and, on that occasion, they were living at Bedminster near Bristol, where Samuel was 59, Fanny was 45, and the only children still living with them were Ann who was 10, Eliza who was eight, and Samuel who was three.
	Ten years later in 1881, Samuel was a gardener aged 69 and was recorded as living at 154 East Street in Bedminster with his wife Fanny, age 55, who was the proprietor of a grocer’s shop employing one assistant.
	The census details confirmed that Samuel was born at Broughton Gifford and that that his wife Fanny had been born at Corston near Malmesbury. Living with them was their 18 years old daughter Eliza Collett who was born at Bradford-on-Avon, and it was she that was the aforementioned grocer’s shop assistant to her mother.
	No further record of the family has been found after 1881, so it is likely that both Samuel and Fanny died during the 1880s.
	35N16		James Collett				Baptised on 14.01.1838
	35N17		Sarah Collett				Baptised on 29.03.1840
	35N18		Edwin Collett				Baptised on 11.02.1844
	35N19		George Collett				Born in 1848
	35N20		Ann Collett				Born in 1861 at Bradford-on-Avon
	35N21		Eliza Collett				Born in 1863
	35N22		Samuel Collett				Born in 1867 at Bradford-on-Avon
35M9	Elizabeth Clack Collett was baptised at Broughton Gifford on 21.11.1813. By June 1841 she was still a spinster and was living with her parents. For the census she was recorded with a rounded age of 25.
35M10	Sarah Collett was very likely born at Broughton Gifford, although the exact date is not known. It may have been in 1815 or 1816, or she might even have been a twin with her sister Mary (below). What is known is that she was baptised with her sister Mary in a joint ceremony on 23.02.1817. She was also listed with a rounded age of 20 in the 1841 Census, when she was still living with her parents James and Sarah Collett.
35M11	Mary Collett was baptised at Broughton Gifford on 23.02.1817 in a joint ceremony with her sister Sarah (above). It seems likely that she was born there in 1816 or in early 1817. At the time of the 1841 Census she was given a rounded age of 20, the same as her sister Sarah, which may indicate that they were twins.
35M12	Henry Clack Collett was born at Broughton Gifford, where he was baptised on 02.07.1820. His age was confirmed as being 20 in the census of 1841, when he was still living at the family home in Broughton Gifford.
	Just over four years later Henry married Maria Gore at Broughton Gifford on 30.10.1845. Maria was also born at Broughton Gifford in 1822, while the couple’s two known children were born when the family was living at Monkton Combe in Somerset.
	According to the census of 1871 Henry was 50, Maria was 47, their daughter Jane was 14, and their son James was seven.
	By 1881 Henry was 61 and was a shepherd living in the village of Monkton Combe with his wife Maria and his son James. Living with the family, as a boarder and domestic servant, was James Allan who was 18 and from Glasgow.
	35N23		Jane Collett				Born in 1857
	35N24		James Collett				Born in 1863
35M13	Jane Collett was baptised at Broughton Gifford on 20.01.1823 and was given a rounded age of 15 in the 1841 Census, when she was living there with her family.
35M15	Tabitha Collett was born at Broughton Gifford on 28.03.1816. It was also there that she was baptised on 07.07.1816, when her parents were confirmed as William Collett and Jane Webb.
35M16	Elizabeth Collett was baptised at Broughton Gifford on 22.04.1821, the daughter of William Collett and Jane Webb.
35M17	William Collett was born at Broughton Gifford in 1828. He married Harriet Austin who was born at Chippenham in 1829, and it was there that the marriage took place on 30.10.1855. By 1861 he and Harriet had three children. William was 31 at the time of the Melksham census that year, and had with him the two older children Paulina who was four, and Albert who was three years old.
	His wife Harriet, who was also 31, was away at Chippenham in April 1861 and was accompanied by her son William who was just one year old. It may have been that Harriet was visiting her parents at that time.
	Ten years later their family was complete and they were all living together in Melksham. William was 42, and Harriet was 41, while their children at that time in 1871 were Paulina 14, Albert 13, William 11, Ada who was eight, Charles who was six, and Florence who was one year old.
	William died in 1880, so by the time of the census of 1881 Harriet was listed as a widow at 51, when she was living at Holbrook Farm in Melksham with her children. The farm comprised 58 acres, and Harriet was employing one labourer to work there.
	Living with her were sons Albert 23 and Charles 16, and her daughter Florence who was 11. All of the children of William and Harriet were born at Melksham, and the aforementioned two sons were described as farmer’s sons.
	Also listed as living with the family on the day of the census, was unmarried Sarah Sheat aged 33, a servant and dairy maid.
	Rather curiously, two of the couple’s missing children were recorded as living at Linden Hall In Melksham. This was the home of John Hayter, a wealthy master tailor from London, who was employing sixteen people in his tailoring business. The two children of William and Harriet who were there on that occasion were their son William who was 21, and their daughter Ada who was 18.
	William’s and Harriet’s oldest daughter Paulina had already left the family to be married by 1881. Over the next decade other children left the family home, so by 1891 Harriet, age 61, only had son Charles and daughter Florence still living with her. It looks very much as though Charles had taken over running the family farm, following the death of his father.
	Just after the turn of the century Harriet was still living Melksham where she was described as a retired farmer, although she gave her age as 66 rather than 71. Still living with her was her unmarried children Charles 37 and Florence 31
	It was virtually the same arrangement ten years later in April 1911. The census return on that occasion listed the group as Harriet Collett 81, her son Charles Collett 46, and her daughter Florence Collett 40. Also living with them at that time was Harriet’s twenty-eight years old granddaughter Lilian Collett, the daughter of her son Albert Henry Collett.
	35N25		Paulina V S Collett				Born in 1856
	35N26		Albert Henry Collett				Born in 1857
	35N27		William James Collett				Born in 1859
	35N28		Ada J Collett				Born in 1862 at Melksham
	35N29		Charles S Collett				Born in 1865
	35N30		Florence E Collett				Born in 1869
35M18	Henry Collett was born at Melksham in 1826, and was the first child and eldest son of Henry Collett and Mary Morris. He was 14 in June 1841 when he was living with his family in Melksham. He was in his mid twenties when he married Ann Pepler at Melksham on 01.04.1851, with whom he had five children while living at Melksham.
	The youngest of the couple’s known children was Everest Morris Collett, whose name derives from Henry’s youngest sister Everest, coupled with that of his mother’s maiden name. Perhaps surprisingly, two of his other daughters were both named after Henry’s mother, and both survived.
	By 1861 Henry was absent from the family home in Melksham or had died by then, while still in his thirties. The census return therefore listed the family as Ann who was 32, and her daughters Eliza A Collett who was nine, Mary Collett who was five, Mary J Collett who was three, and baby Everest who was still under one year old.
	According to the next Melksham census in 1871, Ann Collett was a widow of 43, and living with her were four of her children. These were Henry who was 15, Mary who was 13, and Everest who was 10 years old. Her eldest daughter Eliza Ann Collett was living and working nearby at the age of 19.
	No record of Ann Collett has been found in the census of 1881, so she may have died by then.
	35N31		Eliza Ann Collett				Born in 1851
	35N32		Henry John Collett				Born in 1853
	35N33		Mary Collett				Born in 1855
	35N34		Mary Jane Collett				Born in 1857
	35N35		Everest Morris Collett				Born in 1861
35M24	John Collett was born at Melksham around 1839 and was just two years old in the Melksham census of 1841 and 11 years old in the next census ten years later. During the early 1860s he married Elizabeth who was also born at Melksham, but who was a few years older than John, having been born around 1835.
	By the time of the Melksham census of 1871 Elizabeth had presented John with four children, all of whom had been born at Melksham. The census return for that year recorded the family as John Collett 31, his wife Elizabeth who was 35, and their children Henry Charles Collett who was seven, William J W Collett who was six, Frederick W Collett who was four, and Emily M Collett who was two years old.
	In 1881, John Collett, at the age of 41 was an inn keeper living at Bath Road in Melksham. Living with him was his wife Elizabeth who was 45, and his unmarried sister Sarah Collett (above) who was 52.
	Completing the family at that time were just three of John’s and Elizabeth’s four children. The oldest son Henry was 17 and was a plumber’s apprentice, the younger son William was 16 and was a grocer’s apprentice, while their daughter Emily was 12 years old. The absence of the couple’s third son Frederick was due to him attending Weston School in Somerset as a boarder.
	35N36		Henry Charles Collett					Born in 1864
	35N37		William John Collett					Born in 1865
	35N38		Frederick W Collett					Born in 1867
	35N39		Emily Matilda Collett					Born in 1869
35M25	William Collett was born at Broughton Gifford and was baptised there on 27.09.1801, the son of Henry and Maria Collett. He later married Jane Walters at Biddestone near Chippenham on 05.12.1825. It seems likely that once they were married the couple moved south to the Melksham area near Broughton Gifford.
	It was while they were living within that area that their first child was baptised at Melksham on 24.02.1828, the child’s parents being confirmed as William and Jane Collett.
	Around the same time that William’s eldest daughter was born, another Elizabeth Collett was baptised at Christian Malford to the north-east of Chippenham. That Elizabeth Collett was born at Christian Malford on 3^rd February 1827, and was baptised there one year later on 11^th March 1828, the daughter of William and Mary Collett.
	That Elizabeth Collett never married and she was still living in Christian Malford when she died on 13^th June 1866. Her details have been included here for completeness.
	35N40		Elizabeth Collett					Baptised on 24.02.1828 at Melksham
35M26	Daniel Collett was born around 1805 and very likely at Broughton Gifford, where his siblings were born and baptised. He later married Sarah and all of their children were baptised at Broughton Gifford.
	According to the first national census in June 1841 Daniel had a rounded age of 45, as had his wife Sarah. Living with the couple at that time were four of their children. They were George who was 20, Mary who was 15, Daniel who was 10, and James who was seven years old.
	From this family list it can perhaps be deduced that the couple’s children James and Sarah did not survive beyond childhood, whilst it is possible that the two oldest daughters were already married by 1841.
	35N41		Maria Collett	Baptised on 22.09.1816 at Broughton Gifford