PART FOUR
	The Great Western Line - 1560 to 2006
	Updated October 2011
	No history of the Collett family would be complete without the inclusion of the internationally renowned master of steam railway locomotive design Charles Benjamin Collett (Ref. 4N7). He was, and still is, better known simply as C B Collett, the man who brought glamour into the world of railway transportation with his Kings and Castles Classes of steam engines. He was also the man that had the forward vision of the future, involving the early diesel trains.
	Although a married man, his marriage unfortunately never produced any children. It can therefore be said that, upon his death, it really was the end of the line.
	My father, William Henry John Collett (Ref. 1Q4), often talked about the great man with affection, and had many treasured memories of those days when he was a young boy playing outside the Engineer’s house at the end of Bathampton Street, in which he also lived. One of his proudest possessions was the Great Western Railway Apprenticeship Certificate signed by C B Collett himself. Why was this so special? Apparently it was most unusual for the Chief Engineer to sign the certificates, so this particular one was very much a collector’s item.
	The early information used in the construction of the initial family tree was kindly supplied by Margaret Chadd. In addition to which, many pleasant hours were spent browsing through library books and visiting the railway museums at Swindon, Didcot and York where, at the time, there was a large photograph of C B Collett proudly displayed in the main hall there.
	Further information was subsequently provided by Judith Stichbury (Ref. 4Q1) of New Zealand relating to the Blundell family of Luton and Suffolk. The information for the updated version in February 2010 was gratefully received from Don Norris, who is an acknowledged authority on the history of Hemel Hempstead, and Alan Freer relating to the family of William Rickford Collett the Member of Parliament for Lincoln 1841 to 1847
	The section begins with the link to Part One, this being Henry Collett (Ref. 1F18) The ancestral line to C B Collett is indicated by the names in bold capital type
4F1	HENRY COLLETT (Ref. 1F18) was baptised at Broadwell on 4^th November 1558 and was the last of five children presented to John Collett by his wife Marion Jakes. Following the death of his mother shortly after he was born, Henry’s father married Katherine Sanders with whom he had a further five children. The discovery of the Will of Henry’s father has provided new information which suggests that Henry already had two sons by the time of the death of his father in 1597. From this it must be assumed that Henry was first married prior to this date, in addition to him being married for a second time around 1610.
	Henry Collett was first married by licence to (1) Elizabeth Insil at Upper Slaughter on 22^nd May 1593. Accordingly to the parish register for Upper Slaughter, Elizabeth Insil was the daughter of John Insil. It was this marriage produced the two sons named in the 1597 Will of John Collett, and they were Thomas Collett and John Collett. Sometime after the birth of her two boys it would appear that Elizabeth died, leaving Henry to take a much younger second wife some years later, with whom he had a further five children.
	In order to avoid a major reorganisation of the layout of this family line, and that of Part 1 – The Main Line, Henry Collett’s first marriage to Elizabeth Insil has been retained in Part 1 and it is in there that the family line of their eldest son Thomas Collett is continued.
	Upon the death of his father in 1597, Henry was referred to in his Will as Henry Collett the elder to distinguish him from Henry Collett the younger, his half brother and the eldest son of Katherine Sanders and John Collett. (see Will in Legal Documents)
	Within the terms of the Will, Henry the elder received two strikes of corn, and his two sons Thomas Collett and John Collett were to be given half a guinea between them. The bulk of his father’s estate was to be divided between his two half brothers Henry Collett the younger and Anthony Collett.
	It was after this, and following the death of his first wife, that Henry married (2) Elizabeth Goodwin of Lower Dorsington in the Parish of Welford-on-Avon. This event possibly took place around 1610 when Henry was already in his fifties. Two of the couple’s five children were baptised at Dorsington, while the other three were born in the area around the Stow-on-the-Wold.
	Henry Collett died in 1647 at Broadwell, just north of Stow-on-the-Wold, and his Will was proved in 1648, wherein all of the children listed below were named.
	4G1		Elizabeth Collett			Born in 1613 at Naunton
	4G2		Mary Collett			Born in 1616 at Dorsington
	4G3		THOMAS COLLETT			Born in 1619 at Naunton
	4G4		John Collett			Born around 1620 at Broadwell
	4G5		Alice Collett			Born in 1622 at Dorsington
	For the continuation of the line of Thomas Collett the eldest son of Henry Collett from his first marriage to Elizabeth Insil see Part 1 – The Main Line (Ref. 1G5)
4G1	Elizabeth Collett was baptised at Naunton on 20^th February 1613 when her father was confirmed as Henry Collett. She married T Hyatt of Chipping Norton in whose Will there were references to Warwick and Ascott in Warwickshire. Elizabeth died in 1641 and her Will was proved that same year, although the year may well have been 1647, since it was that year that Elizabeth was named as the executor of the Will of Alice Collett, her youngest sister.
4G2	Mary Collett was baptised at Dorsington on 23^rd October 1616, the daughter of Henry Collett. She later married John Holtham who was Yeoman of Welford-on-Avon. This union may be significant insofar that Thomas Collett (Ref. 11J1) and Mary Holtham, both of Welford-on-Avon, were married there on 15^th July 1711, with Thomas having been born at Welford around 1686.
	For the continuation of the line of Thomas and Mary Collett see Part 11 – The Welford-on-Avon Line (Ref. 11J1)
4G3	THOMAS COLLETT was born at Naunton in 1619. He married Elizabeth Mason on 4^th March 1644 at Upper Slaughter and he died just fourteen years later during 1658. He was referred to as the eldest son in his father’s Will of 1648. Thomas’ and Elizabeth’s only known son was born and baptised at Broadwell.
	4H1		THOMAS COLLETT			Born in 1654 at Broadwell
4G4	John Collett was born around 1620 at Broadwell and he later married Sarah.
4G5	Alice Collett was baptised at Dorsington on 12^th March 1622 and was the daughter of Henry Collett. Alice was only around twenty-five years of age when she died at Stow-on-the-Wold in 1647. Her sister Elizabeth (above) was sole executor of the Will, which was proved in 1647.
	Something is not quite right here since, according to the entry for Elizabeth Collett (above), she had already died in 1641. However, this could simply be an error in transcription and perhaps it should be 1647. If so, 1647 was a tragic year for the family with no less than three deaths; father Henry Collett (Ref. 4F1) and the two daughters. There may have been a plague or illness or disease that caused this. Certainly it would have been unusual for young ladies aged 25 and 33 to have written a Will. It therefore points towards the fact that perhaps they knew they were going to die and had written Wills to cover this eventuality.
4H1	THOMAS COLLETT was born in 1654 at Broadwell and he married Hannah around 1678. He was described as Yeoman of Longborough when he died in 1720. Hannah, who was born in 1652, died in 1725 and was buried in a tomb in Longborough Churchyard. Her Will was proved in 1733 and that document identified her children’s names, all of whom may have been born and baptised at Longborough.
	4I1		Thomas Collett			Born in 1680
	4I2		JOSEPH COLLETT			Born in 1684
	4I3		John Collett			Dates unknown
	4I4		Hester Collett			Dates unknown
4I1	Thomas Collett was born in 1680 at Longborough, a village less than two miles from Broadwell. He died in 1711, probably whilst still at Longborough where his father died nine years later.
4I2	JOSEPH COLLETT was born in 1684 at Longborough. He married (1) Hannah Williams around 1705 at Cote in Oxfordshire, which was where their daughter was born during the following year. Tragically just ten days after the birth, Hannah died at Cote on 15^th July 1706 at the age of 26.
	A few years after the death of his first wife Joseph married (2) Mary Plater around 1710, with whom he had another eight children. All of their children were born at Cote and were baptised there at the Baptist Chapel. The village of Cote which lies midway between Faringdon and Witney. All of the birth records recorded the place name as Coate in Oxfordshire, and the children’s father as Joseph Collett.
	During his life Joseph Collett was referred to as the Reverend Joseph Collett of Cote, a title he acquired at the age of 18. It was later in his life that he was referred to as Joseph Collett, Minister of Cote and Longworth, a title he held until his death in 1741.
	Joseph’s first marriage to Hannah Williams was the first of four unions between members of the Collett and Williams families included here in this family line.
	4J1		Hannah Collett			Born on 05.09.1706 at Cote, Oxon
	4J2		Mary Collett			Born on 21.12.1712 at Cote, Oxon
	4J3		Esther Collett			Born on 25.01.1714 at Cote, Oxon
	4J4		Abiah Collett			Born on 10.11.1716 at Cote, Oxon
	4J5		JOSEPH COLLETT			Born on 24.03.1718 at Cote, Oxon
	4J6		Anna Collett			Born on 01.05.1723 at Cote, Oxon
	4J7		Thomas Collett			Born on 27.01.1724 at Cote, Oxon
	4J8		John Collett			Born on 26.02.1729 at Cote, Oxon
	4J9		Hannah Collett			Born on 15.01.1731 at Cote, Oxon
4J4	Abiah Collett was born at Cote on 10^th November 1716, the daughter of Joseph Collett. Around the mid-to-late 1740s she married Ebenezer Williams who was born on 30^th July 1714 at Bampton, two miles to the west of Cote, the son of Richard Williams and Deborah Dancer.
	Abiah’s youngest sister Hannah (below) married Ebenezer’s brother John Williams of Cote around five years later. The two brothers were very likely the nephews of Hannah Williams who married Abiah’s father Joseph Collett.
	The marriage of Abiah and Ebenezer produced just one known son for the couple who was born and baptised at Bampton. Abiah Williams nee Collett died in 1790.
	4K1		Richard Williams			Born in 1749 at Bampton
4J5	JOSEPH COLLETT was born at Cote on 24^th March 1718, the son of Joseph Collett. Later in his life he was a draper of Hemel Hempstead and he married Sarah Smith. The marriage produced seven children for Joseph and Sarah, and all of them were born while the couple was living at Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire.
	Joseph Collett died early in 1771 and his Will was proved on 07.05.1771. His widow Sarah died twenty years later in 1791. Prior to his death Joseph Collett, the draper of Hemel Hempstead, was eligible for service with the Militia between the years 1758 and 1762.
	4K2		Anne Collett			Born in 1743 at Hemel Hempstead
	4K3		Thomas Collett			Born in 1745 at Hemel Hempstead
	4K4		William Collett			Born in 1749 at Hemel Hempstead
	4K5		Samuel Collett			Born in 1751 at Hemel Hempstead
	4K6		EBENEZER JOHN COLLETT			Born in 1755 at Hemel Hempstead
	4K7		Benjamin Collett			Born in 1757 at Hemel Hempstead
	4K8		Elizabeth Collett			Born in 1761 at Hemel Hempstead
4J6	Anna Collett was born at Cote on 1^st May 1723, the daughter of Joseph Collett. She was later married when she became Anna Tooley of Wantage in Berkshire.
4J7	Thomas Collett was born at Cote on 27^th January 1724, the son of Joseph Collett. At some time in his short life he had moved to High Wycombe, perhaps for work purposes, because at his death in 1746, at the age of 21, he was referred to as a Gentleman of High Wycombe.
4J9	Hannah Collett was born at Cote on 15^th January 1731, the youngest child of Joseph Collett. It was also at Cote where she married John Williams, also of Cote, around 1754. John Williams was born on 14^th August 1725 and was the brother of Ebenezer Williams who married Hannah’s older sister Abiah Collett (above), and was the son of Richard Williams and Deborah Dancer.
	Hannah Williams nee Collett died in 1775.
4K1	Richard Williams was born at Bampton in 1749, the only known child of Ebenezer Williams and his wife Abiah Collett. He later married his cousin Anne Collett (below) who was born in 1743 and who died in 1819.
4K2	Anne Collett was born at Hemel Hempstead in 1743 the eldest child of Joseph and Sarah Collett. It was later that she married her cousin Richard Williams (above). She died in 1819.
4K3	Thomas Collett was born in 1745 at Hemel Hempstead, where he also married Susannah Cole. Thomas was a draper like his father Joseph before him, and is was as Thomas Collett, draper of Hemel Hempstead, that he was eligible for service with the Militia between 1768 and 1786.
	At the time of his death in 1814 he was referred to as a Gentleman of Hemel Hempstead, and his Will was proved on 9^th December 1814.
	During his life Thomas Collett had been one of five committee members in a project to construct ‘more commodious structures’ on the site of the old Butcher’s Shambles in Hemel Hempstead. First the old buildings were demolished and the reconstruction phase started in 1798. The work was to be financed by voluntary subscriptions, but these were not forthcoming and so, by 1800, the committee had to borrow thirty pounds from Thomas Collett in order to pay the contractor William Harvey. The loan was for four years and attracted interest of thirty shillings for each of the four years.
	Thomas Collett, together with his brother William Collett (below) and his brother-in-law Joseph Hight (below), was named in the Act of 1806 as one of the twelve Trustees of the Boxmoor Trust, which oversaw the construction of the Grand Union Canal across Boxmoor.
4K4	William Collett was born in 1749 at Hemel Hempstead. He was a grocer of Hemel Hempstead and he married Ann Crawley, although one source says that it was Mary Crawley whom he married. During the following years William’s wife presented him with three daughters.
	Records held at Hemel Hempstead confirm that William was another member of his family who was eligible for service with the Militia. Within the records he was listed as William Collett, grocer of Hemel Hempstead, who was available for service between 1768 and 1786, the same as his brother Thomas Collett (above).
	It is highly likely that Ann Crawley was a relative of Mary Crawley who married John Hight – see Ref. 4K8, and even possibly her sister. William Collett died in 1811 and his Will was proved on 7^th November 1811.
	According to the Victorian County History for Hertfordshire, William Collett operated his grocery business from Collett’s Yard on the east side of the High Street in Hemel Hempstead. Upon his death, the grocery business was taken over by the Orchard family, when the location was renamed Orchard’s Yard. Even later still, it became known as Austin’s Yard.
4K5	Samuel Collett was born at Hemel Hempstead in 1751. According to records held at Hemel Hempstead, farmer Samuel Collett of Hemel Hempstead and Two Waters, was eligible for service with the Militia between the years 1772 and 1786, just like his father Joseph and his two brothers Thomas and William (above).
	Samuel Collett died in 1803, but just two years prior to his death a petition was placed before the authorities which read as follows: “We, whose names are hereunder written, do desire that a dwelling-house and barn adjoining at Two Waters, in the parish of Hemel Hempstead, now in the occupation of Mr. Samuel Collett, may be registered as a place of religious worship for Protestant Dissenters, pursuant, etc., April 29^th 1801” It was signed by John Geard, Thomas Button, and William Button.
4K6	EBENEZER JOHN COLLETT was born at Hemel Hempstead on 22^nd May 1755. He was initially baptised simply as John Collett, but adopted the name Ebenezer by deed poll later in his life when he was possibly in his twenties. Certainly by the spring of 1789 he was Ebenezer John Collett. At some time in his early life he sailed to America, where he was Consul at Charleston. On his return to England he became a hop merchant at Southwark in London, and worked in the business with his brother Benjamin Collett (below) in partnership with Samuel Thorpe.
	On 22^nd April 1789 a court case at The Old Bailey sentenced Thomas White to seven years transportation for grand larceny. He was caught ‘red handed’ on 3^rd March that year, stealing 84 pounds of clover seed worth twenty shillings from Ebenezer John Collett, his brother Benjamin Collett and their partner Samuel Thorpe. The incident happened at Galley Quay while fifteen bags of seed belonging to Mr E J Collett and his partners were being loaded onto a cart for delivery to ‘Mr Collett in the Borough’ by William Haynes and George Simmonds.
	Six years after that event Ebenezer married Margaret Alsagar on 13^th June 1795, when the witnesses were Mary Alsagar, John Jacob Zornlin and his wife Elizabeth (Alsagar) Zornlin, and Ann Alsagar. Ebenezer was 40 years of age at the time of his marriage to Margaret, who was nearly half his age at only 22. The marriage produced eight children for the couple and, after initially settling in Southwark, where their first two children were born, the family moved to Hemel Hempstead where the couple’s remaining children were born.
	Margaret was the daughter of Thomas Alsagar, a cloth merchant of Newington in Surrey. She was born on 5^th August 1773 and was baptised at St Mary’s Church in Newington Butts on 16^th March 1774. Her mother Mary and her sisters Elizabeth and Mary were all christened there on that same day, in a joint family ceremony. In addition to her sisters, Margaret Alsagar also had two eminent brothers.
	Thomas Massa Alsager (1779–1846) was part owner of the Times Newspaper and founded the Times Financial Page, while Richard Alsager (1781-1841) was in the service of the East India Company and was Captain of their ship Waterloo. In 1835 Richard became Member of Parliament for East Surrey, but tragically died during his second term of office.
	Almost ironically, Newington, where Margaret Alsagar lived prior to her marriage to Ebenezer Collett, was just across the River Thames from the Houses of Parliament, which may have been an influential factor in his future political career or simply a coincidence, although it was only in July 1814 that he first became an MP, as detailed below.
	Two years into their marriage, Ebenezer personally subscribed £1,000 to the loyalty loan, with a further £2,000 given from his company business the same year, in 1797. The loyalty loan was the method by which the Prime Minister William Pitt raised funds during the period of the French Revolution.
	However, it was also in 1797 that Margaret gave birth to the couple’s first child at Southwark. With their second child born there during the following year, and Margaret then pregnant again shortly after with their third child, Ebenezer purchased a larger house for his growing family in 1799. The property was Lockers House in Hemel Hempstead and it was Ebenezer who converted the 16^th century hunting lodge into a gentlemen’s residence.
	The picture on the right shows Lockers House as it was in 1906. Sometime after the First World War, and possibly in the late 1920s, it was taken over and converted into a school for young ladies, where Miss Simmonds was installed as The Principal. It was later used by Cavendish School as a sixth form annex before, more recently, being sold to developers for conversion into flats.
	It would appear that Ebenezer had offered rooms within the large house to his younger brother Benjamin Collett (below) since, upon his death in 1811, he was referred to as Benjamin Collett of Lockers House.
	Ebenezer John Collett was Member of Parliament for Grampound, near Truro in Cornwall, from 1814 to 1818, before the constituency ceased to exist for reasons of corruption, although Ebenezer still continued to work in the field of politics. In 1819 he became Member of Parliament for Cashell in Tipperary, at a time when Ireland was part of Britain. He later had his own coat of arms drawn up in 1824 which was similar in design to that of Sir Henry Colet (Ref. 18C5) the Lord Mayor of London in 1486.
	It was on 7^th March 1826 that Ebenezer’s wife Margaret died at Lockers House at the age of 51. The memorial tablet on the right, can be found inside the Church of St Mary’s in Hemel Hempstead and was erected by her children. The inscription reads: “In memory of Margaret, wife of Ebenezer John Collett Esquire of Lockers House, who died March 7^th 1826 aged 51 years” Within the churchyard grounds there used to be a large altar tomb of white marble, enclosed within iron railings, on which was written the two following inscriptions; the first on the west side, and the second on the east side.
	“Sacred to the memory of Margaret, wife of E. J. Collett, Esq, M.P., of Lockers House, who departed this life March 7^th, 1826, in the 51^st year of her age” under which was “Also Thomas Collett, son of E. J. Collett, Esq., and Margaret his wife, who departed this life December 25^th1841 in the 36^th year of his age”
	“In memory of Samuel Sandars, Esq, of Lockers House, who died June 1^st, 1862, aged 73” - the son-in-law of Ebenezer Collett and the husband of his eldest daughter Mary - “In memory of Mary, wife of Samuel Sandars, Esq, of Lockers House, who died December 26^th, 1869, in her 73^rd Year. Also of Richard, son of the Above, who died July 7^th, 1871”
	Following the death of his wife, Ebenezer continued to work as a member of parliament up until 1830. For more details about events in his political life at Parliament, see the appendix at the end of this line.
	During his life he was a captain with the Surrey Yeomanry and became lame after a fall from his horse while on an exercise with them. Ebenezer John Collett died at Lockers House on 31^st October 1833 at the age of 78, after which he was buried ‘at sunrise in his wood’, having previously quarrelled with the local rector over the expense of his wife's funeral.
	His Will was proved on 26^th November 1833 in which his total estate was valued at £300,000. Each of his sons inherited £40,000 and each of his children received £10,000 to be given to them on the event of their marriage.
	4L1		Mary Collett			Born in 1797 at Southwark
	4L2		John Collett			Born in 1798 at Southwark
	4L3		Margaret Collett			Born in 1800 at Hemel Hempstead
	4L4		Sarah Collett			Born in 1803 at Hemel Hempstead
	4L5		Thomas Collett			Born in 1806 at Hemel Hempstead
	4L6		Elizabeth Collett			Born in 1807 at Hemel Hempstead
	4L7		William Rickford Collett			Born in 1810 at Hemel Hempstead
	4L8		BENJAMIN COLLETT			Born in 1812 at Hemel Hempstead
4K7	Benjamin Collett was born in 1757 at Hemel Hempstead, where he also married Miss Clarke. At the time of his death in 1811 he was referred to as Benjamin Collett of Lockers House in Hemel Hempstead, a Gentleman of Hemel Hempstead and Downing Street.
	It would seem that during his life he was involved in government work, like his older brother Ebenezer John Collett (above), and was possibly employed at one of the Downing Street addresses in either a ministerial capacity or as a supporting civil servant.
	It has been recorded that Ebenezer John Collett bought Lockers House in Hemel Hempstead in 1799, where Benjamin was given rooms in the large house by his older brother. It is believed that he died while working at 10 Downing Street, but was later buried at Hemel Hempstead.
4K8	Elizabeth Collett was born in 1761 at Hemel Hempstead, the daughter of draper Joseph Collett and his wife Sarah Smith. She married Joseph Hight on 5^th December 1797 in the State Church at Hemel Hempstead. It is possible that this picture of Elizabeth was painted around the time of her wedding. Photo courtesy of Judith Stichbury, Elizabeth’s 3 x great granddaughter. Joseph was the son of John Hight and Mary Crawley and was born in 1767. The Hight family lived for many years at Westbrook Hay to the west of Hemel Hempstead, where they farmed on land that formed part of the Ryder Family Estate.
	The marriage of Elizabeth and Joseph produced four children for the couple, of which only their first born child survived beyond adulthood. All of the children were born at Hemel Hempstead and the first specifically at Westbrook Hay.
	Elizabeth married late in her life, being around 37 years of age at the time of her wedding, and this in some way may have been a contributing factor in the early deaths of her three younger children, and even her own early death. It was certainly recorded that both her daughter Eliza and her son Joseph were subject to a blessing on 11^th November 1808 at Hemel Hempstead, when they were 10 and 8 years old respectively.
	However, it was nineteen years later on 6^th July 1827 that her son Joseph died and was buried at Hemel Hempstead on 9^th July 1827. No details are known of the exact dates that the two youngest daughters passed away, but it is known the Joseph’s wife Elizabeth died on 24^th October 1814, following which she was buried two days later at the Baptist Cemetery in Hemel Hempstead.
	After the death of his first wife, Joseph married (2) Ann who was born in 1775. Some records for Joseph gave his surname as Hight-Bonnington. It may therefore be the case that his second wife was Ann Bonnington.
	The event of his second marriage resulted in a move into London, where the couple spent many years at Long Lane, south of Tower Bridge, in Southwark. Upon the death of his second wife, Joseph returned to Hemel Hempstead and to Crouchfield, where he died on 12^th April 1844. His body was laid to rest in the Baptist Cemetery, where his first wife had been buried thirty years earlier.
	4M1		Eliza Hight		Born on 05.10.1798 at Hemel Hempstead
	4M2		Joseph Hight		Born on 23.09.1800 at Hemel Hempstead
	4M3		Mary Hight		Born on 09.07.1802 at Hemel Hempstead
	4M4		Sarah Hight		Born on 08.08.1804 at Hemel Hempstead
4L1	Mary Collett was born at Southwark on 2^nd January 1797, two years before her parents Ebenezer John Collett and his wife Margaret Alsagar purchased Lockers House in Hemel Hempstead. She was just over four weeks old when she baptised at St Saviour’s Church in Southwark on 31^st January 1797. It was over twenty-two years later, on 13^th October 1819 at Hemel Hempstead that she married Samuel Sandars of Boston in Lincolnshire, who was later referred to as Samuel Sandars of Hemel Hempstead. Samuel was born at Boston in 1789.
	As a child Mary lived with her family at Lockers House, and it seems likely that she may have still been living there after she was married. What is known is that her son Thomas Sandars also lived at Lockers House for some part of his life, but it is not clear if this was when he was single or after he was married.
	Samuel Sandars died at Hemel Hempstead on 1^st June 1862 at the age of 73. Just over three years later his wife Mary died there on 26^th December 1869, aged 72. The couple was buried in the churchyard of St Mary’s Church in Hemel Hempstead where a large white marble tomb marks the site of their joint grave. Also buried there is the body of another of their sons, Richard Sandars, who died shortly after his parents on 7^th July 1871.
	4M5		Thomas Sandars			Born in 1825 at Hemel Hempstead
4L2	John Collett was born at Southwark on 21^st June 1798, and was baptised one month later at St Saviour’s Church on 20^th July 1798, the second child and eldest son of Ebenezer and Margaret Collett. On 31^st July 1826 John Collett married Emma Gage at Petersham in Surrey. Emma was the daughter of Sir Thomas Gage of Hengrave Hall in Suffolk. Their only known child was born in Westminster and was baptised at St Martin in the Field.
	John Collett was Member of Parliament for Athlone and the couple lived at Belgrave Square in London, in addition to which they had a country retreat on the south coast at Lymington in Hampshire.
	4M6		Charlotte Eustacia Collett			Born in 1827 at Westminster
4L3	Margaret Collett was born at Lockers House in Hemel Hempstead on 23^rd November 1799, and was baptised there on 28^th December 1799, the daughter of Ebenezer and Margaret Collett. She was 28 years old when she married John David Hay-Hill, age 22, of Gressenhall Hall in Norfolk on 21^st November 1827, the wedding taking place at Hemel Hempstead.
	Her husband John David Hay-Hill entered Trinity Hall College at Cambridge on 31^st May 1824, the only son of John Hill Esq, of Gressenhall Hall, Norfolk and his wife Julia Anna Hay, the daughter of David Hay, Lieutenant-Colonel of the Royal Artillery. He was born on 26^th June 1805 and attended Eton School, from where he matriculated in 1824. He obtained his Bachelor of Law degree in 1831. He became a Justice of the Peace and by 1858 he and Margaret were living at Farringdon House in Exeter. Tragically John died fifteen years before his older wife, when he passed away prior to 1865.
	The marriage of Margaret Collett and John David Hay-Hill produced two known sons, Alsager Hay-Hill, and Reginald Hay-Hill, who both attended Eton School. The only other known fact about the family is that Margaret Hay-Hill nee Collett died in 1880.
4L4	Sarah Collett was born in 1803 at Lockers House in Hemel Hempstead. She later married Charles Omerod of the India Board, and she died in 1883 at the age of 80.
4L5	Thomas Collett was born at Lockers House in Hemel Hempstead on 11^th February 1806, where he was baptised on 20^th April 1806, the son of Ebenezer John Collett and his wife Margaret. He attended Trinity College at Oxford, having matriculated on 27^th November 1823 at the age of 17. The university records confirm that he was the son of Ebenezer John Collett of Southwark in Surrey.
	Thomas went on to obtain a Bachelor of Art degree at Oxford on 23^rd November 1826 following which, four years later, he received his Master of Arts on 4^th November 1830. He became a barrister-at-law at Lincoln’s Inn in 1832 and became a member of the Inner Temple in London on 8^th January 1836. At sometime during his life he was also a barrister of Lincolnshire.
	Thomas Collett died on 25^th December 1841 and was buried in the churchyard of St Mary’s Church in Hemel Hempstead. The grave he shared with his mother Margaret Collett, and his sister Mary Sandars nee Collett and her husband Samuel Sandars, used to be covered with a large altar tombstone in white marble. See under Thomas’ father, Ebenezer John Collett, for more details
4L6	Elizabeth Collett was born at Lockers House in Hemel Hempstead on 23^rd November 1807. She was baptised at Hemel Hempstead on 14^th January 1808, the youngest daughter of Ebenezer John Collett and his wife Margaret Alsagar.
	Elizabeth Collett married Richard Coles, a solicitor, and she died in 1887 at the age of 80.
4L7	William Rickford Collett was born on 22^nd April 1810 at Hemel Hempstead where he was baptised on 7^th June 1810. He was Member of Parliament for Lincoln from 1841 to 1847, and was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. It was at the General Election of 29^th June 1841 that he was successful in being elected to Parliament, but it was just over six years later, at the General Election on 23^rd July 1847, that he failed to retain his seat in the House of Commons.
	Two years later on 27^th September 1849 when he was 38, William Rickford Collett of Lockers in Hemel Hempstead married Hannah Maria Hartigan, age 16, who was born on 28^th May 1833. Hannah was the daughter and eighth child of the Reverend Edward Hartigan, Vicar of Kiltormen in County Galway, and his wife Elizabeth Florence Eyre. Despite the twenty-two years difference in their ages the marriage produced eleven children for the couple.
	It is not known for sure where all of their children were actually born, but it seems likely that the first two may have been born while William and Hannah were still in England. Shortly after that the family sailed to Australia, where the next five children were definitely born in New South Wales. It would then appear that the family returned to Britain, since it is known their ninth child was born in Caernavon in Wales and their last child was born in St John’s Wood in London.
	On his return, William attempted to enter the field of politics and in September 1868 he contested the seat for County Tipperary on behalf of the Conservative Party. His nationalist opponent was the notorious Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa and, as a result, he failed to win the election. Rossa was returned, but was declared incapable of sitting in the House of Commons since he was an imprisoned felon at that time, so the third candidate, a Liberal, was returned for the constituency.
	William Rickford Collett died fourteen years later in 1882, and at the time of his death he was one of the oldest members of the Carlton Club. His much younger wife Hannah died thirteen years later on 28^th February 1895. Both William and Hannah were buried at Deans Grange Cemetery in Dublin, and their gravestone (on the right) carries the inscription: “In Loving Memory of William Rickford Collett F.R.C.S. Late M.P. for Lincoln Died Nov. 9 1882 aged 73 Also his wife Hannah Maria Who died Feb. 18 1895 aged 63 years” Photo courtesy of Linda Button, William’s 2 x great granddaughter
	4M7	Hannah Maria Collett			Born on 30.06.1850
	4M8	William Rickford Collett			Born in 1852
	4M9	unnamed Collett child			Born circa 1853; infant death
	4M10	Robert Arthur Singleton Collett			Born on 15.05.1855 at Singleton, NSW
	4M11	Charlotte Elizabeth Collett			Born on 09.12.1859 at Singleton, NSW
	4M12	William Rickford Secundus Collett			Born on 23.03.1862 at Singleton, NSW
	4M13	Ellen Susan Collett			Born on 22.06.1866 at NSW
	4M14	Florence Susan Collett			Born on 13.09.1868 in England
	4M15	Edward Caernarvon Collett			Born on 29.01.1870 at Caernavon, Wales
	4M16	Decima Collett			Born circa 1873; infant death
	4M17	Stratford John Waverley Collett			Born on 23.09.1876
4L8	BENJAMIN COLLETT was born at Lockers House in Hemel Hempstead on 26^th July 1812, and was baptised on 6^th September 1812. He married Charlotte Harriet Sampson of Grafton Manor in Worcestershire. Grafton Manor at Upton Warren, midway between Droitwich and Bromsgrove, is an early sixteenth-century house, modified in 1567 by John Talbot. The Gunpowder Plotters met there in 1605, two days before they intended to enter the Parliament buildings. Later that same century, the then owner, Charles Talbot, mortgaged the estate and sailed to Holland to encourage William of Orange to seize the throne.
	Once they were married the couple settled in the village of Mathon near Malvern, and it was there that their first child was born and baptised. Not long after the birth, the family returned to Grafton House, where all of the other children of Benjamin and Harriet were born. And it was while they were living at the grand house that their children were all baptised at the nearby parish Church of St Michael in Upton Warren. Upon the occasion of each child’s baptism, the parents were referred to as Benjamin Collett and his wife Charlotte Harriet.
	So far no obvious record of the family has been found in the census returns for 1841, 1851, and 1861, although a Benjamin Collett of the right age was living in the Chelsea area of London in 1871, while his daughter Margaret Collett was also living in the same area of London at that same time. However, it is understood that Benjamin Collett died later that same year, in 1871, and this event may well have taken place in London.
	4M18		Harriet Anna Collett			Born in 1835 at Mathon, nr Malvern
	4M19		Margaret Collett			Born in 1837 at Upton Warren
	4M20		Charlotte Collett			Born in 1838 at Upton Warren
	4M21		Charles Benjamin Collett			Born in 1840 at Upton Warren
	4M22		John Collett			Born in 1841 at Upton Warren
	4M23		WILLIAM COLLETT			Born in 1843 at Upton Warren
	4M24		Thomas Clay Collett			Born in 1847 at Upton Warren
4M1	Eliza Hight was born on 5^th October 1798 at Westbrook Hay in the parish of Bovingdon near Hemel Hempstead. She was educated in London at a Greenwich boarding school and was only 16 years of age when her mother died.
	She married Joseph King Blundell of Luton at the Church of St Mary Magdalen in Bermondsey on 7^th March 1822. Joseph was the son of the Reverend Thomas Blundell and Elizabeth King and was born on 23^rd March 1790. The marriage produced many children although only two are listed here.
	There is however a later reference to a Mary Ann Blundell, the niece of Henry Blundell (below). She was 26 years old in 1881 and was born at Luton around 1855. This would place her as the child of Henry’s older brother who was possibly born around 1830.
	According to the 1851 Census for Luton, Eliza was described as being a straw plat merchant and it is known that members of her mother’s Collett family were involved in this industry in her home town of Hemel Hempstead.
	Joseph died on 10^th January 1857 and was buried at Luton, but not before he purchased several farms around Luton and established himself as a supporter of the Wesleyan Church. Eliza continued to develop the family business following his death, and later went into production of straw hats, one of the main industries in Luton, which she sold from Blundell’s departmental store in the town. In addition to owning the shop, Eliza also inherited the Luton area farms and other farms in Suffolk, and the family business was successfully carried on by later generations of her family.
	By the time of the census in 1881 Eliza Blundell, a gentlewoman, was living at 1 Church Street in Luton, where she was described as a widow aged 82, who had been born at Westbrook Hay. Living with her was her niece and companion Sarah Frear, age 27, who was unmarried and of Woodstock in Oxfordshire, these two ladies being supported by two domestic servants.
	Eliza lived a busy widow’s life for the last thirty-seven years of her long life, until her death on 17^th April 1894, following which she was buried at Luton.
	4N1		Henry Blundell			Born on 31.01.1834 at Luton
	4N2		Arthur Blundell			Born on 12.01.1840 at Luton
4M5	Thomas Sandars was born in 1825 at Hemel Hempstead. He married Margaret Hammell and was a Barrister of Law, having gained a degree at Balliol College in Oxford. The couple are known to have lived at Lockers House in Hemel Hempstead at sometime in their lives, the property having been purchased by Ebenezer John Collett in 1799 for himself and his family.
	The family connection that brought them to Lockers House was through Thomas Sanders’ mother Mary Collett, who was the eldest child of Ebenezer John Collett.
4M6	Charlotte Eustacia Collett was born at Westminster in 1827, where she was baptised at St Martin in the Field on 8^th July 1827, the only known child of John Collett and his wife Emma Gage.
	She later married Adam Atkinson, a Justice of the Peace of Lorbottle Hall in Northumberland, which lies about twelve miles west of Alnwick. Charlotte Eustacia Atkinson nee Collett died in 1869, and was followed six years later by her husband, Adam who died in 1875.
4M7	Hannah Maria Collett, who was known as Nannie, was born on 30^th June 1850, the eldest child of William Rickard Collett of Hemel Hempstead and Hannah Maria Hartigan of County Galway. It seems highly likely that she was born in the British Isles before her parents sailed to Australia.
	In 1868 when Hannah was eighteen her family returned to Britain and initially settled in Caernarvon in North Wales before moving to London a few years later. What is known is that Hannah later emigrated to New Zealand, but the actual date she sailed from England is not known at this time.
	On 31^st August 1875 Hannah Maria Collett married William Corbett at the Church of St. Mary’s in Parnell, Auckland. William was the son of William Corbett, Postmaster-General of New Zealand. Hannah presented her husband with six children before she died on 22^nd March 1896.
	4N3		Mary Evangeline Corbett			Born on 09.06.1882
	4N4		Florence Alsager Corbett			Born on 28.01.1884
	4N5		Hilda Corbett			Born on 13.06.1887
	4N6		Beatrix Ormerod Corbett			Date of birth unknown
	4N7		Isabel Corbett			Born on 11.12.1890
	4N8		Agatha Corbett			Born on 30.09.1894
4M8	William Rickford Collett was born in 1852 and this may have been in England or Australia, but it is known that it was at Singleton in New South Wales that he was eight years old when he died in 1860, as the result of an accident with a lamp.
4M10	Robert Arthur Singleton Collett was born at Singleton in New South Wales on 15^th May 1855, hence the reason why the name of the town is included in his name. It is likely that his parents, William Rickford Collett and his wife Hannah Maria Hartigan, had not long arrived in Australia when he was born.
	And it was in New South Wales that he and his family continued to live until around the time that Robert was about twelve or thirteen years old. At that time in his life his parents sailed back to Great Britain, where they first settled in England, where his sister Florence (below) was born, and then in Wales where his brother Edward (below) was born, before settling in London.
	At the time of the birth of his youngest brother Stratford (below), Robert and his family were living at Waverley Place in the St John’s Wood area of London. Shortly after the birth of his brother the whole family left London when they sailed to Ireland, and it was in Ireland that Robert became a married man, and where, just over two years later, his father died in Dublin in 1882.
	Robert Arthur Singleton Collett married Elizabeth Jane Maunsell on 6^th July 1880 at Monkstown Church in County Dublin, the ceremony being conducted by the Reverend Canon Peacocke, who later became Archbishop of Dublin. Elizabeth, who was known as Lily, was the daughter of Edward William Maunsell, the Secretary of the D. W. and Wex Railway, and his wife Bessie Callanan.
	Seventeen years after they were married, Robert’s brother William (below) married Catherine Maunsell in 1897, Catherine being the younger sister of Elizabeth Jane Maunsell.
	Robert Arthur Singleton Collett was a clerk at the Court of the Queen’s Bench in Ireland, and he died in Dublin on 10^th May 1897 and was buried at Mount Jerome. He left his wife with three young children, and she survived him by nearly forty years, when she died on 27^th January 1937. Sometime after the death of her husband Elizabeth travelled to England with her daughter Dorothy, and at the time of her passing Elizabeth was living at 95 The Avenue in Feltham in Middlesex.
	Upon her death she was buried within Plot V-1 of the consecrated portion of 'The Extension’ of the cemetery at Feltham, albeit without a memorial stone. The grave plot purchase document obtained by Elizabeth’s son Robert Collett at that time is now in the possession of Richard Pratt, who kindly provided the new details about this family.
	4N9		William Edward Hartigan Collett			Born on 27.06.1881
	4N10		Robert Arthur Stewart Collett			Born on 26.07.1885
	4N11		Dorothy Esther Collett			Born on 22.04.1889
4M11	Charlotte Elizabeth Collett was born at Singleton in New South Wales on 9^th December 1859. Charlotte later returned to England with her family and it was there that she married Edward Treffry-Goatley on 14^th July 1881. Edward was the son of Goatley, from Goatley Lees in the Isle of Thanet, by his wife the former Miss Treffry of Place House at Fowey in Cornwall.
	At some time in his life Edward Treffry-Goatley worked for Her Majesty’s Customs at Durban in Natal, South Africa. The marriage produced four children for the couple.
	4N12	Edward Stratford Treffry-Goatley				Born on 23.06.1883; died 05.08.1884
	4N13	Edwin Rickford Fitzroy Treffry-Goatley				Born on 05.10.1884
	4N14	Gladys Winifred Charlotte Treffry-Goatley				Born on 14.02.1887
	4N15	Edith Claire Treffry-Goatley				Born on 03.06.1890
4M12	William Rickford Secundus Collett was born at Singleton in New South Wales on 23^rd March 1862. He married his sister-in-law Catherine Maunsell on 12^th June 1897 at St George’s Church in Tufnell Park in London. Catherine was the sister of Elizabeth Maunsell who married William’s brother Robert (above), and the daughter of Edward William Maunsell and Bessie Callanan.
	After they were married William and Catherine emigrated to New Zealand where their son was born. In addition to this couple also had four other children, although no details are available at this time. And it was at Waihi in New Zealand that William Rickford Secundus Collett died on 23^rd February 1919. His Will was proved at the High Court in Auckland later that same year, when he was referred to as a gentleman.
	William’s wife Catherine was born in Dublin in 1863 and died on 19^th January 1945 at Palmerston North in New Zealand, eleven years before her son Rickford Edward Francis Collett died there in 1956.
	4N16	Rickford Edward Francis Collett				Born on 06.01.1900 in New Zealand
4M13	Ellen Susan Collett was born in New South Wales on 22^nd June 1866. Ellen, who was known as Ella, was just twenty years old when she married William Russell of Lemonfield in County Limerick on 14^th July 1886 at Kilpeacon Church in County Limerick. The marriage produced five children for the couple.
	4N17	Ella May Russell				Born on 10.05.1887
	4N18	Violet Florence Russell				Born on 16.12.1890; died 18.02.1901
	4N19	Charles William Norris Russell				Born on 22.03.1893
	4N20	Oliver Edith Russell				Born on 28.08.1894
	4N21	Victor Eyre Russell				Born on 25.07.1897; died 09.04.1898
4M14	Florence Susan Collett was born on 13^th September 1868 in England after her parents returned for Australia. It was at the Holy Trinity Church in Rathmines in County Dublin that she married William Walker on 21^st October 1891. He was referred to as William Walker from Kilkee in County Clare.
4M15	Edward Caernarvon Collett was born at Caernarvon in South Wales on 29^th January 1870 and was baptised on 14^th February 1870 at Llanbeblig one mile from Caernarvon. The baptism conformed that he was the son of William Rickford Collett and his wife Hannah Maria.
	Up to two years prior to his birth Edward’s family had lived in Singleton in New South Wales for over ten years. It was back to Australia that Edward must have travelled, since it was in New South Wales that he married Mary Dunphy on 30^th April 1900. Mary was the daughter of W Dunphy.
4M17	Stratford John Waverley Collett was born at Waverley Place in St John’s Wood, London on 23^rd September 1876. Within a few years of his birth, Stratford’s parents took the family away from London, when they moved to Dublin in Ireland. He was 22 when he married Marion Gore on 1^st March 1899.
	Marion was the youngest daughter of the late William Gore of Fedney, in County Down, and Innismore Hall at Enniskillen, formerly of the 13^th Hussars. Marion was also the great granddaughter of Sir Philip Crampton the eminent surgeon.
	Once they were married Stratford and Marion emigrated to New Zealand, but must have first visited Australia on the way, since it was there that their first child was born at Singleton in New South Wales, where three of Stratford’s siblings had been born. However their remaining three children were born after the family arrived in New Zealand, where they initially settled in Invercargill, before moving to Wellington. Stratford was later referred to as Stratford John Collett of Khandallah, Wellington. And it was at Wellington that he died on 20^th March 1948, and where his Will was later proved by the Wellington High Court.
	It was on 19^th July 1917 that he enlisted with the New Zealand Army Pay Corps at the age of 41, with his actual start date being 15^th October that same year. His service number was 58324 and, on entry he held the rank of private, but during the following year he was promoted to corporal, then to sergeant, and then to staff sergeant, with the 41^st Rifles of the Pay Corps. At the time of his enlistment he was a civil servant working for the Tourist Department in Christchurch, and his other personal details were recorded as follows.
	Height 5 feet 11 inches, weight 184 pounds, with fair brown hair, blue eyes, and a fresh complexion. He was born in London on 23^rd September 1876, the son of William Rickford Collett deceased, and Hannah Maria Collett deceased. His wife was named as Marion Gore and their four children were recorded as John Philip Crampton born at Singleton in New South Wales on 5^th November 1900, Dorothea Crampton born at Invercargill in 1901, Patricia May Crampton born at Wellington on 5^th August 1903, and Joyce Crampton who was also born at Wellington, but on 14^th July 1905.
	He sailed out of Wellington on 27^th July 1918, and was recorded in London for six days from 4^th October 1918. It is not clear from his army record where he was after that time, but it is evident that he sailed out of Liverpool bound for New Zealand on the troopship Tahiti on 3^rd December that same year. In total he served with the army for 483 days, of which 170 of them were spent overseas. He was discharged from duty on 9^th February 1919, as no longer physically fit, and was awarded the British War Medal.
	4N22	John Philip Crampton Collett				Born on 05.11.1900 at Singleton, NSW
	4N23	Dorothea Crampton Collett				Born on 17.02.1901 at Invercargill, NZ
	4N24	Patricia May Crampton Collett				Born on 05.08.1903 at Wellington, NZ
	4N25	Joyce Crampton Collett				Born on 14.07.1905 at Wellington, NZ
4M18	Harriet Anna Collett was born at Mathon near Malvern in 1835, and was baptised there at the Church of St John the Baptist on 29^th October 1835, the eldest child of Benjamin Collett and his wife Charlotte Harriet Sampson. Shortly after she was born her parents returned to live at Grafton Manor in Upton Warren, where her mother had been living prior to their marriage.
	Harriet Anna Collett later married Richard, a Captain in the Royal Navy, but very little else is known about them, except that Harriet died in 1904.
4M19	Margaret Collett was born at Grafton Manor in the village of Upton Warren in 1837, and it was there at St Michael’s Church that she was baptised on 29^th March 1837, the daughter of Benjamin and Charlotte Harriet Collett.
	According to the census in 1871, Margaret Collett was 34 and was living in the Chelsea area of London at that time. It is curious that no obvious records have been found for Margaret or any member of her family in the census returns for 1841, 1851, and 1861, although there was a Benjamin Collett living in the Chelsea area of London at the same time that Margaret was there in 1871.
	She never married but, in 1881 and following the death of her sister Charlotte (below) in 1879, she was living at the home of her widowed brother-in-law William J Vian at The Knoll in Fairview, Beckenham in Kent. On that occasion Margaret Collett, age 44 and from Grafton Manor in Worcestershire, was described as a gentlewoman.
	By 1891, and at the age of 54, spinster Margaret Collett was still living in Kent, but by then she had moved to Hastings. Ten years later in March 1901, Margaret Collett of Grafton, Worcestershire, was still living in the St Clements district of Hastings, where she was the owner of a convalescent home at the age of 64. It was seven years later that Margaret Collett died during 1908, whilst she was visiting Florence in Italy.
4M20	Charlotte Collett was born in 1838 at Grafton Manor, and was baptised at Upton Warren on 16^th July 1838, the third daughter of Benjamin and Charlotte Collett. It was around 1860 that she married William John Vian from St Pancras in London, perhaps indicating that she was living in London prior to their wedding day.
	By the time of the census in 1861 Charlotte had presented William with the first of their six known children. William John Vian was 34, his wife Charlotte was 22, and their daughter Maria Vian was still under one year old. The family on that occasion was living in Lewisham Village.
	During the next ten years a further five children were added to the family which, by the time of the next census in 1871, was living at Bromley in Kent. The census that year recorded the family as William J Vian 44, Charlotte Via 32, and their six children, Marian Vian 10, William C Vian who was nine, Alsager R Vian who was eight, Charlotte B Vian who was six, Bernard A Vian who was four, and Maud M Vian who was two years old.
	Over the next few years it is likely that other children were born into the family, about whom no details are currently available. What is known is that Charlotte Vian nee Collett was just over forty years old when she died during 1879. What immediately happened to her young family at that tragic time is not known, but by the time of the census in 1881, Charlotte’s unmarried sister Margaret Collett (above) was living at the Beckenham home of William J Vian, where she was presumably helping him to look after his children.
	However, of his six known children, only two were actually living at The Knoll in Fairview with him. William’s occupation was that of a secretary to an insurance company, and the two children were, his eldest son William C Vian, who was 19 and from Lewisham, who was working with his father as an insurance clerk, and his daughter Charlotte B Vian, also from Lewisham who was 16 and who was still attending school. In addition to his sister-in-law Margaret Collett, the household was supported by three servants, housemaids Mary and Emily Herring, and Mary Dellow who was the cook.
	Of the other children of William and Charlotte, his eldest daughter may have been married by then, while William’s two other sons were living in the Guildford & Godalming area of Surrey aged 18 and 14.
4M21	Charles Benjamin Collett was born at Grafton Manor in 1840, and was baptised in the village of Upton Warren on 25^th April 1840, the eldest son and fourth child of Benjamin Collett and Charlotte Harriet Sampson. With no record of him or his family in Great Britain in any of the following census returns it is possible that the early years of his life with his parents was spent abroad.
	What is known is that Charles Benjamin Collett was married twice during his life, and on both occasions the wedding took place in Australia. First he married (1) Emily Maria McDougall at Patricks Plain in New South Wales in 1861, and it was that married which resulted in the birth of a son for Charles.
	Possible following the death of his first wife, during the birth of a second child, who also did not survive, Charles then married (2) Emily Singleton at New South Wales. This Charles Benjamin Collett, not to be confused with the well-known railway engineer, was Justice of the Peace and Clerk to the Gold Commission of New South Wales.
	4N26		Albert Collett			Born in 1868 in New South Wales
4M22	John Collett was born at Grafton Manor in the village of Upton Warren during 1841. It was also at St Michael’s Church in Upton Warren where he was baptised on 27^th October 1841, the son of Benjamin and Charlotte Collett.
	John Collett married Marie Watson in London around 1870, Marie having been born there around 1847. By the time of the census in 1881 Marie had presented John with two children, the couple’s third and last child being born during the following year.
	According to the census return that year, the family was living at 12 Fopstone Road in Kensington where the children were born, and from where John, age 39 and from Bromsgrove, was a Director of Naval Contracts at the Admiralty. His wife Marie was 34, and their two children were Muriel M Collett who was eight, and Violet J Collett who was six years old.
	The Collett family was supported by four domestic servants, they being George T Collins age 20 from Ascot, a cook Mary G Spry age 25 from Clovelly, servant girl Esther Griffiths age 31 and from Hereford, and a lady’s maid Celestine Bretell who was 26 and from France.
	The family was still living in Kensington when their son was born, and were still there nine years later at the time of the census in 1891. The census return for the Kensington & Brompton registration district listed the family as John Collett 49, Marie L Collett 44, Muriel M Collett 18, Violet J Collett 16, and John A Collett who was eight years old. It was four years later that John Collett died during 1895.
	4N27		Muriel Marie Collett			Born in 1872 at Kensington, London
	4N28		Violet Julie Collett			Born in 1874 at Kensington, London
	4N29		John Alsager Collett			Born in 1882 at Kensington, London
4M23	WILLIAM COLLETT was born at Grafton Manor during 1843, and was baptised at St Michael’s Church in Upton Warren on 3^rd September 1843, the son of Benjamin and Charlotte Collett.
	William Collett was a journalist and he married Mary Helen Cooke from Ramsgate. In 1881 the family was living at 33 Tavistock Crescent in Westbourne Park near Paddington Station in London, where the couple’s two sons were born.
	During the previous decade William had worked as a journalist for Bell’s Life, when he became involved in the world of horse-racing. This was following work he carried out for Sporting Life magazine, and it was his close association with horse-racing that prompted the family to leave London shortly after 1881.
	The family’s new home was in Exeter Road in New Market in Suffolk, and it was there three years later that William Collett died on 17.04.1884.
	4N30		William Collett			Born in 1869 at Westbourne Park
	4N31		CHARLES BENJAMIN COLLETT			Born in 1871 at Westbourne Park
4M24	Thomas Clay Collett was born at Grafton Manor in the village of Upton Warren during the first few months of 1847. His family had been living in the sixteenth century manor house since around 1836, although Grafton Manor was where his mother had lived with her family prior to marrying his father. It was at St Michael’s Church in Upton Warren, midway between Droitwich and Bromsgrove in Worcestershire that he was baptised on 12^th April 1847, the youngest son and last child of Benjamin and Charlotte Collett.
	It would appear to have been around 1870 that Thomas Clay Collett married Sarah C G Butler of Barnwood in Gloucester, who had been born at Cheltenham in 1854.
	In the census of 1881 Thomas Collett, age 36 and of Worcester, was working as a clerk at the Legacy Duty Office. At that time he and his wife, Sarah C G Collett, age 26 and from Cheltenham, were living at 52 Eardly Crescent in the Kensington area of London. Listed with them were their three children, son Harry H Collett who was seven, daughter Madeline G Collett who was six, and son Vivian Collett who was five years old, and all of them born at Kensington.
	The house at Eardly Crescent must have been sizable to accommodate the following visitors. Frederick White, age 35 and an admiralty clerk, Walter J Fletcher age 31 and a clerk at the Bank of England, Joseph H Junfon, age 30 a clerk at the Legacy Duty Office, and servants Alice Watson 19, and Emily Ann Townley who was 22.
	It seems likely that Thomas’ two daughters were at school away from the family’s home in Kensington in 1891, since the Kensington & Brompton census that year only listed Thomas C Collett 44, his wife Sarah C G Collett 36, and their son Harry H Collet who was 17.
	During the next ten years it was their son who left the family home, to be replaced by his eldest sister Madeline who was living with her parents at Kensington in March 1901. Thomas C Collett, age 54 and from Grafton Manor, was a civil servant working as a Principal Clerk in the Estate Duty Office. His wife was described as Sarah C P Collett (sic) who was 46 and from Barnwood in Gloucestershire, while their daughter Madeleine Collett was 26, and her place of birth was given as Earls Court in London.
	No record of the family has been found in the next census in 1911, although it is established that Thomas Clay Collett died five years after that event, in 1916 whilst he was at Nice in France.
	4N32		Henry Haines Collett			Born in 1873 at Kensington, London
	4N33		Madelaine Grace Collett			Born in 1874 at Kensington, London
	4N34		Vivian Collett			Born in 1876 at Kensington, London
4N1	Henry Blundell was born at Luton on 31^st January 1834. He married Sarah Whiting Staples on 26.09.1860. Sarah was born at Gazeley in Suffolk, midway between Newmarket and Bury St Edmunds on 30.10.1836 and was the daughter of William Staples and Alice Whiting. This union may have stemmed from the fact that Henry’s father owned farms in Suffolk.
	In 1881 Henry, age 47 and of Luton, was living with his wife and six of his eight children at Moulton Lodge in Crescent Rise in Luton. Judging by the description of his occupational status, he was a wealthy businessman. The census record stated that he was a Master Draper employing 22 men and 27 women, and that he was a local Methodist minister. His wife Sarah W Blundell was aged 44 years and of Moulton in Suffolk, this being the next village to Gazeley.
	Their children were all born at Luton and were listed as: Ernest aged 19 a draper’s assistant, Annie aged 17, Alice M aged 10, Hilda aged 8, Hubert aged 6, and Walter aged 5. Also living with them was Mary Ann Blundell a niece aged 26 and of Luton, a straw hat merchant’s daughter. Other members of the household included a governess, 28 years old Emma Munn of Bury St Edmunds, and three domestic servants.
	Henry and Sarah had two other sons Percy and Stanley who, at the time of the 1881 Census, were boarders at a select private school in Bedford at 80 Adelaide Square in the St Paul’s region of the town. Percy was listed as being aged 16 while Stanley was 13, both having been born at Luton.
	From all eight children of the marriage the only known detail relates to Percy Blundell who was born in 1864 and who later married Annie Boutwood.
	4O1		Ernest Blundell			Born in 1861 at Luton
	4O2		Annie Blundell			Born in 1863 at Luton
	4O3		Percy Blundell			Born in 1864 at Luton
	4O4		Stanley Blundell			Born in 1867 at Luton
	4O5		Alice M Blundell			Born in 1870 at Luton
	4O6		Hilda Blundell			Born in 1873 at Luton
	4O7		Hubert Blundell			Born in 1875 at Luton
	4O8		Walter Blundell			Born in 1876 at Luton
4N2	Arthur Blundell was born at Luton on 12^th January 1840. His occupation was that of a flour miller and it seems more than likely that he moved from Luton to manage one of the family farms in Suffolk as it was there that he met and married his wife.
	At the age of thirty years he married Sarah Andrews on 27^th October 1870 in the Congregational Church in Newmarket. Sarah was the daughter of Henry Andrews and Mary Staples and was born at Burwell just north of Newmarket on 3^rd February 1850.
	Four of the five children listed below were born at Wissett near Halesworth in Suffolk, while the couple’s first born child was born at Chediston the next village south of Wissett.
	According to the 1881 Census, the family was living on a seventy acre farm at Chediston where Arthur employed seven men. The level of prosperity the family enjoyed can be gauged from the fact the Arthur employed a young governess for his children and also a domestic servant.
	Six years later in 1887 the family emigrated to New Zealand. At the time of Arthur’s death on 26^th December 1923 the family home was stated as being 1 Dunholme Road in Remuera, Auckland. Arthur was described as a retired farmer aged 83 and the cause of death was given as asthma by the medical attendant Doctor Coldicutt. It would appear that his body was cremated at Waikumete but that the ashes were returned to England for burial.
	The record of his death noted that he left a wife Sarah aged 73 and three sons and four daughters. Arthur’s widow Sarah lived for another eleven years before she died on 20^th December 1934 and was buried at Hillsborough in Auckland.
	4O9		Mary Blundell			Born on 26.11.1871 at Chediston
	4O10		Arthur Oscar Blundell			Born on 20.01.1873 at Wissett
	4O11		Adiah Eliza Blundell			Born on 28.12.1875 at Wissett
	4O12		Ethel Annie Blundell			Born on 02.08.1877 at Wissett
	4O13		Wilfred Andrews Blundell			Born on 20.08.1879 at Wissett
	4O14		Sarah Zillah Blundell			Born in February 1882 at Wissett
	4O15		Hugh King Blundell			Born on 21.10.1884 at Wissett
4N11	Dorothy Esther Collett was born at Dublin on 22^nd April 1889, the youngest of the three children of Robert Arthur Singleton Collett, who was born in New South Wales, and his wife Elizabeth Jane Maunsell. Just one month after her eighth birthday Dorothy’s father died in Dublin, and it may have been a few years after that when she and her mother went to live in England, where her mother died in 1937.
	Dorothy never married and therefore she may have been living with her mother at 95 The Avenue in Feltham in Middlesex up until 1937, and even possibly thereafter. Dorothy was a trained nurse and may have been attending to the needs of her elderly mother during her later years. She was also heavily involved with the Red Cross throughout the war years that followed the passing of her mother.
	During the years prior to the start of the Second World War, Dorothy Esther Collett became very friendly with the mother of Richard Pratt. Such was the strength of their friendship over the twenty years from the death of her mother, that in 1957, when Dorothy was around 68 years of age, she was invited to live with the Pratt family in their home at 32 Ladysmith Avenue in Brightlingsea in Essex.
	Dorothy Esther Collett, who was known as Aunty Collie by Richard Pratt and his family, died while she was still living at 32 Ladysmith Avenue in Brightlingsea on 16.09.1960. In 2010 Richard was living in Harrogate in North Yorkshire, and we are grateful to him for telling us the story of Dorothy Esther Collett.
	Richard recalls that one of the stories told by Dorothy to the young Pratt family related to the fact that her Collett ancestors had lost a great deal of money in the financial crisis of 1720 which was referred to as the South Sea Bubble.
4N16	Rickford Edward Francis Collett was born at Sydenham in Christchurch, New Zealand on 6^th January 1900. He was twenty-one years old when he married Wilmot Kathleen Palmer at Nelson on 20^th June 1921. Kathleen was born at Wakefield in Nelson on 11^th April 1901 and was the daughter of Thomas Palmer and Bessie Maria Caldwell Gibbs.
	Rickford Edward Francis Collett died 3^rd August 1956 at Palmerston North in New Zealand and was followed eight years after by his wife, who also died there on 3^rd June 1964.
4N22	John Philip Crampton Collett was born at Singleton in New South Wales on 5^th November 1900, after his parents, Stratford John Waverley Collett and his wife Marion Gore, had been married in Ireland during the previous year. Not long after he was born his parents left Australia and settled in New Zealand, initially at Invercargill, and finally in Wellington. The only other fact known about John at this time is that he died in 1981 and his Will was passed for probate to the High Court in Nelson.
4N26	Albert Collett was born in New South Wales during 1868, and sometime shortly after his mother died. He later married Julia Mary Anne Cobcroft at Kogarah in New South Wales who was fourteen years older than Albert, having been born in 1852 in New South Wales. She was the daughter of Enoch Cobcroft and Isabella Jane Ridge.
	The wedding of Albert and Julia took place at Kogarah in New South Wales during 1894. Probably because of her age at that time, Julia never presented Albert with any children. And the only other detail known about the couple is that Julia Mary Anne Collett nee Cobcroft died in 1934 aged 82.
4N27	Muriel Marie Collett was born in 1872 at Kensington in London and she married Lieutenant Colonel Sir Kenyon Pascoe Vaughan-Morgan during 1898. He too was born in 1872.
	The first of the couple’s two children was born right at the end of the century, with the second being born ten years later. Upon marrying Kenyon, Muriel took the surname Vaughan-Morgan, as confirmed by the census in 1911.
	The census return that year recorded the family as living in the Kensington district of London, which comprised Kenyon Pasco Vaughan Morgan and his wife Muriel Marie Vaughan-Morgan, both aged thirty-seven, and their two children Phyllis Vaughan Morgan who was eleven, and John Kenyon Vaughan Morgan who was just one year old, who were both born in Kensington.